The following events occurred in June 1950:
June 1, 1950 (Thursday)
Guam was given the status of a United States Territory, and all of its residents were granted U.S. citizenship. The French government sent a 24-hour ultimatum to the British government, to either accept the proposal for joining what would become the European Coal and Steel Community, or miss out on the negotiations set to start the next day. The Welsh Air Service, the world's first scheduled helicopter service, began operating between Cardiff, Wrexham and Liverpool. At 9:30 pm near Hilo, Mauna Loa in Hawaii started erupting. Born: Gennadi Manakov, Soviet cosmonaut, in Yefimovka, Orenburg Oblast (d. 2019)
June 2, 1950 (Friday) At a meeting presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Herbert Morrison in the absence of Prime Minister Clement Attlee, the British cabinet ministers elected not to participate in the talks to create the European Coal and Steel Community. The United States and Canada became associate members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEEC).
June 3, 1950 (Saturday)
The European Coal and Steel Community was formed in Paris by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg."Six-Nation Pact Pools Coal, Steel For Peace", Miami Sunday News, June 4, 1950, p1 The first "World Series" in the 15-year history of the Roller Derby began at New York's Madison Square Garden, with five teams competing against each other, "headed by the pennant-winning Philadelphia Panthers"."Roller Derbyists In 'World Series'", Miami Sunday News, June 3, 1950, pB-1 The series was a six-night round-robin tournament that also featured the Jersey Jolters, the Brooklyn Red Devils, the Chicago Westerners and the New York Chiefs."Roller Derby Lead Held by N.Y. Over N.J., Brooklyn", Camden (NJ) Courier Post, June 5, 1950, p24 The racehorse Citation set a new record for running the mile, with a mark of 1 minute, 33.6 seconds to win the Golden Gate Mile in Albany, California. Citation also set a new record for earnings as the $20,000 prize set his total earnings to $924,630."Citation Shatters World Mile Mark", Miami Sunday News, June 4, 1950, pD-1 Annapurna, at feet the tenth highest mountain"Trial by Ice", LIFE Magazine, July 9, 1951, p84 in the world, was first ascended by the French Annapurna expedition to become the highest peak climbed (and the first 8,000-metre peak climbed) up to that time. The flag of France was planted on the summit by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal. Both Herzog and Lachenal, who made the climb without bottled oxygen and refused to turn back in spite of the onset of frostbite, lost all of their toes, and Herzog lost all of his fingers as well.James M. Tabor, The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008) p71 Born: Deniece Williams, American pop singer, songwriter and four time Grammy Award winner, as June Deniece Chandler in Gary, Indiana Suzi Quatro, American rock musician, singer, bass player and four time Grammy Award winner, as Susan Quatrocchio in Detroit
June 4, 1950 (Sunday) Nationwide elections for the House of Councillors in Japan, with the majority Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, increased its share, winning 52 of the 132 seats.Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan, J. A. A. Stockwin, ed. (Taylor & Francis, 2003) p85 Voters in Belgium voted for Parliament, determining the fate of King Leopold III if he should return from exile to rule the nation."Belgians Vote On King's Fate", Miami Sunday News, June 4, 1950, p3 The Social Christian Party, which favored the King, won 107 seats, while the "anti-Leopold" coalition of Socialists, Liberals and Communists combined for 105 seats."Monarchists Win Election In Belgium", Miami Daily News, June 5, 1950, p1 Nazim al-Kudsi formed a government as the new Prime Minister of Syria.Malik Mufti, Sovereign Creations: Pan-Arabism and Political Order in Syria and Iraq (Cornell University Press, 1996) p54 Died: Ahmad Tajuddin, 36, Sultan of Brunei since 1924. The Sultan was succeeded by his younger brother, Omar Ali Saifuddien III.Abdul Harun Majid, Rebellion in Brunei: The 1962 Revolt, Imperialism, Confrontation and Oil (I.B.Tauris, Aug 15, 2007) pp21-22 Kazys Grinius, 83, President of Lithuania in 1926 George Cecil Ives, 82, British gay rights activist and poet
June 5, 1950 (Monday) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Sweatt v. Painter and a companion case, McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, that the doctrine of "separate but equal" was invalid unless a state was able to provide equal opportunities to each race."Segregation Ruling Is Specific", Miami Daily News, June 6, 1950, p4-A; Jason Morgan Ward, Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936–1965 (University of North Carolina Press, 2011) p125 The Allied High Commission returned control to West Germany of that nation's chemical industry, on the condition that the chemicals manufactured would be limited to those used in peacetime."West Germans Regain Control of Industries", Miami Daily News, June 5, 1950, p1 A chartered C-46 airplane operated by Westair had to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean after losing power during a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Wilmington, Delaware, with the loss of 37 of the 65 people on board."37 Of 64 On 'Ditched' Plane Rescued", Miami Daily News, June 6, 1950, p1; Aviation Safety Network Born: Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Philippine editor who defied the Marcos government; in Manila (d. 1977)
June 6, 1950 (Tuesday) The "Red Purge", a political action by the Tokyo government against officials of the Japanese Communist Party, reached its peak. Over the next seven months, the purge was extended to party members and sympathizers, and 20,997 public and private employees were fired from their jobs, leftist newspapers were put out of business, and leftist student organizations were raided.Shunsuke Tsurumi, A Cultural History of Postwar Japan: 1945–1980 (Routledge, 1987) p5; Howard B. Schonberger, Aftermath of War: Americans and the Remaking of Japan, 1945–1952 (Kent State University Press, 1989) p154 Died: Charles S. Howard, 73, millionaire car dealer and owner of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit
June 7, 1950 (Wednesday) The Communist governments of Poland and East Germany agreed to set the border between their two nations as the Oder River and the Neisse River, with the Germans relinquishing claims to the territory lost in World War II."Poles, East Reich Agree On New Boundary Line", Miami Daily News, June 7, 1950, p1 Born: Howard Finkel, American pro wrestling ring announcer, in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2020)
June 8, 1950 (Thursday)
The New Jersey Jolters defeated the Brooklyn Red Devils, 24 to 22, to win the first ever "World Series of Roller Derby", before a crown of 16,877 people at New York City's Madison Square Garden.Roller Derby Series Won by Jersey Team", Wilmington (DE) News Journal, June 9, 1950, p30 Newspapers in Pyongyang, the capital of Communist North Korea, published the manifesto of the "Central Committee of the United Democratic Patriotic Front", adopted the day before, announcing the goal of reunification of North Korea and South Korea starting with meetings on August 15. Seventeen days later, North Korean troops would invade South Korea.Roy E. Appleman, South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu, Volume 1 of United States Army in the Korean War (Government Printing Office, 1987) pp20-21
Sir Thomas Blamey became the first, and only Field Marshal in Australian history, less than a year before his death on May 27, 1951.Norman Dean Carlyon, I Remember Blamey (Macmillan, 1980) p148 Born: Kathy Baker, American TV and film actress, in Midland, Texas Sônia Braga, Brazilian TV and film actress, in Maringá
June 9, 1950 (Friday) In Budapest, 322 priests and monks, and more than 600 nuns, were arrested and transported to various camps within Hungary. Vatican Radio reported the news more than two weeks later, on June 26."Hungary Seizes Priests And Nuns", Miami Daily News, June 25, 1950, p2-A Screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson were hauled to jail, handcuffed together, after being convicted of contempt of Congress."2 Film Writers Taken To Jail", Miami Daily News, June 9, 1950, p1 A landslide buried 70 construction employees at the Japanese village of Kumanodiara while they were working on repair of a railway track, with only 24 people rescued."Landslide Kills 26", Miami Daily News, June 9, 1950, p1
June 10, 1950 (Saturday) An official of the United Nations Commission on Korea crossed into North Korea and received the text of that nation's proposal for unification with South Korea, bringing back three "peace representatives" from the North.Center of Military History, Korea 1950 (Government Printing Office, 2000) p9
June 11, 1950 (Sunday) NASCAR racer John Edward "Skimp" Hersey, 37, was fatally injured when he lost control of his car during a race at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway. At the time, it was common for racers to keep a can of extra gasoline in their vehicles in case they ran out far from the pit, and Hersey's car was engulfed in flames. A photographer from the Atlanta Constitution newspaper was the first to reach the scene, and as he took pictures of the burning car, Hersey crawled out of the wreckage on fire. The newsman kept taking photos without making any effort to assist Hersey, and by the time another person was able to douse the flames, the burns were fatal. The remainder of the race was cancelled, and Jack Smith, who had been leading at the time of the accident, was declared the winner. The next day, Hersey died, while the photos of his crash ran on the front page of the Constitution."Fatalities haunt racing history", Augusta Chronicle, May 18, 2000; Daniel S. Pierce, Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France (University of North Carolina Press, 2010) p146; "Hersey Tragedy Serves as a Reminder", by Brandon Reed, Jackson Herald, April 3, 2008 Houston businessman Stanford B. Twente chose the telecast of a minor league baseball game as his opportunity to commit suicide in front of a TV audience. Twente walked into the broadcast booth, where Dick Gottlieb was narrating the action, sat down, and then shot himself in the head. Viewers heard the shot, and then saw Gottlieb sitting next to Mr. Twente's corpse."Telecast Records Suicide At Texas Baseball Park", Miami Daily News, June 12, 1950, p1 Died: Sane Guruji, 50, Indian children's author, novelist and social reformer
June 12, 1950 (Monday) The Bank of Korea began operations as the central bank for South Korea, one week after the enabling legislation had been passed, and two weeks before North Korean troops invaded Seoul to start the Korean War.Akhand Akhtar Hossain, Central Banking and Monetary Policy in the Asia-Pacific (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009) p37 The Philippine province of Mindoro, located on the island of the same name, was divided into Occidental Mindoro (west) and Oriental Mindoro (east)."Mindoro", in Historical Dictionary of the Philippines, Artemio R. Guillermo ed. (Scarecrow Press, 2011) p288
June 13, 1950 (Tuesday) An Air France DC-4 airplane, with 52 people on board, ditched in the sea near Bahrain after developing engine trouble en route from Karachi to Cairo. Only four people survived."Airliner Falls In Persian Gulf; 45 Feared Lost", Miami Daily News, June 13, 1950, p1 Blame was placed upon the pilot for failing to keep track of his rate of descent during the final approach, and crashing into the sea.Aviation Safety Network Two days later, another Air France DC-4 on the same route crashed into the sea during its approach to Bahrain.