September 18, 1951: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Premieres

September 18, 1951: The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres. Directed by Robert Wise, it becomes a classic of science fiction.

A flying saucer lands on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Out steps a regular-sized human-looking man named Klaatu (played by Michael Rennie) and a considerably taller robot named Gort (Lock Martin). The U.S. Army have surrounded the saucer, and they shoot Klaatu. Still alive, he orders Gort not to interfere. Klaatu is taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but escapes, and quickly heals.

He takes on a human identity, and blends in among people to learn how they really think and feel. This is considerably easier than it would soon become, since most Americans do not yet have television sets, and haven't seen him before. Not liking what he sees, Klaatu returns to his ship. At 12:00 Noon, U.S. Eastern Time, the next day, he uses the controls on his ship to stop all electrical equipment on Earth for 30 minutes, except for essential services, such as hospitals, and aircraft already in flight.

This gets the world's attention. He tells the world that an interplanetary organization has created a police force of invincible robots like Gort. He says, "In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer." Then they leave Earth.

In real life, at this point, Earth had developed nuclear weapons, but rocketry was still in the beginning stages: The defined barrier between "Earth" and "space" had been breached, but nothing had yet been placed into Earth orbit. And the Cold War was at a hot point: The Korean War had been going for a little more than a year. The film tapped into Cold War fears, and suggested that turning away from such aggression was a better idea.

A remake was released in 2008, starring Keanu Reeves, but was not well-received.

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September 18, 1951 was a Tuesday. Dee Dee Ramone, bass guitarist for The Ramones, was born on this day. So was Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2016, and was then appointed by Donald Trump to be Secretary of... Housing & Urban Development.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. Billy Pierce outpitched Vic Raschi. Bud Stewart hit a home run for the White Sox. Joe DiMaggio (in his last season), Yogi Berra (in his 1st Most Valuable Player season) and Mickey Mantle (in his rookie season) each went 1-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Monte Irvin hit a home run, and rookie Willie Mays went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Dave Koslo was the winning pitcher.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 0-for-4, but the Cardinals didn't need him, knocking Ralph Branca out of the box in the 6th inning. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4. The Dodgers had led the National League by 13 1/2 games over the Giants on August 11. The lead was now 3 games.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 2-for-4 with an RBI. The results of the day's games meant that the Indians had tied the Yankees for 1st place in the American League, with the Red Sox 2 1/2 games back. The Indians had 7 games left, the Yankees 11, the Red Sox 12.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The St. Louis Browns swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 8-0 and 3-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Tommy Byrne pitched a 3-hit shutout in the opener. In the nightcap, Byrne -- a 1950 All-Star, a 4-time World Series winner with the Yankees, and a good hitter for a pitcher, with a .238 lifetime batting average, 14 home runs and 98 RBIs -- was used as a pinch-hitter in the top of the 10th inning, and singled home Fred Marsh with the winning run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit a home run.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.