1961

1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1961st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 961st year of the 2nd millennium, the 61st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1960s decade. Its rendering using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system creates a numeral which looks the same when put upside down. The next such year will be 6009.

• John F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States.
• The Fantastic Four make their debut.
• Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.
• Sierra Leone becomes independent.
• The Berlin Wall is built.
• The Vietnam War begins.
• Bay of Pigs invasion
• Rockband Golden Earring was founded

• January 26 – Wayne Gretzky, Retired Canadian NHL player
• January 28 – Arnaldur Indridason, Icelandic writer
• February 13 – Henry Rollins, American musician and activist (Black Flag)
• March 3 – John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer
• April 1 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer
• May 6 – George Clooney, American actor
• June 4 – Ferenc Gyurcsany, former Prime Minister of Hungary
• June 9 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian actor
• June 14 – Boy George, British singer
• June 18 – Alison Moyet, British singer
• June 25 – Ricky Gervais, British comedian and actor
• July 1 – Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 1997)
• July 1 – Carl Lewis, American athlete
• July 23 – Woody Harrelson, American actor
• July 30 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor
• July 31 - Peter O'Brien, American drummer (Orleans)
• August 4 – Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
• August 8 – The Edge, Irish musician (U2)
• August 9 – John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• September 28 - George Rossi, Scottish actor (d. 2022)
• September 29 – Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia
• October 11 – Amr Diab, Egyptian singer
• October 25 - Chad Smith, American drummer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• October 26 – Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya
• November 12 – Nadia Comaneci, Romanian gymnast
• November 19 – Meg Ryan, American actress
• November 24 – Arundhati Roy, Indian activist and writer
• December 24 – Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
• December 25 – Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian senator
• December 27 – Guido Westerwelle, German politician
• December 30 – Ben Johnson, Canadian athlete

• January 4 – Erwin Schroedinger, Austrian physicist (b. 1887)
• January 9 – Emily Greene Balch, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1867)
• January 17 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician (b. 1925)
• February 3 – Viscount Dunrossil, Australian Governor-General (b. 1893)
• February 9 – Carlos Luz, 19th President of Brazil (b. 1894)
• March 3 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)
• March 23 – Valentin Bondarenko, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)
• April 9 – Ahmet Zog, King of Albania (b. 1895)
• May 30 – Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)
• June 6 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)
• July 2 – Ernest Hemingway, American writer (b. 1899)
• August 20 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
• September 10 – Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (b. 1928)
• September 18 – Dag Hammarskioeld, UN Secretary-General (b. 1905)
• October 30 – Luigi Einaudi, Italian politician (b. 1874)
• November 9 – Ferdinand Bie, Norwegian athlete (b. 1888)
• December 20 – Earle Page, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)

• Nobel Prize in Physics won by Robert Hofstadter, American physicist, and Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry won by Melvin Calvin, American biochemist
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine won by Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist
• Nobel Prize in Literature won by Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer
• Nobel Peace Prize won by Dag Hammarskjöld (posthumously), Swedish diplomat

• 101 Dalmatians, an animated movie
• The Absent-Minded Professor by Walt Disney Productions
• Breakfast at Tiffany's starring Audrey Hepburn
• El Cid starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren
• La Dolce Vita starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg
• The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn
• The Hustler starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason
• Lover Come Back starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
• The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills
• West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards

• "I Fall to Pieces" – Patsy Cline
• "Crazy" – Patsy Cline
• "Where the Boys Are" – Connie Francis
• "Running Scared" – Roy Orbison
• "Crying" – Roy Orbison
• "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away" – Gene Pitney
• "Town Without Pity" – Gene Pitney
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" – The Tokens
• "Calcutta" – Lawrence Welk
• "Runaround Sue" – Dion
• "Let's Go Trippin'" – Dick Dale's first local hit, regarded as first surf rock instrumental
• "Tossin' & Turnin' " – Bobby Lewis
• "Runaway" – Del Shannon
• "Garde-Moi la Dernière Danse" – Dalida
• "Nuits d'Espagne" – Dalida
• "Blue Moon" – The Marcels
• "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" – The Shirelles
• "There's No Other Like My Baby" – The Crystals' first hit
• "Please Mr. Postman" – The Marvelettes
• "Quarter To Three" – Gary U.S. Bonds
• "Shop Around" – The Miracles
• "Travelin' Man" – Ricky Nelson
• "Hello Mary Lou" – Ricky Nelson
• "Stand By Me" – Ben E. King
• "The Wanderer" – Dion
• "The Mountain's High" – Dick and Deedee
• "Big River, Big Man" – Claude King
• "The Commancheros" – Claude King
• "Moody River" – Pat Boone
• "I Love How You Love Me" – The Paris Sisters

• Border Country – Raymond Williams
• Casanova's Chinese Restaurant – Anthony Powell
• The Chapman Report – Irving Wallace
• Clea – Lawrence Durrell

• Don't Tell Alfred – Nancy Mitford

• For Your Eyes Only – Ian Fleming
• Green Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss
• Hunters in a Narrow Street – Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
• The Insolences of Brother Anonymous – Jean-Paul Desbiens
• The Many Colored Coat – Morley Callaghan
• Take a Girl Like You – Kingsley Amis
• To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
• The Torch – Wilder Penfield
• The Violent Bear It Away – Flannery O'Connor
• The White Stone – Carlo Coccioli
• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – Henry Farrell

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1961.

• 1961 in sports