Contemporary
Schuman Declaration (1950): The Plan That Launched European Unity
France proposed a supranational coal and steel community with West Germany, leading to the Treaty of Paris of 1951 and the start of European integration.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (1951): Korea's Battle for the Hills
The US 2nd Infantry Division and attached French and Dutch battalions captured the ridge after a month of fighting, at heavy cost on both sides.
Contemporary
Truman Dismisses MacArthur (1951): A Clash Over the Korean War
MacArthur was replaced by General Matthew Ridgway; after a storm of protest and Senate hearings, the principle of civilian control of the military and a limited war in Korea were upheld.
Contemporary
Battle of the Imjin River (1951): The Glosters' Last Stand
The British 29th Brigade was forced back with heavy losses and the Gloucestershire Regiment was largely destroyed, but the delay helped stop the Chinese Spring Offensive short of Seoul.
Contemporary
Cambridge Five: Britain's Soviet Spy Ring and Its Defections
Burgess and Maclean fled to Moscow in 1951 and Philby in 1963; Blunt confessed secretly in 1964 and was publicly exposed in 1979; Cairncross was publicly named in 1990.
Contemporary
Rosenberg Trial (1951): Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Spy Case
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and executed on 19 June 1953; Morton Sobell received 30 years.
Contemporary
European Coal and Steel Community (1951): First Step to the EU
Six states created the first supranational European community, which ran a common market for coal and steel from 1952 to 2002 and became the model for the EEC.
Contemporary
Mau Mau Uprising 1952-1960: Revolt against British Rule in Kenya
The revolt was militarily defeated by 1956, but it hastened the end of colonial rule; Kenya became independent in December 1963.
Contemporary
Egyptian Revolution of 1952: The Free Officers Overthrow Farouk
The monarchy fell, Egypt became a republic in June 1953 and Gamal Abdel Nasser emerged as its leader by 1954.
Contemporary
Miller-Urey Experiment (1952): Testing the Origin of Life
The experiment produced amino acids from simple gases and water, founding the laboratory study of the chemical origins of life.
Contemporary
Great Smog of London (1952): The Deadly Fog and the Clean Air Act
An estimated 4,000 deaths in the immediate aftermath and perhaps 10,000-12,000 in total; the disaster led to the Clean Air Act 1956.
Contemporary
Battle of Pork Chop Hill (1953): Fighting Amid Armistice Talks
US forces held the hill in April 1953 but abandoned it to Chinese forces on 11 July 1953, two weeks before the armistice.