1961 Events & Facts


What Happened in 1961. 
MAJOR EVENTS:


	Outgoing President Eisenhower issues warning of a &quot;military industrial complex&quot; developing in America
	President Kennedy establishes Peace Corps
	Cuban exiles fail in their bid to invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs; President Kennedy accepts responsibility
	Soviets build wall dividing East and West Berlin
	Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann tried in Israel, found guilty
	&quot;Freedom Riders&quot; travel throughout the South to test and promote integration measures; many are assaulted and beaten


SCIENCE &amp; TECHNOLOGY:


	Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space during a single-orbit flight
	Commander Alan Shephard Jr. becomes first American in space in a suborbital flight aboard Mercury 3; Virgil Grissom follows in similar fashion two months later
	Soviet space probe Venera 1 becomes the first man-made vehicle to reach another planet when it arrives at Venus
	First lasers developed
	Anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey discover Homo habilis in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania


SPORTS:


	World Series: New York Yankees over Cincinnati, 4-1
	Ty Cobb dies


ARTS &amp; ENTERTAINMENT:


	Movies: West Side Story, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremburg
	Songs: Moon River, Where the Boys Are, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Blue Moon, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
	TV Shows: Bullwinkle, Walt Disney&rsquo;s Wonderful World of Color, Hazel, Dick Van Dyke Show, Top Cat
	Books: Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein; Catch-22, Joseph Heller; The Carpetbaggers, Harold Robbins; The Making of the President: 1960, Theodore White; The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone; The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck
	Henry Miller&rsquo;s 1934 novel Tropic of Cancer published legally in the U.S. for the first time
	Ernest Hemmingway dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
	Gary Cooper dies


EVERYDAY LIFE:


	Electric toothbrushes introduced
	&quot;Frito&quot; corn chips appear
	Average Cost of a new car $2,850


FUN FACTS:


	&quot;Barbie&quot; gets a boyfriend when the &quot;Ken&quot; doll is introduced
	The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) started
	Barack Obama, George Clooney born

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A Look Back at the Hot Christmas Toys of Our Childhood


Can you imagine the looks you&#39;d get from children today if you were to gift them a a toy that you received at the holidays when you were a kid. Have you found yourself muttering this before. Instead, our holidays included much simpler toys. 
So, let&#39;s have some fun and take a look back at the most wanted toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, when we were kids.

A Look Back at the Hot Christmas Toys of Our Childhood

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Unlocking the Mysteries of Nostalgia: A Journey through Memory Lane

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A Magical Trip Back in Time to the Mall in 1978

Take a Step Back In Time


Ron Baklarz&#39;s book &ldquo;Better Be Home When The Streetlights Come On: Remembering the Summer of 1963&rdquo; is available on Amazon. In today&rsquo;s tumultuous times, at least we Baby Boomers can look back on the kinder, gentler times of our youth. And we all likely had a common curfew which was &ldquo;Better Be Home When the Streetlights Come On.&rdquo;

&nbsp;I wrote this fictionalized novel as a humorous, summertime version of The Christmas Story. Follow three, inseparable 11-year-old boys &ndash; Jack, Brain, and Chief as the older versions of themselves reminisce about the summer of 1963.

A Little More Nostalgia: Excerpt From the New Baby Boomer Novelette


Below is an excerpt from the new novelette by Diane Campbell Green, Becky Likes Boys. A perfect read for Valentine&rsquo;s Day.&nbsp; See www.DCGBooks.com to purchase this or other books from the Becky Chalmers, Baby Boomer&rsquo;s Series.&nbsp; Available on Amazon.&nbsp;

What is this book about. 
Becky Likes Boys begins with awkward moments at Becky Chalmers&rsquo; first dance.&nbsp; A Christmas celebration is almost ruined by an ice storm.&nbsp; Becky, Scotty Cadwallader, and a new friend, Hayley, attempt to thwart a mean girl&rsquo;s plans and persuade her to try kindness.&nbsp; The stage is set for Becky&rsquo;s crush to appear.&nbsp; In cutoff jeans, a ratty old T-shirt, and sneakers with holes in the toes, Becky meets her first love.&nbsp; Jackie Chalmers, Becky&rsquo;s mother, is asked to describe what love feels like.&nbsp; &ldquo;Yup, I&rsquo;m in love,&rdquo; Becky says.&nbsp; Oblivious of those around them, Becky and her crush become close until an unexpected event changes everything.&nbsp; Becky suffers&mdash;an old friend&rsquo;s presence revives the hope in her heart.&nbsp;

What makes this book unique. 
&nbsp;

First Dance

June 1965

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Becky Chalmers and her sister-friend, Sharon discussed the spring dance to be held at Yardley Elementary School.&nbsp; This would be their first dance ever.&nbsp; Becky nervously lifted her feathery dark hair catching a bit of it and twirling it around her index finger, a comforting habit.&nbsp; She was baffled by the attention given this first dance by her mother.&nbsp; Sharon kept the dance within the realm of an everyday event.&nbsp; Sharon was almost always earthbound.

The Bonfire and the Baby; December 1963


Christmas Eve settled like a soft, silent prayer over Yardley Borough. 
&ldquo;It seems like God is hovering close to Earth,&rdquo; Jackie Chalmers said to her husband, Jim.&nbsp;

Jim Chalmers put his arm around Jackie&rsquo;s shoulders. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s only been a little more than a month since President Kennedy was assassinated.&nbsp; Christmas is a sad one for the country this year.&nbsp; He was a young president with young children.&nbsp; We had such hope&mdash;such dreams for a better world from his presidency.&rdquo;

The Chalmers children danced in their cellar, not paying attention to their daddy&rsquo;s whisper.&nbsp;

Ten-year-old Becky, the oldest, was tall for her age.&nbsp; Becky wore a year-long display of freckles with her dark, feathery hair and a cat-like shade of green eyes. 
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready to go, Daddy, but Billy has two left boots on and Jimmy says Billy took one of his boots.&nbsp; You better go fix it, Daddy,&rdquo; Becky announced.&nbsp; The boys, chubby identical twins, were always full of energy and mischief.&nbsp; Their beautiful curly blond hair had graduated to light brown crew cuts.&nbsp; Becky had once commented, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re trouble, especially Billy, but I wouldn&rsquo;t want anyone else&rsquo;s brothers.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re finally ready,&rdquo; Mommy said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Everyone has their winter coats, warm boots, mittens, hats, and scarves on.&rdquo;

The Chalmers family was ready to make the walk to Afton Pond for a bonfire, something new this year.&nbsp; Four-year-old Susie was pulled on a sled.&nbsp; Yesterday it had snowed enough to make the ground ready for the family American Flyer to glide down the hill with Susie on it.&nbsp; Tonight, Susie looked like an angel.&nbsp; Usually, her strong will and boundless curiosity laid waste to all tranquility, but Santa&rsquo;s visit was very close.

What Happened in 1961?

MAJOR EVENTS:

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

SPORTS:

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

EVERYDAY LIFE:

FUN FACTS:

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