1961 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1961 in Australia.
1961 in Australia | |
---|---|
Monarchy | Elizabeth II |
Governor-General | William Morrison, then William Sidney |
Prime minister | Robert Menzies |
Population | 10,548,267 |
Elections | Federal, VIC |
| |||||
Decades: |
| ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
See also: |
Incumbents
- Monarch – Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
- Governor General – William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil (died in office 3 February), then William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
- Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon
State Premiers
State Governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric Woodward
- Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel Smith
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Edric Bastyan (from 4 April)
- Governor of Tasmania – Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan
- Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
Events
- 2 January – Oral contraceptives are first sold in Australia
- 20 January to early March – Disastrous bushfires affect Western Australia, completely destroying a number of towns.
- 25 February – Last electric tram service runs in Sydney
- 23 June – Australia signed the Antarctic Treaty
- 12 August – Richmond become the only team since 1922 to fail to score a goal in a VFL/AFL match.
- 31 October – Parkes radiotelescope officially opened by the Governor General
- 30 November – Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a Vickers Viscount aircraft, crashes into Botany Bay shortly after takeoff, killing all 15 on board
Arts and literature
- Dame Joan Sutherland is announced as Australian of the Year
- William Edwin Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize
- The novel Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence is banned from sale
- Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White is awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award
Television
- 19 August – Four Corners TV current affairs program first screened on ABC TV
Sport
- Cricket
- New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
- The Ashes: Australia defeats England 2-1 and retains The Ashes
- Football
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Norths defeated Valleys 29-5
- New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Western Suburbs 22-0
- South Australian National Football League premiership: won by West Adelaide
- Victorian Football League premiership: Hawthorn defeated Footscray 94-51
- Golf
- Australian Open: won by Frank Phillips
- Australian PGA Championship: won by Alan Murray (golfer)
- Horse Racing
- Summer Fair wins the Caulfield Cup
- Dhaulagiri wins the Cox Plate
- Magic Night wins the Golden Slipper
- Lord Fury wins the Melbourne Cup
- Motor Racing
- The Australian Grand Prix was held at Mallala and won by Lex Davison driving a Cooper Climax
- Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Roy Emerson defeats Rod Laver 1–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
- Australian Open women's singles: Margaret Court defeats Jan Lehane O'Neill 6–1, 6–4
- Davis Cup: Australia defeats Italy 5–0 in the 1961 Davis Cup final
- Wimbledon: Roy Emerson and Neale Fraser win the Men's Doubles
- Wimbledon: Rod Laver wins the Men's Singles
- Yachting
- Astor takes line honours and Rival wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Births
- 1 January – Sam Backo, Indigenous Australian rugby league footballer
- 7 January – Andrew Thomson, lawyer and politician
- 9 February – Alison Megarrity, politician
- 12 February – Di Farmer, politician
- 25 February – Trevor Strong, politician
- 4 March – Bart Bassett, politician
- 14 March – Garry Jack, rugby league footballer and coach
- 16 March – Brett Kenny, rugby league footballer
- 24 March – Dean Jones, cricketer
- 26 March – Richard Torbay, politician
- 12 April
- Magda Szubanski, actor and comedian
- Lisa Gerrard, singer
- 20 April – Frances Adamson, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to China
- 16 May – Gina Riley, actor and comedian
- 31 May – Justin Madden, Australian rules footballer
- 16 June – Peter Sterling, rugby league footballer
- 6 July - Rick Price, singer
- 21 July – Morris Iemma, 40th Premier of New South Wales
- 8 August – Tim Mander, politician and rugby league referee
- 12 August – Peter Dowling, politician
- 19 August – Frank Terenzini, politician
- 15 September
- Terry Lamb, rugby league footballer and coach
- Joan Pease, politician
- 8 October – Simon Burke, actor
- 19 October – Cliff Lyons, rugby league footballer
- 18 November – Anthony Warlow, entertainer
- 23 November – Merv Hughes, cricketer
- 4 December – Sonia Hornery, politician
- 17 December – Larry Anthony, politician
- 29 December – Mal Brough, politician
Deaths
- 3 January – Auvergne Doherty, Australian businesswoman (born 1896)
- 3 February – William Morrison (born 1893), Governor General of Australia
- 20 February – Percy Grainger (born 1882), pianist and composer
- 22 May – Lionel Lindsay (born 1874), artist
- 27 September – Peter Dawson (born 1882), singer
- 3 December – Pat O'Hara Wood (born 1891), tennis player
- 20 December – Earle Page (born 1880), Prime Minister of Australia[1]
gollark: Wow, that's very impressive and completely goes against ~all relational database design principles.
gollark: Well, that sounds accursedological.
gollark: Fascinating.
gollark: Not without an extension.
gollark: How are concepts different to interfaces?
References
- Bridge, Carl. "Page, Sir Earle Christmas (1880–1961)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.