At A Glance
5 August 1961 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 5 August 1961 was a Saturday.
- Top Film of 1961
- The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1961 was One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
- Star sign
- The star sign for 5 August is Leo.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 5 August 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for August is Peridot.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 5 August 1961 was Waning Crescent.
On this day: 5 August
- 1957 American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
- 1960 Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
- 1962 Apartheid: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
- 1963 Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
- 1965 The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 begins as Pakistani soldiers cross the Line of Control dressed as locals.
Famous people born on 5 August
- James Gunn, American filmmaker (born 1966)
- Wendell Berry, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist (1934–2026)
- Angry Anderson, Australian singer and actor (1947–2026)
- Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut, first man to walk on the Moon (1930–2012)
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.
Events of 1961 in Ireland
A selection from Wikipedia's '1961 in Ireland'. Not a complete list.
- 6 January – Lieutenant-General Seán Mac Eoin left Dublin for the Congo to take up his new post as General Commanding Officer of the United Nations.
- 9 April – The national census showed that County Cork's population had reached an all-time low, with just 330,000 (in the late 1950s it was 336,000).
- 10 June – President Éamon de Valera and his wife Sinéad greeted Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco at the presidential residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. It was the first official visit to Ireland by a head of state after it became an independent republic.
Life in Ireland in 1961
Taoiseach
Seán Lemass
Petrol (per litre)
2s 6d/gal
Loaf of Bread
8d
Average House
£2,400
Weekly Wage
£5 15s
Or
Browse by Year
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)
About The Day You Were Born
Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.
About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →
