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World Events: McCarthyism
Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy charged that the State Department was infiltrated by Communists. Many carrers were ruined and people became paranoid about Communism. -
World Event: Beginning of Korean War
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. Over 10,000 soldiers had already died in skirmishes before the war started. -
Sports and Music: breaking the tennis color barrier
Althea Gibson was the first African American to break the tennis color barrier. She was the first African American to be named as Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in 1957. -
Fashion and Entertainment: First Peanuts Comic Strip
Peanuts was introduced under the name of Li'l Folks. In 1952 the strip was published in forty newspapers across theUnited States. -
Sports and Music: breaking the NBA color barrier
Earl Lloyd was the first African American to play in a NBA game. He often got discriminated against whenever he traveled with the team to restaurants and hotels. -
Science and Technology: Computers for business
Presper Eckert and John Mauchley invented the first computer for business called the UNIVAC. The cmputer weighed 1600 pounds. By 1900 more than 2,000 computers were sold. -
Science and Technology: Victory over polio
The victory over polio was one of the biggest medical advances of the decade. After Jonas Salk created a vaccine against polio, polio cases dropped 97%. It saved many people from dying of the disease. -
Science and Technology: US explodes an H-bomb
The US exploded an H-bomb in Enewetak in the Marshall Islands. Ernest Lawrence and Luis Alvarez created the bomb. The bomb is 1,000 times more powerful than conventional nuclear devices. -
Science and Technology: Advances in surgery
In 1952 Dr. John F. Lewis performed the first open heart surgery. A year later medicine to help the patients oxygen flowing while they were in surgery for a long period of time was invented. -
Fashion and Entertainment: "The Golden Era" of 3-D Films
"The Golden Era" of 3-D films began with the movie "Bwana Devil." Sixty more films followed in the next three years. -
Science and Technology: Music Synthesizer
The music synthesizer was one of the first widely used electricronic musical instruments. It was invented by Dr. Robert Moog. The synthesizer was used by moving your hand in the vicinity of two metal rods controlling the pitch and volume. -
Sports and Music: first to climb Mt. Everest
Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to ever climb Mt. Everest. This was once thought to be impossible -
Science and Technology: DNA Discovered
James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick discovered DNA in 1953. Today DNA helps us with finding diseases and curing them. It can also help us solve crimes because part of your DNA is your fingerprints. -
World Events: End of Korean War
The Korean War ended when the United States organized an International Confrence to discuss the political future of Korea. A truce was decided upon. -
Fashion and Entertainment: Color T.V. Introduced
The first coast-to-coast program to be broadcast in color was the Tournament of Roses Parade. It was broadcast on twenty-one stations. -
World Event: Desegregation of Public Schools
Greensboro, North Carolina was the first city in the Southern United States to allow African Americans in the schools.African Americans in Little Rock, Arkansas required military assitance to get in the schools. -
Sports and Music: the beggining of Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll revolutionized people's musical taste. This form of music mostly became popular with teenagers. -
Science and Technology: Microwave
The invention of the microwave made cooking faster in the US. The microwave was about the size of a refrigerator and costed about $1,200. In 2000 there were estimated 150 million microwaves sold in the US. -
Fashion and Entertainment: Disneyland Opens
Disneyland was built on a 160-acre orange orchard in Anaheim, California and cost $17 million to complete. It featured themed areas such as Main Street, Adventureland, Frontirland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. -
World Event: refusing to give up her seat
Rosa Parks, a fourty-two year old African American women, refused to give ip her seat on the bus to a white man. This led to the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, that was a big role in ending segregation. -
Sports and Music: Elvis Presley's first album
Elvis was one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. This album, "Elvis Presley", was at number one on Billboard's pop album chart for ten weeks and earned Elvis' first gold album. -
Science and Technology: Barbie Doll
The barbie doll was invented by Ruth Handler. The doll was named after her daughter Barbra. Within the first year there were 300,000 barbies sold. -
Science and Technology: Video recorder
The VCR spread the growth of homr media and popularity of television. The recorder was about the size of a cabinet. The VCR sold for about $50,000. -
Science and Technology: Credit Card
Whe John Biggins invented the credit card it made shopping faster. Credit cards in 1958 weren't plastic. They'v been credit tokens, metal plates, fiber, and paper. Shopping today with credit cards still makes shopping faster. -
Sports and Music: World Series perfect game
Don Larsen pitched a perfect hame for the Yankees playing against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. This was the first time anyone has thrown a perfect game in a world series game. -
Sports and Music: breaking the NHL color barrier
Willie O'ree was the first African American to play in the National Hockey League. Jackie Robinson was his inspiration to try. -
Fashion and Entertainment: Hayday of Drive -in Movies
Dive -in theaters in the late 50's ranged in size from fifty parking spaces to 2,500 parking places with 1,200 additional indoor seats. Many theaters would open three hours early to make a bigger profit. -
Sports and Music: Motown Founded
Motown was a black owned and blacked centered record label that produced amazing groups like the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations. Motown gave white American access to Black Music. -
Sports and Music: The day the music died
Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens, three great musicians, died in a plane crash. They were on thier eleventh night of their Winter Dane Party Tour. Later in 1971, Don Mclean's single "American Pie" turned the plane crash into a metaphor for the moment when the US lost its last shred of innocence. -
Fashion and Entertainment: First Grammy Awards
Originally called the Gramophone Awards, the first ever Grammys were broadcast as a series and had only twenty- eight catergories. No Rock 'n' Roll singers, songs, or albums won.
