Date in year · 1961 · The 1960s

March 9, 1961

On March 9, 1961, sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a dog and a human dummy, and demonstrating that the Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight. 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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Year

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 March 9, 1961

  1. 1961 Sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a dog and a human dummy, and demonstrating that the Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight.

    1961 USSR unmanned test launch of the Vostok spacecraft

    1, also known as Sputnik 9 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched on 9 March 1961. Carrying the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, some mice and the first guinea pig in space, it was a test flight of the Vostok spacecraft.

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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