The Baby Boom Years: 1951 View larger

The Baby Boom Years: 1951

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The definitive collection of 1950s American music, news, fashion, fads and kitsch that continues to influence the world.

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BORN

  • Kirstie Alley
  • Sting
  • Sally Ride
  • Tommy Hilfiger

MUSIC

  • Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed coins the term “rock ‘n’ roll”.


FASHION

  • Full skirts, tiny waists, and looking youthful and pretty is where it’s at.
  • Narrow heels and pointy toes elongated the foot and short, strapless dresses in rich hues were all the rage.

SPORTS

  • Sugar Ray Robinson, considered pound-for-pound boxing’s greatest, defeats Jake “Raging Bull” LaMotta for middleweight championship.
  • The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game
  • Joe DiMaggio plays in his final career regular season game.

WORLD

  • Germany makes amends for holocaust agreeing to admit shame and pay Israel nearly $1 billion reparations in penance.
  • Jordan’s King Abdullah assassinated by Palestine killer for being soft on Israel.

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

  • Hydraglide, first commercially available power steering system, appeared on this car.

a. Chrysler Imperial b. Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood c. Lincoln Capri d. Ford Fiesta

  • Name the fast-food chain that opened its doors to French-fry and car antenna-ball lovers everywhere this year.
  • With this book, Holden Caulfield, one of literature’s most convincingly alienated adolescents was created. Recounting this prep school fugitive’s illicit two-day adventure though grown-up New York, some saw it as an advertisement for delinquency. Indeed the novel was a favorite of ’50s teenage rebels. Name this book, now compulsory high school reading.
  • Studios suppressed it to avoid competition. Name the Disney version that remains the most popular cinematic adaptation, is responsible for popularizing the iconic image of its central character and notable for its distinctly psychedelic, visual style.

R.I.P.

  • Sinclair Lewis
  • Fannie Brice
  • Will K. Kellogg
  • “Shoeless” Joe Jackson

Billboard Top 10 Pop Hits:

  1. Mockingbird Hill — Patti Page
  2. Cry — Johnny Ray
  3. Too Young — Nat King Cole
  4. Cold, Cold Heart — Tony Bennett
  5. Come On-a My House —Rosemary Clooney
  6. Because of You — Tony Bennett
  7. Sentimental Journey —Les Brown & the Ames Brothers
  8. That’s My Boy — Stan Freburg
  9. Be My Love — Mario Lanza
  10. Sixty Minute Man —Billy Ward and His Dominoes