TIME CAPSULE
1951: Rock ’n’ roll, Willy Mays and Dacron.
Health consultant Jack LaLanne began hosting his exercise show from KGO-TV in San Francisco this year. Disc jockey Alan Freed coined the term “rock ’n’ roll” to describe R&B artists such as Chuck Berry. DUPONT introduced wash-and-wear Dacron, preparing the way for 1971’s leisure suits. The Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. Underground bomb shelters became all the rage.
And mothers cried as their sons went off to fight the Korean War in an effort to contain the spread of communism.
JAN. 9 The United Nations Headquarters opens in New York City. JAN. 29 Elizabeth Taylor, 18, divorces Conrad Hilton Jr., the first of her seven husbands.
MARCH 12 Hank Ketcham’s syndicated comic strip, Dennis the Menace, premieres. MARCH 29 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage. APRIL 11 President Harry Truman fires Korean War Gen. Douglas MacArthur for insubordination.
MAY 1 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle hits his first home run.
MAY 8 DUPONT introduces Dacron, the first polyester fiber to hit the consumer market. MAY 11 MIT’s Jay Forrester applies for a patent on magnetic-core memory, the first RAM for computers.
MAY 14 It’s Time for Ernie, a network series featuring Ernie Kovacs, debuts on NBC.
MAY 25 Center fielder Willie Mays, below right, begins his career with the New York Giants. JUNE 14 Weighing in at 16,000 pounds, UNIVAC I, the world’s most advanced electronic calculating system (at the time), boots up at the U.S. Census Bureau. JUNE 25 Premiere, the first U.S. color TV show, broadcasts to five East Coast CBS affiliates. JUNE 28 Amos ’n’ Andy, the first TV series to feature an all-black cast, premieres on CBS.
JULY 26 Walt Disney’s animated feature Alice in Wonderland, center right, premieres in London. It is initially considered a flop.
SEPT. 3 Soap opera Search for Tomorrow debuts on CBS as a 15-minute live show. SEPT. 11 American Florence Chadwick, top left, is the first woman to swim both ways across the English Channel. SEPT. 13 In Korea, U.S. Army troops begin a monthlong battle at Heartbreak Ridge.
OCT. 3 Bobby Thomson’s three-run homer, the “shot heard round the world,” helps the New York Giants clinch the NL pennant. OCT. 6 Josef Stalin confirms that Russia has tested an atomic bomb. OCT. 15 I Love Lucy, which stars real-life spouses Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, premieres on CBS. See quiz opposite. NOV. 10 The first direct-dial long-distance telephone call links mayors in Englewood,
NJ, and Alameda, CA. NOV. 11 MGM releases An American in Paris, above, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. DEC. 26 The African Queen, starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, premieres in
Los Angeles.