Danny's Coffee Shops are renamed Dennys.
The 1950s Pantyhose, which give women the look of stockings without garters, garter-belts, or corsets, are introduced. By a man, no doubt.
Fifties Pop History February 3, 1959. A plane crash kills singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper.)Read about the Day the Music Died
The 1950s Lee Harvey Oswald announces in Moscow he will never return to US. If only he had meant it.
Fifties Pop History The Nikon F 35-mm. single-lens reflex camera is introduced by Nippon Kogaku K.K.
The 1950s She's here! BARBIE!
Fifties Pop History U.S. supermarkets number 32,000 and account for 69 percent of all food store sales although they comprise only 11 percent of food stores.
The 1950s New York's Four Seasons restaurant and The Brasserie open in the new Seagram Building.
Fifties Pop History New Best Friends. Iran & US sign economic treaty. Iraq & USSR sign economic/technical treaty. Israeli Knesset agrees to weapon sales to West Germany.
The 1950s South Africa decides not to introduce any television. The decision will stand for 16 years. Guess they'll have to catch Lucy on reruns.
Fifties Pop History On the Air! You'd find 3,287AM radio, 578 FM radio and 509 TV Stations.
The 1950s Lady Chatterly's Lover banned by the U.S. Postal Service.
Fifties Pop History 31.7% of all advertising dollars are spent on newspapers - 13.7% on TV. Complete allocation of ad dollars.
The 1950s Hurray for Jiffy Pop!
Fifties Pop History Swimmer Esther Williams gets her own Wheaties box! Read her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid
The 1950s "Think Small" campaign from Volkwagon. In 1999 Advertising Age picked this as the number one ad campaign of the century! Must of worked because VW will sell 120,000 cars in the U.S. this year, which is four times the number sold in 1955.
Fifties Pop History Maxwell House inaugurates the "Good to the last drop" ad campaign.
The 1950s The BIC ballpoint pen is introduced in America!
Fifties Pop History And the winner is...Oscar stuff.
The 1950s A banner year for imported passenger cars. Some 668,070 of them. Up from 21,287 in 1950.The trend will reverse itself and by 1961 when there are only 279,437 imports.
Fifties Pop History One billionth can of Spam sold. Remember, you heard it here first.
The 1950s The second annual Grammy Awards!
Fifties Pop History In Sports...
The 1950s Space monkeys Able and Baker boldly go where no monkey (or human) has gone before.
Fifties Pop History The space monkeys (above) paved the way for humans. This year, NASA picks the Mercury Astronauts, 7 guys with the "right stuff."
The 1950s Aluminum beer can introduced by Coors of Golden, Colorado.
Fifties Pop History After 13 years as a colony of Britain, Singapore becomes a self-governing republic on June 3 under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The 1950s On February 3, Alaska is admitted to statehood. Followed by Hawaii on August 21. For about a year in between America had a 49 star flag.
Fifties Pop History Americans will spend $1.2 billion on books in a year in which 14,876 new ones are published.
The 1950s A sad number. 1.25 million Americans have now died in car accidents, which is more American than have died in war.
Fifties Pop History Confederate Walter Williams is the last veteran of the Civil War to die. Albert Woolson, the last Union soldier of the Civil War died in 1956.
The 1950s The average American worker earns $91.53 a week.
Fifties Pop History Oklahoma repeals their 51 year old Prohibition law leaving Mississippi the only "dry" state in America.
The 1950s Bonanza debuts on TV. The Fifties Web TV Western Pages as does the Twilight Zone.
Fifties Pop History The microchip is invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce of the U.S. A host of products using miniaturized electronics will be produced in the next few years.
The 1950s Anthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey's wife Mary discovers bone and tool fragments in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Africa. These suggest that Australopithecine Man lived more than 1.75 million years ago. The find greatly increases scientists' estimates of humankind's history.
Fifties Pop History The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White is published. This book remains the "bible" for writing skills. Buy the book.
The 1950s The Guggenheim opens in New York City.
Fifties Pop History Pulitzer prize awarded to James Agee for Death in the Family Buy the book!
The 1950s The Sound of Music staring Mary Martin opens on Broadway.Buy the Broadway cast CD or Buy the movie cast CD.
Fifties Pop History Metrecal is introduced by the 59-year-old Mead Johnson Company of Evansville, Ind. as a weight reducing aid. It will be the forerunner of all other dietary products such as SlimFast and others.
The 1950s 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
Fifties Pop History Swiss males vote against voting rights for women. A pox on your clocks, gentleman.
The 1950s Presbyterian church accepts women preachers. Now that's progress!
Fifties Pop History There is a 51.8% business failure rate.Chart for 1946-1964
The 1950s Vince Lombardi signs on to coach Green Bay Packers, a job he would hold until 1968. Lombardi took the losing Packers to winning back-to-back NFL titles in 1961 and 1962, and Superbowls I and II in 1966 and 1967. A great book about Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered.
Fifties Pop History Groucho, Chico & Harpo Marx's final TV appearance together - on G.E. Theater with host Ronald Reagan.
The 1950s Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" released.
Fifties Pop History This year in the Civil Rights movement.
The 1950s Alf Dean using a rod & reel hooks a 2,664lb, 16' 10" white shark. Getting it in is one thing, mounting it on the wall...
Fifties Pop History Japanese-Americans who renounced their citizenship in 1942 when they were placed in American prison camps under Executive Order 9066 regain full citizenship May 20 but receive no compensation for the losses they incurred as a result of their relocation.
The 1950s Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India
Fifties Pop History Giants Stadium is renamed Candlestick Park.
The 1950s Fidel Castro gets control of Cuba.
Fifties Pop History American will import 430,808 passenger cars.
The 1950s There are 36,981 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 8 accidents resulting in 125 fatalities.
Fifties Pop History Unemployment is 6.8%
The 1950s U.S. GNP (Gross National Product) is $503.5 billion
