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The United States recalls all consular officials from China after the seizure of the American consul general in Peking.
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The Brinks robbery in Boston occurs when eleven masked bandits steal $2.8 million from an armored car outside their express office.
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For the first time, the 1950 census counts a population in the United States over 150 million people. The 14% increase since the last census now showed a count of 150,697,361. The most populous state in the United States was New York, now followed by California. The geographic center of the United States population had now moved west into Richland County, Illinois, 8 miles north-northwest of Olney.
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The Korean War begins its three year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea. This act leads to U.S. involvement when two days later, the United States Air Force and Navy are ordered by President Truman to the peninsula. On June 30, ground forces and air strikes are approved against North Korea.
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Thirty-five military advisors are sent to South Vietnam to give military and economic aid to the anti-Communist government.
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United Nations forces retreat south toward the 38th parallel when Chinese Communist forces open a counteroffensive in the Korean War. This action halted any thought of a quick resolution to the conflict. On December 8, 1950, shipments to Communist China are banned by the United States.
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During the Korean conflict, North Korea and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul.
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South Korea American bombing and strafing killed Korean refugees at Yong-in.
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The United States, Australia, and New Zealand sign a mutual security pact, the ANZUS Treaty.
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Nov 29 1st underground atomic explosion at Frenchman Flat in Nevada.
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Japan regains official independence, ending over six years of American occupation. Japan and the U.S. put into effect a security treaty that makes these former enemies into allies.
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An Act to revise the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and nationality; and for other purposes.
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At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the first hydrogen bomb, named Mike, is exploded.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower travels to Korea to try and end the conflict
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Cambodia gains independence from France. Next door, the French fight to hold onto Vietnam.
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Fighting ceases in the Korean War. The United Nations Command, including the United States, and the combatants North Korea and the Republic of China sign an armistice agreement.
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The United States CIA assists in the overthrow of the government in Iran, and retains the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the throne.
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The Cold War continues in earnest when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves a top secret document stating that the U.S. nuclear arsenal must be expanded to combat the communist threat.
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U.S. immigration law enforcement campaign during the summer of 1954 that resulted in the mass deportation of Mexican nationals.
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President Dwight Eisenhower proposed stripping convicted Communists of their U.S. citizenship.
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The first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn. However, the Nautilus did not make its first nuclear-powered run until nearly a year later.
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In Egypt Pres. Naguib resigned. The popular outcry was so great that Naguib was reinstated as president. Nasser, however, took the position of prime minister, previously held by Naguib, and remained president of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).
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Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.
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The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled for school integration in the landmark initiative of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.
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The U.S. Congress passed a bill allowing mobilization of troops if China should attack Taiwan.
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US federations of trade unions agreed to merge into the AFL-CIO: The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
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The US Supreme Court ordered that states must end racial segregation "with all deliberate speed."
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The U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend Selective Service until 1959.
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During the Geneva summit, President Eisenhower presented his "open skies" proposal under which the United States and the Soviet Union would trade information on each other's military facilities and allow aerial reconnaissance.
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The US Supreme Court ruled that tenants in federal housing projects may not be required to sign loyalty oaths, which were enacted by Congress in 1952.
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Pres. Eisenhower rejected a proposal for a friendship pact from Soviet Premier Bulganin
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The US announced a suspension of all arms shipments to Israel and the Arab nations.
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The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation in public schools in Brown vs. Board of Education.
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Pres. Eisenhower signed the Agriculture Act which embodied the "soil bank" plan to reduce surpluses.
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Pres. Eisenhower signed the US Federal Highway Act. It authorized a 42,500 mile network linking major urban centers. 90% of the cost was to be born by the federal government.
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Pres. Eisenhower signed legislation expanding Social Security benefits to include disability insurance.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for his second term in office.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests labor leader Jimmy Hoffa under a bribery charge.
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U.S. Congress approves the first civil rights bill since reconstruction with additional protection of voting rights.
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National Guard called to duty by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to bar nine black students from attending previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. He withdrew the troops on September 21 and the students were allowed entrance to class two days later. A threat of violence caused President Eisenhower to dispatch federal troops to Little Rock on September 24 to enforce the edict.
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The first attempt by the United States to launch a satellite into space fails when it explodes on the launchpad.
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Explorer I, the first U.S. space satellite, is launched by the Army at Cape Canaveral. It would discover the Van Allen radiation belt.
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NASA selects the first seven military pilots to become the Mercury Seven, first astronauts of the United States. The Mercury Seven included John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Gus Griscom, Wally Scare, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.
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Alaska is admitted to the United States as the 49th state to be followed on August 21 by Hawaii.
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The United States recognizes the new Cuban government under rebel leader Fidel Castro. Castro becomes the Premier of Cuba on February 16.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the first visit of any Soviet Union leader to the United States.
