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Berlin Airlift
After West Berlin was cut off from the rest of Germany in 1948. The allies conducted one of the largest humanitarian mission in history and brought over 2.3 million tons of food and supplies to help out Berlin though air because every road, railroad, and water route was cut off. -
Election of 1948
This U.S. presidential election is considered to be the greatest election upset in American history. Every prediction was that President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way split in his own party. Truman's election confirmed the Democratic Party's status as the nation's majority party, a status they would retain until the 1980s. -
Chinese Civil War
ended in 1949 War between communist Mao Zse Tong and nationalist Chaing-Kai Shek. The communists took over and forced the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan. -
NATO
NATO stands for The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An alliance between the allied contries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. -
Rock 'n' Roll
The rise of rock 'n' roll influenced society and American culture. It was an influence on teenage behavior and influence the civil rights movement it influenced the music we listen to today. -
Baseball
Baseball competed with boxing for the most entertaining popular sport of the '50s. Many games were broadcasted over Television and Americans went wild. -
Rise of the Beatniks
The rebellion of the beatniks was against the materialistic society of the American middle class. They rebelled through literature. The beatniks were a small group that was centered around art and artists. They were characterized by poets Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Their work influenced and expressed American Culture and post WWII politics. -
Blues
Blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music in the 1950s. The enthusiastic playing styles of popular musicians like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry departed from the aspects of blues and influenced Rock and roll music.
Ray Charles and Fats Domino help bring blues into the popular music scene. Domino provides a boogie-woogie style that heavily influences rock 'n' roll. -
Boxing
Boxing thrived in the 50s. Great fights and superstars made up for severe corruption during this time. Always a sport filled with shady sorts, the 50s saw a spike in the mob’s influence of the sport. Gangsters Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo ran the game with an iron hand. More often than not, a fighter’s success was tied to his willingness to “go along” with the monkey business that was so prevalent at the time. -
Korean War
The war began when North Korea (communist) invaded Soth Korea (non-communist) crossing the 38th parallel. Kim Il-sung's army had soviet tanks and had quickly overrun Soth Korea. The United States entered the war aiding the South. China and the Soviets joined fighting for the North. China unleashed a Chinese ground attack against American forces. In fear of WWIII breaking out between the Chinese and Russians with the U.S, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. -
The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program was a comedy about himself and events from his real-life and starred real people from his actual life. He was popular all across America. He had his own radio program and then he got on tv. Jack Benny made his TV debut in 1949 with a local appearance on Los Angeles station KTTV. He then got with CBS on October 28, 1950. He made his full network debut over CBS. Benny's television shows were broadcasted occasionly during his early seasons. -
Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julis and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were accused of being leaders of a spy ring giving information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. They were presented in front of a judge and jury where Ethel's brother testified against her with drawings and diagrams claiming he gave it to Julius to give to the soviets. Greenglass imprisoned his wife, his sister, and Julius. Julius and Ethel were both executed by the electric chair. -
Election of 1952
Democrats had nominated Adlai E. Stevenson to run for president. The republicans candidate was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Richard M. Nixon was chosen for vice president. Dwight. Eisenhower won the election by a large majority. In this election, there was a scandal. Reports of Nixon tapping government funds were spreading. After Eisenhower considered dropping Nixon from the ballot, Nixon went on TV and said his apologies in his "Checkers speech". This speech saved his place on the ballot. -
passenger jets
For the first time, people could take long haul flights, opening up the world for travel and tourism. 707s and DC-8s were invented they were bigger, faster, had greater range, and proved more profitable. -
Television in color
The first color TV sets were very expensive and only scheduled shows aired in color during the 1950s. Market penetration slowly increased when affordable sets and more color programming became available. By the end of 1966, prime-time was all-color, but a number of daytime, local and educational programs continued in black-and-white for a few more years. -
New York Yankees
New york Yankees become the first team in baseball history to win five consecutive World Series. -
Father knows best
Ran on network television from 1954 to 1963. Was a beloved tv show for Americans and a good example of American Pop Cultured. The show was so popular that when production ended, it continued on the primetime TV network schedule for the next three years and then again throughout the 60s to 90s airing regularly. -
Joseph McCarthy hearings
Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy became one of America's best-known politicians through his campaigns to uncover subversives. He attacks the U.S. Army accusing them of leading an espionage ring but he turned up with nothing no evidence led to the first televised hearings in U.S. history, the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. The American public watched McCarthy live in action. Popular approval for McCarthy ended during the hearings and his fall from power. -
Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' is released
Maybellene was Berry's first paean to cars and girls, two of the constants of American rock'n'roll. His guitar and songwriting style permeated the music of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen. -
The Honeymooners
A sitcom. The Honeymooners was one of the most memorable TV comedies of all time. Its influence has stretched into modern-day sitcom classics such as Roseanne and Seinfeld. The devotion of Honeymooners fans throughout the years has impacted cultish worship, including the formation of a club known called RALPH which stands for the Royal Association for the Longevity and Preservation of the Honeymooners. -
Highway Act of 1956
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. This bill created a 41,000 mile "National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". Eisenhower said this would eliminate unsafe roads, inefficient routes, traffic jams, and all other conditions that got in the way of a "Speedy, safe transcontinental travel." The highway would also be used for quick evacuation in case of an atomic attack. -
Elvis Presley’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
Elvis made his debut on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956. Over 60 million Americans watched the show from home. Sullivan was initially against the idea of having Elvis on his show but when he saw Elvis boosting views on Steve Allens show he quickly realized his mistakes and got Elvis for 3 more shows. Americans say this was the day that rock 'n' roll truly established itself. -
Suez Canal Crisis
Isreali armed forces launched an attack on the Suez Canal pushing through Eygpt. Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal in July of 1956 which initiated the Suez Crisis. Isreal was joined by French and British forces which ruined relationships with the U.S. and almost brought the Soviet Union into the conflict. The U.S threatened all 3 nations and the British and French forces withdrew from Isreal. in December. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball, about 23 inches in diameter and weighing less than 190 pounds. It took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S. and Soviet space race. -
Microchip
One of the most important inventions in human history, almost everything we use today contains the microchip. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce were the inventors. -
U2 Spy Plane Incident
The Soviets shot down an American U2 spy plane in Soviet air and captured pilot Francis Gary Powers. Confronted with the evidence of his nation’s espionage, President Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviets that the CIA led spy missions over the USSR for years. The Soviets convicted Powers on espionage charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. However, after serving less than two years, he was released in exchange for a captured Soviet agent first-ever U.S.-USSR “spy swap.” -
The Berlin Wall
Constructed on August 13, 1961, to cut off the East from the West.
The communist felt that the wall was a protective barrier for the East and tried to stop people from migrating from the East to the West. The wall ran over 100 miles through the center of Berlin.
