* 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 )

Since at least the 1960s, when Marc Bloch's Feudal Society ( 1939 ) was first translated into English in 1961, many medieval historians have included a broader social aspect that includes not only the nobility but all three estates of the realm, adding the peasantry bonds of manorialism and the estates of the Church ; this is sometimes referred to as " feudal society " since it encompasses all members of society into the feudal system.

* 1961 – Marc Levy, French novelist

* Marc Levy ( born 16 October 1961 ), international best-sellers writer

Marc Joseph John Crawford ( born February 13, 1961 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach with the ZSC Lions of the National League A.

Levi Asher ( 18 November 1961, in Queens, New York, born Marc Eliot Stein ) is a New York-based writer, blogger and web developer responsible for Literary Kicks, one of the earliest popular literary websites and now the oldest continuously-running literary website on the Internet.

Marc Riley ( born in Manchester, England, 10 July 1961 ) is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC Radio 6 Music.

* Keith Owen Munyan, Jr. ( born 1961 ), is a commercial photographer in Los Angeles whose client list includes actresses Hilary Duff, Cindy Crawford, and Jessica Simpson.

* Last of the Vikings ( 1961 ) starring Cameron Mitchell, Broderick Crawford

* Last of the Vikings ( 1961 ) starring Cameron Mitchell & Broderick Crawford

Crawford, D. C. Hogg, and L. E. Hunt, " Project Echo: A Horn Antenna for Space Communication ," Bell System Technical Journal ( July 1961 ), pp. 1095-1099.

# The Game of Kings ( 1961 )-Living by his wits and his sword-arm in 16th-century Scotland, Francis Crawford of Lymond is many things: polyglot scholar, soldier, poet, musician, nobleman — and accused outlaw.

Ruth Jones, her husband Dr. Crawford Jones, brother David Major and Pete McGarvey organized the first Mariposa Folk Festival in August 1961.

* James Rosenquist: Rainbow / Arc-en-ciel ( 1961 ), Untitled ( Joan Crawford says ...) / Sans titre ( Joan Crawford dit ...) ( 1964 ), Horse blinders / Œillères pour cheval ( 1968 – 1969 ), Starthief / Voleur d ' étoiles ( 1980 ).

In 1961, Crawford appeared in a small role in Wild in the Country starring Elvis Presley.

Consider Your Verdict is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network originally screening from February 1961 through to June 1964.

* 1961 – Douglas Coupland, Canadian author

* 1961 – Ben Johnson, Canadian athlete

* William Daum Euler ( 1875 – 1961 ), Canadian politician

* 1961 – Cevin Key, Canadian musician ( Skinny Puppy, Subconscious Communications )

* 1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress

* 1961 – René Simard, Canadian singer and TV host

In 1961 the Canadian philosopher and scholar Marshall McLuhan entitled his pioneering study in the fields of print culture, cultural studies, and media ecology, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man.

* 1879 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author ( d. 1961 )

* 1961 – Yves P. Pelletier, Canadian comedian and film director

* 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded by the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress.

* 1961 – Bernie Nicholls, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – Michelle Wright, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

* 1961 – Paul Coffey, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – Margo Timmins, Canadian singer ( Cowboy Junkies )

* 1961 – Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – Lolita Davidovich, Canadian actress

* 1961 – André Ducharme, Canadian comedian and author

* 1961 – Kelly Hrudey, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – Sophie Thibault, Canadian journalist and reporter

* 1961 – David Winning, Canadian director

* 1961 – Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor

* 1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor