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!950-1990
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Credit Card
Frank X. McNamara thought of a way for customers to have just one credit card that they could use at multiple stores. McNamara discussed the idea with two colleagues and the three pooled some money and started a new company in 1950 which they called the Diners Club.The first Diners Club credit cards were given out in 1950 to 200 people (most were friends and acquaintances of McNamara) and accepted by 14 restaurants in New York -
Mc Carthtyism
President Truman had ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government. When Alger Hiss, a high-ranking State Department official was convicted on espionage charges, fear of communists intensified.McCarthy capitalized on national paranoia by proclaiming that COMMUNIST SPIES were omnipresent and that he was America's only salvation. -
First t.v
CBS broadcast the very first commercial color TV program. Unfortunately, nearly no one could watch it on their black-and-white televisions. -
mt everest
After years of dreaming about it and seven weeks of climbing, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world They were the first people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest -
hugh hefner
27-year-old Hugh Hefner published the very first Playboy magazine. This first edition of Playboy was 44-pages long and had no date on its cover because Hefner wasn't sure there would be a second edition -
End to segeragation
The law was changed. In the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision by ruling that segregation was "inherently unequal." Although the Brown v. Board of Education was specifically for the field of education, the decision had a much broader scope. -
Mc Donalds opens
Founder Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s, known as Store #1, opened in Des Plaines, Illinois. This first store sported a red-and-white tile building and the now very recognizable large Golden Arches. The first McDonald’s offered lots of parking and featured a simple menu of hamburgers, fries, shakes, and drinks. -
Disney Opens
Disneyland opened for a few thousand specially invited visitors; the following day, Disneyland officially opened to the public. Disneyland, located in Anaheim, California on what used to be a 160-acre orange orchard, cost $17 million to build. The original park included Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. -
Death of James Dean
actor James Dean was driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder to an auto rally in Salinas, California when he was involved in a head-on collision with a 1950 Ford Tutor. James Dean, only 24 years old, died in the crash. -
Rosa Park Takes a stand
Rosa Parks, a African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man while riding on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. For doing this, Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for breaking the laws of segregation. Rosa Parks' refusal to leave her seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and is considered the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement -
Rosa parks
Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man while riding on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. For doing this, Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for breaking the laws of segregation. Rosa Parks' refusal to leave her seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and is considered the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement. -
JFK'S Man On Moon Speech
President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech, "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, before a joint session of Congress. In this speech, JFK stated that the United States should set as a goal the "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" by the end of the decade. Acknowledging that the Soviets had a head start in their space program, Kennedy urged the U.S. -
Beatles Record
In September 1962, the Beatles recorded their first single. On one side of the record was the song "Love Me Do" and on the flip side, "P.S. I Love You." Their first single was a success but it was their second, with the song "Please Please Me," that made them their first number-one hit. By early 1963, their fame began to soar. After quickly recording a long album, the Beatles spent much of 1963 touring -
Death Of JFK
the youth and idealism of America in the 1960s faltered as its young President, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Two days later, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby during a prisoner transfer -
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay, fought Charles "Sonny" Liston for the world heavyweight title in Miami, Florida.Liston expected an early knockout. However, Muhammad Ali was a lot faster than most other boxers. Ali's plan was to dance around the powerful Liston until Liston tired out. -
Death Of Malcom x
After spending a year as a hunted man, Malcom X was shot and killed during a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, The assailants, at least three in number, were members of the black Muslim group the Nation of Islam, the group with which Malcolm X had been a prominent minister for ten years before he split with them in March 1964. -
First Super Bowl
the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) smash the American Football League (AFL)’s Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in the first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship, later known as Super Bowl I, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. -
Death of MLK
At 6:01 p.m. civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet. King had been standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when, without warning, he was shot. The .30-caliber rifle bullet entered King's right cheek, traveled through his neck, and finally stopped at his shoulder blade. King was immediately taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. -
Neil Armstrong Man On Moon
as part of the Apollo 11 mission, astronaut Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module (nicknamed Eagle) and stepped out onto the ladder. Once at the bottom of the ladder, Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and became the very first man on the moon. A few minutes later, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin followed him. -
WoodStock
Kornfeld and Lang's original proposal was to build a recording studio and a retreat for rock musicians up in Woodstock, New York (where Bob Dylan and other musicians already lived). The idea morphed into creating a two-day rock concert for 50,000 people with the hope that the concert would raise enough money to pay for the studi -
Dodge Challenger
the Charger was changed slightly. This would be the last year of the 2nd generation Charger and featured a large wraparound chrome bumper and the grille was no longer divided in the middle. New electric headlight doors replaced the old vacuum style. The taillights were similar to those used in 69, but 500 and R/T models came with a new more attractive taillight panel -
Vietnam
The Vietnam War was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The divisive war, increasingly unpopular at home, ended with the withdrawal of U.S. forces and the unification of Vietnam under Communist control two years later. More than 3 million people, including 58,000 Americans, were killed in the conflict. -
Mt Saint Helen Erupt
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history; however, it offered scientists an exceptional opportunity to examine and study a large volcanic eruption, which has enriched scientific knowledge of volcanoes. -
Pac-Man
The yellow, pie-shaped Pac-Man character, who travels around a maze trying to eat dots and avoid four mean ghosts, quickly became an icon of the 1980s. To this day, Pac-Man remains one of the most popular video games in history. -
Reagan shot
On March 30, 1981, 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on U.S. President Ronald Reagan just outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. President Reagan was hit by one bullet, which punctured his lung. Three others were also injured in the shooting. -
First monster truck
In April 1981, Bob Chandler drove over cars in Bigfoot in what is often believed to be the first monster truck to crush cars. Chandler drove Bigfoot over a pair of cars in a field as a test of the truck's ability, and filmed it to use as a promotional tool in his four wheel drive performance shop -
Hiv/Aids
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publish a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), describing cases of a rare lung infection, in five young, previously healthy, in Los Angeles. All the men have other unusual infections as well, indicating that their immune systems are not working; two have already died by the time the report is published. This edition of the MMWR marks the first official reporting of what wil -
ET
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was a blockbuster movie right from its release. Its opening weekend grossed $11.9 million and E.T. stayed at the top of the charts for over four months. At the time, it was the largest grossing movie ever made -
Micheal Jackson Thriller
24-year-old singer Michael Jackson released his album Thriller, which, in addition to the title track of the same name, included such popular singles as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time and has sold over 104 million copies to date; 65 million of those copies were within the United States -
Women in space
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 18, 1983 on board space shuttle Challenger. A pioneer of the final frontier, she charted a new course for Americans to follow, not only into the country’s space program, but by inspiring young people, especially girls, to careers in science, math, and engineering. -
Challenger explodes
At 11:38 a.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. As the world watched on TV, the Challenger soared into the sky and then, shockingly, exploded just 73 seconds after take-off. All seven members of the crew, including social studies teacher Sharon "Christa" McAuliffe, died in the disaster. An investigation of the accident discovered that the O-rings of the right solid rocket booster had malfunctioned
