WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO OCTOBER 1961
Find out what all happened January to October 1961

The DuSable Museum of African American History is chartered. (16. February 1961)

The biggest fire in Singapore history. The Bukit Ho Swee Fire (25. May 1961)

Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States. (17. January 1961)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization. (1. August 1961)

First use in Vietnam War of the Agent Orange by the U.S. Army. (10. August 1961)

The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1). (12. April 1961)

Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus. (12. February 1961)

The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury. (16. September 1961)

Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes. (21. August 1961)

Scores of Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the Paris police at the instigation of former Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Prefecture of Police. (17. October 1961)

American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South. (4. May 1961)

American President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps. (1. March 1961)

A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238. (8. April 1961)

The Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles, once the largest electric railway in the world, ends operations. (9. April 1961)

Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings. (9. May 1961)

Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched. (16. February 1961)

In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Vladimir Lenin's Tomb. (31. October 1961)

The first conference of the Non Aligned Countries is held in Belgrade. (5. September 1961)

Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba. (20. April 1961)

Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state. (11. September 1961)