At A Glance

2 November 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
2 November 1961 was a Thursday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Walkin' Back to Happiness” by Helen Shapiro.
Top Film of 1961
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1961 was One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
Star sign
The star sign for 2 November is Scorpio.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 2 November 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for November is Topaz.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 2 November 1961 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 2 November

  • 1959 Quiz show scandals: Twenty-One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
  • 1959 The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
  • 1960 Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
  • 1964 King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.
  • 1965 Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.

Famous people born on 2 November

  • Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (1755–1793)
  • Shah Rukh Khan, Indian film actor, producer and television host (born 1965)
  • David Schwimmer, American actor (born 1966)
  • Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (1865–1923)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1961 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1961 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 7 January – The Avengers television series first screened on ITV.
  • 15 March – The Jaguar E-Type, a sports car capable of reaching speeds of 150 mph, is launched as a two-seater roadster or 2+2 coupé (at the Geneva Motor Show). On 3 April it makes its racing debut by winning at Oulton Park.
  • 20 March – Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, becomes the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and its company the Royal Shakespeare Company (Peter Hall (director)).

Life in 1961

Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

11p

Loaf of Bread

7p

Average House

£2,670

Weekly Wage

£14.90

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1960s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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