← 1960 1959 1958 1961 in the United States → 1962 1963 1964
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	History of the United States (1945–1964) Timeline of the history of the United States (1950-1970) List of years in the United States

Events from the year1961 in the United States.

• President:

Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Kansas/Pennsylvania) (until January 20)

John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) (starting January 20)

• Vice President:

Richard Nixon (R-California) (until January 20)

Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) (starting January 20)

• Chief Justice:Earl Warren (California)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) (until November 16)

vacant (starting November 16)

• Senate Majority Leader:

Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) (until January 3)

Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) (starting January 3)

• Congress:86th (until January 3),87th (starting January 3)

• January 3
  • PresidentDwight Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations withCuba.
  • At the National Reactor Testing Station nearIdaho Falls, Idaho,atomic reactorSL-1 explodes, killing 3 military technicians.
• January 5 – Italian sculptorAlfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate inRome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged theEtruscan terracotta warriors in theMetropolitan Museum of Art.
• January 17 – PresidentDwight Eisenhower gives his Farewell Address, during which he warns of the increasing power of a "military-industrial complex".
• January 20 –John F. Kennedy is sworn in as the 35thpresident of the United States, andLyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 37thvice president.
• January 24
  • A U.S.B-52 Stratofortress, with twoMark 39 nuclear bombs,crashes near Goldsboro, North Carolina.
  • MusicianBob Dylan reportedly makes his way toNew York City after bumming a ride inMadison, Wisconsin. Dylan is likely on his way to visit his idolWoody Guthrie. He later finds fame in theGreenwich Village protest folk music scene.
• January 25
  • InWashington, D.C.John F. Kennedy delivers the first livepresidentialnews conference. In it, he announces that theSoviet Union has freed the 2 surviving crewmen of aUSAFRB-47 reconnaissance plane shot down by Soviet flyers over theBarents Sea July 1, 1960 (see1960 RB-47 shootdown incident).
  • Disney's animated film,One Hundred and One Dalmatians, is released. Its financial success pulling the studio out of another financial slump from the initial underperformance ofSleeping Beauty.
• January 26 –John F. Kennedy appointsJanet G. Travell to be his physician, the first woman to hold this appointment.
• January 30 – PresidentJohn F. Kennedy delivershis first State of the Union Address.
• January 31 –Ham, a 37-pound (17-kg) male chimpanzee, is rocketed into space aboardMercury-Redstone 2, in a test of theProject Mercury capsule, designed to carry United Statesastronauts into space.
• February 1 – The United States launches its first test of theMinuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile.^[1]
• February 14 –Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103,Lawrencium, is first synthesized inBerkeley, California.
• February 15
  • PresidentKennedy warns theSoviet Union to avoid interfering with theUnited Nations pacification of theCongo.^[2]
  • ASabenaBoeing 707 crashes nearBrussels,Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United Statesfigure skating team and several coaches (Sabena Flight 548).
• March 1 –President of the United StatesJohn F. Kennedy establishes thePeace Corps.^[3]
• March 8 – The first U.S.Polarissubmarines arrive atHoly Loch in Scotland.
• March 11 – "Barbie" gets a boyfriend, when the "Ken" doll is introduced in the United States.^[4]
• March 13
  • United States delegate to theUnited Nations Security CouncilAdlai Stevenson votes againstPortuguese policies inAfrica (Portuguese Colonial War)
  • President of the United StatesJohn F. Kennedy proposes a long-termAlliance for Progress between the United States and Latin America.^[2]
• March 29 – TheTwenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents ofWashington, D.C. to vote inpresidential elections.
• March 30 – TheSingle Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed atNew York City.

• April 17
  • TheBay of Pigs Invasion ofCuba begins; it fails by April 19.
  • The33rd Academy Awards ceremony, hosted byBob Hope, is held atSanta Monica Civic Auditorium.Billy Wilder'sThe Apartment wins and receives the most respective awards and nominations with five and ten, winningBest Motion Picture andBest Director for Wilder. It is the last black-and-white film to win for Best Picture until 1993.
• 19 April – President Kennedy presented theNational Geographic Society's Gold Medal, in theWhite House Rose Garden, toJacques Cousteau, the inventor of theAqua-Lung, undersea explorer, and filmmaker. The medal was inscribed: "To earthbound man he gave the key to the silent world."^[5]
• April 23 –Judy Garland performs in a legendary comeback concert atCarnegie Hall inNew York City.
• April 27 – PresidentKennedy delivers a revealing speech:The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association.^[6]
• May 4 – U.S.Freedom Riders begininterstate bus rides to test the newU.S. Supreme Courtintegrationdecision.
• May 5 –Mercury program:Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space aboardMercury-Redstone 3.
• May 9 – In a speech on "Television and the Public Interest" to theNational Association of Broadcasters,FCC chairmanNewton N. Minow describes commercial television programming as a "vast wasteland".
• May 14 –American civil rights movement: AFreedom Riders bus is fire-bombed nearAnniston, Alabama and thecivil rights protestors are beaten by anangry mob ofKu Klux Klan members.
• May 21 –American civil rights movement:Alabama GovernorJohn Patterson declaresmartial law in an attempt to restore order afterrace riots break out.
• May 24 –American civil rights movement:Freedom Riders are arrested inJackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
• May 25 –Apollo program:President Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to put a man on theMoon before the end of the decade.
• May 31 – PresidentJohn F. Kennedy and French PresidentCharles De Gaulle meet inParis,France.
• June 4 –Vienna summit:John F. Kennedy andNikita Khrushchev meet during two days inVienna. They discuss nuclear tests,disarmament andGermany.

• July 21 –Mercury program:Gus Grissom, piloting theMercury-Redstone 4 capsuleLiberty Bell 7, becomes the second American to go into space (sub-orbital). Upon splashdown, the hatch prematurely opens, and the capsule sinks (it is recovered in 1999).
• July 31 – AtFenway Park inBoston, Massachusetts, the firstAll-Star Game tie in major leaguebaseball history occurs, when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain (the only tie until 2002 in MLB All-Star Game history).
• August – USA foundsAlliance for Progress.
• August 5 – TheSix Flags over Texas theme park officially opens to the public.
• August 7 –Cape Cod National Seashore is established.
• September 7 –Tom and Jerry make a return with their first episode since 1958,Switchin' Kitten.
• September 17 – The world's first retractable roof stadium, theCivic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• September 24 – TheWalt Disney anthology television series, renamedWalt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, moves fromABC toNBC after seven years on the air, and begins telecasting its programs in color for the first time.
• September 25 – Blackvoting rights activistHerbert Lee is murdered byMississippi state representativeE. H. Hurst.

• October 1 – Baseball playerRoger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, beating the 34-year-old record held byBabe Ruth.
• October 9 – TheNew York Yankees defeat theCincinnati Reds, 4 games to 1, to win their 19th World Series Title.
• October 27 – A standoff betweenSoviet and American tanks inBerlin,Germany heightensCold War tensions.
• November – TheFantastic Four #1 comic debuts, launching theMarvel Universe and revolutionizing theAmerican comic book industry.
• November 2 –Kean opens at Broadway Theater in New York City for 92 performances.
• November 6 – The U.S. government issues a stamp honoring the one-hundredth birthday ofJames Naismith.
• November 9 –Robert M. White records a world record speed in a rocket plane of 6,585 km/h flying anX-15.
• November 17 –Michael Rockefeller, son ofNew York Governor, and laterVice PresidentNelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles ofNew Guinea.
• November 18 – U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
• November 20 – The funeral of longtime House SpeakerSam Rayburn is held inWashington, D.C. Two former presidents (Truman,Eisenhower) and one future one (Lyndon B. Johnson) joinPresident Kennedy in paying their respects.
• December 5 – U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy gives support to theVolta Dam project inGhana.
• December 11 – TheVietnam War officially begins, as the first American helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.

• Cold War (1947–1991)
• Space Race (1957–1975)
• Vietnam War (1955-1975)

• April 16 -Chicago Black Hawks win their third (and last until 2010)Stanley Cup by defeating theDetroit Red Wings 4 games to 2; the deciding game is played atOlympia Stadium inDetroit.

• January 2
  • Gabrielle Carteris, actress and trade union leader^[7]
  • Todd Haynes, director and screenwriter^[8]
• January 4
  • Lee Curreri, actor and pianist
  • Sidney Green, basketball player and coach
• January 5 –Iris DeMent, singer-songwriter^[9]
• January 7 –John Thune, U.S. Senator from South Dakota from 2005
• January 9
  • Al Jean, animator and television writer
  • Candi Milo, actress
  • Oliver Goldstick, screenwriter and producer
• January 10
  • Evan Handler, actor
  • Janet Jones, actress
• January 13
  • Wayne Coyne, musician, frontman ofThe Flaming Lips
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress, producer and comedian
  • Rich Fields, announcer and weather reporter
• January 15 –Leni Wylliams, dancer/choreographer/master-teacher (died1996)
• January 18 –Bob Peterson, animator and voice actor
• January 19 –William Ragsdale, actor
• January 22
  • Quintin Dailey, basketball player (died2010)
  • Daniel Johnston, musician (died2019)
• January 29 –Mike Aldrete, baseball player and coach
• January 30 –Dexter King, social activist, son ofMartin Luther King Jr. (died2024)

• February 2 –Michael Kay, sportscaster^[10]
• February 4 –Stewart O'Nan, novelist
• February 8 –Vince Neil, singer^[11]
• February 9 –John Kruk, baseball player and commentator
• February 10 –George Stephanopoulos, political consultant and commentator
• February 12 –David Graeber, anthropologist, anarchist activist and author (died2020)^[12]
• February 17 –Chris Champion, wrestler (died2018)

• March 4
  • Ray Mancini, boxer
  • Steven Weber, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• March 6 –John Blake, American football coach (died2020)
• March 14 –Gary Dell'Abate, radio producer, best known for his work onThe Howard Stern Show
• March 25 –Reggie Fils-Aimé, president ofNintendo of America
• March 30 –Maria Maricich, alpine skier

• April 2 –Christopher Meloni, actor
• April 3 –Eddie Murphy, actor
• April 10
  • Mark Jones, basketball player
  • Quency Williams, football player (died2022 in Canada)^[13]
• April 14 –Daniel Clowes, cartoonist and screenwriter
• April 17 –Rebecca Luker, actress and singer (died2020)
• April 20
  • Don Mattingly, baseball player^[14]
  • Mike Pniewski, actor and public speaker
• April 26 –Chris Mars, singer-songwriter, drummer and producer

• May 3
  • David Vitter, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 2005 to 2017
  • Joe Murray, animator, writer, illustrator, producer, director, and voice actor
• May 6
  • George Clooney, actor, film director, producer and screenwriter
  • Wally Wingert, voice actor and radio personality
• May 7 –Robert Spano, conductor and pianist
• May 8 –Bill de Blasio, politician,Mayor of New York City from 2014
• May 11
  • Paul Begala, political commentator
  • Lar Park Lincoln, actress
• May 12
  • Paul Begala, journalist and academic
  • Lar Park Lincoln, actress (died2025)
  • Jerry Trimble, actor and stuntman
• May 28 –Mark F. Giuliano, law enforcement official (died2024)
• May 31 –Lea Thompson, actress and director

• June 5 –Mary Kay Bergman, voice actress (died1999)
• June 16 –David Adkins, member of theWest Virginia House of Delegates
• June 28
  • Mike Lindell, businessman and political activist
  • Charles M. Roessel, Navajo photographer and journalist (died2025)

• July 6 –Robin Antin, American dancer, choreographer, and businesswoman
• July 7 –Eric Jerome Dickey, author (died2021)
• July 14 –Jackie Earle Haley, actor
• July 15 –Scott Ritter, soldier and international weapons inspector
• July 23 –Woody Harrelson, actor and playwright

• August 4
  • Eddie James, convicted murderer (executed2025)
  • Barack Obama, 44thpresident of the United States from 2009 to 2017
• August 5 –Tawny Kitaen, actress and model (died2021)
• August 9 –Amy Stiller, actress, daughter ofJerry Stiller andAnne Meara and sister ofBen Stiller
• August 21 –Stephen Hillenburg, marine biologist, cartoonist (died2018)
• August 25 –Billy Ray Cyrus, singer
• August 28 –Jennifer Coolidge, actress

• September 8 –Wendi Richter, wrestler
• September 9 –Jim Corsi, baseball player (died2022)^[15]
• September 11 –E.G. Daily, actress, voice actress and singer
• September 23 –Chi McBride, actor
• September 25 –Frankie Randall, boxer, welterweight world champion (died2020)

• October 5
  • David Bryson, guitarist and singer-songwriter
  • Sharon Cheslow, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• October 10 –Jodi Benson, actress and singer
• October 26 –Dylan McDermott, actor
• October 28 –Derek Bunch, formerNFLlinebacker
• October 29 –Randy Jackson, younger brother ofMichael Jackson and member of theJackson 5.

• November 1 –Ryan Zinke, 52ndUnited States Secretary of the Interior
• November 17
  • Pat Toomey, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023.
  • Robert Stethem, U.S. Navy Seabee diver murdered byHezbollah terrorists during the hijacking ofTWA Flight 847 (killed1985)
• November 18 –Gwen Knapp, sports journalist (died2023)^[16]
• November 20
  • Jim Brickman, singer-songwriter and pianist
  • Phil Joanou, TV director
• November 22
  • Mariel Hemingway, actress and sister ofMargaux Hemingway
  • John Schnatter, entrepreneur and the founder ofPapa John's Pizza
• November 26 -Lisa Moretti, wrestler
• November 29 –Tom Sizemore, actor (died2023)^[17]

• December 8 –Ann Coulter, political commentator
• December 9 –Joe Lando, actor
• December 12 –Jack Ciattarelli, politician
• December 13 –Maurice Smith, martial artist
• December 16
  • Bill Hicks, comedian (died1994)
  • Jon Tenney, actor
  • Sam Robards, actor
  • Shane Black, film director
• December 22 –Andrew Fastow, businessman
• December 24 –Mary Barra, CEO ofGeneral Motors
• December 30 –Sean Hannity, talk show host

• January 9 –Emily Greene Balch, writer, pacifist and winner of theNobel Peace Prize in 1946 (born1867)
• January 10 –Dashiell Hammett, writer (born1894)
• January 19 –Nathaniel Baldwin, inventor and Mormon fundamentalist (born1878)
• January 24 –Alfred Carlton Gilbert, inventor, athlete, magician, businessman, and toy maker (born1884)
• January 29 –John F. O'Ryan, soldier, lawyer and politician (born1874)
• February 3 –Anna May Wong, film actress (born1905)
• March 12 –Belinda Lee, English actress (born1935 in the United Kingdom)
• March 17 –Susanna M. Salter, politician and activist (born1860)
• April 7 –Marian Driscoll Jordan, actress and radio personality (born1898)
• May 8 –Raymond DeWalt, inventor and businessman (born1885)
• May 13 –Gary Cooper, actor (born1901)
• May 16 –George A. Malcolm, jurist and educator (born1881)
• May 19 –Grace George, actress (born1879)
• May 23 –Joan Davis, comedic actress and vaudevillian (born1912)
• June 1 –Melvin Jones, founder ofLions Clubs International (born1879)
• June 2 –George S. Kaufman, playwright (born1889)
• June 17
  • Jeff Chandler, actor (born1918)
  • Thomas Darden,rear admiral, 37thGovernor of American Samoa (born1900)
• June 24 –William J. Connors, politician (born1891)
• June 27 –Paul Guilfoyle, actor (born1902)
• June 30 –Lee de Forest, inventor (born1873)
• July 2 –Ernest Hemingway, fiction writer, journalist and winner of thePulitzer Prize forThe Old Man and the Sea (born1899)
• July 4 –Franklyn Farnum, actor (born1878)
• July 6 –Woodall Rodgers, lawyer and politician,Mayor of Dallas (born1890)
• July 9 –Alan Marshal, Australian-born actor (born1909)
• July 17 –Ty Cobb, baseball player (born1886)
• August 26 –Gail Russell, actress (born1924)
• August 30 –Charles Coburn, actor (born1877)
• September 3 –Fay-Cooper Cole, anthropologist (born1881)
• September 10 –Leo Carrillo, actor (born1880)
• September 11 –George Irving, actor (born1874)
• September 13 –Fay Roope, actor (born1893)
• September 22 –Marion Davies, actress (born1897)
• September 23 –John Eldredge, actor (born1904)
• September 25 –Frank Fay, actor (born1897)
• October 1 –Donald Cook, actor (born1901)
• October 11
  • Lucy Tayiah Eads, Kaw tribal chief (born1888)
  • Chico Marx, comedian (born1887)
• October 22 –Joseph M. Schenck, studio film executive (born1876 in Russia)
• October 31 –Jim Aiken, football and basketball player and coach (born1899)
• November 2 –James Thurber, cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright (born1894)
• November 13 –Wally Brown, actor and comedian (born1904)
• November 16 –Sam Rayburn, politician (born1882)
• December 13 –Grandma Moses, painter and folk artist (born1860)
• December 20 –Moss Hart, playwright, librettist, and theater director (born1904)
• December 22 –Dick Elliott, actor (born1886)
• December 25 –Otto Loewi, pharmacologist (born1873 in Germany)
• December 28 –Edith Wilson,First Lady of the United States (born1872)

• List of American films of 1961
• Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)

• Media related to1961 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• 1961 in the United States
• 1960s in the United States
• 1961 by country
• 1961 in North America
• Years of the 20th century in the United States

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