At A Glance
8 November 1961 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 8 November 1961 was a Wednesday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean.
- 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 November is Scorpio.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 8 November 1961 fell in the Year of the Ox.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for November is Topaz.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 8 November 1961 was New Moon.
On this day: 8 November
- 1960 John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, who would later be elected president in 1968 and 1972.
- 1965 The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
- 1965 The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War, while the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment fight one of the first set-piece engagements of the war between Australian forces and the Viet Cong at the Battle of Gang Toi.
- 1966 Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
- 1966 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.
Famous people born on November 8
- Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor (born 1974)
- Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur, and television host/personality (born 1966)
- Parker Posey, American actress (born 1968)
- Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (1947–1979)
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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