WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO SEPTEMBER 1961
Find out what all happened April to September 1961

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

The Leadbeater's Possum is rediscovered in Australia after 72 years. (3. April 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 world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (17. September 1961)

Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German Formula One driver Wolfgang von Trips and 13 spectators who are hit by his Ferrari. (10. September 1961)

Sierra Leone joins the United Nations. (27. September 1961)

In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin. (4. June 1961)

Cyprus joins the Council of Europe. (24. 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)

Ida Siekmann died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall. (22. August 1961)

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

FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow gives his Wasteland Speech. (9. May 1961)

Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. (17. April 1961)

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

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

Turkish voters approve the Turkish Constitution of 1961 in a referendum. (9. July 1961)

Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. (15. August 1961)

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

President Jânio Quadros of Brazil resigns after just seven months in power. (25. August 1961)