Time Line 1950-1959

1950

In June of 1950, North Korea crosses the 38th parallel to invade Korea.  In July, U.S. Marines arrive to counter the invasion.  When peace came in 1953, 25,000 American troops were killed and South Koreans over a million.

 1951

DJ Alan Freed begins an R&B radio program in Ohio.  Later, Freed claims he invented the term "rock n' roll," but the term was used earlier.

 

Although World War II had been over for six years, some items were still rationed in Britain - among them bread, meat, petrol and sweets.

 

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty of espionage and passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.

"An American in Paris" won the Oscar for Best Picture featuring Gene Kelly in the ballet "dream" sequence along with his partners in the film Leslie Caron.

 

Humphrey Bogart won the Oscar for his portrayal of Charlie Allnut in "The African Queen" and Vivian Leigh for her performance as Blanche DeBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

1952

First H Bomb is detonated at Eniwetok Atol, Marshall Islands in the Pacific in October.

 

Mr. Potato Head becomes the first children's toy to be advertised in a television commercial.

A series of A-bomb tests occurred over Yucca Flats in Nevada in March.

 

Former General, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was elected in a landslide victory over Adlai Stevenson.  His Vice-Presidential running mate was Richard M. Nixon.

Some of the first musical talent in the movie business create the greatest musical film of all time, "Singing in the Rain" starring Gene Kelly.

  

1953

Clock Radios are introduced.

 

British Secret Service agent, James Bond 007, debuts in Ian Fleming's book "Casino Royale."

 

Polio remained a crippling disease that affected mostly the young, condemning them to a life of paralysis, often confined to living in an iron lung. Dr. Jonas Salk discovers a vaccine used to immunize entire populations.

Queen Elizabeth II was crowned the new Queen of England on June 2.

 

On May 29, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillery reach the summit of Mount Everest.

 

1954

Transistor radios are introduced by Regency.

 

Doo Wop heaven is realized with the release of The Spaniels' "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight" and the Penguins' "Earth Angel."

Englishman Roger Bahnister completes the first under four minute mile run with a time of three minutes, fifty-nine seconds on May 6.

 

Senator Joseph McCarley pumped? the "Red Scare" menace with his hearings for the House UnAmerican Activities Committee.

Director Elias Kazen and Actor Marlon Brando win Oscars for "On the Waterfront." 

 

Marilyn Monroe marries her second husband, Joe DiMaggio.  She married her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, in 1956.

The decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education puts an end to legal separation.

 

1955

James Dean is killed in a car wreck behind the wheel of a 550 Spyder Porsche.

Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California on July 15.  Walt Disney originally wanted to call it "Mickey Mouse World."

 

Non-stick cooking pans are introduced by T-Fal in France.

Rosa Parks, a black bus passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, defies a segregated seating rule when she refuses to give up her seat to a white person.  Black citizens organize a bus boycott.  Nine months passed before segregation was made illegal on Alabama buses.

1956

Dwight Eisenhower is re-elected President with another landslide victory using the campaign slogan "I Like Ike."

 

Prince Ranier of Monocco marries American actress Grace Kelly in Monte Carlo.

Charlton Heston parts the water as Moses in the "Ten Commandments."

 

Alan Freed plays at the Paramount Theater in New York City and assumes the title "King of Rock N' Roll."

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show.

 

1957

TV debuts Wagon Train and Perry Mason in the U.S.

 

Soviet Union launches Sputnik I on October 4 launching the world's first man made satellite, setting off a U.S.-Russia rivalry for the next twelve years.

Within a month, the USSR launches Sputnik II carrying a dog on board proving that life can survive in space.

 

Jack Kerouac launches the Beat Generation with the publication of "On the Road."

On September 3, black students are refused entry to Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Three weeks later, President Eisenhower orders Federal troops to Little Rock to ensure that desegregation of the school was implemented.

1958

Pianist Van Cliburn won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, during the height of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

 

Great guitar records are released - Duane Eddy's "Rebel Rowser," Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," Link Wray's "The Rumble," and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

In March, Elvis Presley is drafted into the U.S. Army and is sworn in as a Private.

 

Expo 58, the Brussels World's Fair, opened on April 17.  It was the first World's Fair since World War II.

Pope Pius XII dies in Rome and newly elected Pope John XXIII becomes head of the Catholic Church.

  

1959

Buddy Holly is killed in a plane crash in Iowa along with fellow passengers Richie Valens and The Big Bopper.  The day was commemorated in Don McLean's anthem "The Day The Music Died."

Cuba director Fulgencio Bautista is overthrown by a revolutionary movement led by Fidel Castro.

 

Hawaii becomes the 50th State of the Union.

 

The career of Alan Freed was wrecked by payola scandal, money paid to DJs to play certain records.

Charles van Doren, who won $138,000 in the TV Quiz Show "Twenty-One" was found to be given answers in advance.

 

MGM's blockbuster "Ben Hur" starring Charlton Heston wins six Oscars, including Best Picture.

The Guggenheim Museum with its circular display areas designed by Frank Lloyd Wright opens in New York City.