1961 Dallas Cowboys season, Season recap
Offensively, the Cowboys were an improved lot across the board. The offense moved the ball at a decent pace, finishing 8th in the league in yards gained. Quarterbacks Eddie LeBaron and Don Meredith had quality targets at the receiver position, which helped the team finish 6th in passing yardage. Veteran Billy Howton established a career-high in receptions with 56, and Frank Clarke developed into one of the league's top deep threats, averaging 22.4 yards per catch and scoring 9 touchdowns. Tight end Dick Bielski represented the Cowboys at the Pro Bowl.


1961 Dallas Cowboys season, Season recap
The Cowboys may have showed the most improvement in the running game. Rookie Don Perkins was one of the league's top running backs with 815 yards, and Amos Marsh and J.W. Lockett contributed as well, improving the Cowboys to 10th in total yards rushing, and improving the yards per carry from 3.4 in 1960 to 4.4 in 1961. On the negative side, the offense turned the ball over 48 times during the season, second worst in the league, and the offensive line continued to struggle protecting the quarterback. The team only scored 236 points (13th in the league) despite the Cowboys improved offensive play.


1961 Dallas Cowboys season, Season recap
Defensively, the team continued to struggle against the run, allowing 2161 rushing yards (12th in the league) and 4.8 yards per carry. Against the pass, the secondary allowed too many long completions (a league worst 15.7 yards per completion) and the defensive front did not apply much pressure on the quarterback. The defense did make more than its share of big plays, forcing 43 turnovers. Cornerback Don Bishop had 8 of the defense's 25 interceptions.


1961 Dallas Cowboys season, Season recap
Rookie kicker Allen Green struggled much of the season. His 36.7 yards per punt was worst in the league, and after going 5 of 15 on field goal attempts (though two of the field goals provided the game winning points) he was replaced by Dick Bielski, who made 6 out 9 field goals the rest of the season. Rookie running backs Amos Marsh and Don Perkins helped improve the kickreturn game, with Marsh in particular standing out with a 25.7 yard average on kick returns.


1961 Dallas Cowboys season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Dallas Texans season
The  1961 Dallas Texans season was the 2nd season for the Dallas Texans as a professional AFL franchise; They finished the season with a 6–8 record and second-place finish in the AFL Western Conference.


1961 Dallas Texans season
The club moved its training camp to Lamar Hunt's alma mater of Southern Methodist University and started the regular season at 3–1 before hitting a six-game losing skid, the longest such streak of head coach Hank Stram's tenure with the franchise. One of those losses was a 28–21 decision in a Friday night contest at Boston (11/3) which featured a bizarre ending as a raincoat-clad fan knocked down a potential game-tying TD from Cotton Davidson to Chris Burford on the game's final play. The team rebounded to claim wins in three of its final four contests to finish 6–8, marking the club's second straight finish behind the Chargers in the AFL West standings.


1961 Dallas Texans season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Danish 1st Division, Overview
It was contested by 12 teams, and Esbjerg fB won the championship.


1961 Danish Grand Prix
The II Grote Prijs van Danske (or 2nd Danish Grand Prix) was held on 26–27 August 1961,  at the Roskilde Ring circuit, Roskilde, Denmark. The race was a non-Championship event run to Formula One rules. The race was run over three heats, one of 20 laps and two of 30 laps, and was won overall by Stirling Moss, who won all three heats in his Lotus 18/21.


1961 Danish Grand Prix
This was the first Formula One event to be held at the Roskildering, which was eventually closed in 1969. The first heat was held on the 26 August, a Saturday, with the final two heats on the Sunday.


1961 Danish Grand Prix, Race summary
The first heat saw Moss win by two tenths of a second from Australian Jack Brabham, with Innes Ireland in third. Moss also took the second heat, with Ireland in second this time, and Roy Salvadori in third, with Brabham retiring with gearbox failure. Jim Clark retired from the second heat but returned for the third. The first three home in the second heat crossed the line in the same order in the third heat, with an easy overall win for Moss, who, having claimed pole at the beginning of the proceedings, also drove the fastest lap in all three heats.


1961 Danish electoral age referendum
A referendum on reducing the voting age from 23 to 21 was held in Denmark on 30 May 1961. It was approved by 55% of voters with a 37.3% turnout.


1961 Danish electoral age referendum
The electoral age in Denmark had previously been lowered from 25 to 23 in a 1953 referendum, and was further reduced to 20 years following a 1971 referendum and finally to 18 years following a 1978 referendum.


1961 Dartmouth Indians football team
The 1961 Dartmouth Indians football team was an American football team that represented Dartmouth College during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Dartmouth tied for third in the Ivy League.


1961 Dartmouth Indians football team
In their seventh season under head coach Bob Blackman, the Indians compiled a 6–3 record and outscored opponents 197 to 104. James Lemen was the team captain.


1961 Dartmouth Indians football team
The Indians' 5–2 conference record tied for third-best in the Ivy League standings. They outscored Ivy opponents 156 to 84.


1961 Dartmouth Indians football team
Dartmouth played its home games at Memorial Field on the college campus in Hanover, New Hampshire.


1961 Davis Cup
The 1961 Davis Cup was the 50th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 28 teams entered the Europe Zone, 7 teams entered the Americas Zone, and 7 teams entered the Eastern Zone. Ecuador, Indonesia and Morocco made their first appearances in the tournament.


1961 Davis Cup
The United States defeated Mexico in the America Zone final, India defeated Japan in the Eastern Zone final, and Italy defeated Sweden in the Europe Zone final. In the Inter-Zonal Zone, the United States defeated India in the semifinal, and then Italy defeated the United States in the final. In the Challenge Round Italy were defeated by the defending champions Australia. The final was played at Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on 26–28 December.


1961 Davis Cup America Zone
The America Zone was one of the three regional zones of the 1961 Davis Cup.


1961 Davis Cup America Zone
7 teams entered the America Zone, with the winner going on to compete in the Inter-Zonal Zone against the winners of the Eastern Zone and Europe Zone. The United States defeated Mexico in the final and progressed to the Inter-Zonal Zone.


1961 Davis Cup Eastern Zone
The Eastern Zone was one of the three regional zones of the 1961 Davis Cup.


1961 Davis Cup Eastern Zone
7 teams entered the Eastern Zone, with the winner going on to compete in the Inter-Zonal Zone against the winners of the America Zone and Europe Zone. India defeated Japan in the final and progressed to the Inter-Zonal Zone.


1961 Davis Cup Europe Zone
The Europe Zone was one of the three regional zones of the 1961 Davis Cup.


1961 Davis Cup Europe Zone
28 teams entered the Europe Zone, with the winner going on to compete in the Inter-Zonal Zone against the winners of the America Zone and Eastern Zone. Italy defeated Sweden in the final and progressed to the Inter-Zonal Zone.


1961 Daytona 500
The 1961 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on February 26, 1961, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.


1961 Daytona 500
Marvin Panch won the race in the one-year-old 1960 Pontiac built and owned by Smokey Yunick after taking the lead on lap 187. Panch was not originally scheduled to drive, and was only added to Yunick's team after Fireball Roberts suggested adding him. Panch drove the number 20 to victory in three hours and 20 minutes. The race was run in its entirety without a single caution flag. Panch took the lead with 13 laps remaining when race leader Fireball Roberts' car suffered a blown engine. The win was Panch's first, and only victory of the season.


1961 Daytona 500, Background
Tragedy struck during the preliminaries of Daytona Speedweeks when a driver from Phoenix Arizona crashed in turn 3 of the 2.5-mile (4.0-kilometre) track. Harold Haberling was killed when his 1955 modified Chevy flipped in the 31-degree banking. This was the first fatality at the facility since 1959.


1961 Daytona 500, Background
One week prior to the Daytona 500 drivers competed in a first-ever 150-mile (240-kilometre) "compact car" race. Lee Petty won the race contested on the 3.1-mile (5.0 km) infield track in a 1960 Valiant with an average speed of 83.546 miles per hour (134.454 km/h). Joe Weatherly would flip his 1960 Falcon upside down during the race, but no other cars were involved in the accident, and Weatherly was not injured. Weatherly then went on to win a 10-lap, 25-mile (40 km) event dubbed a "Race of Champions" on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) banked tri-oval.


1961 Daytona 500, Background
Drivers competed in the same cars that they would run in the Daytona 500. The race proved to be a tough loss for Fireball Roberts, who had started at the rear of the field but managed to charge to the lead in only 4 laps. On the last lap, Weatherly overtook Roberts at the finish line, winning by only 2 feet.


1961 Daytona 500, Background
A total of 70 drivers registered to run in the 1961 Daytona 500, but only the top 60 would be scheduled to start the race. A total of 13 teams came to Daytona with the new, more aerodynamically designed 1961 Pontiacs contributed by the manufacturer. Smokey Yunick brought Fireball Roberts as his primary driver for the new model vehicle, and it was Roberts who suggested that Yunick add teammate Marvin Panch. Panch was a 'last minute' addition to Yunick's team and given the year-old 1960 Pontiac rather than one of the newer models. When approached, Yunick relented to allowing Panch to drive Roberts' Pontiac Catalina from the previous year, saying: "If you think that much about [the '60 Pontiac], take it outside." [the shop], where the mechanics prepared the car for the 500.


1961 Daytona 500, Background
During the initial 2-lap qualifying trials Fireball Roberts set a new track record of 155.700 miles per hour (250.575 km/h) average speed over the 5-mile (8.0 km) run. The second fastest average belonged to Joe Weatherly in his 1961 Pontiac, with Cotton Owens, Curtis Turner, and Marvin Panch rounding out the top 5. Roberts broke the previous track record speed of 152.129 mph (244.828 km/h) set by Jack Smith the previous July. Roberts' effort was the first of three consecutive pole positions that he captured from 1961 through 1963. The 3 "consecutive" poles was a first, and a record which Roberts still shares with Bill Elliott (1985–87) and Ken Schrader (1988–90).


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
The two qualifying events which established the starting lineup of the Daytona 500 were marred by multiple crashes in which at least one fan and seven drivers were injured on February 24, 1961. A total of 34 drivers were scheduled for the first of two qualifying events, and 33 cars scheduled for the second event. The top 20 finishers would secure positions in the upcoming 500-mile (800 km) event, with winners of each qualifier also earning a $5,000 purse. The top two time-trial qualifiers were also guaranteed the top two starting spots.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
An accident early in the first event involved Dave Mader and Wes Morgan in which Morgan's car flipped seven times going into the 4th turn. Both Lee Petty and son Richard Petty crashed during their respective 100-mile (160 km) qualifying events, forcing Petty Enterprises into a noncompetitive role for the 1961 Daytona 500. Son Richard crashed through the guardrail and suffered a sprained ankle in the first qualifier, and while the car remained upright, the crash kept him from starting the 500.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
The wreck occurred when driver Junior Johnson got thrown out of control as debris from an earlier wreck caused a cut tire, and he made contact with the younger Petty's car. The crash left Johnson with a severe gash to his chin, and Petty with shards of glass in his eye. The younger Petty's crash brought out one of the five cautions in the first 40-lap qualifier,  which was shortened due to crashes at both ends of the track during the closing laps.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
Shortly after Richard Petty left the infield medical center after the first race crash, his attention was drawn to an accident involving his father in the second race. Patriarch Lee tangled with Johnny Beauchamp when Beauchamp caught Petty's back bumper sending the two cars through the guardrail which destroyed both vehicles. The accident started when Banjo Matthews spun in front of the field while leading the second qualifying 100-mile (160 km) race. The senior Petty suffered multiple life-threatening injuries, including numerous fractures, internal injuries, and a punctured lung.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
When the two cars left the track, Petty's car struck spectator A. B. Kelley, who suffered severe cuts, but helped evacuate Petty from the twisted metal. Beauchamp and Petty tore out 13 8-inch by 8-inch guardrail support posts while exiting the track. There's been speculation that the early crash between Mader and Morgan may have weakened that section.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
Some of the drivers felt that much of the blame for the multiple crashes lay in the fact that so many rookie drivers were not capable of running competently; and Joe Weatherly stated: “I know it was veteran drivers in the worst crashes, but it was rookies that caused them, dammit!”  Petty was hospitalized for over four months, but did recover. While Beauchamp also suffered injuries to his head, they were less serious.


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
Petty and Beauchamp were no strangers to each other; having been involved in the iconic finish of the inaugural 1959 Daytona 500 where they crossed the finish line so close to each other that it took NASCAR 3 days before Bill France Sr. declared Lee Petty the winner. Beauchamp never raced again after the accident; and while Petty did return to run a half-dozen races, the wreck effectively ended both driver's careers. Driver Rex White stated that: “If NASCAR doesn’t have a meeting to educate some of these amateurs, there can’t be much of a race on Sunday. There were some goofballs on the track today.”, and even Fireball Roberts, winner of the first race, stated that:


1961 Daytona 500, Background, Twin qualifying events
Fireball Roberts and Joe Weatherly each won their respective 100-mile (160 km) qualifying events.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
Prior to the start of the main event, drivers were understandably apprehensive due to the large number of mishaps during the qualifying races. This prompted officials to hold a meeting explaining that rough driving would not be tolerated, and during the race, two cars were black-flagged for driving too slowly to be considered safe. A total of 51,287 fans arrived in Daytona to witness the race which was run at an average speed of 149.601 mph (240.759 km/h). Unofficial estimates placed the total in attendance at over 65,000 people, with speculation of perhaps 100,000.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
Seventeen drivers in the starting field were designated rookies by NASCAR, and were identified by having their rear bumpers painted with 'Day-glo' paint. Smokey Yunick instructed Panch to not run too close to teammate Roberts so that if Roberts were caught up in any altercations on the track then both cars would not risk being taken out in the same incident.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
Fireball Roberts started on the pole for the 500-mile (800 km) event, with Joe Weatherly on the outside front row. Roberts jumped out front and held the lead through lap 12 when Banjo Mathews took the point position. Roberts traded the lead position with Mathews, Junior Johnson, Nelson Stacy for the first 42 laps. At lap 43 Roberts took command of the race in dominating style; and continued to lead for the majority of the race, building a lead of 2 laps over the rest of the field.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
Although Richard Petty did not start the race, he did drive in relief for Bob Wellborn from lap 120 through 169, after which Wellborn resumed the driving duties. On lap 182 driver Darel Dieringer contacted the outside fence, but managed to make repairs in time to finish the race. There were a total of nine lead changes between five drivers, and the race was completed without a single caution. Roberts would come back and lead a total of 170 of the 200 laps, including 145 consecutive laps from the 45th to the 187th.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
Then on lap 187, with more than a two-lap lead on second place teammate Panch, Roberts' engine failed knocking him out of the race. Marvin Panch took his first lead of the race with only 13 laps remaining, and held on to reach the checkered flag first, 16 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Joe Weatherly's number 8, who completed the race on one set of tires. The caution-free event was one of only 3 times that the iconic race ran the entire distance under green; with 1959 and 1962 being the only other 2 times it's occurred.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
While Pontiac's factory heads had wanted a new year model to win the race, car owner Yunick was so pleased with Panch's performance that he upped his promised take of 40% to 50% of the winnings, saying: "Tell you what. Anybody good enough to win the race is worth 50 percent to me." Panch completed the 500 miles (800 km) with only one change of tires, and in a then-record for a 500-mile (800 km) closed course race of any kind,  completed the contest in 3 hours, 20 minutes, and 32 seconds.


1961 Daytona 500, Race Summary
That time equated to an average speed of 149.601 mph (240.759 km/h), which was more than 2 mph (3.2 km/h) faster the pole qualifier of the Indianapolis 500 that same year. Since Daytona did not have a designated "Victory lane" at the time, after the race Panch pulled his winning car into the infield grass, and celebrated the win with Bill France Sr., Yunick, and his family. The victory was Panch's first NASCAR win since the 1957 season, and the only victory of the 1961 season. Years after retiring from the sport, Panch would rebuild a replica of his winning Pontiac and tour the NASCAR circuit.


1961 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team
The 1961 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team was an American football team that represented the University of Delaware in the Middle Atlantic Conference during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. In its 11th season under head coach David M. Nelson, the team compiled a 4–4 record (3–2 against MAC opponents) and outscored opponents by a total of 161 to 98. William Grossman and John Scholato (acting) were the team captains. The team played its home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.


1961 Delaware State Hornets football team
The 1961 Delaware State Hornets football team represented Delaware State College—now known as Delaware State University—as a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. Led by coach Roy D. Moore in his second season, the Hornets compiled a 6–3 record, finishing 5–2 in their conference.


1961 Denver Broncos season
The 1961 Denver Broncos season was the team's second year in the American Football League. Led by head coach Frank Filchock, the Broncos recorded three wins and eleven losses, finishing third in the AFL's Western Division.


1961 Denver Broncos season
The 1961 Broncos set a modern pro football record with 68 giveaways, more than any other team in AFL or NFL history.


1961 Denver Broncos season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Derby Aviation crash
The 1961 Derby Aviation crash refers to the fatal crash of a Douglas Dakota IV, registration G-AMSW, operated by Derby Aviation, the forerunner of British Midland Airways, on the mountain of Canigou, France, on 7 October 1961. All 34 on board (31 passengers, pilot, co-pilot and stewardess) were killed.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, History of the flight
The flight left London Gatwick at 20:43 UTC on 6 October 1961 destined for Perpignan in the south of France, just north of the Pyrenees. At 00:30 UTC, it reported overhead Toulouse at flight level 75 and estimated arrival at Perpignan at 01:12 UTC. In an area of intermittent rain and winds of variable force, it struck the side of Le Canigou at an altitude of 7500 ft (2200 m).


1961 Derby Aviation crash, History of the flight
A rescue team from the chalet at Courtalets arrived at the scene while pieces of the wreckage were still burning. An eyewitness described the scene as "apocalyptic; burned bodies lay on the ground in a 100 m radius around the wreckage."


1961 Derby Aviation crash, The aircraft
G-AMSW was Douglas Dakota IV, construction number 16171, built in 1944. It had originally been built for the United States Army Air Forces (tail no. 44-76587). In 1952, it was registered to Air Service Training Limited and in 1954 to Cambrian Airways. It was registered to Derby Aviation on 31 December 1958.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
Speculation as to the cause at one time suggested that the crash may have been due to disruption to compasses caused by the magnetic field associated with iron mines. However, the official inquiry concluded that "the accident was attributed to navigational error, the origin of which it was not possible to determine for lack of sufficient evidence."


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
The French inquiry found that the aircraft was flying at a height "below the safety altitude obtained from the correct application to theToulouse – Perpignan route of the general instructions contained in the operations manual of Derby Aviation." The charts that mayhave been on board the aircraft, says the report, could have led to the calculation, on account of lack of uniformity in the heightspresented, of differing safety altitudes.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
"It is not possible, however," said the report, "to establish what charts were effectively used by the crew; in fact the airline has not fixed the type of chart to be used by the pilot for the purpose of applying the formula specified in the operations manual." The report noted that the flight plan was not completed in accordance with French regulations,which were based on ICAO recommendations. The filed plan had specified only the point of departure, the en-route beacon at Dunsfold and the destination.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
According to French regulations it was mandatory to indicate the points at which airwayswere crossed and the points at which flight information region boundaries were crossed, and if necessary certain radio fixes should have been indicated, The report noted that, "as opposed to the British regulations, the French regulations require the filing of a flight plan when the flight is to be made in instrument flight rules."


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
The report found no particular meteorological phenomenon of exceptional intensity, though the weather was very cloudy. The only meteorological factor which could have affected the flight would have been the WNW direction of the wind on the second half of the route (from Limoges to Perpignan) giving a tail wind instead of the forecast wind from starboard, causing port drift.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
The route chosen by the pilot was Limoges – Toulouse – Perpignan. Once it had passed Toulouse, the aircraft took a heading with the intention of flying directly to Perpignan without flying over Carcassonne. The inquiry thought it was probable that the crew relied on dead reckoning rather than radio compass. If so, they would have calculated the course by using the forecast wind (240°, 25kn), which would have given a drift to port of 10°. If the actual wind was in fact 290°, 25kn (therefore causing no drift), then the course would have become the effective track (137° true).


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
If parallel lines are drawn through Toulouse and through the place of the accident on a bearing of 137° they are found to be about 8.5 km apart. In consequence, to intercept the track leading to the place of the accident, the minimum error in relation to a position over Toulouse would have been a passage by the aircraft of about 6.5 km to the west of Toulouse followed by the assumption of a heading (137° true) 75sec later. Although this reconstruction, says the report, seems to offer a perfectly acceptable solution in the absence of evidence to the contrary, including precise information of the kind which could be provided by a flight recorder, the commission could not consider it as definitive.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Cause
The captain of the aircraft, Capt Michael E. Higgins, had 5,624 hours of flying experience and had landed twice at Perpignan during the preceding six months, though after following the direct route Limoges – Perpignan. The co-pilot, 1st Officer Rex Hailstone (2,267 hours) had made five landings at Perpignan in the previous six months, though not on routes via Toulouse.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Later crashes in the area
Following further accidents in the area, in 1967 a Flight International article reported


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Later crashes in the area
IN A STATEMENT in the House of Commons on 5 June about the accidents to the Air Ferry DC-4 at Perpignan on 3 June and to the British Midland DC-4M Argonaut at Stockport on 4 June (see last week's issue, page 926), Mr Douglas Jay, President of the Board of Trade, said that he had given instructions for a "special review of the performance" of all operators of British-registered civil aircraft. He also said that there would be a public inquiry into the Stockport accident. The Perpignan accident will, as required by international agreement, be investigated by the French authorities with British representatives and advisers in attendance.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Later crashes in the area
The case of the Perpignan accident is particularly important in relation to navigation aids and their use in areas of dangerous terrain.


1961 Derby Aviation crash, Later crashes in the area
Since 1949 there have been at least nine crashes on or near Mt Canigou on the Franco-Spanish border: December 1950, Air Maroc Douglas DC-3 (three killed); February 1953, Noratlas (six); March 1955, Douglas C-47 (five); July 1957, Noratlas (ten); September 1958, French Air Force Broussard (five); 7 October 1961, Derby Aviation Douglas Dakota IV 3 (34); 11 January 1963, French Air Force Constellation (12); 11 September 1963, Airnautic Viking (40); and 3 June 1967 Air Ferry Douglas DC-4 (88).


1961 Detroit Lions season
The 1961 Detroit Lions season was the 32nd season in franchise history. Detroit was runner-up in the Western conference at 8–5–1, then won a second Playoff Bowl game against the Philadelphia Eagles that was played in the Orange Bowl, 38–10.


1961 Detroit Lions season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Detroit Lions season, Playoff Bowl
The Playoff Bowl matched the runners-up of the two conferences to determine third place in the league. It was played in January at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the week following the NFL Championship game. This season's participants, Detroit and Philadelphia, had met three weeks earlier in the last game of the regular season, a three-point Eagles' road win, and were slightly favored in Miami.


1961 Detroit Lions season, Playoff Bowl
This was the second year for the game and the Lions repeated as winners; it is classified by the NFL as an exhibition game, rather than postseason.


1961 Detroit Tigers season
The 1961 Detroit Tigers won 101 games but finished in second place, eight games behind the Yankees. The team's 1961 record tied the 1934 Tigers team record of 101 wins, and only twice in team history have the Tigers won more games: 1968 (103 wins) and 1984 (104 wins).


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Offseason
On January 1, the Tigers' home park, Briggs Stadium. was renamed Tiger Stadium.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season
The 1961 Tigers were led by Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, and Al Kaline. Cash won the AL batting title with a .361 batting average, and had 132 RBIs, and Colavito hit 45 home runs and had 140 RBIs. Kaline led the AL with 41 doubles and finished second to Cash for the batting title with a .324 average. Frank Lary led the pitching staff with 23 wins. The 1961 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the 6th best in team history.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Catchers: Brown and Roarke
Catcher Dick Brown hit 16 home runs in 1961, including back-to-back-to-back home runs with Norm Cash and Steve Boros on May 23, 1961. He hit a grand slam less than one month earlier on April 29, 1961.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Catchers: Brown and Roarke
Brown shared catching duties with rookie Mike Roarke who played in 86 games and hit .223 with 2 home runs and 22 RBIs. Roarke was a 30-year-old rookie in 1961. Roarke graduated from Boston College in 1952 where he was captain of the football and baseball teams in his senior season.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Catchers: Brown and Roarke
Brown appeared in 91 games at catcher in 1961, and Roarke in 85.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: Cash, Wood, Fernández and Boros
First baseman Norm Cash won the AL batting crown with a .361 average and also led the league with a .488 on-base percentage and 193 hits. He was also among the league leaders with 41 home runs (6th in the AL), 132 RBIs (4th in the AL), 119 runs scored (4th in the AL), 124 walks (2nd in the AL), 354 total bases (2nd in the AL), and a .662 slugging average (2nd in the AL). He also led the AL in putouts in 1961. While Cash's performance was overshadowed by the 61 home runs of Roger Maris, his .361 average would be the highest by any major league player in the 1960s. Cash was 4th in the MVP voting.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: Cash, Wood, Fernández and Boros
Shortstop Chico Fernández was Detroit's regular shortstop for three seasons from 1960 to 1962. In 1960, he led American League shortstops with 34 errors. After six seasons in which he never hit more than 6 home runs, Fernández hit 20 home runs and 59 RBIs for the Tigers in 1962.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: Cash, Wood, Fernández and Boros
Second baseman Jake Wood was the Tigers' starting second baseman from 1961 to 1963. 1961 was his rookie season, and he led the AL in triples with 14 and in strikeouts with 141. He was also third in the AL in stolen bases with 30.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: Cash, Wood, Fernández and Boros
Third baseman Steve Boros signed a bonus contract with the Detroit Tigers in 1957. He was named the most valuable player of the Class AAA American Association in 1960 after he tied for the lead in runs batted in with 119. In his first full MLB season, 1961, Boros appeared in 116 games for the Tigers as a third baseman and hit .270 with 62 runs batted in. His season was cut short when he collided with Frank Lary and broke his collarbone.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Colavito, Bruton and Kaline
Left fielder Rocky Colavito came to the Tigers in 1960 in a trade for Harvey Kuenn, who had won the 1959 batting title. The trade proved to be a good one for the Tigers. In 1961 with the Tigers, Colavito enjoyed career highs of 45 home runs, 140 RBI and 129 runs scored as the team led the major leagues in scoring. Colavito placed eighth in the MVP race, but Tiger fans didn't take to him. Sportswriter Joe Falls, who viewed Colavito as a "self-ordained deity," started a feature chronicling the runs he failed to drive in.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Colavito, Bruton and Kaline
In one game, Falls – acting as the official scorer – charged Colavito with a controversial error, and the outfielder tried to attack him. And on May 12, 1961, he was ejected from the game after climbing into the stands to go after a drunken fan who had been harassing his wife and father. After his excellent 1961 season, he drew the local fans' criticism by holding out for a higher salary than established team star Al Kaline. He was traded to the Athletics after the 1963 season.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Colavito, Bruton and Kaline
Center fielder Bill Bruton put in a strong performance as the Tigers' center fielder. His range factor of 2.67 was far above the league average of 1.98. Bruton played in 160 games for the 1961 Tigers, scored 99 runs, collected 153 hits, and had 17 home runs, 63 RBIs, 22 stolen bases and a .257 batting average.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Colavito, Bruton and Kaline
Right fielder Al Kaline finished second in the AL with a .324 batting average and led the league with 41 doubles. Kaline also had 19 home runs, 82 RBIs, 116 runs scored, finished 9th in the AL MVP voting, and won a Gold Glove award for his fine performance in right field.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Lary, Bunning, Mossi, Foytack and Regan
Frank Lary was 23–9 in 1961, leading the team in wins and finishing second in the AL behind Whitey Ford. He also won a Gold Glove award in 1961, led the AL with 22 complete games, threw a one-hitter, appeared in the All Star Game, finished 7th in the AL MVP voting, was 3rd in the AL Cy Young voting. Known as "The Yankee Killer", Lary had a career record of 27–13 against the Yankees, including a 13–1 run from 1958 to 1959.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Lary, Bunning, Mossi, Foytack and Regan
Future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning went 17–11 for the Tigers in 38 games in 1961. He was chosen for the AL All-Star team and was among the AL leaders with a 3.19 ERA (7th best in AL), 17 wins (4th best in AL), 194 strikeouts (3rd in AL), 12 complete games (4th in AL), and 4 shutouts (3rd in AL).


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Lary, Bunning, Mossi, Foytack and Regan
Don Mossi pitched the greatest season of his career in 1961, going 15–7 with a 2.96 ERA. Nicknamed "The Sphinx" and "Ears", baseball historian Bill James dubbed Mossi "The Man Who Invented Winning Ugly." James wrote: "Mossi's ears looked as if they had been borrowed from a much larger species, and reattached without proper supervision. His nose was crooked, his eyes were in the wrong place, and though he was skinny he had no neck to speak of, just a series of chins that melted into his chest. . . . Don Mossi was the complete five-tool ugly player. He could run ugly, hit ugly, throw ugly, field ugly and ugly for power."


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Lary, Bunning, Mossi, Foytack and Regan
The Tigers #4 starter Paul Foytack played 10 seasons for the Tigers (1953, 1955–63) and is best known for giving up the longest home run in Tigers Stadium history—a 1960 blast by Mickey Mantle that landed in the Brooks lumberyard across Trumbull Avenue from the stadium. In 1961, Foytack was 11–10 with a 3.93 ERA.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Lary, Bunning, Mossi, Foytack and Regan
Relief pitcher Phil Regan became known as "The Vulture" because of his skill as a closer. In 1961, Regan was 10–7 in 32 games (16 as a starter, 16 in relief). He pitched 120 innings with a 5.25 ERA.


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1961 Detroit Tigers season, Awards and honors, Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position
The following members of the 1961 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their positions, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:


1961 Detroit Titans football team
The 1961 Detroit Titans football team represented the University of Detroit as an independent during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. In their third and final year under head coach Jim Miller, the Titans compiled a 5–6 record and were outscored by a combined total of 181 to 173.


1961 Detroit Titans football team
The team's statistical leaders included Jerry Gross with 1,126 passing yards, Vic Battani with 358 rushing yards, and Larry Vargo with 601 receiving yards and 48 points scored.


1961 Diamond D Championship
The 1961 Dominion Diamond "D" Championship was the very first Canadian women's curling championship. It was held at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club February 27 to March 3. The format was a round robin, and a playoff was held to determine 2nd place due to a three-way tie. Joyce McKee and her rink from Saskatoon, who were the unofficial national ladies' champion from 1960, won her first of five national championships, by posting an undefeated 9-0 record.


1961 Diamond D Championship
Games were 10 ends in length, except for the playoff (tie breaker) games, which were 12 ends.


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Dorothy Thompson Third: Ila Watson Second: Vivian Kortgaard Lead: Ruth Hayes


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Margaret Fuller Third: Sylvia Koster Second: Edna Quinney Lead: Fernande Smith


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Irene Parker Third: Shirley Winstone Second: Lola Grills Lead: Olive Gamey


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Mona Comeau Third: Kay Cormack Second: Vera Shutt Lead: Evelyn Brooks


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Violet Pike Third: Margaret Ryan Second: Joan Baker Lead: Ruby Tittemore


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Mona Rhodenizer Third: Grace Walters Second: Margaret Jensen Lead: Catherine Creighton


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Emily Woolley Third: Dadie Smith Second: Barbara Gibson Lead: Jane Clark


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Helena Ellyet Third: Annabelle MacDonald Second: Frances Aboud Lead: Margaret Lavery


1961 Diamond D Championship, Teams
Skip : Joyce McKee Third: Sylvia FedorukSecond: Barbara MacNevinLead: Rosa McFee


1961 Dixie 400
The 1961 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 17, 1961, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.


1961 Dixie 400
A filming of a full-length feature Hollywood film entitled Thundering Wheels was a part of the festivities planned for this racing event in addition to a 210-minute performance by some of the legendary performers from the Grand Ole Opry. Local beauty pageant personality Linda Vaughn was chosen to be the queen of the 1961 running of the Dixie 400.


1961 Dixie 400, Background
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.


1961 Dixie 400, Background
The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
Fireball Roberts would qualify at a speed of 136.924 miles per hour (220.358 km/h) in order to clinch the pole position. The average speed of the race was 125.384 miles per hour (201.786 km/h). While Fireball Roberts, Nelson Stacy and Banjo Matthews would dominate the earliest parts of this event, the closing moments were a contest between Junior Johnson and David Pearson. These drivers had the monopoly on the first-place position throughout the race; tying with the 1960 Atlanta 500 with the fewest lead changes.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
The 267-lap racing event lasted three hours and eleven minutes. There were 42 American-born drivers on the grid out of the 46 who originally qualified for this event. Tommy Irwin would suffer from a bad piston in his vehicle that prevented him from starting the race; he was credited as the last-place finisher. Lee Reitzel would be the lowest-finishing driver to complete the entire event while Banjo Matthew's faulty engine prevented him from finishing in the top ten. Lap deficits were noticed between the top cars once Banjo dropped out; forcing the flagman to throw the white flag multiple times. Thirty thousand people would see David Pearson defeat Junior Johnson by five seconds. Fred Lorenzen's engine blew, spewing oil on the track. Lorenzen's car spun into a concrete retaining wall and Fireball Roberts narrowly missed him. Dave Mader spun into a guardrail, knocking him unconscious.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
This would be the last start for Jesse James Taylor, the same one that finished 2nd in the 1951 Southern 500, and then was critically injured at Lakewood that year.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
NASCAR originally made a bad judgment call and declared Bunkie Blackburn the winner. The reason behind this bad call was that one of David Pearson's laps were never officially counted; they decided to re-mark it as official. Most of the spectators had left by the time that Pearson was given the actual win, making this race very controversial to both Blackburn and Pearson alike.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report
Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,330 ($80,801 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $200 ($1,732 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse for this event was $39,960 ($346,068 when adjusted for inflation). Six notable crew chiefs would take part in this race, including Ray Fox, Bud Allman and Shorty Johns.


1961 Dixie 400, Race report, Retirements
Dave Mader and Jesse James Taylor would retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition after the conclusion of this event.


1961 Djurgårdens IF season
The 1961 season was Djurgårdens IF's 61st in existence, their 18th season in Division 2 and their 1st consecutive season in the league. They were competing in Division 2 Svealand and its play-off for the 1962 Allsvenskan.


1961 Dominican general election
General elections were held in Dominica on 17 January 1961. The result was a victory for the Dominica Labour Party, which won 7 of the 11 seats. Voter turnout was 76.9%.


1961 Drexel Dragons football team
The 1961 Drexel Dragons football team represented the Drexel Institute of Technology (renamed Drexel University in 1970) as a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. Tom Grebis was the team's head coach.


1961 Dufour
1961 Dufour (prov. designation: 1973 WA) is a large background asteroid, approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 19 November 1973, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland, and later named for 19th-century Swiss General Henri Dufour.


1961 Dufour, Classification and orbit
Dufour is a dark C-type asteroid, that orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,082 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as 1927 UM at Simeiz Observatory in 1927. The body's observation arc begins 21 years prior to its official discovery at Zimmerwald, when it was identified as 1952 BQ1 at McDonald Observatory in 1952.


1961 Dufour, Naming
This minor planet is named after Swiss General Henri Dufour (1787–1875), who lead the Swiss forces to victory against the renegade catholic cantons in the Sonderbund War of November 1847. The war claimed fewer than a 100 casualties.


1961 Dufour, Naming
Dufour was also a co-founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, founder of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography and architect of the first complete geodetic survey of Switzerland. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 April 1977 (M.P.C. 4157). The "Dufourspitze", the Alp's second-highest mountain after the Mont Blanc, was also named in his honour.


1961 Dufour, Physical characteristics
A two chord stellar occultation by the asteroid observed in 2004 gave an approximate diameter of 50 km.


1961 Dufour, Physical characteristics
French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini obtained a lightcurve of Dufour from photometric observations taken during April 2010. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 15.79±0.01 hours with an amplitude of 0.31 in magnitude (U=3-). In August 2013, photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, gave a similar period of 15.7583±0.0309 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 (U=2).


1961 Dufour, Physical characteristics
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and the Japanese Akari satellite, Dufour measures 50.3 and 51.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.040 and 0.039, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.034 and a diameter of 50.3 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 10.8.


1961 Duke Blue Devils baseball team
The 1961 Duke Blue Devils baseball team represented Duke University in the 1961 NCAA University Division baseball season. The Blue Devils played their home games at Jack Coombs Field. The team was coached by Ace Parker in his 9th year at Duke.


1961 Duke Blue Devils baseball team
The Blue Devils won the District III playoff to advanced to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Boston College Eagles.


1961 Duke Blue Devils football team
The 1961 Duke Blue Devils football team represented Duke University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Duke won the ACC championship with a record of 5–1 in conference play.


1961 Dutch Grand Prix
The 1961 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 May 1961 at Zandvoort. It was race 2 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.


1961 Dutch Grand Prix
Taking place one week after the Monaco Grand Prix, there was no time for Innes Ireland to heal from his injury in the previous race, so he was replaced by Trevor Taylor. The front row was taken up by three Ferraris. Wolfgang von Trips took the lead from the start and led every lap. Phil Hill was second but was soon pressured by Jim Clark, who had started from the fourth row. The two would trade second place often with the Ferrari quicker on the straight and the Lotus faster in the corners.


1961 Dutch Grand Prix
This continued until about 20 laps from the end when Clark's handling allowed the Ferrari to pull away. Fourth place was contested between Stirling Moss and Richie Ginther, with Moss passing Ginther on the final lap. The race was the first of 12 races in Formula 1 history in which every car that started the race was classified as a finisher. In addition, no drivers made any pit stops.


1961 Dutch New Guinea general election
General elections were held in Dutch New Guinea for the first and only time in January 1961.


1961 Dutch New Guinea general election, Background
The elections were held following the establishment of the New Guinea Council (Raad) to replace the Council of Directors, which consisted of the heads of government departments. The new council consisted of 16 elected members and 12 members appointed by the Governor. Voting was open to all Dutch citizens aged 21 and over who had lived in the territory since 1 January 1958.


1961 Dutch New Guinea general election, Background
The 16 elected members were elected from 14 constituencies. Members were directly elected in Hollandia and Maokwari, with the other twelve constituencies having a two-stage process where voters elected representatives that subsequently selected the Council members. Illiterate voters were able to whisper the name of their chosen representative to polling station staff.


1961 Dwars door België
The 1961 Dwars door België was the 17th edition of the Dwars door Vlaanderen cycle race and was held on 29–30 April 1961. The race started and finished in Waregem. The race was won by Maurice Meuleman.


1961 East Carolina Pirates football team
The 1961 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina College—now known as East Carolina University—during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season.


1961 East Fife by-election
The East Fife by-election, 1961 was a by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of East Fife in Scotland on 9 November 1961. It was won by the Unionist candidate Sir John Gilmour with a majority of 7,066 votes.


1961 East Fife by-election, Vacancy
The seat had become vacant when the sitting National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Sir James Henderson-Stewart had died aged 63 on 3 September 1961. He had held the seat since a by-election in 1933. The result at the previous election was as follows;


1961 East Fife by-election, Candidates
The Unionist candidate was 49-year-old Sir John Gilmour, an Eton and Cambridge-educated baronet who was a local farmer and landowner, and a decorated war hero. His father, also named John, had been an MP for thirty years, serving as a Cabinet minister during the 1920s and 1930s; including a period as Home Secretary. Gilmour was a reluctant by-election candidate; he had stood unsuccessfully at the 1945 general election in Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire, but preferred local politics and had been a member of Fife County Council since 1955. However, he was pressured to stand by the constituency association which feared the imposition of an unpopular Conservative candidate.


1961 East Fife by-election, Candidates
The Labour Party candidate was John Smith, a 23-year-old law student at Glasgow University, who would later become Shadow Chancellor in 1987 and more importantly, Leader of the Labour Party in 1992.


1961 East Fife by-election, Candidates
The Liberal Party candidate was 30-year-old Donald Leach. He contested Edinburgh West at the 1959 general election. He was the Head of Department of Mathematics at Napier College of Science and Technology, and was educated at John Ruskin Grammar School and Croydon Polytechnic.


1961 East Fife by-election, Result
Gilmour was elected with a reduced but still large majority, with nearly 50% of the votes.


1961 East Fife by-election, Result
Gilmour was re-elected at the 1964 general election, with an increased majority over Smith, and held the seat until he stepped down at the 1979 general election. Smith would eventually be elected as Leader of the Labour Party 31 years later, after the resignation of Neil Kinnock.


1961 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team
The 1961 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team represented Eastern Michigan University in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. In their 10th season under head coach Fred Trosko, the Hurons compiled a 0–8–1 record (0–6 against IIAC opponents) and were outscored by their opponents, 171 to 49. The team played Ball State to a scoreless tie. Norm Jacobs and Don Drinkham were the team captains. Jacobs received the team's most valuable player award. The team's statistical leaders included George Beaudette with 696 passing yards and 703 yards of total offense, Don Oboza with 207 rushing yards, and Pat Dignan with 195 passing yards. The 1961 season was part of a 29-game winless streak that spanned from 1959 to 1962.


1961 Eastern Region legislative election
Legislative elections were held in the Eastern Region of Nigeria on 16 November 1961.


1961 Eastern Suburbs season
Eastern Suburbs (now known as the Sydney Roosters) competed in their 54th New South Wales Rugby League season in 1961 finishing the season in 5th position.


1961 Eastern Suburbs season, Details
The Eastern Suburbs line-up for the 1961 season was:• John Andrew• Ken Ashcroft• Boyce Beeton• P. Dickenson• Terry Fearnley• Don Fenton• Peter Gallagher• Jack Gibson• Ron Hanson• Ron Keyes


1961 Eastern Suburbs season, 1961 Premiership Results
Eastern Suburbs 25 defeated South Sydney 11(W. Stokes Try; R. Taylor 4 Goals) played at the Sydney Cricket Ground


1961 Eastern Suburbs season, 1961 Premiership Results
Eastern Suburbs 34 defeated North Sydney 21(M. Maher, P. Cuneo, Irvine Tries; Carlson 6 Goals) played at the Sydney Sports Ground.


1961 Edinburgh Corporation election
Elections to Edinburgh Corporation were held on 2 May 1961, alongside municipal elections across Scotland. Of the councils 69 seats, 23 were up for election. However, only 16 seats were contested, as councillors were returned unopposed in seven wards.


1961 Edinburgh Corporation election
Only one seat changed hands; Corstorphine ward was gained by the Liberal party from the Progressive Party.


1961 Edinburgh Corporation election
After the election Edinburgh Corporation was composed of 38 Progressives, 28 Labour councillors, 2 Liberal, and 1 Protestant Action. The Progressives retained overall control of the council.


1961 Edinburgh Corporation election
Turnout in the 14 contested wards was 76,953 or 33.7%.


1961 Edmonton municipal election
In Alberta, Canada, the 1961 municipal election was held October 18, 1961 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided six plebiscite questions.


1961 Edmonton municipal election
There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Frederick John Mitchell, George Prudham, Morris Weinlos, Ethel Wilson, and Milton Lazerte were all elected to two-year terms in 1960 and were still in office.


1961 Edmonton municipal election
There were seven trustees on the public school board, but three of the positions were already filled: Warren Edward (Ted) Smith, John Andrews, and Shirley Forbes were elected to two-year terms in 1960 and were still in office. The same was true on the separate board, where Leo Lemieux, Edward Stack, and John Barbeau were continuing.


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Voter turnout
There were 59343 ballots cast out of 169940 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 37.2%.


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Fluoridation of Water
Shall fluorides, for the prevention of tooth decay, be added to the City water supply sufficient to bring the fluorine content of City water up to a level of one part fluorine to one million parts of water?


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Paving
Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2216 creating a debenture debt in the sum of $500,000.00 for the estimated City share of standard paving of main arterial roads in the City?


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Asphalt on Gravel Streets
Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2217 creating a debenture debt in the sum of $500,000.00 for the estimated City share of the cost of constructing asphalt surface roads on a gravel base on residential and arterial streets within the City?


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Traffic Lights and Fire Alarm Equipment
Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2218 creating a debenture debt in the sum of $217,000.00 in order to purchase and locate additional traffic lights, and school and crosswalk lights, and additional fire alarm equipment?


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Library
Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2219 creating a debenture debt in the sum of $125,000.00 to construct and equip a branch library in Edmonton capable of serving 30,000 people and 15 schools?


1961 Edmonton municipal election, Results, Plebiscites, Fire Station
Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2224 creating a debenture debt in the sum of $72,000.00 in order to purchase fire equipment for a District Fire Station?


1961 Ekstraklasa, Overview
It was contested by 14 teams, and Górnik Zabrze won the championship.


1961 Elbarusovo school fire
The 1961 Elbarusovo school fire was a fire that occurred on 5 November 1961 in Elbarusovo, Chuvash ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.


1961 Elbarusovo school fire, Fire
The day of the fire the village was utilizing the school building on a Sunday as a concert area to celebrate the November 7 anniversary of the October Revolution. To make space the desks had been pushed against the windows and walls and stacked upon on another.


1961 Elbarusovo school fire, Fire
Although the Soviet press did not report the disaster, internal documents from a November 9 meeting of the Chuvash Regional Committee of the Soviet Communist Party and the November 19 meeting in Moscow of the Central Committee of the Party concluded that a physics teacher at the school, M. N. Iritkov, was sent to relight a wood stove in order to provide heat to the building and poured gasoline from a bucket    Rather than warning the students, Iritkov and the principal, S. I. Yarutkin, fled the building. Iritkov was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Yarutkin to 8 years ("Иритков получил 10 лет лишения свободы, а Ярукин – 8").


1961 Elbarusovo school fire, Fire
Most of the Soviet public didn't know about the disaster until November 5, 1991, the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy, when the Soviet media covered the first public memorial to the victims for the first time ("Только 5 ноября 1991 года благодаря «горбачёвской гласности»,  впервые была публично отмечена эта дата.") among them forty-four children aged under eight and four teachers.


1961 Emperor's Cup, Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and Furukawa Electric won the championship.


1961 Emperor's Cup Final
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Monkbot (talk | contribs) at 00:17, 8 January 2020 (→top: Task 15:  language icon template(s) replaced (1×);). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1961 Emperor's Cup Final
1961 Emperor's Cup Final was the 41st final of the Emperor's Cup competition. The final was played at Fujieda Higashi High School Ground in Shizuoka on May 7, 1961. Furukawa Electric won the championship.


1961 Emperor's Cup Final, Overview
Defending champion Furukawa Electric won their 2nd title, by defeating Chuo University 3–2. Furukawa Electric won the title for 2 years in a row.


1961 English Greyhound Derby
The 1961 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 24 June 1961 at White City Stadium. The winner Palms Printer received £2,000 and was trained by Paddy McEvoy and owned by Alf Heale.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Final result, Distances
1¼, 1¼, short head, 1½, Dis (lengths)The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. From 1950 one length was equal to 0.08 of one second.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
The Racing Manager selected 36 greyhounds leaving 12 remaining places. They would be gained from three afternoon trial sessions and eight qualifying heats to determine the 12 final places. Qualifiers included Winter Bell and Clopook, the latter trained by 28 year old Ernie Gaskin (much later known as Gaskin Sr.) Gaskin was a new trainer only being granted his licence two months before the Derby started.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
The ante-post favourites list was headed by Oregon Prince (8-1) and Spider Hill (10-1). Other leading contenders were litter brothers Clonalvy Pride and Clonalvy Romance; the latter had won the Grand Prix a month earlier. Defending champion Duleek Dandy was also entered for the event but had suffered a broken hock in late summer.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
First round casualties included both of the Clonalvy brothers, Duleek Dandy and two other strongly supported runners Careless Look and Prairie Flash. The bookmaker's only liability was Oregon Prince trained by Phil Rees Sr. who won heat two. One second round heat contained Oregon Prince and Clopook.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
In the semi-finals Palms Printer beat early leader Clopook to win in 28.69, third spot went to Spider Hill. The second semi went to Oregon Prince who won easily in 28.74 sec.


1961 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Unusually the final did not feature a runner from Wembley (the first time since 1947). Winter Bell lined up as a first finalist for Clare Orton, son of Sidney Orton. Four of the finalists had made the final without winning any of the rounds and only the two semi-final winners came into the final with winning form. It was Oregon Prince that led at the first but moved wide allowing Palms Printer room to take a decisive lead. Oregon Prince battled well right up until the home straight when Palms Printers superior stamina told. Clopook was unfortunately knocked over.


1961 English cricket season
1961 was the 62nd season of County Championship cricket in England. Australia retained the Ashes by winning the Test series 2–1. Hampshire won their first championship title.


1961 English cricket season, Test series
Richie Benaud's Australian team defeated England 2–1 with two matches drawn. On paper, both sides were strong. England had Peter May, Colin Cowdrey, Ken Barrington, Ted Dexter, Fred Trueman, Brian Statham and Tony Lock, though Cowdrey and Lock had poor series. Their most consistent batsman was Raman Subba Row. Australia had Bill Lawry and Graham McKenzie in their first series, Neil Harvey, Peter Burge, Bobby Simpson (who had a poor series), Norm O'Neill, Wally Grout and Alan Davidson, as well as their captain.


1961 English cricket season, Test series
After the first match was drawn, Australia had their traditional victory at Lord's, by 5 wickets on a lively pitch. Davidson did the damage in the first England innings and McKenzie in the second. Lawry's 130 in Australia's first innings, when nobody else on either side made more than 66 in either innings, was crucial.


1961 English cricket season, Test series
England won by 8 wickets at Headingley, Australia collapsing in their second innings from 99-2 to 120 all out, thanks to Trueman's devastating spell of off-cutters. He finished with figures of 6-30, having taken 5-58 in the first innings.


1961 English cricket season, Test series
The Fourth Test at Old Trafford proved decisive. It was won by Australia by 54 runs. The last day was very exciting, seeing many turns of fortune. England had managed a first innings lead of 177. Australia's second innings had reached 331-6 at the close of the fourth day, a lead of 154. On the final morning, David Allen took 3 wickets quickly, reducing Australia to 334-9, and the game seemed won. But Davidson then took the attack to the bowlers, hitting Allen for 20 in an over, and with help from McKenzie added 98 for the last wicket.


1961 English cricket season, Test series
England needed 256 to win at 67 runs an hour. Dexter, well supported by Subba Row, scored 76 in 84 minutes and took England to 150-1, and strong favourites to win. But Benaud went round the wicket and aimed at the bowlers' footmarks, and caused a collapse. He finished with 6-70, and Australia won with 20 minutes to spare, thereby retaining The Ashes. The final Test was drawn, after Australia had taken a big first innings lead.


1961 English cricket season, Leading batsmen
Bill Lawry topped the averages with 2019 runs @ 61.18. Bill Alley, at the age of 42, scored most runs: 3019 @ 56.96. This is the most recent occasion on which a batsman has reached the 3000 mark and, with the subsequent reduction in the first-class programme, it is unlikely that the feat will ever be done again.


1961 English cricket season, Leading bowlers
Jack Flavell topped the averages with 171 wickets @ 17.79


1961 Estonian SSR Football Championship
The 1961 Estonian SSR Football Championship was won by Kopli Kalev.


1961 Ethiopian general election
General elections were held in Ethiopia in 1961. Political parties were banned, so all candidates for the Chamber of Deputies were independents. The number of seats was increased from 210 to 250.


1961 European Amateur Boxing Championships
The 1961 European Amateur Boxing Championships  were held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia from 3 to 10 June. The 14th edition of the bi-annual competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. There were 146 fighters from 21 countries participating.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
The 1961 European Amateur Team Championship took place 20 – 25 July on the Royal Golf Club de Belgique in Brussels, Belgium. It was the second men's golf European Amateur Team Championship.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
All participating teams played two qualification rounds of stroke-play, counting the four best scores out of up to six players for each team. The four best teams formed flight A. The next three teams formed flight B and the next three teams formed flight C.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
The standings in each flight was determined by a round-robin system. All teams in the flight met each other and the team with most points for team matches in flight A won the tournament, using the scale, win=2 points, halved=1 point, lose=0 points. In each match between two nation teams, three foursome games and six single games were played.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
Defending champion team Sweden won the gold medal, earning 5 points in flight A. Team England, on their first appearance in the championship, took the silver medal on 4 points and France earned, just as in the inaugural edition two years before, the bronze on third place.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
On the last day of the tournament, Sweden and England met in the deciding match, were a tie was enough to give Sweden the championship. In the game between Bengt Möller, Sweden, and Warren, England, Möller made a 14-meter putt on the 18th green, to tie the hole, win his game by one hole and secure a tie of the team match and the championship for Sweden, despite another two ongoing games.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship
Individual winner in the opening 36-hole stroke-play qualifying competition was  Gaëtan Mourgue D'Algue, France, with a score of 3-under-par 143. Gustaf Adolf Bielke, Sweden, shot a new course record in the second round, with a score of 69 over 18 holes at the Belgique course.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship, Teams
Ten nation teams contested the event. Each team consisted of a minimum of six players.


1961 European Amateur Team Championship, Results
Note: There was no official recognition for the lowest individual score.


1961 European Cup Final
The 1961 European Cup Final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium, Bern on 31 May 1961, and contested by Portuguese side Benfica against Spanish side Barcelona. This was the first final not to include Real Madrid, who had won the previous five finals. Benfica lifted the trophy for the first time, beating Barcelona 3–2.


1961 European Cup Final
Benfica midfielder Mario Coluna broke his nose in the eighth minute of the match; not wanting to risk further damage, when Domiciano Cavém put over a cross in the 55th minute, Coluna hung back outside the penalty area. The ball was cleared directly to him and he volleyed it home for Benfica's third goal of the match.


1961 European Cup Final, Route to the final
Five-time defending champions Real Madrid were knocked out in the first round by Barcelona, their bitter domestic rivals. After defeating Czechoslovak champions Hradec Králové in the quarter-finals, Barcelona initially drew 2–2 on aggregate with West German champions Hamburger SV in the semi-finals. Since this was before UEFA competitions began using the away goals rule, in order to determine who would advance to the final, a replay was scheduled to be played at a neutral site on the 3rd of May. Barça would qualify for the final by winning the replay 1–0 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with Evaristo scoring the decisive goal.


1961 European Cup Final, Route to the final
Meanwhile, Benfica reached the final of the competition by eliminating Austrian champions Rapid Wien in a 4–1 semi-final aggregate win. This marked the first time that a team from Portugal had ever progressed this far into the competition.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was an association football match contested between Fiorentina of Italy and Rangers of Scotland. It was the final match of the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup and the first European Cup Winners' Cup final. It was the only time that the final was played over two legs. The first leg was played at Ibrox Park, Glasgow and the second leg at the Stadio Comunale in Florence. It was Rangers first European final and in doing so became the first British team to reach the final of a European football competition. It was Fiorentina's second European final having previously reached the 1957 European Cup Final.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Route to the final, Rangers
Rangers were required to play a preliminary round in the competition where they beat Ferencváros from Hungary 5-4 on aggregate. They were then drawn against Borussia Mönchengladbach from Germany who they then defeated 11-0 on aggregate. In the semi final Rangers were then required to play English team Wolverhampton Wanderers. Rangers won the tie 3-1 on aggregate to reach their first ever European final.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Route to the final, Fiorentina
Fiorentina went straight into the quarter-finals where they played FC Luzern from Switzerland. They subsequently defeated them and Dinamo Zagreb to reach the final.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Background
The 1961 final was the only time that it had been played over two legs until the competition was merged with the UEFA Cup in 1999.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Background
Fiorentina, who were managed by Hungarian Nándor Hidegkuti, were the recent Coppa Italia winners and had reached the final of the European Cup four years earlier. Their team included many Italian internationals including goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi and Swedish star player Kurt Hamrin.


1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Background
Rangers were managed by Scot Symon and had reached the semi-final of the European Cup the previous year. Since the start of the 1960-61 season , the all-Scottish Rangers team also included Jim Baxter who would go on to become a legendary figure of the club. Rangers top scorer Jimmy Millar missed the first leg through injury but featured in the return match.


1961 European Figure Skating Championships
The 1961 European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


1961 European Figure Skating Championships
The competitions took place from January 26 to 29, 1961 in West Berlin, West Germany. The event took place without the participation of skaters from the Soviet Union not because of a political boycott, but rather because an exceptionally mild winter left the Russian skaters with insufficient ice for practice in their home country. The Soviet team was also withdrawn from the originally planned World Championships for the same reason, but that tournament was subsequently cancelled after Sabena Flight 548.


1961 European Figure Skating Championships
The defending champions in all four divisions retained their titles. In the pairs competition, however, the champions Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler faced a close battle with Margret Göbl & Franz Ningel, who had defeated them at the West German championships earlier in the season. Göbl & Ningel may have been penalized for including an illegal lift in their program.


1961 European Figure Skating Championships
In the ladies' event, Sjoukje Dijkstra built up a lead in the compulsory figures that assured her of victory. Her free skating program was described as "exhausting". The stars of the free skating were Helli Sengstschmidt and Jana Mrázková, who both reportedly did triple salchow jumps in their programs.


1961 European Figure Skating Championships
Alain Giletti likewise assured himself of victory by winning the figures by a large margin. All three medalists in the men's division gave fine free skating performances.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
The 1961 European Ladies' Team Championship took place 22–27 September on the Circolo Golf Villa D'Este outside Como, Italy. It was the second ladies' amateur golf European Ladies' Team Championship.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
The course, situated 4 kilometres south-east of Como, Lombardy region, the seventh oldest golf course in Italy, was designed by Peter Gannon and opened in 1926.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
All participating teams played two qualification rounds of stroke play, counting the three best scores out of up to four players for each team. The four best teams formed flight A. The next four teams formed flight B.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
The winner in each flight was determined by a round-robin system. All teams in the flight met each other and the team with most points for team matches in flight A won the tournament, using the scale, win=2 points, halved=1 point, lose=0 points. In each match between two nation teams, two foursome games and four single games were played.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
Defending champions team France won the championship, earning 6 points in flight A. Host nation Italy earned the silver, just as they did at the previous championship two years earlier.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship
Individual winner in the opening 36-hole stroke play qualifying competition was Mercedes Etchart de Ártiach, Spain, with a score of 4-over-par 142.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship, Teams
Eight nation teams contested the event. Each team consisted of a minimum of four players. Spain and Portugal took part for the first time.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship, Results
* Note: In the event of a tie the order was determined by the better non-counting score.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship, Results
Note: There was no official recognition for the lowest individual score.


1961 European Ladies' Team Championship, Results
* Note: Sweden gave walk-over in three games against the Netherlands and in two games against West-Germany, due to food poisoning.


1961 European Rowing Championships
The 1961 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Vltava (Moldau) in the Czechoslovakian capital Prague. The event for women was held from 18 to 20 August, and 9 countries competed with 32 boats. The event for men was held from 24 to 27 August, and 20 countries entered boats. Men competed in all seven Olympic boat classes (M1x, M2x, M2-, M2+, M4-, M4+, M8+), and just three countries entered boats in all classes: the hosts Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and a combined German team. Women entered in five boat classes (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+). The regatta was held in five lanes, with rowers proceeding in the direction of the river's flow.


1961 European Rowing Championships, German representation
Germany had to enter a combined team. The women from both countries had a qualification event on the Langer See in Grünau, which had previously been used as the rowing venue for the 1936 Summer Olympics. The West Germans entered the three sculling boat classes only (W1x, W2x, W4x+), and in all events, the East Germans won the competition. East German teams for the coxed four and the eight complemented a complete team.


1961 European Rowing Championships, German representation
East Germany nominated its men at the end of July, and following the West German national championships, the West Germans nominated their men's team in early August. There were difficult negotiations between West and East German representatives as to the location for the German qualifications. In the end, the regatta facility on the Templiner See in Potsdam favoured by East Germany was agreed to. The German qualifications were decided on 12 August, with West Germany winning all seven races.


1961 European Rowing Championships, Medal summary, Women's events
Of the nine countries that were represented, only three were from western Europe: Great Britain (coxed four, double scull, single scull), Belgium and the Netherlands (both single scull). Of those, only Britain managed to get two of their boats into the finals; Penny Chuter came fourth in the single scull, and they came fifth in the coxed four. The most successful nation in the women's events was the Soviet Union, with four out of a possible five gold medals.


1961 European Rowing Championships, Medal summary, Men's events
The most successful nation was the Soviet Union, which won three gold medals.


1961 European Rowing Championships, Medals tables
The first table shows the aggregate results for men and women with Germany counted as one country. The overall winner was the Soviet Union with seven gold medals, followed by Germany and then Italy with two gold medals each, but Germany also winning three silver medals whilst Italy did not win silver.


1961 European Rowing Championships, Medals tables
The second table shows the aggregate results for men and women with East Germany and West Germany counted as separate countries; all male German winners were West Germans while all female German winners were from the east. The overall winner remains the Soviet Union with seven gold medals, followed by West Germany and then Italy with two gold medals each, but West Germany also winning one silver medal whilst Italy did not win silver. East Germany is ranked sixth with this method of counting medals.


1961 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 3rd European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Leipzig, East Germany, from June 3–4, 1961.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident
The 1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, occurring on 14 September 1961, was an incident during the Cold War, in which two Republic F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bombers of JaBoG 32 of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) crossed into East German airspace because of a navigational error, before landing at Berlin Tegel Airport.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident
The two planes successfully evaded a large number of Soviet fighter planes by finding cover in a heavy layer of clouds, but also by the actions of an airman at the United States Air Force air route traffic control center at Berlin Tempelhof Airport who ordered the planes on to Berlin rather than forcing them to turn around and face the pursuing fighter planes. The event came at a historically difficult time in relations between the two Germanies. Only a month before, the Berlin Wall had been built, which completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. It also came three days before the West German federal election, held on 17 September 1961.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Background
At the time, violations of airspace at the border between West and East Germany were common, with, on average, two aircraft a month belonging to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) crossing into Eastern airspace while a much larger number of Soviet planes crossed into that of West Germany. There were 38 violations of West Germany's air space by Soviet aircraft in a period of just four weeks between August and September 1961. Some of the violations were deliberate, to determine the opposite side's reaction, while others were by mistake, caused by the difficulty in determining the border line from the air.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Background
Between the end of the Second World War and the German reunification, West German planes were not permitted to fly to West Berlin, regardless of whether they were civilian or military aircraft. The three existing air corridors to the city were only open to planes from the three wartime Western Allies: the United States, France and the United Kingdom.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Incident
On 14 September 1961, under the code name Checkmate, the NATO high command mobilised the air forces of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and West Germany for the purpose of an exercise. As part of this exercise, the Jagdbombers of Jagdbombergeschwader (JaBoG) 32, based at Lechfeld Airbase, south of Augsburg, were to fly a triangular route from Würzburg to Laon and then to Memmingen.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Incident
Two F-84 fighter-bombers, flown by Feldwebel Peter Pfefferkorn and Stabsunteroffizier Hans Eberl, lost their course in the process of flying this route, with the compass on Pfefferkorn's plane misreading by between 40 and 60 degrees. Additionally, a strong westerly wind was greater in strength than had been forecasted. On their way from Würzburg to Laon, the two pilots had become so disoriented that they mistook Liège in Belgium for Reims in France.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Incident
Shortly after, the pair were picked up by NATO radar stations near Warburg, in southern Westphalia, heading east, in the direction of Königs Wusterhausen, south of Berlin. The two pilots missed a radio call from the radar stations advising them to turn around because they were talking to each other, trying to establish their location.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Incident
It was only when reaching a position north of Leipzig, deep within East German air space, that Pfefferkorn sent a Mayday signal, which was picked up, to their surprise, by the French-controlled airport at Tegel in West Berlin, which gave them permission to land. The planes had initially not been noticed by the radar operator at the Berlin Tempelhof Airport because he was concentrating on an incoming Pan Am Douglas DC-6. By the time they were noticed, the pair were being unsuccessfully chased by a large number of Soviet fighter aircraft.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Incident
An airman in the Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center ordered the two pilots not to turn around and face the pursuing fighter planes but instead to head for the Tegel airport as it had a longer runway than Tempelhof and was more suitable for jets. Because of the actions of this airman and the heavy cloud cover, which the two pilots used to conceal themselves, Pfefferkorn and Eberl escaped the pursuing Soviet aircraft and successfully landed their planes without further incident at Tegel.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, International
Immediately after the two aircraft landed, the French authorities at Tegel airport explained to the Soviet authorities in East Berlin that, because of technical difficulties, an emergency landing of the two planes had been absolutely necessary.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, International
The then-West German Minister of Defence, Franz-Josef Strauß, apologised to the Soviet ambassador in Bonn for the incident, sending his secretary of state, Volkmar Hopf. The government of the Soviet Union remained silent for a number of days with regards to the incident, before officially protesting against the West German "provocation" and threatening to shoot down any aircraft involved if the incident was repeated.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, International
The Soviet air command in East Germany was less than impressed with the 'unpunished' flight of two Western fighter planes through their airspace. However, it chose to blame bad weather for the incident rather than the failure of its ground control to guide the Soviet fighter planes on to the West German ones.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, Domestic
Willy Brandt, the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party in the upcoming federal elections, and the mayor of West Berlin, questioned how the two pilots could be put in a situation where they would be forced to violate international conventions in a time of strained relations between the East and the West. Initially, Strauß announced a stringent investigation into the incident; instead, however, he and Josef Kammhuber, Inspector of the Air Force, transferred the commander of JaBoG 32, Oberstleutnant Siegfried Barth, and announced that any commander whose unit committed a violation of international borders would be immediately replaced.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, Domestic
When Kammhuber announced this order at Lechfeld the following day, it was dubbed Bier Order 61 (Beer Order 61) because it was formulated late at night over drinks between Kammhuber and Strauß. Barth, commander of JaBoG 32, was not questioned with regard to the incident, and was not allowed to speak during Kammhuber's visit. Instead, Generalleutnant Martin Harlinghausen, Barth's superior officer, who had once, in 1944, stood up to Hermann Göring, spoke for Barth and demanded a proper investigation.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, Domestic
Two weeks later, Harlinghausen was forced into early retirement. The non-commissioned officers of JaBoG 32 sent a letter to Strauß requesting that Barth should retain his command, without receiving any answer. Eventually, a proper investigation was conducted which found Barth to be innocent, a result unacceptable to Kammhuber, who initiated a second investigation that found the Oberstleutnant partly at fault. A third investigation followed, which again found Barth to be innocent. Oberstleutnant Barth then lodged an official complaint against Franz-Josef Strauß.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Reaction, Domestic
Strauß, as minister of defence, ordered all witnesses in the case – Generals Kammhuber, Harlinghausen, Werner Panitzki and Werner Streib as well as Lieutenant Colonels Walter Krupinski and Walter Grasemann – not to speak, as they were all military personnel and therefore under his command. Nevertheless, his conduct in dismissing Barth was found to be at fault, and the latter had to be reinstated in his position. Strauß, however, ignored this decision until Hellmuth Heye, Ombudsman for the Military, forced him to accept it. Strauß himself was later forced to resign from his post as Minister of Defence, in the wake of the Spiegel scandal in 1962. Kammhuber retired from his post in the same year.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Aftermath
Upon arrival at Tegel, the two planes were immediately hidden in hangars and journalists were prohibited from taking pictures of them. For years after, it was believed that the two planes had been repainted as aircraft of the United States Air Force and returned to West Germany by USAF pilots, or that they had been disassembled and transported back to the West in pieces. The arrival of two massive Douglas C-124 at Tegel from Frankfurt am Main also fuelled speculations that the two F-84s would be transported back in these aircraft. Another theory (which turned out to be true) held that the two aircraft were hidden by the French authorities at Tegel and, later, buried at the airfield, where they were accidentally rediscovered in the 1970s.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Aftermath
In an exhibition at the Luftwaffenmuseum Berlin-Gatow in 2006, pictures of the two buried and then rediscovered Thunderstreaks at Tegel were shown, finally clearing up the question of what became of the two planes.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Aftermath
The pilots of the two Thunderstreaks, Pfefferkorn and Eberl, were banned from flying and transferred to the ground crew at Lechfeld. The F-84F Thunderstreak, in service with the Jagdbombergeschwader 32 since inception of the unit on 22 July 1958, was phased out of service on 13 July 1966, the Geschwader having accumulated over 80,000 flight hours with the planes.


1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, Aftermath, 1962 incident
Eleven months after the F-84 incident, the Soviet threat to shoot down any aircraft violating the border materialized when a Hawker Sea Hawk of the Bundesmarine, piloted by Kapitänleutnant Knut Anton Winkler, was shot at by MiG-21 fighters when it accidentally crossed into East German airspace near Eisenach. Winkler, who had been returning from a training exercise on board USS Saratoga in the Atlantic Ocean, had to carry out an emergency landing at Ahlhorn, 45 km southwest of Bremen. The aircraft was eventually written-off. Winkler himself died less than four years later in an F-104 Starfighter accident on 10 May 1966.


1961 FA Charity Shield
The 1961 FA Charity Shield was the 39th FA Charity Shield. The match was contested on 12 August 1961 between double winners Tottenham Hotspur and a Football Association (F.A.) representative eleven. Tottenham won the match 3–2.


1961 FA Charity Shield
In the 1960–61 season, Tottenham had become the first club since Aston Villa in 1897 to complete the Double, that is, to win the FA Cup and Division One in the same season. The Charity Shield, which was first contested in 1908, is conventionally held between the previous season's league champions and the FA Cup winners. Thus Tottenham's double victory in 1960–1961 presented a new problem for the FA in organising the 1961 Charity Shield. By way of resolution, Tottenham competed against a representative side who played under the banner of the FA. This team was, in practice, the contemporary England national team, without the Tottenham players who might usually have played.


1961 FA Charity Shield
Tottenham started the match poorly when Johnny Haynes scored the opening goal after ten minutes. Tottenham equalised five minutes before half time through Bobby Smith, and Les Allen scored two second half goals for Spurs to put them 3–1 ahead. Johnny Byrne scored the second goal for the F.A., resulting in a 3–2 victory for Tottenham.


1961 FA Charity Shield
The 1961 Charity Shield was the last time, to date, that the match has featured a team that was not a club side. The 1971 Double winning Arsenal team were unable to compete, so FA Cup runners-up Liverpool played against Division Two champions Leicester City. In the 1986 Charity Shield, following Liverpool's Double-winning 1985–1986 season, league runners-up Everton were chosen as opponents. This practice has been followed in all subsequent years where a team has won the Double.


1961 FA Cup Final
The 1961 FA Cup Final was the 80th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 6 May 1961 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.


1961 FA Cup Final
Tottenham won the match 2–0, with Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson scoring the goals. Having already won the League, Spurs became the first club to achieve the Double since Aston Villa in 1897.


1961 FA Cup Final, Road to Wembley, Leicester City
Semi-final Leicester City 0–0 Sheffield United (at Elland Road, Leeds)


1961 FA Cup Final, Match summary
Leicester frustrated Tottenham Hotspur in the early exchanges but when full-back Len Chalmers damaged his right leg twenty minutes into the match, Tottenham looked to capitalise. They were unfortunate to see Cliff Jones' goal disallowed for offside in the 38th minute and the first half ended goalless.


1961 FA Cup Final, Match summary
The second half kicked off in the same vein as the first had ended until the deadlock was broken in the 66th minute. England striker Bobby Smith latched on to a pass from Terry Dyson, turned neatly and smashed the ball past Gordon Banks. The goal naturally lifted Spurs and nine minutes later victory was sealed, when Smith returned the compliment and crossed to Dyson to head home the second to complete the Double.


1961 FA Cup Final, Coverage
The match was broadcast live by the BBC with live coverage to twelve other European countries. In the United Kingdom the match commentator was Kenneth Wolstenholme, former player Walley Barnes was also pitchside with a radio cameraman to capture the atmosphere before the game and also interview the players during the buildup. He was called upon only once during the match itself to comment on the injury to Chalmers. Many other countries broadcast either a full delayed match cast or edited highlights.


1961 FA Cup Final, Coverage
The telecast was shown in its entirety in the United States by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on Wide World of Sports two weeks later on 20 May. The contest was the first overseas event to appear on the sports anthology series. The Chalmers storyline was played up to the point that "Poor old Chalmers" became a familiar phrase among fans of the television program.


1961 FA Cup Final, Coverage
Almost all the television, radio and newspaper commentators predicted a comfortable Tottenham victory but in post game reports all agreed that Spurs had looked out of sorts during the opening fifteen minutes and it was only when Chalmers was injured that they began to dominate the game, again leading to cries for the introduction of substitutes in future. For their part Leicester were considered a little unlucky, though few reporters were willing to go as far as to say that the result would have been any different had the injury to Chalmers not occurred.


1961 FA Cup Final, Coverage
Chalmers himself left the field with ten minutes of the game remaining, at which point Tottenham were comfortably in front and any likely chance of a Leicester victory had evaporated. He was unable to return to collect his loser's medal.


1961 FA Cup Final, Coverage
The match was broadcast in black and white as a cup final special edition of the Saturday afternoon sports programme Grandstand however cinema viewers experienced a first when the traditional pre movie newsreels of both Pathé and Movietone broadcast their match reports in colour.


1961 FAMAS Awards
The 9th Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards Night was held in 1961 for the Outstanding Achievements for the year 1960.


1961 FAMAS Awards
Huwag mo Akong Limutin of Premiere Productions, won the most awards with 8 wins including the most coveted FAMAS Award for Best Picture. It was also the most nominated fil of the 1961 FAMAS Awards with 12 nominations.


1961 Five Nations Championship
The 1961 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-seventh series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 7 January and 15 April. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.


1961 Florida A&M Rattlers football team
The 1961 Florida A&M Rattlers football team was an American football team that represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) during the 1961 NCAA College  Division football season. In their 17th season under head coach Jake Gaither, the Rattlers compiled a perfect 10–0 record, including a victory over Jackson State in the Orange Blossom Classic for the black college football national championship, and shut out six of ten opponents. The team was ranked No. 4 in the final 1961 AP small college poll and No. 6 in the final UPI coaches poll. The team played its home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.


1961 Florida A&M Rattlers football team
The team's statistical leaders included Robert Paremore with 376 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and 66 points scored, Emory Collier with 742 passing yards, and Al Denson with 395 receiving yards.


1961 Florida Gators football team
The 1961 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves' second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team, and the Gators posted their only losing season in Graves' ten years as their coach. Graves' 1961 Florida Gators finished with a 4–5–1 overall record and a 3–3 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing sixth among the twelve SEC teams.


1961 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 1961 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. This was Bill Peterson's second year as head coach, and he led the team to a 4–5–1 record.


1961 Flugplatzrennen
The Flugplatzrennen (known alternately as either 3rd Flugplatzrennen or 5th Flugplatzrennen) was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 17 September 1961 at Zeltweg Airfield, Austria. The race was run over 80 laps of the circuit, and was dominated by British driver Innes Ireland in a Lotus 21.


1961 Flugplatzrennen
Ireland took both pole position and the fastest lap, and finished a lap ahead of the rest of the field. He led all but the first two laps, after Jim Clark took the lead at the start.


1961 Flugplatzrennen
Lorenzo Bandini did not start the race after he suffered engine problems in practice, but shared his team-mate Renato Pirocchi's car in the race.