On this day

June 16, 1961

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

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Headlines from June 16, 1961

Notable Births

Can Dündar

1961Can Dündar, Turkish journalist and author[†]

Can Dündar is a Turkish journalist, columnist and documentarian. Editor-in-chief of center-left Cumhuriyet newspaper until August 2016, he was arrested in November 2015 after his newspaper published footage showing the State Intelligence MİT sending weapons to Syrian Islamist fighters.

1961Robbie Kerr, Australian cricketer[†]

Robert Byers Kerr is an Australian former cricketer who played in two Test matches and four One Day Internationals in 1985. He represented Queensland in four Sheffield Shield finals.

1961Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player[†]

Steven Donald Larmer is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He is the brother of Jeff Larmer.

Margus Metstak

1961Margus Metstak, Estonian basketball player and coach[†]

Margus Metstak is a retired Estonian professional basketball player who played mostly at the center position.

Notable Deaths

Marcel Junod

1961Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (born 1904)[†]

Marcel Junod was a Swiss medical doctor and one of the most accomplished field delegates in the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). After medical school and a short position as a surgeon in Mulhouse, France, he became an ICRC delegate and was deployed in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and in Europe as well as in Japan during World War II. In 1947, he wrote a book with the title Warrior without Weapons about his experiences. After the war, he worked for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as chief representative in China, and settled back in Europe in 1950. He founded the anaesthesiology department of the Cantonal Hospital in Geneva and became the first professor in this discipline at the University of Geneva. In 1952, he was appointed a member of the ICRC and, after many more missions for this institution, was Vice-President from 1959 until his death in 1961.

Historical Events

1961While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.[†]

The Mariinsky Ballet is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Historical Context for June 16, 1961

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