Fun Facts About the Year 1961 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yuri Gagarin

Gagarin's flight lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. Alan Shepard was the second person and first American in space on May 5, 1961. Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth on February 20, 1962. Ms. Tereshkova was the first woman to fly in space on June 16, 1963.

Answer: The Bay of Pigs

The CIA recruited 1,500 men, mostly Cuban expatriates to invade the island between April 17, 1961 and April 19, 1961. Of these 1,500 men, 118 were reportedly killed and over 1,200 captured by the Cubans. This was not a highlight of John Kennedy's term as President of the United States.

The Watergate and Teapot Dome are scandals that effected other US Presidents. The Cuban Missile Crisis refers to events in October 1962 relating to missiles that the USSR was planning to place in Cuba.

Answer: John F. Kennedy

Nixon was defeated by JFK in a close election. Nixon went on to become the 37th US President in 1968. Eisenhower was the immediate predecessor to Kennedy as the 34th US President. Johnson was Kennedy's Vice President and became the 36th President when JFK was assassinated in 1963.

Answer: Farthing

The farthing was first used in the UK in the 1300's. The coin was worth 1/4 of a penny" and thus was only worth 1/960th of a pound. During the late 1950's UK businesses increasingly protested the time and expense of processing the nearly worthless coins.

While the farthing was the first of the medieval coins to go, in 1971 the UK adopted the decimal system and the pre-decimal coins except the one and two shilling pieces (now 5 and 10 pence respectively) were demonetized. The (new) penny and the pound continue in use today though by about 2006 the new penny was worth less than the farthing had been at the time of demonetization.

However, supermarkets just love prices endinng in .99.

Answer: 101 Dalmatians

"101 Dalmatians" premiered on January 25, 1961. The film went on to earn over $6,000,000 in 1961 and was one of the year's top 10 grossing films. Worldwide since 1961 the film has earned over $215,000,000 and remains a popular favorite.

Answer: Diana Spencer

The future Princess Diana was born Diana Spencer on July 1 1961, the daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer. Diana married Prince Charles of Wales in 1981 and is the mother of the English Princes William and Harry. Dubbed the People's Princess' after her death the beloved Lady Di was killed in a tragic car accident' in 1997. Ms Parker Bowles is the second wife of Prince Charles and is styled the Duchess of Cornwall. Sarah Ferguson was married to Charles' brother, Andrew, the Duke of York. Ms. Middleton married Diana's son, William, who was made the Duke of Cambridge.

Answer: Dag Hammarskjöld

Secretary Hammarskjöld of Sweden was awarded the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize posthumlously for his efforts to serve world peace. Mr. Thant replaced him and served untl 1972. Mr. Waldheim served two terms as Secretary General from 1972 until 1981. Mr. Ki-moon from South Korea became the Secretary General in 2007..

Answer: World Wildlife Fund

The conservation fund website states that the WWF has invested over 1 billion US dollars in the cause of educating and protecting the endangered animals of the world. The Panda symbol used by the WWF recalls "Chi-Chi" first brought to the London Zoo from China in 1961.

The remaining charities are all real and vital particpants in the conservation of animal movement but were started after the WWF. An interesting side note was that the World Wildlife Federation succesfuly sued to force the former World Wrestling Federation (now called the World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE)stop using the letters "WWF" as a tradename.

Answer: Harold Macmillan

Mr. Macmillan, a Conservative, was UK Prime Minister from 1957 until 1963. Unfortunately Mr. Macmillan's term is remembered more for the Profoumo sex/spy scandal than for his many accomplishments. Eden was his predcessor as Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister from 1979-1990 and Mr. Blair from 1997-2007.

Answer: Forest Whitaker

Clooney, Fox and Murphy were also born in 1961. Whitaker graduated from college at California Polytechnic, Pomona. By a surprising coincidence the author of this quiz was also born on July 15 1961 and grew up very close to Cal Poly, Pomona.