* 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 )

George I. Sanchez, " Arithmetic in Maya ", Austin-Texas, 1961 found another base 5, base 4 abacus in the Yucatán that also computed calendar data.

Murder, She Said ( 1961, directed by George Pollock ) was the first of four British MGM productions starring Rutherford.

In March 1961 the Grenada United Labour Party won the general election and George E. D.

* Harvey, W. J, The Art of George Eliot, London, Chatto & Windus, 1961.

* Kateb, George ( 1961 ).

* 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter, actor, and comedian ( d. 1961 )

* 1889 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright ( d. 1961 )

During 1961 spring training, Clemente tried to modify his batting technique by using a heavier bat in order to slow the speed of his swing, following advice from Pirates ' batting coach George Sisler.

* The Magic Sword, 1961 film loosely based on the legend of St. George and the Dragon

Marino's 48 touchdown passes broke the previous record of 36, which was held by both George Blanda for the Houston Oilers in 1961 and Y. A.

The opening title music with the car on the road had been used in a 1961 episode of the TV series " Ben Casey " entitled " I Remember a Lemon Tree ," that piece of music accompanying each time that George C. Scott's character, a doctor who is secretly a drug addict, is injecting himself with morphine.

In 1961 and 1962 George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party, was invited to speak by Elijah Muhammad at a Nation of Islam rally.

The WFP was first established in 1961 after the 1960 Food and Agricultural Organization ( FAO ) Conference, when George McGovern, director of the US Food for Peace Programmes, proposed establishing a multilateral food aid programme.

The play spawned an innovative 1961 musical film of the same name, directed by Robert Wise and Robbins, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn.

Featured performers were George Chakiris, who won an Academy Award as Bernardo in the 1961 film version, as Riff, Marlys Watters as Maria, Don McKay as Tony, and Chita Rivera reprising her Broadway role as Anita.

* May 26 – George Formby, English singer and comedian ( d. 1961 )

* November 16 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright ( d. 1961 )

* November 5 – George A. Malcolm, American jurist & educator ( d. 1961 )

* December 25 – Grace George, American stage actress ( d. 1961 )

In 1961 the film was nominated for Best Art Direction ( art directors George W. Davis and Addison Hehr ) and Best Sound, but failed to win either.

This theory was popularised in a 1961 book called The Drama of the Lost Disciples by George Jowett, but Jowett did not originate it.

* This Time The World by George Lincoln Rockwell ( 1961 ; Liberty Bell Publications, 2004, ISBN 1-59364-014-5 )

* Ebbledum E. Elephant Iris Degg ( Rushton illustrations only ) ( George G. Harrap, 1961.

George Allen & Unwin Ltd: Liverpool, 1961.