1961 Timeline

1961 'A House for Mr. Biswas' is Published
And so Mr. Biswas, ex-sign painter, ex-bus conductor, ex-journalist, achieved his heart's desire and moved into a dwelling of his very own. It looked "like a huge and squat sentry-box," h...
1961 Aretha Franklin Releases "Aretha"
Aretha is the self-titled pop debut album of the future "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin, for Columbia Records, released in 1961. Following in the footsteps of close friend Sam Cooke, A...
1961 "Both Sides Of An Evening" Is Released
Both Sides Of An Evening was an album first released in 1961 by The Everly Brothers. It failed to make any of the record charts. It was released at a peak in their career, having just ...
1961 Dole and Columbia River Packers (which Becomes Bumble Bee Seafood, Inc.) Merge with Castle & Cooke
Dole and Columbia River Packers merge with Castle & Cooke. Because the DOLE® brand was so well known and signified high quality with consumers, Dole products retain their name and CRPA be...
1961 Ford Capri is First Produced
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Cap...
1961 Ford E-Series is First Produced
The Ford E-Series, formerly known as the Econoline or Club Wagon, is a line of full-size vans (both cargo and passenger) and truck chassis from the Ford Motor Company. The E-Series is rel...
1961 George W. Bush Attends Phillips Academy
As a child, Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he completed seventh grade. He then went to The Kinkaid School, a prep school in Houston...
1961
to 1965
Joe Biden attends University of Delaware
Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he was more interested in sports and socializing than in studying, although his classmates were impressed by his cramming abilit...
1961 Mercedes-Benz W110 is First Produced
The W110 "Fintail" (German: Heckflosse) was Mercedes-Benz's line of midsize four-cylinder automobiles in the mid-1960s. The line was introduced with the 190c and 190Dc sedan in April, 196...
1961
to 1975
NASA's Apollo Program
The Apollo Program was a human spaceflight program undertaken by NASA during the years 1961–1975 with the goal of conducting manned moon landing missions. In 1961, President John F. Kenne...
1961 Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine
Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine is a 1961 LP recorded by Ronald Reagan. In this 11-minute recording, Reagan "criticized Social Security for supplanting private saving...
1961 Strategic Hamlet Program
In 1961, U.S. advisors in South Vietnam, along with the Diem regime, began the implementation of a plan attempted to isolate rural peasants from contact with and influence by the National...
1961 'Tropic of Cancer' is Published in the United States
In Tropic of Cancer he deals primarily with matters which, while not exactly left out of modern books, are usually slurred over, and in his pages four-letter words are as common as the th...
1961 Volvo P1800 is First Produced
The Volvo P1800 is a sports car from Volvo. The project was started in 1957 because Volvo wanted a sports car, despite the fact that their previous attempt, the P1900, had been a disas...
1961 Jan John F. Kennedy Appoints Edward R. Murrow Head of The United States Information Agency
Murrow's appointment as head of the United States Information Agency was seen as a vote of confidence in the agency, which provided the official views of the government to the public in o...
1961 Jan Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller Get Divorced
The Hollywood screen star Marilyn Monroe has divorced her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after less than five years of marriage. The divorce was granted in Mexico, where a judge sign...
1961 Jan 19 Ronald Reagan Plays Major Will Sinclair in "Zane Grey Theater (The Westerners)" - Season 5, Episode 15: The Long Shadow
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theater, is a Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956-1961. Six spinoff series Zane Grey Theater was g...
1961 Jan 20 Kennedy's Inauguration
On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy distinguished his inaugural ceremony with a poetry reading by fellow New Englander Robert Frost. Blinded by the sun's glare on the snow-covered Capito...
1961 Jan 26 Wayne Gretzky is Born
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC (born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is formerly a part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes of the Nat...
1961 Feb 1 "The Misfits" Is Released
The Misfits (1961) is a American drama film, written by Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, and Eli Wallach....
1961 Feb 6 Boston College defeats Northeastern, 15-1
1961 Feb 6 Harvard defeats Boston University, 3-2
1961 Feb 9 "Girl With A Suitcase" Is Released
Girl with a suitcase (Italian: La Ragazza con la valigia) is a 1961 Italian romantic drama film by Italian Director Valerio Zurlini starring Claudia Cardinale as a naive nightclub singer ...
1961 Feb 13 Boston College defeats Harvard, 4-2
1961 Feb 13 Northeastern defeats Boston University, 6-2
1961 Feb 15 Sabena Flight 548 Crashes, Killing the United States Figure Skating Team
There was no indication of trouble on board the plane until it approached the Brussels airport. The pilot had to circle the airport while waiting for a small plane to clear the runway. Th...
1961 Mar Nelson Mandela and others found not guilty in Treason Trial
The Treason Trial was a trial in which 156 people (105 Blacks, 21 Indians, 23 Whites and 7 Coloureds), including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Af...
1961 Mar 1 President Kennedy Establishes the Peace Corps by Executive Order
On March 1, 1961, Kennedy signed an Executive Order 10924 that officially started the Peace Corps. Concerned with the growing tide of revolutionary sentiment in the Third World, Kennedy s...
1961 Mar 22 Raymond Loewy Begins To Design The Avanti
On March 22, 1961, industrial designer Raymond Loewy made a dozen sketches of a futuristic sports car at the request of Sherwood Egbert, the recently appointed president of the ailing Stu...
1961 Mar 25 Cincinnati Beats Ohio State in Final Four
The 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball ...
1961 Mar 29 The Twenty-third Amendment is ratified
The Twenty-third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors for President and Vice President. The amendment was prop...
1961 Apr The Beatles visit Hamburg for a second time
The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club again. They were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan (who also had a residency at the club) to act as his backi...
1961 Apr 3 "Saturday Night And Sunday Morning" Is Released
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.
1961 Apr 6
to 1961 Apr 10
 Gary Player wins the 25th Masters Tournament and becomes the first non-American to win the Masters
Getting the ball up and down from the bunker at No. 18, Gary Player held off Arnold Palmer and amateur Charles Coe to become the Masters first international champion. Palmer took a six fr...
1961 Apr 7 FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Elavil
Elavil is the discontinued brand name for Amitriptyline that was manufactured by Astrazeneca. Elavil is a tricyclic antidepressant with sedative effects that was used in the treatment of ...
1961 Apr 12
6:17AM
 First Human in Space
Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on Apri...
1961 Apr 15
6:00AM
 United States B-26B Invader Bombers Attack Three Cuban Airfields
At about 06.00 Cuba local time on 15 April 1961, eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers in three groups, simultaneously attacked three Cuban airfields, at San Antonio de Los Baños and at Ciu...
1961 Apr 15
7:30AM
 United States Flies B-26 Bomber in Deception Flight Near Cuba
About 90 minutes after the eight B-26s had taken off from Puerto Cabezas to attack Cuban airfields, another B-26 departed on a deception flight that took it close to Cuba but headed north...
1961 Apr 16 Chicago Blackhawks win Stanley Cup
The 1961 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago was making its first appearance since 1944 in the Final, and Detroit, their first app...
1961 Apr 16 CIA/Brigade 2506 Invasion Fleet Converges on "Rendezvous Point Zulu" South of Cuba
Following the air strikes on airfields on April 15, 1961, the FAR managed to prepare for armed action at least four T-33s, four Sea Furies and five or six B-26s. All three types could be ...
1961 Apr 17 33rd Academy Awards
The 33rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1960, were held on April 17, 1961 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Bob Hope. ...
1961 Apr 17
to 1961 Apr 19
 Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (known as La Batalla de Girón in Cuba), was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support from U.S. governm...
1961 Apr 18 Second Day of Bay of Pigs Invasion
By about 10.30 on 18 April, Cuban troops and militia, supported by tanks, took Playa Larga after Brigade forces had fled towards Girón in the early hours. During the day, Brigade forces r...
1961 Apr 19 Third Day of the Bay of Pigs Invasion
The final air attack mission (code-named Mad Dog Flight) comprised five B-26s, four of which were manned by American CIA contract air crews and pilots from the Alabama Air Guard. One FAR ...
1961 Apr 20 Fourth Day of the Bay of Pigs Invasion
From 19 April until about 22 April, sorties were flown by A4D-2Ns to obtain visual intelligence over combat areas. Reconnaissance flights are also reported of Douglas AD-5Ws of VFP-62 and...
1961 May Vice President Johnson Tours Saigon
In May 1961, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia." Asked why he had made the comment, Johnson replied, "Diem'...
1961 May 1 Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist state
On May 1, 1961, Castro declared Cuba as socialist state and officially abolished multiparty elections. Critics noted that Castro feared elections would eject him from power. In June 1960...
1961 May 4 The first Freedom Ride leaves Washington DC for racially-segregated South
Civil Rights activists called Freedom Riders rode on interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia, (196...
1961 May 25 President Kennedy First Announces Goal of Landing a Man on the Moon
President Kennedy was also eager for the United States to lead the way in exploring space. The Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in its space program and President Kennedy was d...
1961 May 31 Jimi Hendrix enlists in the Army
Hendrix got into trouble with the law twice for riding in stolen cars. He was given a choice between spending two years in prison or joining the Army. Hendrix chose the latter and enliste...