The Today Show Premieres on NBC

 

 

    By 1948 one hundred households in the United States had television sets. Cable was sending television to homes all over the country, including rural areas (http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Television_Time_3.htm). Now, aside from going to the theater and watching all of your news and entertainment there, the average person could enjoy it at home. On January 14, 1952 the Today Show on NBC pioneered the morning news/talk show. Dave Garroway was the host, and the show offered domestic and international news, weather and interviews every weekday. The Today Show lasted for two hours for the first 48 years of running (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3079108/).

    The Today Show was a new concept and an experiment for NBC. Pat Weaver, then the Vice President of NBC created the show, and became President of NBC the following year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(NBC_program)). “A daily, network morning news-oriented television program of this scale, broadcast coast-to-coast, had never been attempted.” Generally speaking people only watched television in the evenings, so a morning show felt decadent to the average person. Nevertheless it was successful and launched several other shows like it inclusing Good Morning America on ABC and the Early Show on CBS (http://www.tvparty.com/50stoday.html).

    In 1952 the Today Show featured national news, interviews, features, and even gimmicks like J. Fred Muggs, a chimpanzee who was the station’s mascot. It was shown live for Central and Eastern time zones, showing two hours per day. Later it would rebroadcast to the West Coast when it was their morning, just as it does today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(NBC_program)). Even though it is now five hours long, the Today Show is very similar in form as it was when it started. Many people continue to get their news from morning talk shows just like in the 1950s.

-Rebecca Meredith

 

 

The Polio Epidemic Sweeps Through America With Nearly 58,000 Cases Resulting In Paralysis or Death.  A Vaccine is developed in 1952.

 

     By the 1950’s polio became a huge problem in the United States for children and adults.  Poliomyelitis or Polio, had been around for hundreds of years as a endemic pathogen.  Polio affected people in small amounts and was never considered a huge problem or even identified until the 1800’s when major epidemics began to develop in Europe. Polio was one that became wide-spread eventually ending up in America.  Poliomyelitis was first medically recognized by German orthopedist Jakob Heine in 1840, and the poliovirus was by identified by Austrian biologist Karl Landsteiner in 1908.  The polio infection is a virus that enters the blood stream.  In certain cases the virus enters the central nervous system destroying motor neurons, which leads to muscle weakness and acute paralysis. There are different types of paralysis. Spinal polio is the most common form of polio, causing the infected person to lose the nerves and feeling in their legs.  Bulbar polio causes the weakness of muscles.  In the early 1950’s the polio epidemic was at its height crippling many young children and adults.  The disease not only causes paralysis, but it also causes death.  By the early 1950’s 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States alone.  

     Polio is a highly contagious virus spread from human to human contact.  It can be spread by not washing hands, the spreading of germs and the ingestion of foods or water contaminated with the virus.  In the first stages of contacting the poliovirus usually lasts 6-20 days.  The virus has similar symptoms of the flu with nausea, aches, fever and diarrhea.  It incubates in the stomach, than can enter the blood stream where it will cause paralysis.  The poliovirus is most commonly found in small children aged from 5 to younger.  There is no cure for polio but there are many treatments to help the infected.  With certain forms of polio a person can experience respiratory paralysis in which the lungs can no longer work on their own.  In these cases, doctors developed a negative pressure ventilator that artificially maintains the person’s respiration until they are able to breath on their own again.  As mentioned before, there are many different types of polio, all with different symptoms and effects.  In some cases people will fully recover and in other cases, people are left with permanently debilitating effects. 

 

 

     By 1952 the race for the polio vaccine had ended.  Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine at the University of Pittsburg.  He was able to harvest the disease on monkey tissue and than kill the disease.  With the dead virus cells he was able create the polio vaccine.  The vaccine created immunity in the bloodstream with prevented the motor neurons from being infected.  His vaccine eliminated the risk of bulbar polio and the post-polio syndrome.  He vaccine was tested for 2 years before it was distributed to 4,000 children at an elementary school in 1954.  By 1955, the vaccine had been distributed to 44 states and was very effective.  Today American babies are still given Salk’s polio vaccine to prevent the epidemic from spreading again.  There have since been other vaccine’s including an oral vaccine developed by Albert Sabin, which was also very popular during the late 50’s and 60’s.  As Americans we are very lucky to have the means of proper sanitation and inoculation.  There are still many small countries that can’t afford to keep their children from contracting polio and many people are still victims of it.

 

 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio 

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/polio.html 

http://www.polioeradication.org/disease.asp

http://www.rense.com/general3/polio.html  

http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/poliohistory.html  

http://www.uthscsa.edu/mission/fall94/polio.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine  

 

Alyssa Cain 

 

1952 Flying Saucer Flap

 

1952 was the year of the UFO. It is also in 1952 that the acronym UFO, Unidentified Flying Saucer, was implemented by the U.S. Air Force. Although there has been sightings of UFOs throughout history nothing compares to the 1952 flying saucer flap. A flap refers to an air force "condition, or situation, or state of being of a group of people characterized by an advanced degree of confusion that has not quite yet reached panic proportions." Americans were almost in a state of panic regarding the sighting of flying saucers. "The situation had never been duplicated before, and it hasn't been duplicated since. All records for the number of UFO reports were not just broken, they were disintegrated. In 1948, 167 UFO reports had come into ATIC; this was considered a big year. In June 1952 we received 149. During the four years the Air Force had been in the UFO business, 615 reports had been collected. During the "Big Flap" our incoming message log showed 717 reports."

The most reported sighting is the "Washington Merry-Go-Round." July 19, 1952 the air traffic control center at the Washington National Airport spotted eight slow moving objects on their radar screens. The blips on the radar screen were traveling at 100-130 mph and at times would hover in one position. But it wasn't just the radar that spotted the objects, pilots of commercial airplanes also spotted the objects as well as people on the ground. The objects were seen hovering above the most important, namely governmental, locations. Jets were sent into the area several hours after the first sighting. Apparently the jets took so long because the call was not put to the right people. By the time the jets arrived, the objects had disappeared. The pilots and on ground witnesses described the objects as lights or falling stars without tails. The military denied any flights in the restricted airspace. Although this incident was never fully explained the air force brushed it off as a natural occurrence or reflections of light due to the weather. However, because the radar had picked up the objects speculation began because that would mean there must have been something there and not just a reflection of light. This incident became so famous because of the place the concentration over the capital.

 

 

 

Other incidents were to follow throughout the year. Spokesman for the air force have confirmed investigations into UFO sightings but have not confirmed the existence of something more than just reflected light. In August, 1952 the Coast Guard released a photo of objects over Salem, Mass. 

 

 

Several organizations were implemented by the increases in these sightings including Project Blue Book that recorded sightings and investigated them. Operating from 1952-1969 there were still 300 cases left unexplained. The flying saucer flap of 1952 had a big impact on American culture, as seen by the plethora of science fiction books, television shows, and movies.

 

Sources:

 

http://brumac.8k.com/1952YEAROFUFO/1952YEAROFUFO.html

 

http://www.rense.com/general30/inter.htm

 

http://roswellproof.com/ShootDown_INS_72952.html

 

Coast Guard Releases Daytime Picture of 'Objects' Over New England -- Not Ref... New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 2, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 3

 

'Flying Saucer' Queries Hamper Air Force Work By The Associated Press. New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 1, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)

pg. 19

 

Air Force Debunks 'Saucers' As Just 'Natural Phenomena' By AUSTIN STEVENSSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES. New York Times (1857-Current file); Jul 30, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)

pg. 1

 

Air Force Explains 2-Hour Delay In Chasing 'Objects' Over Capital New York Times (1857-Current file); Jul 29, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)

pg. 23

 

Flying Objects Near Washington Spotted by Both Pilots and Radar New York Times (1857-Current file); Jul 22, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)

pg. 27

 

SAUCERS' INQUIRY MADE New York Times (1857-Current file); Jul 17, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)

pg. 4

 

Liz Wilks

KFC Franchise Begins (1952)

 

 

 

Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC began its franchise of fast food restaurants in 1952.  The first KFC originated in 1929 in North Corbin, Kentucky.  The franchise became famous for its classic fried chicken.  They now also have salads, wraps, sandwich's and desserts.  Colonel Harland Sanders was the man that decided to make KFC a company and franchise.  He later became the face of the franchise and is very easily recognized anywhere.  Colonel Sanders owned a gas station in the late 1920's and thats where he first served his world famous fried chicken recipe.  His first restaurant that served his chicken was called "Sanders Court and Cafe".  In 1940 he solidified his recipe which he called his Original Recipe.  Today there 24,000 employees of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  KFC's revenue is at 520 million dollars a year, not bad for a company that started in a gas station.  It is now affiliated with the company Yum! Brands and is often seen combined with the restaurant and fast food chain Long John Silvers.  The company used to be a a wholly owned subsidiary of tricon.  This company should continue to expand and please its chicken loving customers.

 

 

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pwURoueDzFo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pwURoueDzFo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 http://www.kfc.com/http://www.kfc.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFC

Josh Hogan

 

 

 

 

 

I Love Lucy (1951)

 

 

 

     The television show I Love Lucy first aired on October 15, 1951. The star of the show is Lucille Ball as Lucy, a housewife who always seems to get herself into trouble and needs to be rescued by her husband Ricky Ricardo, played by Desi Arnaz. The show is situated around their lives in New York City, where Ricky is a musician. Their neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz, played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance, are usually involved with the chaos Lucy causes. It was the first sitcom to be filmed in front of a live audience.

 

     I Love Lucy ran on CBS for nine years. It won many awards, including 4 Emmy awards. Lucille Ball won an Emmy for Best Actress - Continuing Performance in 1956. The show was #1 from 1952-1957, except one year, where it was #2. Today it is still very popular and reruns can be seen almost daily.

 

     Lucille and Desi were married in real life and had children. One of their children, Desi Jr., was written into the script for I Love Lucy and appeared in some of the later episodes. The show followed their lives and relationships so much that it became like a reality show and created tension in their marriage. They were divorced after around the same time the show was canceled. Desi died in 1986 and Lucille a few years later, in 1989. -Leora Herrick

 

 

http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/awardsearch.php

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043208/combined

 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/lucille-ball/finding-lucy/477/

 

http://www.nielsenmedia.com/

 

 

The 1952 Summer Olympics

 

     The 1952 summer Olympic games were held in Helsinki, Finland. The site had previously been chosen for the 1940 games. However, these games were canceled along with the 1944 games due to World War II. The 1952 summer games saw many firsts including the debuts of Israel and the Soviet Union and equestrianism’s first female and non-military competitors. Previously the equestrian sport had been open only to military officers. In 1952 Denmark’s Lis Hartel won the silver, thus making her the first female to medal in the sport. Israel did not compete in the 1948 games because of their war of Independence. The Soviet team racked up 71 medals and finished second to the United States. The USSR would prove to be an Olympic powerhouse in the coming years. The United States brought home a total of 76 metals, 40 of which were gold. Standout athletes from the U.S. included Bob Mathias, the first American to successfully defend a decathlon title, and Tommy Kono who won the gold for Men’s weightlifting in the lightweight division. Kono is an American of Japanese decent. During World War II he and his family were sent to an interment camp in Tule Lake, California. It was here that Kono was introduced to weight training. Kono went on to defend his title in the 1956 games. Kono also won the Mr. Universe in 1955 and 1957.

 

 

 

Tim Holley

 

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Summer_Olympics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_at_the_1952_Summer_Olympics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Kono

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union_at_the_1952_Summer_Olympics

http://www.urheilumuseo.fi/olympic1952/statistics/statistics_set.htm

http://pro.corbis.com/images/U1092610.jpg?size=67&uid=%7B4F882DA2-648B-4555-B8B7-ECB804F96138%7D (image)

 http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/33/84933-004-6C159290.jpg (image)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paavo_Nurmi_sytyttää_olympiatulen_1952.jpg (image)

 

 

This is Cinerama (1952)

 

 

In order to compete with the rise of television in the 1950's, the studios were looking for new technology that would draw in the audiences for an experience that they would never find on television.  By the early part of the decade, there were several attempts at creating a popular widescreen process to the screen.  The first popular process was the Cinerama process.  Utilizing three seperate cameras to create a seamless curved image on three seperate film elements, the process created a fairly good replication of an audience's peripheral vision.  Audiences who watched a Cinerama film would feel like they were actually in the film itself because they were in fact seeing the film projected all around them.  The film elements had to be projected seperately from three seperate projector booths in a specially equipped theater, which meant that synchronization was a crucial requirement for the presentation.  As seen in the picture below, the booths were positioned in the left, right, and center of an auditorium, and they were placed specifically to give the right curvature for the intended image.

 

 

The brain child of Fred Waller, a studio executive at Paramount in the 1930's, the process found its first incarnation in combat training.  Dubbed the Waller Gunnery Trainer, the Cinerama process used the curved screen to envelop air force gunners with combat footage that would help them train their eyes for peripheral vision in air combat.  The process had immediate results and Waller and his company were hailed for their innovation.  After WWII, Waller sought to take the process into filmmaking as a way to both showcase the unique process to a wider audience as well as to provide a competition to the television craze.  With the help of journalist Lowell Thomas, and showmen producers like Michael Todd and Merian C. Cooper, Waller was able to get the backing to make Cinerama a reality.  The film that would usher in the new process would be a both  a showcase as well as a blockbuster spectacle; its name was simply This is Cinerama.  The film had its premiere on New Years Eve, 1952 at the Broadway Theater in New York.  The theater had to be specially converted in order to present the film.  Lowell Thomas would serve as the film's host and would soon become the face of the process itself.  His introduction in the film is notable because it was only filmed on one of the film stocks, specifically center screen.  Upon saying the words "This is Cinerama," the image suddenly opens up and the audience finds themselves in the front seat of a rollercoaster.  The "you are there" feel of this film made it a smash hit.  It ran for 122 weeks in select theaters.  The "America the Beautiful" sequence of the film proved so moving, the State Department even saw propaganda value in the film.  They requested the use of the film to show at an industrial fair held in Damascus, Syria, where it too was warmly recieved.  The Russians, trying not to be outdone, also developed their own similar process called KinoPanorama.  The film became a success, but proved to be very 

expensive as well.  Many of the studios looked for other less expensive widescreen processes, like Fox's Cinemascope, and as a result Cinerama became more associated with travelogue features than actual productions.  

Attempts at theatrical narrative films with the Cinerama process in the 1960's, such as MGM's How the West Was Won proved to be beautiful, but uninteresting spectacles.  Eventually the Cinerama process died out in the late 60's and was replaced with the 65mm UltraPanavision process.  

 

In the years since, most specially equiped Cinerama theaters have either been converted or completely demolished.  Today there are only three Cinerama screens still in use: one in Hollywood, another in London, and one 

other in Seattle Washington.  The one in Seattle was actually saved from demolition due to a multi-million dollar restoration funded by Microsoft's Paul Allen.  The theater, with a 30X90 ft. screen runs first run films as well as classic screenings of Cinerama features.  Restoration of films such as This is Cinerama, is

currently taking place.  Digital restoration includes a process which is known as Smilebox widescreen, which recreates a perfectly curved 146 degree image like the one above, helping to refine the seams and clear up any 

imperfections.  The Cinerama process is believed to be a precursor to other large format filmmaking such as IMAX, and indeed it began a whole era of widescreen filmmaking in general.  Those who have seen it, however,

will say that there is still nothing like Cinerama before or since.

 

www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm

www.seattlecinerama.com/TemplateMain.aspx?contentId=9

history.sandiego.edu/gen/filmnotes/cinerama2.html

www.cineramaadventure.com/smilebox.htm

-James Humphreys

 

 

Charlie Chaplin Banned from the US

 

 

 

British born actor and non-US citizen, Charlie Chaplin was famous for injecting his comedic silent films into the war torn era of WWI. However, in 1922, FBI informants were following leads that Chaplin was throwing receptions and providing funds for future Communist Party leaders in the United States. The FBI was quick to develop an official file for Chaplin, investigating and analyzing every move the star made. The file grew to be more than 2,000 pages long. The reason for the FBI scrutiny of Chaplin was accredited to the film industry and the ability for movies to greatly influence cultural behavior all over the world. In other words, the FBI was worried that Chaplin’s popularity would start a movement in America towards pro-communist beliefs.

            Chaplin, not affected by FBI scrutiny, continued to make public statements in support of Stalin and the Communist Party and towards Russian War relief. In one statement Chaplin said, “I am not a communist, but I am proud to say that I feel pretty pro-communist.” From these public statements Chaplin was routinely criticized by the media. Consequently, many of his movies were boycotted in the United States and were even banned by some theatres.

            In the 1940’s, Chaplin was continued to be investigated by the FBI. Ultimately, it was determined there was not enough information or witnesses to assume that Chaplin was a member of or contributing to the success of the communist party. In 1952 Chaplin took his family to London to promote a new film. Initially, he was granted a reentry permit, but when Chaplin was en route to England he received word that in order to return to the US he would need to testify before immigration services about his involvement with the communist party. In response to this Chaplin decided not return to the United States, and remained in Europe. He said, “Although I am not a communist, I refuse to fall in line by hating them.”

            Chaplin only returned to the United States once after he was banned in 1952. He received an honorary Oscar in 1972, and was warmly welcomed when he arrived in the US to receive the award.

http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/soc/run.html

http://www.allsands.com/entertainment/people/charliechaplin_yes_gn.htm

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20070919-charlie-chaplin-communist-teenage-girls-hollywood-movies-immigration-huac_print.shtml

http://www.solopassion.com/node/1220

• Amy Wicks

 

The Treaty of San Francisco (1952)

 

 

The Treaty of Peace with Japan was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951 in San Francisco, resulting in the popularly used moniker, The San Francisco Treaty. It was enacted on April 28, 1952. The Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan was signed between representatives of the United States and Japan served to officially end World War II and resolve Japan's position as an imperial Asian power.  

 

 

The document officially renounces Japan's right to Korea, Taiwan, the Kurile Islands, Pescadores, Spratly Islands, Antarctica and the Sakhalin Island. The treaty does not formally state which nations are sovereign over these areas. The Treaty makes extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to annunciate the Allies goals for the treaty and rest Japan's fate in

the hands of the international community. The document further sets guidelines for repatriation of prisoners of war and renounces furture military aggression under the guidelines set by the UN Charter. The document nullifies prior treaties and lays down the framework for Japan's current status of retaining a military that is purely defensive in nature. 

 

 

The agreement contained five articles, which dictated that Japan grant the United States the territorial means for it to establish a military presence in the Far East. It restored Japan's full sovereignty, albeit with the continued presence of a number of US bases in the country. It brought the work of the Supreme Allied Command of the Pacfici to an end, with the occupying US forces leaving the country by April 28, 1952. 

 

Accordingly, the two countries agreed to following:

Article I

Japan grants, and the United States of America accepts, the right, upon the coming into force of the Treaty of Peace and of this Treaty, to dispose United States land, air and sea forces in and about Japan. Such forces may be utilized to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East and to the security of Japan against armed attack from without, including assistance given at the express request of the Japanese Government to put down largescale internal riots and disturbances in Japan, caused through instigation or intervention by an outside power or powers.

Article II

During the exercise of the right referred to in Article I, Japan will not grant, without the prior consent of the United States of America, any bases or any rights, powers or authority whatsoever, in or relating to bases or the right of garrison or of maneuver, or transit of ground, air or naval forces to any third power.

Article III

The conditions which shall govern the disposition of armed forces of the United States of America in and about Japan shall be determined by administrative agreements between the two Governments.

Article IV

This Treaty shall expire whenever in the opinion of the Governments of the United States of America and Japan there shall have come into force such United Nations arrangements or such alternative individual or collective security dispositions as will satisfactorily provide for the maintenance by the United Nations or otherwise of international peace and security in the Japan Area.

Article V

This Treaty shall be ratified by the United States of America and Japan and will come into force when instruments of ratification thereof have been exchanged by them at Washington.

 

Neither the Republic of China nor the People's Republic of China were invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference and therefore never signed this treaty. The Republic of China, however, enacted a separate Treaty of Peace with Japan in 1952, which basically acknowledged the terms of the San Francisco Treaty.

 

Sources:

http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Treaty_of_San_Francisco/

http://www.dokdo-takeshima.com/dokdo-sf-truth.html

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/japan001.asp

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-SanFranciscoPeaceTreatyof.html

"JAPANESE TREATY PLANS" New York Times  (1857-Current file); Jul 8, 1951; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 112

http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sanfrancisco06.htm

http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/03pol/c02sb02.html

- Kristin Kokkeler

 

 

Christine Jorgensen, first publicized transsexual (1952)

 

Born George William Jorgensen, Jr., Christine Jorgensen became the first widely-known person to have sexual reassignment surgery. Unable to receive the help that he wanted, George learned from physician Joseph Angelo that Sweden could provide the medical help needed for Jorgensen. On the way to Sweden, Jorgensen stopped at Denmark to live with relatives. While in Denmark Jorgensen met Dr. Christian Hamburger, who was a hormone expert. Dr. Hamburger consented to treat Jorgensen for free. While on hormones, Jorgensen received special permission from the Danish Minister of Justice to become castrated and a year later to have his penis also removed. Technically a eunuch, the hormones Jorgensen were taking helped recontour his body and redistribute body fat for a more feminine figure. Jorgensen's transformation took two years of surgeries and hormone treatments. Jorgensen, after these first two surgeries changed his US passport to identify him as female from the help of a US Ambassador, and began life as woman.

 

Cover of Christine Jorgensen's Autobiography

 

Jorgensen took the name Christine in honor of Dr. Christian Hamburger for his role in her transition. Two years after her first two surgeries in Denmark, Christine Jorgensen underwent vaginoplasty in 1954. Christine Jorgensen would go on to be a spokesperson for transsexual and transgender people.

 

Christine Jorgensen holding up her article from Daily News from December 1, 1952

 

 

Sources:

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/09/13/1998-09-13_masqueradechristine_jorgense.html

http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/history/faculty/roberson/course/1493/supplements/chp27/27.%20Christine%20Jorgensen.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Jorgensen

http://0-proquest.umi.com.janus.uoregon.edu/pqdweb?did=84373558&sid=1&Fmt=10&clientId=11238&RQT=309&VName=HNP

Jayson Choe

 

 

 

 

The Great Smog of 1952

 

 

 

From December 5^th to 9^th of 1952, a “toxic mix of dense fog and sooty black coal smoke killed thousands of Londoners”(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954)

Reportedly almost 12,000 people perished due to the smog. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2545747.stm) Many of whom were elderly or already weak or ill. Those already afflicted with respiratory health problems were most profoundly afflicted by the fog. Primarily among these were patients with pneumonia or bronchitis, as these illnesses weakened the lungs ability to cope with adverse atmospheric conditions. Among the affected, the most severe succumbed to infections so severe that the lungs would become completely blocked and suffocate the victim.

 

 

The smog was so severe that some of the accounts of its characteristics sound like science fiction. “Roads were littered with abandoned cars. Midday concerts were cancelled due to total darkness. Archivists at the British Museum found smog lurking in the book stacks. Cattle in the city's Smithfield market were killed and thrown away before they could be slaughtered and sold — their lungs were black. The lips of the dying were blue. Heavy smoking and chronic exposure to pollution had already weakened the lungs of those who fell ill during the smog. Particulates and acids in the killer brew finished the job by triggering massive inflammations. In essence, the dead had suffocated.” (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954)

 

 

 

After its horrific affect on the citizens of London, the Smog remained as a turning point on environmental policy for London and eventually the rest of the world. After the event, legislation was enacted to significantly decrease the amount of pollutants allowed to escape into the air.

 

 

--Daniel Akers

 

 

Anne Frank’s Diary Published in English (1952)

            On June 15, 1952 the diary of Anne Frank was published in English for the first time in England as The Diary of a Young Girl.  It was originally released in Dutch in 1947.  The diary recalled the events of Anne Frank, who lived with her family in a hidden room of her father’s office from 1942 to 1944.  In 1944, they were found which led Anne Frank and her family to be taken to a German concentration camp.  In early 1945, Anne Frank and her sister died.

 

After World War II ended, Anne’s father, Otto Frank, returned to the office building to find the diary that Anne had been keeping for the two years they had spent in the hidden room.  Otto, the only survivor in the family, began to read through the notes and diary entries and was somewhat surprised by them.  He said that Anne kept a lot of things to herself during that time and he was inspired by what she had written.  Otto then began to think about attempting to get the diary published and gave the diary to a friend who was a historian.  After she failed to get the diary published, the historian gave the diary to her husband who wrote about it in the local newspaper.  Soon, publishing companies were interested and the diary was published in the Netherlands in 1947.  After its release in English in the United Kingdom in 1952, the diary became very successful all across the world, including the United States, France, and Germany.

Sources:

www.annefrank.org

www.annefrank.com/prison-diary-program

www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005210

http://www.undercovertourist.com/netherlands/amsterdam/attractions/img/l/anne-frank-s-house.jpg

http://www.holmdel.k12.nj.us/faculty/stetreault/Notes/Novels/8th%20Grade/Anne%20Frank/diary.jpg

-WILL CRUMPACKER 

 

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower is elected 34th President (1952)

 

 

 

 

 

          David Dwight Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas, but was brought up in Abilene, Kansas. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1911 to 1919 and while there he changed the order of his name and also acquired his nickname “Ike” which was short for Eisenhower. Prior to his United States presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower was called to Washington by General George C. Marshall for a war plans assignment after Pearl Harbor. In November 1942 he commanded Allied Forces in North America and was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France on D-Day in 1944.  In 1951, he took leave from his presidency of Columbia University to assume command over the new NATO force and soon after was persuaded by republican emissaries to run for president.

 

 

On November 4, 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower won the election for U.S presidency making him the 34^th president of the United States of America. He served as President until 1961. During his time as president he emphasized a balanced budget and continued most of the New Deal projects already in operation and created the Social Security program. During a time of desegregation, President Eisenhower supported civil rights and the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka U.S. Supreme court decision and sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas to assure compliance by the state to desegregate schools. He wrote, “There must be no second class citizens in this country” and ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces.  

 

In 1953 he brought as armed peace along the border of South Korea with the signing of a truce, creating a cease-fire. The death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 brought in new Russian leaders, creating shifts with Russian relations. Although a peace treaty to neutralize Austria was formed, both the United States and Russia were developing hydrogen bombs and thus lead to a meeting in Geneva with the leaders of the British, French, and Russian governments in July 1955. This meeting led to the exchange of blueprints of each other’s military establishments.

 

Hawaii was officially ratified as a state in 1959 which makes Dwight D. Eisenhower the first president of all 50 states. He was also the first president to be licensed to pilot a plane and serve in both world wars.  He was also the first President to appear on color television on June 6, 1955. In January 1961, before he left office, he emphasized the imperativeness of “maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life. As he left office he pointed out, “America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world.” After suffering from heart disease, Dwight D. Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969. His last words were, “I've always loved my wife; I've always loved my children; I've always loved my grandchildren; I've always loved my country. I want to go; God take me.” - Melissa Stout

 

Sources:

 

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/DwightDEisenhower/

http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/POTUSFARQ.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower

http://www.presidentsgraves.com/dwight%20d.%20eisenhower%20thirty-fourth%20president.htm

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461577492_761554032_-1_1/dwight_d_eisenhower_quick_facts.html

 

 

 

Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen (1952)

 

Born in 1926, she became Queen at the age of 25 when her father, King George VI of the United Kingdom died of cancer on February 6^th, 1952 [6]. Being in Kenya at the time of his death, she broke down in tears, but was able to fly back to England the next day [2]. As George VI’s oldest child, Elizabeth was the heir to the throne. Proclaimed Queen the same day, she has since reined for 57 years – which, so far, makes her the forth longest-reigning British monarch [1].

 

Born Elizabeth Alexandra May, she was named after her mother and had one younger sister – Margaret (1930-2002) [1]. When she was born, it was not expected that she would become queen. Her father had an older brother, Edward, who was the first in line of succession to the throne. After her grandfather, King George V, died in 1936, Edward became King. However, before 1937 saw light, he had decided to abdicate in order to marry the woman he loved (he could have married and still been King, but she was an American divorcée and not popular among the people [4]). Elizabeth’s father was Edward’s closet relative and was therefore proclaimed King – resulting in Elizabeth being the heir apparent to the throne [3].

 

Before that, in 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. He is today known as either Prince Philip or the Duke of Edinburg. Their first child and the current heir apparent to the throne, Charles, was born in 1948 [5]. Elizabeth and Philip had three other children as well and have eight grandchildren [6].

 

As a Queen, she has seen 12 Prime Minsters come and go – including Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and today’s Gordon Brown. Not only does she give advice to the PM during their regular meetings, she is also Supreme governor of the Church of England and commander in Chief of the British Armed Forces [7].

 

Elizabeth II is the Queen of not only of the United Kingdom, but also of 15 other states that are part of the Commonwealth: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Belize, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu. These are nonetheless independent countries, but they share the monarch [8]. At the time of her proclamation, she also became Queen of South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (today known as Sri Lanka) [1].

 

 

 

Elizabeth II is also one of the richest and most popular monarchs in the world, and Forbes estimates her fortune to be $600 million [7].

 

Sources: 

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom

[2] “Elizabeth Weeps at News of Death, But Is Calm in African Take-Off” By The United Press.

New York Times (1857-Current file); Feb 7, 1952; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005). Pg. 1.

[3] http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Earlylife/Earlylife.aspx

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_of_the_United_Kingdom

[5] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184870/Elizabeth-II

[6] http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/HMTheQueen.aspx

[7] http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/11/biz-07women_Queen-Elizabeth-II_88G5.html

[8] http://www.royal.gov.uk/

 

– Erik Soerflaten

 

www.youtube.com/watch

 

 

Singin’ in the Rain 1952

Singin’ in the Rain was a musical film in technicolor starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Conner, Debbie Reynolds, and with the comedy styles of Jean Hagen. The film was released in April, just in time for the "April showers," considering the movie deals with the rain. This idea was definately played off for publicity reasons.The film is almost like a film within a film. The movie revolves around 3 actors in a type of love triangle. It revolves around the story of them struggling to transition from silent films to sound. And also pokes fun at old Hollywood.  The writer of the film actually didn’t even write the film until after the songs were done and then wrote the film around the songs. As far as advertising the film didn’t get too much publicity. They mocked the overly simple title; although they did comment on the dancing and the comedy. In 1953 the film was nominated for 2 Oscars although it didn’t win either. This film is ranked in the top 200 films in history.  Ashley McArthur

By BOSLEY CROWTHER.  (1952, April 6). AN APRIL SHOWER :Rain of Refreshing Pictures Descends Upon Local Film Theatres. New York Times (1857-Current file),X1.  Retrieved March 4, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) database. (Document ID: 93363059).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/

 

Enewetak Hydrogen Bomb Test (1952)

 

 

     On November 1st 1952 the United States detonated the world’s first Hydrogen Bomb.  These new weapons, more commonly known as hydrogen bombs (or “H-Bomb”) are usually defined as nuclear weapons in which a least a portion of the energy is released by nuclear fusion.  Unlike that device which tapped energy by splitting atomic nuclei, the Enewetak forced together nuclei of hydrogen (this was nuclear fusion) to unleash an even greater destructive force. [2] This new fusion process was 1000’s of times more powerful from the nuclear fission bombs, “A-Bombs” used against Japan in the Pacific War.     

 

     For this first test, the Enewatak atoll was chosen as a natural extension of the atomic weapons testing grounds located to the east in the Bikini Islands that was being used from 1946 to 1949.  In preparation for this test, codenamed “Ivy Mike,” native populations were moved (often by force) to resettle on other nearby atolls. [4]    Enewatak was also held by the Japanese Empire during the Pacific War; likewise, it was the scene of terrible fighting. Bodies of United States servicemen killed in the Battle of Enewetak and buried there had to be exhumed returned to the United States to be re-buried by their families before testing could commence.[5] 

 

     The blast itself was rated at 10.4 megatons and produced a crater 6,240 feet in diameter and 164 feet deep.  The test simply vaporized the island of Eugeleb as illustrated in the before and after pictures above.  The fireball was an estimated 3.25 miles wide and produced a mushroom cloud that rose to an altitude of 57,000 feet.  The blast rained down radioactive coral on the monitoring ships stationed 30 miles away and it was detected using seismographs over a thousand miles away in California. [6] In the nuclear arms race that followed the word’s largest H-bomb, “Tsar Bomba” was detonated by the Soviet Union in 1961.  It had a yield of 100 megatons, almost ten times the force of the Ivy Mike test. [7]

 

Promotional film clip for the “Ivy Mike” test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEFXfMQ-vzQ

 

[1]  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/591670/thermonuclear-bomb

[2]  http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2781000/2781419.stm

[3]  http://www.energy-net.org/01NUKE/LIB-PICS/IvyMikeKing.jpg

[4,6]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Mike

[5]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enewetak

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_bomb

 

~ Lucas Erickson

 

More on Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl: The Book and her Legecy

 

This is what I get for being a nice person and not wanting to steal the lock from someone else eairlier!

 

Anyway,

 

 

      Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl tells the story of a teenage Jewish girl and her family as they hid from the forces of Hitler. I think most of us can say we have at least heard this much of the story.  Here’s a little bit more about the book itself:

 

     Anne received her diary as a 13th birthday present from her father on June 12^th 1942.  It was a red, blue, and white plaid autograph book, which she decided to use as a diary. Not even a month after that, “the Franks moved into the Secret Annexe on the morning of July 6, 1942. The Franks were eventually joined by four others in their hiding place: the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer. Anne recorded the most intimate details of daily life during her two-year stay in the Secret Annexe, and conveyed her fear of being discovered almost daily. Anne wrote almost daily in her diary until her last diary entry on August 1, 1944.”

 

     Anne’s father, Otto, was the only family member to survive. Anne apparently died of Typhus while in one of the camps. He was the one who ended up with his daughter’s dairy, which had been forgotten when they had been captured. The book was first published in Germany in 1947. It did not make its way to the states until 1952. Since the publication of her diary, Anne Frank has gotten herself a center in New York and many play and film adaptations of her story. “Her diary has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world.”

 

     Some of the conent of the book was editied by her father, because he thought some of it would not intreast the reader. He also gave fake names to people she actually knew. Some holocaust deniers cite this as proof it did not actually happen. This was later proven to be false, as both her handwriting, and paper and ink samples matched.

 

     According to their mission statement on their website,the Anne Frank Center is a place that "uses the diary and spirit of Anne Frank as unique tools to advance her legacy, to educate young people and communities about the consequences of intolerance, racism and discrimination, and to inspire the next generation to build a world based on mutual respect."

 

I was going to show a "Robot Chicken" spoof on Anne Frank, but it got taken down shortly after I found it. Instead, I found one of the many movie adaptions of her life.

Alanna Steeves

Sources:

http://people.smu.edu/fnichols/

http://www.annefrank.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Young_Girl

 

 

The Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (1951)

 

 

In response to the unprecedented act of four terms as President of the United States, an amendment was proposed in 1947 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) and ratified on February 27, 1951 (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html). This amendment was proposed after Franklin Delano Roosevelt held that office from 1935 to his death in 1945 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt/).

 

In a custom dating back to George Washington, it was by convention that the president served only two terms, as a way to deter a monarchy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution). The third president, Thomas Jefferson, also seconded this gesture. The former president was wise enough to foresee a possible amendment in the future if this trend were to be broken. In a letter to John Taylor, Jefferson wrote “‘General Washington set the example of voluntary retirement after eight years. I shall follow it, and a few more precedents will oppose the obstacle of habit to anyone after a while who shall endeavor to extend his term. Perhaps it may beget a disposition to establish it by an amendment of the Constitution’” (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86324).

 

As such, the Twenty-second Amendment was passed in the winter of 1951. It stated: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term” (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html).

 

Todd Green 

 

Kay Starr’s “Wheel of Fortune” number one on Billboard Charts 9 weeks

 

Pop musician, Kay Starr, had one of the biggest hits of 1952 with her single, “Wheel of Fortune.” According to Wikipedia, the single first hit the top of the charts on March 15, 1952 and stayed on top for nine weeks. Starr’s reign at the number one spot equaled that of the Vera Lynn, who also was number one for nine weeks, and solidified her as a major music star. With “Wheel of Fortune,” Starr became a star on the pop radio music scene. The single, which ultimately became the number two top selling single of the year, propelled Starr to greater success and record deals with RCA and Capitol (“Who is Kay Starr?”). “Wheel of Fortune,” was not only a huge success nationally, but song brought great fame to Starr overseas as well. According to Starr, from her personal website, “It took longer to get the right sound out of that Wheel of Fortune than it did for us to record the song. It had to be timed correctly and it had to be in the same key,” (kaystarr.net). Her presence in the early 50s music scene was very crucial and influential to young upcoming artists and listeners. Starr continued to make music for the following decades; however, she never seemed to reach the same level of success as she had with “Wheel of Fortune.” Currently, Starr is living in southern California, has been married six times and has retired from the music business (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Starr).

 

 

Sources:

 

“Who is Kay Starr””

http://members.tripod.com/~Kay_Starr/biography.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_in_music

 

http://www.musicweb-international.com/nostalgia/2003/Jan03/Kay_Starr.jpg

 

http://members.tripod.com/~Kay_Starr/PhotoKS5.jpg

 

http://www.kaystarr.net/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Starr

 

 

•      Jack Jensen

 

 

 

The Dodrill-GMR

 

 

The Dodrill-GMR (General Motors Research) was the first artificial heart to be used successfully during a surgery.   It is an external machine that carries out the actions of the heart during an operation.  The purpose of the Dodrill-GMR is to maintain and circulate the body’s entire blood flow, so that the actual heart can be stopped and then operated on.  The Dodrill-GMR was invented by Dr. Forest Dewey Dodrill, a surgeon at Wayne State University’s Harper Hospital, and built by engineers from General Motors.  The construction of the artificial heart was funded by The American Heart Association and was built as a public service act by the volunteering engineers.  The Dodrill-GMR “measured 10 inches by 12 inches by 17 inches and was described as resembling a 12-cylinder engine” (wiki.gmnext.com).  The device was made of rubber, stainless steel and glass, and “it used air pressure and vacuum pumps to circulate blood from the 12 chambers through the patient’s body while the heart was being operated on” (wiki.gmnext.com). 

 

                                                   

 

 

On July 3, 1952, Dr. Dodrill performed the first open heart surgery in the world on Henry Opitek by using the Dodrill-GMR.  The artificial heart kept the blood circulating for 50 minutes, while Dr. Dodrill repaired the real heart.  In his report in the Journal of American Medicine, Dr. Dodrill noted, “To our knowledge, this is the first instance of the survival of a patient when a mechanical heart was used to take over the complete body function of maintaining the blood supply of the body while the heart was open and operated on”.  Today, open heart surgery is commonplace and its success can be attributed to the invention of the Dodrill-GMR.  Dr. Larry Stephenson, a Wayne State University cardiothoracic surgeon, noted that, “it’s estimated that worldwide more than one million open heart operations are done using some form of heart-lung machine each year” (med.wayne.edu).  The device has even opened up the opportunity for further progression in cardiac surgery.       Perry Fox

 

http://cardiacsurgery.ctsnetbooks.org/cgi/content/full/3/2008/3/T1?ck=nck

http://www.med.wayne.edu/news_media/2002/press14.asp 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_heart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodrill-GMR http://wiki.gmnext.com/wiki/index.php/1952,_The_First_Mechanical_Heart_Pump

 

B-52 Stratofortress

 

    On April 15th, 1952 the greatest American bomber plane, the B-52 Stratofortress, took its first flight with pilot “Tex”Johnson at the controls. Eight turbojet engines powered the plane, built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War “deterrence” missions. This engine power is necessary, as the B-52 carries up to 70,000 pounds of weapons, while flying at “high subsonic speeds” at altitudes upwards of 50,000 feet. This plane has worldwide navigation capabilities, and has the ability to carry nuclear or precision-guided weapons. During Desert Storm, this type of plane delivered “40 percent of all weapons” dropped by American armed forces. The plane is not only used to carry guns and ammunition, but it also highly effective at ocean and land surveillance. “Two B-52’s can, in two hours, monitor 140,000 square miles of ocean surface”. This can be a highly effective practice in assisting the Navy during times of conflict. Although this plane was originally constructed to deliver during nuclear missions, it has adapted over time, changing in accordance to political and technical conditions, carrying out a wide number of tasks. These types of planes still fly and fight for the United States, and will probably continue to do so for a very long time.

-Joseph Sullivan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-52_Stratofortress

http://www.stratofortress.org/

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=83

 

 

Rupert Murdoch inherits first newspaper (1952)

     

    

Rupert Murdoch inherited his first newspapers in 1952 when his father, a successful Australian newspaper executive, died.  Left to the 22 year-old     Murdoch were The News, an afternoon daily tabloid paper in the southern Australia town of Adelaide and the Sunday Mail.  Murdoch, who had studied at Oxford and worked as a reporter for the Birmingham Gazette, took control of the paper in 1954 and quickly changed the format by publishing stories of sex and scandal.  Circulation increased dramatically.  The name of Murdoch’s company at the time was News LTD.

Murdoch’s success allowed him to purchase many more dailies in Australia, including larger papers in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.  Not stopping at newspapers, Murdoch purchased his first television station, Channel 9, in Adelaide in 1959.  Murdoch’s sensationalistic publishing proved to be a money maker and many of his newspapers thrived as a result of the format change, making Murdoch a very wealthy man.  He eventually created Australia’s first national newspaper, The Australian.

Murdoch’s success allowed him to expand beyond Australia and in 1969 he acquired the London newspaper News of the World and a year later The Sun, he applied his trademark formula for boosting sales to both.  He turned The Sun, a respected broadsheet, into a tabloid newspaper which, for a time, included photographs of topless women referred to as “page 3 girls.”    

In 1973 Murdoch expanded his multinational corporation by purchasing two San Antonio, Texas newspapers, his first holdings in the United States.  Murdoch went on to acquire and establish many more newspapers around the world.  In 1979 News LTD. became News Corp, a holding company.

Now living in New York, Murdoch purchased about a 50% controlling interest in Twentieth Century Fox Film Company in 1985 for $250 million.  Although Murdoch already owned several television stations, he wanted to expand.  With a desire to start a broadcast television network that would rival NBC, CBS, and ABC, he purchased, through Twentieth Century Fox, Metromedia’s seven television stations.  Hindered by a U.S. law prohibiting foreign nationals from owning broadcast stations, Murdoch applied for and gained American Citizenship.  It was with these stations that he developed the Fox Television Network.

 - Danny Martin

 

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Mo-Ni/Murdoch-Rupert.html 

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/News-Corporation-Limited-Company-History.html

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/murdochrupe/murdochrupe.htm

 

Mr. Potato Head is introduced by Hasbro (1952)

 

George Lerner of New York City invented and patented Mr. Potato Head on the first of May in 1952. Mr. Potato head was based on an earlier toy called “make a face” that used a real potato. Lerner had originally designed the toy as a prize for cereal premiums. Hasbro sold the first Mr. Potato Head with a styrofoam head as a base for the facial plug-ins. However, instructions were included that suggested the use of vegetables and fruits instead of the styrofoam.

 

Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on TV. (SEE BELOW)

 

 

The original Mr. Potato Head cost 98 cents. Included in the packaging of the toy were: hands, feet, ears, two mouths, two pairs of eyes, four noses, three hats, eyeglasses, a pipe, and 8 felt pieces resembling facial hair. However, the original Mr. Potato Head kit did not come with the actual "Potato Body." So, parents had to supply their own potatoes for their children to be able to change the face of Mr. Potato Head.

 

Over one million kits were sold in the first year of distribution. In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added to the mix, and shortly after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family with accessories reflecting the affluence of the fifties. These accessories included a car, a boat trailer, a kitchen set, a stroller, and pets called Spud-ettes. Although Mr. Potato Head was originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic potato was added to the kit in 1964.

Today, Hasbro, Inc. still manufactures Mr. Potato Head.

 

Sources:

http://www.hasbro.com/playskool/mrpotatohead/

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/mrpotatohead.htm

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/?&SRC=01S01M01C030A0000T00874&gclid=CIqWt9CMipkCFRxNagodVX7DnA

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E7DC1331F934A25751C0A9669C8B63&scp=8&sq=mr.%20potato%20head&st=cse

 

-Alexandria Vallelunga

 

 

 

Volga-Don Canal Finished

http://pro.corbis.com/images/BE030415.jpg?size=67&uid={F57353D1-DD09-46CE-8CFB-1F55EDEDB37A}

http://www.reachvolgograd.org/images/volga-don-canal.jpg

 

    The Volga-Don canal which connects the Volga River and the Don River at their closest points was completed and opened June 1, 1952.  The canal on the Russian boarder joins the five seas: the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the White Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea.  At 101 kilometers long, it is the most direct navigation connection between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov.  The Volga river is the longest river in Europe and considered the national river of Russia.

    Ottoman Turks wanted to connect the Volga and Don rivers as early as 1569.  Peter the Great also shared this vision in the late 1600's.  He was never able to complete his vision due to a lack of resources so the canal idea was abandoned in 1701.  It would not be until WWII that action was taken to build a canal again.  Construction of the canal was placed on hold because of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, and the completion of the canal would not take place until 1948–1952.

    It was designed by Sergey Zhuk's Hydroproject Institute to be a monument to the battles for Tsaritsyn during the Russian Civil War, and for Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War. The Russian classical composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote the poem The Meeting of the Volga and the Don to celebrate its completion.

    The canal was  mostly built by prisoners from labor camps.  By 1952 the number of convicts on the site exceeded 100,000.  The Volga-Don Canal became an important link of the Unified Deep Water Transportation System of the European part of the USSR.  Its maximum allowed vessel size is 140 meters long, 16.6 m wide, and 3.5 m deep.  Water is mainly pumped into the canal from the Don river, and is used for irrigation purposes.  In 2004,10.9 million tons of cargo were carried over the Volga-Don canal.  Most of the cargo was moved from the east to the west, and over half of it was oil and oil products.  It was calculated in 2007 that over 55 years of the canal's operation, 450,000 vessels had passed through, and 336 million tons of cargo had been carried.  The Volga-Don Canal closes for several months in the winter.

    President Vladimir Putin announced in April 2007 that "the Government also examine the establishment of an international consortium to build a second section of the Volga-Don canal.”  This plan would almost double the annual amount of cargo transported through the canal.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Volga-Don_Canal

http://www.answers.com/topic/volga-don-canal

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/volga-don-canal.htm

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559489/Volga-Don_Canal.html

http://www.reachvolgograd.org/volga-don-canal.htm

Kelcey Friend

 

 

 

Lever House Built 1952  

Built in 1952 as the headquarters for the Lever Company, a powerhouse in the soap and detergent industry, this 24-story office building was the first all glass-and-stainless-steel construction on Park Ave. The successful soap makers had hired architect Gordon Bunshaft to design a building that would convey an image of sparkling cleanliness and modernity. Bunshaft's glass-walled office tower, now a standard, did just that, opening up the Manhattan skyline and marking a turning point in American architecture in the process. Bunshaft designed the small skyscraper with the narrow part of the green-tinted tower facing the street. Below it, perpendicular to the tower, he built a mezzanine level that floats on top of columns, allowing pedestrians to walk under underneath. To create outdoor public space and a more pleasant working environment, an open courtyard on the mezzanine level was carved out of the valuable real estate. The lobby sits under the mezzanine area and is the only part of structure enclosed in glass on the street level (http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/lever-house/). 

 

 

Lever House is still occupied by Lever Brothers, with public spaces open during office hours. It is located on the west side of Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, between 53rd and 54th Streets. The building is currently in sparkling condition following a major renovation project also by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/lever/index.htm). Jamelia Haughton

 

Below is a video that shows what the Lever House looks like today and gives a little commentary on the history of Lever House

 

 

Nixon's "Checkers" Speech

 

 

     Richard Nixon does not have a stellar record of television appearances between his debates with Kennedy and his series of interviews with David Frost.  But Nixon was in fact one of the first politicians to effectively use television in order to get his message across the American people.

      the time of his now infamous “Checkers” speech, Nixon was running for the office of Vice President alongside Dwight Eisenhower.  Nixon’s television speech was prompted by an article that ran on the front page of the New York Post on September 18, 1952, shortly after he had been announced as Eisenhower’s running mate.  The headline read: “Secret Nixon Fund: Secret Rich Men’s Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Salary.”  The article accused Nixon of accepting $18,235 from wealthy Californians and storing it in a secret campaign fund; Nixon would repay the donors in political favors.  In reality the fund was for political purposes and entirely legal, but the damage from the article had already been done.  Nixon was now in jeopardy of being replaced by Eisenhower and effectively cast off by the republican party.  Eisenhower suggested to Nixon that he go on television to respond to the charges. Republicans spent $75,000 for 30 minutes of prime time TV.  Nixon Hired and ad agency to produce the broadcast, bringing in soap opera directors and the best make-up artists and prop men from Hollywood.  In his speech he denied any wrongdoing and read off of a list of his income sources, assets etc.  He also highlighted the shortcomings and similarities between himself and his opponents.  He pointed to the fact that his wife was a great stenographer but that unlike his opponent he gave the job to someone who really needed the income. Wanting to come across as a good honest man he admitted to the American people that he did take one gift, a dog that his daughter named Checkers, and he said that he was not going to give it back.  Another interesting note was that his wife was in the room sitting in a chair watching her husband speak, even though she herself never spoke a word. 

     The “Checkers” speech brought in the largest TV audience up to that time as 60 million people tuned in.  The next biggest television event would be the Kennedy/Nixon debate eight years later.

     The speech was also broadcast across the radio waves, where 70% of voters got their election information.  It was estimated that 9 out of 10 people listened to the speech.

Nixon’s public relations move effectively saved his political career and possibly endeared him even more to the American people.  

 

                

 Sources:

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:6mMBqfYZR8AJ:www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon-checkers.htm+nixon,+secret+cash+fund,+1952&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

http://watergate.info/nixon/checkers-speech.shtml

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED128868&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED128868

-Erin Champion

 

 

Steel Strike and Nationalization of the Steel Industry (1952)

 

  President Harry Truman

 

 

     In 1952, problems had begun to arise in the US as a result of the Korean War.  In factories and mills, the wages of workers had become an issue in the failing economy.  The union, Organized Workers, was afraid of being left out of decisions being made about stabilizing wages and that there would be a freeze put on workers' wages. The government established a wage control system, and over time, implemented an act that would authorize price increases.  These things worsened the inflation issue of the economy, and extreme pressure was building up in the mills. Wage negotiations were still an issue, and the Steelworkers wanted a different policy (one that was industry wide instead of on a company by company basis).  The Steelworkers waited it out for awhile, but planned to finally strike and walk out on April 9, 1952. 

      The day before the scheduled strike, President Truman granted the Secretary of Commerce the power to seize the steel mills and nationalize the entire steel industry. Truman issued a statement to the US, in which he begins,

 

    "Tonight, our country faces a grave danger. We are faced by the possibility that at midnight tonight the steel industry will be shut down. This must not happen.

Steel is our key industry. It is vital to the defense effort. It is vital to peace..."

 

After Truman nationalized the Steel Industry, the legality of his actions were put under the radar.  Many reacted strongly to this turn of events, especially Congress, who say he had no legal right to do that.  The case was immediately taken to trial in the Supreme Court.  The case, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, resulted in the decision to revert Truman's decision.  They decided the President didn't have that right, and the Steel Industry was de-nationalized.  Truman had originally nationalized it largely to keep the Steel Industry going, so that the troops in Korea weren't without steel.  In the end, the steel workers had their strike, and after two months, an agreement was made on wages.  The ruling of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v Sawyer is considered a landmark decision in regards to Presidential powers.  

 

Sources: 

 

• The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, President Truman's Address to the American people

  on the need for Government operation of the Steel Mills. April 8, 1952.  Broadcast from the White House at 10:30 p.m.  Transcript: http://trumanlibrary.org/calendar/viewpapers.php?pid=965

• A STEEL STRIKE SETTLED :Rhode Island Company Reaches Agreement With Union. (1952, July 18). New York Times (1857-Current file),16.  Retrieved March 4, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) database.  http://0-proquest.umi.com.janus.uoregon.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=84334592&SrchMode=2&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1236203961&clientId=11238

• By JOHN D. MORRISSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES..  (1952, April 10). CONGRESS PROTESTS ON SEIZURE MOUNT :President Lists Three Courses, but Doubts Any Will Prevail -- Both Parties Score Him CONGRESS PROTESTS ON SEIZURE MOUNT. New York Times (1857-Current file),1.  Retrieved March 4, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) database. http://0-proquest.umi.com.janus.uoregon.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=84249259&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1236204037&clientId=11238

• Case Brief:  Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 72 S.Ct. 863, 96 L.Ed. 1153 (1952). From Lawnix Case Briefs  http://www.lawnix.com/cases/youngstown-sawyer.html

 

     ~Elizabeth Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

London’s Killer Fog

 

 

For five consecutive days in December of 1952, London was hit with a tumultuous fog that blackened the air, sickened thousands and killed thousands. “It’s like you were blind,” said mortician assistant Tom Cribb of London’s 1952 fog (http://www.npr.org). Formally known to Londoners as its romantic “pea-soup fog”, London’s killer fog of 1952 changed the world’s perspective on the hazards of pollution and increased its knowledge on the dangerous effects of the industrial age (http://www.democraticunderground.com).

The fog in 1952 was a mixture of thick fog and black coal smoke accumulated from a mass amount of coal burning in household chimneys across London (http://www.straightdope.com). From a scientific perspective, the moist air and minimal winds was an ideal condition for the formation of fog (http://www.portfolio.mvm.edu.ac.uk).  The fog was caused for a mass of dormant air that formed a cap over the entire city of London, entrapping the toxic coal fumes at ground level (http://www.npr.org). There was nowhere to escape from the blackened smoke, and people with weak lungs or heat disease faced a sudden fatality. Along with those victims were young children and elders, who were later discovered in drafty buildings suddenly killed by the acidic fog (http://www.trivia-library.com).  On the second day of the smog five-hundred Londoners died and masses of people traveled through the thick fog to hospitals across London (http://www.npr.org).

After five days the blackened skies brightened up, but unfortunately the fates of many Londoners did not do the same. The acidity of the fog poisoned many and thousands of deaths occurred up to a week after the fog (www.trivia-library.com). According to the Trivia-library website, hundreds of kin filed in lines to register their loved-one’s deaths and there was up to a ten-day wait for burial ceremonies in London (http://www.trivia-library.com).

In the end, the  mixture of smoke and industrial pollution suffocated, as estimated by Environmental Health Perspectives, 12,000 Londoners in just five days (http://www.npr.org). Although the London fog episode is not remembered as a major historic event, it is in fact the “deadliest environmental episode in recorded history” (http://www.democraticunderground.com).     

**(full active links listed below youtube video)                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4482188

http://www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/studentwebs/session4/27/greatsmog52.htm

http://www.trivia-library.com/b/natural-disasters-the-london-killer-fog-of-1952-part-2.htm

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=873954

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4F3Wlhywo&feature=related

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1885/what-happened-in-the-1952-london-killer-fog

-Maggie Harris 

 

Emmett Ashford- First African American Umpire

Most people can easily name Jackie Robinson as the player who broke the color barrier in professional baseball. A lesser number, but still sizable, may also be able to correctly identify Frank Robinson as major league baseball's first black manager. But chances are, the number of correct responses would drop dramatically when asked for the name of the man who became the first black umpire in pro baseball. His name was Emmett Ashford. In 1966, after more than 15 years of working college games, fly-by-night leagues, and the minors, the then 51-year old Ashford was called up by the American League and broke yet another racial barrier in professional sports. With a flamboyant showmanship and animated style of calling the game, Ashford delighted crowds and created the unlikely event of an umpire--often the most hated man on a baseball diamond--being asked for his autograph. Although he only worked in the majors for five years before retiring, Ashford's life was a model of perseverance and refusing to give up on a dream despite the odds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Ashford

 

After a brief stint at Los Angeles Community College, Ashford enrolled at nearby Chapman College. Since he was not fast enough for the Chapman track team, he played baseball for Chapman and then for a semipro team called the Mystery Nine, where he was the team's worst player who spent most games on the bench. One Sunday, however, the regular empire didn't show up so the teams recruited Ashford to take his place, since he was not going to play anyway. Begrudgingly, Ashford took the umpire's spot. "But a strange thing happened," Ashford recalled to Gerlach. "By the seventh inning they loved my umpiring. They would take up collections during those games, and the collection that Sunday was extremely heavy. Thenceforth the team decreed that I should umpire." http://warnerbros.pbwiki.com/The%20Bad%20and%20The%20Beautiful%20(1952)?edit=1

 

Although he was umpiring, it was hardly the realization of Ashford's dream. The white umpires shunned him and he could rarely stay in the same hotels and eat in the same restaurants. Ashford simply made it part of his routine to get to a location early and scout out a place to stay and places to eat.

 

In 1967 Ashford was chosen to work the All-Star game but his crowning achievement was working the 1970 World Series between Baltimore and Cincinnati. Ashford did not get to work home plate during the series, however, as it only went five games and he was slated to be behind the plate on the sixth game. Still, it was the culmination of his life's dream and he retired at the end of the season. "Trying to top the exceptionally good year and the thrilling events of the 1970 World Series would be superfluous and anticlimactic," he told Joe Durso of the New York Times. "Hence the decision to depart on top."

 

Lexi Kendall

 

 

Jan. 14, 1952 – The Today Show Premiers

 

 

On January 14, 1952, The Today Show premiered as the first television show of its kind. Since its birth in 1952, Today is the third longest running television show in history with no sign of stopping. With the addition of the fourth hour, the show is as popular as ever, and has been on top after regaining its slot as most popular from Good Morning America in 1995.

 

The idea for The Today Show was thought up by Pat Weaver, then vice-president of NBC. He hired Dave Garroway to be Today’s first host of the show blending “national news headlines, in-depth interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks and local station news updates” (www.wikipedia.com). The show’s format has since been copied many times in American television, as well as internationally.

 

When the show started, it was only aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones, but since 1958, it has been tape delayed for all the different time zones. A unique part of the show that brought it down-to-earth for viewers was the five minutes time slots available for local news stations.

 

The Today’s show studio was first located at RCA Exhibition Hall on 49^th street, the current location of Christie’s auction house. They created the first in-house newsroom where the backstage and the newsroom had no real barrier.

 

The Today Show has gone through many very talented journalists as hosts, including Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters, Bryant Gumbel, Katie Couric, and Matt Lauer. Hosts have gone through many different roles, starting as “communicators” and currently similar to celebrities.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(NBC_program)

photo from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TcFdN5N0RWc/R1C_w6GUuvI/AAAAAAAAAac/HlnFv53QD6o/s1600-R/Tv_nbc_today_logo.jpg

 

 

Brooke Burris

 

Diary of Anne Frank Published in English

 

Born on June 12, 1929, Anne Frank was a German-Jewish teenager who was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust. She and her family, along with four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father’s office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  “Friday, August 4, 1944, is a day like any other day. The helpers are working in the office in the front part of the building. Upstairs, the people in hiding are quietly going about their business. Suddenly, out front on the Prinsengracht, a vehicle comes to a halt. Out jumps an SS-officer and three Dutch policeman. They enter the building and go directly to the office. Victor Kugler must escort them to the Secret Annex. The people in hiding have been betrayed…”

After being betrayed to the Nazis, Anne, her family, and the others living with them were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps.

 

Her diary, saved during the war by one of the family’s helpers, Miep Gies, was first published in 1947. Today, her diary has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world.  “Otto begins reading Anne's diary. It is a revelation to him, because he realizes how little he knew about his daughter. In her diary, Otto reads about the plan Anne had to publish a book after the war about the time she spent in the Secret Annex. She had even edited and rewritten a large portion of her original diary. Initially, Otto Frank feels uncertain about the idea but he finally decides to fulfill his daughter's wish.” Erin Boyle

 

 

http://www.annefrank.com/who-is-anne-frank/

 

http://wordsworthyreadingpaths.pbwiki.com/f/Anne%20Frank.jpg

http://www.tvscoop.tv/annefrank.jpg

http://www.annefrank.org/content.asp?pid=1&lid=2

 

Special Forces Activated (1952) 

Special Forces shouldersleeve isignia

                On June 19^th, 1952 the United States Army Special Forces was activated. “Special Forces grew out of the establishment of the Special Operations Division of the Psychological Warfare Center activated at Fort Bragg, NC in May 1952” (http://www.bragg.army.mil/specialforces/History.htm ). The Psychological Warfare Center established the Psychological Warfare School, which exists today as the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, still located at Fort Bragg, NC. The Special Forces led quick reaction groups, and quickly became highly successful at this. They also led cross-border operations. The first combat Special Forces group was not sent until 1953 to Korea.

 

1st Special Forces Regiment distinctive insignia

                The units for Special Forces generally consist of 6 A-teams composed of about 12 men each, 1 B-team when needed consisting of about 11-13 people, and C-team with about 2-30 people. The A-teams specialize in specific infiltration skills or have a specific mission to do. The B-team supports the A-teams  their actions. The C-team is the command, training, signals, and logistics team. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Special_Forces)

-Kelly Littell

 

 

 

Bogart Wins Oscar, 1952

 

 

          On March 20, 1952, Humphrey Bogart received his first and only Oscar, for Best Actor in The African Queen. The African Queen opened early on December 23, 1951 in Los Angeles in order to qualify for the Oscars and opened again on February 20, 1952 at the Capitol Theatre in New York City. The African Queen was a drama, directed by John Huston and produced by Sam Spiegel and John Woolf. Other members of the cast included Katharine Hepburn, with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel. The African Queen was selected for preservation not only in the U.S. National Film Registry, but also in multiple countries around the world. The Film Registry preserved The African Queen for its cultural, aesthetic and significance to showcase the full range and diversity of American film heritage. As of recently, in 2008, there were 500 films preserved in the National Film Registry.

 

 

            Bogart was born Dec. 25, 1899 appeared in 75 feature motion pictures throughout his career. Bogart, a cultural icon, died on Jan. 14, 1957. In 1997, Entertainment Weekly magazine named him the number one movie legend of all time. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the greatest male star.

            Throughout this course, we have seen quite a few films starring Bogart, some of which are his most famous, including Casablanca in 1943 and The Big Sleep in 1946. Although we did not view his 1948 film, Key Largo, it was another one of his best.

            Below is the movie trailer from The African Queen.

 

 

Sources:

http://www.popstarsplus.com/images/HumphreyBogartPicture.jpg

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=3086

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043265/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_African_Queen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Bogart

Sylvie Atkins

 

They operate in urban, jungle, desert, mountain, maritime, and arctic environments...

 

 

Following the close of WWII President Harry Truman disbanded his Office of Special Services (OSS). In its wake, and from its fragments, the United States Special Forces was formed. The first unit was activated on June 12, 1952 commanded by Colonel Aaron Bank, who along with Colonel Russell Volckman helped to create the Special Forces[2]. They were both ex-OSS officers and persuaded the US Army that the country absolutely needed a branch that would be specially trained in 'unconventional tactics', for certain countries such as Soviet Russia. They built the the unit up and placed headquarters at FT. Bragg, North Carolina Most of the original men who signed up were EX OSS officers, airborne troops, Rangers, and hardened Vets from WWII and Korea[2]. Although these were incredibly tough and experienced soldiers they were in store for quite an intensive training for missions the like of which they had never been assigned to before. Before this, men would go behind enemy lines only for stints, but now they were required to infiltrate and stay behind enemy lines on missions sometimes for months but other times for years. In addition, the Geneva Convention did not protect military personnel dressed as civilians so they were likely to be killed if found out. The first unit to be activated consisted of only 8 soldiers, but the Special Forces soon gained more fame and thus more bodies for training. President John Kennedy visited Fort Bragg and acclaimed that the soldiers exhibited “the highest levels of courage and achievement of the United States military"[2]. Soon after, in 1961, Kennedy made the green beret the official head gear of the Special Forces and to this day the green beret is known to be synonymous with Special Forces. They train to perform five doctrinal missions: Foreign Internal Defense, Unconventional Warfare, Special Reconnaissance, Direct Action, Combating Terrorism [1].Within these 5 categories the US Special Forces are, “trained in languages, culture, diplomacy, psychological warfare, disinformation -- generating and spreading false information -- and politics”[5]. They adopted their own motto, specific to the Green Berets: De Oppresso Liber (Latin: To Liberate the Oppressed) a reference to one of their primary missions, training and advising foreign indigenous forces [6]. The Special Forces have come to represent the most adaptable and specialized organization available in the United States' military arsenal.[4] The following quote embodies the need for the Special Forces and the way that WWII marked a change in modern warfare and is taken directly from the Special Forces website:

 

“Warfare today has new rules and calls for a different type of Soldier's new warrior” [3].

 

 

[1]http://www.globalspecialoperations.com/sf.html

[2] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arsoc-history3.htm
[3] http://www.goarmy.com/special_forces/index.jsp

[4] http://science.howstuffworks.com/green-beret.htm

[5] http://science.howstuffworks.com/green-beret1.htm

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Special_Forces

 

By Nichole Johnson

 

 

First Woman Single-Handedly Sails Atlantic (1952)

 

 

4

 

Ann Davison was 39 years old when she departed Plymouth, England in her boat “Felicity Ann” on May 18, 1952. 1 She set out to make land-fall in Antigua however storms pushed her south and she eventually found land in Dominica on January 23, 1953, 254 days later. 2 She kept an autobiographical account of her trip that was published. “My Ship is So Small,” recounts some of the treacherous journey:

 

 

Most of the time, however, there was a huge swell in which FA rolled abominably and flung her boom from side to side with a viciousness that threatened to wrench it clean out of its fastenings. She rattled her blocks and everything not immovably fast below with an aggravating irregularity, so that I was driven to a frenzy of restowing and rigging preventers in an effort to restore peace. An intermittent blop--rattle--crash on a small boat at sea is the nautical version of the Chinese water torture. 3

 

 

Her accomplishment was even more noteable because four years prior to her attempt, one made by her husband to achieve the same feat ended with his death after a shipwreck in his 70-foot boat. 3 Davidson’s boat was only 23 feet long, 7’5” wide.

 

1 http://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/archive/2003-16-4.html

2 http://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year/1953.htm

3 http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/ocean_planet_book_davison.html

4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/magpie/2437381703/

 

MICHAEL CALCAGNO

 

Deadly Tornado Outbreak of 1952

On March 21, a series of deadly tornadoes ravaged 5 states (http://www.freebase.com/view/en/1952_arkansas_tennessee_tornado_outbreak), mainly  Arkansas and Tennessee overnight and into the 22nd.  The outbreak consisted of over 29 reported tornados that touched down (http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado.php?yr=1952&mo=3&day=21&st=%25&fu=%25&co=Any&l=auto&submit=Table&ddat=on&dtim=on&dsta=on&dfuj=on&dfat=on&dinj=on&dlen=on&dcou=on&format=basic&p=1&s=1).  In Arkansas alone, 111 were killed in the worst outbreak in the state to date.  The outbreak crossed state boundries into Tennessee to the NE (a typical tornado takes a northeast path as it moves).  The area which the tornadoes occured on this day is labeled "Dixie Alley". "Dixie Alley" does not see the volume of tornadoes that the adjacent "Tornado Alley" does.  "Tornado Alley" consists of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Tornadoes occur predominantly in the spring time due to the warm, moist air in the south and the still cold, dry winter air in the north mixing and resulting in violent weather.

 

The tornadoes that touched down in Arkansas and Tennessee on the 21st and 22nd rated on the Fujita tornado scale anywhere between a F-2 and F-4 (http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado.php?yr=1952&mo=3&day=21&st=%25&fu=%25&co=Any&l=auto&submit=Table&ddat=on&dtim=on&dsta=on&dfuj=on&dfat=on&dinj=on&dlen=on&dcou=on&format=basic&p=1&s=1), with F-5 being the most intesne, destructive tornado on the scale (the Fujita scale is ranked based upon how much damage the tornado inflicts). 

 

The tornado had played an important role in film in the past, making maybe its most famous apperance in The Wizard of Oz as the storm that sends Dorothy into the mysterious land of Oz in 1932.

Pat Rosborough

 

Sun Records

 

Sun Records began operations in 1952 and a new era of popular music began with it's inception. The Memphis based record company started the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison (for some reason or another), and Jerry Lee Lewis most notably. The new record house brought in a ground breaking forum for the beginnings of much of modern rock and rhythm & blues.

What is interesting to note about Sun Records was that it began as a mainly African-American recording studio that showcased 'pulp pop' up until the latter 1950s when it began to branch out towards the new electric rock genres and racier tracks of pop music. It was at this point that many rock historians point to Sun Records as having a profound ripple effect on music and leaving an everlasting legacy for what was deemed as appropriate for distribution and marketable as the best tunes around.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Records

www.sunrecords.com/content/view/61/75/