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Waves Established
The WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) were established by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during July. The establishment of the WAVES made it easier for the Navy to fill clerical and office roles at home in shore stations while allowing men to return to sea duty. There were about 100,000 WAVES and Mildred McAfee was appointed as their first commander. -
Bambi Premieres
The film was Disney’s fifth animated feature film and was nominated for three Academy Awards. The story revolved around an orphaned deer and his friends Thumper, Flower, and Faline, in the forest. -
Charles " Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano is deported to Italy, and never returns to the United States -
Testing Site
Bikini Atoll isllanders are evacuated by the US government to make way for a nuclear testing site -
Organ Transplant
Dr. Richard Lawler performed the first organ transplant, a kidney in an Illinois woman with polycystic kidney disease; and, on the political front, US. President Harry S. Truman ordered the building of the hydrogen bomb -
Diners Club
Diners Club, the first modern credit card was introduced, which would eventually change the financial lives of every American in the years to come. -
NATURE
Cambridge University scientists James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper in the scientific journal Nature, announcing the discovery of the double-helix chemical structure of DNA -
Playboy Published
Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine, featuring actress Marilyn Monroe on the cover and nude centerfold. -
Americans Executed
Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in the electric chair for conspiracy to commit espionage.