The ’50s decade included pivotal years in both American and world history.Pop culture had an incredible decade, with classic films, TV series, and superstars leaving their imprint on pop culture for years to come. During the ’50s, consumers witnessed the birth of the contemporary American lifestyle, but it was also a period in which America advanced scientifically and politically.After World War II, the war had been won, and the new nation saw rising living standards, expanded possibilities, and a newly developing American culture confident in its future. This prosperity did not cover all Americans. Due to the white flight movement, there were a lot of minorities that moved to the suburbs, living in very crowded and unsanitary conditions.Despite the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) having disowned Stalinism in the ’50s, Stalinism’s political culture and a powerful General Secretary of the CPSU remained in existence, although quite diminished.The Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957, created the European Economic Community and ushered in a new age of ever-closer cooperation between European countries. During this time, however, the continent was divided by a Cold War that lasted more than 40 years.An interesting fact about the ’50s decade was that of Sir Edmund Hillary. In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and his partner Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first individuals to stand atop the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest, at an elevation of 29,032 ft (8,849 m).Another Interesting fact is about The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Federal Aid Highway Act allowed for the development of a 41,000 mi (65,983 km) interstate highway system that would span the country.During the ’50s, school integration was the most pressing topic in American education. There were separate schools for both black and white Americans. Qualified black Americans had been denied admittance to segregated white-only universities and public schools for decades. It meant that black people and white people would go to separate schools but would never have equal opportunities.Political ScenarioHere are some political facts about the ’50s you should know about.Two Puerto Rican nationalists conducted an attempted assassination of President Harry Truman on November 1, 1950. Griselio Torresola, the team’s commander, had prior handgun experience, and Oscar Collazo was his accomplice. The target of their attack was the Blair House, where President Truman and his family were residing.With the historic Supreme Court judgment of Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954, the Civil Rights Movement began in earnest in America. In the early years of the decade, the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court of the US laid the groundwork for the right of all Americans to equal and fair education, regardless of race, creed, or religion. The ’50s Civil Rights Movement broke the pattern of public facilities being closed due to racial segregation and inherently unequal rights in the South and won the most significant advancement in equal-rights legislation for the black people since the Reconstruction period through nonviolent protest.Rosa Parks was a famous civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat to a white male passenger on a racially segregated bus in Montgomery in Alabama. The ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott was thus triggered by her unyielding will. Its triumph sparked a national uprising to remove racial segregation in public spaces.Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, feared a worldwide inferno and believed that the only way to preserve freedom and peace was for Britain and America to build on a solid basis of friendship and cooperation. From January 1952 to July 1954, he conducted four official transatlantic trips.Economic BoomThe ’50s were known as the decade of prosperity. Many factors came together to produce the boom in this particular decade. It was regarded as the decade of the golden age.During the Eisenhower administration, Americans saw unprecedented wealth. While the rest of the world fought to recover from World War II’s devastation, Americans saw their standard of living rise to levels that earlier generations could only dream of. This made the ’50s in America a period of the golden age.The GI Bill made college more affordable for veterans, resulting in a pool of highly educated workers entering the workforce. The industry was driven by cheap oil from US wells. While competitors in Europe and Asia were still recuperating from World War II, advances in science and technology increased output.Culture Of CapitalismThe collection of social behaviors, social norms, values, and patterns of conduct attributed to the capitalist economic system in a capitalist society is known as a capitalist culture.The ’50s saw a large-scale growth of the middle class. Unions were powerful, accounting for about half of the American workforce. Extremist viewpoints were out of favor, and politics tended to be moderate.Capitalism became an important part of western culture. People purchased large homes in the new suburbs, as well as modern time-saving domestic gadgets. Many American cultural and economic factors affected this buying tendency, including advertising, TV, automobiles, new bank services, i.e., loans and credit.During the ’50s, Walt Disney accomplished something remarkable: he began to capitalize on practically every market in Hollywood. He had a movie, a television show, and a family trip to look forward to. All of these businesses collaborated to keep individuals and audiences coming back, making him one of Hollywood’s most successful and important personalities.Famous People DiedGiven below is a list of famous people that passed away in the ’50s:Garfield AkersBranimir AltgayerWilliam Hamilton AndersonAchille BaquetNelly BaylonVera DanchakoffThomas Davies (footballer born in 1872)Ike DayGeorge Dobson (rugby league)A. Cecil EdwardsPeter Flanagan (rugby union)Did You Know…There were 48 states in the US in the ’50s. Hawaii and Alaska were the last to join in 1959.In the US, the term ‘baby boom’ was defined as a rise in the birth rate between 1946 and 1964, as well as the generation born during that time. The cause of the baby boom was that many couples postponed marriage and many married couples postponed having children due to the hardships and uncertainty of the Great Depression and World War II.The invention of television had an impact on American life in the ’50s because it brought families closer by allowing them to watch TV together. It also provided local news updates to many families.The introduction of television drastically transformed how people spent their free time, how children behaved, and how the economic and social structure altered.Signed by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 29, 1958, The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 established the well-known National Aeronautics and Space Administration that allowed for study into difficulties of flying within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere.Marilyn Monroe was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the ’50s. She starred in 23 films throughout the decade, with her loud, leading roles beginning in 1952.One of the interesting facts about the ’50s is that TV dinners were first offered in 1953. The Swanson firm produced these easy frozen dinners that typified the ’50s in the United States. The inaugural TV supper featured a turkey dinner in the style of Thanksgiving, complete with cornbread stuffing and peas.The ’50s was a great decade for American pop-culture via the rise of rock n roll music. There was rock n roll that enticed people to rebel against authority while cinema and TV encouraged people to conform.The birth of rock n roll dominated music in the ’50s and ’60s. Blues had an incredible influence on American pop music and pop artists in the ’50s too.Elvis Presley was the unquestioned king of rock and roll in the ’50s. The dance stage performances of Elvis Presley made young ladies crazy. Teenagers would attend Presley’s concerts with their friends.Ruth Handler presented Barbie to the world in 1959 at the American Toy Fair in New York City.The New York Yankees’ 1950 season was the team’s 48th in New York and the franchise’s 50th overall. The New York Yankees won its 17th pennant with a record of 98–56, finishing three games ahead of the Detroit Tigers. They won the World Series record in four games over the Philadelphia Phillies.In the ’50s, Elizabeth Taylor shifted to more mature parts, starring in the comedy ‘Father of the Bride’ (1950) and receiving great praise for her portrayal in the drama ‘A Place in the Sun’ (1951).The Korean War lasted from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953 and was fought between South and North Korea. Both the Soviet Union and China backed North Korea, while the United Nations, primarily the United States, backed South Korea.‘I Love Lucy’ was an American television comedy that ran on CBS from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957, covering six seasons and 180 half-hour episodes. In four of its splendid six seasons, ‘I Love Lucy’ was the most popular program in America, and was the very first to complete its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.The scholarly publication suggesting the double helix structure of the DNA molecule was founded by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953.
The ’50s decade included pivotal years in both American and world history.
