First Commercial Videotape Recorder
https://youtu.be/f0e03ScjnO4 A video tape recorder (VTR) is designed to record and play back video and audio material from magnetic tape. In 1956, Ampex Corporation introduced the first practical videotape recorder for television...
Federal Hourly Minimum Wage at $1.00/hr.
https://youtu.be/tQE0ldkiKo0 In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the federal minimum wage in 1956 was set at $1/hr. Effective Date 1938 Act 1 1961 Amendments 2 1966 and SubsequentAmendments 3 Oct 24, 1938$0.25Oct...
Congress Mandates In God We Trust on all U.S. Currency
https://youtu.be/A36Iq5qNukQ In 1955 the US Congress passed a bill requiring that "In God We Trust" appear on all American currency. Midst the Cold War threat of atheistic communism, the bill passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by...
Microwave Oven
https://youtu.be/Fuo6bw5wyf8 American engineer Percy Spencer invented the modern microwave oven from radar technology developed during WWII. Named "Radarange," the oven went on sale in 1946. A microwave oven introduced by Tappan in 1955...
1950s Cigarette TV Commercials
These were the cultural and media messages I received when I began clandestine smoking at age 13. https://youtu.be/Z023OAz4fkI https://youtu.be/wibHcZ4FNbU https://youtu.be/c9or3KCrgQM https://youtu.be/Hr4duBBcCpA...
Vintage Commercials
With a shift in government spending at the end of the Korean War, the American GDP dropped by 2.2% and unemployment peaked at ~6%. Although the U.S. Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy to curb inflation, spiking interest rates decreased consumer demand. The...
Atoms for Peace
https://youtu.be/CQ0bd4cShs8 In December 1953 , Preident Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" address to the UN. He called on both the US and Soviet Union to abandon their nuclear arsenals. The "Atoms for Peace" program spread nuclear technology to nations that...
Transcontinental Non-stop Flight
https://youtu.be/sfwb9piy9WQ In November 1953 American Airlines began the 1st regular non-stop commercial NY-LA air service with the Douglas DC7 . yesterdays airlines.com 1932 First scheduled cross-country passenger flights with no change of plane 1933...
Post-Korean War Recession
https://theeconreview.com The recession of 1953 was the first recession occurring in the United States since the Great Depression of the 1930s. With high expenditures to purchase equipment during the Korean War, the inflation rate in the U.S. soared up to 10%,...
McDonald’s Restaurant Chain
https://youtu.be/EtvcoAWPNJ0 McDonald's restaurant was founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand, and later turned the company into a franchise, with...
U.S. Information Agency
https://youtu.be/N4my1PeWUrg The United States Information Agency (USIA) was established in 1953 "to understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions, and their...
See the USA in your Chevrolet
https://youtu.be/boertpylK0M 1953 Chevrolet Corvette - Wikimedia Commons In 1953, General Motors released the first model of the Chevrolet Corvette —a sports car named after the small, maneuverable warship. Wikipedia Over the years, the Corvette has become widely...
Direct-dial Coast to Coast Telephone Service
https://youtu.be/C7YM9Sz9wxo The first direct-dial coast to coast telephone call was made in 1951 between the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey and the Mayor of Alameda, California. Taking ~18 seconds to connect, the call was placed using AT&T’s direct distance...
Cost of Living 1951
https://youtu.be/WLmJaT9XeDA House: $7,300Average income: $3,515Ford car: $1424-$22538.3 cu. ft. General Electric refrigerator: $330Milk: $.92Gas: $.20Bread $.16Postage stamp: $.031 lb. of buttered peanut brittle: $.2514 oz. can of Hershey’s Syrup: $.17Sliced Bacon:...
UNIVAC – First Commercial Computer Built
https://youtu.be/kignGE77l_I The UNIVAC I was the first American computer designed to provide fast execution of relatively simple arithmetic and data transport operations for commercial purposes, as opposed to the complex numerical calculations required of scientific...
Seoul City Sue – North Korean Propagandist
Anna Wallis Suh (1900–1969), nicknamed "Seoul City Sue," was a Methodist missionary, educator, and North Korean propaganda radio announcer broadcasting to United States forces during the Korean War. After joining the...
Long Island Train Crash
The Kew Gardens Long Island train crash was a collision between two trains on the Long Island Rail Road's mainline during the evening rush hour of November 22, 1950. 78 people were killed and 363 injured. The crash is the worst railway accident in LIRR history and one...
Defense Production Act
The Defense Production Act of 1950 was part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort granting the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons in the...
Heart Pacemaker
https://youtu.be/Zd_Weg6Dlw4 In 1950, Canadian electrical engineer John Hopps built the first external pacemaker based upon observations by cardio-thoracic surgeons at Toronto General Hospital. With vacuum tube technology, powered by AC...
Truman Seizes Railroads
https://youtu.be/6XI6CXrlNSo In August 1950, to prevent a pending strike during wartime, President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order directing the U.S. Army to seize control of America’s railroads. President Truman had previously intervened in post-war labor...
Dean Acheson ~ Pacific Defense
https://youtu.be/i9c4c6J9GfM In January 1950 U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave a speech to the National Press Club intended to outline the Pacific defense posture of the United States. He named Japan and the Philippines in the U.S. defense plan,...
Cost of Living 1950
https://youtu.be/mzhUuMrkdcA In 1950: a new house cost $8,450.00 the average income per year was $3,210.00 a gallon of gas was 18 cents the average cost of new car was $1,510.00 A few more prices from the 50's and how much things costChrysler New Yorker $43471958...
American Shopping Mall
Pinterest In April 1950 Northgate Center, the first urban shopping mall, was opened in Seattle.Originally an open air complex where the stores faced each other, Northgate began adding a roof over the concourse in 1962 and was completely enclosed by 1974....
Silly Putty
When the Japanese invasion of Asia threatened America’s rubber supply during World War II, chemists at General Electric began looking for a synthetic substitute. James Wright stumbled upon ... a stretchy material that withstood decay and bounced 25 percent higher than...
Einstein Warns of Arms Race
https://youtu.be/K4MjwIFoPn0 Transcript: The Eleanor Roosevelt Show." NBC Radio February 1950 ALBERT EINSTEIN (Physicist): ... The idea of achieving security through national armament is, at the present state of military technique, a disastrous illusion. On the part...