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Top Ten Events of 1950's
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First Modern Credit Card Introduced
The Diner's Club credit card is considered the first modern credit card invented by Frank X. McNamara in 1950. The first Diner's Club credit cards were given out to 200 people in early 1950 but by the end of 1950, the new era of credit cards had increased to 20,000 people. McNamara thougt this was a fad and sold his shares to his partners for $200,000 in 1952. -
Korean War begins
The war begins when North Korea invades South Korea. The United States acting under the U.N. quickly came to South Korea's defense and fought a frustrating, bloody war for the next 3 years. Over 55,000 Americans were killed. It was the first "hot" war of the Cold War . -
DNA Chemical Structure Discovered
Cambridge scientists discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. DNA was first detected in 1869; however, it's genetic role was not deternimed at that time. On the evening of February 28, 1953, Scientist Crick announced that they had found the "secret to life". -
Brown vs. Board of Education: Segregation Ruled Illegal
Supreme Court ruled segregation violates 14th Ammendment that guarantees equal protection. This opened the doors for equal rights for all Americans beginning the civil rights movement. -
First successful living organ transplant (kidney)
The first successful living-donor organ transplant was performed on a set of identical twins. Richard was dying from kidney disease so Ronald donated one of his and since they were identical the organ was not seen as foreign to Richard's body and did not reject it. He lived for another 8 years. In 1954, kidney transplants were still experimental medicine where as today they are a preferred treatment, and, to date, over 250,000 kidney transplants have been performed in the U.S. alone. -
Disneyland Opens
Walt Disney had a dream to build an activity park for both children and their parents to enjoy. On July 17, 1955, his dream came true when he opened Disneyland! Disneyland continues to be a place where dreams come true for all ages. -
ELVIS gyrated on The Ed Sullivan Show
This was his first appearance on the show and due to all his gyrating , the camera's were only allowed to shoot from the waist up on his next appearance. From the very beginning of his career, Elvis had an extensive cultural impact. Elvis started out as a teen idol with his recordings, dance moves, attitude and clothing which came to be seen as embodiments of rock and roll. He went on to be named “The King of Rock n' Roll”. -
Soviet's launch first artificial satellite, Sputnik.
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. This created new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The launch changed everything and directly led to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Moreover, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.- U.S.S.R space race. -
NASA Founded
"An Act to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes." With this simple preamble, Congress and the President of the U.S. created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on October 1, 1958. This was directly related to the pressures of national defense and the Soviet’s launching of the first artificial satellite. Space exploration emerged as a major area of contest and became known as the space race. -
Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister of Cuba
Jose Miro Cardona resigned as Prime Minister of Cuba exiling to the United States after an argument with Castro. On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro took the vacancy and became Prime Minister of Cuba. This was the beginning of Castro's Cuba. Castro was Prime Minister from 1959-1976 then President from 1976-2008.
