1948 Fun Facts, Trivia and Information |
Quick Facts from 1948: |
|
Top Ten Baby Names of 1948: Linda, Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Susan, James, Robert, John, William, David |
The Hotties and Fashion Icons: Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Lana Turner, Betty Grable |
“The Quotes:” “Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” “A diamond is forever” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year: Harry S. Truman |
Miss America: BeBe Shopp (Hopkins, MN) |
The biggest Pop Artists of 1948 include: The Andrews Sisters, Tex Beneke, Frankie Carle, and His Orchestra, Buddy Clark, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Vic Damone, Ella Fitzgerald, Dick Haymes, Eddy Howard, Red Ingle and the Natural Seven, Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Sammy Kaye, Stan Kenton, and His Orchestra, Evelyn Knight, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, Art Lund, Gordon MacRae, Vaughn Monroe, Art Mooney, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, The Three Suns, Jimmy Wakely, Margaret Whiting |
The Scandal: Actor Rex Harrison’s mistress, Carole Landis, committed suicide. His career survived, and his marriage to Lilli Palmer survived until 1957. |
The Kindness: Since 1948 there have been The Arlington Ladies at Arlington National Cemetery that has attended every funeral to support and comfort families, or to be there only one that attends to ensure no one is ever buried alone. |
Dewey Did Not Defeat Truman |
The presidential election of 1948 was a close one – the two candidates, Harry Truman and Thomas E. Dewey were neck and neck in the polls. On November 3rd, just days before the general election on November 4th, it became clear that both sides had an equal number of states secured as their own. With only five percent of votes left to be counted, Truman suddenly pulled ahead with 49.6% of the vote while Dewey fell back to 48%. The next day Americans woke up to headlines such as “Dewey Defeats Truman” (New York Times) or “How Wrong Can They Be?” (Chicago Daily Tribune). The day after the election, Truman pulled out an upset victory over Dewey by winning 303 electoral votes to 189 for his opponent. After holding up a newspaper that had already printed “Dewey Defeats Truman”, he told reporters: “That’s one of the happiest moments of my life.” |
Pop Culture Facts: “Highway Gothic” is a standard set of fonts specifically designed in 1948 to maximize legibility at a distance and high speed, and are used on highway signs around the world. Lithium (lithium citrate) was used in the beverage 7 UP, until 1948. It is estimated that Bing Crosby recordings filled more than half of the radio time allocated to recorded music in 1948. Almost all chickens eaten today come from the winner of the 1948 ‘Chicken of Tomorrow‘ Contest whose genetics now dominate poultry farms worldwide. Swiss engineer George de Mestral took his dog on a hike this year. When he got home, he noticed there were many burrs on the dog. He examined one under the microscope. He noticed that the burrs had small hooks that enabled them to cling to the soft fur. De Mestral patented Velcro in 1955. London was the first city to have ever hosted the Olympics three times: 1908, 1948, and 2012. The shortest movie review ever was for the film Isn’t it Romantic? By Leonard Maltin, it read simply “No” The reason sprinkles are called Jimmies in New England is that in 1948, Dr. Farber founded The Jimmy Fund and an ice cream shop named Brigham’s would charge an extra penny for chocolate sprinkles on a cone which went to The Jimmy Fund. Cheetos were first created this year. Under the Smith–Mundt Act of 1948, Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens until July 2013. The intent of the legislation was to protect the American public from propaganda actions by its own government. Eliza Moore (1843 – January 21, 1948) was the last known black slave of the US. Jimmy the Greek Snyder bet $10,000 at 17–1 odds on Harry Truman to defeat Thomas Dewey in the ’48 election because Dewey had a mustache and “American women didn’t trust men with a mustache”. The Ford F-series truck was introduced. Muddy Waters’ 1948 hit Rollin’ Stone was the inspiration for a 1960’s band a few decades later. Bar codes were invented by Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland. The Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota has been under construction since 1948 and is “far from completion”. McCulloch chainsaws were introduced. |
The Habit: Hiding behind their newspapers and magazines, many people were actually reading the Kinsey Report on Sexuality on the Human Male. |
1st appearances & 1948’s Most Popular Christmas gifts, toys and presents: Scrabble, Slinky Jr. |
Nobel Prize Winners: Physics – Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett Chemistry – Arne Tiselius Medicine – Paul Hermann Müller Literature – T. S. Eliot Peace – not awarded (planned for Gandhi, but he passed away) |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1948: The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas The Bishop’s Mantle by Agnes Sligh Turnbull Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Dinner at Antoine’s by Frances Parkinson Keyes Eagle in the Sky by Van Wyck Mason East Side, West Side by Marcia Davenport The Golden Hawk by Frank Yerby House Divided by Ben Ames Williams The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge Raintree County by Ross Lockridge, Jr. Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn and Byron Jackson Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred C. Kinsey Shannon’s Way by A. J. Cronin Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw |
Broadway Shows: Mister Roberts (Play) Opened on February 18, 1948, and Closed: January 6, 1951 Kiss Me, Kate (Musical) Opened on December 30, 1948, and Closed: July 28, 1951 |
Best Film Oscar Winner: Gentleman’s Agreement (presented in 1948) |
Sports: World Series Champions: Cleveland Indians NFL Champions: Philadelphia Eagles NBA Champions: Baltimore Bullets Stanley Cup Champs: Toronto Maple Leafs U.S. Open Golf Ben Hogan U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Richard A. Gonzales/Margaret Osborne DuPont Wimbledon (Men/Women): Bob Falkenburg/Louis Brough NCAA Football Champions: Michigan NCAA Basketball Champions: Kentucky Kentucky Derby: Citation (Triple Crown Winner: Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes) |