Date in year · 1961 · The 1960s

February 13, 1961

On February 13, 1961, an allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug. 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

Around 1961

The year in brief

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.

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What happened

On February 13, 1961

  1. 1961 An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.

    Spark plug supposedly encased in a 500,000-year-old geode

    The Coso artifact is an object falsely claimed by its discoverers to be a spark plug encased in a geode. Discovered on February 13, 1961, by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell while they were prospecting for geodes near the town of Olancha, California, it has long been claimed as an example of an out-of-place artifact. The artifact has been identified as a 1920s-era Champion spark plug encased in a concretion.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1961

The class of 1961

Others born in 1961

Jane Leeves 1961– English actress and dancer
John Podhoretz 1961– American journalist and author
Don Mattingly 1961– American baseball player, coach, and manager
Konstantin Lavronenko 1961– Russian actor
David Servan-Schreiber 1961– French physician, neuroscientist, and author (died 2011)
Jeff Hostetler 1961– American football player

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