Date in year · 1961 · The 1960s

September 17, 1961

On September 17, 1961, the world's first retractable roof stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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 September 17, 1961

  1. 1961 The world's first retractable roof stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    Arena in Pittsburgh

    The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, from 1967 to 2010.

  2. 1961 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 crashes during takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing all 37 people on board.

    1961 aviation accident

    Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 was a Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft, registration N137US, which crashed on take-off from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport September 17, 1961. All 37 on board were killed in the accident.

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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