On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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WOLFEBORO, N.H. -- The good ship Mount Washington II, the "Queen of the Winnipesaukee Fleet," is a proper successor in the long tradition of shipping on New Hampshire's largest lake.
Yields on Govt bonds and short-term bills near record 7% in wake of bank rate rise; econ and pol causes and effects discussed; rise fails to attract substantial amt of US capital because of difficulties for US investors
concern voiced in Govt and indus over NASA failure to assign final responsibility for manned flight to moon (Project Apollo) and lag in bldg flight capsule since Kennedy May 25 call for all-out race; Webb reluctance to name 'moon czar,' problem of finding right man to head project, tech problems of bldg super-rocket are factors in delay
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12 -- Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda wrecked Manager Fred Hutchinson's birthday today by hitting home runs that lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 victory over the faltering Cincinnati Reds.
US Sen Fulbright warns that closing of E Berlin-W Berlin border may spur unrest; Allied views on possible uprising discussed
1961Koji Kondo, Japanese composer and sound director[†]
Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and senior executive at the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions for the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, with his Super Mario Bros. theme being the first piece of music from a video game included in the American National Recording Registry. Kondo was hired by Nintendo in 1984 as its first dedicated composer and is currently a Senior Officer at its Entertainment Planning & Development division.
1961Dawnn Lewis, American actress[†]
Dawnn Jewel Lewis is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jaleesa Vinson–Taylor on the NBC television sitcom A Different World from the series beginning in 1987 until the end of its fifth season in 1992, in addition to co-writing the opening theme song for the series.
1961Neil Mallender, English cricketer and umpire[†]
Neil Alan Mallender is a former English cricketer. Born in Kirk Sandall, Yorkshire, Mallender was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand lower order batsman who improved as his career progressed. He played first-class cricket in England for Northamptonshire and for Somerset (1987–1994). He also played for Otago, captaining the side in 1990–91 and 1991–92.
1961Tom Perrotta, American novelist and screenwriter[†]
Thomas R. Perrotta is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels Election (1998) and Little Children (2004), both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated films. Perrotta co-wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film version of Little Children with Todd Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also known for his novel The Leftovers (2011), which has been adapted into a TV series on HBO.
1961Cold 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.[†]
The Cold War was a period of global geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.
In 1961, the world population was approximately 3,064,869,675 people[†]