In the year 1961, U.S. President Eisenhower warns in his Farewell Address of the increasing power of the military-industrial complex (Jan 17), the Beatles perform for the first time (Feb 9), Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space (Apr 12), the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins, failing two days later (Apr 17), the Swedish ship Vasa is removed from the water after 333 years of its sinking (Apr 24), Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space (May 5), President Kennedy announces his plan to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade (May 25), construction of the Berlin Wall begins (Aug 13), JFK sends 18,000 military advisers to South Vietnam (Nov 18), Fidel Castro announces that Cuba will now adopt socialism (Dec 2), Goa becomes part of India after 400 years of Portuguese rule (Dec 19) - and all these fine people were born:
1961-0101
1961-0102 Neil Dugdeon* actor - Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
1961-0106 Linas Antanas Linkevičius* politician/ dilplomat - Vilnius, Lithuania, Soviet Union
1961-0110
1961-0118 Mark Messier* hockey player (NHL 100)/coah/philanthropist - Edmonton, AB Canada
1961-0118 Bob Peterson* animator/screenwriter/voice actor - Wooster, OH USA
1961-0119 William Ragsdale* actor - El Dorado, AR USA
1961-0120
1961-0124 Nastassja Kinski* actress - Berlin, West Germany
1961-0126 Wayne Gretzky* hockey player (NHL 100)/coach/executive - Brantford, ON Canada
1961-0128 Arnaldur Indriðason* crime fiction writer - Reykjavik, Iceland
1961-0130 Dexter King* civil rights activist/son of MLK Jr - Atlanta, GA USA
1961-0131
1961-0201
1961-0204 Denis Savard* hockey player (NHL 100)/coach - Gatineau, QC Canada
1961-0209 Jussi Lampi* actor/musician - Lappajärvi, Finland
1961-0210 Tapio Korjus* athlete/javelin/OG - Vehkalahti, Finland
1961-0212 David Graeber* anthropologist/anarchist activist/ author - New York City, NY USA (2020/59)
1961-0221 Christopher Atkins* actor - Rye, NY USA
1961-0224 Ellen Stofan* NASA scientist - Oberlin, OH USA
1961-0228 Maija Silvennoinen* chef/restaurant owner - Saarijärvi, Finland
1961-0301
1961-0303 Mary Page Keller* actress - Monterey Park, CA USA
1961-0303 John Matteson* awarded biographer - CA USA
1961-0303 Fatima Whitbread* (b Vedad) athlete (javelin/OS)/of Cypriot descent - Stoke Newington, London, England
1961-0306 Clark Accord* Surinamese–Dutch author/makeup artist - Paramaribo, Suriname (2011/50)
1961-0308 Peter Larsson* football player/manager - Nässjö, Sweden
1961-0308 Larry Murphy* hockey player/SC/studio analyst - Scarborough, ON Canada
1961-0311 Elias Koteas* actor /of Greek descent - Montreal, QC Canada
1961-0313 Barry Pederson* hockey player - Big River, SK Canada
1961-0317 Umayya Abu-Hanna* Palestinian-Finnish journalist - Haifa, Israel
1961-0317 **Dana Reeve* **(b Morosini) actress/singer/wife of Christopher Reeve - Teaneck, NJ USA
1961-0317 Casey Siemaszko* actor - Chicago, IL USA
1961-0318 Geoffrey Owens* actor - Brooklyn, NY USA
1961-0320
1961-0331
1961-0401 Susan Boyle* singer (BGT3) - Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland
1961-0402 Christopher Meloni* actor - Washington D.C. USA
1961-0403 Eddie Murphy* actor/comedian/producer - Brooklyn, NY USA
1961-0405 Lulu Carter* author/television presenter - Vänersborg, Sweden
1961-0406 Pekka Toveri* army major general - Kankaanpää, Finland
1961-0408 Richard Hatch* Survivor S1 Contestant - Newport, RI USA
1961-0410
1961-0412 Lisa Gerrard* musician/ singer/composer - Melbourne, VIC Australia
1961-0412 Edu Kettunen* guitarist/singer/songwriter - Helsinki, Finland
1961-0412 Christophe Rousset* harpsichordist/conductor - Avignon, France
1961-0412 Axel Wöstmann* rower - Osnabrück, West Germany
1961-0415 Tiina Lillak* athlete (javelin/OS)/w Estonian father - Helsinki, Finland
1961-0417 Pertti Koivula* actor/singer - Ranua, Finland
1961-0418 Jane Leeves* actress (Frasier)/singer/ producer - Ilford, Essex, England
1961-0420
1961-0425 Dinesh D’Souza* political commentator/filmmaker - Mumbai, India
1961-0425 Juha Sipilä* politician - Veteli, Finland
1961-0426
1961-0429 Michael Roll* actor - Munich, West Germany
1961-0429 Doug Shedden* hockey coach - Wallaceburg, ON Canada
1961-0430
1961-0501 Clint Malarchuk* hockey goalie/survivor of a hockey accident/spokesperson - Grande Prairie, AB Canada
1961-0505
1961-0506 George Clooney* actor/director/activist - Lexington, KY USA
1961-0508 Bill De Blasio* politician/109th mayor of New York City - Manhattan, NY USA
1961-0508 Andrea Pollack* (b Pinske) swimmer/OG - Schwerin, East Germany (2019/57)
1961-0508 David Winning* screenwriter/ director/ producer - Calgary, AB Canada
1961-0509 John Corbett* actor/country music singer - Wheeling, WV USA
1961-0513 Siobhan Fallon Hogan* actress/ comedian - Syracuse, NY USA
1961-0514 Tim Roth* actor/ director - Dulwich, London, England
1961-0514 Alain Vigneault* hockey coach - Quebec City, QC Canada
1961-0517 Enya* singer - Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland
1961-0520
1961-0523 Tuija Helander* athlete/hurdler - Eura, Finland
1961-0525 Adenor “Tite” Bacchi* football player/coach - Brazil
1961-0526 Robert Matthews* paraolympian/OG - Kent, England (2018/56)
1961-0527 Peri Gilpin* actress (Frazier) - Waco, TX USA
1961-0527 Mats Löfving* police officer/Chief of Police - Norrköping, Sweden (2023/61)
1961-0531 Lea Thompson* actress/ director - Rochester, MN USA
1961-0601 Paul Coffey* hockey player (NHL 100) - Weston, ON Canada
1961-0601 Yevgeny Prigozhin* oligarch/mercenary leader of the Wagner military company - Leningrad, Russia, Soviet Union (2023/62)
1961-0602 Liam Cunningham* actor - East Wall, Dublin, Ireland
1961-0606 Tom Araya* Chilean-American musician - Viña del Mar, Chile
1961-0606 Carole Baskin* animal rights activist/owner of Big Cat Rescue - Bexar County, TX USA
1961-0606 Lisabeth Shatner* actress/ writer/daughter of William Shatner – West Hollywood, CA USA
1961-0608
1961-0609 Michael J. Fox* actor - Edmonton, AB Canada
1961-0610
1961-0612 Alber Elbaz* Israeli fashion designer - Casablanca, Morocco (2021/59)
1961-0614 Boy George* (b O’Dowd) singer/ songwriter/fashion designer - Barnehurst, Kent, England
1961-0614 Grace Jackson* sprinter/OS - St. Ann, Jamaica
1961-0620
1961-0628 Kenichi Endō* 遠藤 憲一 actor/narrator/writer - Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
1961-0628 Charles M. Roessel* Navajo photographer/journalist - Albuquerque, NM USA (2025/63)
1961-0630
1961-0701 Ivan Kaye* actor/producer - Northampton, England
1961-0701 Carl Lewis* athlete/sprinter/WC/OG - Birmingham, AL USA
1961-0701 Princess Diana* of Wales - Sandringham, Norfolk, England (1997/36)
1961-0702 Clark Kellogg* basketball player/analyst - Cleveland, OH USA
1961-0703 Tim Smith* singer-songwriter/ musician/ producer (Cardiacs) - Carlshalton, Surrey, England (2020/59)
1961-0709 Raymond Cruz* actor - Los Angeles, CA USA
1961-0709 Bettina Gilois* German-American screenwriter/author - Berlin, West Germany (2020/58)
1961-0713 Anders Järryd* tennis player - Lidköping, Sweden
1961-0715 Forest Whitaker* actor - Longview, TX USA
1961-0716 Tony Ayres* Australian showrunner/ screenwriter/director - Portuguese Macau
1961-0716 Per Herngren* political activist/writer - Sweden
1961-0717 Jeremy Hardy* stand-up comedian - Aldershot, Hampshire, England (2019/57)
1961-0718 Elizabeth McGovern* actress - Evanston, IL USA
1961-0718 Pasi Rautiainen* football player/manager - Helsinki, Finland
1961-0719 Hideo Nakata* 中田 秀夫 film director - Okayama, Japan
1961-0723 Woody Harrelson* actor - Midland, TX USA
1961-0725Bobbie Eakes* actress/singer - Warner Robins, GA USA
1961-0725 Katherine Kelly Lang* actress - Hollywood, CA USA
1961-0728 Ruben Stiller* journalist/television host - Nummi, Finland
1961-0730 Laurence Fishburne* actor - Augusta, GA USA
1961-0730 Ressu Redford* singer - Turku, Finland
1961-0801
1961-0804 Barack Obama* politician/44usp - Honolulu, HI USA
1961-0805 Colin Bell* football player/manager - Leicester, England
1961-0806 Kjell Westö* author - Helsinki, Finland
1961-0810
1961-0812 Virpi Talvitie* illustrator/graphic artist - Ilmajoki, Finland
1961-0815 Dietmar Mögenburg* athlete/high jump - Leverkusen, West Germany
1961-0815 James O’Donnell* organist/ choral conductor (Westminster Abbey) - Scotland
1961-0817 Kati Outinen* actress - Helsinki, Finland
1961-0818 Liisa Laakso* academic/ political analyst - Rovaniemi, Finland
1961-0818 Glenn Plummer* actor - Richmond, CA USA
1961-0819 Ville Virtanen* actor - Espoo, Finland
1961-0820 Linda Manz* actress - New York, NY USA (2020/58)
1961-0821 Stephen Hillenburg* marine biologist/ animator/creator of SpongeBob Squarepants - Lawton, OK USA (2018/57)
1961-0821 Kimberley Santos* Miss World 1980(assumed)/Special Constable London/guardian ad litem in North Carolina - Guam
1961-0823 Alexandre Desplat* film composer - Paris, France
1961-0824 Jared Harris* actor - Hammersmith, London, England
1961-0828 Jennifer Coolidge* actress - Boston, MA USA
1961-0831
1961-0901 Brian Markinson* actor - Brooklyn, NY USA
1961-0901 Karen Smyers* triathlete - Corry, PA USA
1961-0902 Eugenio Derbez* actor/ comedian/filmmaker - Mexico City, Mexico
1961-0902 Carlos Valderrama* football player - Santa Marta, Colombia
1961-0906 Paul Waaktaar-Savoy* musician/ songwriter (A-Ha) - Oslo, Norway
1961-0910
1961-0911 Virginia Madsen* actress - Chicago, IL USA
1961-0912 Jean-Robert de Cavel* French-American chef/philanthropist - Roubaix, France (2022/61)
1961-0914 Steven Donziger* journalist/ human rights lawyer (The Chevron Case) - Jacksonville, FL USA
1961-0914 Wendy Thomas* daughter of the founder of Wendy’s - Columbus, OH USA
1961-0918 James Gandolfini* actor - Westwood, NJ USA (2013/51)
1961-0920
1961-0921 Mark Shepherd* fantasy novelist/musician - Tampa, FL USA (2011/49)
1961-0921 Nancy Travis* actress - New York, NY USA
1961-0922 Bonnie Hunt* actress - Chicago, IL USA
1961-0922 Catherine Oxenberg* actress/ daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia - New York City, NY USA
1961-0923 Chi McBride* actor - Chicago, IL USA
1961-0925 Heather Locklear* actress - Westwood, CA USA
1961-0926 Edward M. Kennedy Jr.* lawyer/politician - Boston, MA USA
1961-0926 Ken Mitsuishi* 光石 研 actor - Yahata Nishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Japan
1961-0927 Melissa Newman* artist/singer/daughter of Paul Newman - Hollywood, CA USA
1961-0929 Dale Dickey* actress - Knoxville, TN USA
1961-0930 Eric Stoltz* actor/director/producer - Whittier, CA USA
1961-1003 Anders Larsson* cross-country skier (Vasaloppet) - Karlstad, Sweden
1961-1005
1961-1006 Sonja Lumme* singer/ screenwriter/horticulturist - Kristiinankaupunki, Finland
1961-1007 Matthew Roloff* television personality (Little People, Big World)/ entrepreneur/writer - San Francisco, CA USA
1961-1009 Sheila Kelley* actress/wife of Richard Schiff - Greensburg, PA USA
1961-1011 Joel Hallikainen* musician/entertainer - Turku, Finland
1961-1017 David Allen Turpin* computer engineer/convicted child abuser - USA
1961-1026 Uhuru Kenyatta* businessman/politician/P/son of Jomo Kenyatta - Nairobi, British Kenya
1961-1026 Dylan McDermott* actor - Waterbury, CT USA
1961-1030 Jarmo K.** - Helsinki, Finland
1961-1030 Dmitry Muratov* journalist (Novaya Gazeta)/N - Kuybyshev, Russia, Soviet Union
1961-1031 Peter Jackson* film director/screenwriter/producer - Wellington, New Zealand
1961-1031 Larry Mullen Jr.* musician/ co-founder of U2/actor - Artane, Dublin, Ireland
1961-1101 Petr Pavel* army general/politician/P - Planá, Czechoslovakia
1961-1103 Brian Birdwell* U.S. Army officer/911 Pentagon survivor/ politician - Fort Worth, TX USA
1961-1103 Lee Montgomery* actor/ composer - Canada
1961-1104 Jeff Probst* Survivor host/producer - Wichita, KS USA
1961-1105 Christer Sandelin* singer - Stockholm, Sweden
1961-1110
1961-1112 Nadia Comaneci* gymnast/OG - Onesti, Romania
1961-1114 D. B. Sweeney* actor - Shoreham, NY USA
1961-1116 Frank Bruno* boxer - London, England
1961-1117 Thabo Motsieloa* actor/Swedish television news presenter/of South African descent - London, England
1961-1118 Gwen Knapp* sports journalist - Wilmington, DE USA (2023/61)
1961-1120 Sam Bass* motor sports artist - Hopewell, VA USA (2019/57)
1961-1122 Mariel Hemingway* actress - Mill Valley, CA USA
1961-1122 Gary Valentine* actor/comedian/writer - New York, NY USA
1961-1123
1961-1128 Alfonso Cuarón* film director/ screenwriter/ producer - Mexico City, Mexico
1961-1128 Martin Clunes* actor/television presenter/director - Wimbledon, London, England
1961-1128 Alvar Gullichsen* paintersculptor/musician - Helsinki, Finland
1961-1129 Kim Delaney* actress - Philadelphia, PA USA
1961-1129 Tom Sizemore* actor/ producer - Detroit, MI USA (2023/61)
1961-1130
1961-1201
1961-1208 Ann Coulter* lawyer/ conservative media pundit/author - New York City, NY USA
1961-1210
1961-1214 Patrik Sundström* hockey player - Skellefteå, Sweden
1961-1214 Peter Sundström* hockey player - Skellefteå, Sweden
1961-1220
1961-1224 Mary Barra* (b Makela) businesswoman (General Motors)/of Finnish descent - Royal Oak, MI USA
1961-1224 Maarit Tastula* journalist/ television host - Kokkola, Finland
1961-1225 Joel Elstelä* playwright/ film director/grandson of Mika Waltari - Helsinki, Finland
1961-1225 Ghislaine Maxwell* British socialite/associate of Jeffrey Epstein - Maisons-Laffitte, Île-de-France, France
1961-1226 John Lynch* actor - Corrinshego, Northern Ireland
1961-1226 Tina Wesson* Survivor S2 Contestant - Knoxville, TN USA
1961-1231
1961-0
1961-0
1961-0
Updated 2025-0511 Helsinki-Stockholm-Tallinn- Tampa
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