World Events
Posted in 1961
- The Berlin Wall is erected by the Communists to isolate the Western sectors and stop the exodus of East Germans to the West. Concrete blocks rapidly replace the rolls of barbed wire used by East German soldiers on August 13 to close the border between East and West Berlin.
- South African Republic is established by referendum; withdraws its application to remain in the Commonwealth.
- John F Kennedy is inaugurated as President of the USA: "... ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
- Bay of Pigs: US-backed exiles' invasion of Cuba to overthrow the regime of Fidel Castro is a failure.
- Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the world's first man in space.
The Berlin Wall is erected by the Communists to isolate the Western sectors and stop the exodus of East Germans to the West. Concrete blocks rapidly replace the rolls of barbed wire used by East German soldiers on August 13 to close the border between East and West Berlin.