1961

Found /www/bigissue/cache/1961oldid is 564437

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 - 1961 - 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

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1961 was the last year where it didn't make a difference if you read the year up side down until 6119.

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Events

• January 3 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• February 11 - Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem
• April 12 - Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space
• May 14 - First nuclear ramjet test conducted by Project Pluto
• August 13 - Construction of the Berlin Wall begins. Movement between East Berlin and West Berlin remains restricted for the next 28 years, until November 9, 1989
• Change of US presidency from Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) to John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
• JFK begins the Apollo program of U.S. manned spaceflight
• The first quasar is discovered by Allen Rex Sandage at Mt Palomar, California
• South Africa withdraws from the British Commonwealth and declares itself an independent republic on May 31
• December 31 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing greater than $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1961 in film
  • West Side Story
  • The Guns of Navarone
  • The Hustler
  • Two Rode Together, starring Jimmy Stewart and Richard Widmark
• 1961 in literature
• 1961 in music
• 1961 in sports
  • Baseball player Roger Maris hits 61 home runs in a season, beating Babe Ruth's mark of 60, that had stood since 1927
• 1961 in television
  • January 5 - Mr. Ed debuts.
  • John F. Kennedy holds the first live televised Presidential press conference

Births

• January 5 - Suzy Amis, actress
• January 26 - Wayne Gretzky, Ice hockey player
• February 11 - Mary Docter, American speed skater
• February 11 - Becky LeBeau, vocalist
• February 11 - Carey Lowell, actress
• July 1 - Diana, English princess
• September 2 - Carlos Valderrama, footballer
• December 30 - Douglas Coupland, author

Deaths

• January 4 - Erwin Schrodinger, physicist
• February 11 - Eduard R Verkade, Dutch actor/director
• February 11 - Patrice Lumumba, 1st premier of Congo (Kinshasa)?
• March 3 - Paul Wittgenstein, pianist
• June 1 - Melvin Jones, founder of Lions Clubs International
• October 11 - Chico Marx, member of the Marx Brothers

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Robert Hofstadter, Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer
• Chemistry - Melvin Calvin
• Medicine - Georg von Békésy
• Literature - Ivo Andric
• Peace - Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld - awarded posthumously