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1951 Unemployment dipped to 3.3% in the US and new roads were built to take the ever increasing numbers of cars including the New Jersey Turnpike. Children were given more than any other time in previous history with guitar lessons and sets of Encyclopedias to improve their minds . The average family income was $3,700 per year and people had money to spend so cars became more luxurious and had more powerful engines with options for two tone paint, during this time things like turn signals were still an extra and most drivers still used hand signals to tell other drivers which way they were turning. Television continued to grow with popular programmes like "I Love Lucy" and the first tests for Color Television Pictures were broadcast from Empire State Building . Europe continued to export many cars to the US including Volkswagon's and Austin's.





Cost of Living 1951

How Much things cost in 1951
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 7.88%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 9.5%
Average Cost of new house $9.000.00
Average wages per year $3,510.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 19 cents
Average Cost of a new car $1,500.00
Loaf of Bread 16 cents
LB of Hamburger Meat 50 cents
Bacon per LB 52 cents
Eggs per dozen 24 cents
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling

Average House Price 2,115




Technology 1951

  • First oral contraceptive ( the Pill )invented by Luis E. Miramontes


  • Direct dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.


  • First Color Television Pictures broadcast from Empire State Building




    • Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )


    Breeder Reactor USA converted Uranium to Plutonium






What Events Happened in 1951

  • Libya Gains Independence from Italy


  • 22nd Amendment limits US presidential term of office to 8 yrs ( 2 terms )


  • First nuclear bomb tests at Nevada test site


  • Iran Nationalizes it's Oil Fields


  • The Broker Commuter Train Crashes in Woodbridge, New Jersey


  • President Harry S Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as commander of United Nations Forces


  • United Nations forces recapture Seoul during the Korean War


  • The Festival of Britain opens at the Royal Festival Hall


  • The 22nd amendment to the Constitution limiting Presidents to two terms


  • The Great Flood of 1951 in Midwest United States






Popular Culture

  • The term Rock N Roll is coined by Cleveland Disc Jockey Alan Freed


  • The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the U.S. for the first time.

Popular Films

  • An American in Paris
  • The African Queen
  • A Streetcar Named Desire
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still

Popular Music

  • Perry Como
  • Mario Lanza
  • Nat King Cole
  • Tony Bennett

Popular TV

  • I Love Lucy
  • What's My Line? debuts on BBC Television.