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Period: to
Postwar Years at Homer
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Harry Truman becomes the first president to address the nation on TV from the White House.
President Harry S. Truman's opening speech before a conference in San Francisco is broadcast across the nation, marking the first time a television program was broadcast from coast to coast. The speech focused on Truman's acceptance of a treaty that officially ended America's post-World War II occupation of Japan. The broadcast, via then-state-of-the-art microwave technology, was picked up by 87 stations in 47 cities, according to CBS. -
Transistor is invented, spurring growth in computers and electronics.
In 1947, scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the first transistor, a tiny circuit device that amplifies, controls, and generates electrical signals. The transistor could do the work of a much larger vacuum tube, but took up less space and generated less heat. The transistor could be used in radios, computers, and other electronic devices, and greatly changed the electronics industry. -
President Eisenhower and Congress add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Evidence of the newfound commitment to religion was abundant. In 1954, Congress added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the next year it required the phrase “In God We Trust” to appear on all American currency. Like other aspects of American life, religion became more commercial. -
Polio vaccine announced to the world by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis.
Americans also found hope in developments made in medicine. In 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis conducted a successful field test of a vaccine to prevent one of the most feared diseases—poliomyelitis. Before the vaccine, the disease, known commonly as polio, had killed or disabled more than 20,000 children in the United States every year. -
NASA is established.
When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, as described in the previous chapter, many Americans grew concerned that the United States was losing its competitive edge. Others feared a nuclear attack would soon follow. In 1958, the United States government responded by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as an independent agency for space exploration. -
The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. goes online at Shippingport, Pa
Americans also found hope in developments made in medicine. In 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis conducted a successful field test of a vaccine to prevent one of the most feared diseases—poliomyelitis. Before the vaccine, the disease, known commonly as polio, had killed or disabled more than 20,000 children in the United States every year.
