NEWS - MEMORIES - CULTURE FROM 1961
- (in no particular order) -
- US breaks
diplomatic relations with
Cuba
(Jan. 3).
- OPEC (Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries) formally constituted
- There are 2,000 US military advisers in South
Vietnam.
- 1,200 US-sponsored anti-Castro exiles invade
Cuba at
the Bay of
Pigs (April 17); the attackers are all killed or captured by
Cuban forces.
- East
Germany erects the
Berlin
Wall between East and West
Berlin
to halt flood of refugees (Aug. 13)
- USSR detonates 50-megaton
hydrogen
bomb in the largest man-made explosion in history (Oct. 29)
U.S. EVENTS
- Robert
Frost recites "The Gift Outright" at
John F.
Kennedy's inauguration (Jan. 20).
- First US astronaut,
Navy Cmdr.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr., rockets 116.5 miles up in 302-mile trip
(May 5).
- Virgil Grissom
becomes
2nd American astronaut, making 118-mile-high, 303-mile-long
rocket flight over the Atlantic (July 21).
ENTERTAINMENT
Events
-
Patsy Cline releases "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy." The success
of the songs help her cross over from country to pop. - West Side Story
is adapted for the big screen, and will go on to win
Oscars
for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (George Chakiris), Supporting
Actress (Rita
Moreno), and Directing (Robert Wise and
Jerome
Robbins).
- Audrey Hepburn delights
as Holly Golightly in
Breakfast at Tiffany's, but
Henry
Mancini emerges as the real star. He won two
Oscars
and four
Grammy Awards for the score, which included the hit "Moon
River."
