Historical Events in 1961 (Part 2)

Events 201 - 400 of 581

• May 15 "Bonanza" by Al Caiola Orchestra hits #19
• May 15 36 Unification church couples wed in Korea

• May 17 Columbia Records officially opens the Pitman Pressing Plant, designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki, in Pitman, New Jersey

• May 18 14th Cannes Film Festival: "The Long Absence" directed by Henri Colpi and "Viridiana" directed by Luis Bunuel jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
• May 19 New pier opens in Scheveningen, the Netherlands
• May 19 Soviet dancer Rudolf Nureyev makes his Paris stage debut with the Kirov Ballet
• May 20 Henzes opera "Elegy for Young Lovers," premieres in Schwetzingen
• May 20 Mauritania adopts constitution
• May 20 White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama
• May 21 Governor Patterson declares martial law in Montgomery, Alabama
• May 22 "Mother-In-Law" single by Ernie K-Doe hits #1; written and produced by pianist Allen Toussaint
• May 22 Novelty single "Touchables In Brooklyn" by Dickie Goodman hits #42
• May 24 27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi
• May 24 Cyprus joins the Council of Europe.
• May 24 NASA Explorer Ionosphere research mission fails to reach Earth orbit

• May 26 Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee establishes in Atlanta
• May 26 USAF bomber flies Atlantic in a record of just over 3 hours
• May 27 1st black light is sold
• May 27 Fiorentina of Italy win 1st European Cup Winner's Cup against Glasgow Rangers 4-2 in Florence (2nd leg)

• May 28 Record 27 HRs hit in 7 AL games

• May 30 Dutch DC-8 crashes after takeoff at Lisbon, 62 die

• May 30 Maris hits his 10th & 11th of 61 HRs
• May 31 Arthur Michael Ramsey appointed the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury

• May 31 Judge Irving Kaufman orders Board of Ed of New Rochelle, to integrate
• May 31 Union of South Africa becomes a republic, leaves Commonwealth

• Jun 1 FM multiplex stereo broadcasting 1st heard
• Jun 3 American President JFK & Soviet Premier Khrushchev meet in Vienna

• Jun 8 Test cricket debut of future Australian captain Bill Lawry, 1st Test v England in Birmingham
• Jun 9 Ryne Duren sets AL record with 7 straight strikeouts against Red Sox
• Jun 11 "Winston Churchill" last airs on ABC-TV
• Jun 11 Norm Cash becomes 1st Detroit Tiger to hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium

• Jun 12 Dutch Lockheed Electricity "Sirius" accident at Cairo, kills 20
• Jun 14 106°F, hottest temperature in San Francisco
• Jun 15 Expansion Washington Senators are 30-30, latest date an expansion team will be at .500, Washington will lose their next 10 games
• Jun 16 Dave Garroway is fired as host of NBC's "Today Show"
• Jun 16 Reconnaissance satellite Discoverer 25 launched from the US
• Jun 16 Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to West at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France
• Jun 18 CBS radio cancels Gunsmoke
• Jun 18 KBMT TV channel 12 in Beaumont, Texas (ABC) begins broadcasting
• Jun 19 "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" by The Coasters peaks at #23

• Jun 19 Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom
• Jun 19 NY Yankee Roger Maris hits his 25th of 61 HRs
• Jun 19 US Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state office holders to believe in God
• Jun 22 Beatles record "Ain't She Sweet", "Cry for a Shadow", "When the Saints Go Marching In", "Why", "Nobody's Child" & "My Bonnie", in Hamburg, Germany

• Jun 22 Moise Tsjombe freed from prison in Congo

• Jun 23 Cubs Ernie Banks ends his 717 consecutive-games-played streak
• Jun 23 Philadelphia Phillies overcome 9 run deficit; trailing 11-2 after 7 innings, score 4 in 8th and 6 in 9th to beat Pirates, 12-11 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
• Jun 23 The Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that Antarctica is used for peaceful purposes; for international cooperation in scientific research; and does not become the scene or object of international discord, comes into force
• Jun 23 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to an altitude of 32,830 m
• Jun 24 Tony Sheridan, backed by the Beatles, records "If You Love Me Baby" (aka "Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby") in Hamburg, Germany
• Jun 25 Baltimore and California use a record 16 pitchers in a game (8 each) in 14 inns
• Jun 25 Iraq announces that Kuwait is a part of Iraq (Kuwait disagrees)
• Jun 25 Iraq Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim demands dominion over Kuwait and the end of the British protectorate
• Jun 27 Ghana imposes a total ban on exports to South Africa and South West Africa
• Jun 28 Phils and San Francisco set then record longest night game (5h11m) 7-7 15 innings tie
• Jun 29 Launch of Transit 4a, with 1st nuclear power supply (SNAP-3)

• Jun 29 The International Labour Organisation (ILO) calls for South Africa's withdrawal at the Geneva Conference in protest of the racial policies of the South African government
• Jun 30 Buddy Rogers beats Pat O'Conner in Chicago, to become NWA champ
• Jun 30 NASA Explorer Micrometeoroid research mission fails to reach Earth orbit
• Jul 1 Haleakala National Park forms in Hawaii
• Jul 1 KNDU TV channel 25 in Richland-Pasco-Kennew, WA (NBC) 1st broadcast
• Jul 2 Amidst 5 NY Yankee homers v Washington, Roger Maris hits 29th and 30th en route to 61 for the season
• Jul 4 Walt Disney is one of the two main speakers on the Independence Day in The Rebuild Hills at Skørping in Denmark
• Jul 5 80 die in collisions in Algiers
• Jul 5 KUSD TV channel 2 in Vermillion, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jul 5 St Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White smashes 3 HRs & a double in 9-1 rout of LA Dodgers
• Jul 6 Portuguese ship explodes near Mozambique, kills 300
• Jul 7 James R Hoffa elected chairman of Teamsters
• Jul 8 Fred Trueman takes 5-0 in 24 balls to rip through Aussies
• Jul 8 Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die
• Jul 11 Gene Kiniski beats Verne Gagne in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ
• Jul 14 Finland's Miettunen government forms
• Jul 15 Spain accepts equal rights for men and women
• Jul 16 Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27' 2"
• Jul 17 John Chancellor becomes news anchor of "Today Show"

• Jul 19 1st in-flight movie shown on TWA
• Jul 20 French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte
• Jul 20 Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley's musical "Stop The World - I Want To Get Off" premieres at Queen's Theater in London's West End
• Jul 21 Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom
• Jul 22 WBNB TV channel 10 in Charlotte Amaile, VI (CBS) begins broadcasting

• Jul 24 Beginning of a trend, a US commercial plane is hijacked to Cuba
• Jul 24 Edwin Newman becomes news anchor of NBC's "Today Show"
• Jul 25 In a speech, US President John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO
• Jul 25 Roger Maris hits 4 home runs, in a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium, NYC
• Jul 25 Roger Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 & 40 off of 4 Chicago White Sox pitchers in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, NYC

• Jul 29 Philadelphia Phillies lose, 4-3 to SF Giants at Connie Mack Stadium; 1st of MLB record 23 straight defeats
• Jul 29 Wallis and Futuna Islands become French overseas territory
• Jul 31 Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant

• Aug 1 German DR limits traffic to West Berlin
• Aug 1 New San Francisco Hall of Justice opens
• Aug 1 Whitney Young Jr named executive director of National Urban League
• Aug 2 Cyrille Adula becomes premier of Congo
• Aug 2 St Louis Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 36-7 in an exhibition game in Toronto, Canada
• Aug 2 The Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club
• Aug 3 Pittsburgh Pirates rout the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-0, the largest lopsided shutout in NL history
• Aug 4 28th NFL Chicago College All-Star Game: Philadelphia 28, All-Stars 14, 66,000 at Soldier Field
• Aug 4 Spokane, Washington reaches August record 108°F
• Aug 5 118°F (48°C), Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state record)
• Aug 5 Chicago Bears (NFL) beat Montreal Alouettes (CFL), 34-16 in a pre-season exhibition at Molson Stadium in Montreal
• Aug 6 1st case of motion sickness in space reported
• Aug 6 British auto racer Sterling Moss scores his 16th and final Formula 1 victory in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
• Aug 6 Gherman S. Titov is the 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits)
• Aug 7 Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2
• Aug 7 Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts USSR economy will surpass US
• Aug 8 Ham Tigercats (CFL) beat Buff Bills (NFL) 38-21 in Hamilton, Ontario
• Aug 8 Verne Gagne beats Gene Kiniski in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ
• Aug 9 James Benton Parsons is 1st African American to be nominated to a US Federal District Court
• Aug 10 UK applies for membership of the European Common Market

• Aug 13 Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany
• Aug 14 Philadelphia Phillies crash, 9-2 to Chicago Cubs for 17th straight defeat; 11th straight time opposing pitcher throws complete game against Phillies
• Aug 15 Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in Japan
• Aug 16 250,000 West Berliners demonstrate against the division of East Berlin

• Aug 17 Kennedy administration establishes Alliance for Progress

• Aug 20 East Germany begins erecting 5' high wall along the border with the west to replace the barbed wire put up Aug 13
• Aug 20 Philadelphia Phillies beat Milwaukee Braves, 7-4 at County Stadium; end losing streak with dubious MLB record of 23 straight loses

• Aug 22 New York Yankee Roger Maris hits his 50th of 61 homers
• Aug 23 Belgium sends troops to Rwanda-Urundi
• Aug 23 East Germany imposed new curbs on travel between West & East Berlin
• Aug 23 US lunar probe Ranger 1 reaches 190 km from Earth, falls back
• Aug 24 Former South African nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's minister of justice
• Aug 24 Windward Islands' Airways International (Winair) forms
• Aug 25 Brazilian president Janio Quadros, resigns
• Aug 26 Official International Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto
• Aug 27 Francis the Talking Mule is mystery guest on "What's My Line"
• Aug 30 James Benton Parsons is confirmed as 1st African American judge of a US District Court
• Aug 30 Last Spanish troops leave Morocco

• Aug 30 USSR says it will resume nuclear testing
• Aug 31 Amsterdam National Ballet forms
• Sep 1 1st conference of neutral countries held in Belgrade
• Sep 1 The Eritrean War of Independence officially begins with the shooting of the Ethiopian police by Hamid Idris Awate
• Sep 1 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

• Sep 4 US authorizes Agency for International Development
• Sep 5 America begins underground nuclear testing
• Sep 5 US President JFK signs law against hijacking (death penalty)
• Sep 5 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
• Sep 6 USSR performs nuclear test at Kapustin Yar USSR
• Sep 8 Nashville-based guitar wizard Hank Garland sustains career-ending injuries in a single vehicle accident near Springfield, Tennessee
• Sep 10 American Ferrari driver Phil Hill wins Italian Grand Prix at Monza to clinch F1 World Drivers Championship; first American F1 world champion
• Sep 10 Italian F1 Grand Prix, Monza: a crash causes the death of German driver Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators hit by his Ferrari

• Sep 10 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 11 Founding of the World Wildlife Fund in Morges, Switzerland
• Sep 11 Hurricane Carla strikes near Port O'Connor, Texas with winds of 175 mph
• Sep 12 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 34,840 m
• Sep 12 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 13 Battles between UN & Katanga troops in Congo
• Sep 13 Unmanned Mercury-Atlas 4 launched into Earth orbit
• Sep 13 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 13 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
• Sep 14 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 15 61st US Golf Amateur Championship won by Jack Nicklaus aged 21
• Sep 16 CDU loses West German election
• Sep 16 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 16 WLKY TV channel 32 in Louisville, Kentucky (ABC) begins broadcasting
• Sep 17 "Car 54, Where are You?" premieres on US TV

• Sep 17 Minnesota Vikings' 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13)

• Sep 17 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

• Sep 18 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 19 Betty and Barney Hill claim that they saw a mysterious craft in the sky and that it tried to abduct them.

• Sep 20 Roger Maris hits home run # 59 & barely misses # 60 in game 154 of the season. Yanks clinch pennant #26
• Sep 20 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• Sep 21 Antonio Abertondo swims English Channel both ways (44 miles)
• Sep 21 Maiden flight of the CH-47 Chinook military transport helicopter
• Sep 22 Antonio Albertondo (Argentina) completes 1st "double" crossing swim of English Channel in 43 hrs 10 min at 42.

• Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next

• Authors
• Dictators
• Explorers
• Outlaws
• Queens
• Spies