Annual

1962 History, Facts, and TriviaIn 1962, the world came closer to nuclear war than it has before or since. For thirteen days in October, the United States and the Soviet Union faced each other over Soviet missiles in Cuba, and the outcome depended in part on decisions made by individual people in submarines and in […]

1961 Trivia, History, and Fun FactsIn 1961, Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth, and the Space Race had a clear leader. Alan Shepard followed fifteen minutes into space, and the gap began to close. John F. Kennedy was inaugurated and, within three months, had authorized the Bay of Pigs invasion, which failed spectacularly. The Berlin Wall

1959 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1959, Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states, and the United States became geographically what it is today. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in an Iowa field on February 3, though the phrase “the day the music died” would not be

1956 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryQuick Facts from 1956World Changing Event: Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956. Over 60 million Americans watched — roughly 82% of the TV-viewing audience. Ed Sullivan himself was so nervous about Elvis’s hip movements that he ordered cameras to film him only

1955 Trivia, History, and Fun FactsQuick Facts from 1955World-Changing Event: Dr. Jonas Salk began inoculating children against polio, one of the most feared diseases in American history. When journalist Edward R. Murrow asked Salk who owned the patent, he replied: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”Other

1954 History, Facts, and TriviaQuick Facts from 1954World-Changing Event: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional — overturning Plessy v. Ferguson after 58 years and setting the legal foundation for the civil rights movementOther World-Changing Event: RCA put the

1953 History, Facts, and TriviaQuick Facts from 1953World-Changing Event: James Watson and Francis Crick published the double helix structure of DNA on April 25, 1953, in Nature — one of the most significant scientific discoveries in human history, explaining for the first time the molecular mechanism of heredity and the basis of all living thingsOther

1952 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1952, the United States detonated the first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, destroying an entire island and demonstrating a weapon of a magnitude that made atomic bombs seem small. I Love Lucy was the most-watched show on television. Eisenhower was elected president. Queen

1951 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1951, I Love Lucy premiered on October 15 and was immediately the third most-watched show on television. Ike Turner recorded Rocket 88 in March, which many music historians consider the first rock-and-roll record. A Streetcar Named Desire reached movie screens. The Catcher in the Rye was published.

1949 Trivia, Fun Facts and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear device, and the Doomsday Clock moved to three minutes to midnight. NATO was founded. The Berlin Airlift, which had been supplying West Berlin since June 1948, was still ongoing. George Orwell published 1984. The 45 RPM record was introduced.

1948 Trivia, Fun Facts and Pop Culture HistoryQuick Facts from 1948In 1948, three engineers at Bell Labs demonstrated a small device called a transistor, changing the course of human technology. Harry Truman won an election that everyone said he would lose and held up the newspaper that said he hadn’t. Citation won the Triple Crown.

1947 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture HistoryIn 1947, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier over the Mojave Desert in a plane called Glamorous Glennis. Jackie Robinson walked onto Ebbets Field and changed baseball, and through baseball, America. The Roswell incident occurred and has since generated speculation. The Marshall Plan was taking shape. The CIA,

1946 Trivia, Information, History, and Fun FactsQuick Facts from 1946World Changing Event: ENIAC — the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer — was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania on February 14, 1946. It was the first general-purpose electronic computer, weighing 30 tons, occupying 1,800 square feet, and containing 18,000 vacuum tubes. It could perform 5,000

1940 Trivia, Fun Facts, and Pop Culture History Quick Facts from 1940Miraculous Event: Between May 26 and June 4, 1940, the British military evacuated 338,226 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, using a flotilla of over 800 military vessels and hundreds of civilian boats — fishing boats, pleasure craft, lifeboats, and river ferries. It