1961

Events

April

• April 11: Pierikos is established from the merger of Megas Alexandros Katerini and Olympus Katerini.
• April 17: PM Constantine Karamanlis visits Washington, DC and meets with US President John F. Kennedy.
• April 19: Manos Hadjidakis receives an Oscar for the score of the film "Never on a Sunday"
• April 20: Father Kosmas Aitolos is proclaimed a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
• April 21: Scientific research determines that the average life expectancy of a Greek male is 57 years and that of a Greek female is 62 years.

May

• May 23: Ten men are put on trial in Thessaloniki charged with spying on behalf of Bulgaria.
• May 24: Cyprus is admitted into the Council of Europe.

June

• June 13: Cyprus joins the British Commonwealth.
• June 28: World champions FC Santos defeat AEK 3-0, as Pele scores the 400th goal of his career.
• June 30: Pele scores twice as World champions FC Santos defeat Panathinaikos 3-2

July

• July 4: Olympiakos stun World Champions FC Santos (with Pele) 2-1 at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium (Poseidon, Sourounis - Stefanakos og). Fans protested the ticket price of 35 drachmas -- more than three times the regular 10 drachmas ticket price of the times.
• July 9: The agreement of association of Greece and the European Common Market is signed in Athens.

August

• August 4: Myron Anyfandakis breaks the Greek record in the javelin throw with 74.15m.
• August 6: Maria Callas performs in the ancient theatre of Epidaurus in the role of Medea.

September

• September 9: AEK kick off the 1961-1962 season with an 8-0 away win at Aegaleo. Kostas Nestoridis scores three goals, Andreas Stamatiadis and Thanasis Gouvas two each, with Giorgos Petridis contributing one.
• September 17: Adnan Menderes is hanged in the Prince's Islands. Among the accusations brought against the former Turkish PM was his tolerance of the Istanbul Pogrom against the Greek minority.
• September 20: Konstantinos Dovas forms a caretaker government which will conduct one of the most disputed elections in the history of Greece.

October

• October 20: Dr. Fazil Kucuk vetoes the creation of a single Cypriot army.
• October 29: Constantine Karamanlis wins the national elections which - according to the opposition - were rife with violence and corruption.

November

• November 4: Constantine Karamanlis is sworn in as PM, after winning the October 29 elections where, as they later pronounced, "even the trees voted !"
• November 6: Torrential rains cause floodings in Athens and the suburbs. 40 dead and thousands of flood victims.

Births

February

• February 2: Eleni Mavrou, Mayor of Lefkosia, Cyprus.
• February 8: Giorgos Savvidis, football player and coach.
• February 10: George Stephanopoulos, Greek-American political adviser

March

• March 1: Savvas Kofidis, football player and coach.

May

• May 3: Yiannis Samaras, football player
• May 31: Marios Karoyian, Cypriot politician

June

• June 25: Antonis Mitzelos, guitarist, songwriter for Termites

July

• July 13: Stelios Manolas, football player
• July 29: Dimitris Saravakos, football player

Deaths

July

• July 8: Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, Prime Minister during the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Unknown

• Ioannis Theotokis, politician, Prime Minister