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Jan 1, Ho Chi Minh began an
offensive against French troops in Indo China.
Jan 3, Bart (Clair Barth) Johnson baseball, was born.:
pitcher: Chicago White Sox.
Jan 6, Britain recognized the Communist government of
China.
Jan 12, Sec. of State Dean Acheson in a speech omitted
South Korea from his description of the US’s defense perimeter in
Asia.
Jan 14, US recalled all consular officials from China.
Jan 17, 11 men robbed the Brink's office in Boston of
$1.2M cash & $1.5M securities. The 1978 film "The Brink’s Job"
starred Peter Falk and Peter Boyle. It was based on the nonfiction
book "The Big Stick-Up at Brink’s" by Noel Behn.
Jan 19, Communist Chinese leader Mao recognized the
Republic of Vietnam.
Jan 21, Former State Department official Alger Hiss,
accused of being part of a Communist spy ring, was found guilty in
New York of lying to a grand jury. Hiss, who always maintained his
innocence, was sentenced to five years in prison; he served less
than four.
Jan 21, George Orwell (46), author, died in London of
tuberculosis. His books included Down and Out in Paris and London"
(1933) and "1984." William Abrahams (d.1998), editor and novelist,
co-authored the 2-volume biography of Orwell: "Life, Death and Art
in the Second World War," and "Journey to the Frontier" with Peter
Stansky. In 2000 Jeffrey Meyers authored the biography "Orwell:
Wintry Conscience of a Generation." Orwell married Sonia Brownell
(1918-1980) on his deathbed. In 2003 Hilary Spurling authored "The
Gril from the Fiction Department," a biography of Sonia Orwell. In
2003 D.J. Taylor authored "Orwell : The Life."
Jan 23, The Israeli Knesset approved a resolution
proclaiming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
Jan 24, Jackie Robinson signed highest contract
($35,000) in Dodger history.
Jan 26, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.
Jan 29, Riots broke out in Johannesburg, South Africa,
over Apartheid.
Jan 31, President Truman announced that he had ordered
full-speed development of the hydrogen bomb.
Jan 31, Paris protested the Soviet recognition of Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Jan, The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage was set at $0.75 an
hour.
Feb 3, Morgan Fairchild, [Patsy McClenny], actress
(Falcon Crest), was born in Dallas, Tx.
Feb 3, Nuclear physicist Klaus Fuchs was arrested on spy
charges. The Klaus Fuchs (d.1988) confession revealed that the
Soviet Union obtained the atomic bomb from sources within the
Manhattan Project. It was later revealed that Theodore Alvin Hall, a
scientist on the project, passed information to the Soviets. The
story is told in the 1997 book: "Bombshell: The Secret Story of
America’s Spy Conspiracy" by Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel.
Fuchs served 9 ½ years in a British prison. Ruth Werner (d.2000)
served as a contact for Fuchs in Britain.
Feb 6, Natalie Cole, vocalist (Pink Cadillac, Miss You
Like Crazy, Mona Lisa), was born in LA, Calif.
Feb 7, The United States recognized Vietnam under the
leadership of Emperor Bao Dai, not Ho Chi Minh who was recognized by
the Soviets.
Feb 7, Sen Joe McCarthy claimed "communists" in US
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Feb 9, In a speech at the Republican Women's Club in
Wheeling, W. Va., Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged the State
Department was riddled with Communists and that he had a list of
them. He asserted that Sec. of State Dean Acheson knew this and
refused to do anything about it.
Feb 10, Mark Spitz, Modesto Calif, swimmer (Oly-9
gold/silver/bronze-68,72), was born.
Feb 11, "Rag Mop" by The Ames Brothers hit #1.
Feb 12, Senator Joe McCarthy claimed to have yet another
list of 205 communist government employees.
Feb 12, Albert Einstein warned against the hydrogen
bomb.
Feb 13, Albania recognized Ho Chi Minh’s Vietnamese
government, becoming the sixth Eastern bloc country to do so.
Feb 15, WM Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba," premiered
in NYC.
Feb 15, Walt Disney's "Cinderella" was released.
Feb 15, Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung signed a mutual
defense treaty in Moscow.
Feb 17, 31 people died in a train crash in Rockville
Center, NY.
Feb 21, The United States formally broke relations with
Bulgaria.
Feb 25, The comedy-variety program "Your Show of Shows,"
starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and, later, Howard
Morris, debuted on NBC-TV. The show’s writers included Mel Brooks,
Neil Simon & Woody Allen.
Feb 27, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was elected
president of Nationalist China.
Feb 28, The French Assembly in Paris decided to limit
the sale of Coca-Cola.
Feb, Senator Joseph McCarthy made a speech claiming that
there were 205 communists working in the US State Dept.
Mar 1, Chiang Kai-shek resumed the Presidency of
National China on Formosa.
Mar 1, Klaus Fuchs was sentenced in London to 14 years
for atomic espionage.
Mar 1, USSR issued golden rubles.
Mar 2, Silly Putty was invented. Silly Putty was accidentally
invented by Earl Warrick, a Dow scientist, while searching for a
silicone-based rubber substance during WW II.
Mar 5, Edgar Lee Masters (b.1868), poet (Spoon River
Anthology), novelist, died in Philadelphia.
Mar 8, Marshall Voroshilov of USSR announced they had
developed atomic bomb.
Mar 9, Willie Sutton robbed the NYC Manufacturers Bank
of $64,000.
Mar 14, The FBI began its "10 Most Wanted" list after a
reporter asked for the names and descriptions of the "toughest guys"
the FBI would like to capture.
Mar 16, Acheson called for a seven-point cooperation
plan with the Russians.
Mar 17, Scientists at the University of California at
Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, which
they named "californium."
Mar 18, Nationalist troops landed on the mainland of
China and captured Communist held Sungmen.
Mar 19, Edgar Rice Burroughs (74), sci-fi author and the
creator of Tarzan, died. He wrote 24 Tarzan novels and 50 other
thrillers. In 1999 John Taliaferro authored the biography "Tarzan
Forever."
Mar 23, At the Academy Awards, "All the King's Men" won
best picture of 1949; its star, Broderick Crawford, won best actor.
Olivia de Havilland won best actress for "The Heiress."
Mar 30, Phototransistor invention was announced in
Murray Hill, NJ.
May 13, Diner’s Club issued its 1st credit cards.
Apr 1, The SF population was 775,357. The census later
said 4 of 10 people in SF owned their own homes with a median value
of $11,930. The average SF adult completed 11.7 years of school and
over 19% went on to college.
Apr 1, Charles R. Drew (45), surgeon, developer of blood
bank concept, died.
Apr 8, A US Navy privateer airplane flew from Wiesbaden,
West Germany, to spy over the Soviet Union with 10 people on board.
Soviet reconnaissance spotted the plane over Latvia and shot it
down.
Apr 9, Bob Hope made his first television appearance.
Hope began his career on an NBC television special after years on
radio. "I’d better get into television before Milton Berle used up
my material."
Apr 18, The first transatlantic jet passenger trip was
made.
Apr 23, Chiang Kai-shek evacuated Hainan, leaving
mainland China to Mao and the communists.
Apr 24, "Peter Pan" opened at Imperial Theater in NYC
for 320 performances.
Apr 24, Jordan annexed the West Bank and offered
citizenship to all Palestinians wishing to claim it.
Apr 25, Chuck Cooper became the 1st black to play in the
NBA.
Apr 27, South Africa passed the Group Areas Act,
formally segregating races.
May 1, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African
American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry called
"Annie Allen."
May 1, New marriage laws were enforced in People's
Republic China.
May 6, Liz Taylor's 1st marriage was with Conrad Hilton
Jr.
May 13, Steveland Morris Hardaway (AKA Stevie Wonder)
was born prematurely, on this day in Saginaw, Mi. Too much oxygen in
the incubator caused the baby to become permanently blind. At the
age of ten, Little Stevie Wonder, as he was called by Berry Gordy at
Motown, was discovered singing and playing the harmonica. He had
many hits during his teens including "Fingertips" and as an adult he
has earned an Oscar and at least sixteen Grammy Awards. He has stood
up for civil rights, campaigns against cancer, AIDS, drunk driving
and the plight of Ethiopians.
May 21, Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attacked
Cambodia.
May 25, Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened in NYC.
May, The magazine Astounding Science Fiction published
"Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard. His book "Dianetics: The Modern
Science of Mental Health was published later in this year. The
Church of Scientology was later based on Dianetics.
Jun 3, French expedition reached the top of Himalayan
peak of Annapurna in Nepal.
Jun 15, Dutch police seized condoms.
Jun 17, Surgeon Richard Lawler performed the first
kidney transplant operation in Chicago.
Jun 23, Swiss parliament refused voting rights for
women.
Jun 25, The Korean War started as forces from the
communist North invaded the South. It lasted till 1953. A Truman
administration statement that Korea was "outside the US defense
perimeter" in the Pacific was said to have invited the attack. Gen.
McArthur led a UN expeditionary force in response to North Korea’s
attack on South Korea. The Chinese entered the war and the UN forces
were pushed into a Christmas retreat. 2.5 million people were
killed. No peace treaty was ever signed. About 1.7 million Americans
were involved and there was an estimated 3 mil casualties including
150,000 (54,246) Americans and over 1 mil Chinese. In 1990 North
Korean officials revealed that Stalin knew about and encouraged
North Korea’s aggression as did Mao Tse-Tung.
Jun 27, President Truman ordered the Air Force and Navy
into the Korean conflict following a call from the United Nations
Security Council for member nations to help South Korea repel an
invasion from the North.
Jun 27, North Koreans troop reached Seoul. UN Security
Council called on members for troops to aid South Korea.
Jun 27, US sent 35 military advisers to South Vietnam.
Jun 28, The South Korean government blew up the Han
River Bridge, the southern escape route for many Seoul residents,
just hours before the North Koreans arrived.
Jun 28, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in South Korea
as Seoul fell to the North Korean forces.
Jun 29, President Harry S. Truman authorized a sea
blockade of Korea.
Jun 30, President Harry Truman ordered U.S. troops into
Korea and authorizes the draft. On that same day B-29
‘Superfortresses’ bombed targets in North Korea.
Jun, The FBI arrested David Greenglass, younger brother
of Ethel Rosenberg. He confessed to spying the same day.
Summer, Stephen Fair, 8-years-old, played two games of
checkers with Harry Truman at a ritzy golf course in Paducah, Ky.,
owned by US vice-president Alben Barkley. They split the sets.
Jul 1, American ground troops arrived in South Korea to
stem the tide of the advancing North Korean army.
Jul 3, American and North Korean forces clashed for the
first time in the Korean War. U.S. carrier-based planes attacked
airfields in the Pyongyang-Chinnampo area of North Korea in the
first air-strike of the Korean War.
Jul 4, Truman signed public law 600 (Puerto Ricans wrote
own constitution).
Jul 5, American forces engaged the North Koreans for the
first time at Osan, South Korea.
Jul 5, Private Kenneth Shadrick of Skin Fork, West
Virginia, became the first US serviceman to die in the Korean War.
Jul 5, Salvatore Giuliano, Sicilian bandit, was shot by
police.
Jul 8, President Harry Truman named US Gen. Douglas MacArthur as commander-in-chief of United Nations forces assisting
the South Koreans.
Jul 10, "Your Hit Parade" premiered on NBC (later CBS)
TV.
Jul 18, Richard Branson, British music entrepreneur
(Virgin Atlantic), was born.
Jul 19, A French and Vietnamese offensive was made
against the Viet Minh.
Jul 20, In one of the first American actions in the
Korean War, the U.S. Army’s Task Force Smith was pushed back into
the Naktong perimeter by superior North Korean forces.
Jul 20, US planes strafed refugees south of Yusong.
Jul 23, American soldiers ordered villagers from Chu Gok
Ri and warned them of approaching North Koreans. The villagers fled
to Im Ke Ri.
Jul 24, The U.S. Fifth Air Force relocated from Japan to
Korea.
Jul 24, Robert W. Lehnhoff, [Executioner of Groningen],
SS Führer, was executed.
Jul 24-27, US orders in the 25th Infantry Division were
issued to treat civilians in the Korea battle zone as enemy.
Jul 25, American soldiers In Korea ordered villagers
away from Im Ke Ri and sent them on the road to Hwanggan.
Jul 25, Goethe Link Observatory discovered asteroids
#1799 Koussevitsky, #1822 Waterman & #2842.
Jul 26-29, US troops killed up to 300 South Korean
refugees trapped under a bridge at No Gun Ri. The villagers had
gathered there to avoid strafing from US planes which killed some
100. US troops feared the refugees included infiltrators from North
Korea. The killings were not made public until 1999. On Jan 11, 2001
the US Army admitted that civilians were massacred and Pres. Clinton
offered his regrets. The US Army blamed the "fog of war" in apology
and acknowledgement
Jul 29, After 3 days of US fire into underpasses, the
2nd Battalion pulled away. Koreans said 300 were left dead at the
bridge at No Gun Ri.
Jul, In Korea the US Army lost 2,834 soldiers with 2,486
wounded in July.
Aug 1, Lead elements of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division
arrived in Korea from the United States.
Aug 2, The U.S. First Provisional Marine Brigade arrived
in Korea from the United States.
Aug 3, In South Korea Maj. Gen'l. Hobart R. Gay ordered
the demolition of the Waegwan Bridge over the Naktong River to
prevent enemy crossings. The bridge was filled with refugees. 25
miles down river the 650-foot long Tuksong-dong bridge was also
destroyed as refugees crossed.
Aug 5, Florence Chadwick swam the English Channel in
13:23.
Aug 8, U.S. troops repelled the first North Korean
attempt to overrun them at the battle of Naktong Bulge, which
continued for 10 days.
Aug 10, President Harry S. Truman called the National
Guard to active duty to fight in the Korean War.
Aug 10, In South Korea some 200-300 prisoners were
killed by South Korean police near Dokchon.
Aug 13, Pres. Truman gave military aid to the Vietnamese
regime of Bao-Dai.
Aug 15, Two U.S. divisions were badly mauled by the
North Korean Army at the Battle of the Bowling Alley in South Korea,
which raged on for five more days.
Aug 15, Pres. Sukarno proclaimed the unity of Indonesia.
Aug 18-25, The Battles of the Bowling Alley took place
during the Korean War in a narrow valley north of Tabu-dong, Korea
on the Taegu-Sangju road. There the U.S. Army‘s 27th Infantry
Division and the Republic of Korea‘s (ROK) 1st Infantry Division
faced off against a determined effort by the North Korean People‘s
Army‘s 1st and 13th Infantry Divisions to break through that segment
of the Pusan perimeter. It was part of the overall effort of the ROK
forces and the U.S. Eighth Army to stop the North Korean advance.
Aug 19, Edith Sampson became the first African-American
representative to the United Nations.
Aug 20, South Korean police and soldiers killed 210
people on the southern island of Cheju.
Aug 22, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis
player to be accepted in competition for the national championship.
Aug 23, Up to 77,000 members of the U.S. Army Organized
Reserve Corps were called involuntarily to active duty to fight the
Korean War.
Aug 25, President Truman ordered the Army to seize
control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike. The railroads
were returned to their owners 2 years later.
Aug 31, Three North Korean divisions opened an assault
on UN lines on the Naktong River in a push to take Pusan.
Sep 1, West Berlin was granted a constitution.
Sep 1, US Company C, 1st Battalion of the 23rd Infantry
Regiment, was almost completely annihilated as North Korean
divisions opened an assault on UN lines on the Naktong River. Only
Company C and other elements of the 2nd Infantry Division stood in
the path.
Sep 4, The Mort Walker Beetle Bailey cartoon appeared
for the 1st time in syndication.
Sep 4, The 1st helicopter rescue of American pilot
behind enemy lines.
Sep 4, A heavy typhoon struck Japan and killed about 250
people.
Sep 5, Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist and creator of Cathy,
was born.
Sep 9, "Where's Charley?" closed at St James Theater NYC
after 792 performances.
Sep 9, There were massive arrests of communists in
France.
Sep 11, The 1st typesetting machine to dispense with
metal type was exhibited.
Sep 15, During the Korean conflict, United Nations
forces landed at Inchon in the south and began their drive toward
Seoul. Considered the greatest amphibious attack in history, it was
the zenith of General Douglas MacArthur's career. The newly
organized X Corps under the command of General Douglas MacArthur
launched an amphibious invasion of Korea’s western coast at Inchon,
the port of the Korean capital, Seoul. After two days of naval
bombardment, U.S. Marines, seen here using scaling ladders to climb
up to dry land, seized the offshore island of Wolmi-do and proceeded
inland against surprisingly light resistance. By September 26,
American forces had captured Seoul.
Sep 15, US troop landed on Wolmi-Do island off of Seoul.
Sep 16, The U.S. 8th Army broke out of the Pusan
Perimeter in South Korea and began heading north to meet MacArthur’s
troops heading south from Inchon.
Sep 19, Allied foreign ministers announced in NY that
they regarded Adenauer's government to be "the only German
Government freely and legitimately constituted and therefore
entitled to speak for Germany as the representative of the German
people in international affairs."
Sep 19, The UN rejected membership of China's People
Republic.
Sep 22, Ralph J Bunche (1st black winner) was awarded a Nobel peace
prize.
Sep 22, Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of
five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D.
Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap"
Arnold.
Sep 23, Congress adopted the Internal Security Act,
which provided for registration of communists. The Act was ruled
later unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. US Sen. Pat McCarran
(Nevada) legislated the Internal Security Act, which included a
jumble of restrictions on speech and association. Pres. Truman
attempted an unsuccessful veto of the McCarran Act, which gave the
government unprecedented powers.
Sep 23, US Mustangs accidentally bombed British troops
on Hill 282 in Korea. 17 were killed.
Sep 24, In "Operation Magic Carpet" all Jews from Yemen
moved to Israel.
Sep 26, The California state legislature passed a bill
requiring state employees to sign a loyalty oath.
Sep 26, General Douglas MacArthur's American X Corps,
fresh from the Inchon landing, linked up with the U.S. Eighth Army
after its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. United Nations troops
recaptured the South Korean capital of Seoul from the North Koreans.
Sep 26, Because of forest fire in British Columbia a
blue moon appeared in England.
Sep 27, U.S. Army and Marine troops liberated Seoul,
South Korea.
Sep 29, General Douglas MacArthur officially returned
Seoul, South Korea, to President Syngman Rhee.
Sep 30, Radio's "Grand Ole Opry" was broadcasted on TV
for 1st time.
Sep 30, U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel separating
North and South Korea as they pursued the retreating North Korean
Army.
Oct 2, The comic strip "Peanuts," created by Charles M.
Schulz (28), was first published in nine newspapers as "Li'l Folks."
It started with only four characters: Charlie Brown, Peppermint
Patty (Reichardt), Shermy and the world's most famous beagle,
Snoopy. Schulz announced his retirement in 1999 with the last
Peanuts to appear Feb 13, 2000.
Oct 2, Mao Tse Tung sent a telegram to Stalin. China
intervened in Korea.
Oct 7, The United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution to establish a unified and democratic Korea.
Oct 7, The United Nations General Assembly approved an
advance by UN forces north of the 38th Parallel in the Korean
Conflict.
Oct 9, U.N. forces, led by the First Cavalry Division,
crossed the 38th parallel in South Korea and began attacking
northward towards the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Photographer Edwin Hoffman (d.1998 at 74) was the first
correspondent to cross the 38th parallel.
Oct 11, The Federal Communications Commission authorized
the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) to begin commercial color TV
broadcasts.
Oct 14, Chinese Communist Forces began to infiltrate the
North Korean Army.
Oct 14, Rev. Sun Young Moon was liberated from Hung Nam
prison (Korea).
Oct 15, President Harry Truman met with General Douglas MacArthur at Wake Island to discuss U.N. progress in the Korean War.
Oct 18, Connie Mack, the "Grand Old Man" of major league
baseball, announced he was retiring as manager of the Philadelphia
Athletics.
Oct 18, US forces drove north across the 38th parallel
into the Peoples Republic of North Korea.
Oct 18, The First Turkish Brigade arrived in Korea to
assist the U.N. forces fighting there.
Oct 19, United Nations forces entered the North Korean
capital of Pyongyang.
Oct 21, Chinese forces occupied Tibet.
Oct 21, North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung established a
new capital at Sinuiju on the Yalu River opposite the Chinese City
of Antung.
Oct 23, Al Jolson (64), singer and actor (Jazz Singer),
died. He was born in Russia as Asa Yoelson
Oct 25, Chinese Communist Forces launched their first
phase offensive across the Yalu River into North Korea.
Oct 25, Sukarno was appointed president of Republic
Indonesia.
1950 Oct 26, Mother Theresa (d.1997), known in India as the
"saint of the gutters", founded the Missionaries of Charity global
order of nuns in Calcutta.
Oct 26, A reconnaissance platoon for a South Korean
division reached the Yalu River. They were the only elements of the
U.N. force to reach the river before the Chinese offensive pushed
the whole army down into South Korea.
Oct 30, The First Marine Division was ordered to replace
the entire South Korean I Corps at the Chosin Reservoir area.
Oct 30, Gen'l. Douglas McArthur ordered a combined
Marine and Army outfit to cross the 38th parallel and "mop up"
remaining North Korean soldiers. 12,000 Marines found themselves
surrounded by 8 Chinese divisions. The marines lost 4,000 men and
the Chinese lost 37,500. Joseph Owen later authored "Colder Than
Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at the Chosin Reservoir," a first
person account of the fighting. In 1999 Martin Russ published
"Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign." The novel "The Marines of
Autumn" by Michael Brady was based on this campaign.
Oct, Hank Ketcham began his cartoon strip "Dennis the
Menace."
Nov 1, Two members of a Puerto Rican nationalist
movement, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, tried to force their
way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Truman.
The attempt failed, and one of the pair Griselio Torresola, was shot
dead. On July 24, 1952, Truman commuted Collazo’s death sentence to
life imprisonment, on the same day he signed an act enlarging the
self-government of Puerto Rico.
Nov 2, George Bernard Shaw (b.1856), Irish-born, English
dramatist (Pygmalion), critic and social reformer, died. Michael Holroyd later authored a 3-volume biography of Shaw.
Nov 6, A Chinese offensive was halted at Chongchon
River, North Korea.
Nov 7, Alexa Canady, first female African American
neurosurgeon, was born.
Nov 7, Richard Nixon won a seat in the US Senate.
Nov 8, During the Korean conflict the first all-jet air
combat took place over Korea as U.S. Air Force Lieut. Russell J.
Brown shot down a North Korean MiG-15. It lasted about 30 seconds.
Nov 10, Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco
ended war in Gibraltar.
Nov 16, US Pres. Truman proclaimed an emergency crisis
caused by communist threat.
Nov 16, Egyptian king Farouk demanded the departure of
all British troops.
Nov 18, Bureau of Mines disclosed its first production
of oil from coal in practical amounts.
Nov 18, South Korea Pres. Syngman Rhee was forced to end
mass executions.
Nov 19, US General Eisenhower became supreme commander
of NATO.
Nov 20, U.S. troops pushed to Yalu River within five
miles of Manchuria.
Nov 22, 79 died in a train crash in Richmond Hills, NY.
Nov 24, "Guys & Dolls" opened at 46th St Theater in NYC
for 1200 performances.
Nov 24, UN troops began an assault with the intent to
end the Korean War by Christmas.
Nov 25, UN gave Eritrea to Ethiopia.
Nov 26, China entered the Korean conflict, launching a
counter-offensive across the Yalu River against soldiers from the
United Nations, the United States and South Korea. North Korean and
Chinese troops halted the UN offensive.
Nov 27, East of the Chosin River, Chinese forces
annihilated an American task force. Col. Barber (d.2002 at 82) and
220 soldiers in Fox Company withstood a 5-day assault to protect an
escape pass.
Nov 28, In Korea, 200,000 Communist troops launched
attack on UN forces.
Nov 30, President Truman declared that the U.S. would
use the A-bomb to get peace in Korea.
Nov, Inexperienced but well trained and eager to show
their mettle, the first Turkish troops arrived in Korea just in time
to face the Chinese onslaught.
Dec 3, The Chinese closed in on Pyongyang, Korea and UN
forces withdrew southward.
Dec 4, University of Tennessee defied court rulings by
rejecting five Negro applicants.
Dec 5, Pyongyang in Korea fell to the invading Chinese
army.
Dec 9, President Truman banned U.S. exports to Communist
China.
Dec 9, Harry Gold got 30 years imprisonment for passing
atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II.
Dec 10, Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (b.1904) became the first
African-American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. [see Sep 22]
Dec 13, James Dean began his career with an appearance
in a Pepsi commercial.
Dec 16, President Truman proclaimed a state of National
Emergency (as Chinese communists invaded deeper into South Korea) in
order to fight "Communist imperialism."
Dec 17, French named Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to
command their troops in Vietnam.
Dec 19, The North Atlantic Council named General
Eisenhower supreme commander of Western European defense forces of
NATO.
Dec 19, Tibet's Dalai Lama fled a Chinese invasion.
Dec 20, "Harvey," starring James Stewart, premiered in
NY.
Dec 23, General Walton H. Walker, the commander of the
Eighth Army in Korea, was killed in a jeep accident. Lieutenant
General Matthew B. Ridgeway was named his successor.
Dec 25, Scottish nationalists stole the Stone of Scone
from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485
pound stone was recovered in April 1951.
Dec 27, U.S. and Spain resumed relations.
Dec 28, Chinese troops crossed the 38th Parallel into
South Korea.
Dec 30, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became independent
states in a French Union.
Charles Preston conceived the "Pepper and Salt" cartoon
for the Wall Street Journal.
Thor Heyerdahl published "Kon-Tiki." He had led a
six-man expedition that sailed from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft
named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to
Polynesia in 1947.
The Broadway musical "Guys and Dolls" featured Stubby
Kaye (d.1997 at 79). It was made into a film in 1955.
The Jack Benny Show featured Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
as a foil for Benny.
The "Broadway Open House" TV show began and later
evolved into the "Tonight Show."
The "Cisco Kid" TV series began with Duncan Renaldo and
Leo Carrillo. The series lasted to 1956.
The TV show "You Bet Your Life" with Groucho Marx began
and George Fenneman (1919-1997) began. The show lasted until 1961.
The Arthur Murray Party began showing on TV and ran
intermittently to 1960. The show was hosted by Kathryn Murray
(d.1999 at 92) used comedy and celebrity to sell ballroom dancing to
the public. Arthur Murray died in 1991.
The Carter Family joined the Grand Ole Opry radio show.
Baby Face Leroy recorded "Rollin’ and Tumblin’" with
Muddy Waters and Litter Walter. A copy of the record sold for $4,400
in 1997.
Bob Merrill had success with his song "If I Knew You
Were Coming I’d've Baked a Cake."
Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote two hit songs:
"Peter Cottontail" and "Frostie the Snowman."
Hank Snow (d.1999 at 85), Canadian born singer and
songwriter, made a hit with "I'm Moving On." His follow-up song was
"The Golden Rocket." He released some 140 albums over his career.
Seymour Solomon (d.2002) founded Vanguard Records with
his brother Maynard. It became the dominant label for American folk
music.
The US National Council of Churches was founded.
Billy Graham founded the Evangelistic Association and
began the weekly "Hour of Decision" radio program.
Pope Pius XII declared that the bodily Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven was the "infallible" dogma of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Cedar Waters Village, a Christian nudist resort in
Nottingham, N.H., was founded.
Mother Teresa founded the order of the Missionaries of
Charity.
Sam Walton in Bentonville, Ark., hit on the idea of a
large retail store in rural areas stocked with the lowest-priced
goods available and founded Walmart. In 1962 he started his Wal-Mart
discount chain.
The first "Yield" sign was installed in Tulsa. Okla. It
read "Yield Right-Of-Way. Clinton E. Riggs (d.1997 at 86), Tulsa
police officer, developed the sign after a decade of
experimentation.
The National Maritime Museum in San Francisco was
founded by newspaper editor Scott Newhall.
The cartoon character Beatle Bailey, the laziest private
in the army, was created by Mort Walker.
1950 Two doctors at the Mayo Clinic were awarded the Nobel
Prize for isolating cortisone to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Edward
Kendall, chemist, won a Nobel Prize for isolating cortisone.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golfer, was named Woman Athlete
of the Half-Century by AP.
In the World Cup soccer match the US had one upset win
over England but lost its other 2 games. The team did not qualify
again until 1990.
Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher, won the
Nobel Prize for literature.
US Pres. Harry Truman sent military personnel to Vietnam
to aid French forces.
The NSC-68 document by Paul Nitze (1907-2004) called for
containment of the Soviet Union and the building up of American
nuclear forces. The 1958 document laid the foundation for the
strategy of global containment.
Charles Stokes (1904-1996) became the first black
Washington state legislator. He served 3 House terms from the 37th
district of Seattle.
Richard Nixon ran against Helen Gahagan Douglas for the
US Senate. The race was documented in the 1998 book: "Tricky Dick
and the Pink Lady" by Greg Mitchell.
The Feres doctrine was set by the US Supreme Court in a
ruling that barred active-duty military personnel from suing for
injuries caused by governmental action.
The US put forward its “uniting for peace” resolution to
the UN to overcome the Soviet veto on military intervention in
Korea.
Alger Hiss (1904-1996), former state dept. official, was
convicted for lying to a grand jury about Communist espionage
activity.
J. Parnell Thomas, R-N.J. and chairman of the 1947 HUAC
committee, was charged with padding his congressional payroll and
sentenced to jail. he was pardoned in 1952 by Pres. Truman.
US Congress chartered the Girl Scouts organization,
which was founded in 1912.
A Uniform Code of Military Justice was adopted. Article
88 prohibited commissioned officers from using "contemptuous words"
against the president.
A secret Army experiment spread the Serratia marcescens
bacteria onto San Francisco from a mine laying ship on the bay for 6
days. The bacteria was thought to be harmless, but the germs sent 11
people to hospitals and killed one person, Edward J. Nevin, from a
heart infection. In 1977 Senate subcommittee hearings the Army
revealed that it had staged the mock biological attack.
Military spending this year totaled $12 billion.
Joel Barr (d.1998 at 82), an electronics engineer,
defected to Czechoslovakia and later settled in the Soviet Union. He
was linked to Julius and Ethyl Rosenberg and was suspected of
passing secret technology information to the Soviets. Alfred Sarant,
another electronics engineer, also defected and the two men were
instrumental in developing microelectronics and the computer
industry in the Soviet Union.
Milton S. Merlin (1905-1996), producer and writer, was
blacklisted when he refused to testify before the House Un-American
Activities Committee. He produced "Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry," the
first film that teamed Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. He later
co-authored "May You Live to Be 200."
Morton Sobell was arrested in Mexico for conspiracy to
commit espionage. He was a co-defendant in the Rosenberg trial and
was sentenced to 30 years. He was released in 1969 for good
behavior.
A rally in Washington DC was organized to protest racial
injustice. The rally led to the formation of the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights by Arnold Aronson, A. Philip Randolph,
and Roy Wilkins.
The Diners Card was introduced. It was the first charge
card that could be used at multiple establishments.
The Club Mediterranean resort opened catering to
singles. Gilbert Trigano (d.2000 at 80) of France and Gerard Blitz,
a Belgium water polo champion, founded the 1st Club Med on the
Spanish island of Mallorca.
Hiroshi Yamauchi took over control and refocused
Nintendo along modern business lines. He first consolidated
automated manufacturing and then began to mass produce plastic
playing cards. The traditional names of the kings are David,
Alexander, Caesar and Charles. The traditional names of the queens
are Argine, Esther, Judith and Pallas.
Dinky Toys made the its 2nd garbage truck toy, a Ford
garbage truck.
Laclede Gas Light Co., St. Louis, changed its name to
Laclede Gas Co. It had begun in 1857.
John Chancellor, reporter, began his career with NBC at
a Chicago affiliate known as WNBQ.
Hazel Bishop (d.1998 at 92) formed Hazel Bishop Inc. to
manufacture and market her kiss proof lipstick. It was introduced in
the summer at $1 a tube.
Sam Phillips formed Sun Records in Memphis, Ten. In 1954
Elvis Presley, who walked into his studio to record a present for
his mother.
Nash-Kelvinator introduced the compact Rambler, a marked
departure from big US cars.
The Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp. was sold to Remington
Rand. It later evolved into Sperry Univac and then to Unisys.
Joseph Glickauf, engineer for Arthur Anderson & Co.,
constructed the "Glickiac" computer, which allowed the firm to help
General Electric automate its payroll.
Pfizer Corp. received FDA approval for the antibiotic Terramycin.
Drs. Ernst L. Wynder and Evarts A. Graham published one
of the first studies that showed smokers had a greater risk of lung
cancer than nonsmokers.
Luke Williams (d.2004) and his brother Chuck invented a
time-temperature sign that later became common on office buildings
throughout the world. The 1st one was placed on a bank in downtown
Spokane, Wa. In 1951 they formed American Sign and Indicator.
In London Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin (d.1958)
produced pictures of X-ray diffraction in aligned fibers of DNA. The
lab for X-ray crystallography was set up by physicist John Randall.
Data from these pictures led Watson and Crick to understand the
structure of DNA. In 1975 Anne Sayre (d.1998) published "Rosalind
Franklin and DNA."
About 3 million tons of artificial nitrogen fertilizers
were used on a global scale.
Alfred Kinsey, pioneer sex researcher, wrote: "Human
sexual behavior represents one of the least explored segments of
biology, psychology, and sociology."
Astronomer Fred L. Whipple (1907-2004) proposed that
comets consisted of ice with some rock mixed in. His theory was
validated in 1986 with observations of Haley’s comet.
The US census recorded 151,325,798 Americans.
Ten million US households had television in this year.
The Nature Conservancy was founded by a handful of
biologists and ecologists that included Richard H. Pough (d.2003 at
99), who served as the 1st president.
Major floods hit northern California. In Modesto the Tuolemne River crested at 69 feet, 9 feet over flood level.
A real bear from a New Mexico fire that ravaged 17,000
acres near Capitan was pressed into service as Smokey the Bear. He
lived until 1976 at the Washington National Zoo. The image of
"Smokey the Bear" was created by an artist in 1944 as the official
forest-fire spokes bear. He was named in 1945 reportedly in honor of
Smokey Joe Martin, asst. chief of the New York City Fire Dept.
Max Beckmann (b.1884), German painter, died in New York.
The Nazis had branded him a degenerate artist in 1937 and he moved
to the US in 1946. His work included the triptychs Departure
(1932-1933) and Beginning (1946-1949), and the Self-Portrait in
Tails (1937). He was a figurative painter in an age of abstraction.
Martha Matilda Harper (b.1857), Canadian-born hair-care
businesswoman, died. She was probably the 1st person to perfect the
franchise system of business organization.
Ransom E. Olds (1864-1950) died. He assembled 425
curved-dash Oldsmobiles in 1901 and thus became the first mass
producer of gas automobiles. He founded Olds Motor Works that later
became part of General Motors.
Alan Sainsbury (1902-1998) pioneered Britain’s first
self-service grocery.
Britain and United States inserted anti-Communist
guerillas into Albania; all were unsuccessful.
In British Guyana Dr. Cheddi B. Jagan founded the
People’s Progressive Party, the first modern political organization
in the colony.
Canada stopped discharging refinery waste from its
Ottawa mint into the Ottawa River.
In Canada there was a major flood on the Red River that
forced 25% of the residents of Winnipeg, Manitoba, from their homes.
Minerva Bernardino (d.1998 at 91) was appointed a
representative of the Dominican Republic at the United Nations. She
was one of the only 4 women to sign the 1945 UN Charter in San
Francisco. She had insisted that the document include the phrase "to
ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without
discrimination against race, sex, condition or creed."
The Muslim Tablighi Ijtimah (Congregation of Preaching)
movement was founded in India. They believed Islam should be spread
by setting a good example, one of modesty and non-violence.
A great earthquake ravaged half of northern India’s
Assam state. Thousands of dead rats were caught in fisherman’s nets
just before the quake.
Aurobindo Ghose, Bengalese-born and Western educated
guru and yogi, died. "Man lives mostly in his surface mind, life and
body, but there is an inner being within him with greater
possibilities to which he has to awake to greater beauty, harmony,
power and knowledge."
Japan enacted the tax proposals of Carl S. Shoup (d.2000
at 97). Shoup, an economist from Colombia Univ., had been invited to
Japan by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1949 to overhaul the tax system.
The system eliminated the need for some 80% of the population to
file tax individual tax returns.
Korea suffered its worst winter of the century.
The South Africa Nationalist government banned
Communists and forced them to go underground to struggle against
apartheid.
Between Uzbekistan and Kazakstan the surface area of the
Aral Sea was 67,000 sq. km. and shrinking
Scripts from the popular 1950s television show, Your
Show of Shows , were found in a closet in New York City in September
2000. Workers in a New York City office building discovered a closet
containing 137 scripts, some of them with hand-written notations,
from one of the country’s most beloved shows from the `50s. The
closet had served as storage for the show’s producer, Max Liebman,
who died in 1981.
This was the last decade of the century in which the
traditional elements in society held the cultural upper hand.
Fred Coe (1914-1979) was considered the greatest
producer in television’s Golden Age in the 1950s. John Krampner
wrote "The Man in the Shadows: Fred Coe and the Golden Age of
Television" in 1996. Coe produced the Philco-Goodyear Playhouse,
Studio One, Kraft Television Theater and Robert Montgomery Presents.
Lawrence Payton (d.1997 at 59) began singing with a
group called the Four Aims (Payton, Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir,
and Renaldo "Obie" Benson). They sang backup for Billy Eckstine and
signed with Motown Records, run by Berry Gordy, in 1963. Their songs
included: "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Reach Out," and I Can’t Help
Myself." In 2002 Geral Posner authored "Motown: Music, Money, Sex,
and Power."
The Lockheed WV-2, a modified Super Constellation
airliner, provided early airborne warning to the East Coast in the
late 1950s during the Cold War. It operated with VW-11 the first of
three squadrons to comprise the Atlantic Early Warning Wing, known
as "Barrier Force Atlantic." The planes, based at wintry Argentina,
Newfoundland, operated in some of the worst weather imaginable over
the Atlantic. They would fly to the Azores and back on 15-to 17-hour
missions constantly scanning radar scopes for Russian intruders who,
though they never came, would have been spotted in time for
defensive measures to be called upon.
Alexander Guterma manipulated stocks and eventually
faced a prison sentence in a major scandal of the decade.
Howard Hughes bought 25,000 acres around Las Vegas.
Denham Harmon, Univ. of Neb. med. prof., provided a
theoretical framework of how Vitamin E worked against free radicals.
In the late 1940s Canadian doctors, Evan and Wilfred Shute treated
heart patients with vitamin E and were denounced by the med.
profession which then focused on diet as the best source of all
nutrients.
Seymour Cray began working on the Univac 1103 in the
mid 50s.
Fred Lip (Frederic Lipmann 1901-1996) with a team of
engineers and technicians introduced the first electronic
wristwatch.
Richard W. Porter (1913-1996), A General Electric
electrical engineer, was put in charge of the US space program in
the mid 50s.
German scientists (118), described as “prisoners of
peace” began arriving in Huntsville, Alabama, to work on the US
space program.
Joe Thompson built up 7-Eleven (Southland Corp.) to
some 400 stores during this time. He founded the company following
WW II service in the Navy.
The pebble-bed nuclear reactor was developed. It used
fuel pebbles of coated uranium and helium gas to drive turbines. A
research reactor in Germany ran for 22 years.
In Nebraska Charles Starkweather went on a slaying
spree. This inspired the 1973 film "Badlands" starring Martin Sheen
and Sissy Spacek.
Mennonites from Canada emigrated to Belize in search of
religious freedom. Some still speak Low German. Mennonites from
Canada and Pennsylvania had fled persecution in 1922 and settled
near Chihuahua, Mexico.
Margaret Mee left Britain for Brazil and for 3 decades
documented Amazonian rain forest plant life in large watercolors.
In China bicycles took over the flat streets of Beijing
from rickshaws.
Panama disease obliterated the Gros Michel variety of
bananas. It was replaced by the Cavendish. Most edible bananas do
not have seeds and are sprouted from shoots of original trees that
date back 10,000 years.
In Japan Shinichi Suzuki (d.1998 at 99) pioneered the
Suzuki method for teaching music to young children.
From Yugoslavia Tito’s security chief, Alexander Rankovic, a Serb, repressed Kosovo separatism.
1950-1951 The Texaco Star Theater was the top ranking network
show on television with a ranking of 61.6%.
1950-1953 The Korean War. It started on Jun 25, 1950 and 2.5
million people were killed with over 2 million of them civilians. No
peace treaty was ever signed. About 1.7 million Americans were
involved and there was an estimated 3 mil casualties including
150,000 (54,246) Americans and over 1 mil Chinese. In 1999 W.D.
Ehrhart and Philip K. Jason edited "Retrieving Bones: Stories and
Poems of the Korean War."
1950-1953 The United Nations employed 39,000 ground forces that
joined with the United States in the Korean War.
1950-1953 Soviet pilots ran the air war over North Korea and
accounted for 70% of the casualties in that part of the conflict.
1950-1953 Baseball player Ted Williams and future astronaut John
Glenn flew combat missions together as part of Marine jet fighter
squadron VMF-311 during the Korean War.
1950-1953 Wayne Johnson, Korean War POW, managed to record the
names of over 500 fellow soldiers killed in captivity. In 1996 he
was awarded a Silver Star by the US Army.
1950-1960 A chemical firm in Japan dumped mercury waste into the Minimata Bay and caused mercury poisoning during the 1950s. Victims
reached a settlement in 1996.
1950-1967 The US Congress for Cultural Freedom was a CIA front
organization headed by Michael Josselson. It sponsored art
exhibition, high profile conferences and rewarded artists and
musicians with prizes and commissions to counter Communist cultural
propaganda during the Cold War. In 2000 Frances Stonor Saunders
authored "The Cultural Cold War."
1950-1970 Japan staged an economic miracle with a growth rate of
9.2% in the 50s and 10.7% in the 60s.
1950-1975 Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese statesman and President of the
Republic of China, Taiwan (1950-1975), died.
1950s-1970s Operation SOLO, a covert US mission, lasted nearly 20
years. John Barron later authored "Operation SOLO: The FBI’s Man
Inside the Kremlin."
1950-1980 About 3.5 million blacks were forcibly trucked off to
ethnic territories, often abandoning land, houses and cattle.
1950-1996 It has been reported that 1.2 million Tibetans have
been slain under Chinese rule.
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