1950 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

Quick Facts from 1950:

• World Changing Event: Pope Pius XII confirmed there was no conflict between Christianity and the theory of evolution, and the Church officially supported the idea of theistic evolution.
• The immortal cancer cells collected from patient Henrietta Lacks months before her 1950 death are still alive and being used today for research.
• Influential Songs include: Goodnight, Irene by The Weavers with Gordon Jenkins, Daddy’s Little Girl by The Mills Brothers and Here Comes Peter Cottontail by Gene Autry
• The Movies to Watch include Father of the Bride, Harvey, All About Eve, Sunset Boulevard, Rio Grande, The Asphalt Jungle and Cinderella
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably John Wayne
• Notable books include: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
• Minimum Wage in 1950: 75 cents per hour
  Stromberg-Carlson TV: $279.95
• Did You Know? Since 1950, acceptance of an Academy Award statuette requires that neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for $1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette.
• The Funny Guy was: Milton Berle
  The Funniest TV Duo: Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca
• FBI’s “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” program began.
• The US Army rank of 5 Star General is still considered an active rank, although no one has attained that rank since 1950 when Omar Bradley held it.

“Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
– Betty Davis, in All About Eve

“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”
“I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.”
– Gloria Swanson, in Sunset Boulevard

Willie Sutton robbed Manufacturers Bank of $64,000 in NYC. Urban legend says that when asked why he robbed banks, he said “because that’s where the money is.”

Minute Rice appeared on the shelves for the first time.

A payment was first made by the prototype Diners Club card, at Majors Cabin Grill restaurant in New York City (the first use of a charge card). Cards became available for others on May 13, 1950.

The First TV remote control, Lazy Bones by Zenith was sold.

Disposable diapers were invented by Marion Donovan.

Darlington Raceway in South Carolina was the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.

The first metal lunchbox, featuring Hopalong Cassidy, was produced by Aladdin (the company, NOT the 1001 Arabian Nights hero).

Corn Pops debuted in 1950 as ‘Corn Pops’. Name changed twice in 1951 to ‘Sugar Corn Pops’ then ‘Sugar Pops’. In 1978 it changed back to ‘Sugar Corn Pops’ then finally back to original ‘Corn Pops’ in 1984. In 2006 it became to ‘Pops’ and then back to ‘Corn Pops’ a few months later.

Green plastic garbage bags, made from polyethylene, were invented by Harry Wasylyk.

Telephone Answering Machine was created by Bell Laboratories.

John Hopps invented the world’s first cardiac pacemaker. It was larger than life and had to be used outside the body of the first recipient.

The comic strip Beetle Bailey was created by Mort Walker.

Racing pioneer C.J. Hart was credited with creating the first commercial drag racing strip on the runway of the Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, California on June 19.

If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss, published in 1950, is the first recorded instance of the word “nerd.”

Kathryn Johnston became the first girl to play Little League baseball in 1950 when she tucked her hair under her hat, renamed herself “Tubby”, and joined the Kings Dairy team, posing as a boy. When she told her coach she was a girl, he said “That’s O.K., you’re a darned good player.”

Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to play a game in the NBA.

The Barrier played at the Broadhurst Theatre (Nov 02, 1950 – Nov 04, 1950) 4 performances. It is a race-based drama about a single day in the 1950s-era in rural Georgia.

7UP originally contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, until 1950.

An articulate man (and snazzy dresser), Mr. Sutton later said that he never said it, although the statement on itself was true. “Why did I rob banks? Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one or two weeks later I’d be out looking for the next job. But to me the money was the chips, that’s all.”

It is estimated 50% of all American films made before 1950 and over 90% of films made before 1929 are lost forever.

Mother Teresa founded Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India.

Smokey Bear was a real bear who was rescued from a forest fire and later became a living mascot for wildfire prevention.

Groundbreaking Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premiered on NBC.

Radio’s Grand Ole Opry was broadcast on TV for 1st time

On February 15 Walt Disney released Cinderella.

Peter Pan opened at the Imperial Theater NYC for 320 performances.

Your Hit Parade premiered on NBC (later CBS).

Arthur Murray Party premiered on ABC TV (later DuMont, CBS, then NBC)

Crusader Rabbit, the first animated TV series, debuted.

I Robot,  a collection of sci-fi short stories by Isaac Asimov was published.

Ranch Dressing originated from The Hidden Valley Dude Ranch in 1950, in Santa Barbara, California.

The Myxoma Virus (a type of poxvirus) was deliberately released into the rabbit population in Australia as a means of population control, causing the death of over 500 million rabbits

The US Navy sprayed San Francisco with “harmless” bacteria to simulate a biological attack. The not-so-harmless bacteria caused a spike in a rare UTI, killing one man. There were many unusually high reports of an increase in pneumonia and urinary tract infections. A lawsuit against the government was rejected on the grounds that the government-held legal immunity.

The Tollund Man, a mummified body from the 4th Century, was found in Denmark.

The modern-day “pirate accent” we know comes from Robert Newton’s portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 Disney adaptation of Treasure Island. Before that, there was no universal “pirate accent”. #arrrrh

The Great Brink’s Robbery: Eleven thieves stole more than $2 million from the Brink’s armored car company headquarters, in Boston, Massachusetts. The thieves were all caught and Only $58,000 was recovered.

After the Empire State Building opened in New York City in 1931, much of its office space went unrented. It was nicknamed the “Empty State Building” by New Yorkers and didn’t become profitable until 1950.

The first Volkswagen Type 2 (aka the Microbus) rolls off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The 1950 toy lab set “Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory” contained uranium ore, polonium, a Geiger counter, and a cloud chamber.

L. Ron Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

In South Africa, the Group Areas Act was passed, formally segregating races.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) began operations.

January 21 – Communist spy Alger Hiss was convicted on two counts of perjury.

January 30, 1950 – President Harry S. Truman ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb

February 8, 1950 -The Stasi was founded in East Germany, and acted as secret police until 1990.

February 9 – In his speech to the Republican Women’s Club at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Department of State of being filled with 205 Communists.

February 14 – The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China signed a treaty of mutual defense.

March 1 – Klaus Fuchs was convicted in London of spying against both Britain and the United States for the Soviet Union, by giving to the latter top-secret atomic bomb data.

June 17, 1950 – Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage, based on David Greenglass’s confession. On August 11, 1950, Ethel Rosenberg was arrested.

July 4, 1950 – The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe.

September 8 – The Defense Production Act was enacted into law in the United States.

May 21 Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attacked Cambodia.

June 25, 1950 – The Korean War began its three-year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea. The United States sent support to South Korea 2 days later.

June 27, 1950 – Thirty-five military advisors were sent to South Vietnam to give military and economic aid to the anti-Communist government.

Jun 28 – The North Koreans captured Seoul.

Private Kenneth Shadrick was the first U.S. casualty of the Korean War, on July 5th, 1950.

July 7 – UN Security Council established the United Nations Command to combat North Korean forces

July 8, 1950 -General Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of UN forces in Korea

November 26, 1950 – United Nations forces retreated south toward the 38th parallel when Chinese Communist forces open a counteroffensive in the Korean War.

December 19 – Tibet’s Dalai Lama fled the Chinese invasion.

1950 FBI’s “10 Most Wanted Fugitives”:
#1. Thomas James Holden
#2. Morley Vernon Kong
#3. William Nesbit
#4. Henry Randolph Mitchell
#5. Omar August Pinson
#6. Lee Emory Downs
#7. Orba Elmer Jackson
#8. Glen Roy Wright
#9. Henry Harland Shelton
#10. Morris Guralnick
Willie Sutton was number 11.

Silly Putty was introduced as a toy on March 6, 1950, by Peter Hodgson. But was invented in 1943 by James Wright, who was working for General Electric while trying to make synthetic rubber for the War Effort – it was in the middle of World War II. A guy named Earl Warrick also claimed to invent it about the same time.

Silly Putty sold pretty quickly. Kids found uses for it. Mostly making things, then squishing them. Plus you could copy your favorite comics. In the early 1960s, they started selling internationally, and they even took one into Space in Apollo 8. In 1977, Silly Putty became part of ‘Big Crayon’ when Crayola bought it. Silly Putty entered The National Toy Hall of Fame’s Third class in 2001, along with Tonka Trucks. Silly Putty is still a popular stocking stuffer today.