The Nation 1961

Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation January 17, 1961

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

 John F. Kennedy is inaugurated President of the United States.

President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live news conference, establishes the Peace Corps, announces his goal to put a man on the Moon before 1970 with the Apollo Program  and sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

Category 4 hurricane Carla made landfall between Port O'Connor and Port Lavaca, Texas with a storm surge of 22 feet penetrating 10 miles inland.

The 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution is enacted, permitting the District of Columbia to choose Electors for President and Vice President. Fastest passage on record proposed on June 17, 1960 and ratified by the states on March 29, 1961.  

President Kennedy advises the  "Prudent Family" to have a Bomb Shelter.

Nobel Prizes 1961

Physics - Robert Hofstadter, Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer  

Chemistry - Melvin Calvin  

Physiology or Medicine - Georg von Békésy  

Literature - Ivo Andric  

Peace - Dag Hammarskjöld - awarded posthumously

The World 1961

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. American Alan Shepard follows a few months later.

Iraqi president Abdul Karim Kassem announces his intent to annex Kuwait. The United Kingdom sends  troops to protect Kuwait.

Soviet and American tanks standoff as tensions build in Cold War in Berlin, Germany.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins. It ends two days later in failure.

The Soviet Union detonates the biggest explosion in history over Novaya Zemlya.

Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to hang which is carried the next year.

Class of 1961