At A Glance

20 May 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
20 May 1961 was a Saturday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Runaway” by Del Shannon.
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 20 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 May 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 May 1961 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 20 May

  • 1948 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.
  • 1949 In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
  • 1964 Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
  • 1967 The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1969 The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.

Famous people born on May 20

  • Enes Kanter Freedom, Turkish basketball player (born 1992)
  • Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author (born 1964)
  • Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (born 1946)
  • Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer (born 1968)

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

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

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Famous Faces Born in the 1960s

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

Jeff Bezos12 January 1964Business magnateView their day →Sandra Bullock26 July 1964Actress & film producerView their day →Matthew McConaughey4 November 1969ActorView their day →Cindy Crawford20 February 1966ModelView their day →Tom Cruise3 July 1962Actor & film producerView their day →Nicole Kidman20 June 1967Actress & producerView their day →Woody Harrelson23 July 1961ActorView their day →Kyle Chandler17 September 1965ActorView their day →

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

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