100 Fun Facts About The 1950s

Elvis Presley released his first studio album in what year?

Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album was released in March 1956 by RCA Victor.

Which of these songs is often credited with helping to popularize rock and roll music in the mid-1950s?

Bill Haley & His Comets' 'Rock Around the Clock' became a massive hit after being featured in the 1955 film 'Blackboard Jungle', significantly boosting rock and roll's mainstream appeal.

In what year did Ray Kroc open his first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois?

Kroc opened his Des Plaines, Illinois store on 15 April 1955 - his first and McDonald's ninth - and went on to buy out the McDonald brothers in 1961.

Who developed the first effective polio vaccine in the 1950s?

Jonas Salk developed the first successful inactivated polio vaccine, which was introduced to the public in 1955.

In what year did the Soviet Union launch Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite?

Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957, by the Soviet Union, initiating the Space Race.

The Korean War began and ended within what decade?

Fighting began with the North's invasion on 25 June 1950 and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953, though no peace treaty ever followed.

Which U.S. President served for most of the 1950s?

Dwight D. Eisenhower was President from 1953 to 1961, serving for the majority of the decade. Harry S. Truman was president from 1945 to 1953.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement, began in what year?

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December 1955 after Rosa Parks' arrest, lasting over a year and leading to a Supreme Court ruling against segregated buses.

Which sitcom, first aired in 1951, pioneered the three-camera setup before a live studio audience?

'I Love Lucy' premiered on October 15, 1951, and became one of the most popular and influential sitcoms in television history.

Which actor, famous for his rebellious persona, starred in the 1955 film 'Rebel Without a Cause'?

James Dean cemented his iconic status with his role as Jim Stark in 'Rebel Without a Cause', though he tragically died before the film's release.

Which American marque introduced the Corvette two-seat sports car in 1953?

Chevrolet unveiled the Corvette at the GM Motorama in January 1953 and built 300 fiberglass-bodied cars that year, every one painted Polo White.

What famous doll, created by Ruth Handler, was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in 1959?

Barbie made her debut on March 9, 1959, and quickly became one of the best-selling dolls of all time.

Which author's seminal Beat Generation novel 'On the Road' was published in 1957?

Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road, published by Viking in September 1957; he appears in it as narrator Sal Paradise, with Neal Cassady as Dean Moriarty.

What major musical, featuring songs like 'Tonight' and 'Maria', premiered on Broadway in 1957?

Conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the 1957 production was Sondheim's Broadway debut.

Which game show featuring Charles Van Doren was embroiled in a rigged-answers scandal in the 1950s?

The game show 'Twenty-One' was at the center of a major scandal when it was revealed that contestants, including Charles Van Doren, had been given answers in advance.

Disneyland, the first Disney theme park, opened its gates in what year?

Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17, 1955, quickly becoming a landmark of American entertainment.

Who was the leader of the Soviet Union for most of the latter half of the 1950s?

Nikita Khrushchev emerged from the power struggle after Stalin's death in March 1953, serving as First Secretary until 1964 and as premier from 1958.

In what year was the Federal-Aid Highway Act creating the Interstate System signed?

It authorised $25 billion for 41,000 miles of highway over ten years, the largest public works project in American history to that point.

Which European country was split into Western federal and Eastern democratic republics throughout the 1950s?

Germany's Federal Republic was founded in May 1949 and the Soviet-aligned Democratic Republic that October, with Berlin itself divided between the two.

Which 1950s American youth subculture is associated with leather jackets, hot rods and rock and roll?

Greasers were working-class teenagers in the United States and Canada; the slicked-back hairstyles required constant combing to keep in shape.

Which genre of crooners and big bands dominated the early 1950s before rock and roll?

Traditional pop, crooners like Perry Como and Patti Page backed by orchestras, drew on Broadway, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood songwriters such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.

Which 1954 film features a giant monster awakened by nuclear testing?

Godzilla (1954), directed by Ishirō Honda with effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, shows a monster awakened by hydrogen-bomb tests and became a lasting metaphor for nuclear weapons.

Which surgeon performed the first successful human kidney transplant, between twins, in 1954?

Joseph Murray transplanted a kidney between identical twins Ronald and Richard Herrick in Boston on 23 December 1954, later sharing the 1990 Nobel Prize for the work.

Which 1957 TV show depicted the lives of the suburban Cleaver family?

CBS dropped Leave It to Beaver after one season; ABC picked it up and ran it for another five years, and it became far more popular in reruns.

Who began hosting 'American Bandstand' in 1956, becoming a major influence on teenage culture?

Dick Clark took over as host of 'American Bandstand' in 1956, transforming it into a national phenomenon that showcased rock and roll to a young audience.

What mutual defense treaty did the Soviet Union and its satellites form in 1955?

The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955 as a collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, in response to NATO.

Which two U.S. states, the 49th and 50th, were admitted to the Union in 1959?

Alaska and Hawaii joined as the 49th state on January 3, 1959, and the 50th that August 21; no state has been admitted since.

Which Beat Generation poet published the influential collection 'Howl and Other Poems' in 1956?

Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' became a landmark work of the Beat Generation, leading to an obscenity trial that challenged censorship.

What popular children's television show, featuring a group of young performers, first premiered in 1955?

The original 'Mickey Mouse Club' television series debuted on October 3, 1955, and was a popular after-school program for children.

In 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to do what?

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, a feat previously thought impossible.

Which 1950s artistic movement is associated with Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko?

Abstract Expressionism, characterized by large-scale, non-representational paintings, was the dominant avant-garde art movement in the 1950s.

Which kitchen appliance was first sold for home use by Tappan in 1955?

The microwave oven went domestic with Tappan's wall-mounted RL-1 of 1955, priced at $1,295 and built under licence from Raytheon, whose Radarange had served restaurants since 1947.

Which pizza chain did brothers Dan and Frank Carney found in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958?

Pizza Hut opened in Wichita, Kansas, in June 1958 after brothers Dan and Frank Carney borrowed $600 from their mother to start it.

What famous children's author published 'The Cat in the Hat' in 1957?

Dr. Seuss's 'The Cat in the Hat' was a groundbreaking book published in 1957, designed to encourage children to read.

Which European country's 1956 uprising against Soviet influence was crushed by Soviet tanks within weeks?

Hungary's uprising began on 23 October 1956; Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest on 4 November and organised armed resistance was over within about a week.

Which 1950s sex symbol starred in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'?

Marilyn Monroe played Lorelei Lee opposite Jane Russell in Howard Hawks's 1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, performing 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend'.

Which company introduced the 'TV Dinner' brand of frozen packaged meals in 1953?

Swanson launched the TV Dinner in 1953: a Thanksgiving-style turkey meal with cornbread stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes in a compartmented aluminium tray, priced at 98 cents.

What major sporting event was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956?

Melbourne hosted the Games of the XVI Olympiad, the first Olympic Games held in the Southern Hemisphere, in 1956.

What famous rock and roll singer was widely known by the nickname 'The King'?

Elvis Presley earned the enduring title 'The King of Rock and Roll' due to his immense influence and popularity in the genre.

What was the name of the first successful hydrogen bomb test, conducted by the United States in 1952?

Ivy Mike, detonated at Enewetak Atoll on 1 November 1952, was the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device, yielding 10.4 megatons.

Which landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional?

Brown v. Board of Education was unanimous and partially overturned Plessy v. Ferguson's 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Which architect designed New York's Guggenheim Museum, begun in 1956?

Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned for the Guggenheim in 1943; the spiral museum opened on Fifth Avenue in October 1959, six months after his death in April 1959.

Which toy, launched by Hasbro in 1952, was the first ever advertised on television?

Mr. Potato Head, launched by Hassenfeld Brothers in 1952, was the first toy advertised on television; the original kit was plastic parts with pins to stick into a real potato.

Which two climbers made the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest, on 29 May 1953?

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit at 11:30 a.m. on 29 May 1953 as members of John Hunt's British expedition, the ninth attempt on the mountain.

What famous scientists published their paper detailing the double helix structure of DNA in 1953?

James Watson and Francis Crick, along with contributions from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, published their seminal paper on the structure of DNA in 'Nature' in 1953.

Which 1950s dance was popularised in the U.S. by Johnny Otis's rhythm-and-blues hit 'Willie and the ...'?

It is particularly associated with 1950s rhythm and blues; the Twist did not sweep America until 1960.

What was the first commercial passenger jet, put into service by BOAC in 1952?

The British De Havilland Comet was the world's first commercial jetliner, making its inaugural passenger flight in May 1952.

What happened in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 that became a landmark of the desegregation struggle?

Their enrolment met such resistance that President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort them into Central High School.

Which Texas Instruments engineer demonstrated the first working integrated circuit in 1958?

Jack Kilby demonstrated his germanium integrated circuit at Texas Instruments on 12 September 1958; Robert Noyce's silicon monolithic chip at Fairchild followed in 1959, and both are credited as co-inventors.

Which Wham-O toy became a 1958 craze, selling about 25 million in four months?

The Hula Hoop became a global craze after its introduction in 1958, selling millions and demonstrating a new form of recreational toy.

In which year was Elizabeth II crowned at Westminster Abbey?

Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June 1953, the first British coronation to be fully televised, though at her request the anointing itself was kept off camera.

Which Egyptian leader announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in July 1956?

Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the nationalisation in a speech in Alexandria on 26 July 1956, triggering the British, French and Israeli invasion that autumn.

Which Cuban dictator fled the country as Castro's rebels triumphed at the end of 1958?

Fulgencio Batista fled Havana in the early hours of 1 January 1959 as Castro's 26th of July Movement, named for the failed 1953 Moncada Barracks attack, closed in.

Explorer 1, the first US satellite, made which discovery in 1958?

Explorer 1's Geiger counter, built by James Van Allen's team at the University of Iowa, revealed the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone of charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field.

Which 'La Bamba' singer died with Buddy Holly in the February 1959 plane crash?

Ritchie Valens was just 17; his single 'Donna' had reached number 2 on the Billboard chart with 'La Bamba' as its flipside when the plane went down on 3 February 1959.

The Regency TR-1, launched in 1954, was the first commercially made what?

The Regency TR-1 was the first commercial transistor radio, launched in October 1954 with four Texas Instruments germanium transistors and a retail price of $49.95.

In which country was the patent for the modern Lego brick first filed in January 1958?

Lego filed the patent for the stud-and-tube brick in Denmark on 28 January 1958; the company, founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen, is based in Billund.

Which country both hosted and won the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956?

Switzerland hosted in Lugano and Lys Assia won for the Swiss with 'Refrain'; just seven countries competed and each performed two songs.

Which team stunned host nation Brazil to win the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup?

Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1 in the Maracanã before a crowd of around 200,000 on 16 July 1950, a defeat Brazilians named the Maracanazo.

Which football club's young squad was devastated by the 1958 Munich air disaster?

Manchester United's 'Busby Babes' were flying home from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade when the plane crashed at Munich on its third take-off attempt, 6 February 1958.

Who pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series?

Don Larsen needed just 97 pitches to retire all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers on 8 October 1956; only one batter reached a three-ball count.

Who in 1956 became the first Black player to win a Grand Slam tennis title?

Althea Gibson won the French Championships singles in 1956, then took both the Wimbledon and US National singles titles in 1957.

Who won the first Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1950?

The Alfa Romeo driver beat his own teammate to the title, winning the Swiss and Italian Grands Prix along the way.

At which prison were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed in June 1953?

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in the electric chair at Sing Sing in Ossining, New York, on 19 June 1953, the only American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.

Which nation's forces were defeated by the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu in 1954?

The garrison was built deep in north-west Tonkin on the assumption that the Viet Minh had no anti-aircraft capability, which proved badly wrong.

Which became the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence, in March 1957?

Ghana was born at midnight on 6 March 1957 when the Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and British Togoland merged into one dominion under Kwame Nkrumah.

What did the Treaty of Rome, signed by six nations in 1957, create?

The European Economic Community was created by the treaty Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed on Rome's Capitoline Hill on 25 March 1957; it took effect 1 January 1958.

The 1955 Asian–African Conference of newly independent states met in which country?

The conference met in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, in April 1955 with 29 Asian and African states, helping lay the groundwork for the Non-Aligned Movement.

What breed was Checkers, the dog at the heart of Richard Nixon's 1952 TV speech?

Checkers was a black-and-white cocker spaniel shipped to the Nixon children by a Texas supporter; Nixon declared he would keep that one gift whatever the outcome.

Which senator did the Senate censure in December 1954 after the televised Army hearings?

Joseph McCarthy was condemned by the Senate 67–22 on 2 December 1954; televised coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings that spring is widely credited with puncturing his popularity.

How many Academy Awards did Ben-Hur (1959) win, a record at the time?

Ben-Hur won 11 Academy Awards in April 1960, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Charlton Heston, a record later equalled by Titanic and The Return of the King.

Who directed the 1954 Japanese epic Seven Samurai?

Akira Kurosawa shot Seven Samurai over 148 working days; the Japanese release ran 207 minutes, and it inspired the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven.

Which 1953 biblical epic was the first film released in widescreen CinemaScope?

The Robe premiered in September 1953 as the first CinemaScope release; because many cinemas lacked the new lenses, every scene was also shot 'flat', so two versions exist.

Which 1952 film about the Tsavo man-eaters set off Hollywood's first 3D craze?

Bwana Devil, released in November 1952 to audiences wearing grey Polaroid glasses, was the 3D hit that set off Hollywood's boom; House of Wax followed in 1953.

Who produced, co-wrote and directed the 1959 cross-dressing comedy Some Like It Hot?

Billy Wilder produced, co-wrote and directed it; he had spotted Tony Curtis years earlier while Curtis was filming Houdini (1953).

Which David Lean war film was the highest-grossing movie of 1957?

The Bridge on the River Kwai topped 1957's box office and won seven Oscars; its screenplay award went to novelist Pierre Boulle because blacklisted writers Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson could not be credited.

Who created and hosted The Twilight Zone, which premiered on CBS in October 1959?

Aside from one episode, every first-season script came from him, Charles Beaumont or Richard Matheson.

What did USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, achieve in August 1958?

She crossed the Arctic Ocean from the Bering Sea to the Greenland Sea, passing beneath the pole on 3 August.

What was the name of the dog launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 in November 1957?

Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, flew on Sputnik 2 on 3 November 1957, a craft built in about four weeks to mark the October Revolution's 40th anniversary.

In which year was NASA established?

The National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed by Eisenhower on 29 July 1958, and NASA began operating on 1 October 1958, absorbing the older NACA.

The IBM 305 RAMAC of 1956 was the first commercial computer to use what?

The moving-head hard disk drive, IBM's 350 unit, was announced with the 305 RAMAC on 13 September 1956; its fifty 24-inch platters held about 5 million characters.

What was TAT-1, inaugurated in September 1956?

TAT-1, the first transatlantic telephone cable, ran from Oban in Scotland to Clarenville, Newfoundland, and carried 588 London–US calls in its first 24 hours of service from 25 September 1956.

Which computer famously predicted a 1952 US presidential landslide live on CBS?

UNIVAC I, with only about 5% of returns counted, gave Eisenhower 100-to-1 odds of beating Stevenson on CBS; the network withheld the call until the landslide was obvious.

Which city was smothered by the deadly 'Great Smog' in December 1952?

London's Great Smog of 5–9 December 1952 came when a windless anticyclone trapped coal smoke; the initial toll of 4,000 deaths was later revised to around 12,000.

The 1953 North Sea flood led which country to build the Delta Works?

The Netherlands lost 1,836 people when the surge of 31 January–1 February 1953 breached dikes in Zeeland and South Holland; the Delta Works that followed were completed in 1997 with the Maeslantkering.

Which race's 1955 running saw a Mercedes fly into the crowd, killing more than 80 spectators?

At the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pierre Levegh's Mercedes flew into the crowd, killing him and around 83 spectators; Switzerland banned circuit racing in response.

Which electric guitar did Fender put on sale in 1954?

The Stratocaster, launched in 1954, was the first Fender with three pickups, a spring 'synchronized tremolo' vibrato and a contoured double-cutaway body.

Which humor title debuted as an EC comic book in 1952?

Mad began as an EC comic book in late 1952, with editor Harvey Kurtzman writing almost the entire first issue himself; it became a magazine in 1955 to escape the Comics Code.

Asterix made his debut in October 1959 in which Franco-Belgian comics magazine?

Pilote's very first issue, dated 29 October 1959, carried the opening page of Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Which Soviet author of Doctor Zhivago was awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature?

Boris Pasternak was forced by Soviet pressure to decline the 1958 prize; the CIA had quietly printed a Russian-language Doctor Zhivago and handed copies out at that year's Brussels world's fair.

Nabokov's Lolita was first published in 1955 in which city?

Paris publisher Olympia Press issued Lolita in September 1955 as a pair of green paperbacks riddled with typographical errors after American houses turned it down.

Which 1952 Hemingway novella won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?

The Old Man and the Sea appeared in full in a single issue of Life in September 1952, and it was the only work named in Hemingway's 1954 Nobel Prize citation.

Which Miles Davis album, with 'So What' as its opener, was released in August 1959?

Kind of Blue was cut in two sessions at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York with Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, opening with 'So What'.

Under what name did Berry Gordy found his Detroit record label in January 1959?

Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records in Detroit on 12 January 1959 with an $800 family loan; the company was only incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in April 1960.

Which singer's NBC variety show, launched in November 1956, struggled to find a national sponsor?

Nat King Cole's NBC variety show ran from November 1956 to December 1957 but never found a national sponsor; Cole remarked that 'Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark'.

Which Ford brand, launched on 'E Day' in September 1957, became a byword for flops?

The Edsel was launched on 4 September 1957 after a huge teaser campaign, but its vertical 'horse-collar' grille and recession-era pricing sank it; Ford dropped the brand in November 1959.

The Dalai Lama fled Lhasa in March 1959 and found refuge in which country?

The uprising began on 10 March 1959 amid fears the Chinese planned to arrest him; the Dalai Lama crossed into India on 31 March and settled at Dharamsala.

How many nations negotiated the Antarctic Treaty, opened for signature in December 1959?

The 12 signatories, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the UK and the US, were active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year; the treaty took effect in June 1961.

The 1954 Geneva Accords partitioned Vietnam along which parallel?

The 17th parallel line was declared provisional, with nationwide reunification elections promised for July 1956 that never took place.

Which 1954 book by Fredric Wertham fuelled the panic that produced the Comics Code?

Seduction of the Innocent blamed comics for juvenile delinquency; publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America in September 1954 and adopted a code banning sympathetic portrayals of criminals.