At A Glance

27 October 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
27 October 1961 was a Friday.
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 27 October is Scorpio.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 27 October 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for October is Opal.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 27 October 1961 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 27 October

  • 1954 Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.
  • 1958 Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, is deposed by General Ayub Khan, who had been appointed the enforcer of martial law by Mirza 20 days earlier.
  • 1961 NASA tests the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn-Apollo 1.
  • 1962 By refusing to agree to the firing of a nuclear torpedo at a US warship, Vasily Arkhipov averts nuclear war.
  • 1964 Ronald Reagan delivers a speech on behalf of the Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater. The speech launches his political career and comes to be known as "A Time for Choosing".

Famous people born on 27 October

  • Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (1858–1919)
  • Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian union leader and politician, 35 and 39th President of Brazil (born 1945)
  • John Cleese, English actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer (born 1939)
  • Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (1932–1963)

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)).
More events of 1961 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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Famous Faces Born in the 1960s

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

Guy Ritchie10 September 1968FilmmakerView their day →Diana, Princess of Wales1 July 1961Member of the British royal familyView their day →Nigella Lawson6 January 1960Food writer & television cookView their day →Jason Statham26 July 1967ActorView their day →Catherine Zeta-Jones25 September 1969ActressView their day →Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer20 May 1964Peer & authorView their day →Kenneth Branagh10 December 1960Actor & filmmakerView their day →George Michael25 June 1963SingerView their day →

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

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