Last Time We explored
30 Years Before I Was Born |
A Look At The Decade Of The 1940s.
The next decade I’ve explored in a few articles already.
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious 50’s Part 1
88 Years Of Middle-Earth, 75 Years Of Narnia
In this decade, in this article I explore a few more things culturally not mentioned in those other ones and some things mentioned once again. Looking back through this decade I realize that there many more interesting and exciting things I could have added to this timeline. History is so chock full of stuff it’s hard to get it all and time limits what I can research and do. But what is here is what is here and I found it worth putting in.
Take another look at a decade in which produced some interesting music, books, TV shows and movies as well as some interesting things happening in the world and in the church with some great new saints added to the rooster of people you can officially ask for intersession. The race to outer space is ramped up in culture and in actuality. This and much more happened…
21 Years Before I was Born
1950
If I Ran the Zoo
by Dr. Seuss
is published.
The Flying Saucers Are Real
by Donald Keyhoe
is published.
It is a book that investigated reports of UFOs by United States Air Force fighters, personnel, and other aircraft, between 1947 and 1950.
Beverly Cleary – Henry Huggins is published.
1950 –Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
1st English Translation
1950 –James Thurber – The 13 Clocks
1950 – A Gnome There Was and Other Tales of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1950) by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
1950 -In Sports – Stanley Cup – Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 3 over the New York Rangers. Gordie Howe led the NHL in goals, assists, and points while goaltender Terry Sawchuk won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s best rookie. Sawchuk set a record for most wins by a goalie, as he was in net for all 44 Detroit victories.
Ole Mother Methuselah (1950) [SF] by L. Ron Hubbard in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1950
January 7, 1950 -“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” sung by Gene Autry, reached the top of Billboard magazine‘s charts.
February 15, 1950 –Walt Disney Studios‘ animated film Cinderella debuts. The film is the most successful the studio has made since Dumbo, and saves the studio from four million dollars in debt.
February 25, 1950 -Sid Caesar appears in the first episode of Your Show of Shows.
February 26, 1950 – Hungarian-American physicist and inventor Leo Szilard (February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) publicly sounded the alarm against the possible development of salted thermonuclear bombs, explaining in a University of Chicago Round Table radio program that sufficiently big thermonuclear bomb rigged with specific but common materials, might annihilate mankind.
March 3, 1950 -In Isadore Sparber‘s Quack-A-Doodle-Doo, produced by the Famous Studios, Baby Huey makes his debut
April 9, 1950 – The Yellow Cab Man starring Red Skelton, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Arnold.
May 4, 1950 – Ray Bradbury – The Martian Chronicles
Summer 1950: Where Are All the Aliens? The Fermi Paradox Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi‘s name is associated with this paradox because of a casual conversation he had with fellow physicists Edward Teller, Herbert York, and Emil Konopinski. While walking to lunch, the men discussed recent UFO reports and the possibility of faster-than-light travel. The conversation moved on to other topics, until during lunch Fermi blurted out, “But where is everybody?” (although the exact quote is uncertain). MYS010:
Time’s Arrow • (1950)by Arthur C. Clarke in Science-Fantasy, Summer 1950
First Lensman
(Fantasy Press, 1950) by E. E. “Doc” Smith, an epic space opera in the Lensman series, won the Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2001.
June 24, 1950 – Maria Goretti is canonized.
June 29, 1950 – Walt Disney Studios’ first completely live-action film Treasure Island debuts.
June 25, 1950 – The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People’s Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.
The Little Black Bag • (1950) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1950
August 12, 1950 – Can Catholics Believe Theistic Evolution? In his encyclical Humani generis, Pope Pius XII declares evolution to be a serious hypothesis, that does not contradict essential Catholic teachings.
August 19, 1950 – Black Elk (Lakota/Sioux Medicine Man) Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950) dies. He was a wičháša wakȟáŋ (“medicine man, holy man”) and heyoka of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and fought with him in the Battle of Little Bighorn. He survived the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. He toured and performed in Europe as part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
Black Elk converted to Catholicism, becoming a catechist, but he also continued to practice Lakota ceremonies. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City opened an official cause for his beatification within the Roman Catholic Church in 2016. His grandson, George Looks Twice said, “He was comfortable praying with this pipe and his rosary, and participated in Mass and Lakota ceremonies on a regular basis”. Could he become a Catholic Saint?)
September 4, 1950 – John Nealon, Kristin’s Father, is born.
Mort Walker‘s Beetle Bailey makes its debut. Though the original comic strip is set at college and will only be set at a military base in March 1951.
September 8, 1950 – The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950) by A. E. van Vogt
October 1950 – Galaxy Science Fiction begins publishing.
October 2, 1950 – The daily comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, makes its debut in nine United States newspapers.
October 5, 1950 – The comedy quiz show You Bet Your Life, featuring Groucho Marx, premieres (1950–1961).
October 7, 1950 – Mother Teresa received Vatican permission for the diocesan congregation, which would become the Missionaries of Charity.
October 7, 1950 Friz Freleng‘s Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Canary Row premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, it marks the debut of Tweety’s (and occasionally Sylvester’s) owner Granny.
October 12, 1950 – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show debuts (1950–1958).
October 16, 1950 – C. S. Lewis‘s children’s portal allegorical fantasy novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, is published by Geoffrey Bles in London, first of the seven-book The Chronicles of Narnia.
October 28, 1950 – The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, premieres (1950–1965).
To Serve Man by Damon Knight in Galaxy Nov 1950
November 1, 1950 –Pope Pius XII defines a new dogma of Roman Catholicism, the Munificentissimus Deus, which says that God took Mary’s body into Heaven after her death (the “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary“).
November 4, 1950 – Gerald McBoing-Boing – The story was adapted by Phil Eastman and Bill Scott from a story by Dr. Seuss. Robert Cannon directed the short film, with John Hubley (also a producer) as the supervising director; Stephen Bosustow served as an executive producer. Marvin Miller was the narrator.
Gerald McBoing-Boing won the 1950 Oscar for Best Animated Short. In 1994, it was voted #9 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked UPA cartoon on the list.
November 24, 1950 – Guys and Dolls opens on Broadway.
December 2, 1950 – Isaac Asimov – I, Robot (collected short stories)
“Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays – Vol. 15 – Open Season for Trouble
20 Years Before I Was Born
Massacre in Korea
Pablo Picasso.
Picasso’s third anti-war painting after Guernica and The Charnel House,
1951 – The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom – Sam Moskowitz
1951 – Eye Is on the Sparrow by Ethel Waters is published. She helped popularize the hymn in the early 20th century and was the title for her 1960 album of the same name.
1951 – The Greatest Book Ever Written: The Old Testament Story by Fulton Oursler
1951 – The Quest for Saint Aquin • (1951) • novelette by Anthony Boucher in New Tales of Space and Time (1951)
1951 – The Hidden Valley of Oz (1951) is the thirty-ninth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors. It was written by Rachel R.C. Payes and illustrated by Dirk Gringhuis.[1] The book was followed twelve years later by Merry Go Round in Oz (1963).
1951 –Fancies and Goodnights is a collection of fantasies and murder stories by John Collier. It won the International Fantasy Award for fiction and an Edgar Award for “outstanding contribution to the mystery short story.
1951 – C. S. Lewis – Prince Caspian
New Tales of Space and Time – Raymond J. Healy
1951 – Eleanor Estes – Ginger Pye – It won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children’s literature in 1952.
January 3, 1951 – Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951–1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
January 29, 1951 – Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins because she felt a “knot” in her womb. While there she was treated with radium tube inserts as an inpatient and discharged a few days later with instructions to return for X-ray treatments as a follow-up. During her treatments, two samples were taken from Lacks’s cervix without her permission or knowledge; one sample was of healthy tissue and the other was cancerous. These samples were given to George Otto Gey, a physician and cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins. The cells from the cancerous sample eventually became known as the HeLa immortal cell line, a commonly used cell line in contemporary biomedical research.
February 27, 1951– 22nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States limits the number of times a person can be elected president. The amendment was a response to the four-term presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which amplified longstanding debates over term limits.
March 1, 1951 – An Altar Boy Named Speck by Tut LeBlanc premiers in Catholic Action of the South, which was the official paper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. Margaret Ahern continued the Speck comic upon LeBlanc’s 1953 death, drawing it until 1979.
The comic is about a mischievous but lovable altar boy who keeps getting into various kinds of trouble.
March 12, 1951 –Hank Ketcham‘s Dennis the Menace makes its debut.
March 25, 1951– “Family Theatre” Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration (TV Episode 1951) – IMDb
March 29, 1951 –The King and I opens on Broadway.
April 1, 1951 – The ABC Radio Network debuted Paul Harvey News and Comment, with a noon time slot on weekdays.
April 5, 1951 – Bedtime for Bonzo premiers starring future president of the United States Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and a chimpanzee named Peggy as Bonzo.
April 21, 1951 – The National Olympic Committee of the Soviet Union is formed. The USSR will first participate in the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.
July 2,1951 – Spontaneous Human Combustion Mary Reeser, a 67-year-old woman, was found burned to death in her house by her landlady. Reeser’s remains were completely burned into ash, with only one leg remaining. The chair she was sitting in was also destroyed. This was believed to be a case of spontaneous combustion.
July 23, 1951 – Slingshot 6 7/8 – Starring Woody Woodpecker. This was the first pairing of Buzz Buzzard and Wally Walrus. Submitted and screened at the 24th Academy Awards for an Oscar consideration, but wasn’t nominated.
August 1, 1951 – A Swiss Miss – Another cliffhanger (literally) as Oil Can Harry threatens Pearl Pureheart in the Swiss Alps and Mighty Mouse comes to the rescue.
July 26, 1951 – Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland premieres; while a disappointment at first and hardly released in theaters, it would later become one of the biggest cult classics in the animation medium as well as make millions in television viewings and subsequent releases on home video.
September 18, 1951 – The Day the Earth Stood Still
September 30, 1951 – Joe DiMaggio plays in his final career regular season game.
October 1951 – Unforgettable by Nat King Cole
The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles • (1951) • short story by Margaret St. Clair The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1951
October 3, 1951 – In one of the most famous finishes in baseball history, Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hits a three-run walk-off home run, immortalized as the Shot Heard ‘Round the World, to give the Giants a 5–4 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers for the National League title.
October 15, 1951 – Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951–1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world’s first major female television star.
October 21, 1951 – Fathers Are People- With Goofy and the debut of Goofy Junior.
October 17, 1951 (France) – Atoll K, starring Laurel and Hardy in their final film.
November 24, 1951 – Saying Grace (Rockwell)
December 26, 1951 – The African Queen opens in theaters
The cast and crew assembled in Africa in December 1950 and much of the film was shot in Lake Albert, Uganda, and in the Belgian Congo in Africa. This was rather novel for the time, especially for a Technicolor picture that used large, cumbersome “Three-Strip” cameras. The cast and crew endured sickness and spartan living conditions during their time on location. In the early scene in which Rose (Hepburn) plays an organ in the church, a bucket was placed off-camera in which she could vomit between takes because she was sick. Bogart later bragged that he and Huston were the only members of the cast and crew who escaped illness, which he credited to having drunk whiskey on location rather than the local water.’ Bunny Allen (April 17, 1906 – January 14, 2002) a renowned white hunter and safari guide in Kenya was a technical adviser on the film.
“Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays – Vol. 16 – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow”
19 Years Before I Was Born
1952 – Edward Hopper – Wikipedia Morning Sun
1952 – Walking to Church – Wikipedia
1952 – “Delicado” – Canadian Percy Faith & his Orchestra
Zing A Little Zong” – Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman
1952 -The Hofmeyr Skull is a specimen of a 36,000-year-old anatomically modern human skull that was found in 1952 near Hofmeyr, South Africa.
1952 – Mr. Potato Head is first made and sold in stores.
1952 – “Happy Trails” is a song performed by and associated with Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans, known as the theme song for both The Roy Rogers Show on radio and The Roy Rogers Show on television, in which they starred.
1952 –
- Curious George Rides a Bike, written by Margret Rey (1952)
- One Morning in Maine (1952) by Robert McCloskey a Caldecott Honor Award
- Mary Poppins in the Park (1952) by P. L. Travers
- The Borrowers (1952) by Mary Norton
- Doctor Dolittle’s Puddleby Adventures by Hugh Lofting
- C. S. Lewis – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Legion of Time (1952) A COLLECTION by Jack Williamson
- Big Planet (1952) by Jack Vance
- Beat Not the Bones is a suspense novel (and psychological thriller) by Charlotte Jay (pseudonym of Geraldine Halls) which won the inaugural Edgar award for best novel.
- Adventures in Time and Space (1952) Raymond J. Healy, J. Francis McComas
1952 – The Power of Positive Thinking a self-help book by American minister Norman Vincent Peale is published.
January 19, 1952 – Chuck Jones‘ cartoon Operation: Rabbit premieres, starring Bugs Bunny & Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. Coyote’s name was revealed in this short and this is the first where he has spoken dialogue.
January 27, 1952 -1952: The Two Mouseketeers – It is the 65th Tom and Jerry short. he Two Mouseketeers won the series’ sixth Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Such was the cartoon’s success, that Hanna and Barbera created a total of four adventures in the Mouseketeers series; the second, 1954’s Touché, Pussy Cat! received an Oscar nomination. The third, Tom and Chérie, followed in 1955, and Royal Cat Nap in 1958. The premise was also featured in comic books from Dell Comics.
February 12, 1952, to April 26, 1955 – Life Is Worth Living with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on DuMont (1952–1955), then on ABC (1955–1957)
March 14, 1952 – The Dead Sea Scrolls Treasure Map While most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by Bedouins, the Copper Scroll was discovered by an archaeologist. The Copper Scroll (3Q15) was found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin, although no metallic copper remained in the strips; the action of the centuries had been to convert the metal into brittle oxide
March 27, 1952 – The MGM musical Singin’ in the Rain premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
April 15, 1952 –Al the Octopus is the mascot of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. During many games, octopuses are thrown onto the ice by fans for good luck, this usually occurring after the national anthem is sung or after a goal is scored.
This Legend of the Octopus tradition, started on this date when two brothers, Pete and Jerry Cusimano, who owned a fish market, decided to throw an octopus onto the ice at Olympia Stadium, with the eight tentacles of the octopus symbolizing the eight wins it took to win the Stanley Cup at the time.
35th International Eucharistic congress May 27–Jun 1 1952 
Barcelona Peace First congress since the end of World War II. Attended by hundreds of bishops and church officials, including Cardinal Spellman of New York, and Cardinal Stritch of Chicago. The Cold War limited attendance from communist eastern European countries.
June 6, 1952 – The Quiet Man
June 12, 1952 – Kathleen Nealon, Kristin’s Mother, is born.
June 28, 1952 – A Sound of Thunder • (1952) by Ray Bradbury in Collier’s, June 28, 1952
July 10, 1952 – The first issue of Mad appears, edited by Harvey Kurtzman and published by William M. Gaines‘ EC Comics.
July 24, 1952 –High Noon Gary Cooper
July 28, 1952 – Lost in Alaska
The Snowball Effect • (1952) by Katherine MacLean in Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1952
September 5, 1952 – Monkey Business Howard Hawks Cary Grant
September 20, 1952 – Chuck Jones‘ Rabbit Seasoning is first released, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons; starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. It is the second short in The Hunting Trilogy. It is considered to be among Jones’ best and most important films. In Jerry Beck‘s 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, Rabbit Seasoning is listed at number 30.
September 19, 1952 – Adventures of Superman in syndication (1952–1958)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
September 24, 1952 – The first “Kentucky Fried Chicken” franchise opened in Salt Lake County, Utah, and was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who began selling Southern fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression.
October 3, 1952 –Mice-Capades – First Herman and Katnip short
Our Miss Brooks (1952–1956) on CBS
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ABC (1952–1966)
October 10, 1952 – Trick or Treat – The cartoon, which takes place on Halloween night, follows a series of pranks between Donald Duck and his nephews with Witch Hazel.
October 15, 1952 – Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
October 23, 1952 –Limelight written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, based on a novella by Chaplin titled Footlights. The score was composed by Chaplin and arranged by Ray Rasch. There is an appearance by Buster Keaton.
November 19, 1952 –Road to Bali (1952) (with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour) as Harold Gridley
What’s It Like Out There? • (1952) by Edmond Hamilton in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1952
December 1, 1952 – The Abbott and Costello Show in syndication (1952–1954)
18 Years Before I Was Born
Golconda (Magritte)
René Magritte,
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler,
- Ring for Jeeves by P G Wodehouse
- Roger Lancelyn Green – King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
- C. S. Lewis – The Silver Chair (fourth in The Chronicles of Narnia series of seven books)
- Childhood’s End (1953) Arthur C. Clarke
- Madeline’s Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans, the second in his Madeline series it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1954
- The Greatest Faith Ever Known: The Story of the Men Who First Spread the Religion of Jesus and of the Momentous Times in Which They Lived. by Fulton,Oursler, 1893-1952; and April OurslerArmstrong, ,
- The hidden stream by Ronald Knox
- The Space Merchants (1953) by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
- Wayne D. Overholser won the 1953 First Spur Award for Best Western Novel for Law Man using the pseudonym Lee Leighton.
Rags to Riches by Tony Bennett with Percy Faith and his orchestra.
1953 – Memorial Album is the first Hank Williams LP issued by MGM Records after the singer’s death on New Year’s Day 1953.
1953–1966 – Lunch with Soupy Sales (later titled The Soupy Sales Show) primers. it starred Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, His show was a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark.
January 3, 1953 – Chuck Jones‘s Don’t Give Up the Sheep premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, which marks the debuts of Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog.
January 14, 1953 – Today is first aired on NBC in the United States with Dave Garroway as host.
January 19, 1953 – 71.1% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy, to watch Lucy give birth to Little Ricky, which is more people than those who tune into Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration the next day. This record is never broken.
February 5, 1953 –Walt Disney‘s production of J.M. Barrie‘s Peter Pan, starring Bobby Driscoll and Kathryn Beaumont, premieres to astounding acclaim from critics and audiences and quickly becomes one of the most beloved Disney films. This is the last Disney animated movie released in partnership with RKO Pictures, becoming the last ever smash hit movie of the later company before it bankrupted in 1959.
February 7, 1953 – New York City announces its first crosswalk devices to be installed.
February 12, 1953 –I Confess, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter.
February 26, 1953 – Fulton J. Sheen, on his program Life Is Worth Living, reads Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, with the names of high-ranking Soviet officials replacing the main characters. At the end of the reading, Sheen intones that “Stalin must one day meet his judgment”. Stalin dies one week later.
February 28, 1953– James Watson and Francis Crick of Britain’s University of Cambridge announce their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule.
Death Ship • (1953) by Richard Matheson in Fantastic Story Magazine, March 1953
Police Your Planet by (1951) by Lester Del Rey in Science Fiction Adventures, March 1953
March 19, 1953 – The 25th Academy Awards is broadcast by NBC in the U.S. This becomes the first Academy Awards ceremony to be televised.
May 29, 1953 – The Aldrich Family The final episode airs.
April 3, 1953 – TV Guide is published for the first time in the United States, with 10 editions and a circulation of 1,562,000.
April 13, 1953 – The face of popular literature changes with the publication of Ian Fleming‘s novel Casino Royale, introducing the British spy character James Bond.
April 18, 1953 –The Simple Things -Final theatrical appearance of Mickey Mouse and Pluto.
April 27, 1953 – Scared Stiff starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. One of the 17 films made by the Martin and Lewis team.
May 29, 1953 – The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit. It was led by Colonel John Hunt great-great-nephew of the explorer Sir Richard Burton.
Paycheck • (1953) • novelette by Philip K. Dick in Imagination, June 1953
June 2, 1953 – The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is televised by the BBC from London. Sales of TV sets in the United Kingdom rise sharply in the weeks leading up to the event. It is also one of the earliest broadcasts to be deliberately recorded for posterity and still exists in its entirety
July 1, 1953 –The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., starring Tommy Rettig, screenplay by Dr. Seuss.
July 9, 1953 – The Band Wagon, starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant.
July 25, 1953 – Chuck Jones‘ iconic cartoon Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century premieres; starring Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, & Marvin the Martian. In 1994, Duck Dodgers was voted #4 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. Because he was such a fan of the short in particular, Star Wars creator George Lucas attempted to arrange that the short be shown before the original Star Wars film during its initial run in theatersan d succeeded in making this happen for screenings at the Cinema 21 in San Francisco. In 2004 at the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, it was retrospectively nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation—Short Form.
August 13, 1953 – The War of the Worlds, starring Gene Barry
August 27, 1953 – William Wyler‘s romantic comedy Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, is premièred and propels Hepburn to super stardom.
The Wall Around the World (1953) [also as by Theodore Cogswell] in Beyond Fantasy Fiction, September 1953
September 5–7, 1953 – The 11th World Science Fiction Convention as the first one that awarded Hugo Awards. The next one (the 12th) did not do so, but since the 13th, Hugo Awards have been a permanent fixture of Worldcons.
Best Novel: The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester (Galaxy January, February, March 1952; Shasta, 1951)
September 16, 1953 – Religious epic The Robe, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, debuts as the first widescreen anamorphic film in cinema history, filmed in CinemaScope grossing a record $36,000 for a single theatre in its first day. It went on to gross a record (for a single theater) $264,428 in its first week.
October 1953 – Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 – It won a “Retro” Hugo Award in 2004.
October 23, 1953 – Main Street to Broadway includes Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore (in his last film), Shirley Booth, Louis Calhern, Faye Emerson, Rex Harrison, Helen Hayes, Mary Martin, Lilli Palmer, John Van Druten and Cornel Wilde. Included is New York baseball manager Leo Durocher. Many others are unidentified, such as Vivian Blaine, glimpsed in a theater lobby.
The Silken-Swift (F & SF, November 1953) by Theodore Sturgeon
November 7, 1953 – “That’s Amore” – Dean Martin
November 28, 1953 – The Mysterious Death of Frank Olson Around 2 a.m. Frank Olson (July 17, 1910 – November 28, 1953) plummeted onto the sidewalk in front of the Hotel Pennsylvania. The U.S. government first described his death as a suicide, and then as misadventure, while others allege murder. Olson’s death is one of the most mysterious outcomes of the CIA mind control project MKUltra.
Hall of Mirrors • (1953) by Fredric Brown in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1953
December 3, 1953 – Goof on the Roof starring The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 152nd entry in the series.
December 14, 1953 –Edmund Wade Davis CM is born. He is a Canadian cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer. Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti. He is professor of anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.
December 21, 1953 – Walter Lantz productions releases Chilly Willy, directed by Paul J. Smith which marks the debut of Chilly Willy the penguin.
Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays – Vol. 17 – Fifty Miles from Nowhere”
17 Years Before I Was Born
Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) – Wikipedia
1954 – Still Life with Flag (1954) by Frida Kahlo – Artchive
Alley Oop and the Dragon of Iron Castle: V.T. Hamlin:
- C. S. Lewis – The Horse and His Boy
- Dr. Seuss – Horton Hears a Who!
- Mission of Gravity (1954) Hal Clement
- My Best Science Fiction Story – Oscar J. Friend and Leo Margulies
- The Giant Anthology of Science Fiction: 10 Complete Short Novels – Oscar J. Friend and Leo Margulies
1954 – Toronto’s automated traffic signaling system becomes the first in the world. It was designed by Josef Kates who also designed the first digital game-playing machine.
1954 – Is it morally acceptable to destroy vampires? Some 14 years old’s in Scotland thought so. And they hunted the Gorbals Vampire.
The year was 1954. The location: Glasgow, Scotland’s Southern Necropolis, a massive graveyard harboring over 250,000 sets of mortal remains. Over a span of three nights that September hundreds of children under the age of 14 reportedly assembled there with makeshift weapons, ready to take on a vampire they had conjured from their own collective imagination. That would be bizarre enough, but then adults blamed the unusual behavior on their own particular bogeyman: American horror comics. How Comics Were Blamed for the Vampire Panic in 1950s Scotland by Maren Williams ( October 30, 2018) cbldf.org Learn more about the Gorbals Vampire @ DukeOfAvalon
1954 – Reincarnation The story of Bridey Murphy was first told in a series of articles by William J. Barker, published in the Denver Post. Bridey Murphy (December 20, 1798-1864) is a purported 19th-century Irishwoman whom U.S. housewife Virginia Tighe (April 27, 1923 – July 12, 1995) claimed to be in a past life. The case was investigated by researchers and concluded to be the result of cryptomnesia. Did it give Evidence for Reincarnation?
1954 – Mark Twain Tonight! is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook, in which he depicted Mark Twain giving a dramatic recitation selected from several of Twain’s writings, with an emphasis on the comic ones.
1954 – Peter Pan directed by Jerome Robbins, an authorised musical stage adaptation with music by Mark “Moose” Charlap and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh opens on Broadway. The original Broadway production, starring Mary Martin as Peter and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook, earned Tony Awards for both stars.
The Big Trip Up Yonder (Galaxy, January 1954)
January 1954 – Hoochie Coochie Man is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters.
January 14, 1954 – Former Yankees great Joe DiMaggio marries actress Marilyn Monroe in a union of heavily publicized media stars.
February 12, 1954 – Creature from the Black Lagoon, directed by Jack Arnold
March 1, 1954 – David Russell Edgerton Jr.(May 26, 1927 – April 3, 2018) opened a franchise outlet of the restaurant chain Insta Burger King in Miami, Florida. On June 1 of the same year, he met fellow restaurateur James McLamore (May 30, 1926 – August 8, 1996) and the two founded the Burger King Corporation. After leaving Burger King, he went on to start Bodega, a steakhouse restaurant.
Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
March 10, 1954 – Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
April 1954 – Sh-Boom” –the Chords.
April 7, 1954 – Casanova’s Big Night (1954)
April 19, 1954 – The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts the Army-McCarthy hearings live and in their entirety.
April 12, 1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets record “Rock Around the Clock” in their first session for American Decca in New York City; it is released on May 20 as a B-side, but only in 1955 becomes a #1 hit, helping to initiate the rock and roll craze.
May 17, 1954 –Brown v. Board of Education (347 US 483 1954): The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that segregated schools are unconstitutional. Oliver Brown (August 2, 1918 – June 20, 1961) was an African-American welder who was the plaintiff in this case.
May 29, 1954 – Pope Pius X is canonized.
Also on this date – The Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg Club, an annual off-the-record forum is established. The Group fosters dialogue between Europe and North America. The group’s agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defined as bolstering a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe. Participants include political leaders, experts, captains of industry, finance, academia, numbering between 120 and 150. Attendees are entitled to use information gained at meetings, but not attribute it to a named speaker (known as the Chatham House Rule). The group states that the purpose of this is to encourage candid debate while at the same time maintaining privacy, but critics from a wide range of viewpoints have called it into question, and it has provoked conspiracy theories from both the left and right.
June 9, 1954 – McCarthyism: Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy, during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army, saying, “Have you, at long last, no decency?”[17] The exchange results in the decline of McCarthy’s popularity.
June 12, 1954 – Dominic Savio is canonized.
June 18, 1954 – Them!
July 19, 1954 – Release of Elvis Presley‘s first single, a cover of “That’s All Right“, by Sun Records (recorded July 5 in Memphis, Tennessee).
Also on this date – Robert McKimson’s Bugs Bunny cartoon Devil May Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The film marks the debut of the Tasmanian Devil.
July 29, 1954 – The first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s epic The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring – is published in London by George Allen & Unwin. The Two Towers follows on November 11 and publication will be completed in 1955. By 2007, 150 million copies will have been sold worldwide.
July 31, 1954 – Bird-Brain Bird Dog Barney Bear
August 1954 – Shake, Rattle And Roll” –Bill Haley & His Comets
The Cold Equations • [Cold Equations (Godwin)] • (1954) • novelette by Tom Godwin Astounding Science Fiction, August 1954
Mirror, Mirror (1954) in Future Science Fiction, August 1954
September 17, 1954 – William Golding‘s first novel, the allegorical dystopian Lord of the Flies, is published by Faber and Faber in London.
September 12, 1954 – Lassie on CBS (1954–1973)
September 27, 1954 – The Tonight Show on NBC (1954–present)
October 1954 – “Earth Angel” – The Penguins
October 1, 1954 – Flash Gordon (1954–1955), starring Steve Holland
October 3, 1954 – Father Knows Best on CBS (1954-60)
October 14, 1954 – White Christmas, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger is released.
October 15, 1954 – The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin on ABC (1954–1959)
October 18: Mort Walker and Dik Browne‘s Hi and Lois makes its debut.
October: Brad Anderson‘s Marmaduke makes its debut
October 27, 1954 – The Walt Disney anthology series debuts as Disneyland (1954–present; as Disneyland 1954–1958)
November 3, 1954 — The film Godzilla premieres in Japan. It becomes a huge success and the first in the Godzilla film franchise, the longest running film series in history.
November 7, 1954 –Face the Nation on CBS (1954–present)
November 12, 1954 – Ellis Island ceases operations.
November 17, 1954 – Arnold Palmer announced his intentions to turn pro-golfer. “What other people find in poetry, I find in the flight of a good drive,” Palmer said.
16 Years Before I Was Born
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious 50’s Part 2
- Milly-Molly-Mandy & Co (Paperback)
- Betsy’s Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace
- The Good Shepherd by C S Forester
- Crockett Johnson – Harold and the Purple Crayon
- C. S. Lewis – The Magician’s Nephew
- The End of Eternity • (1955) • by Isaac Asimov
- The Long Tomorrow (1955) Leigh Brackett
- The Old Die Rich and Other Science Fiction Stories (1955) H. L. Gold
- Who Goes There? and Other Stories (1955) John W. Campbell, Jr.
1955 – A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories a collection of short stories by American author Flannery O’Connor.
1955 – A Rocking-Horse Catholic (1955); republished by Aeterna Press (2015) by Caryll Houselander
February 4, 1955 – Dizzy Dishes Little Audrey imagines inventing machines to thwart an alien invasion.
1955 – The Spear (St. Longinus) by Louis de Wohl
The Tunnel Under the World (Galaxy, January 1955)
One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts • non-genre • (1955) • short story by Shirley Jackson in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1955
January 6, 1955 – When Magoo Flew – When Magoo Flew won the 1955 Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons). In addition, it was the first UPA short to be made for the CinemaScope widescreen format. When Magoo Flew is also the title of a 2012 book by Adam Abraham on the history of the UPA studio.
January 15, 1955 – The Benny Hill Show (UK) on BBC Television (later moving to ITV; 1955–1989)
Krypto in Adventure Comics #210 (March), created by Otto Binder and Curt Swan – DC Comics
The Golem • (1955) • short story by Avram Davidson The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1955
March 3, 1955 – St. Katharine Drexel (November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955) dies. Drexel was the second person born in the United States to be declared a saint and the first who was born a U.S. citizen.
March 5, 1955 – Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time. The program is Louisiana Hayride, televised locally in Shreveport, Louisiana.
April 1, 1955 – The DuMont Television Network in the United States drastically decreases its programming; just eight series keep the network operating, in anticipation of its eventual shutdown sixteen months later.
April 12, 1955 – The Salk polio vaccine, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
April 15, 1955 – The first franchised McDonald’s restaurant is opened by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
April 16, 1955 – Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
Time Patrol • [Time Patrol • 1] • novelette by Poul Anderson in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1955
Allamagoosa • (1955) • short story by Eric Frank Russell Astounding Science Fiction, May 1955
May 9, 1955
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- Harpo Marx makes a memorable appearance on I Love Lucy.
- Jim Henson‘s puppet show Sam and Friends first airs on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.
May 25, 1955 – Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier
June 7, 1955 – The quiz show craze begins with the premiere of The 64,000 Dollar Question in the U.S. The series spawns many imitations, including Twenty-One the next year, which will later be the focus of a quiz show scandal that results in congressional hearings.
June 11, 1955
June 26, 1955 – Lady and the Tramp
June 25, 1955 – Lumber Jerks
June 28, 1955 –Steven Greer: Summoning Aliens? (CSETI, CE5) Steven Macon Greer (June 28, 1955) is an American ufologist who founded the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) and the Disclosure Project, which seeks the disclosure of alleged classified UFO information’
Father (1955) [SF] Philip José Farmer in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1955
July 17, 1955 – The Disneyland theme park opens in Anaheim, California, an event broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company television network.
36th International Eucharistic congress Jul 17–24, 1955 Rio de Janeiro Christ the Redeemer and His Eucharistic Kingdom
August 24, 1955 – Francis in the Navy
August 28, 1955 – Black 14-year-old Emmett Till is lynched and shot in the head for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi; his white murderers, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, are acquitted by an all-white jury.
September 2, 1955 – The Left Hand of God
September 3, 1955 – Little Richard records “Tutti Frutti” in New Orleans with significantly cleaned up lyrics (originally “Tutti Frutti, good booty” among other things); it is released in October.
September 10, 1955 – Gunsmoke on CBS (1955–1975)
September 14, 1955 -Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A. (Leo XIV) is born.
September 17, 1955 – Speedy Gonzales, who was earlier created by Robert McKimson, appears in a remodeled version in the Friz Freleng cartoon Speedy Gonzales, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It launches the character as the star of a long-running series. Speedy Gonzales won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1955. This short marks the first appearance of a redesign for Speedy, after his initial appearance in Cat-Tails for Two.
September 30, 1955 – American actor James Dean dies in an automobile collision near Cholame, California, age 24. On October 27, the film Rebel Without a Cause, in which he stars, is released.
Front cover of issue #1 of Sherlock Holmes published by Charlton Comics in October 1955
The Game of Rat and Dragon Cordwainer Smith (Galaxy, October 1955)
October 1, 1955 – The Honeymooners on CBS, starring Jackie Gleason (1955–1956)
October 2, 1955 – Alfred Hitchcock Presents on CBS (1955–1962)
October 3, 1955 – Captain Kangaroo on CBS (1955–1984)
Mickey Mouse Club on ABC, featuring “Mouseketeer” Annette Funicello (1955–1959)
October 15, 1955 – Two Scent’s Worth and stars Pepé Le Pew.
October 17, 1955 – Love and Marriage” –Frank Sinatra
Nobody Bothers Gus (1955 Astounding Science Fiction, November 1955
Saturday, November 5, 1955: The Mystery of Time Travel Time Travel is first theorized- Doc Brown slips off his toilet whilst hanging a clock and has a vision of the flux capacitor.
Martian Manhunter in Detective Comics #225 (November), created by Joseph Samachson and Joseph Certa – DC Comics
November 3, 1955 – “The Great Pretender” – the Platters
November 7, 1955 – Artists and Models directed by Frank Tashlin, marking Martin and Lewis‘s 14th feature together as a team.
November 30, 1955 to 1957 – Mikhail Somov (April 7, 1908 – December 30, 1973) a Sovietoceanologist, polar explorer, Doctor of Geographical Sciences becames the commander of the first Soviet Antarctic Expedition He was also the first Soviet delegate to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
December 1, 1955 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger, and is arrested, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott.
December 10, 1955 – The first Saturday morning cartoon series debuts on U.S. television, The Mighty Mouse Playhouse on CBS.
December 31, 1955 – Chuck Jones’ One Froggy Evening, premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It marks the debut of Michigan J. Frog.
1955 – Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport (ICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA) or Groom Lake (after the salt flat next to its airfield). Details of its operations are not made public, but the USAF says that it is an open training range, and it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The USAF and CIA acquired the site in 1955, primarily for flight testing the Lockheed U-2 aircraft.
Area 51 is located in the southern portion of Nevada, 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. The surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including the small town of Rachel on the “Extraterrestrial Highway“.
15 Years Before I Was Born
1956 – Willie Mays was the first NL player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season (he also achieved this in 1957 as well), the first player in history to reach both 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, and the second player and the first right-handed hitter to hit 600 home runs. Mays also set standards for defensive brilliance, winning 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards after their creation in 1957, still a record for outfielders; he led NL center fielders in double plays five times and assists three times.
1956 –Is the Earth Flat? Samuel Shenton creates the International Flat Earth Research Society, better known as the “Flat Earth Society”, as a successor to the Universal Zetetic Society, running it as “organising secretary” from his home in Dover, England.
1956 – Noah and Joe McVicker formed the Rainbow Crafts Company to make and sell Play-Doh. Also in 1956, a three-pack of 7-ounce cans was added to the product line, and, after in-store demonstrations, Macy’s of New York and Marshall Field’s of Chicago opened retail accounts.
- C. S. Lewis – The Last Battle
- Fred Gipson – Old Yeller
- Dodie Smith – The Hundred and One Dalmatians
- Double Star (1956) by Robert A. Heinlein – Scribner’s Juveniles
- The Crossroads of Time (1956) Andre Norton
The Minority Report • (1956) • novelette by Philip K. Dick Fantastic Universe, January 1956
1956 – “Blueberry Hill” – Fats Domino
The Rising of the Moon – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
January 1956 – “See You Later Alligator” – Bill Haley and His Comets
January 8, 1956 – Five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. One of those individuals was Jim Elliot.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
January 25–February 5, 1956 – The 1956 Winter Olympics staged at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy are the first multi-sport event to be televised to an international audience, although the broadcasts are not monetized. Warsaw Pact countries have the technology to be able to broadcast coverage with a communist slant into Finland and parts of West Germany and Austria.
January 27, 1956 – The Court Jester
“Heartbreak Hotel” – Elvis Presley
February 1953 – “Don’t Be Cruel“/”Hound Dog” – Elvis Presley
February 5, 1956 – Invasion of the Body Snatchers
February 10, 1956 – My Friend Flicka (1956–1958)
February 24, 1956 – Chips Ahoy Final appearance of Chip and Dale.
A Gun for Dinosaur • [Reginald Rivers] • (1956) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1956
March 2, 1956 – Forbidden Planet
April 3, 1956 – Elvis Presley appears on The Milton Berle Show in the United States.
Exploration Team [vt Combat Team] Colonial Survey] (Analog (Astounding), March 1956)
May 5, 1956 – Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z – Starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
March 15, 1956 – My Fair Lady opens on Broadway.
April 24, 1956 – Our Miss Brooks
May 1956 – “Roll Over Beethoven” – Chuck Berry
“Transfusion” – Nervous Norvus
May 5, 1956 – “I Walk the Line” – Johnny Cash
May 21, 1956 – “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” – Doris Day
May 24, 1956 – The first-ever Eurovision Song Contest from the Kursaal Theatre, Lugano, Switzerland. Seven countries participate, each with two songs. Switzerland is declared the winner, with Lys Assia singing “Refrain“.
Summer 1956– Artificial Intelligence Alan Turing was the first person to carry out substantial research in the field that he called Machine Intelligence. The field of AI research was founded at a workshop held on the campus of Dartmouth College, USA.
“Greenleaf” (1956) by Flannery O’Connor in The Kenyon Review Summer 1956. The story won O’Connor her first O. Henry Award first prize in 1957 for the year’s best American short story.
June 23, 1956 – Tugboat Granny stars Tweety and Sylvester. The cartoon’s title is a play on Tugboat Annie, and is the only cartoon in the Warner Bros. series to bear Granny‘s name.
June 27, 1956 – Moby Dick John Huston Gregory Peck Orson Wells Ray Bradbury
July 9, 1956 – Dick Clark becomes the permanent host of what will become American Bandstand about a year later. It runs from 1952 to 1989 in various forms.
July 13, 1956 –Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog”
July 26, 1956 – Magoo’s Puddle Jumper – Magoo’s Puddle Jumper won the 1957 Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons
Time in Advance (1956) William Tenn Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1956
September, 1956- In the 29th issue of Mad Magazine, a gap-toothed character who’d previously appeared as a tiny face on the cover of issue 21 in March, is given the name Alfred E. Neuman.
October 1956 – Showcase #4 (National Periodical Publications) — First appearance of a revamped Flash ushers in the Silver Age of Comic Books.
October 5, 1956 – Scheming Schemers starring The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard) in the 173rd entry in the series.
October 5, 1956 – The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas. It was the most expensive film of all time with a cost of $13 million and becomes one of the most successful and popular films of all time, currently ranking 6th on the list of all time moneymakers (when adjusted for inflation). It was director Cecil B. DeMille‘s last film.
October 10, 1956 – Judy (Judy Garland album)
November 8, 1956 – Commotion on the Ocean starring the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard in his final starring role) in the 174th entry.
November 27, 1956 – Friendly Persuasion Gary Cooper
December 19, 1956 – Breaking the record for the highest number of concurrent singles by a single artist, Elvis Presley holds 9 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Presley would hold the record until 1964 when the Beatles hold 14 positions on the chart.
14 Years Before I Was Born
- The Wonderful O –James Thurber
- Gone-Away Lake — Elizabeth Enright -Newbery Honor book, ALA Notable Book
- Earthman’s Burden –Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson
- Letter from Peking (1957) Pearl S. Buck
- Theology for Beginners (1957) F. J. Sheed
1957 – Charles Lazarus (October 4, 1923 – March 22, 2018) founded the Toys “R” Us retail chain, which evolved from a children’s furniture store he originally opened in Washington, D.C. in 1948. The new store was dedicated exclusively to toys.
1957 – Transhumanism Julian Huxley was a biologist who popularised the term transhumanism in the influential 1957 essay “Transhumanism” in the book “New Bottles for New Wine.” Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. Aldous Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963), author of Brave New World is his cousin. Peter Eckersley (January 6, 1892 – March 18, 1963) who was a pioneer of British broadcasting, was also his cousin.
1957 – When Nat King Cole‘s television show is unable to get a sponsor, Frankie Laine becomes the first artist to cross TV’s color line, becoming the first white artist to appear as a guest, foregoing his usual salary of $10,000. Other top performers follow suit, including Mel Tormé and Tony Bennett, but, despite an increase in ratings, the show still fails to pick up a national sponsor.
January 6, 1957 – Elvis Presley makes his final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
January 23, 1957 – Fred Morrison began marketing a plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter. He sold the design to Wham-O. By June they had learned that students back east were calling them a “Frisbee.” In early 1958, Wham-O added the name “Frisbee” to the top of the Pluto Platter and once again a Wham-O toy became a common part of life through the 1960s.
January 31, 1957 – Hoofs and Goofs starring The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser in his first starring role with the act) in the 175th entry in the series.
February 8, 1957 – “Little Darlin’ ” – The Diamonds, a cover of The Gladiolas‘ rhythm and blues hit
February 11, 1957 – “Walkin’ After Midnight” – Patsy Cline
March, 1957 – The Cat in the Hat, written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel as ‘Dr. Seuss‘ as a more entertaining alternative to traditional literacy primers for children, is first published in a trade edition in the United States, initially selling an average of 12,000 copies a month, a figure which rises rapidly.
March 1957 – Alien Implants According to Peter Rogerson writing in Magonia magazine, the concept of alien implants can be traced to a Long John Nebel radio show interview with UFOlogist John Robinson where Robinson recounted a neighbor’s claim of being kidnapped by aliens in 1938 and kept subdued by “small earphones” placed behind his ears.
“Bye Bye Love” – Everly Brothers
March 21,1957 – C. S. Lewis marries Joy Gresham in a Christian ceremony at her bedside in the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, England.
March 31, 1957 – The first TV version of Cinderella, starring 21-year-old Julie Andrews, and with songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is broadcast in color by CBS
April 1957 – The Weavers at Carnegie Hall – The Weavers including the hit Goodnight, Irene“.
April 10, 1957 – 12 Angry Men
April 12, 1957 – Tarzan and the Lost Safari.
April 13, 1957 – Bedevilled Rabbit – In this cartoon, Bugs is lost in Tasmania, and has to deal with the Tasmanian Devil.
Sunrise on Mercury • short story by Robert Silverberg [as by Calvin M. Knox] in Science Fiction Stories, May 1957,
June 1957- Frank Jacobs‘s first article is printed in Mad Magazine. He’ll become their longest-running scriptwriter, publishing his final article in October 2014
June 6, 1957 – The Delicate Delinquent – It was the first film to star Lewis without his longtime partner Dean Martin and marked Lewis’ debut as a producer and screenwriter.
June 19, 1957 –The Parapsychological Association (PA) was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by Joseph B. Rhine. Its purpose has been “to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science.” The work of the association is reported in the Journal of Parapsychology and the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.
The Parapsychological Association became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969, and it is still an affiliate as of 2019. They investigate things like the Haunted House of Marin County (Ghosts, Hauntings, Apparitions)
July 1957 – “That’ll Be the Day” – The Crickets, Buddy Holly’s group
July 6, 1957 – Chuck Jones‘ Bugs Bunny short What’s Opera, Doc? premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Though not remarkably popular at first, it will eventually become one of the most acclaimed cartoons of all time.
July 7, 1957 – William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, and George Sidney establish their own TV animation studio: Hanna-Barbera.
July 19, 1957 – Loving You, starring Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, Wendell Corey and introducing Dolores Hart as Susan Jessup. She kisses Elvis in this movie. Later in life she becomes a nun.
The Tunesmith • (1957) Lloyd Biggle, Jr. in If, August 1957
August 5, 1957 – American Bandstand begins its 30-year syndicated run on US network television.
Reg Smythe‘s Andy Capp makes its debut.
August 9, 1957 – Spooky Swabs is the final cartoon in the Popeye series of theatrical cartoons released by Paramount Pictures.
August 10, 1957 – Birds Anonymous -The short stars Tweety and Sylvester. The title is a reference to renowned mutual aid organizations Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.). It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1958, beating Tabasco Road starring Speedy Gonzales; both shorts were eventually given Blue Ribbon reissues in 1964. When Eddie Selzer died, the statuette was passed on to Mel Blanc, who said that this was his favorite cartoon to do voices for, especially his role as Sylvester.
August 12, 1957 – “Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis
September 4, 1957 – American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis: The governor of Arkansas calls out the National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School, resulting in the lawsuit Cooper v. Aaron the following year.
September 12, 1957 – A King in New York
September 20, 1957 -“Everyday” – Buddy Holly
September 21, 1957 – Perry Mason on CBS (1957–1966), The Polly Bergen Show on NBC
September 23, 1957 – In Milwaukee, Hank Aaron hit a two-run walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals, clinching the pennant for the Braves. After touching home plate he was carried off the field by his teammates. It is as of yet the only pennant-clinching walk-off home run in major league history in a non-playoff regular-season game.
Soldier from Tomorrow • novelette by Harlan Ellison (variant of Soldier) in Fantastic Universe, October 1957
September 24, 1957 – “Jailhouse Rock” – Elvis Presley
October 4, 1957 – Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963)
October 10, 1957 – Zorro on ABC (1957–1959)
November 1957 – “Great Balls Of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis
November 24, 1957 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is published.
December 6, 1957 – One Droopy Knight -It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1958, but lost to Birds Anonymous, a Sylvester & Tweety cartoon from Warner Bros. It is part of the Droopy series, directed by Michael Lah and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in CinemaScope.
December 19, 1957 – The Music Man opens on Broadway.
13 Years Before I Was Born
Aspens, Northern New Mexico, New Mexico, 1958
1958 – Brother Juniper by Fred McCarthy debuts. Running in over 100 American newspapers as well as overseas, Brother Juniper was the only religious-themed comic ever syndicated in daily newspapers internationally. It runs until 1989.
1958 – Waylon Jennings recorded Jole Blon as his first single in 1958 with Buddy Holly on guitar and King Curtis on saxophone.
1958 – James Blish – A Case of Conscience wins Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Other Sci/Fantasy 1958 Books
- The Mezentian Gate (1958, restored 1992) E. R. Eddison, the third in his Zimiamvian Trilogy.
- The Time Traders (1958) Andre Norton
- The Lincoln Hunters (1958) Wilson Tucker
- A Treasury of Sayers Stories (1958) by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Freddy and the Dragon is last book in the humorous children’s series Freddy the Pig written by American author Walter R. Brooks and illustrated by Kurt Wiese.
- Life of Christ (1958) by Fulton J. Sheen
1958 – In 1958, Morton Smith, a professor of ancient history at Columbia University, found a previously unknown letter of Clement of Alexandria in the monastery of Mar Saba situated 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-east of Jerusalem.
The Frog Song – Mary O’Hara from Songs of Ireland
January 12, 1958 –Shirley Temple’s Storybook
January 15, 1958 – “Tequila” – The Champs
January 29, 1958 – The Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella suffers a broken neck in an early morning auto accident on Long Island. His spinal column is nearly severed and his legs are permanently paralyzed.
February 1958 – The Repairman • short story by Harry Harrison in Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1958
February 1, 1958 – It’s a Living is the last Dinky Duck Cartoon
February 3, 1958 –Popper the Poltergeist The Seaford ‘poltergeist’ was an episode of unexplained disturbances reported by a family in Seaford, Long Island, New York, in 1958. The incidents, which were widely publicized, included bottles losing their tops and spilling contents, and household objects and furniture moving with no apparent cause. Investigating parapsychologists attributed the cause to psychokinesis centering on a 12-year-old boy, while sceptics offered explanations in terms of trickery. Seaford Poltergeist | Psi Encyclopedia (spr.ac.uk)
February 17, 1958 – Pope Pius XII designates St. Clare of Assisi the patron saint of television. Thereafter, placing her icon on a television set was said to improve reception.
Johnny Hart‘s B.C. makes its debut
The Big Time– Fritz Leiber. (Galaxy, March 1958)
March 31, 1958 – “Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry
April 1958 – “All I Have To Do Is Dream” – The Everly Brothers
May 1958 – “The Purple People Eater” – Sheb Wooley
May 5, 1958 – “I Wonder Why” – Dion & the Belmonts
May 10, 1958 – Splish Splash” –Bobby Darin
May 31, 1958 – Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney.
Who Can Replace a Man? • (1958) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss in Infinity Science Fiction, June 1958 Collected in Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian Aldiss
June 4, 1958 – The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
June 16, 1958 -The earliest known advertisement was seen for the “Hula-Hoop by Wham-O” for “The Broadway” chain of department stores in Los Angeles, for sale for $1.98,
June 27, 1958 – “Rockin’ Robin” – Bobby Day
July 4, 1958 – While Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) was on a kayaking holiday in the lakes region of northern Poland, Pope Pius XII appointed him as an auxiliary bishop of Kraków.
July 5, 1958 – Wild One – Johnny O’Keefe an Australian rock and roll song,
August 1958 – Chantilly Lace by The Big Bopper.
July 21, 1958 – “Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran
August 20, 1958 – The Dead Man’s Knock by John Dickson Carr which features Carr’s series detective Gideon Fell
August 23, 1958 – Friz Freleng‘s Knighty Knight Bugs premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons and starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. It is the only Bugs Bunny short to win an Academy Award.
September 1958 – “To Know Him is to Love Him” – The Teddy Bears
September 6, 1958 – Weasel While You Work – This short features Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg. The weasel seen in this short previously appeared in Plop Goes the Weasel (1953) and Weasel Stop (1956).
The Ugly Little Boy • (1958) • novelette by Isaac Asimov (variant of Lastborn) in Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1958
September 24, 1958 – The Donna Reed Show on ABC (1958–1966)
September 29, 1958 – Yogi Bear made his debut as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.
October 1958 – Ritchie Valens – La Bamba
The Big Front Yard • (1958) • novella by Clifford D. Simak Astounding Science Fiction, October 1958
October 6, 1958 – Jerry Crew, bulldozer operator for a logging company in Humboldt County, California, discovered a set of large, 16 inches (410 mm) human-like footprints sunk deep within the mud in the Six Rivers National Forest. The logging company men soon began using the word “Bigfoot” to describe the apparent culprit.
October 23, 1958 – The Smurfs first appear in Spirou magazine.
October 26, 1959 In Charles M. Schulz‘ Peanuts Linus van Pelt first talks about the Great Pumpkin.
October 29, 1959 –: The first issue of the French comics magazine Pilote is published, which will become one of the best-selling magazines ever in only a few years. In its first issue Astérix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (introducing Asterix, Obelix, Getafix the druid, Vitalstatistix the chieftain and Cacofonix the bard [18])
October 28, 1958 – Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII, as the 261st pope.
November 17, 1958 –The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” – The Chipmunks with David Seville. The song was nominated for Record of the Year in the 1st Annual Grammy Awards, where it also won three awards.
November 19, 1958 – Tom Dooley” – The Kingston Trio
November 28, 1958 -“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee
December 1, 1958 – The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare won the Newbery Medal in 1959.
December 11, 1958 – The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, directed by Mark Robson, starring Ingrid Bergman, Curd Jürgens, Robert Donat. The film loosely based on the story of Gladys Aylward, a British woman who became a missionary in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
December 17, 1958 – The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, starring Kerwin Mathews
December 19, 1958 – The Geisha Boy starring Jerry Lewis
December 22, 1958 – Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
12 Years Before I Was Born
1959 –Lawrence of Brindisi is declared a Doctor of the Church.
- The Mystery at Devil’s Paw is Volume 38 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories by James Duncan Lawrence
- The Secret of the Golden Pavilion is the thirty-sixth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series by Carolyn Keene.
- Emperor Fu Manchu (1959) Book 13 in the Fu Manchu series) by Sax Rohmer
- The Rescuers – Margery Sharp
- Immortality, Inc. (1959) by Robert Sheckley
1959 – Jesus’ Prophecy: “The Temple Will Be Destroyed!” Geoffrey Arthur Williamson MC (1895–1982) translates Josephus: The Jewish War.
1959 – Moonbird – short animated film by John Hubley and Faith Hubley in which two boys have an adventure in the middle of the night as they sneak out and try to catch a ‘Moonbird’ and bring it home. The film was animated by Robert Cannon and Ed Smith. It won an Oscar for Best Short Subjects (Cartoons) at the 32nd Academy Awards, in 1960. It became the very first independent short to win the Oscar.
1959 – Hiroshi Mizuhara – Kuroi Hanabira – Toshiba (Japanese Rock & Roll)
1959 – A fashion show at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel displayed everything from Velcro diapers to Velcro golf jackets to stylish society matrons; a New York Times report declared it “the end of buttons, toggles, hooks, zippers, snaps and even safety pins.” But even with colors the stuff was too ugly, and for a long time it was relegated to athletic equipment. A Brief History of: Velcro | TIME
1959 – Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam through Dam’s company Dam Things began producing the already bit Troll dolls in plastic in a smaller form under the name Good Luck Trolls.
January 1959 – Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado returned to Cuba and was appointed Minister of Revolutionary Laws in the cabinet headed by Fidel Castro.
January 3, 1959 –Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
January 29, 1959 – Sleeping Beauty
Missing Link (Analog (Astounding), February 1959) by Frank Herbert at
February 1 and 2, 1959 – What on Earth Happened at Dyatlov Pass? The Dyatlov Pass incident – Nine Soviet ski hikers mysteriously perish in the northern Ural Mountains and are all found dead a few weeks later.
February 3, 1959 – “The Day the Music Died“: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper are killed in a plane crash in Iowa. Future country star Waylon Jennings was scheduled to be on the plane, but instead gave his seat up to The Big Bopper. Dion of Dion and the Belmonts gave up his seat to Richie.
“All You Zombies—”?“All You Zombies-” (1959) The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1959
February 20, 1959 –Alvin’s Harmonica” – Alvin and the Chipmunks
March 9, 1959 –The Shaggy Dog, starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen and Tommy Kirk
Barbie created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel is first introduced.
April 1959 – “The Mask of Zorro”, Short Stories for Men 221 No. 2, April 1959
Flowers for Algernon • (1959) • novelette by Daniel Keyes The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1959
April 27, 1959 -“Let’s Jump the Broomstick” – Brenda Lee
May 1959 – Supergirl in Action Comics #252 (May), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino – DC Comics
Mister Freeze in Batman #121(February), created by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff – DC Comics
May 4, 1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. Henry Mancini‘s The Music from Peter Gunn wins Album of the Year, while Domenico Modugno‘s song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)” wins both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The previous year it won the third annual Eurovision Song Contest for France.
May 26, 1959 – In what many experts call the greatest pitching performance in history, Harvey Haddix—suffering with a flu and sore throat—hurls a 12 inning perfect game for the Pittsburgh Pirates but loses in the 13th inning 0–1 on a Don Hoak fielding error to the Milwaukee Braves as lightning storms threaten the end of the game.
June 1, 1959 – “M.T.A.” – The Kingston Trio from the album At Large
June 4, 1959 – Sappy Bull Fighters starring The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser in his final starring role). It is the 190th and final entry in the Three Stooges short series.
June 25, 1959 – Emperor Hirohito, watched Japanese professional baseball game for first time in Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Tokyo, Japan. At final resulting to Tokyo Giants win over Hanshin Tigers 5 to 4 in a home run by Shigeo Nagashima from Minoru Murayama.
June 26, 1959 – Darby O’Gill and the Little People opens in Theaters.
July 31, 1959 – Casper’s Birthday Party Final Casper the Friendly Ghost series short.
August 1959 – “Mack the Knife” – Bobby Darin
August 1, 1959 – Have Rocket, Will Travel starring the Three Stooges, consisting of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and new addition Joe DeRita (“Curly Joe”).
August 6, 1959 – The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock is the only film that Lou Costello starred in without his longtime professional partner, Bud Abbott. This was Lou’s last film he made before he died.
August 21, 1959 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th and last U.S. state.
September 12, 1959 – Bonanza on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color (1959–1973)
October 1959 –Walter M. Miller Jr. – A Canticle for Leibowitz -It won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research.
October 2, 1959, to June 19, 1964 –The Twilight Zone premiers.
October 4, 1959 – Dennis the Menace on CBS (1959–1963)
October 23, 1959 – The musical legend Weird Al” Yankovic is born.
October 30, 1959 –Katnip’s Big Day – – This is the final Herman and Katnip short,
November 18, 1959 – William Wyler‘s Ben-Hur, the most expensive film up to this date with a budget of $15,175,000, premieres at Loew’s State Theatre (New York City). It goes on to win a record 11 Academy Awards. Principal photography had wrapped on January 7 with filming the last shots of the crucifixion scene at Cinecittà in Rome.
November 16, 1959 – The Sound of Music opens on Broadway.
November 26, 1959 – Santa Claus (1959) starring Mexican actor José Elías Moreno as Santa Claus.
December 1959 – “The Village of St. Bernadette” – Andy Williams
December 16, 1959 – Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone
Children’s Continuing Series in the 1950s
Bobbsey Twins (1st Book 1904)
Raggedy Ann (1st Book 1918)
Just William (1st Book 1922)
Chalet School (1st Book 1925)
Tintin (1st Appearance (1929)
Shoe Series (1st Book 1936)
Classics Illustrated (1st Book 1941)
The Black Stallion (1st Book 1941)
Enid Blyton – The Famous Five (1st Book 1942)
Moomins (1st 1945)
Continuing Mystery and Adventure Series
Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot (1st Mystery 1921)
Leslie Charteris –The Saint (Simon Templar) (1st Adventure 1928)
Ellery Queen (1st Mystery 1929)
Margery Allingham –Albert Campion (1st Mystery 1929)
Agatha Christie –Miss Marple (1st Mystery 1932)
Biggles (1st Adventure 1932)
Erle Stanley Gardner –Perry Mason (1st Case 1933)
Ngaio Marsh – Chief Inspector Alleyn (1st Mystery 1934)
While Vatican 2 Was Going On, This Also Happen
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