Historical eventMay 191961

Venera program

Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).

Everything on May 19Original source

In context

When
Friday, May 19 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.

Type: Soviet space program.

What happened

The Venera program was a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planet Venus. A total of eighteen probes were sent, including two related Vega probes.

May 19 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1961Venera program
  2. 20072007 Moscow, Idaho, shooting
  3. 2007President of Romania
  4. 2010Royal Thai Armed Forces
  5. 2012Brindisi school bombing
  6. 20122012 Deir ez-Zor bombing
  7. 2015Refugio State Beach
  8. 2015Refugio oil spill
  9. 2016EgyptAir Flight 804
  10. 2018Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
  11. 20242024 Varzaqan helicopter crash

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

“Venera program”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/venera-program-1961-may-19, accessed October 24, 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 Venera program happen?

May 19 1961 — 65 years ago, on a Friday.

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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