1961 65 years ago Historical Events May 4 3 sources

Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).

On May 4, in the year 1961, Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km). This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of May 4, one of 318 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Malcolm David Ross was a captain in the United States Naval Reserve (USNR), an atmospheric scientist, and a balloonist who set several records for altitude and scientific inquiry, with more than 100 hours flight time in gas balloons by 1961. Along with Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather (USN), he set the altitude record for a manned balloon flight.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on May 4, 1961 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 11 January 2026.

On This Date in History 318

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 May 4 Ron Kavana, Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and band leader (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2024 May 4 Frank Stella, American painter (born 1936)
Historical Events 2023 May 4 Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia
Notable Deaths 2021 May 4 Nick Kamen, English model, songwriter (born 1962)
Notable Deaths 2020 May 4 Don Shula, American football player and coach (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2020 May 4 Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (born 1950)
Historical Events 2019 May 4 The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring
Notable Deaths 2019 May 4 Alia Abdulnoor, Emirati imprisoned woman (born 1977)
Selected Events 2019 May 4 The inaugural race of the W Series took place at Hockenheimring, Germany, and was won by Jamie Chadwick (pictured), who
Notable Deaths 2016 May 4 Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2015 May 4 William Bast, American screenwriter and author (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2015 May 4 Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (born 1913)
Notable Deaths 2015 May 4 Marv Hubbard, American football player (born 1946)
Selected Events 2015 May 4 The Parliament of Malta moved from the Grandmaster's Palace to the purpose-built Parliament House (pictured)
Historical Events 2014 May 4 Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (born 1983)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 2014 May 4 Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2013 May 4 César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 4 Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 4 Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 4 Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (born 1964)
Notable Deaths 2012 May 4 Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (born 1963)
Notable Deaths 2011 May 4 Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2009 May 4 Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2008 May 4 Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (born 1918)
Historical Events 2007 May 4 Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1
Notable Deaths 2005 May 4 David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2004 May 4 David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (born 196
Historical Events 2002 May 4 One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in
Notable Births 2001 May 4 Noah Beck, American media personality and actor
Notable Births 2001 May 4 Joan García, Spanish footballer
Notable Deaths 2001 May 4 Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (born 1956)
Historical Events 2000 May 4 Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London)
Notable Deaths 2000 May 4 Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (born 1909)
Selected Events 2000 May 4 Ken Livingstone took office as the first mayor of London
Historical Events 1998 May 4 A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after
Notable Births 1998 May 4 Rex Orange County, English musician
Notable Deaths 1998 May 4 Christine Kurzhals, German politician (born 1950)
Notable Births 1995 May 4 Shameik Moore, American actor and musician
Notable Deaths 1995 May 4 Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (born 1922)
Historical Events 1994 May 4 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza St

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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