* 1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish comedian

* 1961 – The Russian ( Soviet ) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 ( Vostok 1 ).

* 1961 – Enedina Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker

* 1961 – Lisa Gerrard, Australian singer, musician, and composer ( Dead Can Dance )

* 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player

* 1961 – Magda Szubanski, Australian actress

* 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.

* 1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player

* 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer, and actress

* 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and director

* 1961 – Helmut Winklhofer, German footballer

* 1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor ( d. 1961 )

* 1961 – Brad Gilbert, American tennis player

* 1961 – John Key, New Zealand politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand

* 1961 – Amy Stiller, American comedian and actress

* 1961 – East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants ' attempts to escape to the West.

* 1961 – Sam Champion, American weatherman

* 1961 – Christos Christodoulou, Greek basketball player

* 1961 – Dawnn Lewis, American actress

* 1961 – Stuart Maconie, English journalist, author, and broadcaster

* 1961 – Neil Mallender, England cricketer

* 1961 – Tom Perrotta, American novelist

* 1961 – Sunil Shetty, Indian actor and producer

* 1961 – Cary Stayner, American serial killer

* 1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy Canadian pilot and engineer ( d. 1961 )

* 1961 – Bruce Matthews, American football player

* 1961 – Bruce L. Castor, Jr. American politician

In 1961 Cook opened the Establishment club at 18 Greek Street in Soho in central London, presenting fellow comedians in a nightclub setting, including American Lenny Bruce.

* Bruce Castor ( born 1961 ), American lawyer and politician

* Show Boat ( 1961 New York City Center revival )— Andrew Frierson singing " Ol ' Man River ", and Carol Bruce, from the 1946 Broadway revival, singing " Bill ".

In 1996 former USAF officers Freeman " Bruce " Olmstead and John McKone received the POW Medal from the Secretary of the Air Force for their captivity in Lubyanka prison in Moscow, Russia, between July 1960 and January 1961 ; the two were shot down by a Russian fighter plane while flying their RB-47 on a patrol over the Barents Sea.

Anger made use of homoerotic images of bikers in his Scorpio Rising, here portrayed by Bruce Byron ( American actor ) | Bruce Byron. In 1961, Anger once more returned to America, where he lived for a time with Marjorie Cameron.

The heir apparent is the present holder's son Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce ( b. 1961 )

Bruce McFee ( born 1961, Johnstone, Renfrewshire ) was a Scottish politician.

He won the Bruce Medal in 1961.

The club was founded in 1961 by Jack Hyett and William ( Bill ) King, with other notable members, including Bruce Fuhrer and Fred Rogers.

In 1961, this collaboration produced " I Like It Like That ", his first and biggest hit, peaking at # 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart ( covered in 1965 by The Dave Clark Five ) and " Something You Got " ( covered by Alvin Robinson, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Chuck Jackson, Earl Grant, Maxine Brown, Bobby Womack, Fairport Convention and Bruce Springsteen ).

He won the James Craig Watson Medal in 1961 and the Bruce Medal in 1964.

* David K. E. Bruce ( 1961 – 1969 )

From 1961 to 1965, the Centennial of the Civil War was commemorated, and the publication of Bruce Catton's Centennial History of the Civil War trilogy highlighted this era.

Bruce Ian McCulloch ( born May 12, 1961 ) is a Canadian actor, writer, comedian, and film director.

Kate Mary Maugham ( 1897 – 1961, married Robert Charles Bruce )

It was also adapted for a BBC radio show in 1961, starring Tom Conway ( who taken over the role on this radio series from Basil Rathbone ) as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as John Watson.

Principal Glass hired Bruce Coulter as Director of Athletics and Head Football Coach in 1961.

Bruce W. Smith ( born 1961 in Los Angeles, California ) is an American character animator, film director, and television producer, best known as the creator of Disney's The Proud Family.

* Bruce W. Smith ( born 1961 ), African-American animator, film director, and television producer

* Bruce Robert Howard ( born 2 May 1961 ), better known as Dr. Robert of 1980s pop band The Blow Monkeys, born in Haddington.