WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO JULY 1951
Find out what all happened January to July 1951

Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers. (14. May 1951)

The Polish cultural attache in Paris, Czesław Miłosz, asks the French government for political asylum. (15. May 1951)

Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, records "Rocket 88", often cited as "the first rock and roll record", at Sam Phillips' recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee. (3. March 1951)

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is published for the first time by Little, Brown and Company. (16. July 1951)

Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea. (11. April 1951)

Dan Gavriliu performs the first surgical replacement of a human organ. (20. April 1951)

The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. (27. February 1951)

The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines. (16. May 1951)

Korean War: Operation Ripper – United Nations troops led by General Matthew Ridgeway begin an assault against Chinese forces. (7. March 1951)

William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor. (4. July 1951)

Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat. (27. January 1951)

Ilse Koch, "The Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in West Germany. (15. January 1951)

Dezik (Дезик) and Tsygan (Цыган, "Gypsy") are the first dogs to make a sub-orbital flight. (22. July 1951)

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. (29. March 1951)

Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong. (22. April 1951)

American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. (23. April 1951)

First Indochina War: In the Battle of Mao Khe, French Union forces, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflict a defeat on Việt Minh forces commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp. (28. March 1951)

Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with China. (23. May 1951)

Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul. (14. March 1951)

First Indochina War: The Battle of Vinh Yen begins, which will end in a major victory for France. (13. January 1951)