WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO MAY 1961
Find out what all happened April to May 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)

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

Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister. (27. 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)

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

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

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

At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement. (19. May 1961)

The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (30. May 1961)

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

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)

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

The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem. (11. April 1961)

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

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

Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit. (25. April 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)

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