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1961 Trivia, History, and Fun Facts |
Table of Contents Quick Facts from 1961 |
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Top Ten Baby Names of 1961Mary, Lisa, Susan, Linda, Karen, Michael, David, John, James, Robert |
Fashion Icons and Sex SymbolsCarroll Baker, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Doris Day, Angie Dickinson, Annette Funicello, Audrey Hepburn, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Newmar, Kim Novak, Leslie Parrish, Stella Stevens, Elizabeth Taylor, Tina Turner, Mamie Van Doren, Natalie Wood |
Sex Symbols and Hollywood HunksElvis Presley, Gregory Peck |
Oscars: 33rd Academy Awards (1961)The 33rd Academy Awards took place on April 17, 1961, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, with Bob Hope serving as host. West Side Story emerged as the big winner, collecting 10 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Intriguingly, this ceremony marked the first time a directing award was shared between two individuals. Grammy Awards: 1961 Grammys (3rd Annual Grammy Awards)The 3rd Annual Grammy Awards, also referred to as the 1961 Grammys, unfolded on April 12. Henry Mancini had a night to remember, winning both Album of the Year for The Music from Peter Gunn and Song of the Year for “Moon River.” Meanwhile, Bob Newhart clinched the Best New Artist award, a category that had been introduced only a year earlier. Emmy Awards: 13th Primetime Emmy Awards (1961)The Emmy Awards held its 13th Primetime ceremony on May 16, 1961. Hosted by Dick Powell, The Jack Benny Show snagged the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Rod Serling, the mind behind The Twilight Zone, received an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama. |
“The Quotes”“Sorry, Charlie. Starkist wants tuna that tastes good, not tuna with good taste” “Yabba Dabba Do” “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. “For those who think young” “Hertz puts you in the driver’s seat” “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. ” “Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity… The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever-present – and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the YearJohn F. Kennedy |
Miss AmericaNancy Fleming (Montague, MI) |
Miss USASharon Brown (Louisiana) |
US Politics |
Doctor In The HouseWhen Rogozov developed acute appendicitis on a remote expedition in the middle of Antarctica in 1961, he was the only doctor on site. He had to perform his appendectomy. The surgery did not go as planned. As he started to move his intestines to get to his appendix, he accidentally sliced open his lower intestine, which he then had to suture. From the opening incision to the removal of the appendix and final suture, the surgery took nearly two hours. Rogozov never lost consciousness. Leonid Rogozov not only survived, but he also returned to his normal duties as a team member two weeks later. |
| Oops: America accidentally dropped a nuke on South Carolina in 1958 and two Hydrogen bombs on North Carolina in 1961. The traditional explosives on the nuke exploded, while only a low-voltage trigger kept one of the H-bombs from detonating. The largest nuclear bomb ever detonated by humans was the Tsar Bomba in 1961. The Russians tested the bomb in Novaya Zemlya, an island in the Russian Arctic Sea. It had the equivalent explosive power of 3,800 Hiroshima bombs. |
World NewsThe Antarctic Treaty of 1961, which recognizes no sovereign claim of Antarctica, prohibits mining, prohibits military activity & only allows scientific activity on the continent. Article V specifically prohibits any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal of any radioactive waste material there. The Terra Nova Islands were seen/discovered in 1961 by an Australian research expedition, but when geologists went to map them in 1989, they found no islands because they don’t exist. |
1961 Pop Culture Facts & HistoryElvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1993, the UB40 version spent seven weeks in the #1 spot. The first song a computer sang was Daisy Bell (1892) by an IBM 704 in 1961. Hal 9000 also sang the song in 2001: A Space Odyssey. |
The earliest use of the found footage genre in the film is the 1961 feature The Connection, which states on its title card that the film is an assemblage of found footage. This predates Cannibal Holocaust by nearly two decades, which is often claimed to be the first example of found footage in the movie. The 1961 film Homicidal featured a ‘fright break’ before the climax. The break allowed the audience to leave and get a refund before it got too scary. People who left got their pictures taken and added to ‘Coward’s Corner,’ which was used to advertise how scary the film was. Jackie Gleason once was an actual pool shark. He made all his trick shots in 1961’s The Hustler. |
Washington D.C. residents were officially allowed to vote in Presidential Elections, thanks to the 23rd amendment, but they still don’t have actual representatives in Congress. The first Six Flags amusement park opened near Dallas, Texas. Named “Six Flags Over Dallas,” it was named after the six different flags Texas has over the past few hundred years. Human rights organization Amnesty International was founded in London. Le Bateau (“The Boat”) by Henri Matisse caused a minor stir when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which housed it, hung the work upside-down for 47 days in 1961 until Genevieve Habert, a stockbroker, noticed the mistake and notified a guard. Black Friday was coined in 1952, made famous in 1961, and became the busiest shopping day in 2005. Black and Decker introduced the first cordless power drill powered by nickel-cadmium. Pampers disposable diapers were available for the first time. Ibuprofen was introduced to the public, and it became available as an over-the-counter drug in 1984. Denny’s was previously named Danny’s Donuts. Following separation in ownership and to avoid confusion with another LA restaurant, owner Harold Butler changed the name to Denny’s Coffee Shop in 1959; Then and most recognizably shortened to just Denny’s in 1961. Chase’s octagon-shaped logo, designed in 1961, is a stylized representation of the water pipes laid by its predecessor, the Manhattan Company, which Aaron Burr had formed as a water company in 1799. In the ’40s and ’50s, Coca-Cola ads gave Santa Claus a sidekick named Sprite Boy – named such because he was a sprite, not because of the drink Sprite, which would not be introduced under that name until 1961. The NFL doesn’t play on Friday and Saturday because the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act prohibits them from doing so to protect fans of college and high school football. |
The HabitReading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. |
Nobel PrizesPhysics – Robert Hofstadter, Rudolf Mössbauer C.S. Lewis nominated J.R.R. Tolkien for the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature. He was rejected because his writing “has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality.” |
The ScandalWriter Death by Suicide: Ernest Hemingway |
1st Appearances & 1961’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and PresentsLEGO Building Sets, Stratego, Ken Carson (Barbie’s boyfriend), Slip ‘n Slide water slide, Trolls |
Best Film Oscar WinnerThe Apartment (presented in 1961) |
Broadway ShowMary, Mary (Play) Opened on March 8, 1961, and Closed on December 12, 1964 |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1961The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone |
1961 Most Popular TV Shows1. Wagon Train (NBC) |
1961 Billboard Number One SongsNovember 28, 1960 – January 8, 1961: January 9 – January 29: January 30 – February 12: February 13 – February 26: February 27 – March 19: March 20 – April 2: April 3 – April 23: April 24 – May 21: May 22 – May 28: May 29 – June 4: June 5 – June 18: June 19 – June 25: June 26 – July 9: July 10 – August 27: August 28 – September 3: September 4 – September 17: September 18 – October 8: October 9 – October 22: October 23 – November 5: November 6 – December 10: December 11 – December 17: December 18, 1961 – January 12, 1962: |
SportsWorld Series Champions: New York Yankees |
More 1961 Facts & History Resources:BabyBoomers.com (1961) |
