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1961 Historical Event(s)
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 12, 1961
– The Russian (Soviet) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).
April 23, 1961
– Algiers putsch by French generals.
August 11, 1961
– The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
August 15, 1961
– Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
September 12, 1961
– The African and Malagasy Union is founded.
October 20, 1961
– The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf class submarine.
October 30, 1961
– Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 50 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise.
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.
Who Were Born On 1961?
January 1, 1961
– Sergei Babayan, American classical pianist
March 3, 1961
– Mary Page Keller, American actress
April 12, 1961
– Magda Szubanski, Australian actress
June 3, 1961
– Peter Vidmar, American gymnast
June 11, 1961
– María Barranco, Spanish actress
July 17, 1961
– Jonathan Potts, Canadian actor
July 30, 1961
– Laurence Fishburne, American actor
August 8, 1961
– Bruce Matthews, American football player
August 21, 1961
– Stephen Hillenburg, American animator and cartoonist
December 19, 1961
– Matthew Waterhouse, English actor