WHAT ALL HAPPENED AUGUST TO SEPTEMBER 1961
Find out what all happened August to September 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)

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

U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in a plane crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the war-torn Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (18. September 1961)

The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (17. September 1961)

The African and Malagasy Union is founded. (12. September 1961)

Maiden flight of the CH-47 Chinook transportation helicopter. (21. September 1961)

Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour. (15. September 1961)

The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded by the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress. (3. August 1961)

Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece. (20. September 1961)

Foundation of the World Wildlife Fund. (11. September 1961)

A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria. (28. September 1961)

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

Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state. (11. September 1961)

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

The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli. (11. August 1961)

The first conference of the Non Aligned Countries is held in Belgrade. (5. 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)

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

East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West. (13. August 1961)