Editing 1951 (section)

==Events==

===January===
[[File:Mount Lamington 1951 eruption column.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[January 21]]: The [[1951 eruption of Mount Lamington|eruption of Mount Lamington]]]]
* [[January 4]] – [[Korean War]]: [[Third Battle of Seoul]] – Chinese and [[North Korea]]n forces capture [[Seoul]] for the second time (having lost the [[Second Battle of Seoul]] in September 1950).
* [[January 9]] – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the [[Tanganyika groundnut scheme]] for the cultivation of [[peanut]]s in the [[Tanganyika Territory]], with the writing off of £36.5M debt.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=January 10, 1951 |page=6 |issue=51895 |title=Groundnuts Plan Modified}}</ref>
* [[January 11]] – In the U.S., a top secret report is delivered to U.S. President Truman by his National Security Resources Board, urging Truman to expand the Korean War by launching "a global offensive against communism" with sustained bombing of Red China and diplomatic moves to establish "moral justification" for a U.S. nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The report will not not be declassified until 1978.<ref>{{cite news |title=Security Report to Truman Urged Global Offensive |first=Norman |last=Kempster |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 6, 1978 |page=I-1}}</ref>
* [[January 15]] – In a criminal court in West Germany, [[Ilse Koch]], The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the [[commandant]] of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]], is sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ilse Koch is given life term |work=[[Gettysburg Times]] |date=15 January 1951 |page=2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0IElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3fQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4254%2C5369899 |access-date=16 December 2012}}</ref>
* [[January 20]] – [[Winter of Terror]]: [[Avalanche]]s in the [[Alps]] kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
* [[January 21]] – [[Mount Lamington]] in Papua New Guinea [[1951 eruption of Mount Lamington|erupts catastrophically]], killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province.<ref name="NGDC">{{cite web |title=Significant Volcanic Eruption |url=https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/volcano/event-more-info/2188 |website=NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information |access-date=23 January 2022}}</ref>
* [[January 25]] – Dutch author [[Anne de Vries]] releases the first volume of his children's novel ''[[Journey Through the Night]]'' (''Reis door de nacht''), set during World War II.

===February===
* [[February]] – The [[Convention People's Party]] wins [[1951 Gold Coast general election|national elections]] in [[Gold Coast (British colony)]].
* [[February 1]]–[[February 2|2]] – The [[1951 Nepalese revolution]] leads to agreement for a democratic constitution.
* [[February 1]] – The [[United Nations General Assembly]] declares that China is an aggressor in the Korean War, in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 498.
* [[February 6]] – [[Woodbridge train wreck]]: A [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] passenger train derails near [[Woodbridge Township, New Jersey]], killing 85 people and injuring over 500, in one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
* [[February 12]] 
** The seven-nation Commonwealth Consultative Committee meets to discuss the [[Colombo Plan]] for south and south-east Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/pss/3024398 |title=The Colombo Plan |last=Blackton |first=Charles S. |date=February 7, 1951 |journal=Far Eastern Survey |volume=20 |number=3 |pages=27–31 |publisher=Institute of Pacific Relations|doi=10.2307/3024398 |jstor=3024398 }}</ref>
** [[Muhammad Reza Shah]] marries [[Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari]].
* [[February 19]] – Jean Lee becomes the last woman hanged in Australia, when she and her two [[pimp]]s are hanged for the murder and torture of a 73-year-old bookmaker.
* [[February 25]] – The first [[Pan American Games]] open in [[Buenos Aires]].
* [[February 27]] – The [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution]], limiting [[President of the United States|Presidents]] to two terms, is ratified.

===March===
[[File:Julius and Ethel Rosenberg NYWTS.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[March 29]]: The [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg|Rosenbergs sentenced to death]].]]
[[File:UNIVAC 1 demo.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[March 31]]: Remington Rand delivers the first [[UNIVAC I]] computer.]]
* [[March 6]] – The trial of [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg]] for conspiracy to commit espionage begins in the United States.
* [[March 14]]
** [[Korean War]]: [[Operation Ripper]] – For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.
** West Germany joins [[UNESCO]].
* [[March 29]]
** [[Second Red Scare]]: In the United States, [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg]] are convicted of [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] to commit [[espionage]]. On [[April 5]] they are sentenced to death.
** [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s ''[[The King and I]]'' opens on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], and runs for three years. It is the first of their musicals specifically written for an actress ([[Gertrude Lawrence]]). Lawrence is stricken with [[cancer]] during the run of the show, and dies halfway through its run a year later. The show makes a star of [[Yul Brynner]].
** The [[23rd Academy Awards]] Ceremony is held; ''[[All About Eve]]'' wins the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] award and five others.
* [[March 31]] – [[Remington Rand]] delivers the first [[UNIVAC I]] computer to the [[United States Census Bureau]].

===April===
* [[April 11]]
** U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] relieves General [[Douglas MacArthur]] of his Far Eastern commands.
** After its clandestine removal from [[Westminster Abbey]] on [[Christmas|Christmas Day]], [[1950]], the [[Stone of Scone]] resurfaces at [[Arbroath Abbey]] in Scotland.
* [[April 18]] – The [[Treaty of Paris (1951)]] is adopted, establishing the [[European Coal and Steel Community]].
* [[April 21]] – The [[National Olympic Committee]] of the [[Soviet Union]] is formed. The USSR will first participate in the Olympic Games at [[Helsinki]], Finland, in 1952.
* [[April 24]] – [[Sakuragichō train fire]]: in [[Yokohama]], Japan, a fire on a [[train]] kills more than 100.
* [[April 28]] – [[1951 Australian federal election]]: [[Robert Menzies]]' [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]/[[National Party of Australia|Country]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] [[Menzies government (1949–1966)|Government]] is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]], led by former [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Ben Chifley]]. Chifley dies a little over a month after the election; he will be [[1951 Australian Labor Party leadership election|replaced]] by his deputy [[H. V. Evatt]].

===May===
* [[May 1]] – The [[Grand Théâtre de Genève|opera house of Geneva]], Switzerland is almost destroyed in a fire.
* [[May 3]]
** King [[George VI]] opens the [[Festival of Britain]] in London, including the [[Royal Festival Hall]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481099.stm |title=King George opens Festival of Britain |work=BBC News |access-date=2008-02-03 |date=3 May 1951 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120423/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481099.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>
** The [[U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services]] and [[U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]] begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S Truman.
* [[May 8]] – [[Operation Greenhouse]]: The first [[thermonuclear]] weapon is tested in the "George" test on [[Enewetok]] Atoll in the [[Marshall Islands]] by the United States.
* [[May 15]] – A [[military coup]] occurs in [[Bolivia]].
* [[May 23]] – The [[Tibet (1912–51)|Tibetan government]] signs the [[Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet]] with the People's Republic of China.
* [[May 24]] – Operation Greenhouse: The first atomic bomb "boosted" by the inclusion of [[tritium]] is tested in the "Item" test on Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands by the United States.
* [[May 25]]–[[May 26|26]] – British spies [[Guy Burgess]] and [[Donald Maclean (spy)|Donald Maclean]] leave the United Kingdom to defect to the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite book |authorlink=Christopher Andrew (historian) |first=Christopher |last=Andrew |title=[[The Defence of the Realm]] |location=London |publisher=Penguin Books|orig-year=2009 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-141-02330-4 |pages=425–426}}</ref>

===June===
* [[June 7]] – Nazi war criminal [[Otto Ohlendorf]] is hanged at [[Landsberg Prison]], [[Bavaria]].
* [[June 14]] – [[UNIVAC I]] is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/06/14/computing.anniversary/ |work=CNN |title=50th anniversary of the UNIVAC I |access-date=April 20, 2010 |date=June 14, 2001}}</ref>
* [[June 15]]–[[July 1]] – In [[New Mexico]], [[Arizona]], [[California]], [[Oregon]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[British Columbia]], thousands of acres of forests are destroyed in fires.

===July===
* [[July 4]] –  [[William Shockley]] of Bell Labs in the United States announces the invention jointly with [[John Bardeen]] and [[Walter Brattain]] of the [[grown-junction transistor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1951-First.html|title=1951 – First Grown-Junction Transistors Fabricated|publisher=[[Computer History Museum]]|year=2007|access-date=2025-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929202940/http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1951-First.html|archive-date=2012-09-29|url-status=live}}</ref> Also this year, General Electric and RCA develop the [[alloy-junction transistor]].
* [[July 10]]
** Korean War: [[Armistice]] negotiations begin at [[Kaesong]].
** A formal peace agreement between [[Canada]] and [[Germany]] is signed.
* [[July 13]] – [[Vuoristorata]], one of the oldest still-operating wooden roller coasters in Europe, is opened at the [[Linnanmäki|Linnanmäki amusement park]] in [[Helsinki|Helsinki, Finland]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/jarrumiehiksi_kelpasivat_vain_ilmavoimien_lentajat__linnanmaen_vuoristorata_avattiin_65_vuotta_sitten/9021525 |title=Jarrumiehiksi kelpasivat vain ilmavoimien lentäjät – Linnanmäen vuoristorata avattiin 65 vuotta sitten |last=Rita |first=Mikko |date=2016-07-13 |work=[[Yle]] |language=fi |access-date=2023-07-13}}</ref><ref>''Tieteen kuvalehti'': Historia 11/2014, p. 74. (in Finnish)</ref>
* [[July 16]] – King [[Leopold III of Belgium]] abdicates in favour of his son [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]], who on July 17 takes the oath as king of Belgium.
* [[July 20]] – King [[Abdullah I of Jordan]] is assassinated by a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] while attending Friday prayers in [[Jerusalem]]. He is succeeded by his son, King [[Talal of Jordan|Talal]].
* [[July 22]] – [[Soviet space dogs]] [[Dezik and Tsygan]] become the first to enter space, in a 15-minute [[sub-orbital spaceflight]] in an [[R-1 (missile)|R-1 rocket]], being safely parachuted back to earth.<ref>{{cite book|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif|title=Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974|year=2000|publisher=NASA|page=95|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/SP-4408pt1.pdf}}</ref>
* [[July 23]] – Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]], former Prime Minister and Head of State of France, Chief of State of [[Vichy France]] during [[World War II]], hero commander of [[World War I]] who led the French Army to victory at the nine-month-long [[Battle of Verdun]], for which he was called "the Lion of Verdun", dies while serving a sentence of life-imprisonment on the island of [[Île-d'Yeu]] at 95 years old.
* [[July 26]] – The first [[birch bark manuscript]] is discovered in [[Novgorod]].
* [[July 28]] – [[Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees]], a [[multilateral treaty]] of the [[United Nations]], is signed at a special conference in [[Geneva]], defining the status of [[refugee]]s and setting out the basis for granting [[right of asylum]], coming into force on 22 April 1954.

===August===
* [[August 11]] – [[René Pleven]] becomes Prime Minister of France.
* [[August 31]] – The first [[Volkswagen Beetle|Volkswagen Type 1]] rolls off the production line in [[Uitenhage]], South Africa.

===September===
* [[September 1]] – The United States, Australia and New Zealand all sign a mutual defense pact, the [[ANZUS Treaty]].
* [[September 2]] – The [[Sri Lanka Freedom Party]] is founded by [[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]].
* [[September 8]]
** [[Treaty of San Francisco]]: In [[San Francisco]], 48 representatives out of 51 attending sign a [[peace treaty]] with Japan, formally ending the [[Pacific War]]; the delegations of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Poland]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] do not sign the treaty, instead favoring separate treaties.
** The [[Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan|U.S.-Japan Security Treaty]], which allows [[United States Forces Japan|United States Armed Forces]] to be stationed in Japan even after the end of the [[occupation of Japan]], is signed by Japan and the United States.
* [[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]]–[[September 28|28]] – A blue sun is seen over Europe: the effect is due to ash coming from the Canadian forest fires 4 months previously.
* [[September 30]] – [[Charlotte Whitton]] becomes mayor of [[Ottawa]] and Canada's first woman mayor of a major city.

===October===
* [[October 2]] – [[Television in the Netherlands]] commences with the first broadcast from [[NPO 1|NTS]]; also [[television in Denmark]] from [[DR1]].
* [[October 3]]–[[October 8|8]] – [[Korean War]]: [[First Battle of Maryang-san]] – United Nations (primarily Australian) forces drive back the Chinese.
* [[October 6]] – [[Malayan Emergency]]: [[Communist]] insurgents kill British commander Sir [[Henry Gurney]].
* [[October 14]] – The [[Organization of Central American States]] (''Organización de Estados Centroamericanos'', ODECA) is formed.
* [[October 15]]
** [[Norethisterone]], the [[progestin]] used in the [[combined oral contraceptive pill]], is synthesized by [[Luis E. Miramontes]] in Mexico.
** On television, the situation comedy ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' airs its first episode on [[CBS]] in the U.S.
* [[October 16]]
** [[Judy Garland]] begins a series of concerts in New York's [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace Theatre]].
** Prime Minister [[Liaquat Ali Khan]] of Pakistan is assassinated.
** [[East China Normal University]] is founded in Shanghai, China.
* [[October 19]] – The state of war between the United States and [[Germany]] is officially ended.
* [[October 21]] – A storm in southern Italy kills over 100.
* [[October 24]] – U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.
* [[October 26]] – [[Winston Churchill]] is re-elected [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] (a month before his 77th birthday) in a [[1951 United Kingdom general election|general election]] which sees the defeat of [[Clement Attlee]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government, after 6 years in power.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/26/newsid_3687000/3687425.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=1951: Churchill wins general election |date=1951-10-26 |access-date=2010-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029105110/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/26/newsid_3687000/3687425.stm |archive-date=2010-10-29 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[October 27]] – [[Farouk of Egypt]] declares himself king of [[Sudan]], with no support.

===November===
* [[November 1]] – [[Desert Rock exercises]], the first military exercises for [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]], with infantry troops included, are held in the [[Nevada]] desert.
* [[November 2]] – 6,000 British troops are flown into Egypt to quell unrest in the [[Suez Canal]] zone.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/2/newsid_3167000/3167115.stm |title=On This Day 1951: 6,000 British troops flown into Egypt |website=BBC News|date=November 2, 1951 }}</ref>
* [[November 10]] – [[Direct distance dialing|Direct dial]] coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.
* [[November 11]] – [[Juan Perón]] is re-elected president of [[Argentina]].
* [[November 12]] – The [[National Ballet of Canada]] performs for the first time in [[Eaton Auditorium]], Toronto.
* [[November 20]] – The [[Po (river)|Po River]] floods in northern Italy.
* [[November 29]] – [[LEO (computer)|LEO]] runs the world's first commercial computer program, bakery valuations, for [[J. Lyons and Co.]]'s tea shops in the U.K.

===December===
* c. December – The [[Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies|Institute of War and Peace Studies]] is established by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] at [[Columbia University]] in New York (of which he is [[List of Presidents of Columbia University|President]]) with [[William T. R. Fox]] as first director.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/12/10/96225851.pdf |title=Columbia Founds War-Peace Study|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 10, 1951}}</ref>
* [[December 3]] – [[Lebanese University]] is founded in [[Lebanon]].
* [[December 6]] – A [[state of emergency]] is declared in [[Egypt]], due to increasing riots.
* [[December 13]] – A water storage tank collapses in [[Tucumcari, New Mexico]], United States, resulting in 4 deaths and 200 buildings destroyed.
* [[December 17]] – ''[[We Charge Genocide]]'', a petition describing [[genocide]] against [[African American]]s, is delivered to the United Nations.
* [[December 20]]
** [[Experimental Breeder Reactor I]] (EBR-1), the world's first (experimental) [[nuclear power plant]], opens in [[Idaho]], United States.
** A chartered [[Curtiss C-46 Commando]] crash-lands in [[Cobourg]], [[Ontario]] Canada; all on board survive.
** The [[World Meteorological Organization]] becomes a specialized agency of the [[United Nations]].
* [[December 22]] – The [[Selangor Labour Party]] is founded in [[Selangor]], [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]].
* [[December 24]]
** [[Libya]] becomes independent from Italy; [[Idris of Libya|Idris I]] is proclaimed King.
** [[Gian Carlo Menotti]]'s 45-minute opera, ''[[Amahl and the Night Visitors]]'', premieres live on [[NBC]] in the United States, becoming the first opera written especially for television.
* [[December 31]] – The [[Marshall Plan]] expires, after distributing more than $13.3&nbsp;billion US in [[foreign aid]] to rebuild Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/marshall/mars.html |title=Key Dates for the Marshall Plan |work=For European Recovery: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Marshall Plan |publisher=The Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |date=2005-07-11 |access-date=2009-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013025310/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/marshall/mars.html |archive-date=October 13, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Unknown dates===
* [[IBM]] (United Kingdom) is formed.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Year by Year 1951". [[History Channel International]].</ref>
* An 18-year-old sailor is fined for kissing in public in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]. The law court calls his actions "obnoxious behavior repulsive to the public morals".<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* The continental United States becomes [[malaria]]-free.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/25/health/scientists-eliminate-malaria/index.html?hpt=hp_c5 |title=Scientists race to eliminate malaria as 'wonder drug' loses its powers |authorlink=Ed Yong |first=Ed |last=Yong |date=March 25, 2014 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livescience.com/13694-devastating-infectious-diseases-smallpox-plague.html |title=7 Devastating Infectious Diseases |work=LiveScience.com |date=February 10, 2020}}</ref>