Actress Janet McTeer

Events in 1961 and 5-8

Events in the world in the birth year of Janet McTeer

• US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba (Jan. 3).
• 1,200 US-sponsored anti-Castro exiles invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (April 17); the attackers are all killed or captured by Cuban forces.
• East Germany erects the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin to halt flood of refugees (Aug. 13). Background: The Cold War
• USSR detonates 50-megaton hydrogen bomb in the largest man-made explosion in history (Oct. 29). Background: nuclear weapons
• There are 2,000 US military advisers in South Vietnam. Background: Vietnam War
• OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) formally constituted.

Birthday Janet McTeer (5-8) in history

• Day 5-8 year 1861: For the first time, the U.S. government levied an income tax.
• Day 5-8 year 1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island.
• Day 5-8 year 1914: The first electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Day 5-8 year 1962: Marilyn Monroe died.
• Day 5-8 year 1963: The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the limited Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.
• Day 5-8 year 1969: The U.S. space probe Mariner 7 transmitted pictures of Mars.
• Day 5-8 year 1984: Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women's marathon.
• Day 5-8 year 2002: The gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the ocean floor.
• Day 5-8 year 2003: The Rev. Gene Robinson was approved as the first openly gay bishop by the U.S. Episcopal Church.
• Day 5-8 year 2012: The plutonium-powered rover Curiosity successfully lands on Mars. Larger than earlier rovers, Curiosity will spend two years examining the land, looking for evidence that conditions on Mars are fit for life.