At A Glance
8 February 1961 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 8 February 1961 was a Wednesday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles.
- 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 8 February is Aquarius.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 8 February 1961 fell in the Year of the Rat.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for February is Amethyst.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 8 February 1961 was Last Quarter.
On this day: 8 February
- 1950 The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
- 1960 Queen Elizabeth II issues an Order-in-Council, proclaiming the House of Windsor and declaring that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
- 1963 The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.
- 1971 South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration into the country.
- 1974 The crew of Skylab 4, the last mission to visit the American space station Skylab, returns to Earth after 84 days in space.
Famous people born on February 8
- Mary Steenburgen, American actress (born 1953)
- James Dean, American actor (1931–1955)
- Kathryn Newton, American actress (born 1997)
- John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1932)
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
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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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