United States Air Force

Historical eventFebruary 31961

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post.

Everything on February 3Original source

In context

When
Friday, February 3 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

The United States Air Force begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post.

February 3 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1961United States Air Force
  2. 19981998 Cavalese cable car crash
  3. 1998Commutation (law)
  4. 2005Kam Air Flight 904
  5. 2006Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
  6. 2007February 2007 Al-Saydiya market bombing
  7. 2010L'Homme qui marche I
  8. 20142014 Moscow school shooting
  9. 2014School shooting
  10. 2023East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment
  11. 20262026 Kwara State attacks

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

“United States Air Force”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/united-states-air-force-1961-february-3, accessed October 28, 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 United States Air Force happen?

February 3 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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