Historical Events in 1961

Events 1 - 200 of 667

Sports History

Jan 1 1st AFL Championship, Jeppesen Stadium, Houston; Houston Oilers beat Los Angeles Chargers, 24-16; QB George Blanda 3 TD passes, 3 conversions and a field goal

NFL Quarterback and Placekicker George Blanda

Jan 1 Briggs Stadium, home of baseball's Detroit Tigers is officially renamed Tigers Stadium
Jan 1 Largest check issued, National Bank of Chicago to Sears ($960.242 billion)
Jan 1 Russia introduces a new ruble worth $1.11
Jan 2 27th Orange Bowl: #5 Missouri beats #4 Navy, 21-14
Jan 2 27th Sugar Bowl: #2 Mississippi beats Rice, 14-6
Jan 2 47th Rose Bowl: #6 Washington beats #1 Minnesota, 17-7
Jan 2 Hawaii's, then all time low temperature, 14°F recorded atop Haleakale

Election of Interest

Jan 3 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. elected Chairman of US House Education and Labor Committee

Jan 3 An explosion at the Nuclear Reactor Testing Station in Idaho Falls kills three operators
Jan 3 US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba
Jan 4 Longest recorded strike ends as the Danish barbers' assistants end a 33 year strike

Music History

Jan 5 The Beatles perform with Paul McCartney on bass guitar for the 1st time, at Litherland Town Hall, in Lancashire, England

Jan 7 1st NFL Playoff Bowl (runner-up bowl)-Detroit beats Cleveland 17-16
Jan 7 Trucial States (now UAE) issue their 1st postage stamps
Jan 8 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Yvor Winters
Jan 8 The French vote for Algerian independence from French rule in the wake of seven years of guerrilla war
Jan 9 Twins agree on $500,000 payment to AA for Minn/St Paul territory
Jan 11 Racial riot at University of Georgia
Jan 12 "Show Girl" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 100 performances
Jan 12 UN genocide pact goes into effect
Jan 14 Chicago Bear Willard Dewveall becomes 1st NFLer to join AFL

NFL Pro Bowl

Jan 15 11th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Western Conference beats Eastern Conference, 35-31; MVPs: Johnny Unitas, Baltimore Colts, QB; Sam Huff, NY Giants, LB

Music History

Jan 15 Berry Gordy signs The Supremes to Motown Records

Founder of Motown Records and Songwriter Berry Gordy

Jan 16 "Conquering Hero" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 8 performances
Jan 16 Russian espionage ring detected in Great Britain

Jan 17 11th NBA All-Star Game, Onondaga County Coliseum, Syracuse, NY: West beats East, 153-131; MVP: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals, PG; at 22, youngest player to receive All-Star MVP honours, 23 points & 14 assists

Event of Interest

Jan 17 President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".

34th US President & WWII General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Jan 18 Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins 1 seat by a single vote & parliament by a single seat

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Jan 19 1st episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed

Actor, Comedian, Writer and Director Carl Reiner

JFK Inaugurated

Jan 20 Democrat John F. Kennedy, the youngest elected President of the United States, is administered his oath of office at his inauguration by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. Robert Frost recites "Gift Outright".

Jurist and Governor of California Earl Warren

Event of Interest

Jan 20 Yugoslav ex-vice-president Milovan Djilas flees

Jan 21 "Conquering Hero" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 8 performances
Jan 21 Francis Poulenc's "Gloria" premieres in Boston< Massachusetts by Boston Symphony and Chorus Pro Musica under conductor Charles Münch
Jan 21 KIFI TV channel 8 in Idaho Falls, Idaho (NBC) begins broadcasting
Jan 21 Portuguese rebels seize cruise ship Santa Maria
Jan 23 Supreme Court rules cities & states have right to censor films
Jan 23 Venezuela adopts constitution

Event of Interest

Jan 24 Edward Albee's "American Dream" premieres in NYC

Jan 24 Lazard Brothers Ltd draw a check for $334,867,807.68
Jan 25 1st live, nationally televised presidential news conference with JFK
Jan 25 Military coup in El Salvador

Sports History

Jan 25 Toronto left wing Frank Mahovlich scores twice, giving him 39 for the season, and making him highest single season goal scorer in Maple Leafs' history, as Toronto beats Montreal Canadiens, 5-3

101 Dalmatians

Jan 25 Walt Disney's animated film "101 Dalmatians", based on the novel by Dodie Smith and directed by Clyde Geronimi and Hamilton Luske is released in the US

#1 in the Charts

Jan 26 "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley hits #1

Jan 26 1st woman personal physician to a US President - Janet G. Travell (to John F. Kennedy)
Jan 27 "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV

Australian Men's Tennis Open

Jan 27 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson beats fellow Australian Rod Laver 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 for his first Grand Slam title

Jan 27 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Margaret Court retains title; repeat of previous year's final beating Jan Lehane O'Neill 6-1, 6-4

Music History

Jan 27 Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli make debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in "Il trovatore"; final curtain call lasts 35 minutes

Jan 28 Republic of Rwanda proclaimed
Jan 29 US female Figure Skating championship won by Laurence Owen
Jan 29 US male Figure Skating championship won by Bradley Lord

I Fall to Pieces

Jan 30 "I Fall to Pieces" single released by Patsy Cline (Billboard Song of the Year 1961)

Jan 30 Bobby Darin is youngest performer to headline a TV special on NBC
Jan 30 JFK asks for an Alliance for Progress & Peace Corps
Jan 30 KAET TV channel 8 in Phoenix, AZ (PBS) begins broadcasting
Jan 30 Outstanding West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs takes hat-trick (Ken Mackay, Wally Grout, Frank Misson) in drawn 4th Test v Australia in Adelaide

Event of Interest

Jan 31 David Ben-Gurion resigns as Prime Minister of Israel

1st Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion

Jan 31 Ham the chimpanzee is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2
Jan 31 Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium
Jan 31 Kanhai completes twin tons (117 & 115) v Aust at Adelaide
Jan 31 NATO secretary-general Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign
Jan 31 USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights
Jan 31 West Indian cricket batsman Rohan Kanhai scores back-to-back centuries in the drawn 4th Test against Australia in Adelaide; follows 1st innings 117 with 115 in 2nd knock
Feb 1 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
Feb 1 Australian cricket tail-enders Ken Mackay (62no) and Lindsay Kline (15no) hang on for 100 minutes to earn a famous draw on the final day vs West Indies in 4th Test in Adelaide

Event of Interest

Feb 1 British minister Enoch Powell makes medical insurance more expensive

The Misfits

Feb 1 John Huston's film drama "The Misfits" officially premieres at the Loews Capitol in NYC, after a sneak preview at Reno, Nevada's Grenada Theatre; the final movie for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe was written by Monroe's husband Arthur Miller, and also featured Montgomery Cliff

Feb 2 Dutch Prince Bernhard opens new RAI building in Amsterdam
Feb 3 6th largest snowfall in NYC history (17.4" (44.2cm))

Event of Interest

Feb 4 "Angolan War of Independence" begins

Dictator of Portugal António de Oliveira Salazar

Feb 4 Sputnik 7 launches into Earth orbit; probable Venus probe failure
Feb 6 "Jail, No Bail" Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill, South Carolina
Feb 6 KOAP TV channel 10 in Portland, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting

Film & TV History

Feb 7 Jane Fonda made her acting debut in the NBC drama "A String of Beads"

Feb 9 Joseph Ileo appointed Premier of Congo
Feb 9 The Beatles first gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club; they would play there nearly 300 times over the next two years
Feb 10 AFL's LA Chargers move to San Diego
Feb 10 Niagara Falls hydroelectric project begins producing power

Music Premiere

Feb 10 Walter Piston's 7th Symphony, commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra premieres under direction of Eugene Ormandy; wins 1961 Pulitzer Prize

Feb 11 Robert Weaver sworn in as Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, the 1st African American to be appointed to a US cabinet-level position

Sports History

Feb 12 Boston Celtic Bill Russell grabs 40 rebounds to beat Philadelphia Warriors, 136-125

Feb 12 Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Mohammad scores his 1st test cricket century for Pakistan at 17 years of age
Feb 12 USSR launches Venera 1 toward Venus

Music Recording

Feb 13 Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label under Warner Bros Records

Feb 13 Soviet Union fires a rocket from Sputnik V to Venus
Feb 14 Element 103, Lawrencium, 1st produced in Berkeley Calif
Feb 15 Australia beat West Indies 2-1 in one of best Test Cricket series ever
Feb 15 Plane crash kills entire US figure skating team outside Brussels airport in Belgium enroute to World Championships in Prague from NYC; 73 crew and passengers (including 34 American skaters, coaches, officials, and other team members), and a farmer on the ground are lost
Feb 16 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Virginia
Feb 16 China uses its 1st nuclear reactor
Feb 16 NASA Explorer 9 mission launches satellite for the 1st time from Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia; this was also the 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put into orbit
Feb 18 Henk van der Grift becomes world champion skater
Feb 19 Albania disavows Chinese "Revisionism"
Feb 19 Henk van der Grift (Neth) becomes world champ all-round skater
Feb 21 Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Die Physiker" premieres in Zurich
Feb 21 Gabon adopts constitution
Feb 21 Mercury-Atlas 2 reentry Test reaches 172 km
Feb 24 NASA Explorer S-45 mission; ionosphere beacon satellite fails to reach Earth orbit
Feb 25 Niagara ends St Bonaventura's 99-game home basketball win streak
Feb 25 Paul Bikle in glider climbs from 1208 m at release to record 14,10
Feb 26 3rd Daytona 500: Marvin Panch wins in a 1960 Pontiac owned by Smokey Yunick when race leader Fireball Roberts' car suffered a blown engine with 13 laps remaining
Feb 27 The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated

Appointment of Interest

Feb 28 JFK names Henry Kissinger special advisor

US Secretary of State and Political Scientist Henry Kissinger

Mar 1 Cellist Jacqueline du Prés debut in Wigmore Hall
Mar 1 US President JFK establishes the Peace Corps
Mar 2 Eaton Magoon's musical "13 Daughters", starring Don Ameche and Sylvia Syms, opens at 54th St Theater, NYC; runs for 28 performances

Event of Interest

Mar 3 King Hassan II ascends to throne of Morocco

Mar 4 8th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Wake Forest beats Duke, 96-81
Mar 4 Paul-Henri Spaak resigns as Secretary-General of NATO
Mar 6 1st London minicabs introduced
Mar 6 Dutch guilder revalued 4.74%
Mar 6 Dutch Queen Juliana celebrates 12½ year jubilee
Mar 8 Jean Kerr's "Mary, Mary" premieres in NYC

Event of Interest

Mar 8 US nuclear submarine Patrick Henry arrives at Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from South Carolina in a record underseas journey of 66 days 22 hrs

American Revolutionary and Founding Father Patrick Henry

Mar 9 Mine cave-in in Japan, kills 72

Sports History

Mar 9 Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scores 67 points in 135-126 win over NY Knicks at Philadelphia Civic Center

Space Dog Laika Launched to her Death

Mar 9 Soviet flight Sputnik 9 carries and returns from orbit a dog named Chernushka (Blackie), frogs and a guinea pig

Laika in her space box, from which she was never to emerge

I Want a Guy

Mar 9 The Supremes release singles "I Want a Guy" and "Never Again"

Mar 11 Then NHL record 40 penalties, Black Hawks & Maple Leafs (20 each)
Mar 13 Elizabeth Gurley Finn (70) becomes President of US Communist Party

Boxing Title Fight

Mar 13 Floyd Patterson KOs Ingemar Johansson in 6 for heavyweight boxing title

Mar 13 JFK sets up the Alliance for Progress
Mar 13 Landslide in USSR, kills 145
Mar 13 Old type, black & white notes cease to be legal tender
Mar 14 Former New York Yankees general manager George Weiss becomes first President of New York Mets after MLB expansion franchise formed
Mar 15 South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth

Golden Globes

Mar 16 18th Golden Globes: "Spartacus", Burt Lancaster, & Greer Garson win

Event of Interest

Mar 17 Jaguar head William Lyons debuts the first E-Type model at the Geneva International Motor Show, creating a sensation

Automobile Pioneer and Mr Jaguar William Lyons

Mar 17 NY DA arrests professional gamblers who implicate Seton Hall players
Mar 17 South Africa leaves British Commonwealth
Mar 18 6th Eurovision Song Contest: Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg wins "Nous les amoureux" in Cannes

Sports History

Mar 21 Art Modell purchases Cleveland Browns for then record sum ($3,925,000)

Mar 21 The Beatles' first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
Mar 24 NY Senate approves $55M for a baseball stadium at Flushing Meadows
Mar 25 "13 Daughters" closes at 54th St Theater, NYC, after 28 performances
Mar 25 "Gypsy" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 702 performances
Mar 25 115th Grand National: Bobby Beasley wins aboard Nicolaus Silver, 5 lengths ahead of defending champion Merryman II; first grey winner for 90 years

Sports History

Mar 25 23rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Cincinnati beats Ohio State, 70-65 (OT); Buckeyes' future Hall of Fame forward Jerry Lucas is MOP for 2nd straight year

Mar 25 3rd place game is one of the wildest contests in NCAA Tournament history as St Joseph's defeats Utah, 127-120 in quadruple overtime
Mar 25 Elvis Presley performs live on the USS Arizona
Mar 25 Explorer 10 launched into elongated Earth orbit (177/181,000 km)
Mar 25 Sputnik 10 carries a dog into Earth orbit; later recovered
Mar 27 Black demonstrators in Charleston staged ride-ins on street cars
Mar 27 Failed assassination attempt on King Saif al-Islam Achmad of Yemen
Mar 29 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, allowing Washington, D.C. residents to vote in presidential elections

Event of Interest

Mar 29 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria

Anti-apartheid Activist and South African President Nelson Mandela

Appointment of Interest

Mar 29 Economist John Kenneth Galbraith is appointed US Ambassador to India

Economist and Author John Kenneth Galbraith

Mar 29 KCPT TV channel 19 in Kansas City, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting

Event of Interest

Mar 30 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 169,600' (51,690 m)

Experimental Physicist, Astronaut and NASA Test Pilot Joseph A. Walker

Mar 30 The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York
Mar 31 8th National Film Awards (India): "Anuradha" wins the Golden Lotus
Mar 31 Aklilou Habtewold becomes 1st premier of Ethiopia
Apr 3 Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia is sold to J Schleifer Properties
Apr 3 Jacques Offenbach and Yip Harburg's musical "The Happiest Girl in the World", starring Cyril Ritchard and Justine Rule, opens at Martin Beck Theatre, NYC; runs for 97 performances

TV Show Appearance

Apr 5 Barbra Streisand appears on "Jack Paar Show"

Singer-Songwriter and Actress Barbra Streisand

Apr 5 Dutch governor Platteel installs New Guinea Council
Apr 8 "Show Girl" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 100 performances
Apr 8 British liner "Dara" explodes in Persian Gulf, kills 236

US Masters Golf

Apr 10 25th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: South African Gary Player beats defending champion Arnold Palmer and amateur Charles Coe by 1 stroke to become first international champion; Monday finish because of rain

Apr 10 Dutch foreign minister Luns talks to JFK about New Guinea
Apr 10 Washington Senators play first game in franchise history with President John F. Kennedy in attendance; lose a 4-3 decision to the Chicago White Sox
Apr 11 15th NBA Championship: Bos Celtics beat St Louis Hawks, 4 games to 1
Apr 11 Austrian 4th & last government of Raab resigns

Music History

Apr 11 Bob Dylan makes his 1st appearance at Folk City, Greenwich Village, New York City

'The Banality of Evil'

Apr 11 Trial of Adolf Eichmann for war crimes in World War II begins in Jerusalem, Israel

Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann sits in the dock at his 1961 trial in Jerusalem

Grammy Awards

Apr 12 3rd Grammy Awards: Theme From a Summer Place, Ray Charles wins 4

Sports History

Apr 12 Douglas MacArthur declines offer to become baseball commissioner

Launch of Vostok 1

Apr 12 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into space and orbit Earth, aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft

The Vostok 1 spacecraft attached to its launcher

Apr 13 "Carnival!" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 719 performances
Apr 13 UN General Assembly condemns South-Africa's apartheid
Apr 14 1st live television broadcast from Soviet Union
Apr 14 Cuban-American invasion army departs Nicaragua
Apr 14 US element 103 (Lawrencium) discovered
Apr 15 France wins it’s 2nd outright Five Nations Rugby Championship with an 15-3 victory over Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Apr 15 Meredith Willson's musical "The Music Man", starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC. after 1375 performances, 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy
Apr 16 15th Tony Awards: "Becket" (play) & "Bye Bye Birdie" (musical) win
Apr 16 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Chicago Blackhawks beat Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 for a 4-2 series victory

Event of Interest

Apr 17 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro

Cuban Revolutionary and President Fidel Castro

Academy Awards

Apr 17 33rd Academy Awards: "Apartment" wins best film, Burt Lancaster & Elizabeth Taylor win best actor, actress

Apr 17 65th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:39; his 2nd event title

Film & TV History

Apr 17 Jimmy Stewart accepts an honorary Oscar on behalf of his friend Gary Cooper, who is too ill to attend

Apr 18 CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule
Apr 20 American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt flight
Apr 21 Dirk Stikker chosen as secretary general of NATO
Apr 21 French army revolts in Algeria
Apr 21 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,000 m
Apr 22 Uprising of French parachutist of General Salan and Challe in Algeria
Apr 23 Algiers putsch by French generals
Apr 23 Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical comedy "Tenderloin" closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 216 performances

Music History

Apr 23 Singer Judy Garland appears in concert at Carnegie Hall, NYC; event is recorded for a double live album, wins Grammy Award for Album of the Year (the first such win by a female artist)