At A Glance

1 August 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
1 August 1961 was a Tuesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Tossin' and Turnin'” by Bobby Lewis.
Top Film of 1961
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1961 was One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
Bestselling Novel of 1961
“The Agony and the Ecstasy” by Irving Stone was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1961.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Wagon Train” (NBC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1961–62 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 1 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 1 August 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 1 August 1961 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 1 August

  • 1960 Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France.
  • 1960 Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan.
  • 1961 U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization.
  • 1964 The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1965 Frank Herbert's novel, Dune, is published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003.

Famous people born on August 1

  • Jason Momoa, American actor, director, and producer (born 1979)
  • Sébastien Pocognoli, Belgian footballer (born 1987)
  • John Carroll Lynch, American actor (born 1963)
  • Sam Mendes, English director and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1961 in the United States

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

  • January 25 – Disney's animated film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, is released. Its financial success pulling the studio out of another financial slump from the initial underperformance of Sleeping Beauty.
  • February 14 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized in Berkeley, California.
  • March 1 – President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

Life in the US in 1961

President

John F. Kennedy

Gas (per gallon)

$0.31

Loaf of Bread

$0.21

Average House

$12,500

Weekly Wage

$89

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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