Discovery of the Hot Big Bang: What happened in 1948
  The idea that the universe is filled with the thermal radiation now termed
the Cosmic Microwave Background was first discussed in eleven publications in
the year 1948. These papers offer a detailed example of the process of
development of a new and now very productive line of research, and of the
confusion that can attend new ideas. The confusion in this case left a common
misunderstanding of the considerations that motivated the idea of the sea of
radiation.
