1950
BECAUSE I LIKE THE 50's
NOTABLE DEATHS
"Hap" Arnold, General of the U.S. Air Force.
Max Beckmann, German expressionist painter.
Eliel Saarinen, U.S. architect.
George Bernard Shaw.
Hedwig Courts-Mahler, German novelist who wrote 192 romances.
Heinrich Mann, German novelist.
Emil Jennings, German actor.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of "Tarzan".
Edna St. Vincent Millay, U.S. poet.
Edgar Lee Masters, U.S. poet.
Al Jolson, actor and singer.
Carl Van Doren.
King Gustavus V of Sweden.
Henry L. Stimson, U.S. political figure.
Leon Blum.
It Happened
World population is approximately 2.3 billion
City populations (in millions); London, 8.3; New York, 7.8; Tokyo, 5.3; Moscow, 4.1
1.5 million Germans are still missing.
30,000 varieties of roses are catalogued.
1.5 million TV sets in U.S. (one year later approx. 15 million).
Heavy earthquake damages Assam
World record crowd of 199,854 attends World Cup soccer game (Brazil verses Uruguay) in Rio de Janeiro.
Ohio State wins Rose Bowl football classic, 17-14 against California.
New York (AL) wins World Series, 4-0, against Philadelphia (NL)
SCIENCE/
MEDICINE
Miltown, a meprobamate, comes into wide use in the U.S. as a tranquilizer.
Antihistamines become popular remedy for colds and allergies.
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opens in New York
Plutonium seperated from pitchblende concentrates.
MUSIC FIELD
"Cool Jazz" developed from bebop.
Benny Goodman and the NBC Symphony Orchestra premier "Clarinet Concerto" by Aaron Copland
Popular songs:
"If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake"...."Ragg Mopp"....
"Sam's Story"....A Bushel and a Peck"...."C'est Si Bon"
...."Good Night Irene"...."Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena"
...."Music! Music! Music!"...."Mona Lisa".
VISUAL ARTS/FILM
UN Building, New York, completed.
Films:
"La Beaute du Diable" (Rene Clair)...."Orphee" (Cocteau)...."Sunset Boulevard" (Wilder)...."Rashomon" (Jap.)...."All About Eve" Academy Award
THEATER/
LITERATURE
Ray Bradbury: "The Martian Chronicles"
Ernest Hemingway: "Across The River and into the Trees"
Budd Schulberg: "The Disenchanted"
Francis Parkinson Keyes: "Joy Street"
Henry Morton Robinson: "The Cardinal"
Nobel Prize for Literature: Bertrand Russell
Nevil Shute: "The Legacy" novel
Tennessee Williams: "The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Jones"
A.B. Guthrie, Jr.: "The Way West" Pulitzer Prize novel
Military/Politics
Britain recognizes Communist China
U.S.S.R. and Communist China sign 30-year pact;
Chiang Kai-shek resumes presidency of Nationalist China;
Comminist China's forces occupy Tibet;
Tibet appeals to UN, but China rejects UN appeal for cease-fire.
Senator Joseph McCarthy advises President Truman that State Department is riddled with Communists and Communist sympathizers.
Alger Hiss, a former U.S. State Department official, sentenced for perjury.
Truman instructs U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to develope hydrogen bomb.
Klaus Fuchs found guilty of betraying Brit. atomic secrets to U.S.S.R. and imprisoned; Harry Gold, his American confederate, sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Britain recognizes Israel.
N. Korean forces invade S. Korea June 25th and capture Seoul;
Douglas MacArthur appointed commander of UN forces in Korea;
UN forces land in S. Korea and recapture Seoul;
S. Krean troops cross 38th parallel;
UN troops forced to withdraw;
state of emergency declared in U.S. following Korean reversals;
Chin. forces cross 38th parallel.
U.S. recognizes Vietnam, capital at Saigon; supplies arms and sends mission to instruct in their use; signs military assistance pact with France, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
Congress passes McCarran Act over presidential veto; it calls for severe restrictions against Communists, particularly in sensitive positions during emergencies, and for registration of all Communists organizations and individuals, and forbids entry into U.S of aliens who have belonged to totalitarian organizations.
Assassination attempt against Truman made by two Puerto Rican nationalists; one is killed, the other sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
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