1950s

Introduction to the 1950s
Many things happened in the decade of the 1950’s or also known as the Baby Boom era. From the Korean War in 1950 to Elvis Pressley performing his hit song All Shook Up in 1957. Mickey Mantle hit his 1st home run of his career. The Space Race also occurred in this decade between the United States and the Soviet Union. Many crucial events happened that shaped the United States as it is today, such as, the Civil Rights movement that changed the United States for the better.

Timeline of the 1950s

 * 1950 || 1951 || 1952 || 1953 || 1954 || 1955 || 1956 || 1957 || 1958 || 1959 ||
 * Viet Minh forces under Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at the Battle of Cao Bang in Vietnam. || Marshall Plan economic aid to Europe ends. || European Coal and Steel community is formed. || Armistice signed at Panmunjom ends the Korean War. || French forces in Vietnam surrender after defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. || Communist countries of east Europe form the Warsaw Pact with the Soviet Union. || France cedes its colonies on the subcontinent to India. || Soviet Union launches an artificial satellite— Sputnik //I//. || Egypt and Syria form the United Arab republic. || Alaska and Hawaii become the forty ninth and fiftieth states. ||
 * India becomes a federal republic with Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister. || Iranian Prime Minister nationalized Iranian oil from British oil companies. || Elizabeth II becomes queen of Britain. || Nikita Khrushchev becomes first secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin. || U.S Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings to alleged communists in the army. || Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Anthony Eden succeeds him || Hungarian prime minister Imre Nagy takes charge of an anti-communist uprising that is quickly crushed by Soviet troops. || Harold Macmillan becomes British prime minister. || United States intervention of Lebanon || Soviet spaceprobe //Lunik 3// photographs the far side of the Moon. ||
 * Korean War begins. || Mickey Mantle's 1st career HR. || The Immigration and Naturalization act removes racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen. || President Harry Truman announces development of hydrogen bomb. || Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in all U.S schools (Brown v Board of Education.) || Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus, Montgomery, Alabama. || Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog," single goes to #1 & stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single.) || Eisenhower asks Congress to send troops to the Mid East. || Explorer I, the first U.S satellite, successfully orbits Earth. || American Airlines Electra crashes in NY's East River, killing 65 people. ||













__ Global Events Editor(Jakob Katzen) __
__ World Headlines/Major worldwide events/catastrophes--headlines __ Viet Minh forces under Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at the Battle of Cao Bang in Vietnam.(1950) Marshall Plan economic aid to Europe ends.(1951) European Coal and Steel community is formed.(1952) Armistice signed at Panmunjom ends the Korean War.(1953) French forces in Vietnam surrender after defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.(1954) Communist countries of east Europe form the Warsaw Pact with the Soviet Union.(1955) France cedes its colonies on the subcontinent to India.(1956) Soviet Union launches an artificial satellite— Sputnik //I//. (1957) Egypt and Syria form the United Arab republic (UAR) .(1958) Soviet spaceprobe //Lunik 3// photographs the far side of the Moon. (1959)

__ World Leaders as Headlines __ India becomes a federal republic with Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister.(1950) Iran under Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh nationalizes the oil industry and occupies the port of Abadan.(1951) Elizabeth II becomes queen of Britain.(1952) Nikita Khrushchev becomes first secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin.(1953) Gamal Nasser becomes prime minister of Egypt.(1954) General Alfredo Stroessner becomes president of Paraguay after a coup.(1955) Hungarian prime minister Imre Nagy takes charge of an anti-communist uprising that is quickly crushed by Soviet troops.(1956) Harold Macmillan becomes British prime minister.(1957) Nikita Khrushchev replaces Nikolai Bulganin as Soviet premier.(1958) Eamon De Valera is elected president of Ireland.(1959)









The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a battle between the French forces and the Front de libération du Viêtnam (Viet Minh). The French were led by commander General Henri Navarre and the Viet Minh were led by General Vo Nguyen Giap. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu started on March 13, 1954 and ended on May 7th.The French suffered and knew they were unable to become victorious. The French and the Americans supplied the French with most of their military equipment and considered massive bombing runs and some American officials considered using nuclear bombs to help gain victory at Dien Bien Phu. President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided against American military involvement and that ultimately led to the surrender of the French forces on May 7th. The French had suffered sixteen hundred killed and forty-eight hundred wounded. Viet Minh casualties were estimated at eight thousand killed and fifteen thousand wounded. Eight thousand French troops were captured and sent off to prison camps. Only half of them survived. After the defeat, the French were convinced to give in to the proposed settlements for Indochina already being discussed at the Geneva Conference. In the end the French were knocked out of Southeast Asia and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended the First Indochina War.

Sputnik 1 was launched into space on October 4, 1957, from Baikonur, Kazakhstan by Russian scientists and engineers.The name of the satellite, Sputnik, is Russian for “traveler” and was the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik 1’s weight was reported at a weight of 184 lb (83.6 kg). The weight of Sputnik 1 shocked and intimidated American scientists working on America’s first satellite because America’s first satellite weighed 20 pounds. Sputnik 1 was created by a design team led by Sergei Korolov. Sputnik 1 was a spherical apparatus with a diameter of 222.83 in (58 cm). It had four flexible whip antennae that ranged in length from approximately 2.2 to 2.6 yards (2.4 to 2.9 m). Sputnik 1 ran on battery power. The work of Sputnik 1 fell back to Earth on January 4, 1958. Although the work of Sputnik 1 lasted less than one year, the success of Sputnik 1 signaled the beginning of intense competition between the Soviet Union and United States.

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"Fun Facts - 1950s." //The Past Is A Blast Keeping The Flame Of The Past Alive Start Reliving Yesterday Today//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2012. .

Lunik III Probe. //The Far Side of the Moon taken by Lunik III.//. 2010. International Astronautical Federation, Space. //International Astronautical Federation//. Web. 20 May 2012.

" (3-6) Indo-China Battle, North Viet Nam - French Defeated 1954 - YouTube ." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2012. .

O'Brien, Patrick. //Encyclopedia of World History//. Copyright George Philip Ltd. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. (Updated 2010.) Facts On File, Inc. //Modern World History Online//. . (accessed May 20, 2012)

Rico. //On 27 July 1953, the armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of the Korean War.//. N.d. Rico's rants A curmudgeon looks at the world, NA. //Rico's rants A curmudgeon looks at the world//. Web. 20 May 2012.

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Williamson, Robyn. //Get to Know the British Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II//. N.d. gazpo! magazine style theme, NA. //gazpo! magazine style theme//. Web. 20 May 2012.

**__Domestic Policy (Ethan Lee Ivins III)__**
U.S presidents- Harry S. Truman, Dwight E. Eisenhower. Supreme Court cases- Brown v Board of education, Snyder v Buck Other main events- 1952 - The Immigration and Naturalization act removes racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen. 1954- U.S Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings to alleged communists in the army. 1954- Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in all U.S schools (Brown v Board of Education) 1955- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus, Montgomery, Alabama. 1955- Dr. Jonas Salk develops a vaccine for polio. 1958- Explorer I, the first U.S satellite, successfully orbits Earth. 1959- Alaska and Hawaii become the forty ninth and fiftieth states.

1. U.S Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings to alleged communists in the Army. Joseph McCarthy was the political leader of what many called the McCarthy era. The McCarthy era was an era where all people were suspicious of everyone. All U.S citizens were scared of the idea of Communism and the idea that Russia had become a world superpower. This era lead to the arrests of many people who were not communists but just looked a little bit suspicious. A literary genius of the time, Arthur Miller compares McCarthy era America to 1692 Salem during "the Salem witch trials" in __The Crucible__ //1952.//

//2.// Explorer I, the first U.S satellite, successfully orbits Earth. During the end of the 1950's the U.S was engaged in what many historians called "the space race". During this time NASA was in a race with Russia to see who out of the two world superpowers of the time can safely find out the most about space. The satellite instrumentation of Explorer I was designed and built by Dr. James Van Allen of the State University of Iowa. Unfortunately for the U.S the Russians sent up Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. A few months before the U.S sent up Explorer I on January 31, 1958.









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