1950

The hit songs were "Chiquita Banana," "To Each His Own," "Come Rain or Shine," "Doin' What Comes Natur'ly," "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah," "Ole Buttermilk Sky," "Now is the Hour," and "Tenderly."

The Nugget showed The Best Years ofOur Lives, It's a Wonderful Life, The Razor'sEdge, The Yearling, The folson Story,Notorious, Duel in the Sun, Brief Encounter,Henry V, and Gilda. The Best Years... won the Academy Awards for best picture, best director (William Wyler), and best actor (Frederic March). Top box-office stars were Bing Crosby, Ingrd Bergman, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, Bob Hope, Humphrey Bogart, Greer Garson, Margaret O'Brien, Betty Grable, and Roy Rogers.

Stan Musial and Mickey Vernon won the batting crowns, Howie Pollet and Dave Ferris were the best pitchers, Hank Greenberg led the homerun hitters with 44, and Jackie Robinson starred for Montreal, a Dodgers farm team. Joe Louis knocked out Billy Conn, Ben Hogan was the top golfer, and Assault won the Triple Crown. Johnny Lujack, Charley Trippi, Glenn Davis, and "Doc" Blanchard led the Ail-Americans.

Civil war raged in China. The Atomic Energy Commission was established, with Dean Acheson as its chairman. At the first meeting of the U.N. in London, Trugve Lie was elected secretary-general. Truman seized the struck coal mines and threatened to do the same with the railroads. Bomb tests were held at the Bikini atoll. Herman Goering committed suicide and 12 other Nazis were condemned to hang. Winston Churchill, speaking at Fulton, Mo., said, "From the Baltic to the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent."

Plays opening on Broadway included The Iceman Cometh, Born Yesterday, AnotherPart of the Forest, O Mistress Mine, and Present Laughter. New musicals were AnnieGet Your Gun, Around the Woid in 80 Days,Call Me Mister, Lute Song, and BeggarsHoliday.

First appearances included Estee Lauder, "Beautiful Hair" by Breck ads, electric blankets, the FDR dime, Fulbright scholarships, Tide, Timex watches, automatic clothes dryers, Sunshine Biscuits, French's instant potatoes, the DC-6, the Crosby compact car, and Family Circle, Scientific American, and Holiday magazines.

John Sloan Dickey, in his first Convocation address, made his oft-repeated admonition, "Gentlemen, your business here is learning..."

52 Central Green, Winchester, MA 01890