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U.S.
Congress ratifies Marshall Plan, approving $17 billion in
European aid
-
State of Israel
created; admits over 200,000 European war refugees
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Soviet Union seals
off land routes to Berlin; West responds with massive airlift of
provisions
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President Harry S
Truman re-elected in upset over Thomas E. Dewey
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200-inch telescope
at Mount Palomar begins operation
Cortisone introduced as an arthritis treatment
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"Big bang" theory
of the universe’s origin postulated
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Orville Wright dies
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World Series:
Cleveland over Boston, 4-2
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Sports: Olympics
held in London; "Citation" wins Preakness, Belmont and Kentucky
Derby; Boxer Joe Louis retires; Babe Ruth dies
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Songs: Nature Boy,
Buttons and Bows, All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth
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TV Shows: Howdy
Doody, Philco TV Playhouse, Toast of the Town, Kraft Television
Theatre, Meet the Press
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Books:
The Big Fisherman, Lloyd C. Douglas; Crusade in Europe, Dwight
D. Eisenhower; Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton; The Ides of
March, Thorton Wilder; Tales of the South Pacific, James
Michener; The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer
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Long-playing
(33-1/3 RPM) record invented
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Boxing and
wrestling are TV’s prime attractions
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Selective Service
inaugurated, providing a continuous peacetime military draft
until repealed in 1973
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New York’s Idlewild
Airport opens (renamed JFK Airport in 1963)
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Swiss outdoorsman
George de Mestral invents Velcro
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Noted food critic
Duncan Hines founds a company to make prepackaged cake mixes
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Popcorn sold on a
mass scale for the first time
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"Scrabble" game is
introduced
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The Reno Kennel
Club is established!
