At A Glance

18 August 1951 at a glance

Day of the week
18 August 1951 was a Saturday.
Top Film of 1951
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1951 was Quo Vadis.
Star sign
The star sign for 18 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 18 August 1951 fell in the Year of the Rabbit.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 18 August 1951 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 18 August

  • 1945 Sukarno takes office as the first president of Indonesia, following the country's declaration of independence the previous day.
  • 1945 Soviet-Japanese War: Battle of Shumshu: Soviet forces land at Takeda Beach on Shumshu Island and launch the Battle of Shumshu; the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands commences.
  • 1949 Kemi strike: Two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland.
  • 1958 Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
  • 1958 Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors.

Famous people born on 18 August

  • Robert Redford, American actor, director, and producer (1936–2025)
  • Patrick Swayze, American actor and dancer (1952–2009)
  • Edward Norton, American actor (born 1969)
  • Kaitlin Olson, American actress and comedian (born 1975)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1951 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1951 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 January – The radio series The Archers begins on the BBC Light Programme. It will still be on the air 75 years later.
  • 21 February – An English Electric Canberra (with Rolls-Royce Avon engines) becomes the first jet to make an unrefuelled Transatlantic flight, taking 4 hours 37 minutes from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Gander in Newfoundland.
  • 17 April – The Peak District is established as the first of the national parks of the United Kingdom. The Lake District is designated so in May, and designations of Snowdonia and Dartmoor come into effect on 20 November.

Life in 1951

Prime Minister

Clement Attlee

Monarch

George VI

Pint of Beer

6p

Loaf of Bread

4p

Average House

£1,975

Weekly Wage

£7.50

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1950s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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