Two Cat Fives So Close Together?

A reader and old buddy of mine from elementary school wrote last night:

It goes without saying that Hurricane Rita is yet another powerful storm. Is this the first time 2 Category 5 storms have culminated in such a short time frame (3 weeks)?

I had to do a little research, but it looks like it only happened once before, in 1960. That year, Hurricane Donna hit Cat 5 status on September 4th, then Ethel closely followed on September 15th. The magenta color on the maps below shows where they obtained Cat 5 status.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

You can see a complete list of Atlantic Category 5 storms below.

This is also only the third year on record with two Category 5 storms at any time in the same year (1961 had one in September and October).