1951

Events from the year **1951 in the United States**.

* Senate Majority Leader: Scott W. Lucas (D-IL) (until January 3), Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) (starting January 3)
* Congress: 81st (until January 3), 82nd (starting January 3)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Jim Folsom (Democratic) (until January 15), Gordon Persons (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Arizona: Dan Edward Garvey (Democratic) (until January 1), John Howard Pyle (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Arkansas: Sid McMath (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Earl Warren (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Walter Walford Johnson (Democratic) (until January 9), Daniel I. J. Thornton (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Connecticut: Chester Bowles (Democratic) (until January 3), John Davis Lodge (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Delaware: Elbert N. Carvel (Democratic)
* Governor of Florida: Fuller Warren (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: Herman Talmadge (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: C. A. Robins (Republican) (until January 1), Leonard B. Jordan (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Illinois: Adlai E. Stevenson II (Democratic)
* Governor of Indiana: Henry F. Schricker (Democratic)
* Governor of Iowa: William S. Beardsley (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Frank L. Hagaman (Republican) (until January 8), Edward F. Arn (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Kentucky: Lawrence W. Wetherby (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Earl K. Long (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Frederick G. Payne (Republican)
* Governor of Maryland: William Preston Lane Jr. (Democratic) (until January 10), Theodore R. McKeldin (Republican) (starting January 10)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Paul A. Dever (Democratic)
* Governor of Michigan: G. Mennen Williams (Democratic)
* Governor of Minnesota: Luther W. Youngdahl (Republican) (until September 27), C. Elmer Anderson (Republican) (starting September 27)
* Governor of Mississippi: Fielding L. Wright (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Forrest Smith (Democratic)
* Governor of Montana: John W. Bonner (Democratic)
* Governor of Nebraska: Val Peterson (Republican)
* Governor of Nevada: Vail M. Pittman (Democratic) (until January 1), Charles H. Russell (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Sherman Adams (Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Alfred E. Driscoll (Republican)
* Governor of New Mexico: Thomas J. Mabry (Democratic) (until January 1), Edwin L. Mechem (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Thomas E. Dewey (Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: W. Kerr Scott (Democratic)
* Governor of North Dakota: Fred G. Aandahl (Republican) (until January 3), Clarence Norman Brunsdale (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Ohio: Frank J. Lausche (Democratic)
* Governor of Oklahoma: Roy J. Turner (Democratic) (until January 8), Johnston Murray (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Oregon: Douglas McKay (Republican)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: James H. Duff (Republican) (until January 16), John S. Fine (Republican) (starting January 16)
* Governor of Rhode Island: John S. McKiernan (Democratic) (until January 2), Dennis J. Roberts (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Governor of South Carolina: Strom Thurmond (Democratic) (until January 16), James Francis Byrnes (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Governor of South Dakota: George T. Mickelson (Republican) (until January 2), Sigurd Anderson (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Tennessee: Gordon Browning (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Allan Shivers (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: J. Bracken Lee (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Harold J. Arthur (Republican) (until January 4), Lee E. Emerson (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Governor of Virginia: John S. Battle (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Arthur B. Langlie (Republican)
* Governor of West Virginia: Okey L. Patteson (Democratic)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Oscar Rennebohm (Republican) (until January 1), Walter J. Kohler Jr. (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Wyoming: Arthur G. Crane (Republican) (until January 1), Frank A. Barrett (Republican) (starting January 1)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: James C. Inzer (Democratic) (until January 15), James B. Allen (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Nathan Green Gordon (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Goodwin Knight (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Gordon L. Allott (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: William T. Carroll (Democratic) (until January 3), Edward N. Allen (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: Alexis I. du Pont Bayard (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Marvin Griffin (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Donald S. Whitehead (Democratic) (until January 1), Edson H. Deal (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Sherwood Dixon (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: John A. Watkins (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Kenneth A. Evans (Republican) (until month and day unknown), William H. Nicholas (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: vacant (until January 8), Fred Hall (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: vacant (until month and day unknown), Emerson Beauchamp (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: William J. Dodd (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Charles F. Sullivan (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John W. Connolly (Democratic) (until January 1), William C. Vandenberg (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: C. Elmer Anderson (Republican) (until September 27), vacant (starting September 27)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Sam Lumpkin (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: James T. Blair Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Paul Cannon (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Charles J. Warner (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Clifford A. Jones (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Joseph Montoya (Democratic) (until January 1), Tibo J. Chavez (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Frank C. Moore (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Hoyt Patrick Taylor (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Clarence P. Dahl (Republican) (until January 3), Ray Schnell (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: George D. Nye (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: James E. Berry (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Daniel B. Strickler (Republican) (until January 16), Lloyd H. Wood (Republican) (starting January 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: John S. McKiernan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: George Bell Timmerman Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Rex A. Terry (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Walter M. Haynes (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: vacant (until January 16), Ben Ramsey (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: vacant (until January 4), Joseph B. Johnson (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Lewis Preston Collins II (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Victor A. Meyers (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: George M. Smith (Republican)

## Events

### January - March

* January 1 – First week of Patti Page's hit song "Tennessee Waltz" as No. 1 single on *Billboard* and Cashbox charts.
* January 10 – The new United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.
* January 17 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
* January 27 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a 1-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat, northwest of Las Vegas.
* January 31 – The last daily narrow gauge passenger train, the *San Juan Express*, is retired by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
* February 21 – The Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant chain is founded by Robert O. Peterson in San Diego, California.
* February 27 – The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting presidents to two terms, is ratified.
* March 12 – Hank Ketcham's best-selling comic strip *Dennis the Menace* 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 29
	+ Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. On April 5 they are sentenced to receive the death penalty.
	+ Rodgers and Hammerstein's *The King and I* opens on Broadway and runs for three years. It is the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical 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, hosted by Fred Astaire, is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's *All About Eve* wins six awards, including Best Motion Picture and Mankiewicz's second consecutive Best Director win. The film is also nominated for 14 awards overall, breaking the record of 13 set by 1939's *Gone with the Wind*.
* March 31 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.

### April - June

* April 7 – Operation Greenhouse: The first thermonuclear burn is carried out on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific by the U.S. Three further tests in this series take place up to May 24.
* April 11 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of his Far Eastern commands.
* 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 21 – The Ninth Street Show, formally known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition, a gathering of a number of notable artists, marks the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School.
* June 14 – The UNIVAC I computer is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
* June 15 – In New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, thousands of hectares of forests are destroyed in fires.
* June 18 – Battle Ground, Washington is incorporated.

### July - September

* July 10 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
* July 11 – Cicero race riot of 1951 begins: A mob of 4,000 whites attack an apartment building housing a single black family in a neighborhood in Cicero, Illinois.
* July 12 – Cicero race riot of 1951 ends.
* 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.
	+ MGM's Technicolor film version of *Show Boat*, starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, and Howard Keel, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The musical brings overnight fame to African American bass-baritone William Warfield (who sings *Ol' Man River* in the film).
* July 14 – In Joplin, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument to honor an African American.
* July 16 – J. D. Salinger's coming-of-age story *The Catcher in the Rye* is published by Little, Brown and Company in New York City.
* July 17 – Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts is chartered.
* July 26 – Walt Disney's 13th animated feature film, *Alice in Wonderland*, premieres in London, United Kingdom. Though the film is not well received critically upon release, it later garners more acclaim from the psychedelic era onwards as a cult classic.
* July 30 – David Lean's *Oliver Twist* is finally shown in the United States, after 10 minutes of supposedly anti-Semitic references and closeups of Alec Guinness as Fagin are cut. It will not be shown uncut in the U.S. until 1970.
* September 1 – The United States, Australia and New Zealand all sign a mutual defense pact, called the ANZUS Treaty.
* September 3 – The American soap opera *Search for Tomorrow* debuts on CBS. The show switches to NBC on March 26, 1982 and airs its final episode on December 26, 1986.
* September 8
	+ Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan to formally end the Pacific War.
	+ Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which allows United States Armed Forces being stationed in Japan after the occupation of Japan, is signed by Japan and the United States.
* September 18 – Tennessee Williams's film adaptation of *A Streetcar Named Desire* premieres, becoming a critical and box-office smash.
* September 20 – NATO accepts Greece and Turkey as members.

### October - December

* 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 9th inning off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the National League pennant after being down 14 games.
* October 4
	+ MGM's Technicolor musical film, *An American in Paris*, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and directed by Vincente Minnelli, premieres in New York. It will go on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
	+ Shoppers World (one of the first shopping malls in the U.S.) opens in Framingham, Massachusetts.
* October 10 – The New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4 games to 2, to win the 14th World Series Title.
* October 15 – Sitcom *I Love Lucy*, starring Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, makes its television debut on CBS.
* October 16 – Judy Garland begins her legendary concerts in New York's Palace Theatre.
* October 17 – CBS' Eye logo premieres on television.
* October 20 – The "Johnny Bright incident", an assault on an African American player, occurs in a college football game at Stillwater, Oklahoma.
* October 24 – U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.
* November 1 – The first military exercises for nuclear warfare, with infantry troops included, are held in the Nevada desert.
* November 10 – Direct dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins.
* November 22 – Paramount Pictures releases George Pal science fiction film *When Worlds Collide*.
* November 24 – The Broadway play *Gigi* opens, starring little known actress Audrey Hepburn as the lead character.
* November 28 – The film *Scrooge*, starring Alastair Sim, premieres in the U.S. under the title of Charles Dickens's original novel, *A Christmas Carol*.
* December 1 – The Institute of War and Peace Studies is established by Dwight D. Eisenhower at Columbia University in New York (of which he is President) with William T. R. Fox as first director.
* December 13 – A water storage tank collapses in Tucumcari, New Mexico, resulting in 4 deaths and 200 buildings destroyed.
* December 17 – "We Charge Genocide", a petition describing genocide by the U.S. government against African Americans, 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.
* December 23 – John Huston's drama film, *The African Queen*, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, premieres in Hollywood.
* December 24 – Gian Carlo Menotti's 45-minute opera *Amahl and the Night Visitors* premieres live on NBC, becoming the first opera written especially for television.
* December 31 – The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

## Memoriam

### January to March

* January 2 – Richard Hart, actor (aged 35; New York City, NY, USA)
* January 10 – Sinclair Lewis, novelist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature (aged 65; Rome, Italy)
* January 11 – Charles Goddard, playwright and screenwriter (aged 71; Miami, FL, USA)
* January 13 – Florence Kahn, Lady Beerbohm, actress, died in Italy (aged 72; Rapallo, Italy)
* January 18 – Jack Holt, film actor (aged 62; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 22 – Karl Nessler, inventor (aged 78; Harrington Park, NJ, USA)
* January 28 – Dominic Salvatore Gentile, military pilot, killed in aviation accident (aged 30; Forestville, MD, USA)
* February 9 – Eddy Duchin, jazz pianist and bandleader (aged 41; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 13 – Lloyd C. Douglas, novelist (aged 73; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 16 – Tommy Gagliano, mobster (aged 67; Bronx, NY, USA)
* February 18
	+ Lyman Gilmore, aviation pioneer (aged 76; Nevada City, CA, USA)
	+ Charles Hiram Randall, U.S. House of Representatives (aged 85; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 22 – Alfred Lindley, Olympic rower (aged 47; Paxton, NE, USA)
* February 28 – Henry W. Armstrong, boxer and songwriter (aged 71; New York City, NY, USA)
* March 2 – Al Taylor, film character actor (aged 63; West Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 8 – Charles Coleman, film character actor (aged 65; Woodland Hills, CA, USA)
* March 14 – Val Lewton, film producer and screenwriter (aged 46; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 25
	+ Eddie Collins, baseball player (Chicago White Sox) (aged 63; Boston, MA, USA)
	+ Oscar Micheaux, African American filmmaker (aged 67; Charlotte, NC, USA)
* March 31 – Ralph Forbes, actor (aged 46; New York City, NY, USA)

### April to June

* April 4 – George Albert Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aged 81; Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
* April 11 – Joe King, film actor (aged 68; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* April 18 – Arthur Vandenberg, politician (aged 67; Grand Rapids, MI, USA)
* April 23 – Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (aged 85; Evanston, IL, USA)
* May 5 – Eddie Dunn, comedy film actor (aged 55; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 7 – Warner Baxter, film actor (aged 62; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* May 8 – Pat Hartigan, film actor and director (aged 69; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 18 – Jacob S. Coxey Sr., politician (aged 97; Massillon, OH, USA)
* May 20 – Marguerite Merington, author (aged 94; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 24 – Thomas N. Heffron, silent film director (aged 79; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* May 29 – Fanny Brice, entertainer (aged 59; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 4 – Serge Koussevitzky, orchestral conductor (aged 76; Boston, MA, USA)
* June 9 – Mayo Methot, actress (aged 47; Portland, OR, USA)
* June 21 – Charles Dillon Perrine, astronomer, discoverer of two moons of Jupiter (aged 83; Córdoba, Argentina)
* June 27 – David Warfield, stage actor (aged 84; New York City, NY, USA)

### July to September

* July 9 – Harry Heilmann, baseball player (Detroit Tigers) (aged 56; Southfield, MI, USA)
* July 23 – Robert J. Flaherty, filmmaker (aged 67; Dummerston, VT, USA)
* August 3 – Bee Ho Gray, Wild West star, silent film actor and vaudeville performer (aged 66; Pueblo, CO, USA)
* August 6 – Anthony Brancato, criminal (aged 37; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* August 14
	+ Bertha Gifford, serial killer (aged 79; Farmington, MO, USA)
	+ William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate (aged 88; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* August 28 – Robert Walker, film actor (aged 32; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* September 6 – James W. Gerard, lawyer, diplomat, and justice (aged 84; Southampton, NY, USA)
* September 7 – John Sloan, painter and etcher (aged 80; Hanover, NH, USA)
* September 17 – Jimmy Yancey, pianist and composer (aged 56; Chicago, IL, USA)
* September 18 – Gelett Burgess, art critic and humorist (aged 85; Carmel, CA, USA)
* September 29 – Thomas Cahill, soccer coach (aged 86; South Orange, NJ, USA)

### October to December

* October 4 – Henrietta Lacks, African American originator of the HeLa cell line (aged 31; Baltimore, MD, USA)
* October 6 – Otto Fritz Meyerhof, physician and biochemist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (aged 67; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* October 24
	+ Al Baker, magician (aged 77; Poughkeepsie, NY, USA)
	+ Clarence Stewart Williams, admiral (aged 88; Charlottesville, VA, USA)
* October 26 – William S. Finucane, businessman and politician (aged 63; Chicago, IL, USA)
* November 2 – Charles A. Christopherson, lawyer and politician (aged 80; Sioux Falls, SD, USA)
* November 3 – Richard Wallace, film director (aged 57; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 5 – Frank Hopkins, horseman and soldier (aged 86; Middle Village, NY, USA)
* November 15 – Robert Elliott, screen character actor (aged 72; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 22 – Thomas C. O'Brien, attorney and politician (aged 64; Boston, MA, USA)
* November 25 – Harry B. Liversedge, general (aged 57; Bethesda, MD, USA)
* December 5 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, baseball player (Chicago White Sox) (aged 64; Greenville, SC, USA)
* December 6 – Harold Ross, editor, founder of The New Yorker (aged 59; Boston, MA, USA)
* December 12 – Bill Patton, film actor (aged 57; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 19 – Barton Yarborough, radio actor (aged 51; Burbank, CA, USA)