The population of the United States as reported by the 1950 Census is 150,697,361. The population of the world is approximately 2.5 billion. More 1950 Census Info
The 1950s The population of the world is 2.52 billion
Fifties Pop History 64% of Americans now live in cities
The 1950s There are 1,667,231 marriages to 385,144 divorces (23%). By 1998 there will be 2,256,000 marriages and 955,000 divorces (43%)
Fifties Pop History Median age for 1st marriage is 22.8 years old for men and 20.3 for women. By 1998, it will be 26.7 years old for men and 25 for women. Noting statistics one above, you can assume older but no wiser. Marriage prospects of single men and women.
The 1950s A.C. Nielsen's Audimeters track viewer watching.
Fifties Pop History Walt Disney's Cinderella opens in theaters. Buy on VHS
The 1950s Sugar Pops are introduced.
Fifties Pop History Antihistamines enter popular use for treatment of allergies and head-colds.
The 1950s RCA 45 RPM record attachment - now you can play RCA’s new 45’s! - includes 6 records - $12.95
Fifties Pop History Zenith introduces "lazy bones" tuning - change all television stations from the comfort of your easy chair. Hand held device plugs into TV.
The 1950s Silly Putty is introduced!
Fifties Pop History And the winner is... Oscar stuff
The 1950s 21.6 percent of wives worked outside the home. By 1960, that number hit 30.5 percent. The reason for the jump? There was simply so much to buy.
Fifties Pop History The Pillsbury Company launches it's annual "Bake-off" to promote flour.
The 1950s Pillsbury and General Mills introduce prepared cake mixes.
Fifties Pop History CBS receives an FCC license to begin broadcasting in color.
The 1950s Ball-O-Fire gumballs arrive!
Fifties Pop History KRAFT® Deluxe process cheese slices - the first commercially packaged sliced process cheese - are introduced.
The 1950s North Korea invades South Korea. Truman orders the U.S. into the war. 3 million soldiers and civilians will be killed or wounded before it ends in 1953.
Fifties Pop History 36.3% of all advertising dollars are spent on newspapers - 3.3% on TV. See chart of all ad dollars.
The 1950s The U.S. will import 21,287 passenger cars. That number will climb to 668,070 by 1959, which will be a stellar year for imports.
Fifties Pop History Guys & Dolls opens on Broadway. Buy the Original Cast CD
The 1950s Albert Einstein warns against the hydrogen bomb, which President Truman okays building.
Fifties Pop History USSR announces they have developed the atomic bomb.
The 1950s Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Port Authority open in NYC
Fifties Pop History Swiss parliament refuses voting right for women. A pox on your clocks, gentleman.
The 1950s In Sports...
Fifties Pop History Pulitzer prize awarded to Rodgers & Hammerstein for South Pacific. Buy the Original Cast CD
The 1950s Hank Snow makes his first appearance on the "Grand Ole Opry" Buy Snow on CD
Fifties Pop History Hopalong Cassidy, starring William Boyd, debuted on TV and 600,000 Hoppy lunchboxes were sold in 1950 alone
The 1950s Seeburg begins selling jukeboxes which play 45 RPM records, which would become THE jukebox for soda shop, bowling alleys and bars.
Fifties Pop History Nobel for literature awarded to William Faulkner
The 1950s Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast
Fifties Pop History Death penality abolished in Belgium
The 1950s Prince Rainier III becomes ruler of Monaco
Fifties Pop History Brinks Robbery in Boston - 11 men - 2.8 million - 17 minutes
The 1950s Alger Hiss is convicted.
Fifties Pop History Joseph McCarthy begins Soviet witch hunt.
The 1950s Leo Fender's guitar company introduced their Broadcaster and Esquire models, the first mass-produced solid body electric guitars.
Fifties Pop History Smokey the Bear gains national popularity.
The 1950s Minute Rice is launched with the first consumer advertising ever put behind rice.
Fifties Pop History The Open Kettle, a coffe and donut shop in Quincy Mass. is renamed Dunkin' Donuts. The first franchise is offerred in 1955.
The 1950s PaperMate is the first leak-proof ballpoint pen in 1950.
Fifties Pop History Haloid Corporation (later renamed Xerox) develops the first xerographic copy machine.
The 1950s Tennis admits first Black woman, Althea Gibson.
Fifties Pop History There are now 2,200 drive-in movie theatres, twice as many as in 1949.
The 1950s Diner's Club becomes the first credit card.
Fifties Pop History Peanuts debuted on October 2, 1950.
The 1950s FBI institutes the 10 Most Wanted list. Wanna see the current crop of Bad Guys?
Fifties Pop History Cartoonist Hank Ketcham created one of the most enduringly irresistible imps in the world., "Dennis the Menace." By 2000,Today the comic panel appears in more than 1,200 newspapers in 48 countries and in 19 languages.
The 1950s There are 407 beer breweries in operation.
Fifties Pop History Nobel peace prize awarded to Ralph J Bunche. This first Black recipient was undersecretary of the U.N. at the time.
The 1950s Telephone Answering Machine created by Bell Laboratories and Western Electric.
Fifties Pop History Mother Teresa founded the first Mission of Charity in Calcutta, India.
The 1950s President Harry Truman ordered the Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.
Fifties Pop History There are 10,500,000 TV sets in 10,400,000 homes.
The 1950s The first self-service elevator is installed by Otis Elevator in Dallas
Fifties Pop History There was a 34.3% business failure rate. Chart for 1946-1964
The 1950s There were 34,763 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 6 accidents resulting in 144 fatalities.
Fifties Pop History Unemployment is 5.3%
The 1950s US GNP (Gross National Product) is $288.5 billion
