WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO NOVEMBER 1961
Find out what all happened February to November 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)

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)

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

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

Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece. (20. September 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 Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles, once the largest electric railway in the world, ends operations. (9. April 1961)

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

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

50,000 women in 60 cities participate in the inaugural Women Strike for Peace (WSP) against nuclear proliferation. (1. November 1961)

The United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is formed, becoming the country's first centralized military espionage organization. (1. October 1961)

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

Cyprus joins the Council of Europe. (24. May 1961)

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

A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turns into a revolt, opening the Angolan War of Independence, the first of the Portuguese Colonial Wars. (3. February 1961)

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed in New York City. (30. March 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)

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)

Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team, several coaches and family members. (15. February 1961)