At A Glance
17 April 1961 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 17 April 1961 was a Monday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Blue Moon” by The Marcels.
- 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 17 April is Aries.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 17 April 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for April is Diamond.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 17 April 1961 was Waxing Crescent.
On this day: 17 April
- 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
- 1964 Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the Spirit of Columbus, which took 29+1⁄2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.
- 1969 Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
- 1970 Apollo program: The damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
- 1971 The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.
Famous people born on April 17
- Jennifer Garner, American actress (born 1972)
- Rooney Mara, American actress (born 1985)
- Sean Bean, English actor (born 1959)
- J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (1837–1913)
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.
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
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 →
