1951
1951 (
MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see
its calendar.
January
*
January 9 -
United Nations headquarters officially opens (
New York City).
*
January 15 -
Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald," wife of the
Commandant of the
Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in
West Germany.
*
January 17 -
Korean War:
Chinese and
North Korean forces capture
Seoul.
*
January 20 -
Avalanches in the
Alps - 240 die and 45,000 are buried for a time in
Switzerland,
Austria and
Italy*
January 27 -
Nuclear testing at the
Nevada Test Site begins with a one-
kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats, northwest of
Las Vegas, Nevada.
February
*
February 1 -
United Nations General Assembly declares that
China is the
aggressor in the
Korean War*
February 4-
8 - Surgeons remove an
ovarian cyst from Gertrude Levandowski in 96-hour long operation in
Chicago, Illinois. She loses almost half of her weight and emerges weighing 140 kg / 308 lb
*
February 6 - A
Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near
Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more; one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
*
February 6 -
Paul Harvey arrested for trying to break into
Argonne National Laboratory.
*
February 12 - Tragically dies a blow for Pakistan and the Kashmiris
Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan*
February 12 - Marriage of
Muhammad Reza Shah to
Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari*
February 19- Jean Lee becomes the last woman hanged in
Australia, when Lee and her two
pimps are hanged for the murder and torture of a 73 year old bookmaker.
*
February 27 - The
Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting
Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
March-April
*
March 6 - The trial of
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.
*
March 7 -
Korean War:
Operation Ripper - In
Korea,
United Nations troops led by General
Matthew Ridgeway begin an assault against the
Chinese "volunteers".
*
March 12 - The
Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in
newspapers across the
U.S. for the first time.
*
March 14 - Korean War: For the second time,
United Nations troops recapture
Seoul.
*
March 14 -
West Germany joins
UNESCO*
March 29 -
Red Scare:
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of
conspiracy to commit
espionage. On
April 5 they are sentenced to receive the
death penalty.
*
March 30 -
Remington Rand delivers the first
UNIVAC I computer to the
United States Census Bureau.
*
April 1 -
Female suffrage begins in
Greece*
April 11 -
President Truman relieves
General MacArthur of his Far Eastern commands.
*
April 18 -
Treaty of Paris (1951) adopted, establishing
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC); see
EU.
*
April 21 - The
National Olympic Committee of the
USSR is formed. The USSR first participates in the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.
*
April 28 -
Robert Menzies'
Liberal Party government in
Australia is re-elected for a second term.
May-June
*
May 1 -
Opera house of
Geneva, Switzerland almost destroyed in a fire
*
May 3 -
London's
Royal Festival Hall opens.
*
May 3 - The
U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begins its closed door hearings into the dismissal of General
Douglas MacArthur by
U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
*
May 9 - The first test of a nuclear weapon with
thermonuclear materials, the "
George" test on
Enewetok Atoll in the
Marshall Islands, by the United States.
*
May 14 - First volunteer-run passenger trains on
Talyllyn Railway,
Wales.
*
May 15 -
Military coup in
Bolivia*
May 25 - The first test of an atomic bomb "boosted" by the inclusion of
thermonuclear materials, in the "Item" test on
Enewetok Atoll in the
Marshall Islands by the U.S.A.
*
June 14 -
UNIVAC I is dedicated by
U.S. Census Bureau.[
1]
*
June 15 -
July 1- In
New Mexico,
Arizona,
California,
Oregon,
Washington, and
British Columbia, thousands of hectares (many square miles) of forests were destroyed in fires.
July-September
*
July 1 -
Judy Garland, opened the first of 14 concerts in
Dublin,
Ireland at the
Theatre Royal.
*
July 5 -
William Shockley,
John Bardeen, and
Walter Brattain announce the invention the junction
transistor.
*
July 10 -
Korean War: At
Kaesong,
armistice negotiations begin.
*
July 13 - The
Great Flood of 1951 reaches its highest point in Northeast
Kansas, culminating in the greatest flood damage to date in the
Midwestern United States.
*
July 14 - In
Joplin, Missouri, the
George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first
United States National Monument in honor of an
African American.
*
July 16 - King
Léopold III of Belgium signs the act of
abdication in favour of his son
Baudouin.
*
July 17 - Baudouin takes the oath as king of
Belgium, after his father abdicated the day before.
*
July 20 - King
Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated while attending Friday prayers in
Jerusalem.
*
August 11 -
René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of
France*
September 1 - The
United States,
Australia and
New Zealand all sign a mutual defense pact, called the
ANZUS Treaty (for "Australia, New Zealand, United States").
*
September 8 -
Treaty of San Francisco: In
San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a
peace treaty with
Japan in formal recognition of the end of the
Pacific War.
*
September 9 - Chinese communist forces move into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet
*
September 10 - The
United Kingdom begins an
economic boycott of
Iran.
*
September 20 -
NATO accepts
Greece and
Turkey as members
*
September 26-
28 - Blue sun seen over
Europe - the effect is due to ash coming from the
Canadian forest fires four months previously
October-November
*
October 3 - "Shot Heard 'Round the World" One of the greatest moments in
Major League Baseball history occurs when the
New York Giants Bobby Thomson hits a game winning
home run in the bottom of the ninth
inning off of the
Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the
National League pennant after being down 14 games.
*
October 7 -
Malayan Emergency -
communist insurgents kill
British commander Sir
Henry Gurney*
October 15 - First
oral contraceptive invented by
Luis E. Miramontes*
October 15 -
I Love Lucy debuts on
CBS.
*
October 16 -
Judy Garland, Opened her legendary concerts in New York's famed
Palace Theatre*
October 16 - Assassination of
Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of
Pakistan*
October 20 - The "
Johnny Bright Incident" occurred in
Stillwater,
Oklahoma*
October 21 - Storm in southern
Italy - over 100 dead
*
October 24 -
President Truman declares official end to war with Germany.
*
October 26 -
Winston Churchill re-elected British
Prime Minister; his
foreign minister is
Anthony Eden*
October 27 -
Farouk of Egypt declares himself also as a king of
Sudan - no support
*
November 1 - First military exercises for
nuclear war, with infantry troops included, in the
Nevada desert
*
November 10 -
Direct dial coast-to-coast
telephone service begins in the
United States.
*
November 11 -
Juan Peron re-elected president of
Argentina*
November 20 -
Po river floods in northern
Italy*
November 24 - The
Broadway play
Gigi opens starring little known actress
Audrey Hepburn playing the lead character.
December
*
December 3 - The
Lebanese University is founded in
Lebanon*
December 6 -
State of emergency in
Egypt due to increasing riots
*
December 13 -
Water storage tank collapses in
Tucumcari, New Mexico - 4 dead, 200 buildings destroyed
*
December 16 -
Salar Jung Museum is opened to the public by the
Prime Minister of
India Jawaharlal Nehru*
December 20 -
EBR-1, World's first (experimental)
nuclear power plant*
December 24 -
Libya becomes independent from
ItalyUndated
* A fourth, and final,
forest fire starts in the
Tillamook Burn; but unlike earlier fires this one only burns 32,700 acres (132 km²), and within area already affected by the earlier fires.
*
IBM United Kingdom formed
*
1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute lasts for 151 days
*
Munich Germany â€" A collection of mementos and personal papers belonging to
Adolf Hitler are turned over to the Bayerische Bank for authentication and eventual sale. Among the documents are his
appointment as Chancellor, signed by
President von Hindenburg, his
Austrian passport, as well as an assortment of
swastika insignia pins and
medals. An initial offer of $200,000.00 was made for the collection.
["Year by Year 1951" -- History Channel International]*
Stockholm,
Sweden â€" An 18-year-old sailor is fined for kissing in public. The court calls his actions "obnoxious behavior repulsive to the public morals."
["Year by Year 1951" -- History Channel International]January-February
*
January 1 -
Ashfaq Hussain, Urdu poet
*
January 5 -
Steve Arnold, English footballer
*
January 6 -
Kim Wilson, American singer and harmonica player
*
January 8 -
Kenny Anthony,
Prime Minister of
Saint Lucia*
January 12 -
Kirstie Alley, American actress
* January 12 -
Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality
*
January 25 -
Steve Prefontaine, American distance runner (d.
1975)
*
January 30 -
Phil Collins, English musician
*
February 14 -
Kevin Keegan, English footballer and football manager
*
February 15 -
Melissa Manchester, American singer
* February 15 -
Jane Seymour, English actress
*
February 17 -
Janice Dickinson, American supermodel
*
February 19 -
Tahir-ul-Qadri, Islamic scholar and leader
*
February 20 -
Gordon Brown, Scottish politician
*
February 25 -
Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter
*
February 27 -
Steve Harley, British rock musician (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel)
March
*
March 1 -
Mike Read, British TV presenter and radio DJ
*
March 4 -
Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and football manager
* March 4 -
Chris Rea, British singer and musician
*
March 6 -
Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (d.
2004)
*
March 8 -
Karen Kain, Canadian ballerina
*
March 12 -
Susan Musgrave Canadian poet and children's writer
*
March 13 -
Fred Berry, American actor (d.
2003)
*
March 17 -
Kurt Russell, American actor
*
March 24 -
Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer
*
March 26 -
Carl Wieman, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
April-May
*
April 5 -
Dean Kamen, founder of
FIRST Robotics*
April 5 -
Guy Vanderhaeghe, Canadian author
*
April 6 -
Bert Blyleven, Dutch
Major League Baseball player
*
April 7 -
Janis Ian, American singer and songwriter
*
April 10 -
David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
*
April 10 -
Steven Seagal, American
martial arts expert,
holy man,
musician, and
actor.
*
April 11 -
Doris McGowen Beck Angleton, American socialite and murder victim (d.
1997)
*
April 13 -
Peabo Bryson, American singer
* April 13 -
Peter Davison, British actor
* April 13 -
Max Weinberg, American drummer
*
April 14 -
Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist and composer
*
April 16 -
Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer
*
April 20 -
Louise Jameson, British actress
*
April 29 -
Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (d.
2001)
*
May 9 -
Christopher Dewdney, Canadian poet
*
May 13 -
Sharon Sayles Belton, Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
*
May 15 -
Jonathan Richman, American musician
* May 15 -
Frank Wilczek, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
May 19 -
Joey Ramone, American musician (
The Ramones) (d.
2001)
*
May 23 -
Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
*
May 26 -
Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish politician
*
May 26 -
Sally Ride, American astronaut, first U.S. woman in space
*
May 30 -
Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
June-July
*
June 2 -
Larry Robinson, Canadian hockey player
*
June 8 -
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer
*
June 14 -
Paul Boateng, British politician
*
June 20 -
Tress MacNeille, American voice actress
*
June 20 -
Paul Muldoon, Northern Irish poet
*
June 27 -
Mary McAleese, eighth
President of Ireland *
June 28 -
Lalla Ward, British actress
* June 28 -
Lloyd Maines, American musician and record producer
*
July 3 -
Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
*
July 5 -
Rich "Goose" Gossage, baseball player
*
July 8 -
Anjelica Huston, American actress
*
July 10 -
Cheryl Wheeler, American singer and songwriter
*
July 14 -
Erich Hallhuber, German actor (d.
2003)
*
July 16 -
Stewart Copeland, American drummer
*
July 18 -
Elio Di Rupo, Belgian politician
*
July 24 -
Chris Smith, British politician
August-September
*
August 3 -
Marcel Dionne, Canadian hockey player
*
August 6 -
Daryl Somers, Australian television personality
*
August 19 -
John Deacon, English rock bassist (
Queen)
*
August 20 -
Greg Bear, American author
*
August 21 -
Eric Goles, Chilean mathematician and computer scientist
*
August 23 -
Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya
*
August 23 -
Queen Noor of Jordan*
August 24 -
Orson Scott Card, American writer
*
September 5 -
Michael Keaton, American actor
*
September 7 -
Julie Kavner, American actress
*
September 12 -
Joe Pantoliano, American actor
*
September 21 -
Aslan Maskhadov, President of Chechnya
*
September 22 -
David Coverdale, English singer
*
September 25 -
Mark Hamill, American actor
*
September 26 -
Stuart Tosh, Scottish musician
*
September 27 -
Paul Craig, professor of English Law,
St John's College, Oxford*
September 29 -
Michelle Bachelet,
President of Chile*
September 29 -
Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (d.
1977)
*
September 29 -
Maureen Caird, Australian hurdler
*
September 30 -
Barry Marshall, Australian physician, recipient of the
Nobel Prize for Physiology or MedicineOctober-November
*
October 2 -
Sting, British musician
*
October 3 -
Dave Winfield, baseball player
*
October 3 -
Keb Mo', American musician
*
October 5 -
Bob Geldof, Irish musician (
The Boomtown Rats)
*
October 6 -
Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver
*
October 7 -
John Mellencamp, American musician and songwriter
*
October 10 -
Epeli Ganilau, Fiji soldier and statesman
*
October 11 -
Jean-Jacques Goldman, French singer and songwriter
*
October 26 -
Bootsy Collins, American musician, singer, and songwriter
*
October 30 -
Harry Hamlin, American actor
*
November 3 -
Diego Traibel, Uruguay senator
*
November 11 -
Marc Summers, American television host
*
November 15 -
Alamgir Hashmi, English poet
*
November 18 -
Justin Raimondo, American author
*
November 19 -
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, British politician
*
November 24 -
Chet Edwards, American politician
*
November 26 -
Cicciolina, Italian actress and politician
*
November 30 -
Christian Bernard, French-born mystic
December
*
December 1 -
Jaco Pastorius, American bassist
*
December 6 -
Tomson Highway, Canadian writer
*
December 8 -
Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter
*
December 10 -
Doug Allder, English footballer
*
December 12 -
Wau Holland, German hacker (d.
2001)
*
December 14 -
Jan Timman, Dutch chess player
*
December 17 -
Ken Hitchcock, Canadian hockey coach
*
December 30 -
Meredith Viera, American television host
Unknown dates
*
Brian Keenan, Northern Irish writer and former hostage in Lebanon
*
John Kindness, Northern Irish artist
January-April
*
January 7 -
René Guénon, French-born author (b.
1886)
*
January 10 -
Sinclair Lewis, American writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1885)
*
January 21 -
Yuriko Miyamoto, Japanese novelist (b.
1899)
*
January 29 -
Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (b.
1880)
*
February 9 -
Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (b.
1909)
*
February 13 -
Lloyd C. Douglas, American author (b.
1877)
*
February 18 -
Lyman Gilmore, American aviation pioneer (b.
1874)
*
February 19 -
André Gide, French writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1869)
*
February 12 -
Choudhary Rahmat Ali, one of the founding fathers of Pakistan (b.
1895)
*
March 6 -
Ivor Novello, Welsh actor, musician, and composer (b.
1893)
*
March 10 -
Shidehara Kijuro,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1872)
*
March 21 -
Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (b.
1871)
*
March 25 -
Eddie Collins, baseball player (b.
1887)
*
March 25 -
Oscar Micheaux, American filmmaker (b.
1884)
*
April 4 -
Al Christie, Canadian-born film director and producer (b.
1881)
*
April 4 -
George Albert Smith, president of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b.
1870)
*
April 6 -
Robert Broom, Scottish paleontologist (b.
1866)
*
April 22 -
Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist (b.
1870)
*
April 23 -
Charles G. Dawes,
Vice President of the United States, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1865)
May-December
*
May 7 -
Warner Baxter, American actor (b.
1889)
*
May 27 -
Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, Australian soldier (b.
1884)
*
May 30 -
Hermann Broch, Austrian author (b.
1886)
*
June 4 -
Serge Koussevitzky, Russian conductor (b.
1874)
*
June 13 -
Ben Chifley,
Prime Minister of Australia (b.
1885)
*
June 21 -
Charles Dillon Perrine, American-born astronomer (b.
1867)
*
July 9 -
Harry Heilmann, baseball player (b.
1894)
*
July 13 -
Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer (b.
1874)
*
July 20 - King
Abdullah I of Jordan (b.
1882)
*
July 23 -
Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (b.
1884)
*
July 23 -
Philippe Pétain, leader of Vichy France (b.
1856)
*
July 29 -
Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese author (b.
1883)
*
August 14 -
William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher (b.
1863)
*
August 15 -
Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (b.
1882)
*
August 21 -
Constant Lambert, British composer (b.
1905)
*
August 26 -
Bill Barilko, Canadian hockey player (b.
1927)
*
October 6 -
Otto Fritz Meyerhof, German-born physician and biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.
1884)
*
October 16 -
Liaquat Ali Khan, first
Prime Minister of Pakistan (b.
1896)
*
November 5 -
Reggie Walker, South African athlete (b.
1889)
*
November 9 -
Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born composer (b.
1887)
*
November 13 -
Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (b.
1880)
*
Physics -
John Cockcroft,
Ernest Walton*
Chemistry -
Edwin McMillan,
Glenn T. Seaborg*
Physiology or Medicine -
Max Theiler*
Literature -
Pär Lagerkvist*
Peace -
Léon Jouhaux
