* 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 – 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 )

and now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim the week of april 29th to may 7th, 1961, as Rhode Island Heritage Week, advising our citizens that throughout this week many historic houses and beautiful gardens will be open to visitors as well as industrial plants, craft shops, museums and libraries and I earnestly urge all to take advantage of these opportunities to see as many of these places as they can during this outstanding week.

now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim Saturday, May 20th, 1961, as Armed Forces Day, reminding our citizens that we should rededicate ourselves to our Nation, respecting the uniforms as the guardians of our precious liberty.

and now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim Monday, May 22nd, 1961, as National Maritime Day, reminding our citizens that American Merchant ships and American seamen are ready at all times to serve our Nation in the cause of freedom and justice.

and now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim the week of June 11th to 17th, 1961, as Miss Rhode Island Pageant Week, with deep appreciation to the Jaycees, local and statewide, for the presentation of their beautiful Pageants and the encouragement of all Rhode Island girls to participate.

and now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim Tuesday, October 24th, 1961, as United Nations day, calling upon all our citizens to engage in appropriate observances, demonstrating faith in the United Nations and thereby contributing to a better understanding of the aims of the United Nations throughout the land.

and now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim the week of Monday, November 13, 1961, as the State Ballet of Rhode Island Week, requesting all Rhode Islanders to give special attention to this unusual event which should contribute to the cultural life of the State.

now, therefore, do I, John A. Notte, Jr., governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, proclaim Thursday, November 23rd, 1961, as Thanksgiving Day,

Suppose John Jones, who, for 1960, filed on the basis of a calendar year, died June 20, 1961.

John Di Massimo has been elected president of the 1961 Columbus Day Celebration Committee, it was announced yesterday.

First conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a three-man spacecraft to follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal of " landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth " by the end of the 1960s, which he proposed in a May 25, 1961 address to Congress.

* 1961 – John Podhoretz, American columnist and political pundit

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the United States paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle.

* Arthur Berry, A Short History of Astronomy ( John Murray, 1898 – republished by Dover, 1961 ), 258-265.

Selected Prose, edited by John Carter, Cambridge University Press, 1961

In addition, John Frankenheimer directed five films with Lancaster: The Young Savages ( 1961 ), Birdman of Alcatraz ( 1962 ), Seven Days in May ( 1964 ), The Train ( 1964 ), and The Gypsy Moths ( 1969 ).

The United States had been embarrassed publicly by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961, which had been launched under President John F. Kennedy by CIA-trained forces of Cuban exiles.

Carl Barks ( March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000 ) was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck ( 1947 ), Gladstone Gander ( 1948 ), the Beagle Boys ( 1951 ), The Junior Woodchucks ( 1951 ), Gyro Gearloose ( 1952 ), Cornelius Coot ( 1952 ), Flintheart Glomgold ( 1956 ), John D. Rockerduck ( 1961 ) and Magica De Spell ( 1961 ).

* Rewald, John, The History of Impressionism ( 1961 ), Museum of Modern Art, ISBN 0-8109-6035-4

It was through being an Eagle Scout that he was present with other Boy Scouts outside of the White House at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on Lynch's birthday in 1961.

Time Out was followed by several albums with a similar approach, including Time Further Out: Miro Reflections ( 1961 ), using more 5 / 4, 6 / 4, and 9 / 8, plus the first attempt at 7 / 4 ; Countdown: Time in Outer Space ( dedicated to John Glenn ) ( 1962 ), featuring 11 / 4 and more 7 / 4 ; Time Changes ( 1963 ), with much 3 / 4, 10 / 4 ( which was really 5 + 5 ), and 13 / 4 ; and Time In ( 1966 ).

Eisenhower with John F. Kennedy, April 22, 1961

* 1961 – John Lynch, Irish actor