About the day » Monday May 8, 1961Calender converter

• Willem Alexander Ate Tuitman, Vlieland
• Petra de Lint
• Anne Spaas, Luik (B) († 1970)
• N.N. Schorer, 's Gravenhage († 1961)
• Edward Swift Jr., Vancouver BC († 2007)
• Bennie Stob, Tilligt
• Bastiana Hazendonk, Molenaarsgraaf, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 2002)
• Gradus Kiel († 1965)

• Aaltje Krijgsveld (82), Groningen
• Anna Elisabeth Brusse (82), Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
• Andries Kersten (81), Heumen, Gelderland, Nederland
• Abraham van Rosse (79), Amsterdam
• Antonio Sepulveda (54), Houston, TX
• Andries Kersten (81), Malden,, Gelderland, Nederland
• Anna Gratzer (71), 's-Gravenhage
• Antoinette Sophia Eugenie SWART (74), Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht (Zuid-Holland), Nederland
• Aaltje Reurekas (85), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Albertha Adriana Bor (44), Amsterdam

• 1959 » David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland, English politician
• 1959 » Ronnie Lott, American football player and sportscaster
• 1960 » Eric Brittingham, American bass player
• 1960 » Franco Baresi, Italian footballer and coach
• 1961 » Bill de Blasio, American politician, 109th Mayor of New York City
• 1961 » David Winning, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 » Gert Kruys, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1961 » Vallo Reimaa, Estonian academic and politician
• 1962 » David Sole, Scottish rugby player
• 1962 » Natalia Molchanova, Russian diver († 2015)

• 1947 » Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (b. 1858)
• 1948 » U Saw, Burmese politician, Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1900)
• 1950 » Vital Brazil, Brazilian physician and immunologist (b. 1865)
• 1952 » William Fox, Austrian businessman, founded Fox Theatres (b. 1879)
• 1959 » John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (b. 1881)
• 1960 » J. H. C. Whitehead, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1904)
• 1965 » Wally Hardinge, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
• 1969 » Remington Kellogg, American zoologist and paleontologist (b. 1892)
• 1972 » Beatrice Helen Worsley, Mexican-Canadian computer scientist (b. 1921)
• 1972 » Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (b. 1880)

1. Johannes
2. Jan
3. Peter
4. Cornelis
5. Robert
6. Hendrik
7. John
8. Willem
9. Pieter
10. Gerrit
11. Ronald
12. Paul
13. Michael
14. Petrus
15. Wilhelmus
16. Dirk

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Elisabeth
4. Anna
5. Cornelia
6. Catharina
7. Yvonne
8. Karin
9. Jacqueline
10. Wilhelmina
11. Ingrid
12. Monique
13. Adriana
14. Petronella
15. Marianne
16. Anita

• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from May 19, 1959 to July 24, 1964 the cabinet De Quay, with Prof. dr. J.E. de Quay (KVP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 11.6 million citizens.
• January 9 » British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland Spy Ring in London.
• January 31 » Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
• April 20 » Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.
• September 10 » In the Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German Formula One driver Wolfgang von Trips and 13 spectators who are hit by his Ferrari, the deadliest accident in F1 history.
• October 17 » Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters.
• October 30 » The Soviet Union detonates the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful explosive device ever detonated.

The temperature on May 8, 1961 was between 8.5 °C and 14.2 °C and averaged 11.7 °C. There was 0.7 mm of rain during 0.6 hours. There was 8.2 hours of sunshine (54%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the west-southwest.