December 1961

December 1961

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December

The following events occurred in December 1961:

Contents

December 1, 1961 (Friday)

The Morning Star Flag
  • The Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea raised the new Morning Star flag next to the Dutch tri-color, and was made the autonomous territory of West Papua, with partial self-government as a United Nations mandate. In 1963, however, the UN turned the mandate over to Indonesia, which annexed West Papua in 1969 after a sham plebiscite. [1]
  • Syrian parliamentary election, 1961: The first elections held in Syria, since its separation from the United Arab Republic, brought the People's Party a plurality of the seats. The party's leaders, Nazim al-Kudsi and Maarouf al-Dawalibi, would respectively be named the President and Prime Minister by the new Parliament. [2]
  • Algeria's News Agency was founded.
  • RTÉ Guide began publication, under the title "RTV Guide".
  • Britannia Airways was set up in the UK, under the name Euravia (London).
  • Arara, Paraíba, in north-eastern Brazil, became a municipality.
  • Following the resignation of Tasmanian Liberal MHA for Bass, John Steer, to contest the Council seat of Cornwall, a recount resulted in the election of Liberal candidate Max Bushby.
  • A coat of arms was officially granted to Hordaland.
  • Israel announced plans to establish "the world's first chain of industrial co-operative towns" in the Negev Desert, starting with the community of Mitzpe Ramon. [3]
  • Born: Jeremy Northam, English actor, in Cambridge

December 2, 1961 (Saturday)

  • In a speech that began at midnight, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro declared "soy marxista-leninista y seré marxista-leninista hasta el último día de mi vida" ("I am a Marxist-Leninist and I will be a Marxist-Leninist until the last day of my life"). Castro confirmed that he would guide Cuba to becoming a Socialist state, and, in the long run, a Communist state, but added, "I'm saying this for any anti-communists left out there. There won't be any Communism for at least thirty years". However, he made clear that there would be only one political party, "The United Party of Cuba's Socialist Revolution", adding that "There is only one revolutionary movement, not two or three or four revolutionary movements." [4]
  • Dean Smith began his career as the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball head coach. He opened with an 80-46 victory over the visiting University of Virginia Cavaliers, the first of a record 879 wins as coach of one team. [5] The record for most wins overall (903) was broken by Mike Krzyzewski on November 15, 2011, which included 83 wins as coach of Army before he became coach of Duke University.
  • Actors Dinah Shore and George Montgomery announced that they would divorce after 18 years of marriage. [6]
  • Died: Laura Bullion, 85, American outlaw

December 3, 1961 (Sunday)

Le Bateau right-side-up
  • Workers at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City discovered that there had been a mistake in the museum's exhibit of "The Last Works of Henri Matisse". For 47 days, beginning on October 18, Le Bateau had been on display, hanging upside-down, and 116,000 visitors had passed it before Mrs. Genevieve Habert, a stockbroker, noticed the mistake. She confirmed the problem by referring to a catalogue of Matisse's works, then talked to various MOMA employees before she was taken seriously. The Museum rehung the painting, right-side up, the next day. [7]
  • Discoverer 35 fell out of orbit about three weeks after its launch.[8]
  • Born: Marcelo Fromer, Brazilian guitarist, in São Paulo (d. 2001); Adal Ramones, Mexican TV presenter, in Monterrey

December 4, 1961 (Monday)

  • In Toronto, Floyd Patterson defeated challenger Tom McNeeley with a fourth-round knockout to retain the world heavyweight boxing championship. Tom's son, Peter McNeeley, would become Mike Tyson's first opponent upon the latter's release from prison in 1995. [9] On the same evening, Sonny Liston knocked out Albert Westphal in a Philadelphia bout. It was the last bout for both Patterson and Liston, until they faced each other in 1962 in Chicago, with the Liston taking the title from Patterson. [10]
  • An agreement on maintaining the neutrality of Laos was reached at the 14-nation Laos Peace Conference being held in Geneva. [11]
  • President Kennedy authorized the U.S. Department of Defense to commence of Operation Ranch Hand, the defoliation of the jungles of South Vietnam. The first run was on January 12, 1962 and the last in February 1971. [12]
  • Trinidad and Tobago general election, 1961: The People's National Movement, led by Prime Minister Eric Williams, captured 20 of the 30 seats in the Parliament, while the Democratic Labour Party won the others. The voting was split along ethinic lines, with the vast majoirty of Afro-Creole residents voting for the PNM, and those of East Indian descent voting for the DLP. [13]
  • The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was established by Executive Order of the U.S. President, for service in specified military operations during designated times. Retroactive awards were made for service in the Quemoy and Matsu Islands (since 1956), Lebanon (in 1958), the Taiwan Straits (1958) and in West Berlin since August. [14]
  • The Hundred of Hoo Railway in Kent, UK, ended passenger services.

December 5, 1961 (Tuesday)

  • The largest ever escape from East Berlin, to the West, was carried out by Harry Deterling, a 28 year old train engineer, after he and co-worker Hartmut Lichy learned that there was still an open rail connection at Albrechtshof, one-quarter mile from the border, and that East German authorities were preparing to block it. Deterling's wife and four children, his mother, and 13 friends boarded at Oranienburg, and four others got on at Falkensee. Deterling and Lichy never stopped at the Albrechtshof station, and rushed the train past startled border guards. The train's conductor, and six passengers who hadn't been in on the plot, elected to return to East Germany. [15] The government tore up the tracks the next day and put up barriers, and there were no further escapes by train. [16]
  • U.S. President John F. Kennedy authorized American financial support to the Volta Dam project in Ghana, in order to prevent the West African nation from coming under the influence of the Soviet Union. [17]
  • Died: Finn Kjelstrup, 77, Norwegian traitor; and Emil "Judge" Fuchs, 83, Jewish owner of the Boston Braves baseball team (1923-1935), and the team's owner/manager in the 1929 season

December 6, 1961 (Wednesday)

December 7, 1961 (Thursday)

  • The second phase of American manned spaceflight, the Gemini program, was announced by NASA, with plans for a two-man version of the one-man Mercury capsule. Originally called Mercury Mark II, the program was renamed Gemini on January 3, at the suggestion of Alex Nagy, after the constellation of the same name, associated with the "heavenly twins", Castor and Pollux. [18]
  • Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay gave his last concert, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, then retired at the age of 47 due to illness. He would die 14 months later, of cancer.

December 8, 1961 (Friday)

  • Brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, known as "The Pendletones", saw the release of their first recorded song, called "Surfin'" (with "Luau" on the "B"- side). For the single, record distributor Russ Regen renamed the group, The Beach Boys, and their first song peaked at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [19]
  • Sixteen people were killed in a flash fire on the ninth floor of the Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. [20] The blaze started in a trash chute and swept across the ceiling tiles, killing 7 patients, 5 visitors, and 4 hospital employees, including a physician. Investigators eventually concluded that the fire had resulted from the discarding of x-ray film into the chute, and ignition from a cigarette. [21]
  • In a triple-overtime NBA game in Los Angeles, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 78 points, breaking the record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, as the two men faced each other. Baylor, playing for the Lakers, poured in 63 points. The two men had already combined for 100 points (53 for Chamberlain, 47 for Baylor) at the end of regulation with the score tied 109-109. Chamberlain's Warriors lost the contest, 151-147, and while his record carried with it an asterisk, he would score 100 points in a regular game on March 2. [22]
  • Portugal's ambassador to the United Nations appealed for help from the UN Security Council, reporting that 30,000 troops from India were massing along the border of the Portuguese colony at Goa, and that seven ships from the Indian Navy were approaching Goa's coast. [23]
  • Errol Barrow replaced Hugh Gordon Cummins as Premier of Barbados.
  • Born: Ann Coulter, American conservative commentator, in New York City
  • Died: Séamus Robinson, 71, Irish republican leader; Francesco Severi, 82, Italian mathematician

December 9, 1961 (Saturday)

Colonial flag
National flag
  • At the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, the former British colony of Tanganyika gained independence, with Julius Nyerere as its first Prime Minister. Sir Richard Turnbull, who had been the British governor, served as the first and last Governor-general of Tanganyika until the nation became a Republic on the next Uhuru Day, one year later, with Nyerere as President. [24] Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, appeared on behalf of the United Kingdom. At midnight, the British territorial flag was slowly lowered as a record played God Save the Queen. The lights were then turned off, the new national anthem, Mungu Ibariki Tanganyika (God Bless Tanganyika) was played as the new flag was raised, and the lights were switched on again. In 1963, Tanganyika would merge with Zanzibar to become Tanzania. [25]
  • Australian federal election, 1961: The Australian government of Robert Menzies was re-elected for the a sixth time. Although Menzies' Liberal Party eventually lost 15 seats and its coalition partner, the Country Party lost 2, the group was able to retain a razor thin majority of one, with 62 of the 122 seats in the Australian House of Representatives. The joint ticket won 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate of Australia. The Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Arthur Calwell, gained 15 seats and had 60 of the 120 in the House. [26]
  • The 4th Rand Grand Prix was won by Jim Clark.

December 10, 1961 (Sunday)

  • The Communist government of Albania confirmed that the Soviet Union had severed diplomatic relations on December 3, marking the first time that the U.S.S.R. had ever withdrawn its embassy from another Communist state. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had criticized Albanian leaders Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu at the 22nd Soviet Communist Party Congress after the Albanians refused to repudiated Stalinism. [27] The People's Republic of China then began a program of emergency aid to the Balkan nation. [28]
  • Operation Plowshare, the American experiment in using atomic weapons for peaceful purposes, began with Project Gnome, the underground explosion of a 3 kiloton atomic bomb near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Although the test device was placed 1,200 feet below the surface in a cavern of rock salt, water within the salt was vaporized by the blast and sent a geyser of radioactive steam 300 above the surface. [29]
  • Nobel Prize: Melvin Calvin was awarded the Nobel Prize for the process of photosynthesis, while .
  • Born: Oded Schramm, Israeli mathematician, in Jerusalem

December 11, 1961 (Monday)

  • The Vietnam War officially began for the United States, as the USS Core arrived at Saigon Harbor. The ship brought in two helicopter units, the 8th Transportation Company from Fort Bragg and the 57th Transportation Company from Fort Lewis, with 33 H-21 Shawnee helicopters, and 400 U.S. Army personnel. [30]
  • After months of trial before a three judge panel in Israel, Adolf Eichmann was found guilty of multiple crimes arising from the extermination of German and European Jews during the Holocaust. [31] Judge Moshe Landau started his reading of the verdict with the words, "Accused, the court convicts you of crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and membership in hostile organizations," then began reading the text of the judgment. Judge Landau was followed by Judges Benyamin Halevi and Itzhak Raveh. The reading of the entire verdict was not completed until the next day. [32]
  • Soviet writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn got his big break when he received a telegram from Aleksandr Tvardovsky, the editor of the magazine Novy Mir, announcing that his novel, with the working title of Щ-854, would be published in serial form. Tvardovsky renamed the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. [33]
  • The 1961 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games opened in Rangoon.

December 12, 1961 (Tuesday)

  • The first of a series of satellites constructed by and for ham radio operators, OSCAR (Orbital Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio), was launched into orbit as part of the payload of Discoverer 36. By the end of the century, more than 50 OSCAR satellites had been launched. [34]
  • The production-standard prototype AESL Airtourer was brought out.
  • The South African cricket team won the first Test of their series against New Zealand, at Durban, by 30 runs.
  • Police in Tokyo arrested 13 men in a pre-dawn raid after uncovering a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda and the 16 members of his cabinet. The plot, under the cover of the "Society for Japaense History", was financed by industrialist Toyosaku Kawanami with the assitance of former Lt. General Tokutaro Sakurai. [35]
  • Born: Daniel O'Donnell, Irish singer, in Kincasslagh, County Donegal; Sarah Sutton, English Doctor Who actress, in Basingstoke
  • Died: Hauk Aabel, 92, Norwegian silent film star

December 13, 1961 (Wednesday)

  • In Geneva, the United States and the Soviet Union announced that they had come to an agreement on the formation of a multinational discussion to reduce nuclear weapons, in a group described as the "Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament". The United Nations General Assembly endorsed the idea one week later, and the group first met on March 14, 1962. The 18 nations were the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Canada and France; the U.S.S.R., Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania; and the non-aligned states of Mexico, Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Egypt, Sweden, India and Burma. [36]
  • The chairman of the Dutch cycling federation, Piet van Dijk, revealed his experiences of doping in the sport, stating that, in the 1960 Rome Olympics, "dope - whole cartloads - [was] used in royal quantities."[37]
  • Born: Maurice Smith, African-American kickboxer, World Kickboxing Association world heavyweight champion 1983-1993, UFC heavyweight champion in 1997; in Seattle
  • Died: Grandma Moses, 101, American painter

December 14, 1961 (Thursday)

  • Twenty schoolchildren were killed and 13 seriously injured near Greeley, Colorado when their school bus was struck by a Union Pacific train. The crossing, located to the west of Evans, did not have flashing lights. The engineer for the train "City of Denver", which was inbound from Chicago at 80 miles per hour, told police that the driver, who had only minor injuries, did not stop at the crossing, while a student on the bus reported that the driver stopped at the crossing and opened the door. The 23 year old driver, Duane Harms, was acquitted of manslaughter. [38]
  • The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women was created by Executive Order 10980 by U.S. President Kennedy, with former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as the honorary chairman. The Commission's report, American Women, was published in 1965 and described the unequal treatment faced by women in American society. [39]
  • Nazim al-Kudsi was elected, unopposed, by the 172 member National Assembly as President of Syria. Former Premier Khalid al-Azm withdrew his name from consideration prior to the voting. [40]
  • Tanganyika (the future Tanzania) was admitted to the United Nations.
  • Died: John Joseph Bittner, 57, American geneticist and cancer researcher; Richard Schirrmann, 87, German teacher and founder of first youth hostel; Emil Sodersten, 62, Australian architect

December 15, 1961 (Friday)

  • The United Nations General Assembly declined a resolution to allow the People's Republic of China membership. The vote was 36 in favor, 48 against, with 20 abstentions. On the same day, a resolution declaring Communist Chinese membership an "important question", requiring 2/3rds approval rather than a simple majority, passed 61-34, with 7 abstentions. [41]
  • The Israeli war crimes tribunal sentenced Adolf Eichmann to death for his part in the Holocaust. Chief Judge Landau delivered the decision in Hebrew at Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem. [42]
  • The first episode in the long-running BBC series, Comedy Playhouse, was presented.
  • Soviet KGB officer Anatoliy Golitsyn, who had memorized the details of secret documents and cases, defected to the West at the American CIA station office in Helsinki. Golitsyn has been described by one author as "perhaps the most controversial and divisive defector of the Cold War". [43]
  • Born: Reginald Hudlin, African-American writer and film producer (House Party), President of Black Entertainment Television 2005-08; in Centreville, Illinois
  • Died: Dummy Hoy, 99, American baseball player

December 16, 1961 (Saturday)

  • The African National Congress, frustrated with peaceful attempts to end apartheid in South Africa, began a bombing campaign with a new organization, Umkhonto we Sizwe, setting off explosions at empty government buildings in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban. "Had we intended to attack life," Nelson Mandela would say in a statement at his trial in 1964, "we would have selected targets where people congregated, and not empty buildings and power stations." The Manifesto of Umkhonto, published the same day, began, "The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices— submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom." [44] The only casualty was one of the saboteurs, Petrus Molefe, who died at the Dube township in Johannesburg, when the bomb he was placing exploded prematurely. There would be 190 attacks in all until the group was suppressed in 1963, and only one other death, when a young girl was killed by a bomb. [45]
  • The British medical journal The Lancet published a letter from Dr. W. G. McBride, an Australian obstetrician in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville, New South Wales, with the heading "Thalidomide and Congenital Abnormalities" The letter, which brought the link between thalidomide and birth defects to the world's attention, began "Sir- Congenital abnormalities are present in approximately 1.5% of babies. In recent months, I have observed that the incidence of multiple severe abnormalities in babies delivered of women who were given the drug thalidomide ("Distaval") during pregnancy, as an anti-emitic or as a sedative, to be almost 20%..." [46]
  • Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa was crowned Emir of Bahrain.
  • Born: Salatyn Asgarova, Azerbaijani journalist, in Baku (d. 1991); and Bill Hicks, American comedian, in Valdosta, Georgia (d. 1994)
  • Died: Hans Rebane, 78, Estonian politician

December 17, 1961 (Sunday)

  • Niterói circus fire: A fire at a circus at Niterói, in the Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil, killed 323 people and injured hundreds of others. Most of the victims were children; many were burned or died of smoke inhalation, while others were trampled as the crowd (originally 2,500 people) attempted to escape. [47] Towards the end of the second afternoon performance of the Gran Circus Norte-Americano, the circus tent had 2,500 spectators. At 3:45 pm, as trapeze artists began their act, the nylon tent caught on fire and then fell upon the crowd and the wooden bleachers inside. Days later, Adilson Marcelino Alves, a disgruntled worker nicknamed "Dequinha", confessed to pouring gasoline on part of the tent with gasoline, with the help of Walter Rosa dos Santos ("Bigode") and José dos Santos ("Pardal"), in revenge for not being given free tickets to the circus after helping erect the tent. [48] The three conspirators were sentenced to 16 years in prison. [49]
  • The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) was founded by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo with the goal of eliminating white colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia (which would become, in 1965, Rhodesia and in 1979, Zimbabwe. The two would later become President and Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. [50]
  • A legislative election held in El Salvador, for 54 deputies to that country's Constituent Assembly.

December 18, 1961 (Monday)

December 19, 1961 (Tuesday)

  • At 2:30 pm, Portuguese India's Governor-General Vassalo e Silva signed an unconditional surrender in front of Indian Brigadier General K.S. Dhillon, bringing an end to the colony to 451 years of Portuguese rule. [55] Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli were incorporated into India as a single Union Territory. In 1987, Goa became the 25th State of India. [56]
  • Indonesia's President Sukarno announced a military campaign that he called "Trikora" (Tri Komando Rakyat, or "Three Commands to the People"): (1) Take over the Netherlands' territory of West Papua and put an end to creation of a republic there (2) Take over the Netherlands' territory of West Irian; and (3) Mobilize all of Indonesia's resources for those purposes. [57]
  • The World Food Program was created by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1714, adopted unanimously. [58]
  • The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France's civilian space agency, was created by legislation signed by President De Gaulle. [59]
  • Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and the father of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, suffered a massive stroke after playing golf in Palm Beach, Florida. He never recovered his ability to speak, and outlived both John and Bobby, dying in 1969. [60]
  • Born: Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and Nobel laureate, in Palo Alto, California; Matthew Waterhouse, English Doctor Who actor, in Hertford; and Reggie White, African-American NFL defensive end and ordained Baptist minister, nicknamed "The Minister of Defense"; in Chattanooga (d. 2004)

December 20, 1961 (Wednesday)

  • UN General Assembly Resolution 1723 (XVI) was passed, declaring that the large-scale exodus of Tibetan people was linked to a violation of its human rights and the suppression of its culture and religion.[61]
  • The last legal execution on the island of Ireland took place as Robert McGladdery was executed for murder in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • Sir Geoffrey de Freitas resigned his seat in the UK House of Commons to become British High Commissioner in Ghana[62] – the first Labour appointment to an important role in one of the newly independent former British colonies.
  • Born: Freddie Spencer, American motorcycle racer, in Shreveport, Louisiana
  • Died: Moss Hart, 57, American dramatist and director; Earle Page, 81, former Prime Minister of Australia, eleven days after losing his parliamentary seat in the federal election

December 21, 1961 (Thursday)

December 22, 1961 (Friday)

  • Internal political autonomy was granted to the Comoros by France.
  • The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ljubljana was elevated to the status of a Metropolitan Archdiocese.
  • Born: Andrew Fastow, American fraudster, in Washington D.C.; Yuri Malenchenko, Ukrainian cosmonaut, in Svitlovodsk
  • Died: Elia Dalla Costa, 89, Italian cardinal
  • Died: U.S. Army Specialist 4 James T. Davis, 25, of Livingston, Tennessee became the first American combat fatality in the Vietnam War. Davis had been ordered to lead a South Vietnamese Army team near Cau Xang, and was the lone American among ten soldiers killed in a Viet Cong ambush. [64]

December 23, 1961 (Saturday)

  • Fiumarella rail disaster: A crowded railroad car, carrying Christmas shoppers, as well as students and migrant workers heading home for the holiday, jumped a track near Catanzaro in Southern Italy, and plunged down a 100 foot embankment and into the rain swollen Fiumarella River, killing 71 people. The dead were from the villages of Cerrisi, Decollatura, and Soveria Mannelli. [65] The engineer, Ciro Micelli, survived and was later sentenced to ten years in prison for manslaughter after a court found that he had taken the curved railroad track at almost twice the speed limit. [66]
  • Eighteen people on the motor launch Roby Anita drowned after teh boat capsized off of Mindanao Island in the Philippines. Another 63 were rescued. [67]
  • Luxembourg's National Day, the Grand Duke's Official Birthday, was set as June 23 by Grand Ducal decree.
  • Born: Carol Smillie, Scottish TV personality, in Glasgow
  • Died: Wolfgang Steinecke, 51, German musician who founded the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, after being struck by a car; Gotthard Sachsenberg, 69, German World War I air ace; and Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer, 51, German General who defended against the Normandy invasion during World War II

December 24, 1961 (Sunday)

  • At the town of Bugalagrande in western Colombia, a terrorist bomb killed 51 people who were participating in a religious procession on Christmas Eve. The blast went off in an army barracks as worshippers were passing through the town square. [68]
  • Francisco Franco, the long-time dictator of Spain, was shot and wounded. Franco had been pigeon shooting at El Pardo when a shell casing from his gun exploded, injuring his left hand. While he recovered during the first few months of 1962, Franco delegated some of his powers to his Interior Minister, General Camilo Alonso Vega, and his the Director General of Security, Carlos Arias Navarro. [69]
  • Radio Mecca reported a breakthrough in a move toward democracy in Saudi Arabia, with news that Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud had submitted a proposed new Constitution to King Ibn Saud and his Council of Ministers. The draft, which would have created an elected legislature, was rejected, and three days later, Radio Mecca denied ever broadcasting the news. [70]
  • The Houston Oilers beat the home team San Diego Chargers, 10-3, to win the 1961 American Football League Championship Game. [71]
  • PERMIAS (PERsatuan Mahasiwa Indonesia di Amerika Serikat, or the Organization of Indonesian Students in the United States), was founded in Washington, D.C., the first and largest of several Indonesian-American groups in the U.S. [72]
  • Born: Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, in Baku

December 25, 1961 (Monday)

  • Pope John XXIII issued the papal bull Humanae salutis ("of human salvation") to summon the Second Vatican Council. [73] The announcement surprised everyone, in that the Pope did not consult with advisers beforehand. "Vatican II" would open on October 11, 1962 with participation from Roman Catholic clergy and theologians worldwide. Michael C. Thomsett, Heresy in the Roman Catholic Church: A History (McFarland, 2011) p242
  • The Maxwell House Hotel, at one time the most luxurious hotel in Nashville, and the inspiration for Maxwell House coffee, was completely destroyed by a fire on Christmas night. Although eight U.S. Presidents had stayed at the inn over the years, it later became a residential hotel. [74]
  • The Soviet Passport office in Minsk notified Marina Oswald that she and her husband, Lee Harvey Oswald, would be granted exit visas so that they could travel to the United States. [75]
  • Born: Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian politician and anti-corruption activist, in Bogotá; Stefan Ruzowitzky, Austrian film director, in Vienna; David Thompson, prime minister of Barbados, in London
  • Died: Otto Loewi, 88, German pharmacologist and 1936 Nobel Prize laureate who discovered the acetylcholine, the first identified neurotransmitter.

December 26, 1961 (Tuesday)

  • The Kingdom of Yemen, which had joined Egypt and Syria in March, 1958, to become part of the United Arab Republic, broke ties with the government of Egypt's Gamel Abdel Nasser. The Imam of Yemen had retained his throne while being linked with the UAR under the collective name "United Arab States". [76]
  • The 1961 South African Grand Prix was won by Jim Clark.
  • A new Higher Education Law was passed by the government of Lebanon.

December 27, 1961 (Wednesday)

  • The Empire State Building, at that time still the tallest skyscraper in the world, was sold to a group of investors headed by Lawrence A. Wien for $65,000,000. In what was described, at that time, as "the most complex transaction in real estate history", the closing, required the services of almost 100 professionals. It took place at the headquarters of the seller, the Prudential Insurance Company, in Newark, and the signing of the necessary documents took more than two hours. [77]
  • Anatoly Dobrynin was named as the new Soviet ambassador to the United States, replacing Mikhail A. Menshikov. [78]
  • Four days after the Catanzaro train wreck that killed 71 people, a crowd of more than 3,000 people, most of them friends and relatives of the dead, attacked the privately-owned Italian railroad line, tearing up the tracks and wrecking stations. Angry protesters set fire to the terminal at Soveria-Mannelli, and at Decollatura, the crowd tore down telephone poles. [79]
  • The Scout Association of Hong Kong held its Hong Kong Golden Jubilee Jamborette, celebrating the 50th anniversary of scouting in Hong Kong.
  • Born: Prince Tikka Raja Shri Shatrujit Singh of Kapurthala, in New Delhi, India; Guido Westerwelle, Vice-Chancellor of Germany, in Bad Honnef
  • Died: Hermann Foertsch, 66, German World War II general

December 28, 1961 (Thursday)

December 29, 1961 (Friday)

  • Enver Nazar ogly Alikhanov became the Premier of the Azerbaijan SSR, at that time one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
  • Died: Anton Flettner, 76, German aviation engineer and inventor

December 30, 1961 (Saturday)

December 31, 1961 (Sunday)

  • Ireland's first national television station, Telefís Éireann (later RTÉ), began broadcasting. A speech by Irish President Eamon de Valera opened the new era. [85] Previously, the eastern area of the Republic of Ireland was able to receive broadcasts from the BBC from Great Britain. [86]
  • The Green Bay Packers defeated the visiting New York Giants, 37-0, to win the 1961 NFL Championship Game. [87]
  • Died: Leo Lentelli, 82, Italian sculptor

References

  1. ^ James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002) p2055
  2. ^ Malik Mufti, Sovereign Creations: Pan-Arabism and Political Order in Syria and Iraq (Cornell University Press, 1996) p136
  3. ^ "Israel Town Created in Negev Area as First of Co-op Chain", Miami News, December 2, 1961, p6A
  4. ^ "Castro Admits He's All-Out Communist", Miami News, December 2, 1961, p1; Text of Castro speech
  5. ^ Adam Powell and Phil Ford, University of North Carolina Basketball (Arcadia Publishing, 2005) p61;
  6. ^ "Dinah's Marriage Goes On Rocks", Miami News, December 3, 1961, p1
  7. ^ "Painting On Vietw 7 Weeks — Upside Down", Miami News, December 5, 1961, p1
  8. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  9. ^ Edward Zawadzki, The Ultimate Canadian Sports Trivia Book (Dundurn Press Ltd., 2001) p50
  10. ^ David Remnick, King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero (Random House, Inc., 1999) pp13-14
  11. ^ "West, Reds Adopt Laos Agreement", Miami News, December 4, 1961, p1
  12. ^ Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam (National Academies Press, 1997) pp16-17
  13. ^ Scott B. MacDonald, Trinidad and Tobago: Democracy and Development in the Caribbean (ABC-CLIO, 1986) p135
  14. ^ Keith E. Bonn, Army Officer's Guide (Stackpole Books, 2005) p556
  15. ^ "Hijacked Red Train Flees To West", Miami News, December 6, 1961, p10A
  16. ^ Hans-Hermann Hertle, The Berlin Wall: Monument of the Cold War (Ch. Links Verlag, 2008) p52
  17. ^ Robert Anthony Waters, Historical Dictionary of United States-Africa Relations (Scarecrow Press, 2009) pp243-244; "U.S. OKs Funds For Ghana Dam", Miami News, December 16, 1961, p1
  18. ^ Ben Evans, Escaping the Bonds of Earth: The Fifties and the Sixties (Springer, 2009) p220
  19. ^ Steven S. Gaines, Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys (Da Capo Press, 1995) pp66-67
  20. ^ "15 Persons Are Killed in Blaze at Hospital", Milwaukee Journal, December 9, 1961, p1
  21. ^ Ellsworth Grant, Connecticut Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival (Globe Pequot, 2006) pp149-153
  22. ^ John Taylor, The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball (Random House, 2005); "Chamberlain Scores 78 as Warriors Lose", Milwaukee Journal, December 9, 1961, p20
  23. ^ Thomas M. Franck, Nation against Nation: What Happened to the U.N. Dream and What the U.S. Can Do about It (Oxford University Press, 1985) p53
  24. ^ "Philip Hoists Free Tanganyika's Flag", Montreal Gazette, December 9, 1961, p2
  25. ^ Michael Longford, The Flags Changed at Midnight: Tanganyika's Progress towards Independence (Gracewing Publishing, 2001) p415-417
  26. ^ Election Results 1961], University of Western Australia; "MENZIES GOVERNMENT HAS MAJORITY OF TWO SEATS; Moreton Gives 62-60 Result", The Age (Melbourne), December 19, 1961, p1
  27. ^ "Russia Severs Its Ties With Albania", St. Petersburg (FL) Times, December 11, 1961, p1; Robert Elsie, Historical Dictionary of Albania Scarecrow Press, 2010) p392
  28. ^ "Red China Speeds Aid To Albania", Miami News, December 18, 1961, p6A
  29. ^ Barton C. Hacker, Elements of Controversy: The Atomic Energy Commission and Radiation Safety in Nuclear Weapons Testing, 1947-1974 (University of California Press, 1994) p214; "Radioactive Steam Escapes From Blast", Edmonton Journal, December 11, 1961, p1
  30. ^ Peter Dorland and James Nanney,, Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1982) p23; "Copter Load, 2 Companies Reach Saigon", Youngstown Vindicator, December 11, 1961, p1
  31. ^ "EICHMANN CONVICTED BY ISRAEL", Pittsburgh Press, December 11, 1961, p1
  32. ^ Ruth Sachs, Adolf Eichmann: Engineer of Death (Rosen Publishing Group, 2001) pp5-7
  33. ^ David Aikman, Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century (Lexington Books, 2003) p160
  34. ^ Ron Miller, Space Innovations: Satellites (Twenty-First Century Books, 2007) p81
  35. ^ "Japan Cracks Plot To Slay Premier", Miami News, December 12, 1961, p1
  36. ^ "The Geneva Conference - Five Years Later", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (January 1967) p39
  37. ^ Van Dijk, Pieter: Doping bestaat en doen we eraan, Het Vrije Volk, Holland, 13 December 1961
  38. ^ "TRAIN HITS SCHOOL BUS; 20 DIE", Miami News, December 14, 1961, p1; "Duane Harms, driver in massive school bus crash, dies in California", Rocky Mountain News (Denver CO), November 19, 2007
  39. ^ Lynne E. Ford, Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics (Infobase Publishing, 2008) p370
  40. ^ "Syrian Assembly Elects President‎",New York Times, December 15, 1961
  41. ^ "Red China's Bid For Seat In United Nations Foiled", Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, December 16, 1961, p1
  42. ^ "Adolf Eichmann Sentenced to Be Hanged for Crimes", Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, December 15, 1961, p1
  43. ^ Mark Riebling, Wedge: From Pearl Harbor to 9/11 : How the Secret War between the FBI and CIA has Endangered National Security (Simon and Schuster, 2002) p179
  44. ^ "I Am Prepared to Die", by Nelson Mandela, reprinted in LEADERSHIP: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010) p267
  45. ^ The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970 (Zebra Press, 2004) p383
  46. ^ Text of McBride letter
  47. ^ "300 Feared Dead In Rio Circus Fire", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 18, 1961, p1
  48. ^ "He Put Torch To 'Big Top'", Miami News, December 21, 1961, p11A
  49. ^ "O incêndio do Gran Circus Norte-Americano em Niterói, 1961", by Paul Knauss, Revista Brasileira de História, Jan/June 2007
  50. ^ Eliakim M. Sibanda, The Zimbabwe African People's Union, 1961-87: A Political History of Insurgency in Southern Rhodesia (Africa World Press, 2005) p71
  51. ^ Mustasad Ahmad, Living up to Heritage: History of the Rajput Regiment 1947-1970 (Lancer Publishers, 1997) p126
  52. ^ "INDIA GRABS PORTUGUESE TERRITORIES", Miami News, December 18, 1961, p1
  53. ^ Tom Gallagher, Portugal: A Twentieth-Century Interpretation (Manchester University Press ND, 1983) p156
  54. ^ David H. Shinn and Thomas P. Ofcansky, Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia (Scarecrow Press, 2004) p131
  55. ^ Satyindra Singh, Blueprint to Bluewater: The Indian Navy, 1951-65 (Lancer Publishers, 1992) pp407-408
  56. ^ S. C. Bhatt and Gopal K. Bhargava, Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: Goa (Gyan Publishing House, 2006) p17
  57. ^ Retnowati Abdulgani-Knapp, Soeharto: The Life and Legacy of Indonesia's Second President: An Authorised Biography (Marshall Cavendish, 2007) p38; "Indonesia Gets Ready For War", Miami News, December 19, 1961, p1
  58. ^ Edmund Jan Osmańczyk and Anthony Mango, Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements, Volume 4 (Taylor & Francis, 2003) p2445
  59. ^ Mike Gruntman, Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry (AIAA, 2004) p420
  60. ^ John H. Davis, The Kennedys: Dynasty and Disaster (SPI Books, 1993) p725
  61. ^ http://tibet.no/omtibet.php?subaction=showfull&id=1109941751&archive=&start_from=&ucat=4& United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1723 (XVI) 20 December 1961
  62. ^ London Gazette: no. 42546. p. 9298. 22 December 1961. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  63. ^ "Tshombe Ends Katanga Revolt", Miami News, December 21, 1961, p1
  64. ^ "They Served in Silence: The Story of a Cryptologic Hero, Specialist Four James T. Davis, USA"
  65. ^ "Rail Car Plunge Kills 71", Miami News, December 24, 1961, p1
  66. ^ "Wreck Engineer Gets 10 Years", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 4, 1966, p38; Edgar A. Haine, Railroad Wrecks (Associated University Presses, 1993) p170
  67. ^ "Boat Carrying 32 Capsizes", Miami News, December 23, 1961, p2A; "13 Die, 5 Missing In Boat Sinking", Miami News, December 23, 1961, p2A
  68. ^ "Yule Bomb Blast; 51 Die", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 26, 1961, p1
  69. ^ Paul Preston, The Triumph of Democracy in Spain (Methuen & Co., 1987) p7
  70. ^ Peter W. Wilson and Douglas Graham, Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm (M.E. Sharpe, 1994) p51
  71. ^ "Houston Retains A.F.L. Title", Windsor Star, December 26, 1961, p25
  72. ^ Ronald H. Bayor, Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans (ABC-CLIO, 2011) p1046
  73. ^ "Unity, Atheism Big Concerns Of Papal Council", Miami News, December 26, 1961, p2A
  74. ^ "Nashville Fire Destroys Maxwell House", Miami News, December 26, 1961, p1
  75. ^ The Warren Commission Report (1964) p262
  76. ^ "Yemen Quits Club, Nasser's UAR All Gone", Miami News, December 27, 1961, p1
  77. ^ James Glanz, Eric Lipton, City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center (Macmillan, 2003) p129
  78. ^ "New Soviet Ambassador Here Named", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 28, 1961, p2
  79. ^ "Victims' Kin Rip Up Tracks After Wreck", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 28, 1961, p2
  80. ^ Gene Smith, When the Cheering Stopped (William Morrow & Sons, 1964)
  81. ^ "President Wilson's Widow Dies", Miami News, December 27, 1961, p6A
  82. ^ Emizet F. Kisangani and F. Scott Bobb, Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo(Scarecrow Press, 2010) p263
  83. ^ Pauline Fairclough, A Soviet Credo: Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006) p xv
  84. ^ "Philippines President Inaugurated", Spokane Spokesman-Review, December 31, 1961, p1
  85. ^ "Telefís Éireann, Ireland's National Television Station, Goes on Air: 31 December 1961", RTE Libraries and Archives
  86. ^ J. H. Whyte, et al., A New History of Ireland, Volumes 7-8 (Oxford University Press, 1976) p301
  87. ^ "PACKERS WORLD CHAMPIONS!; Rip Giants, 37-0, As Pvt. Hornung Scores 19 Points", Milwaukee Sentinel, January 1, 1962, p1

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