WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO JULY 1961
Find out what all happened February to July 1961

An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug. (13. February 1961)

The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua. (23. July 1961)

Algiers putsch by French generals. (23. April 1961)

At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. (31. July 1961)

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections. (29. March 1961)

American civil rights movement: The Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protesters are beaten by an angry mob. (14. May 1961)

Park Chung-hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea. (16. May 1961)

CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule. (18. April 1961)

The Leadbeater's Possum is rediscovered in Australia after 72 years. (3. April 1961)

Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data). (19. May 1961)

The Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight. (5. May 1961)

Sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a human dummy nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and demonstrating that Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight. (9. March 1961)

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

South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations. (15. March 1961)

French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte. (20. July 1961)

The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem. (11. 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)

American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus. (24. May 1961)

The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections. (1. May 1961)

An earthquake rocks New South Wales. (22. May 1961)