1951
| Years: 1948 1949 1950 - 1951 - 1952 1953 1954 | |
| Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s | |
| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1951 in art | |
Events
January events
- 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 events
- February 1 - United Nations General Assembly declares that China is the aggressor in the Korean War
- February 12 - Marriage of Muhammad Reza Shah to Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari
- February 27 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
March events
- March 1 - the city Yaizu, located in Shizuoka, Japan, is founded
- 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 events
- April 1 - Australia, New Zealand, United States security treaty signed in San Francisco.
- April 1 - Female suffrage in Greece
- April 11 - Stone of Scone found in Scottish church
- April 18 - Treaty of Paris (1951) adopted, establishing European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC); see EU.
May events
- May 1 - Opera house of Geneve almost destroyed in a fire
- May 14 - First volunteer-run passenger trains on Talyllyn Railway, Wales.
- May 15 - Military coup in Bolivia
June events
- June 14 - UNIVAC I is dedicated by U.S. Census Bureau.[1] (http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/06/14/computing.anniversary/)
- June 15 - July 1- In New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, thousands of acres (several km²) of forests were destroyed in fires.
July events
- July 5 - William Shockley invents the junction transistor.
- July 10 - Korean War: At Kaesong, armistice negotiations begin.
- July 14 - In Joplin, Missouri, George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American.
- July 20 - King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
September events
- 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 Sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War.
- 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; effect is due to ash coming from the Canadian forest fires four months previously
October events
- October 7 - Malayan Emergency - communist insurgents kill British commander Sir Henry Gurney
- October 16 - Assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, president of Pakistan
- October 18 - Yitzhak Bezner, Israeli official, meets leading Japanese industrialists as part of a mission to establish Israeli-Japanese economic ties.
- October 21 - Storm in southern Italy - over 100 dead
- 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 events
- November 1 - First military exercises for nuclear war, with infantry troops included, in the Nevada desert
- November 11 - Juan Peron re-elected president of Argentina
- November 20 - Po river floods in northern Italy
- November 10 - Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.
- November 24 - The Broadway play Gigi opens starring little known actress Audrey Hepburn playing the lead character.
December events
- December 6 - State of emergency in Egypt due to increasing riots
- December 13 - Water tank collapses in Tucamcari, 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 24 - Libya becomes independent from Italy
Undated events
- 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
Year in topic
- 1951 in film
- An American in Paris
- The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Flying Leathernecks starring John Wayne
- 1951 in literature
- 1951 in music
- The release of "Rocket 88", a song by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. Some music historians consider this record to be the first rock and roll recording.
- 1951 in sports
- 1951 in television
- January 3 - Dragnet airs on television for the first time (NBC).
- May 28 - The U. S. Supreme Court upholds the FCC's approval of the CBS color television system
- June 25 ? CBS presents its first commercial color telecast with Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
- June - RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
- August 11 - The first baseball games televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves
- September 4 - The first coast-to-coast TV broadcast in the United States, featuring President Truman.
- September 22 - The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast in the United States, a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised on NBC.
- October 3 - The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series game in the United States
- October 15 - I Love Lucy debuts on CBS.
- December 24 - The first televised opera written for television, Amahl and the Night Visitor, airs on NBC.
- Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television shows premiere. Kovacs pushes the limits of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.
Births
January births
- January 6 - Kim Wilson, rock musician
- January 12 - Kirstie Alley, actress
- January 12 - Rush Limbaugh, radio personality
- January 30 - Phil Collins, musician
February births
- February 6 - Princess Daphné of Belgium
- February 14 - Kevin Keegan, footballer and football manager
- February 15 - Melissa Manchester, singer
- February 15 - Jane Seymour, actress
- February 20 - Gordon Brown, British politician
- February 25 - Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter
March births
- March 4 - Kenny Dalglish footballer and football manager
- March 4 - Chris Rea, British singer and musician
- March 17 - Kurt Russell, actor
- March 24 - Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer
April births
- April 6 - Bert Blyleven, baseball pitcher
- April 7 - Janis Ian, singer and songwriter
- April 10 - Steven Seagal, actor
- April 11 - Doris McGowen Beck Angleton, Houston, Texas socialite (d. 1997)
- April 13 - Peabo Bryson, pop singer
- April 13 - Peter Davison, actor and the fifth Doctor Who
- April 13 - Max Weinberg, drummer
- April 29 - Dale Earnhardt, stock car racer (NASCAR) (d. 2001)
May births
- May 10 - Michael Tarn, actor
- May 15 - Jonathan Richman, musician
- May 23 - Anatoly Karpov, chess world champion
- May 26 - Sally Ride, astronaut
- May 30 - Stephen Tobolowsky, actor
June births
- June 2 - Larry Robinson, Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman
- June 14 - Paul Boateng, British politician, first black Cabinet minister
- June 17 - Mary McAleese, eighth President of Ireland
- June 20 - Tress MacNeille, voice actress
July births
- July 3 - Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
- July 5 - Rich "Goose" Gossage, baseball pitcher
- July 8 - Anjelica Huston, actress
- July 10 - Cheryl Wheeler, singer/songwriter
- June 28 - Lloyd Maines, country music musician and record producer
- July 24 - Chris Smith, British politician, first "out" gay MP
August births
- August 3 - Marcel Dionne, Hockey Hall of Famer
- August 20 - Greg Bear, science fiction author
- August 23 - Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya
- August 23 - Queen Noor of Jordan
- August 24 - Orson Scott Card, science fiction author
September births
- September 7 - Julie Kavner, voice actress
- September 12 - Joe Pantoliano, actor
- September 22 - David Coverdale, singer
- September 29 - Maureen Caird, Australian hurdler
October births
- October 3 - Dave Winfield, Baseball Hall of Famer
- October 6 - Manfred Winkelhock, auto racing driver
- October 10 - Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Fijian soldier and statesman
- October 11 - Jean-Jacques Goldman, French pop singer, songwriter
November births
- November 15 - Alamgir Hashmi, poet, scholar, professor
- November 19 - Lord Falconer, British lawyer and politician
- November 24 - Chet Edwards, American politician
- November 26 - Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina, pornographic film actress, politician
- November 30 - Christian Bernard, F.R.C., Rosicrucian, Imperator of AMORC
December births
- December 17 - Ken Hitchcock, NHL coach
Deaths
January deaths
- January 10 - Sinclair Lewis, writer
February deaths
- February 9 - Eddy Duchin, musician
- February 13 - Lloyd C. Douglas, author
- February 18 - Lyman Gilmore, Choctaw Native American airplane pioneer
- February 19 - André Gide, author
- February 21 - Choudhary Rahmat Ali, founding father of Pakistan (b. 1895)
March deaths
- March 6 - Ivor Novello, actor, musician, composer
- March 10 - Shidehara Kijuro, Japanese prime minister
- March 25 - Eddie Collins, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
- March 25 - Oscar Micheaux, pioneer African-American, filmmaker/author
April deaths
- April 4 - Al Christie, early Hollywood director/producer
- April 6 - Robert Broom, paleontologist
- April 22 - Horace Donisthorpe, myrmecologist
- April 23 - Charles G. Dawes, former U.S. vice-president
May deaths
- May 7 - Warner Baxter, actor
- May 30 - Hermann Broch, Austrian author
June deaths
- June 13 - Ben Chifley, Australian Prime Minister
- June 21 - Charles Dillon Perrine, astronomer (b. 1867)
July deaths
- July 9 - Harry Heilmann, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1894)
- July 13 - Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer
- July 20 - King Abdullah, King of Jordan
- July 23 - Robert J. Flaherty, filmmaker
- July 29 - Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese author
August deaths
- August 14 - William Randolph Hearst, publisher and newspaper baron
- August 15 - Artur Schnabel, pianist
- August 21 - Constant Lambert, composer
October deaths
November deaths
- November 5 - Reggie Walker, South African athlete
- November 9 - Sigmund Romberg, composer
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - John Cockcroft, Ernest Walton
- Chemistry - Edwin McMillan, Glenn T. Seaborg
- Medicine - Max Theiler
- Literature - Pär Lagerkvist
- Peace - Léon Jouhaux
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