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Mad magazine makes its debut in May as a
32-page comic book full of zany nonsense. Alfred E. Neuman has yet to make his
appearance, but he's coming. See
First Cover |
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|
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African-American novelist Ralph Ellison
publishes The Invisible Man to immediate popular acclaim.
Buy the Book. |
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Guiding Light, currently the longest
running drama in broadcasting history, premiered on TV after being a staple on
radio since 1937. |
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Oscar Stuff for 1952 - When men were men! Gary Cooper wins
Best Actor for High Noon! |
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Bridey Murphy or How Shirley McLaine Got Her Groove!
Another woman of past life fame. |
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University of Tennessee admits its first
black student. |
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Ronald Reagan and actress Nancy Davis
were married in San Fernando Valley, California. It was Reagan's second
marriage. |
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President Truman seizes U.S. steel mills
to avert an industry-wide strike for higher wages. The President asserts that
the industry is vital to the defense of the U.S., but the Supreme Court rules
the seizure unconstitutional. The strike is settled after 54 days in talks at
the White House. |
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King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the
wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. |
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Maureen Connolly becomes the youngest
woman to win the U.S. Open in tennis. |
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Ernest Hemingway, a heavyweight in
American literature, publishes The Old Man in the Sea.
Buy the book or
Buy the Spencer Tracy Movie. |
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Norman Vincent Peale, publishes his most
popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking and it sells more than 20 million
copies in 41 languages
Buy the book. |
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Clarence Birdseye marketed the first
frozen peas. A thing only a mother could love. |
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U.S. Supreme Court upholds the decision
barring segregation on interstate railways. |
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George Jorgensen/Christine Jorgensen, the first person to
go public after a sex change operation. |
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King George VI of Britain (1936-52) was
found dead in bed by a servant delivering the morning tea. Elizabeth gets the
job. A pic of a young
Queen. |
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Mrs. Paul's introduces frozen fish
sticks. Way to go Mrs. Paul! Now this is my idea of a food group. Although they
will have their work cut out for them gaining market share as Americans
currently eat 42 hotdogs per year. |
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Mr. Potato Head arrives!
See the original. |
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Richard Nixon's
"Checkers" speech. is successful.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President and Nixon, Vice-President. |
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"Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl"
published in the U.S.
Buy the book. or
Buy the Movie on DVD
On VHS |
|
TV first acknowledges pregnancy on I Love
Lucy. Considering that TV will not portray married people sleeping it the same
bed... Fifties Web Lucy Page |
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In Sports... |
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50,000 will be stricken by polio and
3,300 of them will die. Many more will be crippled. |
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When Howard Johnson's opens its 351st
restaurant, it becomes the world's largest food chain. |
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The first Holiday Inn opens and has the
familiar bright yellow and green sign. |
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Gibson introduced the Les Paul model
electric guitar, which was destined to become one of the most popular rock
guitars of all time. |
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Nautilus, the first atomic submarine, is
dedicated in Groton, Connecticut. |
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58,000 Scrabble sets are sold, a real
resurgence for the 1931 toy. |
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The typical U.S. grocery store now
carries about 4,000 different items, up from about 870 in 1928.By the mid-1960s
the grocery will be a supermarket carrying some 8,000 items. |
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Sony, a brand new Japanese company,
introduces the first pocket-sized transistor radio
More |
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Rocky Marciano beats ``Jersey'' Joe
Walcott to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. |
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The first birth control pill is
introduced, although it will not be available to the public for another 8
years. Which is why you don't hear them discussing "free love" in the
Fifties. |
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Telephone area codes begin. |
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Sugar Frosted Flakes, 29 percent sugar,
are introduced by Kelloggs. They're Gr-r-reat (wav)
Also More on Tony the Tiger |
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The DeHavilland Comet, a commercial jet
aircraft, made its debut. Twenty-one of this first model were built. Seven of
them crashed due to a kind of metal fatigue that the designers had not
considered. Hard to sell seats that way, fellas. |
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Lipton onion soup mix comes along.
More |
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Pream, a powdered nondairy coffee
lightener is introduced. It keeps longer than real cream and costs less. |
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Over 2,000 new TV Stations opened across
the US. TV has become so popular that between 1948-1952 film profits dropped by
$500 million. |
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Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth under
U.S. jurisdiction. |
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Roy Campanella, Preacher Roe (baseball)
and Glenn Davis, Bob Waterfield (football) get their own Wheaties boxes! |
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There was a 28.7% business failure rate.
Chart for 1946-1964 |
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Albert Schwietzer wins Nobel Peace Prize
|
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There were 37,794 motor vehicle related
deaths.While in the air, there were 5 accidents resulting in 140
fatalities. |
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Unemployment is 3.1% |
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US GNP (Gross National Product) is $355.1
billion |
Pop History
