July 5, 1948: Britain's National Health Service Goes Into Operation

July 5, 1948: The United Kingdom's National Health Service goes into operation. It comprises the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately, and is often locally referred to as "the NHS."

It was instituted by the Labour Party government, led by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, as a reward for Britain having survived World War II and participated on the winning side. President Harry Truman tried to do the same thing for America at the same time. In both countries, the insurance business tried to stop it. The difference is, in America, they were able to combine with racists to torpedo the idea, because white Southern hospitals didn't want to admit black patients. That was not an issue in Britain, whose NHS is considered "socialized medicine" by American conservatives.

Clement Attlee

The true founder of the NHS was Attlee's Minister of Health, Aneurin Bevan. The last in a long line of coal miners in his family, he was elected to Parliament from a district in southern Wales in 1929, he was inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown. He should not be confused with the older politician Ernest Bevin, who served as Minister of Labour under Winston Churchill during World War II, and Foreign Secretary under Attlee.

Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association, the National Health Service Act 1946 was passed on November 6, 1946, and came into effect on July 5, 1948, nationalizing more than 2,500 hospitals within the U.K.

The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery; a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges. Some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.

"Nye" Bevan held his seat in Parliament until his death in 1960. NHS proved so popular that his death was deeply mourned throughout Great Britain. In 2004, a vote for a TV program called 100 Welsh Heroes ranked him 1st, ahead of such personalities as medieval leader Owain Glyndŵr, World War I Prime Minister David Lloyd George, World War I hero T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia), writer Dylan Thomas, actor Richard Burton and singer Tom Jones.

Britain loves its NHS so much that, despite the Conservative Party winning elections in 1951 (with Churchill returning to power and dethroning Attlee), 1955, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, no Prime Minister of that Party has ever tried to repeal it. Not the Socialism-hating Churchill, not the patrician Alec Douglas-Home, not the pure evil Margaret Thatcher, not the insane Boris Johnson. The NHS, which goes much farther than America's Social Security System, is to Britain what Social Security is to America: The "third rail of politics." Touch it, and you die.

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July 5, 1948 was a Monday. Because the previous day, the 4th of July, was a Sunday, the Monday was a federal holiday, meaning many people had the day off. So, for the 2nd day in a row, there were doubleheaders in baseball:

* The New York Yankees were swept by the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 and 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. In the opener, Jack Kramer (no relation to his contemporary, the tennis champion of the same name) outpitched Vic Raschi. In the nightcap, both starters, Spec Shea and Mickey Harris, were mediocre. The Red Sox led 5-4 after 5 innings. The Yankees took a 7-5 lead in the top of the 8th, but the Sox tied it in the bottom of the 8th, and Dom DiMaggio, Joe's brother, singled Wally Moses home off Joe Page to win it in the bottom of the 9th.

Over the 2 games, Joe DiMaggio went 3-for-8 with a walk, and Ted Williams went 0-for-7, but in the 2nd game, drew a walk, and had RBIs from 2 sacrifice flies. Bobby Doerr hit a home run in the opener, and 2 in the nightcap.

* There was a split at the Polo Grounds. The New York Giants won the 1st game, 6-5. Bobby Thomson singled Les Layton home with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning. The Boston Braves won the 2nd game, 4-1.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 and 10-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Gene Hermanski doubled Jackie Robinson home in the top of the 10th inning to win the 1st game. Robinson went 2-for-9 with a walk over the 2 games.

* There was a split at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Washington Senators won the 1st game, 3-1. The Philadelphia Athletics won the 2nd game, 12-5.

* There was a split at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1st game, 10-3. The Cincinnati Reds won the 2nd game, 6-4.

* There was a split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Cleveland Indians won the 1st game, 6-3. Bob Lemon outpitched Art Houetteman. The Detroit Tigers won the 2nd game, 7-5. Fred Hutchinson outpitched Bob Feller.

* The Chicago White Sox swept the St. Louis Browns, 3-2 and 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Cass Michaels singled Jack Wallaesa home with the winning run in the 13th inning of the 2nd game.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals swept their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 and 5-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The 2nd game was called due to rain after 6 innings. Stan Musial went 4-for-7 with 2 RBIs on the day.

July 5, 1945: The Order of the Boot

Winston Churchill (left) and Clement Attlee

July 5, 1945: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland holds its 1st general election since the start of World War II. And their message to the incumbent head of government was, "Thank you for saving our arses, now, cheerio."

The war wasn't over yet -- V-J Day was still 40 days away -- but the Nazis had been defeated, and Britain's part in that, as Prime Minister Winston Churchill predicted it would be, was "their finest hour." In spite of his policy that had led to the deaths of 3 million people in British India, Churchill was arguably the most popular person on Earth. After all, the other contenders for that title were Franklin Roosevelt, who was already dead; and Joseph Stalin, who was probably the most hated living person, following the death of Adolf Hitler.

But the people of Britain had long memories. They knew that Churchill, while a great war leader, hadn't previously been good for them in peacetime. And so, they handed his Conservative Party a tremendous defeat, and elected to the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee. Before the election, the Conservatives, or "Tories," had 386 seats in the House of Commons, while Labour had 154. Afterward, Labour had 393, the Tories 197.

Not that it mattered, any more than it matters over the Electoral College in elections for President of the United States, but, in this election, Labour won 47.7 percent of the popular vote, the Tories 36.2, the Liberal Party 9.0 (12 seats), the National Liberal Party 2.9 (11 seats), and all other parties 4.0 (29 seats).

Attlee thus became only the 2nd Prime Minister from the Labour Party, after James Ramsay MacDonald, who had last held the office 10 years earlier. His postwar program for rebuilding Britain included the National Health Service and educational reforms, which made Britain a less class-stratified country. The Conservatives called it "socialism." The British people decided they liked it.

Despite having been "booted from office," Churchill remained personally popular. After King George VI offered him the Order of the Garter, he accepted, saying, "I had just gotten the Order of the Boot." When his wife, Clementine, told him the defeat was "a blessing in disguise," he told her, "It was very well disguised."

Turnabout is fair play: By the early 1950s, the people of Britain decided that Labour wasn't doing enough, and in the 1950 election, the Tories gained a lot of seats, although not enough to take control. Attlee hung on for another year and a half, but miscalculated, calling for a snap election for October 25, 1951. The Tories won, 321-295, and Churchill served 3 more years as Prime Minister. Attlee never regained the job. Both men resigned as their parties' respective leaders in 1955, Churchill after 15 years, Attlee after 20.

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July 5, 1945 was a Thursday. Michael Blake, author of Dances With Wolves, was born. This was also the day that Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia died in office. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at League Park in Cleveland. Jeff Heath hit a home run leading off the bottom of the 11th inning to win it. Ed Klieman went the distance for the Indians, Ernie "Tiny" Bonham for the Yankees.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at Ebbets Field.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 5-4 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-8 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The A's tied the game in the top of the 9th inning, but the Browns won it in the bottom of the 11th, on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Frank Mancuso.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 8. The Pirates won the opener, 4-0. Elwin "Preacher" Roe, later to star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout. The Phillies won the nightcap, 5-0. Dick Mauney also pitched an 8-hit shutout.