Date in year · 1961 · The 1960s
On February 12, 1961, the Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus. The year's #1 song was "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis. Jane Leeves, John Podhoretz, Don Mattingly would arrive in the same year.
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1961
1960s
Featured · February 12, 1961
2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8, was the first spacecraft to perform an interplanetary flight and the first to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it was intended as an impactor, but flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in returning only some data and only from interplanetary space.
Around 1961
1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1961st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 961st year of the 2nd millennium, the 61st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1960s decade.
What happened
Soviet space probe launched in 1961; first spacecraft to fly by Venus
2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8, was the first spacecraft to perform an interplanetary flight and the first to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it was intended as an impactor, but flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in returning only some data and only from interplanetary space.
Elsewhere that year
The class of 1961
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