* 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 )

* Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961.

Sierra Leone played a significant part in modern African political liberty and nationalism, and became an independent nation in 1961.

On the conclusion of talks in London, Britain agreed to grant Sierra Leone Independence on the 27 of April 1961. however, the outspoken trade unionist Siaka Stevens was the only delegate who refused to sign Sierra Leone's declaration of Independendence on the grounds that there had been a secret defence pact between Sierra Leone and Britain ; another point of contention by Stevens was the Sierra Leonean government's position that there would be no elections held before independence which would effectively shut him out of Sierra Leone's political process.

On 27 April 1961, Sir Milton Margai lead Sierra Leone to Independence from Britain and became the country's first Prime Minister.

Before Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, the military was known as the Royal Sierra Leone Military Force.

* 1961 – Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.

* Sierra Leone between 1961 and 1971.

He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon ( 1941 ), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ( 1948 ), Key Largo ( 1948 ), The Asphalt Jungle ( 1950 ), The African Queen ( 1951 ), Moulin Rouge ( 1952 ), The Misfits ( 1961 ), and The Man Who Would Be King ( 1975 ).

Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons and British Somaliland were granted independence in 1960, Sierra Leone and Tanganyika in 1961, Uganda in 1962, and Kenya in 1963.

The national flag of Sierra Leone was officially hoisted on April 27, 1961.

* Jan C. Smuts, 1926 Holism and Evolution MacMillan, Compass / Viking Press 1961 reprint: ISBN 0-598-63750-8, Greenwood Press 1973 reprint: ISBN 0-8371-6556-3, Sierra Sunrise 1999 ( mildly edited ): ISBN 1-887263-14-4

* USS Stokes ( AKA-68 ), cargo ship named SS Sierra 1947 – 1961

* Sierra Leone Protectorate * ( 1896 – 1961 )

Fela Kuti began performing in 1961, but did not start playing in his distinctive Afrobeat style until his exposure to Sierra Leonean Afro-soul singer Geraldo Pino in 1963.

He was the main architect of the post-colonial constitution of Sierra Leone and guided his nation to independence in 1961.

On April 27, 1961, Milton Margai led Sierra Leone to independence from the United Kingdom.

In 1959, the U. S. opened a consulate in Freetown and elevated it to embassy status when Sierra Leone became independent in 1961.

* Brower, David, & the Sierra Club, eds., Wilderness: America's Living Heritage ( New York Vail-Ballou Press, Gillick Press, 1961 ).

Although RHC was officially inaugurated in May 1961, the idea of an international Cuban radio station was born in the Sierra Maestra mountains during the final stage of the fight against Fulgencio Batista.