WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO JULY 1961
Find out what all happened April to July 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)

American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out. (21. May 1961)

In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society. (31. May 1961)

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

In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO. (25. July 1961)

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

Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom. (19. June 1961)

The Union of South Africa becomes the Republic of South Africa. (31. May 1961)

Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International. (28. May 1961)

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

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

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted. (18. April 1961)

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

Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death toll exceeds 2,000. (12. July 1961)

Apollo program: The U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade. (25. May 1961)

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

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

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

Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union. (16. June 1961)