"Freedom Riders" test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia by riding racially integrated interstate buses into the South. In Anniston, Alabama their bus is set on fire with the freedom riders inside, many are badly beaten by local KKK members as they flee the bus.
The USSR puts the first man in space on April 12th with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completing one orbit of the Earth.
The Soviet Union detonates a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb in the largest man-made explosion in history .
Audrey Hepburn stars as Holly Golightly in the 1961 film Breakfast At Tiffany's.
East Germany erects the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin to halt the flood of refugees leaving the East. The wall would eventually stretch for 87 miles.
US Cuban exiles and the CIA mount an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, as they invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs on April 17th. The attackers are all killed or captured by Cuban forces.
Barbie gets a boyfriend, as Mattel launches the companion Ken doll in 1961.
The U.S. involvement in Vietnam grows as President Kennedy sends additional US military advisors into South Vietnam, bringing the total to 2,000.
CBS launches the television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, which runs until 1965. The show centers on comedy writer Rob Petri's (Van Dyke) work and home life. Model Mary Tyler Moore plays Petri's wife Laura.
The sitcom Mr. Ed, with a talking horse in the title role, debuts on CBS-TV where it runs for five seasons.
The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills in a dual role is one of the top grossing movies of 1961.
The Broadway musical West Side Story is adapted for the big screen, and goes on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
1961 Coca Cola ad depicting fun at the beach.
Detail from a Budweiser beer ad.
1961 ad for a console stereo record player.
Lifestyle advertisement for 1961 Rambler convertible.
Models pose in designer Arnold Scaasi's spring fashion line.
Women's fashion from a 1961 catalog page.
Model poses in a bowling alley.
Elle Magazine - France 1961.
Students pose for a photo at Crane High School in Chicago.
The obligatory pre-prom photo in the living room.
Heading out at Christmas 1961.
Ready for school after a snowstorm in suburban Baltimore.