Where were you in 1961? Some of us were young adults, starting new lives alone or with a family. Some of us were in high school. Some of us were in elementary school. Some of us were preschoolers. And of course some of us were not yet born. 

What was happening internationally in our world in 1961?- East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall
- John F. Kennedy became President of the USA
- The CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba failed to overthrow Fidel Castro
- President Kennedy established the Peace Corps to send American volunteers abroad for community and educational development
- The first Freedom Riders departed on interstate buses to challenge racial segregation in the American South
- Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, and American Alan Shepard later became the second
- The Apollo program was launched, to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade
- The Soviet Union detonated the largest hydrogen bomb in history
- American military involvement officially began in Vietnam
- Mattel introduced Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken
- IBM introduced the Selectric typewriter
- Top hit songs were: “Stand by Me”, “Blue Moon”, and “Runaway”
- Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again” fueled a dance craze (some of our backs are still    recovering)
- TV shows premieres: The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Defenders, Mister Ed, Ben Casey
- Top 10 TV shows: Wagon Train, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Hazel, Perry Mason, The Red Skelton Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Danny Thomas Show, Dr. Kildare, CandidCamera.

Next week we’ll take a flashback look to Canada and locally.

~ Compiled by Lois Grierson