1961 Stats & Facts

January 10 Dashiell Hammett, writer	September 22 Marion Davies, actress
April Vanessa Bell, artist and interior designer	October 11 Chico Marx, comedian
May 13 Gary Cooper, actor	November 2 James Thurber, humorist
June 6 Carl Jung, psychiatrist	November 16 Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
July 2 Ernest Hemingway, writer	December 6 Frantz Fanon, philosopher
August 30 Charles Coburn, actor

January 26 Wayne Gretzky	August 4 Barack Obama
April 3 Eddie Murphy	September 25 Heather Locklear
May 6 George Clooney	October 18 Wynton Marsalis
May 29 Melissa Etheridge	October 31 Peter Jackson
June 9 Michael J. Fox	November 12 Nadia Comaneci
July 1 Diana Spencer, later the Princess of Wales	December 19 Reggie White

1961 statistics and prices (click chart for larger view)

U.S. Population	183,691,481
Dow Jones Industrial Average	High: 734 Low: 610
Consumer Price Index	29.9
Unemployment	5.5%
Price of a First Class Postage Stamp	$ 0.04
Price of a gallon of Regular gas	$ 0.31
*Prices from ads in the Seattle Times,* June 1-6, 1961**
One dozen eggs	$ 0.39
Bar-S Bacon, thick cut, one pound	$ 0.59
Sirloin Steak Filet Mignon	$ 0.79 $ 1.79
27 oz. cans of Franco-American Spaghetti	5/$1
Best Foods Mayonnaise, 1 quart	$ 0.49
MJB Coffee, 1 lb.	$ 0.65
Hush Puppy shoes at Nordstrom's	$10.95
Frigidaire refrigerator at Frederick & Nelson (w/trade-in)	$269.95
Sony 12-transistor AM-FM portable radio	$99.95
Single room at Dunes Hotel, Las Vegas. The Dunes, Opened 1955, Closed 1993. The Dunes has been replaced by the Bellagio. The implosion of the Dunes appears in the movie "Casino".	$ 9.00
New 1961 Ford Station Wagon at Wilson Motors, Ballard	$2493.00
4-bedroom, 1-1/2-bath, 1200 square foot new home in Juanita	$14,225
6 cleared acres in Woodinville with 2-bedroom home, barn, well	$32,500