From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of events
Events from the year 1961 in the United States .
Incumbents
Federal government
Dwight D. Eisenhower (
R -
Kansas /
Pennsylvania ) (until January 20)
John F. Kennedy (
D -
Massachusetts ) (starting January 20)
Richard Nixon (
R -
California ) (until January 20)
Lyndon B. Johnson (
D -
Texas ) (starting January 20)
Sam Rayburn (
D -
Texas ) (until November 16)
vacant (starting November 16)
Lyndon B. Johnson (
D -
Texas ) (until January 3)
Mike Mansfield (
D -
Montana ) (starting January 3)
Governors and
lieutenant governors
Governors
Governor of Alabama :
John M. Patterson (
Democratic )
Governor of Alaska :
William A. Egan (
Democratic )
Governor of Arizona :
Paul Fannin (
Republican )
Governor of Arkansas :
Orval Faubus (
Democratic )
Governor of California :
Pat Brown (
Democratic )
Governor of Colorado :
Stephen L. R. McNichols (
Democratic )
Governor of Connecticut :
Abraham A. Ribicoff (
Democratic ) (until January 21),
John N. Dempsey (
Democratic ) (starting January 21)
Governor of Delaware :
David P. Buckson (
Republican ) (until January 17),
Elbert N. Carvel (
Democratic ) (starting January 17)
Governor of Florida :
LeRoy Collins (
Democratic ) (until January 3),
C. Farris Bryant (
Democratic ) (starting January 3)
Governor of Georgia :
Ernest Vandiver (
Democratic )
Governor of Hawaii :
William F. Quinn (
Republican )
Governor of Idaho :
Robert E. Smylie (
Republican )
Governor of Illinois :
William G. Stratton (
Republican ) (until January 9),
Otto Kerner, Jr. (
Democratic ) (starting January 9)
Governor of Indiana :
Harold W. Handley (
Republican ) (until January 9),
Matthew E. Welsh (
Democratic ) (starting January 9)
Governor of Iowa :
Herschel C. Loveless (
Democratic ) (until January 12),
Norman A. Erbe (
Republican ) (starting January 12)
Governor of Kansas :
George Docking (
Democratic ) (until January 9),
John Anderson, Jr. (
Republican ) (starting January 9)
Governor of Kentucky :
Bert T. Combs (
Democratic )
Governor of Louisiana :
Jimmie H. Davis (
Democratic )
Governor of Maine :
John H. Reed (
Republican )
Governor of Maryland :
J. Millard Tawes (
Democratic )
Governor of Massachusetts :
Foster Furcolo (
Democratic ) (until January 5),
John A. Volpe (
Republican ) (starting January 5)
Governor of Michigan :
G. Mennen Williams (
Democratic ) (until January 1),
John Swainson (
Democratic ) (starting January 1)
Governor of Minnesota :
Orville L. Freeman (
Democratic ) (until January 2),
Elmer L. Andersen (
Republican ) (starting January 2)
Governor of Mississippi :
Ross R. Barnett (
Democratic )
Governor of Missouri :
James T. Blair, Jr. (
Democratic ) (until January 9),
John M. Dalton (
Democratic ) (starting January 9)
Governor of Montana :
J. Hugo Aronson (
Republican ) (until January 2),
Donald Grant Nutter (
Republican ) (starting January 2)
Governor of Nebraska :
Dwight W. Burney (
Republican ) (until January 5),
Frank B. Morrison (
Democratic ) (starting January 5)
Governor of Nevada :
Grant Sawyer (
Democratic )
Governor of New Hampshire :
Wesley Powell (
Republican )
Governor of New Jersey :
Robert B. Meyner (
Democratic )
Governor of New Mexico :
John Burroughs (
Democratic ) (until January 1),
Edwin L. Mechem (
Republican ) (starting January 1)
Governor of New York :
Nelson Rockefeller (
Republican )
Governor of North Carolina :
Luther H. Hodges (
Democratic ) (until January 5),
Terry Sanford (
Democratic ) (starting January 5)
Governor of North Dakota :
John E. Davis (
Republican ) (until January 4),
William L. Guy (
Democratic ) (starting January 4)
Governor of Ohio :
Michael DiSalle (
Democratic )
Governor of Oklahoma :
J. Howard Edmondson (
Democratic )
Governor of Oregon :
Mark Hatfield (
Republican )
Governor of Pennsylvania :
David L. Lawrence (
Democratic )
Governor of Rhode Island :
Christopher Del Sesto (
Republican ) (until January 3),
John A. Notte, Jr. (
Democratic ) (starting January 3)
Governor of South Carolina :
Ernest Hollings (
Democratic )
Governor of South Dakota :
Ralph Herseth (
Democratic ) (until January 3),
Archie M. Gubbrud (
Republican ) (starting January 3)
Governor of Tennessee :
Buford Ellington (
Democratic )
Governor of Texas :
Price Daniel (
Democratic )
Governor of Utah :
George Dewey Clyde (
Republican )
Governor of Vermont :
Robert T. Stafford (
Republican ) (until January 5),
F. Ray Keyser, Jr. (
Republican ) (starting January 5)
Governor of Virginia :
J. Lindsay Almond (
Democratic )
Governor of Washington :
Albert D. Rosellini (
Democratic )
Governor of West Virginia :
Cecil H. Underwood (
Republican ) (until January 16),
William Wallace Barron (
Democratic ) (starting January 16)
Governor of Wisconsin :
Gaylord A. Nelson (
Democratic )
Governor of Wyoming :
John J. Hickey (
Democratic ) (until January 2),
Jack R. Gage (
Democratic ) (starting January 2)
Lieutenant governors
Lieutenant Governor of Alabama :
Albert B. Boutwell (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Alaska :
Hugh Wade (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas :
Nathan Green Gordon (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of California :
Glenn Malcolm Anderson (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado :
Robert Lee Knous (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut :
John N. Dempsey (
Democratic ) (until January 21),
Anthony J. Armentano (
Democratic ) (starting January 21)
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware : vacant (until January 17),
Eugene Lammot (
Democratic ) (starting January 17)
Lieutenant Governor of Georgia :
Garland T. Byrd (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii :
James Kealoha (
Republican )
Lieutenant Governor of Idaho :
W. E. Drevlow (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois :
John William Chapman (
Republican ) (until January 9),
Samuel H. Shapiro (
Democratic ) (starting January 9)
Lieutenant Governor of Indiana :
Crawford F. Parker (
Republican ) (until January 9),
Richard O. Ristine (
Republican ) (starting January 9)
Lieutenant Governor of Iowa :
Edward J. McManus (
Democratic ) (until January 12),
W. L. Mooty (
Democratic ) (starting January 12)
Lieutenant Governor of Kansas :
Joseph W. Henkle, Sr. (
Democratic ) (until January 9),
Harold H. Chase (
Republican ) (starting January 9)
Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky :
Wilson W. Wyatt (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana :
C. C. Aycock (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts : vacant (until January 5),
Edward F. McLaughlin, Jr. (
Democratic ) (starting January 5)
Lieutenant Governor of Michigan :
John B. Swainson (
Democratic ) (until January 1),
T. John Lesinski (
Democratic ) (starting January 1)
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota :
Karl Rolvaag (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi :
Paul B. Johnson, Jr. (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Missouri : vacant (until January 9),
Hilary A. Bush (
Democratic ) (starting January 9)
Lieutenant Governor of Montana : Paul Cannon (
Democratic ) (until January 2),
Tim M. Babcock (
Republican ) (starting January 2)
Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska :
Dwight W. Burney (
Republican )
Lieutenant Governor of Nevada :
Rex Bell (
Republican )
Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico : Ed V. Mead (
Democratic ) (until January 1),
Tom Bolack (
Republican ) (starting January 1)
Lieutenant Governor of New York :
Malcolm Wilson (
Republican )
Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina :
Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota :
Clarence P. Dahl (
Republican ) (until January 4),
Orville W. Hagen (
Republican ) (starting January 4)
Lieutenant Governor of Ohio :
John W. Donahey (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma :
George Nigh (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania :
John Morgan Davis (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island :
John A. Notte, Jr. (
Democratic ) (until January 3),
Edward P. Gallogly (
Democratic ) (starting January 3)
Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina :
Burnet R. Maybank, Jr. (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota :
John F. Lindley (
Democratic ) (until January 3),
Joseph H. Bottum (
Republican ) (starting January 3)
Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee : William D. Baird (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Texas :
Ben Ramsey (
Democratic ) (until September 18), vacant (starting September 18)
Lieutenant Governor of Vermont :
Robert S. Babcock (
Republican ) (until January 5),
Ralph A. Foote (
Republican ) (starting January 5)
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia :
Allie Edward Stokes Stephens (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Washington :
John Cherberg (
Democratic )
Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin :
Philleo Nash (
Democratic ) (until January 2),
Warren P. Knowles (
Republican ) (starting January 2)
Events
January–March
January 20:
John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th U.S. president
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the 37th U.S. vice president
January 3
January 5 – Italian sculptor
Alfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate in
Rome , and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the
Etruscan terracotta warriors in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art .
January 17 – President
Dwight Eisenhower gives his Farewell Address, he warns of the increasing power of a "
military-industrial complex ".
January 20 –
John F. Kennedy is sworn in as the 35th
president of the United States , and
Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 37th
vice president .
January 24
January 25
January 26 –
John F. Kennedy appoints
Janet G. Travell to be his physician, the first woman to hold this appointment.
January 30 – President
John F. Kennedy delivers his first
State of the Union Address .
January 31 –
Ham , a 37-pound (17-kg) male chimpanzee, is rocketed into space aboard
Mercury-Redstone 2 , in a test of the
Project Mercury capsule, designed to carry United States
astronauts into space.
February 1 – The United States launches its first test of the
Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile.
[1]
February 14 –
Discovery of the chemical elements : Element 103,
Lawrencium , is first synthesized in
Berkeley, California .
February 15
March 1 –
President of the United States
John F. Kennedy establishes the
Peace Corps .
[3]
March 8 – The first U.S.
Polaris
submarines arrive at
Holy Loch .
March 13
March 29 – The
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of
Washington, D.C. to vote in
presidential elections.
March 30 – The
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at
New York City .
April–June
President Kennedy delivers his proposal to put a man on the Moon before a joint session of Congress, May 25, 1961
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
President
John F. Kennedy before a joint session of Congress, May 25, 1961
July–September
July 21 –
Mercury program :
Gus Grissom , piloting the
Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule
Liberty Bell 7 , becomes the second American to go into space (sub-orbital). Upon splashdown, the hatch prematurely opens, and the capsule sinks (it is recovered in 1999).
July 31 – At
Fenway Park in
Boston, Massachusetts , the first
All-Star Game tie in major league
baseball history occurs, when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain (the only tie until 2002 in MLB All-Star Game history).
August – USA founds
Alliance for Progress .
August 5 – The
Six Flags over Texas theme park officially opens to the public.
August 7 –
Cape Cod National Seashore is established.
September 7 –
Tom and Jerry make a return with their first episode since 1958,
Switchin' Kitten .
September 17 – The world's first retractable roof stadium, the
Civic Arena , opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
September 24 – The
Walt Disney anthology television series , renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color , moves from
ABC to
NBC after seven years on the air, and begins telecasting its programs in color for the first time.
September 25 – Black
voting rights activist
Herbert Lee is murdered by
Mississippi state representative
E. H. Hurst .
October–December
October 1 – Baseball player
Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, beating the 34-year-old record held by
Babe Ruth .
October 9 – The
New York Yankees defeat the
Cincinnati Reds , 4 games to 1, to win their 19th World Series Title.
October 27 – A standoff between
Soviet and American tanks in
Berlin ,
Germany heightens
Cold War tensions.
November – The
Fantastic Four #1 comic debuts, launching the
Marvel Universe and revolutionizing the
American comic book industry.
November 2 – Kean opens at Broadway Theater in New York City for 92 performances.
November 6 – The U.S. government issues a stamp honoring the one-hundredth birthday of
James Naismith .
November 9 –
Robert M. White records a world record speed in a rocket plane of 6,585 km/h flying an
X-15 .
November 17 –
Michael Rockefeller , son of
New York Governor , and later
Vice President
Nelson Rockefeller , disappears in the jungles of
New Guinea .
November 18 – U.S. President
John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
November 20 – The funeral of longtime House Speaker
Sam Rayburn is held in
Washington, D.C. Two former presidents (
Truman ,
Eisenhower ) and one future one (
Lyndon B. Johnson ) join
President Kennedy in paying their respects.
December 5 – U.S. President
John F. Kennedy gives support to the
Volta Dam project in
Ghana .
December 11 – The
Vietnam War officially begins, as the first American helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.
Ongoing
Sport
Births
January
Dexter King
February
George Stephanopoulos
March
Reggie Fils-Aimé
April
Eddie Murphy
May
Wally Wingert
George Clooney
Bill de Blasio
May 3
David Vitter , U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 2005 to 2017
Joe Murray , animator, writer, illustrator, producer, director, and voice actor
May 6
May 7 –
Robert Spano , conductor and pianist
May 8 –
Bill de Blasio , politician,
Mayor of New York City from 2014
May 11
May 12
May 28 –
Mark F. Giuliano , law enforcememnt official (died
2024 )
May 31 –
Lea Thompson , actress and director
June
July
August
Barack Obama
Stephen Hillenburg
September
October
Randy Jackson
November
Pat Toomey
December
Sean Hannity
Deaths
Emily Greene Balch
Dashiell Hammett
Ernest Hemingway
Ty Cobb
Marion Davies
Edith Wilson
January 9 –
Emily Greene Balch , writer, pacifist and winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 (born
1867 )
January 10 –
Dashiell Hammett , writer (born
1894 )
January 19 –
Nathaniel Baldwin , inventor and Mormon fundamentalist (born
1878 )
January 24 –
Alfred Carlton Gilbert , inventor, athlete, magician, businessman, and toy maker (born
1884 )
January 29 –
John F. O'Ryan , soldier, lawyer and politician (born
1874 )
February 3 –
Anna May Wong , film actress (born
1905 )
March 12 –
Belinda Lee , English actress (born
1935 in the United Kingdom )
March 17 –
Susanna M. Salter , politician and activist (born
1860 )
April 7 –
Marian Driscoll Jordan , actress and radio personality (born
1898 )
May 8 –
Raymond DeWalt , inventor and businessman (born
1885 )
May 13 –
Gary Cooper , actor (born
1901 )
May 16 –
George A. Malcolm , jurist and educator (born
1881 )
May 19 –
Grace George , actress (born
1879 )
May 23 –
Joan Davis , comedic actress and vaudevillian (born
1912 )
June 1 –
Melvin Jones , founder of
Lions Clubs International (born
1879 )
June 2 –
George S. Kaufman , playwright (born
1889 )
June 17 –
Jeff Chandler , actor (born
1918 )
June 24 –
William J. Connors , politician (born
1891 )
June 27 –
Paul Guilfoyle , actor (born
1902 )
June 30 –
Lee de Forest , inventor (born
1873 )
July 2 –
Ernest Hemingway , fiction writer, journalist and winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for
The Old Man and the Sea (born
1899 )
July 4 –
Franklyn Farnum , actor (born
1878 )
July 6 –
Woodall Rodgers , lawyer and politician,
Mayor of Dallas (born
1890 )
July 9 –
Alan Marshal , Australian-born actor (born
1909 )
July 17 –
Ty Cobb , baseball player (born
1909 )
August 26 –
Gail Russell , actress (born
1924 )
August 30 –
Charles Coburn , actor (born
1877 )
September 3 –
Fay-Cooper Cole , anthropologist (born
1881 )
September 10 –
Leo Carrillo , actor (born
1880 )
September 11 –
George Irving , actor (born
1874 )
September 13 –
Fay Roope , actor (born
1893 )
September 22 –
Marion Davies , actress (born
1897 )
September 23 –
John Eldredge , actor (born
1904 )
September 25 –
Frank Fay , actor (born
1897 )
October 1 –
Donald Cook , actor (born
1901 )
October 11
October 22 –
Joseph M. Schenck , studio film executive (born
1876 in Russia )
October 31 –
Jim Aiken , football and basketball player and coach (born
1899 )
November 2 –
James Thurber , cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright (born
1894 )
November 16 –
Sam Rayburn , politician (born
1882 )
December 13 –
Grandma Moses , painter and folk artist (born
1860 )
December 20 –
Moss Hart , playwright, librettist, and theater director (born
1904 )
December 22 –
Dick Elliott , actor (born
1886 )
December 25 –
Otto Loewi , pharmacologist (born
1873 in Germany )
December 28 –
Edith Wilson ,
First Lady of the United States (born
1872 )
See also
References
^
"The 6555th, Chapter III, Section 8, The MINUTEMAN Ballistic Missile Test Program" . Retrieved 16 July 2016 .
^
a
b
[1]
Archived 2010-05-21 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"On This Day" , New York Times , retrieved 25 August 2016
^
"Address, "The President and the Press," Before The American Newspaper Publishers Association, 27 April 1961" . Retrieved 16 July 2016 .
^ Southern, Nathan.
"Gabrielle Carteris profile" . MSN . Archived from
the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved June 3, 2007 .
^
"UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019" .
United Press International . January 2, 2019.
Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019 .
^
"UPI Almanac for Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019" .
United Press International . January 5, 2019.
Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019 .
^ Kay, Michael [@RealMichaelKay] (February 2, 2020).
"This all makes it a perfect birthday" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
^ Linden, Eric.
"Vince Neil Biography" .
AllMusic .
Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014 .
^ Cain, Sian (September 3, 2020).
"David Graeber, anthropologist and author of Bullshit Jobs, dies aged 59" . The Guardian .
Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020 .
^
Former Bombers defensive end, 1990 Grey Cup champion Quency Williams passes away at 61
^ Miller, Sam (April 29, 2020).
"Happy 59th! Or Is It 58th? Cracking the Mystery of Don Mattingly's Birthday" .
ESPN . Retrieved April 30, 2020 .
^
Jim Corsi, former Red Sox pitcher, dead at 60
^
wen Knapp, award-winning reporter, groundbreaking columnist, editor, and mentor, has died at 61
^
Tom Sizemore: Saving Private Ryan actor dies at 61 after brain aneurysm
External links