Editing 1961 (section)

===January===
{{Main|January 1961}}
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961|Monetary reform in the Soviet Union]].
* [[January 3]]
** United States President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with [[Cuba]] ([[Cuba–United States relations]] are restored in [[2015]]).
** [[Aero Flight 311]] (Koivulahti air disaster): [[Douglas DC-3]]C OH-LCC of Finnish airline [[Finnair|Aero]] crashes near [[Kvevlax]] (Koivulahti), on approach to [[Vaasa Airport]] in Finland, killing all 25 on board, due to [[pilot error]]: an investigation finds that the [[Captain (civil aviation)|captain]] and [[First officer (civil aviation)|first officer]] were both exhausted for lack of sleep, and had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country.
* [[January 5]]
** Italian sculptor [[Alfredo Fioravanti]] enters the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the [[Etruscan terracotta warriors]] in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].
** After the [[1960 Turkish coup d'état|1960 military coup]], General [[Cemal Gürsel]] forms the new government of [[Turkey]] (25th government).
* [[January 7]] &ndash; Following a four-day conference in [[Casablanca]], five African chiefs of state announce plans for a [[NATO]]-type African organization to ensure common defense. The Charter of Casablanca involves the [[Casablanca Group]]: [[Morocco]], the [[United Arab Republic]], [[Ghana]], [[Guinea]], and [[Mali]].
* [[January 8]] &ndash; In France, a [[French referendum on Algerian self-determination, 1961|referendum]] supports [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s policies on independence for [[Algeria]].
* [[January 9]] &ndash; British authorities announce they have uncovered a large [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Espionage|spy ring]], the [[Portland spy ring]], in London.
* [[January 17]]
** President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] gives his final [[State of the Union Address]] to Congress. In a Farewell Address the same day, he warns of the increasing power of a "[[military–industrial complex]]."
** [[Patrice Lumumba]] of the [[Republic of Congo]] is assassinated.
* [[January 23]] &ndash; [[Congress of Venezuela]] adopts a [[Constitution of Venezuela (1961)|new constitution]] (in force until 1999).
* [[January 24]] &ndash; [[1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash]]: A [[B-52 Stratofortress]], carrying two [[nuclear bomb]]s, crashes near [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]].
* [[January 25]]
** In Washington, D.C., President [[John F. Kennedy]] delivers the first live presidential [[news conference]]. In it, he announces that the [[Soviet Union]] has freed the two surviving crewmen from the July 1 [[1960 RB-47 shootdown incident]] involving a [[USAF]] reconnaissance aircraft and a MiG-19 over the [[Barents Sea]].
** Acting to halt 'leftist excesses', a [[Military dictatorship|junta]] composed of two army officers and four civilians takes over [[El Salvador]], ousting another junta that had ruled for three months.
* [[January 27]] &ndash; [[Soviet submarine S-80|Soviet submarine ''S-80'']] sinks in the [[Barents Sea]], killing all 68 crew.
* [[January 28]] &ndash; ''[[Supercar (TV series)|Supercar]]'', the first family sci-fi TV series filmed in [[Supermarionation]], debuts on [[Associated Television|ATV]] in the UK.
* [[January 30]] &ndash; President [[John F. Kennedy]] delivers his first [[State of the Union Address]].
* [[January 31]] &ndash; [[Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham]], a 37-pound (17-kg) male chimpanzee, is rocketed into space aboard [[Mercury-Redstone 2]], in a test of the [[Project Mercury]] spacecraft, designed to carry United States [[astronaut]]s into space.