The most important events of 1961 in the world are well known to most of the inhabitants of our country. After all, it was this year that man first went into space. It was our compatriot Yuri Gagarin. This is, of course, the main event of this year, but in 1961 there were many other important incidents, meetings, and many statements were made.
Man in space
The event of 1961 in Russia, which shocked the whole world, is the flight of the first man into space. On April 12, Yuri Gagarin set off on a Vostok launch vehicle. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The details of this flight are now known to absolutely everyone. It lasted exactly 108 minutes. Gagarin successfully returned, landing on the territory of the Saratov region, not far from the city of Engels. Since then, this day is celebrated as an international holiday - Cosmonautics Day.
After that, the whole world knew what happened on April 12, 1961. Gagarin started at 9 hours 7 minutes Moscow timetime. His call sign was "Kedr". The immediate head of the launch team, on whose command the rocket was launched, was Anatoly Semenovich Kirillov, who then became a major general. It was he who controlled the execution of all orders, watched the flight of the rocket from the command bunker through the periscope.
In April 1961, an event occurred that radically changed the idea of humanity about the conquest of distant expanses. Famous all over the world was the phrase of Yuri Gagarin, who exclaimed: "Let's go!" It is emphasized that the Vostok rocket worked without serious remarks, only at the final stage the radio control system, which was responsible for turning off the third stage engines, did not work.
Later Gagarin spoke in detail about his feelings in the earth's orbit. He became the first person who was able to see the planet Earth through the porthole of a spacecraft, he managed to examine its clouds, rivers, forests and mountains, seas, the Sun and other stars of our galaxy. He left a recording on the cockpit tape recorder in which he admired the views of the Earth from space.
It is noteworthy that in flight he did the most simple experiments. Tried to eat, drink, make pencil notes. For example, he noticed that a pencil floats away from him, on this basis he concluded that in space it is better to tie all things. Gagarin recorded all his feelings on the on-board tape recorder.
In flight, Gagarin took a big risk, because before that no one could even imagine how the human psyche would behave in space,therefore, special protection was even provided on the ship so that the astronaut, if he suddenly went crazy, did not try to control the flight of the ship or ruin the equipment. For safety, a special envelope was placed on board to switch to manual control. It contained a piece of paper with a mathematical problem, only by solving which the astronaut could get the unlock code for the control panel. The news about the event on April 12, 1961 instantly thundered throughout the world. Gagarin became a celebrity on a universal scale. Now everyone knows exactly what event happened on April 12, 1961.
Denomination in the Soviet Union
The year 1961 was eventful in the USSR. In particular, on January 1, a general denomination was announced, which was carried out with a coefficient of 10 to 1. Now 10 old-style rubles corresponded to 1 new-style ruble.
At the same time, coins in denominations of 1, 2 and 3 kopecks continued to circulate, even those that were issued before the 1947 denomination. Their value has not changed. Thus, the cost of copper money for 14 years in the Soviet Union has actually increased a hundred times. Some have taken advantage of this. For example, the heroes of Georgy Shengelia's comedy "Changers".
It is interesting that only the smallest coins were valued, because banknotes with a face value of 5, 10, 15 and 20 kopecks were exchanged for paper ones at the rate of 10 to 1. For the first time since 1927, coins with a face value of 50 kopecks and 1 ruble appeared.
The denomination did not have the best effect on the state of the economy inSoviet Union. For example, before this reform, 4 rubles were given for one dollar, and after the denomination was carried out, the exchange rate was set at 90 kopecks. A similar situation has developed with the gold content, as a result, the ruble was undervalued by more than two times. At the same time, the purchasing power in relation to imported goods also remained underestimated, having significantly decreased. This event in the USSR in 1961 had a significant impact on the further development of the country.
Change of president
Life was in full swing at the opposite end of the planet. An important event in the world in 1960 was the election of the President of the United States. Dwight Eisenhower was replaced by John Kennedy. On January 20, 1961, he officially took the oath, becoming the 35th president in the history of the country.
In his speech during the solemn inauguration, he made a famous speech, emphasizing that each person should think not about what the country can give him, but about what he personally can give her. After the new president came to power, the government was greatly updated, in which many new faces came. Most of them had connections in the circles of American financiers and monopolists, many of them had already succeeded in the political arena.
Together with Kennedy, a new era in American politics began, he was one of the most famous and controversial politicians at the helm of the United States. It was during his reign that it became necessary to resolve the tense world situation, when, due to the confrontation between the two superpowers, the world actually refused to be on the verge of a nuclear war.war. As a result, it was avoided. At the same time, Kennedy's reign was one of the shortest. Already in 1963, the President of the United States was assassinated.
Boeing crash in Belgium
The year 1961 was also rich in tragic events. On February 15, a Boeing plane crashed near Brussels. He was flying from New York and crashed while trying to land at the airport in the Belgian capital.
Throughout the flight over the Atlantic Ocean, nothing foreshadowed trouble. Problems only began when the Boeing had to cancel its approach to Brussels airport due to the fact that a small plane in front of it did not have time to leave the runway.
The liner went to the second round to go to another lane. Having reached a height of about 460 meters, he rolled almost vertically, lost speed and began to rapidly decline, actually falling. As a result, the plane crashed in the swamp area two miles from the airport. When it fell, it completely collapsed.
The wreckage of the liner caught fire almost immediately. All 72 people on board were killed. According to the main version, it happened instantly, the fire that started did not play any role.
On board was the US figure skating team, which was heading to the World Championships, held in the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague. Due to the death of the athletes, the competition was completely canceled.
Kurenevskaya tragedy
There were enough tragic events in Russia in 1961. On March 13 in Kyiv there wasman-made disaster, which went down in history as the Kurenevskaya tragedy. The decision to create a construction waste dump at Babi Yar was made back in 1952.
On March 13, 1961, the event that took place there became one of the largest tragedies in the Soviet Union. Industrial waste has been dumped into Babi Yar for more than a decade, two brick factories located nearby had permission to do so.
The destruction of the dam began at 6.45 am local time, by 8.30 it finally broke through. A mud shaft about 14 meters high rushed down. He was so strong that he demolished cars, buildings, trams and people on his way. The flood lasted an hour and a half, its consequences were catastrophic.
According to official figures, 81 buildings were destroyed after the mud flow. At the same time, 68 buildings were residential. More than 150 private houses remained uninhabitable. It affected more than a thousand people. The reports compiled by the local authorities at that time did not contain official data on the dead and injured. Only later did information about 150 victims of the tragedy appear. At the same time, it is not known for certain how many victims there were in reality. According to modern Kyiv historians, their number could reach one and a half thousand people. This is a real tragic event in 1961.
At that time, the authorities did not advertise the tragedy in any way. For this, international and long-distance communications were even turned off in Kyiv. The disaster was officially announced only on March 16.
The authorities also strongly opposed any attemptdissemination of information about what happened. To do this, they even buried the dead outside Kyiv, in different places, indicating different dates and causes of death on the graves and in documents. Troops were involved in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.
The prosecutor's office opened a secret criminal case. Six officials were sentenced to various prison terms. The main cause of the accident was called the mistakes made in the design of the dam and hydraulic dump. This is an event in 1961 in Russia, which was hidden for a long time. Only in 2006, a monument to the victims of the tragedy was opened.
Medical feat
An event took place in April 1961 that can be safely called a medical feat, a new word in approaches to surgical operations. Surgeon Leonid Rogozov, who participated in the Antarctic expedition, managed to cut out his own appendicitis.
He discovered the first alarming symptoms on April 29th. Nausea, weakness, pain in the right side, fever appeared. In the expedition, which included 13 people, he was the only physician. Therefore, he managed to make himself a disappointing diagnosis of "acute appendicitis".
At first, Rogozov tried to cope with the disease with conservative methods, but they did not bring success. The doctor's condition only worsened. There were no planes at the neighboring Arctic stations to evacuate the patient, and the weather was non-flying. The only way out is an urgent operation on the spot. Rogozov decided to make itmyself.
Meteorologist Alexander Artemiev gave him the tools, and mechanical engineer Zinovy Teplinskiy held a small mirror near his stomach. The doctor administered local anesthesia, then with a scalpel made a 12-centimeter incision. Looking in the mirror, and sometimes just by touch, he removed the inflamed appendix, injected himself with an antibiotic. In total, the operation lasted almost two hours, ending successfully, despite the fact that the patient had a pronounced general weakness. After five days, the body temperature returned to normal, it became possible to remove the stitches.
This event in 1961 in the history of medicine has taken a special place as an exemplary example of courage and high professionalism.
Bizerte Crisis
In 1961, an event occurred that generally had a negative impact on peace throughout the world. This was the Bizerte Crisis, also known as the Franco-Tunisian War. At the center of the armed conflict was the naval base in Bizerte, which remained owned by France even after Tunisia officially gained independence in 1956.
The conflict escalated after the meeting between Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and French President Charles de Gaulle. The latter emphasized that the base is extremely important for ensuring the full-fledged defense of France. Moreover, France has begun work to enlarge the base, in particular, to expand the runway, which has already entered the territory of Tunisia.
Mass demonstrations began in Bizerte demanding the evacuation of the French at the military base. As a result, the Tunisian President announcedblockade of the French base. Positions were taken by Tunisian battalions supported by artillery.
De Gaulle decided not to succumb to the ultimatums put forward by the government of Tunisia. Instead, the French president orders an armed invasion. The conflict was very fleeting, it lasted from 19 to 23 July. From the French side, about seven thousand soldiers, three warships and aviation participated in the operation. The strength of the Tunisian army is unknown.
France lost 24 people in the conflict, 100 were wounded. The losses of the Tunisian side were much more impressive: 630 killed and more than 1,500 wounded. The result of the confrontation was the decision to withdraw French troops from the military base in Bizerte. Since then, in Tunisia, every year on October 15, a national holiday is celebrated - Evacuation Day.
Second man in space
If we talk about the success of the space program, then almost everyone, when asked what event happened in 1961, will remember Yuri Gagarin's flight into space. At the same time, it was somewhat forgotten that in the same year another Soviet pilot went into space.
On August 6, German Titov left on the Vostok-2 ship. Unlike Gagarin, he spent much more time in space. To be more precise, one day, one hour and 18 minutes.
Titov flew around the planet Earth 18 times. The total length of its flight exceeded 700 thousand kilometers. His call sign was Eagle. He sat down, like Gagarin, on the territory of the Saratov region. At the time of the flight, Titov was only 25 years old. Until now heremains the youngest person to have been in space. This record has not yet been broken by anyone.
Nuclear testing
The confrontation between the two world superpowers, the USSR and the USA, grew throughout 1961. In October, the Soviet Union undertook two large-scale operations at once, which were supposed to once again confirm its importance in the international arena.
First, the first ever underground nuclear explosion was carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site. Previously, not a single country on the planet dared to undergo such experiments and tests.
At the very end of October, the USSR conducts another large-scale test. It involves a nuclear device with a capacity of 50 megatons. To date, this nuclear test remains the most powerful in human history.
Club of cheerful and resourceful
The year 1961 was not only filled with tragic and exciting moments. There were also happy episodes. For example, it was then that one of the main long-lived projects of Soviet television appeared on Soviet screens - the humorous games "Club of the Cheerful and Resourceful", which are successful and still collect high ratings.
It was on November 8, 1961 that this program first appeared on the screens. A funny episode is connected with the program, which was considered the prototype of KVN. It was called "An Evening of Merry Questions." But only three episodes were aired.
The fact is that in the third gear a prize was promised to everyone who comes to the studio in the middle of summer in a hat, fur coat, felt boots and with a newspaper for December 31last year.
But the host of the program, Nikita Bogoslovsky, forgot to mention the newspaper. As a result, a huge crowd in winter clothes burst into the recording of the program, which swept away the policemen, creating complete chaos. The broadcast was interrupted, and since there was nothing to replace the transmission, the TV screens showed the screensaver "Break for technical reasons" all evening.
KVN, which appeared on the air in 1961, did not allow such missteps, and therefore remains one of the most successful projects on domestic television.
