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Paduano 1950s Timeline
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US Recall
The United States recalls all consular officials from China after the seizure of the American consul general in Peking. -
Brinks Robbery
The Brinks robbery in Boston occurs when eleven masked bandits steal $2.8 million from an armored car outside their express office. -
The 1950 Census
For the first time, the 1950 census counts a population in the United States over 150 million people. The 14% increase since the last census now showed a count of 150,697,361. The most populous state in the United States was New York, now followed by California. The geographic center of the United States population had now moved west into Richland County, Illinois, 8 miles north-northwest of Olney. -
Korean War
A remnant from World War II when the Soviet Union, in 1945, wrested control of the Korean peninsula from Japanese control north of the 38th parallel with the United States in the south. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting the United Nations to declare the invasion and the United States, with their allies, into conflict against the North, China, and the Soviet Union. The conflict would last for three years. The problem of a divided Korean peninsula still exists today. -
Invasion
North Korean communists invaded South Korea. -
UN Forces Retreat
United Nations forces retreat south toward the 38th parallel when Chinese Communist forces open a counteroffensive in the Korean War. This action halted any thought of a quick resolution to the conflict. On December 8, 1950, shipments to Communist China are banned by the United States. -
Organized Crime
Preliminary report from the Senator Estes Kefauver investigation that had begun on May 11, 1950 into organized crime is issued, stating that gambling take was in excess of $20 billion per year. -
Julius and Ethel
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of conspiracy of wartime espionage and sentenced to death. They were executed June 19, 1953. Morton Sobell was also convicted of the crime and sentenced to thirty years in prison. -
Douglas MacArthur
President Truman removes Gen. Douglas MacArthur as head of U.S. Far East Command. -
ANZUS Treaty
The United States, Australia, and New Zealand sign a mutual security pact, the ANZUS Treaty. ANZUS Pact, formally Pacific Security Treaty, security treaty between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that was signed in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 1, 1951, for the purpose of providing mutual aid in the event of aggression and for settling disputes by peaceful means. -
Japanese Peace Treaty Conference
The inauguration of transcontinental television occurs with the broadcast of President Truman's speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco. The treaty would be signed on September 8 by the U.S., Japan, and forty-seven other nations. -
Geodesic Dome
Richard Buckminster Fuller files patent for the Geodesic Dome. The dome building, under his design, would be utilized in many futuristic constructions, particularly by Fuller in world exhibitions, such as his famous United States Pavilion at the Montreal World's Fair of 1967. -
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics open in Helsinki, Finland with thirty participating nations. During these games, the first triple jump in figure skating history is performed by Dick Button, who won one of the four gold medals gained by U.S. athletes. -
Steel Mills
President Truman authorizes the seizure of United States steel mills in order to avert a strike, but his action is ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 2. -
First Hydrogen Bomb
At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the first hydrogen bomb, named Mike, is exploded. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a newcomer to politics, but popular due to his role in winning World War II as European commander, gains an easy victory over Democratic challenger Adlai E. Stevenson. The Electoral College vote was 442 to 89. -
Double Helix Molecule
The description of a double helix DNA molecule is published by British physicist Francis Crick and American scientist James D. Watson. They, along with New Zealand born scientist Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery in 1962. -
Armistice Agreement
Fighting ceases in the Korean War. The United Nations Command, including the United States, and the combatants North Korea and the Republic of China sign an armistice agreement. -
Overthrown
The United States CIA assists in the overthrow of the government in Iran, and retains the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the throne. -
The Cold War
The Cold War continues in earnest when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves a top secret document stating that the U.S. nuclear arsenal must be expanded to combat the communist threat around the world. -
Colored Television
The first color televisions go on the market. -
Vaccination
The first large scale vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. -
McDonald's
In 1954, Ray Kroc founded the idea for the McDonald's corporation, agreeing to franchise the idea of Dick and Mac McDonald, who had started the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940 and had eight restaurants by 1954. Kroc would incorporate the entity on March 2, 1955 and open his first franchise on April 15 in Des Plaines, Illinois. He would buy out the McDonald's brothers in 1961. -
Televised Senate Hearings
Joseph McCarthy begins televised Senate hearings into alleged Communist influence in the United States Army. Later this year, on December 2, the U.S. Congress votes to condemn Senator McCarthy for his conduct during the Army investigation hearings. -
Brown vs. the Board of Education
Racial segregation in public schools is declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The ruling of the court stated that racial segregation violated the 14th Amendment's clause that guaranteed equal protection. The Monroe School in Topeka, Kansas had segregated Linda Brown in its classes. -
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
In Bangkok, Thailand, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization is formed by the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand, creating a mutual defense pact. -
Public Schools
The Supreme Court of the United States orders that all public schools be integrated with deliberate speed. -
Disneyland
Disneyland, the brainchild of Walt Disney, whose father had worked at previous world's fairs and inspired his son to build the iconic Magic Castle and other exhibits opens in Anaheim, California, with the backing of the new television network, ABC. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refuses to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, prompting a boycott that would lead to the declaration that bus segregation laws were unconstitutional by a federal court. -
AFL-CIO
The two largest American labor unions, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, merge to form the AFL-CIO, boasting a membership of fifteen million. -
Southern Manifesto
Congressmen from Southern states call for massive resistance, the Southern Manifesto, to the Supreme Court ruling on desegregation. -
Federal-Aid Highway Act
The interstate highway system begins with the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act. -
Don Larsen
Don Larsen pitches the first no-hitter, a perfect game, in post-season baseball history when his New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 5th game of the 1956 World Series. -
Eisenhower vs. Stevenson
A repeat challenge in the presidential election between Eisenhower and Stevenson gains a similar outcome, with victory for the incumbent president by a 457 to 73 margin in the Electoral College vote. -
Eisenhower's Second Term
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for his second term in office. -
Jimmy Hoffa
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests labor leader Jimmy Hoffa under a bribery charge. -
Voting Rights Continue
U.S. Congress approves the first civil rights bill since reconstruction with the additional protection of voting rights. -
Laser
Gordon Gould, an American physicist, invents the laser, It would take him until 1977 to win a protracted legal battle over patent rights, and he did not start receiving royalties on his work until 1988. Gould was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991. -
Little Rock
National Guard called to duty by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to bar nine black students from attending previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. He withdrew the troops on September 21 and the students were allowed entrance to class two days later. A threat of violence caused President Eisenhower to dispatch federal troops to Little Rock on September 24 to enforce the edict. -
Satellite
The first attempt by the United States to launch a satellite into space fails when it explodes on the launchpad. -
Explorer I
Explorer I, the first U.S. space satellite, is launched by the Army at Cape Canaveral. It would discover the Van Allen radiation belt. -
Cold War Debate
The first major world's fair since the end of World War II opens in Brussels, Belgium and evokes a Cold War debate between the pavilions of the Soviet Union and the United States. Their competing visions of the world vie for the attention of the over 41 million visitors to the event, also noted for the Atomium atom molecular structure that stood as the fair's theme. The expo, sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions, closed on October 19, 1958. -
Lituya Bay
The Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake registers 7.5 on the Richter scale, producing a landslide that caused a megatsunami with a 520-meter high wave. Only two people were killed in the incident, due to the desolate nature of the area involved. The wave dissipated when reaching the open sea. -
Jet Airlines
Jet airline passenger service is inaugurated in the United States by National Airlines with a flight between New York City and Miami, Florida. -
Alaska
Alaska is admitted to the United States as the 49th state to be followed on August 21 by Hawaii. -
Fidel Castro
The United States recognizes the new Cuban government under rebel leader Fidel Castro. Castro becomes the Premier of Cuba on February 16. -
Daytona Stock Race
The Daytona 500 stock car race is run for the first time with Lee Petty taking the first checkered flag. -
NASA
NASA selects the first seven military pilots to become the Mercury Seven, first astronauts of the United States. The Mercury Seven included John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Griscom, Wally Scare, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. -
St. Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway is opened along the Canada and United States borders, allowing increased ship traffic between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. -
Nikita Khrushchev
President Dwight D. Eisenhower hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the first visit of any Soviet Union led to the United States.
