At A Glance

26 December 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
26 December 1961 was a Tuesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens.
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 26 December is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 26 December 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 26 December 1961 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 26 December

  • 1948 Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.
  • 1948 The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.
  • 1963 The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.
  • 1966 The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
  • 1968 The Communist Party of the Philippines is established by Jose Maria Sison, breaking away from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930.

Famous people born on December 26

  • Kit Harington, English actor (born 1986)
  • Jared Leto, American actor and musician (born 1971)
  • Eden Sher, American actress (born 1991)
  • Lars Ulrich, Danish-American drummer, songwriter, and producer (born 1963)

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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