May 1961 calendar

Events

• 01 May 1961 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba
• 03 May 1961 Warren Spahn pitches a two hitter after pitching a no hitter.
• 04 May 1961 1st on-the-road Spacemobile lecture given.
• 05 May 1961 Alan Shepard becomes first American in space (aboard Freedom 7).
• 06 May 1961 Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party.
• 07 May 1961 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open.
• 08 May 1961 First practical sea water conversion plant-Freeport, Texas, USA.
• 09 May 1961 FCC Chairman Newton N Minow criticizes TV as a vast wasteland
• 10 May 1961 Beyond the Fringe, premieres in London
• 12 May 1961 Botvinnik wins world chess championship for third time.
• 14 May 1961 Bus with first group of Freedom Riders bombed and burned in Alabama, USA.
• 15 May 1961 Bonanza by Al Caiola Orchestra hits #19
• 16 May 1961 13rd Emmy Awards: Jack Benny Show, Raymond Burr and Barbara Stanwyck
• 17 May 1961 Fidel Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers.
• 18 May 1961 Donnybrook! opens at 46th St. Theater NYC for 68 performances
• 19 May 1961 New pier opens in Scheveningen
• 20 May 1961 Henzes opera Elegy for Young Lovers, premieres in Schwetzingen
• 21 May 1961 Governor Patterson declares martial law in Montgomery, Alabama, USA.
• 22 May 1961 Mother-In-Law by Ernie K-Doe hits #1
• 24 May 1961 American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for ''disturbing the peace'' after disembarking from their bus.
• 25 May 1961 JFK sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade
• 26 May 1961 US Air Force bomber flies the Atlantic in a record of just over three hours.
• 27 May 1961 President Kennedy announces US goal to reach Moon
• 28 May 1961 Amnesty International founded
• 29 May 1961 The US Department of Agriculture officially begins its Food Stamp program.
• 30 May 1961 Maris hits his 10th and 11th of 61 HRs
• 31 May 1961 JFK visits Charles de Gaulle in Paris

Famous Birthday

• George Clooney

  American actor with several appointments to annual Best-dressed, Most Stylish, Most Eligible and Sexiest Man Alive lists.

• Enya

  Irish singer and songwriter.

• Dennis Rodman

  American athlete, a pro basketball player for Detroit Pistons.

• Tim Roth

  British actor of Irish descent (his father "né Smith" was born in New-York), starring in "Grace" with Nicole Kidman, directed by Olivier...

• Bruno Wolkowitch
• Patti Stanger

  Reality Star.

• Lea Thompson

  American dancer and actress, starring in the Nutcracker Suite at age 4; at 14 she was a member of the Minnesota Dance Theater and at 20,...

• Melissa Etheridge

  American musician, a singer, songwriter and rock superstar, nominated for a Grammy early 2000 in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance...

• John Corbett

  TV Actor.

• Peri Gilpin

  TV Actress.

• Nick Heyward

  British teen pop star and musician with the group "Haircut 100" from October 1981 thru October 1982.

• Roland Gift

  English singer-songwriter and actor (Fine Young Cannibals and Akrylykz).

• Robert Howard (The Blow Monkeys)
• Jean Leclerc (singer)
• Kitty Carruthers

  American ice skater of Welsh-Lebanese descent, who was adopted into a close, loving family.

• Harry Enfield

  English actor director and screenwriter.

• Danny Carey

  American drummer (Tool, Pigmy Love Circus).

• Marc Barbé
• Johanna ter Steege

  Dutch actress.

• Luis Herrera

  Colombian cyclist.

• See more

Famous Deaths

• Gary Cooper

  American actor who became a major star after his 1941 appearance in "Sergeant York.

• French of Cauwelaert

  Flemish Minister / Mayor of Antwerp, dies at 81.

• Henri Gagnon

  Composer, dies at 74.

• Uuno Kalervo Klami

  Composer, dies at 60.

• Maurice [Jean Jacques] Merleau-Ponty

  French philosopher, dies at age 53.

• Joe Howard singer (Gay Nineties Revue)

  dies at age 94.

• Rafael L Trujillo Molina

  dictator of Dominican Republic (1930-61), murdered at age 69.

• George A Malcolm

  American jurist & educator (Born 1881).

• Josef ''Pips'' Priller

  German flying ace (Born 1915).

• Rafael Leonidas Trujillo

  Dominican Republic dictator (Born 1891).

• Walter Little

  Canadian politician (Born 1877).

• Lucian Blaga

  philosopher/poet (Transcendental censor), dies at age 65.

• Joan Davis

  Actress (I Married Joan), dies of heart attack at 53.

• James Fairfax

  Actor (Gale Storm Show), dies at 63.

• Anita Stewart

  American actress and producer (d. 1961).

• See more

Top #5 songs in the USA

1. Del Shannon - Runaway
2. Ernie K-Doe - Mother-In-Law
3. Linda Scott - I've Told Every Little Star
4. Gene McDaniels - A Hundred Pounds Of Clay
5. Shep and the Limelites - Daddy's Home

Top #5 songs in the UK

1. The Marcels - Blue Moon
2. The Temperance Seven - You're Driving Me Crazy
3. Floyd Cramer - On The Rebound
4. Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart
5. Bobby Vee - More Than I Can Say / Staying In