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Different Entertainment
During the 1950's the entertainment industry exploded. Color t.v was starting to come out and many famous and classic t.v shows came out. I Love Lucy, Ed Sullivan, The Untouchables, and westerns all became very popular. For the first time, Republican and Democratic conventions were broadcast live. This lead to many people becoming more aware of politics and involved in the political process. -
Fashion of the 50's
The 1950's were a very conservative time for clothing and fashion. Men wore mainly suits and ties or sweaters and vests. Women wore almost exclusively dresses. Some styles were petticoats and full skirts or tight narrow pencil skirts. At the beach women wore one-piece swimming suits while men wore underwear or tight shorts. -
American Life in the 1950's
At 1950 the average American income was $3,300 and by 1959 the income was almost $4,000. Men usually worked in blue collar jobs like industry and agriculture with women usually staying at home or if they did work, working as secretaries or teachers. Once you had your job, it was very common to stay in that job and field until you were done with your career. In terms of family life, marriages were rare and the average household had four people living in it. -
Period: to
The 50's
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The Beginning of the Korean War
This was one of the first conflicts of the Cold War. The war started when the communist North Korea invaded the free South Korea with the aim of uniting the two. The Soviet Union and China supported the communist North while the United States and other democracies supported the South. The United States got involved because it believed in the Domino Theory which stated that if one country fell to communism, the others around it would also fall. -
Dwight D Eisenhower
Dwight D Eisenhower was a WWI veteran and was Supreme Allied commander of Allied forces during WWII. After the war he was nominated by the Republican party and elected president. Eisenhower's longest lasting achievement was the interstate highway systems that were created under term. While helping the public it was intended to allow the military to travel the country faster in case of a Soviet threat. He also had the Eisenhower doctrine which would help Middle Eastern countries from the Soviets. -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg / The Red Scare
The Rosenbergs were a couple that were citizens of the United States that spied for the Soviet Union. Julius joined the Army Corps and worked for at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. While there he worked on advanced radar and missile control systems. While there he was he passed on information to the Soviet Union and recruited additional members. On March 6th the couple were arrested and put on trial for treason. They were convicted and executed on June 19th, 1953. This fueled the red scare paranoia. -
The Civil Rights Movements: Brown v. The Board of Education
Before Brown v. Board of Education, the United States south was under the rules of separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education consisted of 5 different cases that were combined for the supreme court. The case challenged weather or not segregation was legal and did not violate the 14th amendment. After two years in court, the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 decision that segregation violated the 14th amendment and that segregation was illegal. -
The Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a very influential person in the civil rights movement. In December 1943 Rosa joined the NAACP and worked to investigate false accusations on blacks. Her most famous and moment is when she refused to move from her seat on a segregated bus. The bus driver told Rosa to move and when she told him no, the bus driver called the police and Rosa Parks was arrested. This caused protests in Montgomery and almost all the blacks in the city no longer rode the buses until laws were changed. -
Elvis Presley releases Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreak Hotel was Elvis Presley's first number one record. Elvis continued to dominate the 50's with 18 number one hits and 38 songs in the top 10's. He paved the way for Rock n' Roll to dominate the 50's. -
The Space Race / Sputnik
Sputnik was the first satellite launched into Earths orbit and was launched by the Soviet Union. The launch triggered the space race that would be prevalent for the next couple decades. Also in response to the space race, the United States created NASA to compete with the Soviets and they also heavily invested in the space race. By the 1970's the U.S had spent over $25 billion, which equals over $100 billion today. -
Fidel Castro / The Spread of Communism
In the early 1950's Fidel Castro created a communist movement called "The Movement". His biggest aim was to overthrow the government and replace it with a communist one. Starting in 1957, Castro, along with his rebels began attacking police and military outposts to gather weapons and new members. By 1959 Castro had effectively taken over the country and the government.
