1950s - Sheet1 Flashcards
1
Q
Joseph McCarthy’s speech to the Republican Women’s Club
A
In this 1950 speech during the Second Red Scare, McCarthy accused the State Department of employing over 200 communists launching him into the public eye.
2
Q
hydrogen bomb
A
President Truman demanded the construction of this bomb in 1950 after finding out the Soviets detonated an atomic bomb.
3
Q
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
A
This L. Ron Hubbard book sets out self-improvement techniques he discovered, called dianetics. The canonical text of scientology.
4
Q
United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce
A
AKA the Kefauver Committee, they investigated interstate mafia crime from 1950-51.
5
Q
North and South Korea dividing parallel:
A
38th parallel North, when the North crossed this parallel in 1950 the Korean War began.
6
Q
On the Road
A
This Jack Kerouac novel is the defining work of the Beat and Counterculture generations.
7
Q
Jayuya Uprising
A
This was a violent pro-Puerto Rican independence uprising.
8
Q
Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola
A
These two men attempted to assassinate President Truman over the issue of Puerto Rican independence.
9
Q
Mattachine Society
A
Early a pro-gay communist organization, during the second Red Scare, this group dropped their communist affiliation and began to work to specifically advance the civil rights of gay people in the 1950s.
10
Q
Paula Ackerman
A
The first female rabbi in the United States.
11
Q
Office of Defense Mobilization
A
This independent agency was formed during the Korean War and was extremely influential.
12
Q
22nd Amendment
A
This Amendment limited the president to two terms, passed in response to FDR’s presidency.
13
Q
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
A
During the Second Red Scare, these two American citizens were given the death penalty for conspiracy to commit espionage insofar as passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. While Julius was likely guilty, his wife was almost certainly innocent.
14
Q
The King and I
A
A 1950’s Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about the relationship between a Thai king and a British schoolteacher.
15
Q
All About Eve
A
This 1950 drama starring Bette Davis as an aging star in competition with an ambitious young fan swept at the Academy Awards.
16
Q
UNIVAC I
A
The second computer in the United States, it was used by the census bureau and then by newscasters.
17
Q
Battle of Inchon
A
MacArthur lead this amphibious battle of the Korean War in which Japanese forces were repelled. MacArthur followed this up, fatally, with a full-scale Korean invasion prompting military intervention from China.
18
Q
The New York School
A
An informal group of New York City-based expressionists in the 1950’s and 60’s whose avant-garde style rose from the ashes of World War 2.
19
Q
ANZUS
A
The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty; emerged as a response to the close relationship with these three countries after the Pacific War of World War 2.
20
Q
Treaty of San Francisco
A
This 1951 treaty officially ended World War 2 between Japan and the allied nations, ended Japan’s position as an imperial power and called for compensation for allies who suffered Japanese abuses of human rights.
21
Q
An American in Paris
A
Technicolor 1951 Gershwin directed musical starring Gene Kelly was a critical smash.
22
Q
Shopper’s World
A
This 1951 Massachusetts shopping mall was one of the first in the United States.
23
Q
Judy Garland
A
An American actress whose 1951 Palace Theater concerts, and her role in the film “The Wizard of Oz,” were legendary.
24
Q
I Love Lucy
A
This landmark 1950s TV show starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It was insanely popular and was one of the first shows to depict an interracial marriage.
25
Johnny Bright Incident
A violent 1951 assault against African-American footballer Johnny Bright by a white opponent.
26
The African Queen
A 1951 adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
27
Today
This NBC show was the first morning show in American history and one of the longest running shows period.
28
Wernher von Braun
This man "The Father of Rocket Science" in 1952 published "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" and then went on to aide NASA in space exploration.
29
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
This Supreme Court case, a direct rebuff to President Truman, found that "The President did not have the inherent authority to seize private property" after Truman tried to nationalize the U.S. steel industry.
30
1952 steel strike
The United Steelworkers of America striked against U.S. steel for higher wages. Truman tried to nationalize steel to resolve the conflict, but this decision was found to be unconstitutional by Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer.
31
Lever House
A seminal glass box skyscraper in Midtown that marked a transitional period for architecture.
32
Joseph O. Fletcher & William P. Benedict
U.S. lieutenant colonels who were the first to land their planes in the geographic North Pole.
33
1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident
During the 50s UFO craze, this incident caused massive alarm and even lead to an order from Pres. Truman to shoot down the objects.
34
John Cage
Post World War 2 avant-garde leader, a pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments.
35
4′33″
John Cage was the first to perform this piece in 1952, an avant-garde movement watershed, it was four minutes and thirty-three seconds of the composer playing nothing so the audience could listen to the world around them.
36
Checkers speech
A 1952 speech by Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon, in which he responded to controversy over him using donor funds to reimburse himself for campaign costs. His appeal was an early example of a politician successfully using television to appeal directly to the electorate.
37
Operation Ivy
The 1952 first successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb.
38
United States presidential election, 1952
Foreign policy was the most important factor in this election, in which Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in a landslide victory.
39
Christine Jorgensen
This transwoman was (falsely) reported in 1952 to be the first recipient of transsexual surgery ever by the New York Times. The ensuing popularity lead to her becoming a transgender rights advocate.
40
Robertson Panel
A CIA ordered scientific committee which met to discuss the increased number of UFO sightings from 1950-1952.
41
The Crucible
This Arthur Miller play was largely allegorical of the communist hunt going on during the Second Red Scare. The House Un-American Activities Committee didn't realize the irony, and subpoenaed him for questioning.
42
Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence
These 1953 tornadoes killed more than 250 people and many blamed the government's nuclear testing for the disaster.
43
1953 Waco tornado outbreak
These tornadoes were among the deadliest in American history and lead to the creation of a National Weather Center.
44
Project MKUltra
A CIA operation experimenting in the biological conditioning of humans.
45
Sidney Gottlieb
This American chemist introduced LSD into Project MKUltra and was a leader in mind control studies.
46
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
a 1953 film starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, however, Monroe's pink dress and rendition of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" became iconic.
47
Short Creek raid
This anti-Mormon mass arrest occurred in 1953 and resulted in the arrests of hundreds of polygamists.
48
Operation Big Switch
The 1953 reparation of all remaining prisoners in the Korean War.
49
Kinsey Reports
Two books on human sexual behavior by Dr. Alfred Kinsey. Revealed revolutionary new ideas about homosexuality in the human male.
50
1953 Iranian coup d'état
During the Cold War, the CIA backed the successful overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in favor of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
51
Earl Warren
Appointed U.S. Chief Justice by Eisenhower, he oversaw one of the most powerful supreme courts in American history, which oversaw a great extension of rights.
52
Playboy
An American men's magazine created by Hugh Hefner in 1953. The first issue featured Marilyn Monroe.
53
Atoms for Peace
The title of a speech given by Eisenhower to the U.N., in which he called for the whole world to be armed with nuclear bombs.
54
Amami Islands
America captured these Japanese islands during World War 2 and returned them in 1953.
55
USS Nautilus
Mamie Eisenhower launched this submarine, the first ever to be powered by nuclear energy.
56
détente
A Cold War tactic of gradually easing U.S.-Soviet tensions.
57
polio
This disease was a pandemic from the 1900's decade to the 1950's until 1954 when a vaccination was ordered nationwide.
58
United States Capitol shooting incident
In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of the House of Representatives. Five were wounded, one seriously, but all survived.
59
Army-McCarthy hearings
These televised 1954 hearings involved the Army accusing McCarthy of blackmail and McCarthy accusing the Army of communism. The hearings lead to a decline in McCarthy's popularity.
60
Domino theory
Eisenhower began this 1950s-1980s Cold War theory that if one nation fell to communism surrounding nations would follow.
61
Brown v. Board of Education
The Warren Court found in 1954 that racial segregation was a violation of the equal protections clause, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
62
Joseph N. Welch
The head counsel for the U.S. Army during McCarthy's Communism infiltration investigations who lashed out at him yelling "Have you, at long last, no decency?"
63
Operation PBSUCCESS
This Cold War-era CIA operation lead to the ousting of Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz in favor of an anti-Communist army, but they caused a bloody thirty year Civil War.
64
Hurricane Hazel
This Category 4 hurricane reached into Toronto, causing unprecedented damage.
65
McCarthy censure
In 1954 the Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
66
Richard J. Daley
Democratic Mayor of Chicago, major Irish-Catholic supporter who may have had a hand in Kennedy winning Illinois.
67
Claudette Colvin
This African-American girl in 1955 refused to give up her seat to a white man. The NAACP declined to use her to represent the movement due to the fact that she became pregnant while unmarried.
68
Charlie Parker
A highly influential jazz soloist who was an icon for the hipster and beat subcultures of the 1950s.
69
Blackboard Jungle
This social commentary film about teachers in the inner-city had the opposite effect it was intended to have, causing riots and many teenagers to repeat the "inner city" behavior.
70
Rock Around the Clock
This rock and roll song by Bill Haley & The Comets became an anthem for rebellious Fifties youth.
71
Jonas Salk
Discovered the first polio vaccine.
72
Ray Kroc
This man created McDonald's in 1955 and then built it into the most successful and important restaurant chain in history.
73
Disneyland
Walt Disney oversaw construction of this 1955 Anaheim theme park.
74
Hurricane Diane
This 1955 hurricane caused billions in damage in the Northeast.
75
Emmett Till
In 1955, this 14 year old black boy was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The world was horrified by the brutality of the killing and it was a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.
76
James Dean
This 50's actor was symbolic of teenage disillusionment.
77
Gunsmoke
A televised Western drama which premiered in 1955.
78
Elvis Presley
A 20th century cultural icon, he starred in numerous films and had many hit songs.
79
United Airlines Flight 629
A plane which was blown up in 1955 by a man who wished to collect a life insurance policy on his mother.
80
Bo Diddley
An African-American R&B artist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock.
81
Fred Phelps
Founded the Westboro Baptist Church in 1955. The Supreme Court upheld his church's right to picket funerals.
82
Rosa Parks
A black woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus in 1955 sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the Civil Rights Movement.
83
Martin Luther King, Jr.
This Civil Rights Leader got his start leading the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. He was also unfairly persecuted by J. Edgar Hoover.
84
Joe Hin Tjio
A cytogeneticist, the first to discover the correct number of chromosomes in 1955.
85
Operation Auca
Five Christian missionaries in 1955 attempted to bring Jesus to a violent, isolated tribe in Ecuador. They were obviously killed, but it lead to an outpouring of support for evangelical efforts.
86
Heartbreak Hotel
Elvis Presley's chart topping, rock & roll shaping single.
87
Southern Manifesto
An article signed by a bunch of Southern congressman in protest of Brown v. The Board of Education and desegregation in general.
88
My Fair Lady
This Broadway musical about a Cockney flower girl who is trained by a speaking expert became the most successful Broadway Play ever at the time.
89
Quadruplex videotape
The first practical videotape ever invented, came about in 1956.
90
Federal Aid Highway Act
AKA the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, signed by Eisenhower, it authorized an interstate highway system.
91
1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
Two planes collided, killing all passengers, lead to sweeping regulations of cross-country flying and air traffic control.
92
In God We Trust
Phrasing about God in the anthem and in the state motto became very popular during Eisenhower's presidency as the nation was eager to distance itself from the atheistic Soviet Union.
93
The Ed Sullivan Show
This variety show became most famous for it's 1956 airing of a controversial hip-thrusting Elvis Presley performance.
94
Jackson Pollock
An American abstract painter who was a pioneer in the drip style of painting.
95
Bobby Fischer
An American chess prodigy who won his first victory when he was 13.
96
United States presidential election, 1956
Incumbent Republican Eisenhower once again soundly defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson, since the nation was prosperous and Eisenhower ended the Korean War.
97
Browder v. Gayle
A 1956 Supreme Court decision which ended the Montgomery Bus Boycotts by forcing them to desegregate.
98
George Metesky
The Mad Bomber, he terrorized New York City with pipe bombs for years.
99
Willie Edwards
A black truck driver drowned in 1957 by the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.
100
Graceland
A historic landmark which served as the home of Elvis Presley.
101
Jimmy Hoffa
A famous labor union leader who disappeared in the 70s, widely believed to have been murdered.
102
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Their first musical made specifically for television, the 1957 spectacle starred Julie Andrews.
103
Howl
Allen Ginsberg's 1957 poem was a beatnik watershed seized for obscenity due to its allusions to homosexuality, these charges were eventually dismissed.
104
Frank Costello
Controlled a vast mafia underworld for most of his life.
105
Hurricane Audrey
This 1957 hurricane demolished the town of Cameron, Louisiana.
106
Loving You
This 1957 film was Presley's first film vehicle.
107
American Bandstand
Dick Clark hosted this show which began in 1957 featuring teenagers dancing to Top 40s hits.
108
Strom Thurmond
This Dixiecrat South Carolina Senator gave a 24 hour filibuster in 1957 against a Civil Rights Bill.
109
Little Rock Crisis
In 1957 during the Civil Rights Movement, Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas calls out the US National Guard, to prevent African-American students from enrolling in Central High School in Little Rock.
110
Little Rock Nine
A group of African-American students who Eisenhower used federal troops to protect when they tried to enroll in a segregated school.
111
Edsel
Ford lost millions on this failed automobile, which was less popular with the 1950s audience than predicted.
112
Komla Agbeli Gbedemah
This important Ghanan politician received an apology from Eisenhower after he was refused restaurant service.
113
Sputnik 1
The first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched by the Soviet Union and triggered the Space Race in 1957.
114
Albert Anastasia
One of the most ruthless and feared Cosa Nostra mob bosses in American history, he was assassinated in 1957.
115
Jailhouse Rock
This 1957 musical-drama film continued to build up Elvis Presley's popularity.
116
Apalachin Meeting
A historic summit of the American mafia in 1957. Hundreds attended, it confirmed the existence of the American mafia, although J. Edgar Hoover had been denying it.
117
Ed Gein
An American murderer and body snatcher who was the inspiration for the film Psycho.
118
Civil Rights Act of 1957
A voting rights bill which showed Congress's support for the Brown v. the Board of Education decision.
119
The Music Man
A popular Broadway musical of 1957.
120
Shippingport Atomic Power Station
The historic first full-scale atomic electric power plant, built during the nuclear friendly push of the 1950's.
121
Battle of Hayes Pond
An Indian tribe of Lumbee attacked Klansmen in 1958, ending all Klan activity in the area.
122
Recession of 1958
A sharp economic downturn during Eisenhower's presidency which lead to significant political gains for the Democrats.
123
Imre Nagy
A Hungarian politicians whose execution by the Soviets was described as "a shocking act of cruelty" by the US.
124
1958 Lebanon crisis
The Cold War played out in this political-religious ethnic conflict between America and the Soviet Union, in which America invaded Lebanon.
125
Federal Aviation Act of 1958
Eisenhower signed this in response to several mid-air flight collisions.
126
Have Gun - Will Travel
This American Western TV series was so popular it spurred a radio series.
127
Our Lady of the Angels School fire
This devastating 1958 fire at a Catholic school killed 95 and shocked the nation. Pope John XXIII sent his condolences and lead to major improvements in standards for school design and fire safety.
128
John Birch Society
A radical right wing political advocacy group began in 1958.
129
baby boomers
The baby boom which came about at the end of World War II during the 50s.
130
The Americans
A highly influential 1958 photography book by Robert Frank.
131
The Day the Music Died
The 1959 day in which rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash.
132
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play about a black family in a Chicago suburb.
133
Mercury Seven
The seven white men initially selected for space travel by NASA in 1969.
134
Kitchen Debate
A series of impromptu exchanges in 1959 between then Vice President Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev captured on videotape.
135
The Twilight Zone
A landmark science-fiction television anthology created by Rod Serling in 1959.
136
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
A well known New York art museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959.
137
Ben-Hur
An epic 1959 historical drama starring Charleston Heston.
138
Antarctic Treaty
A groundbreaking treaty signed between the U.S. and the Soviets in 1959 declaring Antarctica as a scientific preserve.
139
Henney Kilowatt
An electric car introduced in 1959.
