Andy Warhol the American artist and a major driving force in the movement known as Pop art is shot and wounded in his New York film studio, The Factory, by actress Valerie Solanas who founded the "group" called S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting up Men).

Clarence Gideon is arrested and charged with breaking into a poolroom in Florida. His case managed to change one the chief principles of American criminal justice. In Gideon v. Wainwright, in the Supreme Court it was ruled that a fair trial "cannot be realized if the poor man charged with [the] crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him." Due to Clarence Gideon's perseverance, every criminal suspect is entitled to representation by a lawyer.