Date in year · 1951 · The 1950s

July 16, 1951

On July 16, 1951, king Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium. Jóannes Eidesgaard, Tony Danza, Michael Freedman would arrive in the same year.

Events

2

Births

0

Deaths

0

Year

1951

1950s

Around 1951

The year in brief

1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1951st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 951st year of the 2nd millennium, the 51st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1950s decade.

Read the full year of 1951 →

What happened

On July 16, 1951

  1. 1951 King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium.

    King of the Belgians from 1934 to 1951

    Leopold III was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both at home and abroad.

  2. 1951 J. D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

    American author (1919–2010)

    Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" appeared in The New Yorker, which published much of his later work.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1951

The class of 1951

Others born in 1951

Jóannes Eidesgaard 1951– Faroese educator and politician, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
Tony Danza 1951– American actor and producer
Michael Freedman 1951– American mathematician and academic
Bob Varsha 1951– American sportscaster
Steve Vickers 1951– Canadian ice hockey player
Soledad Gallego-Díaz 1951– Spanish journalist (died 2026)

Step through

Nearby

Keep going

More to explore