What Day of the Week

1961 Calendar

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•  January 17, 1961 – Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
•  February 15, 1961 – New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Metal Ox in Chinese astrology.
•  March 1, 1961 – President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
•  April 18, 1961 – CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
•  April 23, 1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.
•  June 23, 1961 – Cold War: the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force after the opening date for signature set for the December 1, 1959.
•  July 12, 1961 – Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death tally exceeds 2,000.
•  September 28, 1961 – A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
•  November 29, 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission – Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed-down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
•  December 15, 1961 – In Jerusalem, Adolph Eichmann is sentenced to death after being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.

•  January 1, 1961 – Fiona Phillips, British television presenter
•  January 28, 1961 – Arnaldur Indridason, Icelandic writer
•  March 9, 1961 – Darrell Walker, American basketball player
•  June 4, 1961 – El DeBarge, American singer (DeBarge)
•  August 22, 1961 – Roland Orzabal, British musician (Tears for Fears)
•  August 28, 1961 – Kim Appleby, English singer
•  September 4, 1961 – Kevin Kennedy, English actor
•  September 28, 1961 – Quentin Kawananakoa, pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii
•  November 18, 1961 – Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer
•  December 23, 1961 – Ezzat el Kamhawi, Egyptian novelist.