Chapter 27 Timeline By: Sam Myers

By xxsamlovesxx27
  • Period: to

    The Postwar Years at Home

  • • Harry Truman becomes the first president to address the nation on TV from the White House.

    • Harry Truman becomes the first president to address the nation on TV from the White House.
    President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised presidential address from the White House. ... a White House telecast to the nation, he was not the first president to appear on television. ... In 1948, Truman also became the first presidential candidate to air a paid political ad on TV.

  • • Transistor is invented, spurring growth in computers and electronics.

    • Transistor is invented, spurring growth in computers and electronics.
    n 1947, scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the first transistor, a tiny circuit device that amplifies, controls, and generates electrical signals. The transistor could do the work of a much larger vacuum tube, but took up less space and generated less heat. The transistor could be used in radios, computers, and other electronic devices, and greatly changed the electronics industry. Because of the transistor, giant machines that once filled whole rooms could now fit on a desk.

  • • President Eisenhower and Congress add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

    • President Eisenhower and Congress add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
    President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.[13] Eisenhower stated "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of relig

  • • Polio vaccine announced to the world by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis.

    • Polio vaccine announced to the world by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis.
    On April 12, 1955, Dr. Thomas Francis, Jr., of the University of Michigan, the monitor of the test results, "declared the vaccine to be safe and effective." The announcement was made at the University of Michigan, exactly 10 years to the day after the death of President Roosevelt. Five hundred people, including 150 press, radio, and television reporters, filled the room; 16 television and newsreel cameras stood on a long platform at the back; and 54,000 physicians, sitting in movie theaters acro

  • • The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. goes online at Shippingport, Pa.

    • The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. goes online at Shippingport, Pa.
    The reactor first went critical at 4:30 AM on December 2, 1957.[4] Sixteen days later, on December 18, the first electrical power was generated and full power was achieved on December 23, 1957,[4] although the station remained in test mode. Eisenhower opened the Shippingport Atomic Power Station on May 26, 1958. The plant was built in 32 months at a cost of $72.5 million.

  • • NASA is established.

    • NASA is established.
    NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958.[9][10] U.S. space exploration efforts have since been led by NASA, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle.