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• Harry Truman becomes the first president to address the nation on TV from the White House.
When he delivered his speech, television was in his infancy.
There were only about 44,000 TV sets in U.S. homes, concentrated in a few cities, compared with some 40 million radios. All of Truman’s subsequent White House speeches, including his 1949 inaugural address, were televised. -
Transistor is invented, spurring growth in computers and electronics.
It was invented in the Bell Labratories. The first transistor available to consumers was in hearing aids, followed quickly by transistor radios. The computer industry immediately began designing computers using transistors that were faster, smaller, more economical, and more powerful. -
President Eisenhower and Congress add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy. In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration -
Polio vaccine announced to the world by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis.
Jonas Salk was an American medical researcher. He is best known for the Polio Vaccine. Thomas Francis was his former mentor. -
The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. goes online at Shippingport, Pa.
t was the first full- scale atomic electronic power plant devoted to peacetime uses. -
NASA was established
NASA was the beginning of a rich history of unique scientific and technological achievements in human space flight, aeronautics, space science, and space applications. It was formed as a result of the Sputnik crisis of confidence. Also, NASA has launched a number of significant scientific probes such as the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft that have explored the Moon, the planets, and other areas of our solar system.
