1950 in the United States explained
Events from the year 1950 in the United States.
Incumbents
Events
January–March
- January 5 – U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of organized crime in the U.S.
- January 7 – A fire consumes Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, killing 41 patients.[1]
- January 12 – Cold War: U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson delivers his "Perimeter Speech", outlining the boundary of U.S. security guarantees.
- January 17 – Great Brinks Robbery: 11 thieves steal more than $2,000,000 from an armored car in Boston, Massachusetts.
- January 21 – Accused communist spy Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.[2]
- January 24 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs, German émigré and physicist, walks into London's War Office and confesses to being a Soviet spy: for seven years, he passed top secret data on American and British nuclear weapons research to the Soviet Union;[3] formally charged February 2.
- January 31 – President Harry S. Truman orders the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949.[3]
- February 4 – Ingrid Bergman's illegitimate child arouses ire in the U.S.
- February 9 – Second Red Scare: In his speech to the Republican Women's Club at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the U.S. State Department of being filled with 205 Communists.
- February 12 – Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.
- February 13
- The U.S. Army begins to deploy anti-aircraft cannons to protect nuclear stations and military targets.
- The U.S. Air Force loses a Convair B-36 bomber carrying an Mk-4 atomic bomb off the west coast of Canada, producing the world's first Broken Arrow.
- February 15 – Walt Disney releases his twelfth animated feature film, Cinderella, in Hollywood. It is the first singular feature project his studio has produced since 1942's Bambi, following a string of six anthology films released to recoup losses due to World War II, and Disney's biggest commercial hit since 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- March 1 – Klaus Fuchs is convicted in London of spying against both the UK and the United States for the Soviet Union, by giving to the latter top secret atomic bomb data.
- March 17 – University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they have named "californium".
- March 22 – Frank La Salle is arrested in California for the abduction of Florence Sally Horner since 1948.
- March 23 – The 22nd Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Paul Douglas, is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Robert Rossen's All The King's Men wins Best Picture, while Joseph L. Mankiewicz wins Best Director for A Letter to Three Wives. William Wyler's The Heiress receives and wins the most respective nominations and awards, with eight and four.
April–June
July–September
- July 8 – G. Mennen Williams, the Governor of Michigan, is attacked and briefly held hostage while visiting Marquette Branch Prison, as part of an inmate escape plot.
- August 5 – A bomb-laden B-29 Superfortress crashes into a residential area in California; 17 are killed and 68 injured.
- August 8 – Winston Churchill expresses support for the idea of a pan-European army allied with Canada and the United States.
- August 23 – Legendary African American singer-actor Paul Robeson, whose passport has recently been revoked because of his alleged Communist affiliations, meets with U.S. officials in an effort to get it reinstated. He is unsuccessful, and it is not reinstated until 1958.
- August 25 – Althea Gibson becomes the first African American woman to compete at the U.S. National Championships (tennis).
- September 4
- September 7 – The game show Truth or Consequences debuts on television.
- September 8 – The Defense Production Act is enacted into law in the United States, shaping American military contracting for the next sixty years.
- September 9 – The U.S. state of California celebrates its centennial anniversary.
- September 15 – Korean War – Battle of Inchon: Allied troops commanded by Douglas MacArthur land in Inchon, occupied by North Korea, to begin a U.N. counteroffensive.
- September 30 – NSC 68 is approved by President Harry S. Truman, setting United States foreign policy for the next 20 years.
October–December
- October 2 – The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven U.S. newspapers.
- October 7
- October 11 – The Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).
- October 15 – The second Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens.
- October 30 – The Jayuya Uprising is started by Puerto Rican Nationalists against the United States.
- November 1 – Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who is staying at the Blair-Lee House in Washington, D.C. during White House repairs.
- November 8 – Korean War: While in an F-80, United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown intercepts two North Korean MiG-15s near the Yalu River and shoots them down in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history.
- November 10 – A U.S. Air Force B-50 Superfortress bomber, experiencing an in-flight emergency, jettisons and detonates a Mark 4 nuclear bomb over Quebec, Canada (the device lacked its plutonium core).
- November 11 – The Mattachine Society is founded in Los Angeles as the first gay liberation organization.
- November 22 – Shirley Temple announces her retirement from show business.
- November 24–25 – Great Appalachian Storm of 1950: A phenomenal winter storm ravages the northeastern United States, brings 30 to 50 inches of snow, temperatures below zero, and kills 323 people.
- November 26 – Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces at Chosin, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.
- November 29
- November 30 – Douglas MacArthur threatens to use nuclear weapons in Korea.
- December 4 – The 1949 Smith Act trial of Communist Party leaders ("Foley Square trial") commences review in the Supreme Court of the United States, as Dennis v. United States.
- December 12 – Paula Ackerman becomes the first woman in the United States to serve a congregation as a Rabbi.
- December 16 – The Office of Defense Mobilization is established in the United States.
Undated
Ongoing
Births
- January 1 – Steve Ripley, country singer (d. 2019)
- January 2
- January 4
- January 6
- January 7 – Ross Grimsley, baseball player and coach
- January 8 – Michael Kearns, actor
- January 9 – David Johansen, musician and actor
- January 10
- January 11 – Joel Seligman, author
- January 12 – Sheila Jackson Lee, African-American politician (d. 2024)
- January 15 – Bob Krause, politician
- January 19 – Jon Matlack, baseball player and coach
- January 20 – Edward Hirsch, poet
- January 23 – Suzanne Scotchmer, economist and academic (d. 2014)
- January 24 – Gennifer Flowers, actress, connected to Bill Clinton
- January 26 – Jack Youngblood, American football player, sportscaster and actor
- January 29 – Max Carl, singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player
- January 30 – Trinidad Silva, actor (d. 1988)
- January 31 – Fred Karger, political consultant
- February 1 – Mike Campbell, musician
- February 4 Laurence Bergreen, historian and author
- February 5
- February 6
- February 7 – Karen Joy Fowler, author[5]
- February 9
- February 12 – Margaret Warner, Senior correspondent of PBS
- February 15 – Donna Hanover, journalist
- February 17
- February 19 – Donald Sanborn, reactor
- February 23 – Elizabeth Streb, choreographer
- February 24 – Steve McCurry, photographer and journalist
- February 26 – Bill Ritter, news anchor
- March 2 – Karen Carpenter, pop singer and drummer (d. 1983)
- March 3 – Mark Ciavarella, judge
- March 4 – Rick Perry, 47th Governor of Texas
- March 6 – Al Milgrom, comic book writer
- March 7
- March 10 – Catherine Pugh, Democratic politician and mayor of Baltimore[7]
- March 11 – Steven Nock, researcher, author, and university professor[8]
- March 15
- March 16 – Jed Babbin, lawyer
- March 17
- March 19
- March 20
- March 26 – Alan Silvestri, composer and conductor
- March 27
- March 28 – Jeffrey Miller, Kent State University shooting victim (d. 1970)
- March 31 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor (Hill Street Blues)
- April 1 – Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. from 2006
- April 2
- April 7
- April 8 – Carmen Twillie, actress and singer
- April 9 – Kenneth Cockrell, astronaut
- April 10 – Ken Griffey, Sr., baseball player
- April 12
- April 16
- April 17 – Bruce McNall, businessman
- April 18 – Kenny Ortega, producer, director and choreographer
- April 19 – Lani Guinier, law professor (d. 2022)
- April 20
- April 21
- April 25 – Lenora Fulani, African-American presidential candidate
- April 26 – Glenn Patrick, ice hockey player
- April 28 – Bruce H. Mann, legal scholar
- April 29 – Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 2001
- April 30
- May 1
- May 2
- May 3 – Jeffrey Sweet, writer and theater historian
- May 4 – Hilly Hicks, character actor
- May 5
- May 6
- May 7
- May 8 – Mark Blankfield, actor
- May 9
- May 11
- May 12
- May 13
- Joe Johnston, film director
- Bobby Valentine, baseball manager
- Stevie Wonder, musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist
- May 14 – Jill Stein, Green Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections
- May 15
- May 18 – Mark Mothersbaugh, musician
- May 19 – George Leo Thomas, prelate of the Catholic Church
- May 20 – Alan Zweibel, television writer
- May 21 – Jeanne Moos, news correspondent
- May 23
- May 24 – Thomas DeSimone, gangster
- May 25 – Ed Emery, politician, Missouri State Senate
- May 26 – David Ignatius, journalist and novelist
- May 28
- May 29 – Rebbie Jackson, singer
- May 31 – Gregory Harrison, actor and director[9]
- June 1
- June 3
- June 6 – Andrew Napolitano, columnist
- June 7 – Howard Finkel, ring announcer (d. 2020)
- June 8 – Kathy Baker, actress
- June 9 – Keith Kauffman, race car driver
- June 10 – Gary Westfall, physicist
- June 12
- June 16 – Jerry Petrowski, politician and farmer
- June 17
- June 18
- June 19 – Ann Wilson, singer, musician ((Heart))
- June 23
- June 27 – Michael O'Brien, photographer
- June 28 – Steve Downes, DJ and voice actor
- June 29 – Don Moen, Christian musician
- July 1
- July 4 – Steven Sasson, electrical engineer
- July 5
- July 9 – Gwen Guthrie, pianist and singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
- July 11 – Michael C. Stenger, law enforcement officer (d. 2022)[11]
- July 17 – Peter Neufeld, lawyer
- July 18
- July 19 – Freddy Moore, musician (d. 2022)
- July 20 – William Knox Schroeder, Kent State University shooting victim (d. 1970)
- July 30 – Frank Stallone, actor
- August 1
- August 2 – Lance Ito, judge
- August 3
- August 7 – Alan Keyes, politician
- August 8 – Mutulu Shakur, activist and convicted robber (d. 2023)
- August 11
- August 12
- August 15
- Tom Kelly, baseball player and manager
- Andres Serrano, photographer
- August 21 – Arthur Bremer, attempted assassin of George Wallace
- August 22
- August 24
- August 25 – Charles Fambrough, musician and composer (d. 2011)
- August 26
- August 31 – Dean Barkley, U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 2002 to 2003
- September 1 – Phil McGraw, psychologist and TV host
- September 2
- September 8 – James Mattis, 26th United States Secretary of Defense
- September 11 – Amy Madigan, actress
- September 15 – Mike Nifong North Carolina district attorney disbarred for misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case[13]
- September 16
- September 17 – Robert Slavin, psychologist (d. 2021)
- September 19 – Joan Lunden, television broadcaster and journalist (Good Morning America)
- September 21
- September 23 – Tim Keller, pastor (d. 2023)[14]
- September 24 – Alan Colmes, TV/radio host and political commentator (d. 2017)
- September 28
- September 29 – Leroy Jones, American footballer (d. 2021)[16]
- October 3
- October 5 – Jeff Conaway, actor (Taxi) (d. 2011)
- October 9
- October 11 – Patty Murray, U.S. Senator from Washington from 1993
- October 12 – Edward Bloor, novelist
- October 14 – Joey Travolta, actor
- October 16
- October 20 – Tom Petty, rock singer-songwriter (d. 2017)
- October 22
- October 24
- October 25 – Mark L. Taylor, actor
- October 30 – Louise DuArt, comedian and impersonator
- October 31 – Jane Pauley, television broadcast journalist (The Today Show)
- November 1
- November 4 – Charles Frazier, novelist
- November 6 – Kenny Marks, Christian musician
- November 8 – Mary Hart, television personality
- November 10
- November 12 – Barbara Fairchild, singer-songwriter
- November 13 – Mary Lou Metzger, singer and dancer
- November 16 – David Leisure, actor
- November 21 – David Williams, singer, songwriter, musician and producer (d. 2009)
- November 22
- November 23 – Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator from New York from 1999
- November 24 – Stanley Livingston, actor
- November 28
- November 30 – Paul Westphal, basketball player and coach (d. 2021)
- December 1 – Richard Keith (b. Keith Thibodeaux), child actor
- December 2 – Bob Kevoian, radio host
- December 3 – Asa Hutchinson, 46th Governor of Arkansas
- December 10
- December 12 – Darleen Carr, actress
- December 13
- December 15 – Sylvester James Gates, theoretical physicist
- December 17 – Laurence F. Johnson, futurist and educator
- December 18 – Leonard Maltin, film critic
- December 20 – Don Heffington, percussionist and songwriter (d. 2021)
- December 23 – Michael C. Burgess, politician
- December 24 – Deborah J. Glick, democratic member
- December 25 – Ed Hochuli, American football official
- December 28 – Alex Chilton, rock musician (The Box Tops) (d. 2010)
- December 29 – Jon Polito, actor (d. 2016)
Deaths
- January 2 – Anthony Prusinski, politician (b. 1901)
- January 15 – Henry H. Arnold, five-star general (b. 1886)
- January 22 – Alan Hale, Sr., actor (b. 1892)
- February 7 – William Murphy, Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1885)
- February 11 – Kiki Cuyler, baseball player (Chicago Cubs) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1898)
- February 25 – George Minot, physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1885)
- February 27 – Harold Clarke Goddard, Shakespearean scholar (b. 1878)
- March 5 – Sid Grauman, theater entrepreneur (b. 1879)
- March 11 – Heinrich Mann, German writer, died in Santa Monica, California (b. 1871)
- March 26 – Dink Trout, actor (b. 1898)
- April 1 – Charles R. Drew, African American physician, pioneer in blood transfusion, died as result of automobile accident (b. 1904)
- April 7 – Walter Huston, actor (b. 1883)
- April 11 – Bainbridge Colby, United States Secretary of State (b. 1869)
- April 16 – Henry J. Knauf, politician (b. 1891)
- April 26 – G. Murray Hulbert, politician (b. 1881)
- April 27 – Hobart Cavanaugh, character actor (b. 1886)
- May 1 – Lothrop Stoddard, eugenicist (b. 1883)
- May 10 – Belle da Costa Greene, librarian, bibliographer and archivist (b. 1883)[19]
- May 20 – John Gould Fletcher, poet (b. 1886)
- June 22 – Jane Cowl, actress (b. 1883)
- July 7 – Fats Navarro, jazz trumpet player (b. 1923)
- July 8 – Helen Holmes, actress (b. 1893)
- July 10 – Richard Maury, American naturalized Argentine engineer (b. 1882)
- July 11 – Buddy DeSylva, songwriter (b. 1895)
- July 12 – Elsie de Wolfe, socialite and interior decorator (b. 1865)
- July 21 – Rex Ingram, director (b. 1892)
- August 19 – Black Elk, Wičháša Wakȟáŋ (Medicine Man or Holy Man) of the Ogala Teton Lakota (Western Sioux) (b. 1863)
- August 22 – Kirk Bryan, geologist (b. 1888)
- August 23 – Frank Phillips, oil executive (b. 1873)
- August 26 – Ransom E. Olds, automotive pioneer (b. 1864)
- September 10 – Raymond Sommer, race car driver (b. 1906)
- September 16 – Pedro de Cordoba, actor (b. 1881)
- October 11 – Pauline Lord, actress (b. 1890)
- October 13 – Ernest Haycox, writer (b. 1899)
- October 19 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet (b. 1892)
- October 20 – Henry L. Stimson, United States Secretary of State (b. 1867)
- October 23 – Al Jolson, musician and actor (b. 1886)
- October 28 – Maurice Costello, actor (b. 1877)
- November 1 – Leslie Coffelt, White House police officer (b. 1910)
- November 4 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1887)
- November 8 – Bernice Herstein, socialite (b. 1918)
- November 9 – Maude Fulton, playwright and actress (b. 1881)
- November 29 – Walter Beech, aviator and aircraft manufacturer (b. 1891)
- December 4 – Jesse L. Brown, first African-American aviator in the United States Navy (killed in action) (b. 1926)
- December 7 – Evelyn Selbie, actress (b. 1871)
- December 11 – Dewey Robinson, actor (b. 1898)
- December 27 – Max Beckmann, German painter and graphic artist, died in New York City, New York (b. 1884)
See also
Notes and References
- Book: Iowa. Inspection Bureau. Mercy Hospital, St. Elizabeth's Ward Building Fire: Davenport, Iowa, January 7, 1950. 1950. Iowa Inspection Bureau.
- Book: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities. Annual Report for the Year .... 1950. The Committee. 32–.
- "Year by Year 1950" – History Channel International
- Book: Cleve, Craig. The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster.
- Book: Contemporary Authors. 1994. Gale Research Company. 978-0-8103-5554-5. 141.
- News: Franco Harris, Steeler Who Caught 'Immaculate Reception,' Dies at 72. Sandomir. Richard. Victor. Daniel. The New York Times. December 21, 2022. December 22, 2022.
- Web site: Catherine E. Pugh, Mayor, Baltimore, Maryland. msa.maryland.gov.
- Web site: Steven Nock . www.virginia.edu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040428044043/http://www.virginia.edu/sociology/peopleofsociology/snock.htm . 2004-04-28.
- News: In Step With: Gregory Harrison . . 2011-02-05. James . Brady . 1990-02-25.
- Web site: Variety.com. 2015-04-01. 'Maniac Cop' Actor Robert Z'Dar Dies at 64. 2021-12-18. Variety.
- https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Finquirer%2Fmichael-strenger-the-man-blamed-for-failing-to-prevent-capitol-insurrection-found-dead-at-home%2Fnews-story%2Ff9a3b5c4b132b10984dcc60ab6622ccd&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-control-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append The man blamed for failing to prevent Capitol insurrection found dead
- https://news.wttw.com/2024/04/08/cook-county-clerk-karen-yarbrough-dies-73 Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough Dies at 73
- Web site: Our Campaigns - Candidate - Michael "Mike" Nifong. www.ourcampaigns.com.
- https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/may/tim-keller-dead-redeemer-new-york-pastor-cancer.html Died: Tim Keller, New York City Pastor Who Modeled Winsome Witness
- Book: Payne, Leonard. A Glitch in the Matrix: Jordan Peterson and the Intellectual Dark Web. October 22, 2019. Lulu.com. 9780244229030. Google Books.
- https://nsuspartans.com/news/2021/6/17/general-nsu-mourns-the-loss-of-2-sport-star-leroy-jones.aspx NSU Mourns the Loss of 2-Sport Star Leroy Jones
- Book: G”sta Ekspong. Nobelstiftelsen. Physics, 1996-2000. 2002. World Scientific. 978-981-238-003-6. 245.
- Book: ((Editors of Chase's)). Chase's Calendar of Events 2019: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. 30 September 2018. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-1-64143-264-1. 574.
- Web site: Belle da Costa Greene American librarian and bibliographer . Encyclopedia Britannica . 13 July 2020 . en.
