August 11, 1961

1961David Brooks, American journalist and author^[†]

David Brooks is a Canadian-born American book author and political and cultural commentator. Though he describes himself as an ideological moderate, others have characterised him as centrist, moderate conservative, or conservative, based on his record as contributor to the PBS NewsHour, and as opinion columnist for The New York Times. In addition to his shorter form writing, Brooks has authored six non-fiction books since 2000, two appearing from Simon and Schuster, and four from Random House, the latter including The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (2011), and The Road to Character (2015).

1961Craig Ehlo, American basketball player and coach^[†]

Joel Craig Ehlo is an American former basketball player. He played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with four teams, amassing career totals of 7,492 points, 2,456 assists and 3,139 rebounds.

1961Suniel Shetty, Indian actor and film producer^[†]

Suniel Shetty is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, and entrepreneur, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, with appearances in Tamil films. Nicknamed as Anna, Shetty has appeared in over 100 films, in a career spanning over three decades. Rising to prominence in the 1990s as a leading action hero with films like Balwaan (1992), Mohra (1994), Dilwale (1994), and Border (1997), Shetty later showcased his versatility in comedies such as Hera Pheri (2000), Phir Hera Pheri (2006) and antagonistic roles, notably winning a Filmfare Award for Best Villain for Dhadkan (2000). Beyond acting, he has produced films under Popcorn Motion Pictures, co-founded the online casting platform F...the Couch (FTC), and hosted reality shows.

1961Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian-American author, playwright, actor, and director (born 1910)^[†]

Antanas Škėma was a Lithuanian writer, playwright, stage actor and director. His best known work is the novel Balta drobulė.

1961The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.^[†]

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.