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January 21, 1961

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from January 21, 1961

NATION EXHORTED; Inaugural Says U.S. Will 'Pay Any Price' to Keep Freedom Kennedy Sworn In, Asks 'Global Alliance' Against Tyranny, Want, Disease and War SAYS U.S. IS READY FOR SOVIET TALKS Warren Administers Oath to 35th President in Rites in Front of Capitol

By W.h. Lawrence Special To the New York Times

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy assumed the Presidency today with a call for "a grand and global alliance" to combat tyranny, poverty, disease and war.

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Notable Births

Kevin Cramer

1961Kevin Cramer, American politician[†]

Kevin John Cramer is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator for North Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Dakota's at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.

1961Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier[†]

Cornelia Pröll is an Austrian former alpine skier who competed in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Ivo Pukanić

1961Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (died 2008)[†]

Ivo Pukanić was a Croatian journalist. He was best known as editor-in-chief of the once influential Croatian political weekly Nacional. In 2008, Pukanić was assassinated by members of Serbian organized crime groups.

Gary Shaw (footballer, born 1961)

1961Gary Shaw, English footballer (died 2024)[†]

Gary Robert Shaw was an English professional football striker who played for Aston Villa in the early 1980s.

Piotr Ugrumov

1961Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist[†]

Piotr Ugrumov is a former Russian-Latvian professional road racing cyclist who participated for Latvia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though he was a part of the Russian delegation at the 1996 Summer Olympics. His career as a professional lasted from 1989 to 1999, he had ten victories. Ugrumov finished second at the 1994 Tour de France. Between 1990 and 1996 he came in the Top 10 of seven Grand Tours, four in the Giro, two in the Tour and one in the Vuelta.

Notable Deaths

Blaise Cendrars

1961Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (born 1887)[†]

Frédéric-Louis Sauser, better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement.

Historical Context for January 21, 1961

In 1961, the world population was approximately 3,064,869,675 people[†]