1961 Trivia

Top Stories of 1961

• The Soviet Union puts first man into space, a 27 year old Air Force Major Yuri Gagarin.
• The Berlin Wall is completed, dividing East and West Berlin.
• NASA puts man in space; Commander Alan Shepard Jr. makes 15 minute suborbital flight. Two months later the second American is launched into space, Air Force Capt. Virgil I. Grissom.
• President Kennedy is inaugurated into office.
• A Presidential press conference is televised for the first time.
• Presidents Khrushchev and Kennedy meet for a two day summit in Vienna.
• Kennedy confers with Korean General Chung Hee Park, pledges economic aid.
• The U.S. fails in its attempt to back anti-Castro exiles in coup to overthrough Cuban dictator. Incident referred to as Bay of Pigs.
• Maj. Robert White flies Air Force X-15, breaking 4,000 mph for record speed.
• US successfully orbits space capsule containing chimpanzee, Enos.
• The heaviest snowstorm since 1947 ties up the Northeast.

AMERICAN LIVING

THEN AND NOW

AND THE WINNER IS...