1961 Facts Read About The Berlin Wall The Space Race And More

The ’60s were an important time in history, with many important inventions and progress in many sectors.Specifically during 1961, progress was not just limited to technology and science but also seen in television, society, and culture as well.There was also an immense number of world-changing events that had occurred during 1961. One of the crucial events that would change the shape of history occurred on 20 January 1961. John F. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States of America on this day and would soon create history. President John F. Kennedy became the ‘Time Man of The Year’ as well after becoming the president of the United States in 1961.During this important year in history, residents of Washington D.C. were finally allowed to vote during the Presidential Elections. This was made possible with the 23rd amendment but Washington D.C. residents were not given official representatives in congress. Historians can never forget how much President John F. Kennedy was involved in geopolitical affairs around the world and how effortlessly he led Americans into the Space Race.The Peace Corps was established by him through Executive Order #10924. The Peace Corps was established in March of 1961 and helped build positive American influence globally. This was created as an agency inside the State Department with the primary goal of the Peace Corps being to help developing countries through training American volunteers. Many other interesting events such as America accidentally dropping a nuclear warhead on South Carolina and the Antarctic Treaty of 1961 occurred during this year.If you like reading about important years in history or pop-culture history you can check out other interesting articles such as 1939 facts and 1910 facts.1961 Pop Culture History1961 saw immense changes in popular belief and popular culture. C.S.Lewis had recommended J.R.R.Tolkien for the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature, however, Ivo Andrić received the Nobel Prize instead. According to the panel of decision-makers, Tolkien’s storytelling was not of the highest quality, and that his work has not measured up to the set standards.According to popular opinion, reading ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson was everybody’s favorite pastime during the year 1961. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (1960) was extremely popular among adults and ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ (1960) was a hit among children during 1961, the following year after their release. Elvis Presley was the most popular male fashion icon (or ‘hunk’) during that time, while Elizabeth Taylor was the most popular actress during 1961.Audrey Hepburn was the most popular person in the United States of America during this time and ‘101 Dalmations’ and ‘West Side Story’ were two of the most popular films in 1961. ‘West Side Story’ would later go on to win 10 Academy Awards or Oscars. ‘Cant’ Help Falling in Love’ by Elvis Presley topped in number two on the Billboard Hot 100 list of songs. However, the top song during this year was Bobby Lewis’s ‘Tossin’ and Turnin’.‘The Apartment’ won the Oscar for being the best film of this year. The most popular TV shows during this time were ‘Wagon Train’, ‘The Danny Thomas Show’, ‘Candid Camera’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’, ‘The Andy Griffith Show’, and ‘ABC’s Wide World’. Interestingly, the IBM 704 became the first computer to have sung a song during 1961. The song was ‘Daisy Bell’.A lot of important geopolitical events occurred during this year however, there were as many other crucial cultural events that affected humans as a society as well as their behavior. For example, Black Friday finally became popular and mainstream in 1961.Ever since then, Black Fridays have been one of the busiest shopping days of the year, thus making a lot of companies run promotions for their product around this day and offer discounts. Similarly, shoppers also wait for this day to purchase items at a discounted rate. Danny’s Donuts was renamed Denny’s, the popular restaurant chain we all know today during this year as well.The first instance of ‘found footage’ genre of filmmaking was seen when the 1961 film ‘The Connection’ was released. This is almost two decades before the critically acclaimed, ‘Cannibal Holocaust’. ‘Homicidal’, another 1961 film, offered the viewers a ‘fright break’ before the climax. This was for the people in the audience who found the movie too scary. They even got an opportunity to get a refund but those who left had their pictures taken and added to the ‘Coward’s Corner’. Sprite, the globally loved soft drink was also introduced during the year 1961.During this year, Nancy Fleming was declared ‘Miss America’ and Sharon Brown was declared ‘Miss USA’. Names such as ‘John’, ‘Mary’, ‘James’, ‘David’, ‘Susan’ and ‘Lisa’ were extremely popular baby names. Modern art became quite popular around this time as well with an increasing number of art exhibitions. 1961 is a very important year in pop culture history and the year had also experienced a number of trends and movements that made waves across the United States and even the world.First Men In SpaceYuri Gagarin made history by becoming the first man in space in the year 1961. With this victory, Russia took the lead in the Space Race. Using his capsule, the Vostok 1, he completed a full orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961.America, however, took note and soon sent Alan Shepard to space on May 5, in the same year. The Apollo program was a direct result of the Soviet Orbital Flight in 1961. Alan Shepard became the first American in space and helped the US dominate the Space Race in the years to come, eventually sending astronauts to the moon. President Kennedy eventually asked for $531 million in 1961 to send an American on the surface of the moon.The Tsar Bomb was also detonated during the year 1961 in an island known as Novaya Zemlya in the Russian Arctic Sea, becoming the largest nuclear bomb ever. This nuclear warhead had explosive power that was equal to 3800 Hiroshima bombs. Meanwhile, on January 23, near Goldsboro, North Carolina, a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress with two three to five megaton nuclear bombs got damaged while in mid-air, ending up dropping the nuclear Mark 39 payloads on the nearby area.During the same year, Leonid Rogozov performed his own appendectomy while on a remote expedition to the middle of Antarctica during this year. Rogozov not only removed his own appendix and sutured up his accidentally sliced intestine, but also continued the expedition. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 was also drawn during this time and prohibited military and mining activity on this continent. After this, only scientific activity would be allowed and no nuclear activity would be conducted here.With this treaty, Antarctica would also be safe from becoming a garbage dump or radioactive waste dump. The Terra Nova Islands were discovered by an Australian expedition team conducting research during 1961. Lawrencium, the element with the atomic number 103 was discovered this year as well in Berkeley, at the University of California.Bay Of PigsThe Bay of Pigs lies on the south coast of Cuba and became the battleground for an invasion led by Cuban exiles during April of 1961.On April 17, 1961, a full-blown invasion was carried out by 1400 Cubans who were exiled after Fidel Castro overthrew the then Cuban Government in 1959. The invasion was heavily backed by the US Government but turned out to be a failed landing operation. In history, this event is popularly known as the ‘Bay of Pigs Invasion’. The invasion was sanctioned by President Kennedy after being briefed by the CIA or the Central Intelligence Agency.The United States was not on good terms with Cuba and wished to overthrow Castro and the Cuban communist government. The CIA and the United States administration had relied on the Cuban people and factions from the Cuban military to support this invasion but the siege was a complete failure even with much planning.The plan consisted of a force consisting of exiled Cubans who would launch a surprise attack while paratroopers would take care of Cuban forces and stop all means of transportation. A smaller force would also land on the east coast of Cuba in order to confuse the then Cuban government. President Kennedy and the CIA had not seen one thing coming, the incompetency of the old B-26 bombers that had missed many of their targets.Eight such bombers were commissioned and painted to look like Cuban military planes in order to comb Cuban bases and airfields, however, this was a massive fail. This led to the second airstrike getting canceled and also the world finding out about American intervention in Cuba.Castro initiated the extermination of the rebels and ordered around 20,000 troops to stop the invasion. By the next few days, Cuban planes had shot down American support planes and captured the members of the exiled Cuban force. This invasion led to many deaths and dozens of American military assets destroyed.Berlin WallThe Cold War between the United States and the Soviets led to Germany becoming divided. Thus, during August of 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall started.Germany was fundamentally divided into West and East Germany, with East Germans favoring the Soviets and West Germans supporting American intervention. However, during this year, a lot of East German refugees started crossing into West Berlin and this eventually led to huge economic and demographic problems for the East German government.After the Vienna Summit in June 1961 failed, Nikita Khrushchev threatened to sign a separate treaty with East December. The main point of the disagreement was the occupation of Berlin by America and its allies. However, Kennedy had declared after the 1961 Vienna Conference that Berlin was strategically important to the US.By the middle of 1961, about 20% of the East German population had defected to the west, thus leaving East Germany short of teachers, engineers, doctors, and other skilled laborers. Thus, on the August 12, the East German Government started building a wall between West and East Berlin.The Soviets had also helped the GDR or German Democratic Republic in building this world and by August 17, concrete and massive blocks started being placed in order to build the Berlin Wall. This historic structure would soon become 87 mi (140.01 km) long.World Wildlife FundThe WWF or the World Wildlife Fund was conceived on April 29, 1961 as a world-wide fund for nature with its first-ever office being inside IUCN’s headquarters in Switzerland.WWF officially began its operations in September of the same year and would soon become the largest wildlife conservation organization in the world. The Dutch Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld became the first president of WWF and was one of the founding members alongside Victor Stolan, Sir Julian Huxley, Edward Max Nicholson, and Sir Peter Scott. Sir Peter Scott is responsible for creating the iconic WWF logo featuring the panda that we all know today.The world-wide fund found immense success after becoming one of the most proactive non-government organizations fighting for wildlife. Other than these interesting incidents that had occurred during this historical year, there were also many important things that happened in sports and media that changed the everyday life of people and sports fans. The 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act prohibited the NFL from playing on Fridays and Saturdays.Watching the New York Yankees play and watching the ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ was a part of everyday life for Americans during 1961. The New York Yankees were the World Series champions during this year while Rod Laver and Angela Mortimer dominated the Wimbledon World Series in the Men’s and Women’s section respectively. In the NCAA Football Orange Bowl, the year started off with Ole Miss securing a victory against Rice Cotton Bowl. Around the same time, in the United Kingdom, the Farthing coin, which had been used since the 13th century, was rendered to not be accepted currency anymore.Some famous and important people born in 1961 include George Clooney, Princess Diana of Wales, Barack Obama, Woody Harrelson, Michael J. Fox, and Meg Ryan. Aside from Barack Obama, other valuable political figures such as Ferenc Gyurcsany (former Prime Minister of Hungary) and Julia Gillard (former Prime Minister of Australia) have also been born in 1961. Even the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, was born this year. 1961 gave the world movies such as ‘West Side Story’ and ‘The Parent Trap’.The year also helped people follow their new fashion icons into an era of punk, alternative, and counterculture fashion. 1961 also saw the ‘Freedom Riders’. The freedom riders were protestors against the segregation of black and white people.The participants of the Freedom Rides protested through actions such as not sitting in the designated areas for different races. White people started sitting where African American people sat while African Americans took up spots for white people.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 1961 facts then why not take a look at 1978 facts, or 1988 facts.

The ’60s were an important time in history, with many important inventions and progress in many sectors.