April 1961 in History

Events in History

Apr 10 Dutch foreign minister Luns talks to JFK about New Guinea

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

Apr 12 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit Earth (Vostok 1)

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

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 24 17th century Swedish warship Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is salvaged

Apr 25 Belgium government of Gaston Eyskens falls over the Unitary Law

Apr 25 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
Apr 25 Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin
Apr 25 Premier Moise Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo
Apr 25 Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
Apr 25 Unmanned Mercury test explodes on launch pad
Apr 26 French paratroopers' revolt suppressed in Algeria
Apr 27 NASA launches Explorer 11 into Earth orbit to study gamma rays
Apr 27 Sierra Leone declares independence from UK
Apr 28 Lt Col Gueorgui Mossolov takes E-66A to 34,714 m altitude
Apr 30 1st shuttle flights between Washington, D.C., Boston & NYC begin (Eastern)
Apr 30 Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba receives Lenin-Peace Prize

Apr 5 Jim LeRoy, Airshow Pilot
Apr 6 Rory Bremner, impressionist
Apr 10 Joe Cole, American roadie (Black Flag, Rollins Band), born in California (d. 1991)
Apr 17 Frank J. Christensen, American labor leader, born in Chicago, Illinois
Apr 18 Pamella Bordes, British parliament escort, former Miss India and photographer, born in New Delhi, India
Apr 25 Dinesh D'Souza, Indian-American author (2016: Obama's America), born in Mumbai, India
Apr 28 Futoshi Matsunaga, Japanese serial killer, born in Kitakyūshū, Japan