The Fabulous Fifties was a decade between 1950 thru 1959. This period of time saw great changes not only in America but throughout the whole world. There were times of sadness and times of joy which saw a treaty signed for one war, World War II, but the beginning of another, Korean. New technologies were developed which enhanced the American way of life to a new level creating energy never before experienced. This resulted in a baby boom and a mixture of happiness and self-doubt within the newly revolved 50s Happy Days culture of America. [1]

Senator Joseph McCarthy: A Republican senator from Wisconsin who believed there were many communist within the United States, this could not be proven at that time and he was censored by Congress. [1]

Juliusand Ethel Rosenberg: Convicted of passing nuclear weapon secret information to the Communist and executed for Espionage. [2]

Jonas Salk: Salk Discovered the Polio Vaccine. [3]

Grace Kelly & Prince Rainier IIIof Monaco: A United States actress married the prince of Monaco. [4]

James Dean: A young actor who became a cultural icon in the film Rebel Without A Cause died at the age of 24 in a car crash. [5]

Rosa Parks: A 42 year old black woman who on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person despite an order from the bus driver James Blake. This started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The U.S. Congress later referred to her as the Mother of Modern-Day Civil Rights Movements. [6]

Norman Vincent Peale: A Protestant minister and writer wrote The Power Of Positive Thinking. [7]

Elvis Presley: A singer who got his start in 1954 and was deemed the King Of Rock and Roll. He was inducted into 4 Musical Halls Of Fame. [8]

Korean War 1950 to 1953

Suez Crisis 1956

1950: President Truman ordered the construction of the Hydrogen Bomb. [1]

1950: Senator Joseph McCarthy began a Communist Witch Hunt. [2]

1951: A Security Peace Treaty was signed with Japan. [3]

1952: Great Britan's Princess Elizabeth became Queen at 25 years old. [4]

1953: The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died. [5]

1954:Segregation was ruled illegal in the United States. [6]]

1955: The Warsaw Pact was signed. This was a military treaty signed by the countries of: Albania, Builgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union to help each other if they were the target of foreign agrression.http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1950timeline.htm

1957: The Soviet satellite Sputnik was launched. [7]

1958: NASA was founded as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the United States. [8]

1959: Fidel Castro became the dictator of Cuba. [9]

1950: The first modern credit card was introduced. [1]

1950: The first Peanuts Cartoon Strip was published. [2]

1951: The first color television was introduced. [3]

1952: Car seat belts were introduced. [4]

1952: The Polio vaccine was discovered by Jonas Salk. [5]

1953: DNA was discovered. [6]

1955: The first McDonald hamburger was created. [7]

1956: The television remote was invented. [8]

1956: Velcro was introduced. [9]

1957: Hula Hoops were first made in U.S. by Richard Knerr and Arthur Spud Merlin who founded a company called Wham-O Manufacturing in San Gabrial, CA. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111064/50fads.htm

1958: Lego toy bricks were introduced to children. [10]

1958 The Peace Symbol was created. [11]

• Hanging Out - Spending time with friends in sweet shops

• Drive-In Movies - Outdoor movies with speakers on cars

• Hula Hoops - Large hoop for exercise and entertainment

• Record Previewing - Music on round disks played at record shops

• Cruising - Boys in cars looking for girls to talk to