-Political/ international relations/ military events-

-Harry Truman became president when Roosevelt died in 1945. He was responsible for dropping atomic bombs on japan and ending WW2. Truman initiated the Marshall plan to rebuild Europe after the war.

-Red China- communists took control of China after a struggle that started before WW2 and renamed the country the peoples republic of china. It was called red china by the united states to indicate they were communists. red china entered the Korean war in the 1950s.

-Joe McCarthy was a senator from Wisconsin, best known for his work chairing the senate committee government operations, which focused on suspected communists in the government.

Richard Nixon, a member of the House of Rep. from California when he became involved in the trial of Alger Hiss, who was accused of being a communist and a spy. Nixon presented evidence that helped prove Hiss guilty in 1950.

-Economic/scientific/technological developments-

Television became popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most large cities had only 1 station. Sets in those days had 10 inch screens and were black and white. color was introduced in 1951, but years later until color television became universally popular.

H-Bomb- the Hydrogen bomb was developed under the guidance of Dr. Edward Teller. It was many times more powerful that an atomic bomb, and infact required and atomic bomb to detonate.

Liberace was a popular planist and entertainer, who had his own TV show in the 1950s. He was known for wearing sequined tuxedos and having a candelabrum on his piano. He is credited with advising singer Elvis Presley to also wear "fancy clothes" during his performances.

Psycho was a thriller movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A young woman, Marion Crane- played by Janet Leigh- steals some money from work and leaves town, getting a room at the bates motel.

-Social/cultural developments-

Chubby Checker came out with a song called "The Twist", which started a national dance sensation.

Buddy Holly- a popular singer and leader of the crickets rock group

Mickey Mantle- a great baseball player for the New York Yankee team. He batted both left and right handed.

Boris Pasternak- a Russian poet and writer. Best known in the west for his monumental novel on soviet Russia, Doctor Zhivago, which was made into an award winning movie.