At A Glance

4 August 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
4 August 1961 was a Friday.
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 4 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 4 August 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 4 August 1961 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 4 August

  • 1947 The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
  • 1964 Second Gulf of Tonkin Incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy mistakenly report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
  • 1965 The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
  • 1969 Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
  • 1972 Ugandan President Idi Amin announces that Uganda is no longer responsible for the care of British subjects of Asian origin, beginning the expulsions of Ugandan Asians.

Famous people born on August 4

  • Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1961)
  • Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1955)
  • Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Duchess of Sussex, American member of British royal family, media personality and actress (born 1981)
  • Cole Sprouse, American actor (born 1992)

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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