by Matt & Alex

1950   1951   1952   1953   1954   1955   1956   1957   1958   1959

• The IBM 752 computer shipped in February is the first IBM business computer.
• Disneyland opens July 17 in Anaheim, California, 25 miles south of Los Angeles.
• The Brooklyn Dodgers win their first World Series on October 4, 1955. Defeating the New York Yankees 4 games to 3.
• On December 1 American Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks, refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, resulted in a city-wide boycott of the bus company and stirred the civil rights movement across the nation.
• The Tappan Zee Bridge opens to traffic at Tarrytown, N.Y. on December 15. The cantilever span across the Hudson is 3,793 feet in length.
• Coca-Cola Co. uses the name "Coke" officially for the first time
• The U.S. federal minimum wage rises from 75¢ per hour to $1 August 12 by act of Congress.
• Campbell Soup Company Campbell’s Soup Co. enters the frozen foods business by acquiring control of C. A. Swanson & Sons, originator of the "TV Dinner" Campbell’s will expand the Swanson line of 11 prepared frozen items to 65 in the next 17 years.
• Colonel Sanders' KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has its beginnings as Corbin, Ky. Restaurateur Harland Sanders travels the country in an old car loaded with pots and pans. A new highway that diverted traffic from his location has ruined the roadside restaurant he ran for 25 years. 
• Special K breakfast food, introduced by Kellogg, is 4.4 percent sugar.
• Yamaha Motor Co. is founded in Japan under the aegis of Yamaha Musical Instrument Co. It will be a leading maker of motorcycles.
• The Ford Thunderbird introduced in the form of a two-seat sports car.
• Martin Luther King organizes demonstrations for blacks to demand civil rights.
• Procter & Gamble introduces Crest Toothpaste. It becomes the top selling toothpaste in the U.S. (It has Fluoride & other toothpaste companies soon copy Crest).
• McDonalds opens for the first time.

Emmy Awards:
Best Comedy: Phil Silvers Show (You'll Never Get Rich)
Best Drama: Producers' Showcase
 

1950   1951   1952   1953   1954   1955   1956   1957   1958   1959

The 1950's