Aaaaaa

The 1950's (ECON)

By 665900918

  • Cold War

    This helped boost American exports heavily "Made in the USA" was the tag that consumers around the world wanted, whether it was cars or electronics, furniture or metals.
    (http://bit.ly/2XALNvB)

  • Truman announces development of H-bomb

    U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
    (http://bit.ly/2Zsi9KO)

  • Senator Joseph McCarthy gains power.

    For many Americans, the most enduring symbol of this “Red Scare” was Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Senator McCarthy spent almost five years trying in vain to expose communists and other left-wing “loyalty risks” in the U.S. government. In the hyper-suspicious atmosphere of the Cold War, insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many Americans that their government was packed with traitors and spies.
    (http://bit.ly/2vlbsfE)
  • Period: to

    1950-1953

    1950
    Inflation Rate: 1.26%
    GDP Growth: 8.7%
    Unemployment rate: 4.3%
    Interest Rate: 2.125% 1951
    Inflation Rate: 7.88%.
    GDP Growth: 4.1%
    Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
    Interest rate: 2.250% 1952
    Inflation Rate: 1.92%.
    GDP Growth: 4.2%
    Unemployment rate: 2.7%
    Interest Rate: 2.250% 1953
    Inflation Rate: 0.75%
    GDP Growth: 4.7 %
    Unemployment rate: 4.5%
    Interest Rate: 2.375%

  • Korean War Begins

    While the cost of the Korean War was less significant than that of World War II, it still changed the structure of the American growth as a result of its financing. The Korean War boosted GDP growth through government spending, which in turn constrained investment and consumption. While taxes were raised significantly to finance the war
    (http://bit.ly/2GuT0GB)

  • Colored Tv Was Introduced

    The first commercial color broadcast took place at 4:35PM on Monday, June 25th, 1951, when CBS offered an hour-long program entitled “Premiere” to an ad-hoc network of five stations in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
    (http://bit.ly/2L0DRSU)

  • President Dwight D. Eisenhower Elected

    Government's share of GNP more than doubled to nearly 30 percent. While Eisenhower generally resisted large government programs and warned about the threat of a growing military-industrial complex, he backed the $26 billion Interstate Highway System, which helped states build a nationwide system of roads and sealed the bond between Americans and their automobiles.
    (http://bit.ly/2XALNvB)

  • Diner's Club issues the first credit cards.

    The Diners Club credit card was the first multi-purpose charge card and within a year of beginning operations the company had over 40,000 members. Soon after that businesses in other countries began to accept the Diners Club Card as a form of payment, making it the first international credit membership in 1953.
    By the end of the decade, over one million people were members in 1959.
    (http://bit.ly/2DwlMG7)

  • DNA's Double Helix Is Discovered

    At King’s College London, Rosalind Franklin obtained images of DNA using X-ray crystallography, an idea first broached by Maurice Wilkins. Franklin’s images allowed James Watson and Francis Crick to create their famous two-strand, or double-helix, model.
    (http://bit.ly/2UUw6T6)

  • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously (9–0) that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the states from denying equal protection of the laws to any person within their jurisdictions.
    (http://bit.ly/2VfMRYo)
  • Period: to

    1954-1957

    1954
    Inflation Rate: 0.75%
    GDP Growth: -0.6%
    Unemployment rate: 5.0%
    Interest Rate: 2.250% 1955
    Inflation Rate: -0.37%
    GDP Growth: 7.1%
    Unemployment rate: 4.2%
    Interest Rate: 2.375% 1956
    Inflation Rate: 1.49%
    GDP Growth: 2.1%
    Unemployment rate: 4.2%
    Interest Rate: 2.500% 1957
    Inflation Rate: 3.31%
    GDP Growth: 2.1%
    Unemployment rate: 5.2%
    Interest Rate: 2.500%

  • Rosa Parks Sparks Civil Rights Movement

    Called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Parks invigorated the struggle for racial equality when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
    (http://bit.ly/2IClh1s)
  • Period: to

    1958-1960

    1958
    Inflation Rate: 2.85%
    GDP Growth: -0.7%
    Unemployment rate: 6.2%
    Interest Rate: 2.625% 1959
    Inflation Rate: 0.69%
    GDP Growth: 6.9%
    Unemployment rate: 5.3%
    Interest Rate: 2.625% Sources:
    https://www.thebalance.com/unemployment-rate-by-year-3305506 www.in2013dollars.com/inflation-rate-in-1952 https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/interestrates1937-99.html

  • Alaska becmes a part of the U.S.A.

    Alaska, northwest of Canada, is the largest and most sparsely populated U.S. state. It's known for its diverse terrain of open spaces, mountains and forests, with abundant wildlife and many small towns. It’s a destination for outdoor activities like skiing, mountain biking and kayaking.
    (http://bit.ly/2ViGNyn)

  • Soviet satelittle 'Sputnik' launched.

    Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
    (https://go.nasa.gov/2GzbzJV)