October 1961

Sunday 01:

Baseball: Roger Maris sets new record for most home runs in a single season with 61, surpassing Babe Ruth's previous mark of 60.

Saturday 07:

"Bye Bye Birdie" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 607 performances.

Tuesday 17:

Approximately 200 Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the Paris police

Monday 30:

Due to "violations of Lenin's precepts", it is decreed that Josef Stalin's body be removed from its place of honour inside Lenin's tomb and buried near the Kremlin wall with a plain granite marker instead.

Tuesday 31:

In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Tomb.