1951

1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar.

Events

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.^*
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 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 - 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 Italy

Undated

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 – 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 – 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

Births

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
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

March

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 - 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 - Sally Ride, astronaut
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 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 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 voice 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 Medicine

October-November

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, 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

Deaths

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)

Nobel prizes

References

1951

Gourt Home::Gourt :: 1951

Events

January

February

March-April

May-June

July-September

October-November

December

Undated

Births

January-February

March

April-May

June-July

August-September

October-November

December

Unknown dates

Deaths

January-April

May-December

Nobel prizes

References