Portal:1950s

The 1950s Portal

The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the "'50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on 1 January 1950, and ended on 31 December 1959.

Throughout the decade, the world continued its recovery from World War II, aided by the post-World War II economic expansion. The period also saw great population growth with increased birth rates and the emergence of the baby boomer generation. Despite this recovery, the Cold War developed from its modest beginnings in the late 1940s to a heated competition between the Soviet Union and the United States by the early 1960s. The ideological clash between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. (Full article...)

1950s Topics:

Selected article -

Surface weather analysis of Hurricane Dog on September 4

Hurricane Dog was the most intense hurricane in the 1950 Atlantic hurricane season. Prior to reanalysis by the Hurricane Research Division in 2014, it was considered one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, equivalent to Category 5 status on the modern Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of 185 miles per hour (298 km/h). The fourth named storm of the season, Dog developed on August 30 to the east of Antigua; after passing through the northern Lesser Antilles, it turned to the north and intensified into a Category 4 hurricane. Dog reached its peak intensity with winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) over the open Atlantic, and after weakening it passed within 200 miles (320 km) of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The storm became extratropical on September 12.

Hurricane Dog caused extensive damage to the Leeward Islands, and was considered the most severe hurricane on record in Antigua. Many buildings were destroyed or severely damaged on the island, with thousands left homeless just weeks after Hurricane Baker caused serious damage there. In the United States, the hurricane caused moderate coastal damage, including damage to several boats, and resulted in 11 offshore drownings. Strong winds caused widespread power outages across southeastern New England. Twelve people were missing and assumed dead offshore Nova Scotia. Damage across its path totaled about $3 million (1950 USD$, 26.8 million 2009 USD). (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know...

... that Cusrow Baug in Mumbai had only a few tenants in the 1950s even at a low rent of 40 rupees per month?
... that on the 1950s game show Across the Board, crossword answers were clued by both a phrase and an image?
... that "transients" that appear in 1950s celestial images have been attributed to defects in the Palomar Observatory's photographic plates?
... that in the 1950s, 70 percent of senior officers in the People's Liberation Army came from the Eyuwan Soviet area?
... that Sandra Caron changed her name to avoid associations with a woman once described as "the most highly paid woman in British show business in the 1950s and 1960s"?
... that Alan Choe was tasked with developing Queenstown, Singapore's first satellite town, after its British architects left the country in the mid-1950s?

1950s films -

These are Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

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Tenali Ramakrishna is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language political drama film produced and directed by B. S. Ranga based on Ch. Venkataramaiah's stage play of the same name. Produced for the banner Vikram Productions, it stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, V. Nagayya, P. Bhanumathi, and Jamuna in key roles. Ranga handled the cinematography with his brother-in-law B. N. Haridas while P. G. Mohan edited the film. Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy composed the soundtrack and background score.

Written by Samudrala Sr., Kannadasan, and Murugadasa, Tenali Ramakrishna narrates the story of the 16th-century Telugu poet and scholar of the same name, and his life as a member of the court of Sri Krishnadevaraya, the king of the Vijayanagara Empire. Using his wits, Ramakrishna manages to save Krishnadevaraya from attacks on his empire by the Bahmani Sultanate. The rest of the film is about Ramakrishna's efforts to save Krishnadevaraya from the courtesan Krishnasani, a spy, and convincing Mughal Emperor Babur against extending support to the Sultanate in the war. (Full article...)
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I Vampiri (lit. The Vampires) is a 1957 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and completed by the film's cinematographer, Mario Bava. It stars Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D'Angelo, Dario Michaelis, Wandisa Guida, Paul Müller and Antoine Balpêtré. The film is about a series of murders of young women who are found with their blood drained. The newspapers report on a killer known as the Vampire, which prompts young journalist Pierre Lantin to research the crimes. Lantin investigates the mysterious Du Grand family who lives in a castle occupied by Gisele Du Grand who is in love with Lantin. She lives with her aunt, who hides her face behind a veil, as well as the scientist Julien Du Grand, who is trying to find the secret to eternal youth.

The film was developed during a growth in the Italian film industry which allowed for the market to expand beyond a local Italian audience and would allow Italian film makers to explore new genres of filmmaking. Freda made a deal with producers at the Italian film studio Titanus to create a low budget horror film by writing a story in one day and filming it in two weeks. The producers agreed and Freda began filming. On the final day of shooting, Freda left the set which led to the cinematographer Mario Bava to direct the rest of the film, which changed various plot points and added the inclusion of stock footage. (Full article...)
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Darah dan Doa ([daˈrah ˈdan doˈa]; Indonesian for Blood and Prayer, released internationally as The Long March) is a 1950 Indonesian war film directed and produced by Usmar Ismail, telling the story of the Siliwangi Division and its leader Captain Sudarto on a march to West Java. Following Ismail's Dutch-produced Tjitra (1949), Darah dan Doa is often cited as the first 'Indonesian' film, and the film's first day of shooting – 30 March – is celebrated in Indonesia as National Film Day.

Produced on a budget of 350,000 rupiah and intended to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, financial difficulties led production of Darah dan Doa to almost stop before the director received financial backing. After raising controversy for its subject material, the film underwent censorship and was finally released to commercial failure. Retrospective analysis has, however, been more positive, and Ismail has been dubbed the "father of Indonesian film". (Full article...)
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Title card

Last Clear Chance is a 1959 American short film produced and directed by Robert Carlisle. Sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad, Last Clear Chance is a safety film intended to warn young drivers to be careful at railroad crossings. The film's cast consists of William Boyett, Harold Agee, Mrs. Harold Agee, Tim Bosworth, William Agee, Christine Lynch, and Lou Spraker. Written by Leland Baxter, the film was shot in parts of Idaho. Wondsel, Carlisle & Dunphy Inc, based in New York City, served as the film's production company.

The film centers on the Dixon family, in particular Alan Dixon, who has recently received his driver's license and is eager to begin driving a car. When local police officer Hal Jackson visits the Dixons and learns that Alan's license has arrived, he sits down and tells Alan ways to drive safely and avoid getting into accidents. Although the film is fictional, it was inspired by a real family who experienced a scenario similar to the film. During production, assistance was provided by staff of the National Safety Council, along with the Idaho State Police and the Colorado State Patrol. (Full article...)
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The Hideous Sun Demon (sometimes billed as The Sun Demon, or in the UK as Blood on His Lips) is a 1958 American science fiction horror film produced, directed, and cowritten by Robert Clarke, who also starred in the title role. It also stars Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson, Patrick Whyte, and Fred La Porta. The film focuses on a scientist (portrayed by Clarke) who is exposed to a radioactive isotope and soon finds out that it comes with horrifying consequences.

The film was inspired by the financial success of The Astounding She-Monster, in which Clarke had starred earlier that year. The crew was made up of University of Southern California film students, while the cast consisted of unknowns in addition to Clarke's family and friends. Shooting took place under three different cinematographers over 12 consecutive weekends. Originally budgeted at $10,000, the film ended up costing $50,000. Distributed by Clarke's own Pacific International Pictures, The Hideous Sun Demon premiered on August 29, 1958 as part of a double bill with Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters. The film received mostly negative reviews upon its release, but has since become a cult film and has been referenced and parodied many times. An unauthorized sequel, the 1965 short film Wrath of the Sun Demon, was produced by Donald F. Glut. Two redubbed versions of the original film have been released: the comedic Hideous Sun Demon: Special Edition and What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon (also known as Revenge of the Sun Demon), the latter of which was produced with Clarke's permission. (Full article...)
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Theatrical release poster

The Screaming Skull is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film, produced by John Kneubuhl and directed by Alex Nicol, starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Nicol. The Screaming Skull marked Nicol's directorial debut; he decided to try it because he felt that he was not acting in the roles which he wanted. The film was distributed by American International Pictures in August 1958 as a double feature with Terror from the Year 5000.

The film's storyline concerns a newlywed woman who believes she is being haunted by the ghost of her new husband's previous wife. The simplistic musical score centres on the dies irae. (Full article...)
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Theatrical release poster
Godzilla Raids Again (Japanese: ゴジラの逆襲, Hepburn: Gojira no Gyakushū; lit. 'Godzilla's Counterattack') is a 1955 Japanese kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the second film in the Godzilla franchise, and a sequel to Godzilla (1954). The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive the attack of the second Godzilla, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus.

Executive producer Iwao Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to immediately commence production on a second Godzilla film, fearing to lose the momentum of the first film's success. Oda was chosen to direct the film as Ishirō Honda was busy directing Lovetide. (Full article...)
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Rififi (French: Du rififi chez les hommes) is a 1955 French crime film adaptation of Auguste Le Breton's novel of the same name. Directed by American blacklisted filmmaker Jules Dassin, the film stars Jean Servais as the aging gangster Tony "le Stéphanois", Carl Möhner as Jo "le Suédois", Robert Manuel as Mario Farrati, and Jules Dassin as César "le Milanais". The foursome band together to commit an almost impossible theft, the burglary of an exclusive jewelry shop in the Rue de la Paix. The centerpiece of the film is an intricate half-hour heist scene depicting the crime in detail, shot in near silence, without dialogue or music. The fictional burglary has been mimicked by criminals in actual crimes around the world.

After he was blacklisted from Hollywood, Dassin found work in France where he was asked to direct Rififi. Despite his distaste for parts of the original novel, Dassin agreed to direct the film. He shot Rififi while working with a low budget, without a star cast, and with the production staff working for low wages. (Full article...)
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Pelli Chesi Choodu (transl. Try to conduct a marriage) is a 1952 Indian satirical comedy film directed by L. V. Prasad and produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under their company Vijaya Productions. The film was made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, the latter titled Kalyanam Panni Paar (transl. Try getting married). It stars N. T. Rama Rao, G. Varalakshmi, Yandamuri Joga Rao and Savitri. S. V. Ranga Rao, Sivarama Krishnayya, Doraswamy, and Suryakantham play supporting roles in the Telugu version while C. V. V. Panthulu replaced Krishnayya in Tamil.

Pelli Chesi Choodu deals with the negative effects of the dowry system in India through the marital life of Venkata Ramana (Rama Rao) and Ammadu (Varalakshmi). The film's production began after the release of Vijaya Productions' Pathala Bhairavi (1951). Marcus Bartley was recruited as the cinematographer and the film was edited by C. P. Jambulingam and M. S. Money. Ghantasala composed the film's music. (Full article...)
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The Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 American drama film starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, and Angela Lansbury. It was directed by Martin Ritt, with a screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based in part on three works by William Faulkner: the 1931 novella "Spotted Horses", the 1939 short story "Barn Burning" and the 1940 novel The Hamlet. The title is taken from The Hamlet, as Book Three is called "The Long Summer". Some characters, as well as tone, were inspired by Tennessee Williams' 1955 play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a film adaptation of which – also starring Newman – was released 5 months later.

The plot follows the conflicts of the Varner family after ambitious drifter Ben Quick (Newman) arrives in their small Mississippi town. Will Varner (Welles), the patriarch, has doubts about his son, Jody (Franciosa) and sees Ben as a better choice to inherit his position. Will tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara (Woodward) into marriage. (Full article...)
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Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, story and screenplay written by Ritwik Ghatak. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. But they face challenges in their relationship finally leading to a paranormal consequence. The film was ranked 11th in the Outlook Magazine's 25 leading Indian directors' poll for selecting Bollywood's greatest films in 2003.

Madhumati was filmed in various Indian locations, including Ranikhet, Ghorakhal, Vaitarna Dam and Aarey Milk Colony. The soundtrack album was composed by Salil Chowdhury and the lyrics were written by Shailendra. The film was released on 12 September 1958. It earned ₹40 million in India and became the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, and one of the most commercially successful and influential Indian films of its time. (Full article...)
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Theatrical release poster by Reynold Brown

Ben-Hur (/bɛnˈhɜːr/) is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg, but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The cast also features Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell and Sam Jaffe.

Ben-Hur had the largest budget ($15.175 million), as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced at the time. Costume designer Elizabeth Haffenden oversaw a staff of 100 wardrobe fabricators to make the costumes, and a workshop employing 200 artists and workmen provided the hundreds of friezes and statues needed in the film. Filming commenced on May 18, 1958, and wrapped on January 7, 1959, with shooting lasting for 12 to 14 hours a day and six days a week. Pre-production began in Italy at Cinecittà around October 1957, and post-production took six months. Under cinematographer Robert L. Surtees, executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made the decision to produce the film in a widescreen format. Over 200 camels and 2,500 horses were used in the shooting of the film, with some 10,000 extras. The sea battle was filmed using miniatures in a huge tank on the back lot at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City, California. The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema's most famous action sequences, and the score, composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, was at the time the longest ever composed for a film, and was highly influential on cinema for over 15 years. (Full article...)
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Quatermass 2 (retitled Enemy From Space in the United States and Canada) is a 1957 black-and-white British science fiction horror film drama from Hammer Film Productions. It was originally released in the UK as Quatermass II and was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy with co-stars John Longden, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, Vera Day, and William Franklyn. Quatermass 2 is a sequel to Hammer's earlier film The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). Like its predecessor, it is based on the BBC Television serial Quatermass II written by Nigel Kneale. Brian Donlevy reprises his role as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass, making him the only actor to play the character twice onscreen.

The film's story concerns Quatermass's investigation of reports of hundreds of meteorites landing only in the Winnerden Flats area of the UK. His inquiries lead him to a huge industrial complex, strikingly similar to his own plans for a Moon colony. This top-secret facility is in fact the centre of a conspiracy involving the alien infiltration of the highest echelons of the British Government. Quatermass and his allies must now do whatever is necessary to defeat the alien threat before it is too late. (Full article...)
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Veerapandiya Kattabomman (transl. Kattabomman, the Brave Warrior) is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language historical war film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, S. Varalakshmi, and Ragini, with V. K. Ramasamy and Javar Seetharaman in supporting roles. Its soundtrack and score were composed by G. Ramanathan.

The film is loosely based on the story of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, an 18th-century king who rebelled against the East India Company. It was an adaptation of the play of the same name by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy which featured Sivaji Ganesan as the title character, and premiered in August 1957. Principal photography began in October the same year, and took place mainly in Jaipur and Madras (now Chennai) until late 1958. This was the first full-length Tamil film released in Technicolor. (Full article...)
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Pathala Bhairavi (transl. The Goddess of the netherworld) is a 1951 Indian fantasy film directed by K. V. Reddy who co-wrote the film with Pingali and Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages, the film was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under the banner Vijaya Productions. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao and K. Malathi. The film focuses on a gardener's son who has to amass wealth equal to that of the king of Ujjain to marry his daughter and a sorcerer who has to sacrifice an intelligent and brave young man to Goddess Pathala Bhairavi to gain access to a statuette which can grant any wish.

Pathala Bhairavi is based on Kasi Majili Kathalu, written by Madhira Subbanna Deekshitulu, though it was also partially inspired by the story of Aladdin. As the film is shot as a bilingual, production lasted for a whole year starting from 5 February 1950 until 8 February 1951. Ghantasala composed the film's music and Marcus Bartley served as the cinematographer. The film was edited by the duo C. P. Jambulingam and M. S. Money, while Madhavapeddi Gokhale and Kaladhar were the film's art directors. (Full article...)

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Selected biography -

Gable in 1937

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 motion pictures across a variety of genres during a 37-year career, three decades of which he spent as a leading man. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Gable as the seventh greatest male screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema.

Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934) and earned nominations in the same category for portraying Fletcher Christian in Frank Lloyd's Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Rhett Butler in Victor Fleming's Gone with the Wind (1939). For his comedic performances in George Seaton's Teacher's Pet (1958) and Walter Lang's But Not for Me (1959), Gable received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. His other notable films include William A. Wellman's Call of the Wild (1935), George Sidney's Key to the City (1950), and John Ford's Mogambo (1953). His final on-screen role was as an aging cowboy in John Huston's The Misfits (1961). (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images

The following are images from various 1950s-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An American family watching television together in 1958. (from 1950s)
Image 2Official portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States for a majority of the 1950s (from 1950s)
Image 3Cary Grant as Roger O. Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959) (from 1950s)
Image 4In 1957, the Soviet Union launches to space Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite (from 1950s)
Image 5Gamal Abdel Nasser and Mohammed Naguib, leaders of the 1952 Egyptian revolution (from 1950s)
Image 6Leading figures of the Nepali Congress and King Tribhuvan (from 1950s)
Image 7Castle Bravo: A 15 megaton hydrogen bomb experiment conducted by the United States in 1954. Photographed 78 miles (125 kilometers) from the explosion epicenter. (from 1950s)
Image 8Presidents Eduardo Lonardi and Pedro Aramburu, the first and second leader of the "Revolución Libertadora" dictatorship in Argentina. (from 1950s)
Image 9S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (from 1950s)
Image 10North Sea flood of 1953 (from 1950s)
Image 11The maximum territorial extent of countries in the world under Soviet influence, after the Cuban Revolution. (from 1950s)
Image 12Paavo Nurmi and the Olympic flame in the opening ceremony of the 1952 Summer Olympics (from 1950s)
Image 13Many famous children's books released in the 1950s, including The Cat in the Hat, Charlotte's Web and Harold and the Purple Crayon. (from 1950s)
Image 14Drive-in theaters flourished during the 1950s, offering an affordable and social moviegoing experience for families and teenagers. (from 1950s)
Image 15Disneyland opened in 1955, symbolizing postwar optimism, technological innovation, and the rise of theme parks as a major form of family-oriented entertainment in the United States. (from 1950s)
Image 16The creation and expansion of many multinational restaurant chains still in existence today, including the likes of McDonald's, IHOP, Pizza Hut, Denny's and Burger King, all occurred in the 1950s. (from 1950s)
Image 17Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the Korean War, c. late September 1950; The first polio vaccine is developed by Jonas Salk.
Centre, L-R: US tests its first thermonuclear bomb with code name Ivy Mike in 1952. A 1954 thermonuclear test, code named Castle Romeo; In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista in the Cuban Revolution, which results in the creation of the first and only communist government in the Western Hemisphere; Elvis Presley becomes the leading figure of the newly popular music genre of rock and roll in the mid-1950s.
Bottom, L-R: Smoke rises from oil tanks on Port Said following the invasion of Egypt by Israel, United Kingdom and France as part of the Suez Crisis in late 1956; The Hungarian Revolution of 1956; The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, in October 1957. This starts the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. (from 1950s)
Image 18Popular films of the 1950s included Ben-Hur, Singin' in the Rain, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause, On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, Seven Samurai, The Bridge on the River Kwai, All About Eve, Rear Window, The Searchers, Lady and the Tramp, North by Northwest, 12 Angry Men, and Vertigo, many of which remain among the most acclaimed and influential films in cinema history. (from 1950s)
Image 19The 1950s saw the rise of the Beatnik movement, which had a significant influence on popular culture, and bringing counterculture to the mainstream. (from 1950s)
Image 20Israeli troops preparing for combat in the Sinai peninsula during the Suez Crisis. (from 1950s)
Image 21Newspaper clipping on "The Day the Music Died" (from 1950s)
Image 22TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Lassie, Peter Gunn, The Jack Benny Program, The Lone Ranger, The Ed Sullivan Show, Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Howdy Doody, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet were popular during the original Golden Age of Television era. (from 1950s)
Image 23Colonial powers in 1945 (from 1950s)
Image 24Harry Belafonte in 1954, whose breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. (from 1950s)
Image 25The 1950s saw the explosion of rock and roll, led by artists such as Elvis Presley (pictured), Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, and Bill Haley & His Comets, transforming youth culture and popular music. (from 1950s)
Image 26The MOSFET (MOS transistor) was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in November 1959. It is central to the Digital Revolution, and the most widely manufactured device in history. (from 1950s)
Image 27Francis Crick and James Watson discover the spiral structure of DNA (from 1950s)
Image 28The successes of The Wild One, Blackboard Jungle (pictured) and Rebel Without a Cause are credited with kicking off the teenage rebellion films of the 1950s (from 1950s)
Image 29The 1950s was the beginning period of rapid television ownership. In their infancy, television screens existed in many forms, including round. (from 1950s)
Image 30W. Sterling Cole, first Director-general of AIEA (from 1950s)
Image 31Harry S. Truman (from 1950s)
Image 32Korean War (from 1950s)
Image 33Elvis Presley was the best-selling musical artist of the decade. He is considered as the leading figure of the rock and roll and rockabilly movement of the 1950s. (from 1950s)
Image 34Film icons like James Dean (pictured), Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Grace Kelly, and James Stewart, embodied new ideals of youth rebellion, glamour, and modern style. (from 1950s)
Image 35Liz Taylor in the 1950s, a fashion icon of the era (from 1950s)
Image 36Four Olympic Games were held in the 1950s, Oslo and Helsinki in 1952, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Melbourne in 1956 (all during the Cold War). (from 1950s)
Image 37The world map of military alliances during the Cold War in 1959 (from 1950s)
Image 38Abdullah I of Jordan (from 1950s)
Image 39Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a result of the Cuban Revolution (from 1950s)
Image 40Colonial powers in 1945 (from 1950s)

More Did you know (auto generated)

... that a group of 25 women disfigured by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima traveled to the United States in the 1950s to receive reconstructive surgery?
... that a 1950s album of frog calls developed a cult following?
... that Sandra Caron changed her name to avoid associations with a woman once described as "the most highly paid woman in British show business in the 1950s and 1960s"?
... that for a while in the 1950s, Englewood Golf Club was co-owned by four well-known comedians?
... that in the 1950s, 70 percent of senior officers in the People's Liberation Army came from the Eyuwan Soviet area?
... that Alan Choe was tasked with developing Queenstown, Singapore's first satellite town, after its British architects left the country in the mid-1950s?

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