What Happened in July 1951

Historical Events

Event of Interest

Jul 2 Bill Veeck buys St Louis Browns from Bill & Charlie DeWitt; after 1953 season sells franchise to Clarence Miles, team moves to Baltimore (Orioles)

MLB Team Owner and Promoter Bill Veeck — MLB Team Owner and Promoter
Bill Veeck

Jul 2 "Bob & Ray show" premieres on NBC radio
Jul 2 Worcestershire cricket wicket-keeper Hugo Yarnold makes a record 6 stumpings in an innings in a 1st-class match vs Scotland at Dundee
Jul 2 Island advisor of Curacao installed
Jul 2 Leidse astronomers discover radio signal out of Milky Way system

PGA Championship

Jul 3 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Oakmont GC: Sam Snead beats Walter Burkemo, 7 & 6 for his 3rd PGA C'ship title

Historic Invention

Jul 5 Dr William Shockley invents the junction transistor (Murray Hill, NJ)

Physicist William Shockley — Physicist
William Shockley

Jul 6 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: American Dick Savitt wins his only Wimbledon title beating Ken McGregor of Australia 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Jul 6 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Portrush GC: Englishman Max Faulkner wins by 2 strokes from Antonio Cerdá of Argentina
Jul 7 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Doris Hart outclasses fellow American Shirley Fry 6-1, 6-0 for her only Wimbledon singles title

Event of Interest

Jul 8 Yankee Joe DiMaggio and manager Casey Stengel feud

Baseball Player Joe DiMaggio — Baseball Player
Joe DiMaggio

Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Casey Stengel — Baseball Hall of Fame Manager
Casey Stengel

Event of Interest

Jul 9 US President Harry Truman asks Congress to formally end state of war with Germany

33rd US President Harry Truman — 33rd US President
Harry Truman

Jul 10 18th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 8-3 at Briggs Stadium, Detroit
Jul 10 Armistice talks to end Korean conflict began at Kaesong
Jul 12 Mob tries to keep black family from moving into all-white Cicero, Illinois

Jul 12 NY Yankees Allie Reynolds no-hits Cleveland Indians, 8-0
Jul 14 "Courtin' Time" closes at National Theater NYC after 37 performances
Jul 14 "Make a Wish" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 102 performances
Jul 14 1st color telecast of a sporting event (CBS-horse race)

Event of Interest

Jul 14 George Washington Carver monument unveiled [1]

Agricultural Scientist and Inventor George Washington Carver — Agricultural Scientist and Inventor
George Washington Carver

Jul 14 In his last race, 1948 Triple Crown champion Citation wins the Hollywood Gold Cup by 4 lengths, to become American racing's first millionaire horse.
Jul 16 King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates
Jul 16 Len Hutton scores his 100th 100, Yorkshire v Surrey at The Oval

Historic Publication

Jul 16 Novel "Catcher in Rye" by J. D. Salinger published by Little Brown and Company

Novelist J. D. Salinger — Novelist
J. D. Salinger

Jul 17 Leopold III, King of the Belgians, abdicates in favour of his son Boudouin I
Jul 17 Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts, is chartered
Jul 18 Uruguay accepts its constitution

Boxing Title Fight

Jul 18 Jersey Joe Walcott at 37 becomes oldest to win heavyweight champion

World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jersey Joe — World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Jersey Joe

Jul 19 "2 in the Aisle" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 276 performances
Jul 20 King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem

Event of Interest

Jul 21 Dalai Lama returns to Tibet

14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso — 14th Dalai Lama
Tenzin Gyatso

Jul 22 General Francisco Craveiro Lopes appointed President of Portugal
Jul 26 Netherlands ends state of war with Germany
Jul 28 "Kiss Me, Kate" closes at New Century Theater NYC after 1077 performances

Film Release

Jul 28 Walt Disney's animated musical film "Alice In Wonderland" released

Animator Walt Disney — Animator
Walt Disney

Jul 29 38th Tour de France won by Hugo Koblet of Switzerland

Event of Interest

Jul 30 Ty Cobb testifies before the Emanuel Celler committee, denying that the reserve clause makes peons of baseball players

Jul 31 Japan Airlines is established

Famous Birthdays

Jul 1 Daryl Anderson, American actor (Animal-Lou Grant), born in Seattle, Washington
Jul 1 Fred Schneider, American vocalist and guitarist (B-52's-Rock Lobster), born in Newark, New Jersey
Jul 1 Trevor Eve, English actor (Shadow Chasers), born in Sutton Coldfield, England
Jul 1 Anne Feeney, American political activist and singer, born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Jul 1 Terrence Mann, American actor and dancer, born in Ashland, Kentucky
Jul 2 Joe Puerta, American rock bassist (Ambrosia; The Range), born in Lomita, California [1]
Jul 2 Slick Watts, NBA player (Seattle SuperSonic), born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi
Jul 2 Michele Santoro, Italian TV journalist
Jul 2 Sylvia Rivera, American gay liberation and transgender activist and drag queen, born in NYC, New York (d. 2002)
Jul 3 Mike Corby, English guitarist and keyboardist (The Babys), born in Windsor, Berkshire, England

Jean-Claude Duvalier

Jul 3 Jean-Claude Duvalier "Baby Doc", Haitian dictator and deposed Haitian president-for-life (1971-86) infamous for his brutality, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (d. 2014)

Richard Hadlee

Jul 3 Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (NZ 86 Tests, 3,124 runs, 431 wickets), born in Christchurch, Canterbury

Jul 4 Ralph Johnson, American rock drummer (Earth Wind & Fire-Shining Star), born in Los Angeles, California
Jul 4 Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American Democratic politician and Lieutenant Governor of Maryland (1995-2003), born in Greenwich, Connecticut
Jul 4 John Alexander, Australian tennis player, politician (Australian Open doubles 1975, 82), born in Sydney, NSW
Jul 5 Geert Jan Hessing, Dutch rock drummer (Catapult)
Jul 5 Rich "Goose" Gossage, American Baseball Hall of Fame relief pitcher (9-time All Star), born in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Jul 5 Keiko Fuji, Japanese enka singer and actress, born in Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan (d. 2013)
Jul 5 Johnny Rodgers, American College Football Hall of Fame wide receiver (Heisman Trophy 1972, U of Nebraska–Lincoln; Grey Cup C'ship 1974, Montreal Alouettes), born in Omaha, Nebraska

Geoffrey Rush

Jul 6 Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor (Shakespeare in Love, The King's Speech), born in Toowoomba, Queensland

Jul 7 Roz Ryan, actress (Amelia-Amen, Occupied), born in Detroit, Michigan

Anjelica Huston

Jul 8 Anjelica Huston, American actress (Prizzi's Honor, The Adams Family), born in Los Angeles, California

Jul 8 Greg T Walker, rock bassist (Blackfoot)
Jul 8 Pleas Ned Sublette, composer
Jul 9 Chris Cooper, American actor (Thousand Pieces of Gold, Matewan), born in Kansas City, Missouri
Jul 10 Phyllis Smith, American actress (Phyllis Vance-The Office), born in The Hill, St. Louis, Missouri
Jul 10 Cheryl Wheeler, American singer and songwriter, born in Timonium, Maryland
Jul 11 Lawrence J Delucas, PhD/astronaut (STS 50), born in Syracuse, New York
Jul 11 Sridharan Jeganathan, cricketer (two Tests for Sri Lanka v NZ 1983)
Jul 12 Cheryl Ladd, American actress (Charlie's Angels, Purple Hearts), born in Huron, South Dakota
Jul 12 Jamey Sheridan, American actor (Another World), born in Pasadena, California
Jul 12 Brian Grazer, American film producer, born in Los Angeles, California
Jul 12 Sylvia Sass, Hungarian soprano, born in Budapest, Hungary
Jul 13 Didi Conn [Bernstein], American actress (Denise-Benson, Grease), born in Brooklyn, New York
Jul 13 Rob Bishop, American politician
Jul 14 Esther Dyson, computer publisher (Release 1.0), born in Zurich, Switzerland
Jul 14 Judi Brown, American 400m hurdler (Olympic silver 1984), born in East Lansing, Michigan
Jul 14 Erich Hallhuber, German actor (d. 2003)
Jul 15 Jesse Ventura [James Janos], American professional wrestler, actor and politician (Governor of Minnesota 1999-2003), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jul 16 Esther Friesner, American sci-fi author (Witchwood Cradle), born in NYC, New York
Jul 16 Lorraine Chase, English actress and model (Lame Ducks, Love & Bullets), born in Deptford, England
Jul 16 Jean-Luc Mongrain, French-Canadian journalist, born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Jul 17 Lucie Arnaz, American actress and singer (Here's Lucy-Kim: The Jazz Singer), born in Los Angeles, California
Jul 18 Bruce Lietzke, American golfer (13 PGA Tour wins; US Senior Open 2003), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2018)
Jul 18 Elio Di Rupo, Belgian social-democratic politician (50th Prime Minister of Belgium), born in Morlanwelz, Belgium
Jul 18 Margo Martindale, American actress (The Americans), born in Jacksonville, Texas
Jul 19 Abel Ferrara, American filmmaker (King of New York), born in The Bronx, New York
Jul 19 Jayson Stark, American sportswriter (The Athletic), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 20 Larry Black, 4x100 runner (Olympic gold 1972), born in Miami, Florida
Jul 20 Jeff Rawle, English actor
Jul 21 Diana Dennis, body builder (Women Physique World), born in Portland, Oregon

Robin Williams

Jul 21 Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (Mork & Mindy, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2014)

Jul 22 Tisa Farrow, actress (Zombie, Fingers, Grim Reaper), born in Los Angeles, California
Jul 22 Steven Springer, Port of Spain, Trinidad, guitarist and songwriter (Sir Lancelot Pinard), (d. 2012)
Jul 23 Edie McClurg, American actress (Cinderella-1985, Hogan Family), born in Kansas City, Missouri
Jul 23 Terry Davis, American actress (Stacey Winthrop-Another World), born in NYC, New York
Jul 24 Chris Smith, New Zealand politician (Labour), born in Auckland, New Zealand
Jul 24 Lynda Carter, American actress (Wonder Woman, Sky High) and Miss USA (1973), born in Phoenix, Arizona
Jul 25 Vanessa [Connie Witteman], Dutch model and singer, born in Voorburg, Netherlands
Jul 25 Verdine White, American bassist (Earth, Wind & Fire), born in Chicago, Illinois
Jul 26 Bobby Wadkins, American golfer (Senior Players C'ship 2006), born in Richmond, Virginia
Jul 26 William S. McArthur Jr., American astronaut (STS 58, 74, sk: 92), born in Laurinburg, North Carolina
Jul 27 Janet Eilber, American actress (Hard to Hold, Romantic Comedy), born in Detroit, Michigan
Jul 28 Doug Collins, American basketball shooting guard (NBA All-Star 1976–79; Philadelphia 76ers), coach (Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia) and broadcaster (CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS, ABC/ESPN), born in Christopher, Illinois
Jul 28 Greg Gluffria, rock keyboardist (House of Lords-Sahara), born in Washington, D.C.
Jul 28 Anthony A. Williams, American politician, Mayor of the District of Columbia (1999-2007), born in Los Angeles County, California
Jul 28 Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect (Milwaukee Art Museum), born in Valencia, Spain
Jul 29 Dean Pitchford, American songwriter ("Fame"; "Let's Hear It For The Boy"), born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Jul 29 Deborah Pryor, California, actress (The Godson)/(Rep-R-Ohio)
Jul 29 Dan Driessen, American baseball player
Jul 31 Barry Van Dyke, actor (Battlestar Galactica, Diag Murder), born in Atlanta, Georgia
Jul 31 Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player (7 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Barellan, NSW
Jul 31 Gerald Anthony, American actor (Marco Dane-General Hospital, One Life to Live), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Famous Weddings

Wedding of Interest

Jul 3 Author Maya Angelou (23) weds Thomas J. Angelos

Author, Poet and Activist Maya Angelou — Author, Poet and Activist
Maya Angelou

Wedding of Interest

Jul 31 Musician Ray Charles (20) weds Eileen Williams in Georgia

Famous Deaths

Jul 2 Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German Nazi surgeon, dies at 75
Jul 6 Josef Hüttel, Czech composer, dies at 57
Jul 9 Harry Heilmann, American baseball hall of famer outfielder (Detroit), dies at 56
Jul 9 Jorgen Bentzon, Danish composer, dies at 54

Arnold Schoenberg

Jul 13 Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer (Verklärte Nacht) and painter associated with the expressionist movement, dies at 76

Jul 14 Sammy Jones, Australian cricket batsman (12 Tests; NSW, Queensland, Auckland), dies at 89
Jul 19 Max Ettinger, Jewish-German composer (Jiddische Requiem), dies at 77
Jul 20 Abdullah Ibn Hussein, Jordan's King (1946-51), killed in Jerusalem
Jul 20 Mustafa Shuqri Ashu, tailor/murderer of king Abdullah, shot to death
Jul 20 Wilhelm, the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, dies at 69

Philippe Pétain

Jul 23 Philippe Pétain, French marshal and Chief of the French State (1940-44), dies at 95

Jul 23 Robert Flaherty, American filmmaker and the father of documentary film (Nanook of North), dies at 67
Jul 31 J of Oudshoorn [John K Feylbrief], writer (Maze of Sentences), dies