-
President rosevelt
he dies -
Harry Truman
Harry Truman becomes president when rosevelt dies -
Syngman Rhee
first president of south korea. starts rule -
South Pacific
was a highly popular Broadway musical and hit movie -
television
colored television is introduced -
H-Bomb
The hydrogen bomb was developed under the guidance of Dr. William Teller. It was many times more powerful than an atomic bomb and in fact required an atomic bomb to detonate. The United States exploded the first H-bomb. -
"The Catcher in the Rye"
was an extreme popular book among teens, as it epitomized their attitudes and feelings. -
Sugar ray
Sugar Ray Robinson was the middle-weight boxing champion of the world. -
England's got a new queen
Queen Elizabeth 2 ascends to the throne -
Eisenhower
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ("Ike") had been Supreme Commander in the World War II. He later became a popular president of the United States. "I like Ike" was the motto of his followers. -
vacine
The vaccine to the dreaded disease polio was discovered by Jonas Salk and distributed to the world. -
Wheel of Fortune
The Wheel of Fortune TV show became a favorite. -
Malenkov
Georgy Malenkov becomes leader of USSR -
Communist Bloc
USSR and their satellite countries formed what was called the Communist bloc. -
Rock Around the Clock
Bill Haley and the Comets came out with what was considered the first rock-and-roll hit song, Rock Around the Clock. It was the theme music for the popular movie Blackboard Jungle. -
Disneyland
disneyland opens in Anaheim, California -
Einstein
Einstein dies -
Malenkov
Georgy Malenkov stops being leader of USSR -
Elvis Presley
Singer Elvis Presley became a national phenomenon with such number-one hit songs. He was called "Elvis the Pelvis" because of the way he shook his hips while dancing. Many religious leaders and school officials banned his songs, which only made them more popular. He later went on to be nicknamed "The King" as the most popular singer ever. -
Khruchchev
Nikita Khruchchev becomes leader of the Soviet Union -
Trouble in the Suez
After Britain and the USA withdrew their financial support for the Egyptian Aswan dam project, General Nasser nationalized the important Suez Canal. Egypt was then invaded by British, French and Israeli forces. Under pressure from the United States the invaders left Egypt and a UN emergency force was sent to Egypt. -
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle was a great baseball player for the New York Yankee team. He batted both left- and right-handed, hit at a leading batting average, as well as led the league in home runs. -
Little Rock
Nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, because he believed black and whites should be segregated, despite Federal laws on integration. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the students. The crisis gained world-wide attention. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the name of the first orbiting satellite sent into space by the USSR. -
Khruchchev
he becomes Premier -
Khruchchev
he becomes Premier -
Castro
Fidel Castro overthrow the cuban dictator and began to rule -
Hula Hoops
Hula Hoops became a national fad. Everywhere, you would see children and even adults trying to spin the large plastic hoop around their waist. TV celebrities would also display their skills with the hoop. The fad peaked and died out quickly. -
Sygman Rhee
ends rule -
kenedy
elected president -
Belgians in the Congo
Belgian Congo gained independence from Belgium to become simply the Congo. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
the Eisenhower Administration created a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. -
U2
The United States had been sending the secret U-2 high-flying spy plane over the Soviet Union to take pictures and gather information, when one was shot down by a Russian missile. The pilot Francis Gary Powers was taken prisoner and later released in an exchange for a Soviet spy who had been arrested in the U.S. -
Psycho
Psycho was a thriller movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A young woman, Marion Crane—played by Janet Leigh—steals some money from work and leaves town, getting a room at the Bates Motel. A shy man, Norman Bates—played by Anthony Perkins—runs the motel with his domineering mother. The most memorable scene is when the character Marion is stabbed to death while taking a shower, apparently by the mother. But in the end, it was Norman who was "psycho" and took on the character of the mother to kil -
Space Monkey
Ham the Chimpanze was sent into space -
Bay of Pigs invasion
President John F. Kennedy allowed the attack on Cuba. -
Malcolm X
he commented that he was not sad that President Kennedy was assassinated. -
J.F.K. blown away
He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was riding in an open-top automobile in a presidential motorcade when Lee Harvey Oswald shot him through the head with a sniper rifle from a sixth floor window of a nearby building. -
Malcolm X
he was assassinated. -
Moonshot
The United States landed the first man on the moon. -
Woodstock
A farmer in the Woodstock area of New York state donated his land for a rock concert. Surprisingly, 600,000 rock fans showed up, making it the biggest rock concert ever held. -
Watergate
Supporters and staff of U.S. President Richard Nixon were accused of breaking into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate hotel. Nixon tried to cover up the fact and soon he forced to resign from office because of that cover up. Several of his staff members were sent to prison as a result of the affair. -
Khruchchev
he stops being the Premier -
Punk Rock
Punk rock hits the music scene with such groups as the Sex Pistols, who would spit at the audience. -
Crack
A potent form of the highly addictive drug cocaine called "crack" or "rock" had been rapidly spreading in the United States, especially in troubled neighborhoods. -
Reagan
Former movie actor Ronald Reagan became President of the United States. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970.On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty.1984 Reagan and Bush won a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. -
Foreign debts
Foreign debts were causing an increase in inflation, as well as a burden on American taxpayers. -
Sally Ride
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as a member of the Space Shuttle crew. -
Homless vets
Many veterans of the Vietnam conflict became homeless. A major problem with them was drug addiction or alcoholism. -
Heavy metal suicide
Lawsuits were made against heavy metal groups of Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest claiming that their lyrics encouraged and caused the suicides.
Note that another viewpoint is that Billy Joel had two topics here: Heavy Metal, where heavy metal rock comes on the music scene, and Suicide, where the suicide rate among young people seemed to be rising. -
Terror on the airlines
Numerous airline hijackings were in the news -
Rock and Roller Cola Wars
Pepsi and Coke battle for supremacy in the marketplace. Each hired musicians to promote their drink. Coke hired Paula Abdul, while Pepsi had Michael Jackson. They then started to try to outdo each other by getting other musicians and celebrities to help promote their drinks -
China's under martial law
thousands of protesters marched in Tiananmen Square in Bejing, China. Many were killed and China went under martial law until order was restored. -
Ho Chi-Minh
Ho Chi-Minh was the leader of the Communist North Vietnamese, who first fought the French and then the Americans. born 1890 died 1968.
