1950 Yugoslav Women's Basketball League
The 1920 Yugoslav Women's Basketball League is the 6th season of the Yugoslav Women's Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in Yugoslavia for women's. Championships is played in 1949 played nine teams. Champion for this season is Crvena zvezda.


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Yugoslavia on 26 March 1950. They were the first held under official Communist rule; the Communist Party of Yugoslavia having been elected in the 1945 elections, after which it abolished the monarchy and declared Yugoslavia a republic.


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election
The People's Front, dominated by the Communist Party, was the only organisation to contest the election, receiving 94.2% of the vote.


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election, Background
A new electoral law was passed in January 1950. Imro Filacović of the Croatian Peasant Party was the only MP to vote against the law, complaining that it did not allow opposition parties to oversee the vote counting process. As a result, he was jeered in the National Assembly.


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election, Background
The new law allowed individual candidacies in elections to the National Assembly, replacing the previous closed list system, although the closed list system remained in place for the Council of Nationalities. Candidates required the signatures of 100 registered voters in order to be able to run for office. However, by this time, the ruling People's Front no longer tolerated opposition parties. As a result, only a single People's Front candidate stood in each constituency. Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito  claimed that any alternative programme would be hostile to socialism, and "this, naturally, we cannot allow".


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election, Background
As there were no opposition candidates, voters had the choice of voting for the People's Front or casting a negative vote. Voting was carried out using rubber balls, with voters having to place their hands in both ballot boxes to ensure secrecy.


1950 Yugoslavian parliamentary election, Background
Following "successful re-education", 67,000 voters had their rights to vote restored after being disenfranchised for "anti-people's activities", although 56,000 people remained disenfranchised for that reason.


1950 college football season
The 1950 college football season finished with the unbeaten and untied Oklahoma Sooners (9–0) being the consensus choice for national champion. On New Year's Day, however, the  Sooners were upset by the Kentucky Wildcats (ranked No. 7 in the AP and UP polls) in the Sugar Bowl. The Army Cadets, ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, had been defeated in their final regular season game by 2–6 Navy, 14–2. However, the final poll had been issued on November 27, and the bowl games had no effect on Oklahoma's status as the No. 1 team.


1950 college football season
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". While the NCAA has never officially endorsed a championship team, it has documented the choices of some selectors in its official NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records publication. The AP Poll in 1950 consisted of the votes of as many as 317 sportswriters. Though not all writers voted in every poll, the sportswriters who did cast ballots voted on the ten best teams. Under a point system of 10 points for first place, 9 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined, and the top twenty colleges were ranked based on their overall points.


1950 college football season
For the first time, the Associated Press issued a "preseason poll", before most teams played their first games.


1950 college football season
Starting in 1950, the United Press began the "Coaches Poll." "Thirty-five of the nation's foremost football coaches will rate the country's top collegiate football teams each week for the United Press this coming season," an announcement stated, with "five coaches from each section of the country -- the east, midlands, midwest, Pacific coast, the Rockies, south and southwest". The UP added, referring to the AP writers' poll, "The nature of the board giving each section of the country equal representation avoids the sectional bias and ballot box stuffing for which other football polls have been criticized.". The coaches named Notre Dame as the No. 1 team in the first UP poll, with 25 of the 35 first place votes.


1950 college football season
Generally, the top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).


1950 college football season, September
In the preseason AP poll released on September 25, 1950, the defending champion Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the overwhelming choice for first, with 101 of 123 first place votes. Far behind were No. 2 Army, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 Texas (which had won at Texas Tech 28–14). As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.


1950 college football season, September
On September 30No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 20 North Carolina 14–7. No. 2 Army beat Colgate 28–0,  No. 3 Michigan lost to No. 10 Michigan State 14–7. No. 4 Tennessee lost at Mississippi State, 7–0. No. 5 Texas beat Purdue, 34–26, but fell to 7th. No. 6 Oklahoma beat Boston College 28–0. No. 10 SMU, which had beaten Georgia Tech 33–13, and Ohio State 32–27, rose to 3rd.


1950 college football season, October
October 7No. 1 Notre Dame lost to Purdue, 28–14, and eventually finished with a 4–4–1 record. No. 2 Michigan State lost to Maryland, 34–7. No. 3 SMU won at Missouri 21–0. No. 4 Army beat Penn State 41–7. No. 5 Oklahoma beat Texas A&M 34–28. No. 6 Kentucky registered a fourth shutout and a 4–0 record, with a 40–0 win against Dayton. No. 7 Texas, which was idle, rose to 4th place.


1950 college football season, October
October 14No. 1 Army beat No. 18 Michigan 27–6 at Yankee Stadium. No. 2 SMU beat Oklahoma State 56–0. No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Texas met in Dallas, with Oklahoma winning narrowly, 14–13. No. 5 Kentucky beat Cincinnati 41–7. No. 7 California, which had beaten USC 13–7, rose to 5th in the next poll.


1950 college football season, October
October 21No. 1 Army won at Harvard 49–0. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 58–0. In Houston, No. 3 SMU beat No. 15 Rice 42–21. In Philadelphia, No. 4 Kentucky beat Villanova 34–7. No. 5 California beat Oregon State in Portland 27–0


1950 college football season, October
October 28No. 1 SMU was idle. No. 2 Army won at Columbia 34–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Iowa State 20–7. In Atlanta, No. 4 Kentucky beat Georgia Tech 28–14. No. 5 California beat St. Mary's 40–25 and dropped in the polls. No. 6 Ohio State beat Iowa 83–21


1950 college football season, November
November 4 No. 1 SMU lost at No. 7 Texas, 23–20. No. 2 Army won at No. 15 Pennsylvania 28–13. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Colorado 27–18. No. 4 Ohio State won at Northwestern 32–0. No. 5 Kentucky beat No. 17 Florida 40–6. No. 7 Texas beat SMU 23–20, and returned to the top five.


1950 college football season, November
November 11 No. 1 Army beat New Mexico 51–0. No. 2 Ohio State beat No. 15 Wisconsin 19–14. No. 3 Oklahoma won at No. 19 Kansas, 33–13. No. 4 Kentucky won at Mississippi State, 48–21. No. 5 Texas beat Baylor 27–20. No. 6 California, which was 7–0–0 after a 35–0 win against No. 19 UCLA, rose to 4th.


1950 college football season, November
November 18 No. 1 Ohio State lost at No. 8 Illinois, 14–7. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Missouri 41–7. No. 3 Army won at Stanford 7–0. No. 4 California defeated San Francisco 13–7. No. 5 Kentucky handed visiting North Dakota an 83–0 defeat to extend its record to 9–0–0, but still faced a final game was against 8–1–0 Tennessee. No. 6 Texas won at TCU 21–7.


1950 college football season, November
November 25 No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 16 Nebraska 49–35. No. 2 Army was idle as it prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 3 Kentucky lost at No. 9 Tennessee, 7–0. No. 4 California and unranked Stanford played to a 7–7 tie in Berkeley. No. 5 Texas beat Texas A&M 21–6. Michigan beat Ohio State in the famous Snow Bowl 9–3.


1950 college football season, November
The final AP poll was released on November 27, although some colleges had not completed their schedules. On December 2, with its champion status assured, No. 1 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 41–14. No. 2 Army (9–0–0) was heavily favored to beat unranked, and 2–6–0, Navy. Instead, the Philadelphia game turned into a 14–2 win for the Midshipmen. No. 3 Texas played a game on December 9, beating LSU 21–6.


1950 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Afghanistan.


1950 in Afghanistan, January 4, 1950
The year begins auspiciously by the signature at New Delhi, India, of a treaty of friendship with India. The treaty provided that each signatory should be able to establish trade agencies in the other's territory. The treaty would last for five years in the first instance, and at the end of that period it would be terminable at six months' notice. This friendship with India does not find reflection in Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan. Pakistan feels that Afghanistan is too tolerant of the so-called independent Pashtunistan movement, which has for its aim the creation of a Pashto-speaking enclave and therefore a new state to be carved out of Pakistan territory. Afghanistan develops closer relations during the year with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.


1950 in Afghanistan, July 1950
On 17 July 1950, the USSR and Afghanistan signed a 4-year Trade Agreement providing for duty-free transit of Afghan goods through Soviet territory.


1950 in Afghanistan, September 1950
Disturbances are caused by an apparent invasion of Pakistan near the Bogra pass. The Afghan government promptly denies that the invaders have comprised Afghan troops. The prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, in disclosing that a protest has been sent to Kabul on what he describes as the culminating incident in a number of minor frontier violations, declares that Pakistan is willing to discuss economic and cultural questions of common concern to the two countries. He nevertheless deprecates any action which might disturb the peace of the strategic frontier area.


1950 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Australia.


1950 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1950.


1950 in Australian literature, Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.


1950 in Australian literature, Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


1950 in Brazilian football
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by BHGbot (talk | contribs) at 04:14, 19 June 2020 (WP:BHGbot 6 (List 5): eponymous category first, per MOS:CATORDER; WP:GENFIXES). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1950 in Brazilian football
The following article presents a summary of the 1950 football (soccer) season in Brazil, which was the 49th season of competitive football in the country.


1950 in Brazilian football, Brazil national team
The following table lists all the games played by the Brazil national football team in official competitions and friendly matches during 1950.


1950 in British music
This is a summary of 1950 in music in the United Kingdom.


1950 in British radio
This is a list of events from British radio in 1950.


1950 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1950.


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
North Korea invades South and Opposition Leader says Canada is involved through UN role and because of immediacy of modern world


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Moral, not strategic, stakes require defeat of North Korea, so that "naked aggression" will not destroy state created by UN


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Film: newsreel of Canadian airmen leaving for Korea as U.S. troops fight on defensive near Pusan invasion beachhead


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Canada and U.S.A. agree to further defence industry mobilization at level of cooperation seen in Second World War


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"It is the function of diplomacy to seek accommodation" - Canada and allies send in diplomats as well as military to end Korean War


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Canadian troops arrive by ship at Pusan, Korea and U.S. Army band plays "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake"


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Uneasy equilibrium" - In countering Chinese attack in Korean War, Canada and allies must not provoke U.S.S.R. to start world war


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Growing atmosphere of fear, suspicion, frustration, and isolation" - Authorities in Eastern Bloc countries harass diplomats


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Our first duty to civilization is[...]sufficient military strength" - Prime Minister St. Laurent on liberalism against totalitarianism


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
For federal-provincial accord on bill of rights, Senate committee says "control within Canada of the Canadian Constitution" is required


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Though "coloured troops introduced venereal disease[... ]during the war," Canada can hardly refuse Black GIs since U.S. military integration


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Pakistani PM says idea that "commonwealth ties are mainly religious, historical or racial must be regarded as having outlived its use"


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"There is discrimination against Indians in the matter of immigration[... ]and admission of relatives of Indians already settled"


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
With Canada's "serious shortage of female domestics and nurses' aids," loans should go to Europeans in "this class of immigrant"


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"We can ASK...CRUSADE...DEMAND...and WIN" - Alton C. Parker and other Windsor, Ont. Blacks organize to oppose segregation


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Photo: Emily General from Six Nations of the Grand River shows Haldimand Treaty to members of UN Commission on Human Rights


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Vast volume of water into every stream" - Signs of major flood event noted before Red River flood surge enters Manitoba


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Small measure of our gratitude for all the help we have had" - Britons donate unique household items to flood victims


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
"Too willing to accept people at their face value" - RCMP security report on Canadian diplomat Herbert Norman


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Film: 30-minute short on cancer research and treatment includes laboratory, hospital and classroom shots, plus animation


1950 in Canada, Historical documents
Film: newsreel of parachute personnel jumping from Dakota aircraft on practice rescue mission out of RCAF Station Trenton


1950 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1950
The Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats merged to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Regina franchise officially changed their name to become the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, April 1.


1950 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1950
The WIFU allowed the third place team in the standings to be qualified for a playoff berth. The first professional playoff game was played at night under lights – Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos. The 38th Grey Cup, nicknamed "The Mud Bowl", was held at Toronto's Varsity Stadium with an attendance of 27,101.


1950 in Canadian football, Regular season, Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points


1950 in Canadian football, Grey Cup Championship
38th Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium – Toronto, Ontario


1950 in Canadian football, Grey Cup Championship
The Argonauts defeated Winnipeg in what is now known simply as the ‘Mud Bowl’.


1950 in Canadian football, 1950 Eastern (Combined IRFU & ORFU) All-Stars
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.


1950 in Canadian football, 1950 Western Interprovincial Football Union All-Stars
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.


1950 in Canadian football, 1950 Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Stars
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.


1950 in Cape Verde
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Cape Verde.


1950 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Chile.


1950 in China
Events in the year 1950 in the People's Republic of China.


1950 in Estonia
This article lists events that occurred during 1950 in Estonia.


1950 in Germany
Events in the year 1950 in West Germany and East Germany.


1950 in Iceland
The following lists events that happened in 1950 in Iceland.


1950 in India
Events in the year 1950 in the Republic of India.


1950 in Israel, Unspecified dates
The following events took place during 1950 (dates not specified):


1950 in Laos
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Laos.


1950 in Luxembourg
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.


1950 in Malaya
This article lists important figures and events in Malayan public affairs during the year 1950, together with births and deaths of significant Malayans.


1950 in Michigan
In a poll taken by the Associated Press of newspaper and radio editors, the following stories were selected as the most important Michigan news stories of 1950 (with number of voting points in parenthesis):


1950 in Michigan
Other sports highlights included (1) the 1949–50 Detroit Red Wings' victory in the Stanley Cup finals, (2) the Detroit Lions acquisition in April 1950 of quarterback Bobby Layne, with Layne serving as the team's quarterback for nine years and leading the team to three NFL championships, and (3) the 1950 Michigan Wolverines football team's winning the Big Ten Conference championship by defeating Ohio State in the Snow Bowl.


1950 in Michigan, Population
In the 1950 United States Census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 6,421,000 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1960, the state's population had grown 22.8% to 7,823,194 persons.


1950 in Michigan, Population, Cities
The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 40,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1950 in Michigan, Population, Counties
The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 100,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1950 in Michigan, Companies
The following is a list of major companies based in Michigan in 1950.


1950 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during  1950 in New Zealand.


1950 in New Zealand
New Zealand entered into the Korean War – a total of 4,700 New Zealanders served in Korea. New Zealand also was involved in the Malayan Emergency.


1950 in New Zealand
The New Zealand Legislative Council was abolished, see Suicide squad.


1950 in New Zealand
Wool prices boomed, tripling during the year, due to U.S. stockpiling as a reaction to the Korean war. This was offset somewhat by increases in the prices of other (imported) commodities, but began the biggest economic boom of the 20th century in New Zealand.


1950 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government
The 29th New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the newly elected National government under Sidney Holland of the National Party.


1950 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Film
See : Category:1950 film awards, 1950 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1950 films


1950 in New Zealand, Sport, Lawn bowls
The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.


1950 in New Zealand, Sport, Rugby union
The British and Irish Lions, captained by Karl Mullen, toured the country, losing three tests to the All Blacks and drawing one.


1950 in North Korea
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.


1950 in Northern Ireland, Sport
This was the only year where Ireland didn't participate at the Commonwealth Games. (British Empire Games)


1950 in Norwegian football, First Division, Promoted to first division
Akademisk, Askim, Baune, Bjørkelangen, Borgen, Bækkelaget, Flint, Hødd, Nordnes, Randaberg, Raufoss, Sportsklubben 31, Steinkjer, Strong, Sørfjell, Tryggkameratene, Tønsberg Turn, Urædd, Vang and Vidar.


1950 in Norwegian music
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1950 in Norwegian music.


1950 in Singapore
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in Singapore.


1950 in South Africa
This is a list of events that occurred in 1950 in South Africa.


1950 in South Africa, Sports, British Empire Games
The British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games), after a 12-year gap, takes place in Auckland, New Zealand from 4 to 11 February. Of the 12 participating countries which include Southern Rhodesia, South Africa finishes 5th on the medals list, winning 20 medals, 8 Gold, 4 Silver and 8 Bronze. The medal winners are:


1950 in South Africa, Sports, Football
The Australia national association football team tours South Africa and plays four games against the South Africa national football team.


1950 in Taiwan
Events from the year 1950 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 39 according to the official Republic of China calendar.


1950 in Thailand
The year 1950 was the 169th year of the Rattanakosin Kingdom of Thailand. It was the 5th year in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), and is reckoned as year 2493 in the Buddhist Era.


1950 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1950 to Wales and its people.


1950 in architecture
The year 1950 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.


1950 in association football
The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1950 throughout the world.


1950 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1950  throughout the world.


1950 in comics
Notable events of 1950 in comics. See also List of years in comics.


1950 in comics, Events and publications, Specific date unknown
The U.S. comics industry comes to a turning point. The Golden Age of Comic Books is ending, and the rise of crime comics, romance comics, Western comics, horror comics, and science fiction comics signals the start of the new decade.


1950 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1950.


1950 in film, Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1950 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:


1950 in fine arts of the Soviet Union
The year 1950 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.


1950 in jazz
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by 63.143.205.78 (talk) at 16:46, 16 November 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1950 in jazz
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1950.


1950 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1950.


1950 in motorsport
The following is an overview of the events of 1950 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.


1950 in motorsport, Annual events
The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had own significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.


1950 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1950.


1950 in music, No. 1 hit singles
These singles reached the top of Billboard magazine's charts in 1950.


1950 in music, Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest  in the limited set of charts available for 1950.


1950 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1950.


1950 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1950 in poetry, Works published in English
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:


1950 in poetry, Works published in other languages
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:


1950 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1950 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1950 in professional wrestling
1950 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.


1950 in radio
The year 1950 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.


1950 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1950.


1950 in science
The year 1950 in science and technology included some significant events.


1950 in sports
1950 in Sports describes the year's events in world sport. Popular sports during the 1950s were badminton and soccer. Also, 1950 was a huge year for horse racing – horse racing tripled in spectators and prize pools increased.


1950 in sports, Athletics
The 4th European Athletics Championships were held from 23 August to 27 August at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.


1950 in television
The year 1950 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1950.


1950 in the Belgian Congo
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in the Belgian Congo.


1950 in the Netherlands
This article lists some of the events from 1950 related to the Netherlands.


1950 in the Philippines
1950 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in 1950.


1950 in the Soviet Union
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) removed the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and took the Stone back to Scotland. The students were members of the Scottish Covenant Association, a group that supported home rule for Scotland. In 2008 the incident was made into a film called Stone of Destiny.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Background
The Stone of Scone, the ancient Stone upon which Scottish monarchs had been crowned, was taken from Scone near Perth, Scotland by King Edward I of England (Longshanks) in 1296 during the Scottish Wars of Independence as a spoil of war, kept in Westminster Abbey in London and fitted into King Edward's Chair. Subsequent English and then British monarchs were crowned sitting upon the chair and Stone. At the time, the Stone was viewed as a symbol of Scottish nationhood; by removing the Stone to London, Edward I was declaring himself 'King of the Scots'.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Background
In 1950, Ian Hamilton, a student at the University of Glasgow, approached Gavin Vernon with a plan to remove the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and return it to Scotland. The plan was funded by a Glasgow businessman, Robert Gray, who was a councillor on the Glasgow Corporation. Vernon agreed to participate in the plan along with Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart who were also students in Glasgow. By removing the Stone the group hoped to promote their cause for Scottish devolution and to reawaken a sense of national identity amongst the Scottish people.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
In December 1950, a few days before Christmas, the four students from Glasgow drove to London in two Ford Anglias, a journey which took them eighteen hours. On arrival in London they had a brief meeting at a Lyons Corner House and decided to make an immediate attempt at removing the Stone from the Abbey. Later that day Ian Hamilton hid under a trolley in the Abbey, but was caught by a nightwatchman after the Abbey doors had been closed, briefly questioned, and then let go.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
The following day Vernon and Stuart returned to Westminster Abbey and learned some information on the watchmen's shifts. In the middle of that night, the three men entered a works yard and gained entrance into Poet's Corner. Reaching the Chapel containing the tomb of Edward I and King Edward's Chair, they pulled down the barrier. On removing the Stone from under the Chair, it crashed to the floor and broke into two pieces. The three men, using Hamilton's coat, dragged the larger piece down the high altar steps, then Hamilton took the smaller piece to one of the cars waiting outside.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
Ian Hamilton placed the small piece of Stone in the boot of the car and got into the passenger seat. As he did this, Kay Matheson noticed a policeman in the gaslight; Hamilton and Matheson immediately fell into a lovers' clinch. The policeman stopped and the three proceeded to have a conversation even though it was 5 a.m.  Having shared some jokes and a cigarette, Matheson and Hamilton drove off to Victoria, Hamilton getting out on the way to walk back to the Abbey. On his arrival, there was no sign of Vernon and Stuart, so he proceeded to drag the large piece of stone to the car himself. As he was driving away, he saw Vernon and Stuart walking towards him.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
The stone was so heavy that the springs on the car were sagging, so Vernon, fearing the alarm had been raised, made his way to Rugby, Warwickshire. Hamilton and Stuart drove to Kent, hid the large piece of stone in a field and made their way back to Scotland. Matheson left her car, containing the small piece of the Stone, with a friend in the Midlands, and like Vernon made her way back to Scotland by train. On discovering that the Stone was missing, the authorities closed the border between Scotland and England for the first time in four hundred years.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
A fortnight later, Hamilton and some friends recovered the two pieces and brought them to Glasgow. They hired a stonemason, Baillie Robert Gray, to mend the Stone. Gray placed a brass rod inside the Stone containing a piece of paper. To this day, nobody knows what was written on the piece of paper.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
In April 1951 the police received a message and the Stone was found on the site of the High Altar at Arbroath Abbey where, in 1320, the assertion of Scottish nationhood was made in the Declaration of Arbroath. The Stone was returned to Westminster Abbey in February 1952.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Removal of the Stone of Scone
The police conducted an investigation with a focus on Scotland. All four of the group were interviewed and all but Ian Hamilton later confessed to their involvement. The authorities decided not to prosecute as the potential for the event to become politicised was far too great. Sir Hartley Shawcross, addressing Parliament on the matter, said: "The clandestine removal of the Stone from Westminster Abbey, and the manifest disregard for the sanctity of the abbey, were vulgar acts of vandalism which have caused great distress and offence both in England and Scotland. I do not think, however, that the public interest required criminal proceedings to be taken."


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
To understand the implications of the raid, one must understand the political landscape in the United Kingdom just after the end of the Second World War. The United Kingdom was a unified nation and even in an era of post-war austerity, devolution was not on the political agenda. At the time, the Scottish National Party had 0.7% of the vote, the Labour Party had withdrawn its commitment to devolution, and the Conservative Party was at the high point of its popularity in Scotland. The raid was completely unexpected and gave the cause of Scottish devolution and nationalism a brief sense of prominence in the public conscience throughout the country.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
The students became notorious for the daring heist and in Scotland they became immensely popular. The heist and the students became synonymous with the devolution and nationalist political movements in Scotland from 1950 onwards.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
Over time the incident encouraged a belief in change, throwing open to scrutiny the Union, which had existed since 1707. Long before the Stone was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and the Scottish people voted for devolution in 1997, the removal of the Stone of Scone in 1950 contributed to those events.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
The removal of the stone was the subject of a contemporary Scottish Gaelic song by Donald MacIntyre, "Òran na Cloiche" ("The Song of the Stone"). Its return to London was the subject of an accompanying lament, "Nuair a Chaidh a' Chlach a Thilleadh" ("When the Stone Was Returned").


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
In 2008, Hamilton's book, The Taking of the Stone of Destiny, was made into a film entitled Stone of Destiny. The film depicted Hamilton (played by Charlie Cox) as the protagonist leading a team of students to reclaim the Stone of Scone.


1950 removal of the Stone of Scone, Aftermath
BBC Alba released an hour-long bilingual (Scottish Gaelic and English) dramatization of Kay Matheson's (played by Kathleen MacInnes) interrogation by the police. In this version Matheson pretends to speak only Gaelic.


1950 Úrvalsdeild, Overview
It was contested by 5 teams, and KR won the championship. Fram's Ríkharður Jónsson and Lárus Hallbjörnsson, as well as ÍA's Þórður Þórðarson, Valur's Halldór Halldórsson and Víkingur's Gunnlaugur Lárusson, were the joint top scorers with 3 goals.


1950 Úrvalsdeild, League standings
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1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament
The 1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The tournament was won by Alec Brown who won all his 7 matches, finishing ahead of John Pulman who won 5 matches. The News of the World Snooker Tournament ran from 1949/50 to 1959.


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Format
The 1950/51 event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 9 October 1950 to 20 January 1951. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 8 competitors and a total of 28 matches. There were 8 competitors: Joe Davis, Fred Davis, Walter Donaldson, Albert Brown, Horace Lindrum, John Pulman and Sidney Smith together with Alec Brown who had won the qualifying event. Each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames.


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Format
Unlike the previous year's tournament, each match was separately handicapped. Joe Davis played level with Walter Donaldson and gave Fred Davis 10, Albert Brown, Horace Lindrum and Sidney Smith, John Pulman 25 and Alec Brown 30. Fred Davis played level with Walter Donaldson and Horace Lindrum and gave Albert Brown 10, Sidney Smith 14, John Pulman 16 and Alec Brown 21. Walter Donaldson gave Albert Brown, Horace Lindrum and Sidney Smith 10, John Pulman 16 and Alec Brown 21. Albert Brown played level with John Pulman and gave Sidney Smith 3, Horace Lindrum 7 and Alec Brown 10. Horace Lindrum played level with Sidney Smith and gave John Pulman 7 and Alec Brown 11. Sidney Smith gave John Pulman 7 and Alec Brown 11. John Pulman gave Alec Brown 11.


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Results
In his last match John Pulman, receiving 25 points each frame, beat Joe Davis to move into second place in the table. Joe Davis still had one match to play and could retake second place by winning 22 frames against his brother Fred in his last match. Even though he had a break of 140 on the second day, Joe trailed 14–10 and could no longer get second place. Fred eventually won 22–15.


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Results
Joe Davis made a break of 143 in the third frame of his match against Walter Donaldson. He potted all the red, 12 blacks, 2 pinks and a blue and then all the colours. He made a break of 101 the following day.


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Results
The positions were determined firstly by the number of matches won (MW) and, in the event of a tie, the number of frames won (FW).


1950/1951 News of the World Snooker Tournament, Qualifying
The qualifying tournament was played from 18 September to 7 October 1950. These matches were also played at Leicester Square Hall in London. As in the main event, each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. There were 4 competitors: John Barrie, Alec Brown, Kingsley Kennerley and Sydney Lee. John Barrie and Alec Brown each won their first two matches which meant that the final match, between the two, would decide the winner. Alec Brown won a close match 19–18. Kingsley Kennerley had beaten Sydney Lee 21–16 in their final match.


1950/51 NTFL season
The 1950/51 NTFL season was the 30th season of the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL).


1950/51 NTFL season
Buffaloes have won there 11th premiership title while defeating the Waratah in the grand final by 18 points.


1950s
The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959.


1950s
Throughout the decade, the world continued its recovery from World War II, aided by the post-World War II economic expansion. The period also saw great population growth with increased birth rates and the emergence of the baby boomer generation. Despite this recovery, the Cold War developed from its modest beginnings in the late 1940s to a heated competition between the Soviet Union and the United States by the early 1960s.


1950s
The ideological clash between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, with conflicts including the Korean War in the early 1950s, the Cuban Revolution, the beginning of the Vietnam War in French Indochina, and the beginning of the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons (such as RDS-37 and Upshot–Knothole), the tense geopolitical situation created a politically conservative climate. In the United States, a wave of anti-communist sentiment known as the Second Red Scare resulted in Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress. The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia also took place in this decade and accelerated in the following decade.


1950s, Economics
Inflation was moderate during the decade of the 1950s. The first few months had a deflationary hangover from the 1940s but the first full year ended with what looked like the beginnings of massive inflation with annual inflation rates ranging from 8% to 9% a year. By 1952 inflation subsided. 1954 and 1955 flirted with deflation again but the remainder of the decade had moderate inflation ranging from 1% to 3.7%. The average annual inflation for the entire decade was only 2.04%.


1950s, Science and technology, Technology
The recently invented bipolar transistor, though initially quite feeble, had clear potential and was rapidly improved and developed at the beginning of the 1950s by companies such as GE, RCA, and Philco. The first commercial transistor production started at the Western Electric plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in October, 1951 with the point contact germanium transistor. It wasn't until around 1954 that transistor products began to achieve real commercial success with small portable radios.


1950s, Science and technology, Technology
A breakthrough in semiconductor technology came with the invention of the MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor, by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs, in November 1959. It revolutionized the electronics industry, and became the fundamental building block of the Digital Revolution. The MOSFET went on to become the most widely manufactured device in history.


1950s, Science and technology, Technology
Television, which first reached the marketplace in the 1940s, attained maturity during the 1950s and by the end of the decade, most American households owned a TV set. A rush to produce larger screens than the tiny ones found on 1940s models occurred during 1950–52. In 1954, RCA intro Bell Telephone Labs produced the first Solar battery. In 1954, a yard of contact paper could be purchased for only 59 cents. Polypropylene was invented in 1954. In 1955, Jonas Salk invented a polio vaccine which was given to more than seven million American students. In 1956, a solar powered wrist watch was invented.


1950s, Science and technology, Technology
A surprise came in 1957: a 184-pound (83 kg) satellite named Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviets. The space race began 4 months later as the United States launched a smaller satellite.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
Popular music in the early 1950s was essentially a continuation of the crooner sound of the previous decade, with less emphasis on the jazz-influenced big band style and more emphasis on a conservative, operatic, symphonic style of music.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Patti Page, Judy Garland, Johnnie Ray, Kay Starr, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Georgia Gibbs, Eddie Fisher, Teresa Brewer, Dinah Shore, Kitty Kallen, Joni James, Peggy Lee, Julie London, Toni Arden, June Valli, Doris Day, Arthur Godfrey, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Guy Mitchell, Nat King Cole, and vocal groups like the Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, The Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Chordettes, The Fontane Sisters, The Hilltoppers and the Ames Brothers. Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me" was the #1 song of 1952 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
The middle of the decade saw a change in the popular music landscape as classic pop was swept off the charts by rock-and-roll. Crooners such as Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, and Patti Page, who had dominated the first half of the decade, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed by the decade's end. doo-wop entered the pop charts in the 1950s. Its popularity soon spawns the parody "Who Put the Bomp".


1950s, Popular culture, Music
Rock-n-roll emerged in the mid-1950s with Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, Ritchie Valens, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Brenda Lee, Bobby Vee, Connie Francis, Johnny Mathis, Neil Sedaka, Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson being notable exponents. In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
Chuck Berry, with "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Johnny Horton, and Marty Robbins were Rockabilly musicians. Doo-wop was another popular genre at the time. Popular Doo Wop and Rock-n-Roll bands of the mid to late 1950s include The Platters, The Flamingos, The Dells, The Silhouettes, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, Little Anthony and The Imperials, Danny & the Juniors, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Del-Vikings and Dion and the Belmonts.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
The new music differed from previous styles in that it was primarily targeted at the teenager market, which became a distinct entity for the first time in the 1950s as growing prosperity meant that young people did not have to grow up as quickly or be expected to support a family. Rock-and-roll proved to be a difficult phenomenon for older Americans to accept and there were widespread accusations of it being a communist-orchestrated scheme to corrupt the youth, although rock and roll was extremely market based and capitalistic.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
Jazz stars in the 1950s who came into prominence in their genres called bebop, hard bop, cool jazz and the blues, at this time included Lester Young, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, Jerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Art Blakey, Max Roach, the Miles Davis Quintet, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
The American folk music revival became a phenomenon in the United States in the 1950s to mid-1960s with the initial success of The Weavers who popularized the genre. Their sound, and their broad repertoire of traditional folk material and topical songs inspired other groups such as the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, and the "collegiate folk" groups such as The Brothers Four, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps, and The Highwaymen. All featured tight vocal harmonies and a repertoire at least initially rooted in folk music and topical songs.


1950s, Popular culture, Music
On 3 February 1959, a chartered plane transporting the three American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four occupants on board, including pilot Roger Peterson. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1972 song "American Pie". This event, combined with the conscription of Elvis Presley into the US Army, is often taken to mark the point where the era of 1950s rock-and-roll ended.


1950s, Popular culture, Television
The 1950s are known as The Golden Age of Television by some people. Sales of TV sets rose tremendously in the 1950s and by 1950 4.4 million families in America had a television set. Americans devoted most of their free time to watching television broadcasts. People spent so much time watching TV, that movie attendance dropped and so did the number of radio listeners. Television revolutionized the way Americans see themselves and the world around them. TV affects all aspects of American culture. "Television affects what we wear, the music we listen to, what we eat, and the news we receive."


1950s, Popular culture, Film
European cinema experienced a renaissance in the 1950s following the deprivations of World War II. Italian director Federico Fellini won the first foreign language film Academy Award with La Strada and garnered another Academy Award with Nights of Cabiria. In 1955, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman earned a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with Smiles of a Summer Night and followed the film with masterpieces The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. Jean Cocteau's Orphée, a film central to his Orphic Trilogy, starred Jean Marais and was released in 1950. French director Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge is now widely considered the first film of the French New Wave. Notable European film stars of the period include Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Max von Sydow, and Jean-Paul Belmondo.


1950s, Popular culture, Film
Japanese cinema reached its zenith with films from director Akira Kurosawa including Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and The Hidden Fortress. Other distinguished Japanese directors of the period were Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi. Russian fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko's mythological epics Sadko, Ilya Muromets, and Sampo were internationally acclaimed as was Ballad of a Soldier, a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigory Chukhray.


1950s, Popular culture, Film
In Hollywood, the epic Ben-Hur grabbed a record 11 Academy Awards in 1959 and its success gave a new lease of life to motion picture studio MGM.


1950s, Popular culture, Film
Beginning in 1953, with Shane and The Robe, widescreen motion pictures became the norm.


1950s, Popular culture, Film
The "Golden Era" of 3-D cinematography transpired during the 1950s.


1950s, Popular culture, Art movements
In the early 1950s Abstract expressionism and artists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning were enormously influential. However, by the late 1950s Color Field painting and Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko's paintings became more in focus to the next generation.


1950s, Popular culture, Art movements
Pop art used the iconography of television, photography, comics, cinema and advertising. With its roots in dadaism, it started to take form towards the end of the 1950s when some European artists started to make the symbols and products of the world of advertising and propaganda the main subject of their artistic work.


1950s, Popular culture, Art movements
This return of figurative art, in opposition to the abstract expressionism that dominated the aesthetic scene since the end of World War II was dominated by Great Britain until the early 1960s when Andy Warhol, the most known artist of this movement began to show Pop Art in galleries in the United States.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
The 1950s saw the birth of the teenager and with it rock n roll and youth fashion dominating the fashion industry. In the UK the Teddy boy became both style icons and anti-authoritarian figures. While in America Greasers had a similar social position. Previously teenagers dressed similarly to their parents but now a rebellious and different youth style was being developed. This was particularly noticeable in the overtly sexual nature of their dress. Men wore tight trousers, leather jackets and emphasis was on slicked, greasy hair.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
New ideas meant new designers who had a concept of what was fashion. Fashion started gaining a voice and style when Christian Dior created “The New Look” collection. The 1950s was not only about spending on luxurious brands but also the idea of being comfortable was created. It was a time where resources were available and it was a new type of fashion. Designers were creating collections with different materials such as: taffeta, nylon, rayon, wool and leather that allowed different colors and patterns. People started wearing artificial fibers because it was easier to take care of and it was price effective. It was a time where shopping was part of a lifestyle.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Different designers emerged or made a comeback on the 1950s because as mention before it was a time for fashion and ideas. The most important designers from the time were:


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Christian Dior: everything started in 1947 after World War II was over. Christian Dior found that there were a lot of resources in the market. He created the famous and inspirational collection named “The New Look.” This consisted on the idea of creating voluminous dresses that would not only represent wealth but also show power on women. This collection was the first collection to use 80 yards of fabric. He introduced the idea of the hourglass shape for women; wide shoulders, tight waistline and then voluminous full skirts.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Dior was a revolutionary and he was the major influence for the next collections. He is known for always developing new ideas and designs, which led to a rapid expansion and becoming worldwide known. He had pressure to create innovative designs for each collection and Dior did manage to provide that to the consumers. He not only made the hourglass shape very famous but he also developed the H-line as well as the A and Y-Lines. Dior was a very important designer, he changed the way fashion was looked on the world but most importantly he reestablished Paris as a fashion capital.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Cristobal Balenciaga: Cristobal Balenciaga a Spanish designer who opened his first couture house in 1915. In 1936, he went to Paris in order to avoid the Spanish Civil War, there he had inspiration for his fashion collections. His designs were an inspiration for emerging designers of the time. His legacy is as important as the one from Dior, revolutionaries. He was known for creating sack dresses, heavy volumes and balloon skirts. For him everything started when he worked for Marquesa de Casa Torre who became his patron and main source of inspiration.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Marquesa de Casa Torre helped Balenciaga enter the world of couture. His first suit was very dramatic. The suit consisted on cutout and cut-ins the waist over a slim skirt, something not seen before. Balenciaga was a revolutionary designer who was not afraid to cut and let loose because he had everything under control. In the 1950s and 1960s his designs were well known for attention to color and texture. He was creating different silhouettes for women, in 1955 he created the tunic, 1957 the sack dress and 1958 the Empire styles. He was known for moving from tailored designs to shapeless allowing him to show portion and balance on the bodies. Showing that his designs evolved with time and maintained his ideologies.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
Coco Chanel: Her style was well known over the world and her idea of having functional luxurious clothing influenced other designers from the era. Chanel believed that luxurious should come from being comfortable that is why her designers were so unique and different from the time period, she also achieved her looks by adding accessories such as pearl necklaces. Chanel believed that even though Dior designs were revolutionary for the time period they did not managed to represent the women of the time.


1950s, Popular culture, Fashion
She believed women had to wear something to represent their survival to another war and their active roles in society. Coming back from a closed house of fashion was not easy for Chanel and competing against younger designers. The Chanel suit was known as a status symbol for wealthy and powerful women. Chanel influenced over the years and her brand is still one of the most influential brands for fashion.


1950s, Popular culture, Sports, FIFA World Cups
The 1958 World Cup is notable for marking the debut on the world stage of a then largely unknown 17-year-old Pelé.


1950s, See also, Timeline
The following articles contain brief timelines which list the most prominent events of the decade:


1950s, See also, Timeline
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959


1950s American automobile culture
1950s American automobile culture has had an enduring influence on the culture of the United States, as reflected in popular music, major trends from the 1950s and mainstream acceptance of the "hot rod" culture. The American manufacturing economy switched from producing war-related items to consumer goods at the end of World War II, and by the end of the 1950s, one in six working Americans were employed either directly or indirectly in the automotive industry.


1950s American automobile culture
The United States became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles, and Henry Ford's goal of 30 years earlier—that any man with a good job should be able to afford an automobile—was achieved. A new generation of service businesses focusing on customers with their automobiles came into being during the decade, including drive-through or drive-in restaurants and more drive-in theaters (cinemas).


1950s American automobile culture
The decade began with 25 million registered automobiles on the road, most of which predated World War II and were in poor condition; no automobiles or parts were produced during the war owing to rationing and restrictions. By 1950, most factories had made the transition to a consumer-based economy, and more than 8 million cars were produced that year alone. By 1958, there were more than 67 million cars registered in the United States, more than twice the number at the start of the decade.


1950s American automobile culture
As part of the U.S. national defenses, to support military transport, the National Highway System was expanded with Interstate highways, beginning in 1955, across many parts of the United States. The wider, multi-lane highways allowed traffic to move at faster speeds, with few or no stoplights on the way. The wide-open spaces along the highways became a basis for numerous billboards showing advertisements.


1950s American automobile culture
The dawning of the Space Age and Space Race were reflected in contemporary American automotive styling. Large tailfins, flowing designs reminiscent of rockets, and radio antennas that imitated Sputnik 1 were common, owing to the efforts of design pioneers such as Harley Earl.


1950s American automobile culture, Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (commonly called the Interstate System or simply the Interstate) is a network of freeways that forms a part of the National Highway System of the United States.


1950s American automobile culture, Interstate Highway System
While serving as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, Eisenhower had gained an appreciation of the German Autobahn network as an essential component of a national defense system, providing transport routes for military supplies and troop deployments. Construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later. The system has contributed in shaping the United States into a world economic superpower and a highly industrialized nation.


1950s American automobile culture, Interstate Highway System
The Interstate grew quickly, along with the automobile industry, allowing a new-found mobility that permeated ways of American life and culture. The automobile and the Interstate became the American symbol of individuality and freedom, and, for the first time, automobile buyers accepted that the automobile they drove indicated their social standing and level of affluence. It became a statement of their personality and an extension of their self-concepts.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization
The United States' investment in infrastructures such as highways and bridges coincided with the increasing availability of cars more suited to the higher speeds that better roads made possible, allowing people to live beyond the confines of major cities, and instead commute to and from work.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization
After World War II, land developers began to buy land just outside the city limits of larger cities to build mass quantities of inexpensive tract houses. One of the first examples of planned suburbanization is Levittown, Pennsylvania, which was developed by William Levitt beginning in 1951 as a suburb of Philadelphia. The promise of their own single-family home on their own land, together with a free college education and low-interest loans given to returning soldiers to purchase homes under the G.I. Bill, drove demand for new homes to an unprecedented level.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization
Additionally, 4 million babies were born every year during the 1950s. By the end of the baby boom era in 1964, almost 77 million "baby boomers" had been born, fueling the need for more suburban housing, and automobiles to commute them to and from the city centers for work and shopping.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization
By the end of the 1950s, one-third of Americans lived in the suburbs. Eleven of the United States's twelve largest cities recorded a declining population during the decade, with a consequent loss in tax revenues and city culture. Only Los Angeles, a center for the car culture, gained population. Economist Richard Porter commented that "The automobile made suburbia possible, and the suburbs made the automobile essential."


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization, Decline of the inner city
More people joined the middle class in the 1950s, with more money to spend, and the availability of consumer goods expanded along with the economy, including the automobile. Americans were spending more time in their automobiles and viewing them as an extension of their identity, which helped to fuel a boom in automobile sales. Most businesses directly or indirectly related to the auto industry saw tremendous growth during the decade.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization, Decline of the inner city
New designs and innovations appealed to a generation tuned into fashion and glamour, and the new-found freedom and way of life in the suburbs had several unforeseen consequences for the inner cities. The 1950s saw the beginning of white flight and urban sprawl, driven by increasing automobile ownership. Many local and national transportation laws encouraged suburbanization, which in time ended up damaging the cities economically.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization, Decline of the inner city
As more middle-class and affluent people fled the city to the relative quiet and open spaces of the suburbs, the urban centers deteriorated and lost population. At the same time that cities were experiencing a lower tax base due to the flight of higher income earners, pressures from The New Deal forced them to offer pensions and other benefits, increasing the average cost of benefits per employee by 1,629 percent. This was in addition to hiring an average of 20 percent more employees to serve the ever shrinking cities.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization, Decline of the inner city
More Americans were driving cars and fewer were using public transportation, and it was not practical to extend to the suburbs. At the same time, the number of surface roads exploded to serve the ever-increasing numbers of individually owned cars, further burdening city and country resources. During this time, the perception of using public transportation turned more negative. In what is arguably the most extreme example, Detroit, the fifth largest city in the United States in 1950 with 1,849,568 residents, had shrunk to 706,585 by 2010, a reduction of 62 percent.


1950s American automobile culture, Suburbanization, Decline of the inner city
In some instances, the automotive industry and others were directly responsible for the decline of public transportation. The Great American streetcar scandal saw GM, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, Mack Trucks and other companies purchase a number of streetcars and electric trains in the 1930s and 1940s, such that 90 percent of city trolleys had been dismantled by 1950. It was argued that this was a deliberate destruction of streetcars as part of a larger strategy to push the United States into automobile dependency. In United States v. National City Lines, Inc., many were found guilty of antitrust violations. The story has been explored several times in print, film and other media, for example in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Taken for a Ride and The End of Suburbia.


1950s American automobile culture, Women's rights
The automobile unions played a leading role in advancing the cause of women's rights. In 1955, the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) organized the UAW Women's Department to strengthen women's role in the union and encourage participation in the union's elected bodies. In a move that was met with some hostility by Teamsters leaders, the U.S. Division of Transport Personnel had in 1943 instructed Teamsters Union officials that women should be allowed full employment as truck drivers. That proved to be only a temporary wartime measure, but a change of heart among Teamsters leadership by the mid-1950s led to the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Women in the auto industry were considered leaders in the movement for women's rights.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Hot rodding
The increasing popularity of hot rodding cars (modifying them to increase performance) is reflected in part by the creation of special-interest magazines catering to this culture. Hot Rod is the oldest such magazine, with first editor Wally Parks, and founded by Robert E. Petersen in 1948, with original publication by his Petersen Publishing Company. Hot Rod has licensed affiliation with Universal Technical Institute.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Hot rodding
The relative abundance and inexpensive nature of the Ford Model T and other cars from the 1920s to 1940s helped fuel the hot rod culture that developed, which was focused on getting the most linear speed out of these older automobiles. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear, but the culture blossomed in the post-war culture of the 1950s.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Hot rodding
Hot Rod magazine's November 1950 cover announced the first hot rod to exceed 200 mph. The hand-crafted car used an Edelbrock-built Mercury flathead V8 and set the record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This 30,000-acre (47 sq mi) region has been called the "Holy Grail of American Hot Rodding", and is often used for land speed racing, a tradition that grew rapidly in the 1950s and continues today.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Hot rodding
Hot rodding was about more than raw power. Kustom Kulture started in the 1950s, when artists such as Von Dutch transformed automobile pin striping from a seldom-used accent that followed the lines of the car into a freestyle art form. Von Dutch was as famous for his "flying eyeball" as he was for his intricate spider-web designs. As the decade began, hand-drawn pin striping was almost unheard of, but by 1958 it had become a popular method of customizing the looks of the hot rod. As the decade progressed, hot rodding became a popular hobby for a growing number of teenagers as the sport literally came to Main Street.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Drag racing
Drag racing has existed since the first cars, but it was not until the 1950s that it started to become mainstream, beginning with Santa Ana Drags, the first drag strip in the United States. The strip was founded by C. J. "Pappy" Hart, Creighton Hunter and Frank Stillwell at the Orange County Airport auxiliary runway in southern California, and was operational from 1950 until June 21, 1959.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, Drag racing
Hot Rod editor Wally Parks created the National Hot Rod Association in 1951, and it is still the largest governing body in the popular sport. As of October 2012, there are at least 139 professional drag strips operational in the United States. One of the most powerful racing fuels ever developed is nitromethane, which dramatically debuted as a racing fuel in 1950, and continues as the primary component used in Top Fuel drag racing today.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the second most popular spectator sports in the United States behind the National Football League (NFL). It was incorporated on February 21, 1948, by Bill France, Sr. and built its roots in the 1950s. Two years later in 1950 the first asphalt "superspeedway", Darlington Speedway, was opened in South Carolina, and the sport saw dramatic growth during the 1950s. Because of the tremendous success of Darlington, construction began of a 2+1⁄2-mile (4.0 km), high-banked superspeedway near Daytona Beach, which is still in use.


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, NASCAR
The Cup Series was started in 1949, with Jim Roper winning the first series. By 2008, the most prestigious race in the series, the Daytona 500 had attracted more than 17 million television viewers. Dynasties were born in the 1950s with racers like Lee Petty (father of Richard Petty, grandfather of Kyle Petty) and Buck Baker (father of Buddy Baker).


1950s American automobile culture, Motorsports, NASCAR
NASCAR, and stock car racing in general, has its roots in bootlegging during Prohibition. Junior Johnson was one of many bootleggers who took part in the sport during the 1950s, equally well known for his arrest in 1955 for operating his father's moonshine still as he is for his racing success. He ended up spending a year in an Ohio prison, but soon returned to the sport before retiring as a driver in 1966.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Faster food
As more Americans began driving cars, entirely new categories of businesses came into being to allow them to enjoy their products and services without having to leave their cars. This includes the drive-in restaurant, and later the drive-through window. Even into the 2010s, the Sonic Drive-In restaurant chain has provided primarily drive-in service by carhop in 3,561 restaurants within 43 U.S. states, serving approximately 3 million customers per day. Known for its use of carhops on roller skates, the company annually hosts a competition to determine the top skating carhop in its system.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Faster food
A number of other successful "drive up" businesses have their roots in the 1950s, including McDonald's (expanded c. 1955), which had no dine-in facilities, requiring customers to park and walk up to the window, taking their order "to go". Automation and the lack of dining facilities allowed McDonald's to sell burgers for 15 cents each, instead of the typical 35 cents, and people were buying them by the bagful.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Faster food
By 1948, they had fired their carhops, installed larger grills, reduced their menu and radically changed the industry by introducing assembly-line methods of food production, similar to the auto industry, dubbing it the "Speedee Service System". They redesigned their sign specifically to make it easier to see from the road, creating the now familiar yellow double-arch structure. Businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Faster food
Other chains were created to serve the increasingly mobile patron. Carl Karcher opened his first Carl's Jr. in 1956, and rapidly expanded, locating his restaurants near California's new freeway off-ramps. These restaurant models initially relied on the new and ubiquitous ownership of automobiles, and the willingness of patrons to dine in their automobiles. As of 2013, drive-through service account for 65 percent of their profits.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Drive-in movies
The drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles, where patrons view the movie from the comfort of their cars and listen via an electric speaker placed at each parking spot.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Drive-in movies
Although drive-in movies first appeared in 1933, it was not until well after the post-war era that they became popular, enjoying their greatest success in the 1950s, reaching a peak of more than 4,000 theaters in the United States alone. Drive-in theaters have been romanticized in popular culture with the movie American Graffiti and Grease and the television series Happy Days. They developed a reputation for showing B movies, typically monster or horror films, and as "passion pits", a place for teenagers to make out.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Drive-in movies
While drive-in theaters are rarer today with only 366 remaining and no longer unique to America, they are still associated as part of the 1950s' American car culture. By the beginning of 2020, the number of fully operational drive-ins has dropped to 20. Drive-in movies have seen somewhat of a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century, due in part to baby boomer nostalgia, as well as some increased interest during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which forced conventional movie theaters to close..


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Drive-in movies
Robert Schuller started the nation's first drive-in church in 1955 in Garden Grove, California. After his regular 9:30 am service in the chapel four miles (6 km) away, he would travel to the drive-in for a second Sunday service. Worshipers listened to his sermon from the comfort of their cars, using the movie theater's speaker boxes.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Malls
The first modern shopping malls were built in the 1950s, such as Bergen Mall, which was the first to use the term "mall" to describe the business model. Other early malls moved retailing away from the dense, commercial downtowns into the largely residential suburbs. Northgate in Seattle is credited as being the first modern mall design, with two rows of businesses facing each other and a walkway separating them. It opened in 1950. Shopper's World in Framingham, Massachusetts, was the first two-story mall, and opened in 1951.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Malls
The design was modified again in 1954 when Northland Center in Detroit, Michigan, used a centralized design with an anchor store in the middle of the mall, ringed by other stores. This was the first mall to have the parking lot completely surrounding the shopping center, and to provide central heat and air-conditioning.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Malls
In 1956, Southdale Center opened in Edina, Minnesota. It was the first to combine these modern elements; enclosed with a two-story design, central heat and air-conditioning plus a comfortable common area. It featured two large department stores as anchors. Most industry professionals consider Southdale Center to be the first modern regional mall.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Malls
This formula (enclosed space with stores attached, away from downtown and accessible only by automobile) became a popular way to build retail across the world. Victor Gruen, one of the pioneers in mall design, came to abhor this effect of his new design. He decried the creation of enormous "land wasting seas of parking" and the spread of suburban sprawl.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Aftermarket auto parts
The 1950s jump started an industry of aftermarket add-ons for cars that continues today. The oldest aftermarket wheel company, American Racing, started in 1956 and still builds "mag wheels" (alloy wheels) for almost every car made. Holley introduced the first modular four-barrel carburetor, which Ford offered in the 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and versions are still used by performance enthusiasts. Edelbrock started during the Great Depression and expanded after the war. They provided a variety of high performance parts for the new hot rodders, which was popular equipment for setting speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats. Owners were no longer restricted to the original equipment provided by manufacturers, helping not only create the hot rod culture but also the foundation for cosmetic modifications. The creation and rapid expansion of the aftermarket made it possible for enthusiasts to personalize their automobiles.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Distribution
Most new cars were sold through automobile dealerships in the 1950s, but Crosley automobiles were still on sale at any number of appliance or department stores, and Allstate (a rebadged Henry J) could be ordered at any Sears and Roebuck in 1952 and 1953. By mid-decade, these outlets had vanished and the automobile dealer became the sole source of new automobiles.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Distribution
Starting in the mid-1950s, new car introductions in the fall once again became an anticipated event, as all dealers would reveal the models for the upcoming year each October. In this era before the popularization of computerization, the primary source of information on new models was the dealer. The idea was originally suggested in the 1930s by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, as a way of stimulating the economy by creating demand. The idea was reintroduced by President Dwight Eisenhower for the same reasons, and this method of introducing next year's models in the preceding autumn lasted well into the 1990s.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Distribution
During the decade, many smaller manufacturers could not compete with the Big Three and either went out of business or merged. In 1954, American Motors was formed when Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation in a deal worth almost $200 million, the largest corporate merger in United States history at that time.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Muscle cars
The muscle-car era is deeply rooted in the 1950s, although there is some debate as to the exact beginning. The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, created in response to public interest in speed and power, is often cited as the first muscle car. It featured America's first high-compression overhead valve V8 in the smaller, lighter Oldsmobile 76/Chevy body for six-cylinder engines (as opposed to bigger Olds 98 luxury body).


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Muscle cars
Old Cars Weekly claims it started with the introduction of the original Chrysler "Firepower" hemi V8 engine in 1951, while others such as Hot Rod magazine consider the first overhead valve engine by Chevrolet, the 265 cid V8, as the "heir apparent to Ford flathead's position as the staple of racing", in 1955. The "small block Chevy" itself developed its own subculture that exists today. Other contenders include the 1949 Oldsmobile V8 engine, the first in a long line of such powerful V8 engines, as well as the Cadillac V8 of the same year.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Muscle cars
Regardless how it is credited, the horsepower race centered around the V8 engine and the muscle-car era lasted until new smog regulations forced dramatic changes in OEM engine design in the early 1970s. This in turn opened up new opportunities for aftermarket manufacturers like Edelbrock. Each year brought larger engines and/or increases in horsepower, providing a catalyst for customers to upgrade to newer models.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Muscle cars
Automobile executives also deliberately updated the body designs yearly, in the name of "planned obsolescence" and added newly developed or improved features such as automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes and cruise control, in an effort to make the previous models seem outdated and facilitate the long drive from the suburbs. Record sales made the decade arguably the "golden era" of automobile manufacturing.


1950s American automobile culture, New business models, Muscle cars
Harley Earl and Bill France Sr. popularized the saying "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday", a mantra still heard today in motorsports, particularly within NASCAR. During the muscle-car era, manufacturers not only sponsored the drivers, but designed stock cars specifically to compete in the fast-growing and highly popular sport.


1950s American automobile culture, Songs celebrating the automobile
As the automobile became more and more an extension of the individual, it was natural for this to be reflected in popular culture. America's love affair with the automobile was most evident in the music of the era.


1950s American automobile culture, Songs celebrating the automobile
Other songs recorded during the decade also reflect the automobile's place in American culture, such as "Brand New Cadillac", Sonny Burgess's "Thunderbird" and Bo Diddley's "Cadillac". A 1955 Oldsmobile was celebrated in the nostalgic "Ol' '55" by Tom Waits (1973).


1950s Australian region cyclone seasons
The following is a list of all reported tropical cyclones within the Australian region between 90°E and 160°E in the 1950s.


1950s House
The 1950s House was a hands-on exhibit building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. The exhibit was designed to allow museum visitors to experience everyday life in 1950s Vermont.


1950s House
The house, which opened at the Shelburne Museum in 2000, brought to life the transformative history of America during the mid-20th century when a vibrant consumer culture developed after World War II. Having been built in the 1940s, it was outfitted in late-1940s design and decoration. The furnishings and decor highlighted the industrial boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Packed with the era's fashionable furniture, books, toys, food, and magazines, the 1950s House provided a window into mid-century visual culture.


1950s House, History
Shelburne residents Frank and Helen LaFlam built the 1950s House on land purchased in 1948 from the subdivision of a 200-acre (0.81 km2) farm. In 1950 Vermont had abundant land and natural resources, and the town of Shelburne, which did not institute zoning until 1957, encouraged new home building.


1950s House, History
In designing their house, the LaFlams incorporated state-of-the-art amenities such as central heating, public water, and modern bathroom and kitchen appliances, including a refrigerator and built-in cabinets. The burgeoning industry of the late 1940s enabled the LaFlams to purchase a ready-cut house (see prefabricated home) modeled from architectural plans and specifications that was inexpensive and easily shipped to the building site. The one-story design, attached garage, plain overhanging eaves, and simple white clapboard siding represent the hallmarks of mid-century house design.


1950s House, History
The LaFlams detailed the windows and doors with broad, stained wood trim, which is the kind of simple detailing available in a lumber-rich place like Vermont. The house, which is neither a traditional Cape nor a typical ranch, has characteristics of do-it-yourself construction, with an engagingly awkward mix-and-match of new and old, typical and idiosyncratic, details. In the summer of 2000, the house was opened to the public as a temporary exhibition entitled "The Fabulous 50's: Welcome Home to Postwar Vermont". In 2002, the exhibition was extended through 2005.


1950s House, History
As of May 4, 2012, the 1950s house was torn down to make way for the Pizagalli center for art and education.


1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons
The years between 1950 and 1959 featured the 1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons. Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian tropical cyclone season has no bounds, but they tend to form between April and December, peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. Below are the most significant cyclones in the time period.


1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons
Because much of the North Indian coastline is near sea level and prone to flooding, these cyclones can easily kill many with storm surge and flooding. These cyclones are among the deadliest on earth in terms of numbers killed. In this decade, only one RSMC watched over the basin at the time, India Meteorological Department (IMD) until 1959, when Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) was formed and it would release unofficial advisories for the basin.


1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1956 season, June 1956 India cyclone
This cyclone brought torrential rainfall to Midnapore district in West Bengal. About 20,000 people were left homeless, while another 20,000 people were left stranded near the Assam border after the Haora River topped its banks. There was an estimated 480 fatalities, most caused by landslides.


1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1957 season, December 1957 cyclone
A cyclone developed over the Arabian Sea near the Gulf of Oman on December 27. Moving westward, the storm lashed Bahrain with winds of 110 mph (180 km/h). An offshore oil rig collapsed, killing 20 Royal Dutch Shell employees.


1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1959 season, May 1959 Salalah cyclone
This system first became a low-pressure area near the Laccadive Islands on May 19, tracking northwest towards the Arabian peninsula. The system made landfall at Raysut on May 24. At Salalah, skies clouded over on May 23 as the pressure fell significantly. Winds turned northerly before midnight that night. At 1 a.m. on May 24 the peak of the storm's winds arrived. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 70 knots (130 km/h) and the pressure at Salalaha fell to 968 millibars (28.6 inHg). Many vessels offshore, including two large passenger ships, went to pieces. Five buildings collapsed and several roofs were blown away by the cyclone. Salalah recorded 82 millimetres (3.2 in) of rain at their airport. A total of 141 lives from the ship Samha were taken during this tempest.


1950s South Pacific cyclone seasons
The following is a list of all reported tropical cyclones within the South Pacific Ocean to the east of 160°E during the 1950s decade.


1950s South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons
The following is a list of South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclones in the 1950s decade, before the 1959–60 season.


1950s South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, Storms, February 1950 Mozambique Channel cyclone
A cyclone was first observed northeast of Madagascar on February 9. The storm moved west-southwestward, crossing northern Madagascar on February 13. The storm moved across the Mozambique Channel and struck eastern Mozambique on February 15. The circulation moved across much of Africa, eventually reaching northern Namibia (then known as South-West Africa).


1950s South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, Storms, April 1952 Tanzania cyclone
On April 13, 1952, a tropical cyclone was first observed north of the Comoros. The cyclone moved west-southwestward toward the coast of Africa at a low latitude. On April 15, the ship M.V. Tayari encountered the eye of the cyclone and observed a minimum pressure of 958 mbar (28.3 inHg). Later that day, the cyclone moved ashore southeastern Tanzania near Lindi, where maximum sustained winds were estimated at 180 km/h (110 mph); this made the cyclone the strongest on record to strike the country. The storm weakened over land and turned southwestward, moving into northern Mozambique. The cyclone left 34 fatalities in Tanzania. The HMEAS Rosalind assisted in delivering food, equipment, and soldiers to the region around Lindi.


1950s South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, Storms, January 1953
A tropical cyclone originated northeast of the northern tip of Madagascar on January 8. It moved southwest at first before curving west, passing the outer islands of the Seychelles. The storm curved to the south and struck Mayotte, causing heavy damage in the capital city Dzaoudzi. Turning to the southeast, the cyclone moved ashore northwestern Madagascar near Mahajanga on January 13, where damage totaled over MF2 million (US$1 million) after three housing quarters were destroyed. Throughout Madagascar, 12 people died related to the cyclone. The storm continued southeastward after moving ashore and later turned back to the southwest, dissipating on January 19.


1950s South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, Storms, Cyclone Astrid
Lasting from December 1957 until early in January 1958, Cyclone Astrid struck Mozambique and later produced torrential rainfall in northern South Africa, reaching over 500 mm (20 in).


1950s Texas drought
The 1950s Texas drought was a period between 1949 and 1957 in which the state received 30 to 50% less rain than normal, while temperatures rose above average. During this time, Texans experienced the second-, third-, and eighth-driest single years ever in the state – 1956, 1954, and 1951, respectively. The drought was described by a state water official as "the most costly and one of the most devastating droughts in 600 years."


1950s Texas drought, Effects
The drought began gradually, and some sources claim it began as early as 1947, starting with a  decrease in rainfall in Central Texas. By the summer of 1951, the entire state was in drought. Texas ranchers attempted to evade the effects of the drought by moving their cattle north to Kansas, but the drought spread to Kansas and Oklahoma by 1953. At that point, 75% of Texas recorded below-normal rainfall amounts, and over half the state was more than 30 inches below normal rainfall.


1950s Texas drought, Effects
By 1954, the drought had affected a 10-state area reaching from the Midwest to the Great Plains, and southward into New Mexico and the Deep South, where Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina all experienced their driest calendar year since reliable records began. By the end of the decade, half of the farming industry in Texas was gone.


1950s Texas drought, Effects, Economy
As a result of the devastating drought of the 1950s, the number of Texas farms and ranches shrank from 345,000 to 247,000, and the state's rural population declined from more than a third of the population to a quarter. Ranchers and farmers were hit the hardest by the dual threat of water scarcity and the increasing price of feed. The combined income of Texas farmers fell by one-fifth from the previous year, and the price of low-grade beef cattle dropped from 15 to 5 cents a pound. In 1940, 29% of employed Texans worked on a farm. That number fell to 12% in 1960. Crop yields in some areas dropped as much as 50%. Economic losses from 1950 to 1957 were estimated at $22 billion in 2011 dollars.


1950s Texas drought, Effects, Economy
Towns suffered from the drought, as well, though it was different from the struggles of farmers. Across Texas, at least 1000 communities enforced some type of water restrictions. Some towns went completely dry and had to transport water in by truck or rail. The city of Dallas' reservoirs ran so low that water had to be pumped from the Red River, whose high salt content caused further trouble by damaging water pipes and plants.


1950s Texas drought, Effects, Economy
Corsicana experienced 82 days of temperatures over 100 °F or 37.8 °C, peaking at 113 °F or 45 °C. West Texas was hit especially hard by the drought, particularly the city of San Angelo, where President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited in 1957 to assess the effects of the drought just before it ended.


1950s Texas drought, Effects, Economy
Freeport, Texas, one of the last cities to get its drinking water from the Brazos River before the river reached the sea, opened the first desalination plant in the United States in 1961 with the hope of bringing water security to the region. The first of five plants to test different technologies, Walter L. Badger's Freeport plant used evaporation to separate water from salt, chlorine and other solids. It was applauded by  President John F. Kennedy as "more important than any other scientific enterprise in which this country is now engaged."


1950s Texas drought, Effects, Environment
The severe drought also had a lasting effect on the Texas environment. Without new grass growth, cattlemen overgrazed their pastures, which damaged the land and made it more susceptible to mesquite and juniper ("cedar") intrusion. Poor soil conservation practices left the topsoil vulnerable, and when the drought began, strong winds swept the soil and dust into the sky. This led to persistent dust storms that rivaled those during the Dust Bowl.


1950s Texas drought, Government intervention
The situation became so dire that the US government began distributing emergency feed supplies to desperate farmers. Some farmers resorted to feeding their animals prickly pear or molasses to keep them alive. In 1956, The New York Times reported that more than 100,000 Texans were receiving surplus "federal food commodities." By the time the drought subsided in 1957, 244 of the 254 counties in Texas were declared federal drought disaster areas.


1950s Texas drought, Government intervention
On January 13, 1957, President Eisenhower and Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson visited San Angelo as part of a six-state inspection tour of the drought. There, he made a speech to the people that his administration would do whatever they could to alleviate the hardship of the drought.


1950s Texas drought, Rain returns
Shortly after the president's visit, rain finally came. Intermittent January rains gave way to downpours in February, which continued through the spring and summer seasons. April 24, 1957 had a storm bring 10 inches of rain on a large portion of Texas within a few hours, accompanied by destructive hail and multiple tornadoes. The rain continued for 32 days, and the floods killed 22 people and forced thousands from their homes. Every major river in Texas flooded, washing out bridges and sweeping away houses. Damages were estimated at $120 million, which still paled in comparison to the damage caused by the drought itself.


1950s Texas drought, Prevention
In the hope of preventing such a crisis from happening again, the state developed drought contingency plans, expanded the state's water storage and sought new sources of groundwater. The state created the Texas Water Development Board in 1957, which set into motion a number of water-conservation plans. An amendment to the Texas constitution in 1957 authorized the issuance of $200 million in loans to municipalities for conservation and development of water resources. The number of Texas reservoirs more than doubled by 1970, and by 1980, more than 126 major reservoirs had been constructed. State and federal departments of agriculture set up safeguard programs to help farmers handle future severe droughts, including low-interest emergency loans and emergency access to hay and grazing land.


1950s Texas drought, Prevention
The state began a number of efforts to increase water supply, building dams, forming lakes, and tapping into underground sources of water. From 1947 to 1957, groundwater use increased fivefold. As the drought spurred farmers to find more water sources, cheaper pumps were made available. From 1957 to 1970, workers built 69 dams, including Longhorn Dam on the Colorado River, which formed Lady Bird Lake in Austin in 1960. Today, Texas has more surface areas of lake than any state except Minnesota.


1950s Texas drought, Prevention
The 1950s drought remains to be a model for water-conservation plans in the present day, with Texas water authorities using the effects of the drought's severity to create water plans.


1950s Texas drought, Popular culture
The 1950s Texas drought has been written about by a number of Texans who experienced it, including Elmer Kelton, renowned Western novelist and agricultural journalist, whose novel The Time It Never Rained is still regarded as the best account of the period.


1950s Texas drought, Popular culture
The 1989-93 TV science fiction show, Quantum Leap, in its episode "A Single Drop of Rain - September 7, 1953" is set during the Texas drought of 1953. The show's protagonist, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) leaps into the body of a rainmaker in the con man's hometown. The area is desperate for rain as the crops fail and the cattle die.


1950s in Angola
Angola in the 1950s transitioned from colonial to provincial status. Angola had the status of a Portuguese colony from 1655 until the Assembly of the Republic passed a law on June 11, 1951, giving all Portuguese colonies provincial status, effective on October 20, 1951. Separatist political organizations advocating Angolan independence formed in the 1950s despite strong resistance from the Portuguese government, leading to the Angolan War of Independence (1961–1975).