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1949
1 HARRY S TRUMAN became U.S. President when Roosevelt died in 1945. He was responsible for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan and ending World War II. 2 RED CHINA.- Communists took control of China after a struggle that started before World War. It was called Red China by the United States to indicate they were Communists. 3 WALTER WINCHELL was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could make or break a celebrity. -
1950
1 JOE MC CARTHY was a Senator from Wisconsin. He was known for his brutal interrogations of suspects, resulting in ruining the lives of both guilty and innocent people. 2 RICHARD NIXON was a member of the House of Representatives from California when he became involved in the trial of Alger Hiss, who was accused of being a Communist and a spy. -
1950 2nd part
1 TELEVISION became popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Color was introduced in 1951. 2 NORTH & SOUTH KOREA Korea was split into north and south after World War II. North Korea became established as a Communist dictatorship by Soviet Union and Red China. In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea, starting the Korean War. The United Nations entered the war to defend South Korea. 3 MARILYN MONROE was a sex symbol.
STUDEBAKER was a popular car. -
1951
1 ROSENBERGS were a husband and wife who were arrested and executed for selling secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. 2 THE HYDROGEN BOMB was developed under the guidance of Dr. Edward Teller. It was many times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The United States exploded the first H-bomb and a few years later the Soviet Union exploded their version of the bomb. -
1951 2nd part
1 PANMUNJOM, KOREA is where negotiations between the United Nations—led by the United States—and the Communist North Koreans end the Korean War took place. 2 THE KING AND I was a popular Broadway play and later turned into a movie. -
1952
1 EISENHOWER became a popular president of the United States. 2 THE VACCINE to the dreaded disease polio was discovered by Jonas Salk . 3 ENGLAND´S GOT A NEW QUEEN- Elizabeth 2 ascended to the throne. 4 PHILOSOPHER SANTAYANA DIED. -
1953
1 JOSEPH STALIN was the dictator of the Soviet Union. 2 GEORGY MALENKOV was a Soviet politician and Communist Party leader. 3 GAMAL ABDEL NASSER was the second President of Egypt after Muhammad Naguib. He was considered one of the more influential Arab leaders in history. -
1954
1 JUAN PERÓN was a popular leader in Argentina, elected first in 1946 and then again in 1952. Perón pursued social policies aimed at empowering the working class. 2 The French lose control over Indo-China-now known as Vietnam-with the fall of the city Dien Bien Phu. 3 Bill Haley and the Comets came out with what was considered the first rock-and-roll hit song, Rock Around the Clock. -
1955
1 ALBERT EINSTEIN developed the Theory of Relativity in 1903. 2 ELVIS PRESLEY became a national phenomenon with such number-one hit songs as Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog. 3 DISNEYLAND opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California. It was a theme park, developed by Walt Disney and based around his cartoon characters. -
1956
1 In Montgomery, Alabama African-American ROSA PARKS refused to give up her seat in the "colored section" to a white passenger, after the "white section" was filled. She was then arrested 2 NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV emerged as a leader in the Soviet Union after the death of dictator Josef Stalin 3 After Britain and the USA withdrew their financial support for the Egyptian Aswan dam project, General Nasser nationalized the important Suez Canal. Egypt was then invaded by British, French and Israeli. -
1957
Nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, because he believed black and whites should be segregated SPUTNIK was the name of the first orbiting satellite sent into space by the USSR. Jack Kerouac was the author of the best-selling book On the Road, which epitomized the Beat Generation of the late 1940s and 1950s. -
1958
1 CHARLES DE GAULLE returned to power as the leader of France 2 CHARLES STARKWEATHER was a serial killer, he and his girlfriend, Caril Fugate, went on a killing spree of 11 to 15 people over a span of a month and a half. They were captured and he was executed in 1959 3 Thalidomide was a medication intended for pregnant women to combat morning sickness and to help them sleep. Unfortunately, children of women who took the drug thalidomide during pregnancy were born with severe deformities -
1959
1 SPACE MONKEYS a number of monkeys had been sent into space in various rockets, but unfortunately all died during their flights. It wasn't until 1959 that Able, a rhesus monkey, and Miss Baker, a squirrel monkey, became the first monkeys to successfully travel in space and return to Earth. 2 FIDEL CASTRO had been a wealthy lawyer, advocating social justice and protesting the influence of the United States in Cuba. 3 FORD MOTOR COMPANY came out with a new car, the Edsel. It was discontinued. -
1960
1 The United States sent the secret U-2 high-flying spy plane over the Soviet Union to take pictures and gather information, when one was shot down by a Russian missile. 2 JOHN F KENNEDY was elected President of the United States 3 The country of Belgian Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 to become simply the CONGO. -
1961
1Former Nazi leader ADOLF EICHMANN was arrested in Argentina and brought to Israel, where he was convicted of war crimes and executed. 2The Soviets erected the BERLIN WALL, dividing the city into the Russian-controlled part and the area controlled by the U.S., British and French. 3Eisenhower Administration created a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba, President JoHN Kennedy allowed the attack on Cuba. Because of poor planning, as well as spies, Castro was ready for the attack. -
1962
1 British rock group THE BEATLES took over the music scene, with numerous hit records on the Top-40 charts. 2 University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) admitted its first black or African-American student, James Meredith 3 JOHN GLENN became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He had previously been a U.S. Marine test pilot, but in 1959 he was assigned to NASA as one of the original group of Mercury astronauts. -
1963
1 MALCOLM X came into the news when he preached separation of the races as part of the Black Muslim teachings. 2 A sex scandal rocked British Parliament. Secretary of State for War JOHN PROFUMO was discovered that he had a several affair with a girl named Christine Keeler, he was forced to resign. 3 President KENNEDY was assassinated in Dallas. Kennedy was riding in an open-top automobile in a presidential motorcade when Lee Harvey shot him through the head. -
1964-1989
1BIRTH CONTROL became an issue with the advent of the birth control pill. Later, abortion was legalized. 2HO CHI-MINH was the leader of the Communist North Vietnamese, who first fought the French and then the Americans. 3NIXON was elected President 4The US landed the first man on the moon. 5Supporters and staff of U.S. President NIXON were accused of breaking into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate hotel. 6Actor RONALD REAGAN became President of the United States. -
1964-1989 2nd part
1Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as a member of the Space Shuttle crew in 1983. 2Foreign debts were causing an increase in inflation, as well as a burden on American taxpayers. 3AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) disease started to spread throughout the world. 4A potent form of the highly addictive drug cocaine called "crack" or "rock" had been rapidly spreading in the United States 5Pepsi and Coke battle for supremacy in the marketplace.
