The World Series is broadcast in color for the first time. NY Giants defeat Cleveland (4-0)
The 1950s Robert Joffrey Ballet debuts.
Fifties Pop History IBM announces the development of an electronic brain for business use. Named it Bill Gates - nah, just kidding.
The 1950s Sports Illustrated is born! See the first cover.
Fifties Pop History Another boon for sports fans - the first l6 oz beer can introduced by Schlitz, The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous!
The 1950s "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit" by Adele Davis, was an early entry into the health food movement.
Fifties Pop History A test program using sterilized males wipes out screwworm flies on the Caribbean island of Curacao in only 4 months. (I swear, I found that item in my research.)
The 1950s Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Fifties Pop History French colonial rule in Vietnam weakens when Viet Minh rebels take Dien Bien Phu. Vietnam is divided into northern and southern regions.
The 1950s Brown v. Board of Education. Landmark school desegregation case. Excepts from the decision Also, About the Case.
Fifties Pop History On the Air! You'd find 2,487 AM radio, 560 FM radio and 349 TV Stations. (TV has doubled from 125 stations in 1953.)
The 1950s Senator Joseph McCarthy accelerates his anti-Communist witch hunt with the nationally televised Army-McCarthy Hearings and is formally censured by Congress.
Fifties Pop History Baseball legend Hank Aaron begins his career by joining the Milwaukee Braves.
The 1950s Sun Myung Moon founds the Unification Church.
Fifties Pop History William Golding, who will proceed to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, publishes his tale of the dark side of human nature, The Lord of the Flies. Buy the Book
The 1950s Ray Kroc gets his first look at the original McDonalds!
Fifties Pop History Hold the pickle! Hold the lettuce! The first Burger King opens.
The 1950s Kraft introduces CRACKER BARREL® brand natural cheese.
Fifties Pop History And the winner is...Oscar stuff.
The 1950s Catholic Church declares watching Mass on TV does not fulfill obligations. Oh, pooh!
Fifties Pop History M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced.Also, the universally loved M&M's Brand Characters and the famous slogan, "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand," slogan debuted.
The 1950s The Butterball brand and the self-basting turkey are introduced. Through genetics, Swift develops a broad-breasted bird without the tough tendons and uses a hot-water bath to remove feathers.
Fifties Pop History A 1953 incident where Eisenhower's aircraft was "Air Force 8610" and an Eastern Airlines plane was "8610" created the need to devise a unique call sign. In 1954, the call sign "Air Force One" was classified to identify not only the president's plane, but any plane when he was aboard.
The 1950s In Sports...
Fifties Pop History J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is published. Buy the Book
The 1950s Elvis Presley makes his first record. The Fifties Web Elvis Section.
Fifties Pop History Of the 94 million phones in the world, 52 million of them are in the US.
The 1950s Chain supermarkets now account for two fifths of the food sold retail.
Fifties Pop History Iwo Jima Flag Raising memorial Statue is erected. Each figure is 32 feet high. The flagpole is 60 feet in length. It's the world's tallest bronze statue. It's stands 78 feet high. A cloth flag flies from the pole. The inscription reads: "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue."
The 1950s Ellis Island, the immigration station in NY Harbor, is closed. Between 1892 and 1954, 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island.
Fifties Pop History Trix, 46.6 percent sugar, is introducd by General Mills.
The 1950s The first nuclear submarine, The Nautilus, is launched.
Fifties Pop History Federal Trade Commission and cigarettes.
The 1950s Bazooka Joe comics were first introduced.
Fifties Pop History There is a 42% business failure rate.Chart for 1946-1964
The 1950s A revolution in an aluminum tray! The TV Dinner. This is a good story!
Fifties Pop History Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime)
The 1950s My favorite - Play Doh.
Fifties Pop History Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Co. merge to form the American Motors Co.(AMC).
The 1950s President Eisenhower introduces the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, changing the phrase "one nation, indivisible," to "one nation, under God, indivisible."
Fifties Pop History The first successful kidney transplant is performed in the U.S. by Harvard physicians. The patient will survive for seven more years.
The 1950s Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt April 17. On October 19, Nasser signs a treaty with the British under which the British will withdraw from the Suez Canal Zone.
Fifties Pop History Canada and the United States agree to build a 3000-mile-long array of radar warning stations across northern Canada (the DEW line - Distant Early Warning). The stations will warn the North American nations of airplanes or missiles approaching over the Arctic.
The 1950s Dr. Roger Bannister of England becomes the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes on May 6. His time is 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds
Fifties Pop History General Electric introduces colored kitchen appliances. Bye, bye white!
The 1950s A hydrogen (fusion) bomb is detonated March 1 on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
Fifties Pop History There are 35,586 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 3 accidents resulting in 16 fatalities. A good year to fly.
The 1950s Unemployment is 5.6%
Fifties Pop History U.S. GNP (Gross National Product) is $383.0 billion
