Jan. 1, 1949 to Dec. 31, 1989

  • Peter Pan

    Peter Pan
    broadcast on TV live and in color from the 1954 version of the stage musical starring Mary Martin on March 7. Disney released an animated version the previous year.
  • Richard Nixon

    Richard Nixon
    is first elected to the United States Senate.
  • Mickey Mantle

    Mickey Mantle
    is in the middle of his career as a famous New York Yankees outfielder and American League All-Star for the sixth year in a row.
  • Starkweather

    Starkweather
    homicides capture the attention of Americans, killing eleven people before he is caught in a massive manhunt in Douglas, Wyoming.
  • H-bomb

    H-bomb
    is in the middle of its development as a nuclear weapon, announced in early 1950 and first tested in late 1952.
  • “Rock around the clock”

    “Rock around the clock”
    is a hit single released by Bill Haley & His Comets in May, spurring worldwide interest in rock and roll music.
  • Einstine

    Einstine
    dies on April 18 at the age of 76.
  • Birth control

    Birth control
    In the early 1960s, oral contraceptives, popularly known as "the pill", first go on the market and are extremely popular. Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 challenged a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives. In 1968, Pope Paul VI released a papal encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae which declared artificial birth control a sin.
  • Jonnie Ray

    Jonnie Ray
    American singer, and song writer
  • Cola Wars

    Cola Wars
    Soft drink giants Coke and Pepsi each run marketing campaigns using rock & roll and popular music stars to reach the young adult demographic.