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1950
Events Commie Spy? (Jan. 25): State Department official Alger Hiss is sentenced to five years in prison after his conviction on two counts of perjury. Hiss was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee after allegations of communist espionage. McCarthy Era (Feb 9): A relatively unknown U.S. senator touches off a firestorm of fear when he claims that communist agents have infiltrated the government and hold crucial positions. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., soon holds hearings to prove his allegations and "McCarthyism" becomes a household word. A Senate panel in July concludes his accusations have no foundation. His tirades will end in December 1954, when his fellow senators censure him for misconduct. First of Many (May 5): Elizabeth Taylor marries hotel heir Nick Hilton. Her former nanny is quoted as saying: "Elizabeth loves and respects Mr. Hilton. He feels the same about her. That's why this will be the first and last marriage for both of them." Korean Conflict (June 25): The North Korean army crosses into neighboring South Korea. President Truman calls on the United Nations to check "unwarranted aggression" against the democratic government in South Korea. On June 27, he authorizes Gen. Douglas MacArthur to provide naval and air power to aid the Republic of Korea. Seoul's Survival (Sept. 15): U.N. forces, led by American troops, launch a massive amphibious invasion at Inchon, South Korea. Fierce fighting continues, with U.N. forces liberating Seoul on Sept. 26 and reaching the North's capital, Pyongyang, a month later. Charlie Brown's Debut (Oct. 2): The United Feature Syndicate begins distributing "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz. Crude Line (Oct. 6): The world's longest pipeline is constructed between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. Assassination Attempt (Nov. 1): An attempt by two Puerto Rican nationalists to assassinate President Truman ends in a gunbattle between the armed men and Capitol police. The shoot-out takes the lives of one assailant and a police officer. The second gunman is arrested. Truman is unaware of the incident until it is over. Dogfight (Nov. 8): The first jet battle takes place during the Korean War. American Air Force pilot Russell Brown downs a North Korean MiG-15. A Nobel First (Dec. 10): U.N. diplomat Ralph J. Bunche becomes the first black person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Bunche, grandson of a slave, receives the award for mediating the conflict between Arabs and Israelis. What's Hot Smokey Bear says ... A badly burned black bear cub, found clinging to a charred tree in New Mexico's Lincoln National Forest, becomes the inspiration for one of America's more enduring icons: Smokey Bear. The orphaned cub is flown by rangers to Santa Fe, where his paws are treated and he is nursed back to health at a game warden's home. He is shipped to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and posters appear showing Smokey and bearing the message: "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires." Smokey will be officially retired as the Forest Service symbol in May 1975 and will die in 1976. Births Julius Erving, basketball player (Feb. 22) Mark Spitz, Olympic swimmer (Feb. 10) Jay Leno, comedian (April 28) Stevie Wonder, singer (May 13) Gary Larson, cartoonist (Aug. 14) Bill Murray, actor-comedian (Sept. 21) Deaths Max Beckmann, German artist (born 1884) Kurt Weill, composer (born 1900) Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet (born 1892) |
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1951
Events First of Many (Jan. 29): The 18-year-old Elizabeth Taylor divorces Nick Hilton. She will marry British actor Michael Wilding less than a year after her divorce is finalized. Term Limits (Feb. 26): The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution takes effect. It says that no person may be elected to the presidency for more than two terms. Extended Contract (March 18): NBC signs Milton Berle to a 30-year contract, said to be the TV industry's longest. Truman vs. MacArthur (April 11): President Truman fires Gen. Douglas MacArthur as supreme commander of Allied forces in the Pacific and orders him to return home in the midst of the Korean War. The Chicago Tribune and a host of other newspapers demand the impeachment and conviction of the president, calling him "unfit, morally and mentally, for his high office." Truman also is booed in public and hanged in effigy for his actions against MacArthur, a hero to many Americans. In Living Color (June 25): CBS airs the first commercial color broadcast. Unfortunately, no color TVs are owned by the public, and the only people who see the broadcast in color are CBS technicians watching on monitors. Attacking Bias (July 9): The NAACP says that the "Amos and Andy" television show depicts blacks as "amoral, semiliterates, lazy, stupid, dishonest and scheming." Setting Course (Nov. 1): Publisher John H. Johnson launches Jet magazine, a news weekly tailored to the interests of African-American readers. Cutting Cavities (Nov. 30): The American Medical Association approves treatment of drinking water with fluorides to reduce tooth decay. Fashion Sense: Gloves are still de rigeur, but nylon gloves are suggested as a spring and summer alternative to cotton. The cinched waist is still popular -- at a time when such Hollywood favorites as Elizabeth Taylor boast 19-inch waistlines -- but designer Balmain electrifies the fashion world with a waistless dress in his fall 1951 collection. With a nod to Hollywood's sweater girls, the 1951 Sears catalog offers 22 kinds of bust pads -- popularly called falsies. And in a harbinger of styles to come, Life magazine features a model in a full felt skirt with a poodle applique. What's Hot Oh, Ricky! "I Love Lucy" debuts on CBS television on Oct. 15. The classic comedy series features an ensemble cast with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and William Frawley and Vivian Vance as their fun-loving landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. Births Phil Collins, singer (Jan. 30) Sally Ride, astronaut (May 26) Anjelica Huston, actress (July 8) Queen Noor of Jordan (Aug. 23) Michael Keaton, actor (Sept. 9) Deaths John Sloan, artist (born 1871) |
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1952
Events At 25, a Queen (Feb. 6): Britain's Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, are in Kenya on the first week of what is intended to be a five-month goodwill tour of East Africa. As Elizabeth sleeps, her father, King George VI, dies peacefully of advanced lung cancer and heart disease. Unaware that the crown has passed to her during the night, Elizabeth sets out at dawn to fish for trout. Not until lunchtime does the news reach the angling party. Now this 25-year-old woman, who until now has led a carefree life, is queen. Step Lightly (Feb. 29): New York City installs the first electric "don't walk" signs in Times Square. Most pedestrians heed their warnings. Helping Heart (March 8): A mechanical heart is placed for the first time in a human by surgeons at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The patient dies 81 hours later. Island of Depravity (March 10): Cuban dictator Gen. Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar regains power in a military coup. Under Batista, Cuba becomes a rum-soaked "island of sin," a playground for casino-owning gangsters and American high rollers. Paying for Their Crimes (Sept. 10): Representatives of the German and Israeli governments sign an agreement that awards close to a billion dollars in reparations for Nazi crimes against the Jewish people. Checkers Speech (Sept. 23): Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower's running mate, Richard Nixon, responds to reports that he personally benefited from a political slush fund. As 60 million Americans watch on TV, Nixon denies using the fund for personal benefit. But he adds: "I did get something, a gift after the nomination. It was a little cocker spaniel dog, black and white, spotted. Our little girl Tricia -- the 6-year-old -- named it Checkers. The kids, like all kids, love the dog. Regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it." It is a masterful piece of manipulation. Viewers cry, letters of support pour in and Nixon rides Ike's coattails into the vice presidency. Welcome to the Club (Oct. 3): Britain joins the United States and Soviet Union as a nuclear power. The Brits carry out their first successful atomic weapons in northwest Australia. Big Blow Up (Nov. 1): The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission explodes the first hydrogen, or nuclear-fusion, bomb, at the Eniwetok proving grounds in the Pacific Ocean. Coming Out (Dec. 15): A scrawny, blond ex-GI named George Jorgenson returns from Denmark as a tall blonde named Christine. While he is not the first transsexual, he is the first to go public. What's Hot Tied to the Tube Television is rapidly displacing radio as a source of family entertainment in the early 1950s. By the end of 1952, 17 million American homes have TVs, up from 7 million in 1950. Among the programs Americans are watching is the "Today" show, which makes its debut on Jan. 16 on NBC. Chicago radio personality Dave Garroway serves as master of ceremonies for the two-hour news and interview show in a street-level studio with a window facing street traffic in New York's Rockefeller Center. Another TV milestone: "The American Bandstand" makes its debut in January on ABC stations with a 22-year-old host named Dick Clark. Births Amy Tan, novelist (Feb. 19) Robin Williams, actor (July 21) Jimmy Connors, tennis player (Sept. 2) Deaths Sven Hendin, Swedish explorer (born 1865) |
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1953
Events No More Waiting (Jan. 5): A group of Paris intellectuals and society people attend the premiere performance of "Waiting for Godot" by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. Many patrons in attendance find the existential drama, in which two tramps muse about life, odd and even a joke. But theater critics immediately hail the work as masterpiece Polio Breakthrough (March 26): Dr. Jonas Salk announces the discovery of a new vaccine to combat polio. Mass inoculations begin the next year. Because It's There (May 29): Mountaineer Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay, his Nepalese Sherpa guide, become the first men to conquer Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain. Executed for Espionage (June 19): Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y. Convicted of selling atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, they became the first, and only, civilians executed under the General Espionage Act of 1917. Quiet in Korea (July 27): Fighting ends in Korea after three years. Combatants sign an armistice, but a peace treaty is never signed. An estimated 55,000 Americans have been killed and 102,000 wounded. Fairytale Wedding (Sept. 12): Sen. John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts weds Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I., in what some call the wedding of the decade. 5 in a Row (Oct. 5): The New York Yankees win the World Series for an unprecedented fifth straight year, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's the 16th championship for the Yanks. (Ticket prices are raised to $10 for box seats, $7 for reserved and $4 for standing room.) Poetic Death (Nov. 9): Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who counseled, "Do not go gentle into that good night," dies at age 39 after a night of drinking in New York. Matter of Antitrust (Nov. 9): The Supreme Court upholds a 1922 ruling that major league baseball is exempt from federal antitrust laws. What's Hot Sex Sells Hugh Hefner, 27, sets off fireworks in the magazine industry with the first issue of Playboy in 1953. It features Marilyn Monroe on the cover and as the "Sweetheart of the Month" centerfold. (The term changes to "playmate" thereafter.) The first issue carries no date because Hefner isn't sure there will be a second. The new magazine -- built around the centerfold, some serious journalism, erotic fiction, and advice to its young, upwardly mobile readers about how to live the good life -- proves so successful that within three years it is outselling the reigning men's magazine, Esquire, for which Hefner once worked. Births Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani political leader (June 21) Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian political leader (July 15) Tina Brown, publisher (Nov. 21) Deaths Bill Tilden, tennis champion (born 1893) Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (born 1891) Jim Thorpe, athlete (born (1888) Lavrenti Beria, Soviet security chief (born 1899) Eugene O'Neill, playwright (born 1888) Hank Williams, country music legend (born 1923) |
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1954
Events Star-Crossed (Jan. 14): Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio marries movie star Marilyn Monroe. The union will last only nine months. Chaos in Congress (March 1): Puerto Rican nationalists draw guns in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives. Amid shouts of "Free Puerto Rico!" they spray the chamber with bullets; five lawmakers are wounded, although all survive. The four assailants receive the maximum sentence, more than 100 years in prison each. 4-Minute Mile (May 6): Briton Roger Bannister achieves a goal that some thought was unattainable: running a mile in less than four minutes. Bannister runs the mile in 3:59.4. Six weeks later, Australian John Landy runs the mile in 3:58. Separate & Unequal (May 17): A Supreme Court decision wraps up a 3-year-old lawsuit brought by Oliver Brown, a parent who wanted his daughter to attend a school near her home. The NAACP took the Browns' case and four others, collectively called Brown vs. Board of Education, to the Supreme Court. The court's 9-0 decision said that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and orders the states to proceed "with all deliberate speed" to integrate them. Powering Russia (June 27): The first atomic power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, Russia. It can generate enough power to supply a town of about 5,000. Paraguayan Strongman (July 11): Gen. Alfredo Stroessner takes control of the government in Paraguay. His grip on power in the landlocked South American country lasts 35 years. Sports In-Depth (Aug 16): Sports Illustrated, a weekly sports magazine published by Time, hits the newsstand. After Hours (Sept. 27): "The Tonight Show" begins broadcasts on NBC. Comedian Steve Allen serves as the first host of the TV late-night variety show. What's Hot The King On July 5, a 19-year-old truck driver from Tupelo, Miss., named Elvis Aron Presley brings his guitar to Sun Studios, where the owner has finally agreed to allow him a recording session. The recording made that day, "That's All Right," launches the Elvis phenomenon, thanks to a boost by Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips. The DJ is deluged with phone calls after playing the record only once; Memphis-area stores sell 6,000 copies in one week. At a concert in Memphis July 30, Presley concentrates so hard on energizing his performance that he fails to control a nervous twitch in his leg. As Presley will later recall: "I came offstage, and my manager told me that they was hollering because I was wiggling my legs. I went back out for an encore, and I did a little more. And the more I did, the wilder they went." Births John Travolta, actor (Feb. 18) Ron Howard, film actor and director (March 1) Jerry Seinfeld, comedian (April 29) Oprah Winfrey, talk-show diva (June 29) Elvis Costello, singer and songwriter (Aug. 25) Chris Evert, tennis player (Dec. 21) Denzel Washington, actor (Dec. 28) Deaths Henri Matisse, French artist (born 1869) Colette, French novelist (born 1873) Charles Ives, composer (born 1874) Sydney Greenstreet, actor (born 1879) Andre Derain, French artist (born 1880) |
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1955
Events Opera Opens (Jan. 7): Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first black person to sing at the New York Metropolitan Opera House. Conference on Camera (Jan. 19): President Dwight D. Eisenhower allows filming of a presidential news conference for the first time. TV and motion picture newsreel photographers cover the event. Hizzoner (April 5): Richard J. Daley, formerly Cook County Democratic Party chairman, is elected mayor of Chicago and begins his 21-year career as mayor of the nation's second-largest city. Delightful Doh: Kenner toy company comes out with Play-Doh, a non-toxic substance that's easier than clay for little hands to shape. Polio Breakthrough (April 12): Jonas Salk, a research scientist who specializes in viruses, becomes a household name after he announces that field trial results on a vaccine for polio have proven the treatment safe and effective. Salk refuses to patent the vaccine. He says he has no desire to profit from the discovery, only to help people. Out of Control (June 11): Eighty people die and nearly 100 are injured as the worst accident in the history of auto racing occurs at Le Mans, France. Three cars are involved in the accident, and one of the cars slams into a grandstand. Soviet Threat (June 24): Soviet MiGs shoot down a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the Bering Strait. Magic Kingdom (July 17): Disneyland opens in Anaheim, Calif. Part amusement park, part multimedia wonder, the 160-acre theme park is the first of its kind. Because potential investors had been a bit cool to Walt Disney's dream, the entertainment giant had to come up with most of the $17 million to build the Magic Kingdom. As with most things Disney touched, Disneyland is an instant success. Peron Powerless (Sept. 19): The 10-year government of Argentine President Juan Peron ends with his resignation after a three-day revolt by military forces. Peron is exiled to Paraguay on Sept. 24. Dramatic Death (Sept. 30): Actor James Dean, 24, dies instantly when his Porsche Spyder skids off a road near Paso Robles, Calif., and smashes into a telephone pole. Four days after his death, Warner Bros. releases, on schedule, "Rebel Without a Cause," director Nicholas Ray's drama of juvenile delinquency. United Labor (Dec. 5): The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge, with George Meany as AFL-CIO leader. What's Hot Civil Rights On Dec. 1 in Montgomery, Ala., African-American seamstress Rosa Parks is arrested for disobeying a city ordinance requiring blacks to cede their public bus seats to whites left standing. Civil rights activists immediately organize a yearlong boycott of Montgomery public transportation. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually will rule bus segregation unconstitutional. Parks' act and the subsequent boycott helps launch the nonviolent civil rights movement in America. Births Kevin Costner, actor (Jan. 18) Greg Norman, golfer (Feb. 10) Steve Jobs, Apple cofounder (Feb. 24) Willem Dafoe, actor (July 22) Bill Gates, software designer, Microsoft founder (Oct. 28) Deaths Thomas Mann, novelist (born 1875) Fernand Leger, French artist (born 1881) Alexander Fleming, scientist (born 1881) Maurice Utrillo, French artist (born 1883) James Agee, critic and writer (born 1909) |
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1956
Events Helpful Advice (Jan. 9): Columnist Pauline Friedman starts her "Dear Abby." The popular advice column first appears in the San Francisco Chronicle. Denouncing Stalin (February): In a four-hour diatribe delivered before the 20th Communist Party Congress in Moscow, Josef Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, denounces "the cult of the individual" and attacks his former boss for his "intolerance, his brutality, his abuse of power." Ever so briefly, the party's iron grip will ease. In the next year, an estimated 8 million people will be released from the gulag work camp system and thousands of purged Communist Party members will be "rehabilitated." Princess Grace (April 19): Grace Patricia Kelly is at the pinnacle of her movie career when she marries Monaco's Prince Rainier III in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas. The "wedding of the century," a heady mixture of Hollywood glamour and royal mystique, actually took place twice. The first was a civil ceremony April 18 in the throne room of the palace in Monte Carlo. Rocky Retires (April 27): Rocky Marciano retires undefeated as world heavyweight boxing champion. He won all 49 of his bouts, including six in defense of the championship, and 43 by knockouts. Canal Crisis (July 26): Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, seizes the Suez Canal from the French-controlled Suez Canal Co. and becomes hero of Arab nationalism. But it prompts Israel to invade the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip on Oct. 29, followed by a French-British invasion of Egypt on Oct. 31. International pressure forces Britain, France and Israel to end the hostilities, and a United Nations emergency force occupies the Canal Zone. Perfect Pitching (Oct. 8): In game five of the 53rd World Series, New York Yankee Don Larsen pitches the first perfect game in World Series history, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0. The Yankees win the Series, four games to three. Hungering for Freedom (Oct. 23): With winds of political change blowing in the U.S.S.R., Hungarians feel that the time has come to break free from Soviet domination. Students in Budapest rally in support of political and social liberalization efforts in neighboring Poland. The demonstration soon turns into a revolt against Soviet rule and a call for free speech and elections. After nearly two weeks of political uncertainty and chaos, Soviet troops move in and crush the uprising. Two Heads Better Than One (October): NBC teams journalist Chet Huntley and David Brinkley as co-anchors for "Huntley-Brinkley Report." Initially 15 minutes long, the news program eventually expands to half an hour. The show's format becomes the model for news broadcasting around the world. Still Liking Ike (Nov. 6): President Eisenhower wins a second term in a landslide victory over Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson. What's Hot Doomed Voyage At 11:10 p.m. on July 25, about 60 miles off Nantucket Island, the paths of the Italian passenger liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish liner Stockholm converge in dense fog. The Italian ship is doomed; the bow of the Stockholm is crumpled, but the ship stays afloat. During the next 11 hours, before the Andrea Doria slides beneath the sea at 10:09 a.m., people gather around TVs and radios to follow the plight of the stricken liners. Fifty-one people die. Births Mel Gibson, actor (Jan. 3) "Sugar" Ray Leonard, boxing champion (May 17) Bjorn Borg, tennis player (June 6) Joe Montana, football player (June 11) Tom Hanks, actor (July 9) Dorothy Hamill, ice skater (July 26) David Copperfield, magician (Sept. 16) Martina Navratilova, tennis player (Oct. 18) Larry Bird, basketball player (Dec. 7) Deaths Thomas Watson, IBM founder (born 1874) H.L. Mencken, journalist (born 1880) Alfred Kinsey, biologist (born 1894) Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (born 1898) Jackson Pollock, artist (born 1912) Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (born 1914) |
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1957
Events Stake in Mideast (Jan. 5): President Eisenhower calls for aid to Mideast countries that resist communism. The policy becomes known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. Humming Keys (Feb. 4): The first portable electric typewriter, produced by Smith Corona, goes on sale in Syracuse, N.Y. Communal Economy (March): France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg come together to promote economic integration between the countries They form the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Community, and later, the European Union. Forget Dick and Jane: Author Theodor Geisel uses cheery art and simple text rhymes to teach children how to read. His two 1957 books, "The Cat in the Hat" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" become children's classics and first-grade staples. Go, Gibson! (July 6): American tennis player Althea Gibson is the first black person to win at Wimbledon. She wins the women's singles and doubles and returns to a ticker-tape parade in New York. Forced Integration (Sept. 4): Arkansas National Guardsmen turn away nine black students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Gov. Orval Faubus had ordered the National Guard to surround the school, claiming it was needed to keep the peace during integration. Under pressure from President Eisenhower, the "Little Rock Nine" return to school Sept. 23 but are sent home for their safety when rioting whites overwhelm a police contingent. The next day, the mob is back, and Eisenhower sends in federal troops. On Sept. 25, the armed troops escort the black students to class. Eight of the nine will finish the school year, but white resistance to school integration continues, and officials close Central High for the next year rather than integrate. The Beat Generation: With publication of "On the Road" in 1957, Jack Kerouac becomes the spokesman for the restless, disaffected Beat Generation. The book recounts the cross-country odyssey of two pals. Most critics pan the book, but it is read by anyone who wants to be "hip." The unfettered lifestyle evoked by Kerouac's best-seller has a seductive influence on young people. Dressed in jeans, sweaters, sandals and dark glasses, these 1950s nonconformists become known as "beatniks." Papa Doc (Sept. 23): Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, running on a program of social reform and black nationalism, is elected president of Haiti and begins his grisly dynasty. Nuclear Breakthrough (Dec. 5): The Soviets launch the ship Lenin, the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker. What's Hot Sputnik For the first time in human history, an artificial satellite is dispatched to orbit the Earth. The 184-pound aluminum sphere, smaller than a basketball, circles the globe every 98 minutes, emitting ominous "beeps" and transmitting data to its Earth masters. Trouble is, those masters are in the Soviet Union. The Oct. 4 launch causes no end of worry for Americans in the paranoid Cold War world. Births Katie Couric, broadcast journalist (Jan. 7) Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee, filmmaker (March 20) Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, first child of John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy (Nov. 27) Deaths Arturo Toscanini, conductor (born 1867) Erich von Stroheim, Austrian film director (born 1885) Diego Rivera, Mexican artist (born 1886) Adm. Richard Byrd, polar explorer (born 1888) Oliver Hardy, actor (1892) Humphrey Bogart, actor (born 1899) Christian Dior, fashion designer (born 1905) Joseph McCarthy, U.S. senator (born 1908) |
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1958
Events Serial Killing (Jan. 29): Charles Starkweather, 19, and Caril Ann Fugate, 14, are captured in Wyoming after a 110-mph car chase and shoot-out. Starkweather confesses to killing 10 people in or near Lincoln, Neb., telling the sheriff in Lincoln that he just wanted to "be somebody." Starkweather represents a new breed of American criminal: the serial killer. In June 1959, Starkweather will be put to death in Nebraska's electric chair. Fugate is sentenced to prison; she will be paroled in 1976. Music Surmounts Tension (April 11): About 1,500 jam the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and thousands more wait outside to hear Van Cliburn, a tall young pianist from Texas, perform during the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Despite sky-high Cold War tensions, Cliburn brings down the house and wins first prize. East vs. West (April 15): The national pastime goes coast to coast as major league baseball debuts in California. The New York Giants, moved to San Francisco, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, uprooted to Los Angeles, meet for the first big-league game at Seals Stadium in San Francisco, where the Giants defeat the Dodgers 8-0. Arnie's Army (April 16): Arnold Palmer, son of a golf pro from Youngstown, Pa., wins the Masters by a stroke to claim his first major championship. By year's end, the popular Palmer is the tour's leading money winner, earning $42,000. No Great Leap (May 23): Dissatisfied by his country's standing in the economic world order, Mao Tse-tung launches China on a "Great Leap Forward." Millions of peasants are organized into about 24,000 rural "people's communes." The program appears successful at first, but waste and mismanagement lead to disappointing results. Historians will later estimate that 20 million or more Chinese died in the resulting famine. Soccer Star (June 28): Pele leads Brazil to the World Cup soccer title with a 5-2 win over Sweden. Writer Denied (Oct. 23): Russian author Boris Pasternak wins the Nobel Prize for literature. His masterpiece, "Dr. Zhivago," published a year earlier in Italy, had been an instant best-seller. But the Soviet regime, uncomfortable with the book's critique of Marxism, the Russian Revolution and Christian themes, denounces the author as a traitor. In the end, Pasternak will turn down the Nobel honor. Jet Setting (Oct. 26): The jet age dawns when Pan American World Airways launches trans-Atlantic flights between New York and Paris using a Boeing 707. New Pope (Oct. 28): Angelo Giuseppe Cardinal Roncali, patriarch of Venice, is named pope to succeed Pius XII, who had died Oct. 9. The new pope will be known as John XXIII. What's Hot Hula Hoop The Wham-O toy company introduces the Hula Hoop, costing $1.98 each. The brightly colored plastic hoop that rotates round and round the body by moving the hips is so popular that stores keep running out. In the first six months, Americans will buy 20 million Hula Hoops. Japan will ban them, and the Soviet Union will say they are an example of the "emptiness of American culture." Births Holly Hunter, actress (March 20) Michelle Pfeiffer, actress (April 29) Prince Rogers Nelson, musician "Prince" (June 6) Mary Decker Slaney, track runner (Aug. 4) Madonna, pop singer (Aug. 16) Michael Jackson, pop singer (Aug. 29) Deaths Georges Rouault, French artist (1871) Ralph Vaughan Williams, British composer (born (1873) Pope Pius XII |
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1959
Events Castro's Cuba (Jan. 1): Led by a fiery 32-year-old lawyer named Fidel Castro, rebels known as "the bearded ones" seize power in Cuba after two years of civil war. Dictator Fulgencio Batista resigns after seven years in power and flees to Miami. Upon hearing that the new rulers will honor international agreements, the United States recognizes the government within days. But the honeymoon will be very short-lived. Castro assumes the title of premier Feb. 16, pledging to restore the Cuban economy, refurbish democracy and oppose dictatorships in Latin America. State No. 49 (Jan. 3): Alaska is admitted to the Union as the 49th state. Day the Music Died (Feb 3): A four-seater plane carrying touring performers Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly takes off after 1 a.m en route to Fargo, N.D. But only a few miles from the airport, it plunges into a snow-covered cornfield in Iowa, killing all aboard. The trio becomes rock 'n' roll music's first martyrs. Space Crop (April 9): The first seven U.S. astronauts are picked from the ranks of military pilots by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After vigorous training and testing, one will be selected to become the first American in space in 1961. Lama on the Lam (March): Tibetans rise up in armed revolt against Chinese rule. Communist forces move quickly to crush the uprising. The Buddhist land's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, flees the Tibetan capital Lhasa and settles in India. Scandalous Reading (June 11): "Lady Chatterley's Lover," a 1928 novel by D.H. Lawrence, is banned from the mail by Postmaster Gen. Arthur E. Summerfield, who says, "Any literary merit the book may have is far outweighed by the pornographic and smutty passages and words, so that the book, taken as a whole, is an obscene and filthy work." The Postal Service lifts the ban July 21. 50th State (Aug. 21): Hawaii is admitted to the Union as the 50th state. Eisenhower issues an order for a new flag of 50 stars in staggered rows, which will become official July 4, 1960. Quiz Show Scandal (Nov. 2): The U.S. government begins an investigation of the television quiz show "Twenty-One." Contestant champion Charles Van Dorgen admits having been given answers in advance by the show's producers. What's Hot Birth of Barbie Shapely, wrinkle-free, with pouty lips and impossible measurements, Barbie is born March 9. The fashion doll is named for Barbara, daughter of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliot Handler. Barbie No. 1, which comes in blond and brunette models, is dressed in a black-and-white-striped bathing suit, has arched come-hither eyebrows and sells for about $2.50. Four decades later, an original Barbie in mint condition would bring about $5,000. In coming years, Mattel will produce more than 1 billion Barbies and Barbie spin-offs, including Ken, her perennial escort, born in 1961. Births John McEnroe, tennis player (Feb. 16) Earvin "Magic" Johnson, basketball player (Aug. 14) Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect (Oct. 5) Florence Griffith Joyner, track runner (Dec. 29) Deaths Related Links The Century Century Links 20th Century History Story of Our Times Shrinking World The History Net The History Channel The Decade Elvis at Home Space Age What a Doll Bear Facts Search-O-Matic Sources KRT is a joint venture of Knight Ridder and the Tribune Co. Limitations on use of material in this Web package: This content is owned by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services and contains material that is derived in whole or in part from material supplied by KRT or its contributors. The entire Web package and all material in it are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute in any way any material from this Web package, including code and software without our permission. |