Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. Date: August 15, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 15 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
Cold War: East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started. The day is known as Barbed Wire Sunday. Date: August 13, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August…
The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Date: August 11, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 11 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
Vietnam War: The U.S. Army begins Operation Ranch Hand, spraying an estimated 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3) of defoliants and herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam in an attempt to deprive the Viet Cong of food and vegetation cover. Date: August 10, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 10 📅…
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization. Date: August 1, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 1 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
Cold War: In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO. Date: July 25, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on July 25 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua. Date: July 23, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on July 23 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
Alaska Airlines Flight 779 crashes near Shemya Air Force Base in Shemya, Alaska killing six. Date: July 21, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on July 21 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission: Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission). Date: July 21, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on July 21 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)
French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte. Date: July 20, 1961 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on July 20 📅 Events on this day in 1961 📅 On This Day (Today)