This Year in History:
1950
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen because of the 1823 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (aka “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”), but your knowledge of Rudolph—the…
For the second time in a week, Jacob Malik, the Soviet representative to the United Nations, storms out of a meeting of the Security Council, this time in reaction to…
On January 17, 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million ($29 million today) from the Brink’s Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crime—almost—as the culprits weren’t…
The People’s Republic of China formally recognizes the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam and agrees to furnish it military assistance; the Soviet Union extended diplomatic recognition to Hanoi on January…
In the conclusion to one of the most spectacular trials in U.S. history, former State Department official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury. He was convicted of having perjured himself…
On January 26, 1950, the Indian constitution takes effect, making the Republic of India the most populous democracy in the world. Mohandas Gandhi struggled through decades of passive resistance before…
On January 31, 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more…
Klaus Fuchs, a German‑born British scientist who helped developed the atomic bomb, is arrested in Great Britain for passing top‑secret information about the bomb to the Soviet Union. The arrest…
During a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy (Republican‑Wisconsin) claims that he has a list with the names of over 200 members of the Department of State that…
On February 15, 1950, Walt Disney’s animated feature Cinderella opens in theaters across the United States. The Chicago‑born Disney began his career as an advertising cartoonist in Kansas City. After…
The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, the two largest communist nations in the world, announce the signing of a mutual defense and assistance treaty. The negotiations for…
Volkswagen, maker of the Beetle automobile, expands its product offerings to include a microbus, which goes into production on March 8, 1950. Known officially as the Volkswagen Type 2 (the…
The Federal Bureau of Investigation institutes the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list in an effort to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives. The creation of the program arose out of a wire…
In a surprise raid on the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC), military forces of the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan invade the mainland and capture the town of Sungmen.…
During a radio broadcast dealing with a Senate investigation into communists in the U.S. Department of State, news is leaked that Senator Joseph McCarthy has charged Professor Owen Lattimore with…
President Harry S. Truman receives National Security Council Paper Number 68 (NSC‑68). The report was a group effort, created with input from the Defense Department, the State Department, the CIA,…
On April 25, 1950, the Boston Celtics make Chuck Cooper, an All‑American forward from Duquesne University, the first African American picked in NBA draft. With the selection, the first pick…
On May 9, 1950, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (1911‑1986) publishes Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. With this book, Hubbard introduced a branch of self‑help psychology called Dianetics, which quickly…
The Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s famously ended the careers of numerous film‑industry professionals and forced others to avoid blacklisting by repudiating their political beliefs and “naming names”…
Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War. The United States, acting under the auspices of the United Nations, quickly sprang to the…
