At A Glance

4 May 1961 at a glance

Day of the week
4 May 1961 was a Thursday.
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 4 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 4 May 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 4 May 1961 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 4 May

  • 1953 Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
  • 1959 The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
  • 1961 American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
  • 1961 Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
  • 1972 The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to Greenpeace Foundation.

Famous people born on May 4

  • Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (1929–1993)
  • Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family (born 1930)
  • Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer (born 1970)
  • Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer and manager (born 1987)

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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