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Fast Facts
POP Culture: 1950
ICONS: Baby Boom, Elvis, Rosa Parks
- RCA broadcasts the first color television program on June 25, 1951.
- Sam Phillips opens the "Sun Records" record label in Memphis, TN, March 27, 1952.
- Francis Crick and James Watson discover the spiral structure of DNA on February 28, 1953, and report the findings in Nature on April 25, 1953.
- Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips introduced radio listeners to Elvis Presley on On July 8, 1953, when he played "That's All Right" on his "Red, Hot, and Blue show."
- Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea receives a 1953 Pulitzer Prize. In 1954, the author is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- The USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, launches on January 21, 1954.
- On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refuses to vacate her seat aboard a Montgomery, AL, bus.
- Fred Gipson publishes the novel, Old Yeller in 1956 and receives a Newbury Honor in 1957.
- CBS debuts Leave It to Beaver on October 4, 1957.
- Brazil wins its first Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, beating Sweden 5-2, on June 29, 1958.
- Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states, respectively, in 1959.
- Rod Serling's Twilight Zone begins airing October 2, 1959.
The 1950 Census |
10 Largest Urban Places |
||||
| U.S. Resident Population: | 151,325,798 | Rank | Place | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population per square mile of land area: | 42.6 | 1 | New York City, NY | 7,891,957 | |
| Percent increase of population from 1940 to 1950: | 14.5 | 2 | Chicago, IL | 3,620,962 | |
| Official Enumeration Date: | April 1 | 3 | Philadelphia, PA | 2,071,605 | |
| Number of States: | 48 | 4 | Los Angeles, CA | 1,970,358 | |
| Cost: | $91,462,000 | 5 | Detriot, MI | 1,849,568 | |
| Cost per Capita (cents): | 60.4 | 6 | Baltimore, MD | 949,708 | |
| Total Pages in Published Reports: | 61,700 | 7 | Cleveland, OH | 914,808 | |
| Number of Enumerators: | 142,962 | 8 | St. Louis, MO | 856,796 | |
| Census Bureau Director: | Roy Victor Peel | 9 | Washington, DC | 802,178 | |
| Number of Questions on the Short Form: | 10 | Boston, MA | 801,444 | ||
| Number of Questions on the Long Form: | Other lists of largest urban places. | ||||
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