RTÉ

Historical eventDecember 311961

RTÉ

RTÉ, Ireland's first television network, began broadcasting.

Everything on December 31Original source

In context

When
Sunday, December 31 196165 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1960s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1961.

What happened

RTÉ, Ireland's first television network, began broadcasting.

December 31 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1961RTÉ
  2. 2004Taipei 101
  3. 2006War in Somalia (2006–2009)
  4. 2009Blue moon
  5. 20102010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak
  6. 2011NASA
  7. 20142014 Shanghai stampede
  8. 2015Downtown Dubai
  9. 20182018 Magnitogorsk building collapse
  10. 2019World Health Organization
  11. 2020COVID-19 vaccine

Also in 1961

  • March 14United States Air ForceA USAF B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashes near Yuba City, California.
  • September 16National Hurricane Research ProjectThe U.S. National Hurricane Research Project sought to weaken Hurricane Esther by seeding it with silver iodide, leading to the establish…
  • September 16Typhoon Nancy (1961)Typhoon Nancy (pictured), which possibly had the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, made landfall in Muroto, Japan.
  • September 17Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)The world's first retractable roof stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • September 181961 Ndola Transair Sweden Douglas DC-6 crashAn aircraft crashed near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, resulting in the deaths of 16 people, including United Nations secretary-general Dag…
  • October 20Soviet NavyThe Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
  • May 25Joint session of the United States CongressIn an address to Congress, U.S. president John F. Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program, with "the goal, before this decad…
  • May 25Bukit Ho Swee fireA fire broke out at a squatter settlement in Bukit Ho Swee, Singapore, rendering approximately 16,000 people homeless.

Everything we record for 1961 →

Sources

Cite this page

“RTÉ”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/rte-1961-december-31, accessed October 25, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did RTÉ happen?

December 31 1961 — 65 years ago, on a Sunday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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