1950

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 - 1950 - 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

Events

January

January 6 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
January 11 - Huk guerillas attack the town of Hermosa in Bataan, Philippines.
January 12 - Huk guerillas attack the town of Tuyn, kill two and torch the city of Staingnacan.
January 12 - British submarine Truculent collides with a Swedish oil tanker in River Thames - 64 dead.
January 17 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car in Boston, Massachusetts
January 21 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury
January 23 - The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
January 24 - Cold War: Klaus Fuchs confesses his wartime espionage at Los Alamos to British interrogators - formally charged February 2
January 26 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.
January 29 - Lord Balfour criticizes the fact that rationing is still in force in Britain
January 31 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb

February

February 1 - Chiang Kai-shek re-elected as a president of the Republic of China
February 4 - Ingrid Bergman's illegitimate child arouses ire in USA
February 9 - Red scare: In his speech to the Republican Women's Club at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with 205 Communists.
February 11 - Two Vietcong battalions attack a French base in Indochina
February 12 - Pro-communist riots in Paris
February 12 - European Broadcasting Union founded
February 13 - In USA army begins to deploy anti-aircraft cannons to protect nuclear stations and military targets
February 14 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty
February 19 - Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany to begin unification.
February 22 - Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction
February - British Labour Party forms a new government.

March, April

March 1 - West South Baptist Church in Bestridge, Nebraska blows up
March 1 - Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by giving them top secret atomic bomb data.
March 3 - Poland states that it intends to exile all Germans.
March 8 - The Soviet Union claims to have an atomic bomb.
March 12 - March 13 - In Belgium, the referendum over the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of the king, 42.3% against.
March 14 - Ship Cygnet hits mine off the Dutch coast.
March 17 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98 which they have named "californium".
March 22 - Egypt demands that Britain remove all its troops in Suez Canal
April 15 - King Leopold III of Belgium announces that he is ready to abdicate in favor of his son Baudouin
April 24 - Jordania formally annexes West Bank
April 27 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.

May, June

May 9 - Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman declaration", is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
May 29 - St. Roch, first ship to circumnavigate North America arrives in Halifax Nova Scotia.
June 24 - 58 persons were killed when a commercial airliner crashed into Lake Michigan. The reason for the disaster is unknown. Only fragments of the plane and the bodies of passengers were ever found.
June 25 - beginning of Korean War. In the USA, people begun to hoard supplies in case of rationing and shortages.

July

July 4 - July 5 - Sicilian bandit leader Salvatore Giuliano killed in a shootout with carabinieri
July 5 - Korean War: Task Force Smith - First clash between American and North Korean forces.
July 5 - Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
July 6 - East Germany agrees with Poland on the Oder-Neisse line - West Germany does not at this time
July 17 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg arrested
July 19 - 15 SS-men sentenced to death in East Germany
July 20 - Tydings committee report to US senate denounces Joe McCarthy - he begins a public attack on members of the committee standing for election in 1950
July 23 - Leopold III of Belgium returns to Brussels
July 25 - Walter Ulbricht elected the general secretary of the communist party of East Germany
July 31 - First battle between North Korean and US troops in Korean War

August

August 1 - Leopold III of Belgium formally abdicates for crown prince Baudoin
August 5 - Florence Chadwick swims over English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes
August 5 - A bomb-laden B-29 Flying Fortress crashes into a residential area in California
August 6 - Riot in Brussels in monarchist demonstrations
August 8 - Winston Churchill supports idea of pan-European army allied with Canada and USA
August 11 - Baudouin of Belgium sworn in as a king - communists protest and one right-wing extremist throws a smoke grenade.
August 15 - Earthquake and floods in Assam, India - 574 deaths, 5,000,000 believed homeless

September, October

September 1 - Hungarian major general Laszlo Viragen defects to Austria and applies for political asylum
September 7 - Coal mine collapses in New Cumnoch, Scotland - 13 miners dead. 116 rescued.
September 12 - Communist riots in Berlin
September 15 - US and South Korean troops land in Inchon, then occupied by North Korea
September 19 - West Germany decides to fire all its communist officials
September 26 - Indonesia admitted to the United Nations
October 2 - The comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
October 5 - Indonesian government quells riots in the Moluccas
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 - In East Germany, communists win 99.7% of the vote
October 20 - Australia declares communist party illegal

November

November 1 -- Pope Pius XII defines a new dogma of Roman Catholicism: that God assumed Mary's body into Heaven after her death.
November 1 - While staying at the Blair-Lee House in Washington, D.C during White House repairs, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman.
November 4 - United Nations ends the diplomatic isolation of Spain
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 shots them down in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history.
November 11 - The Mattachine Society founded in Los Angeles as the first Gay liberation organization
November 18 - United Nations accepts the formation of Libyan national council
November 22 - Anti-British riots in Egypt
November 20 - T. S. Eliot speaks against television in the UK
November 22 - Shirley Temple announces her retirement from show business
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, ending any thought of a quick end to the conflict.
November 29 - Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force a desperate retreat of United Nations forces from North Korea.
November 30 - Truman threatens to use nuclear weapons in Korea

December

December 25 - Scottish nationalists take the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey
December 28 - The Peak District becomes Britain's first National Park.

Unknown date

Ralph Schneider founds Diner's Club - first it works only in 27 restaurants in New York City.
United Nations building finished.
First pagers developed.
Antihistamine discovered.
First TV remote control Zenith Radio's Lazy Bones is marketed.
IBM Israel begins operating in Tel Aviv

Year in topic

1950 in film
- All About Eve
- Father of the Bride
- John Ford's Rio Grande starring John Wayne
- Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart
1950 in literature
- Thor Heyerdahl - Kon Tiki
1950 in music
- January 3 - Sam Phillips opened Sun Records
1950 in sports
1950 in television
- February 2 - What's My Line debuts on CBS.
- February 25 - Your Show of Shows premieres on NBC.
- July 10 - Your Hit Parade premieres on NBC.
- October 5 - First television bordcast of You Bet Your Life on NBC
- October 10 - The FCC approves CBS color TV system, effective Nov. 20.
- The Burns and Allen Show
- Truth or Consequences
- The number of homes in the U.S. that own a television set reaches the one million mark.

Births

January, February

January 16 - Debbie Allen, actress, dancer, choreographer
January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian racing driver
January 21 - Billy Ocean, musician
January 29 - Jody Scheckter, South African racing driver
February 2 - Barbara Sukowa, actress
February 3 - Morgan Fairchild, actress
February 6 - Natalie Cole, singer
February 10 - Mark Spitz, Olympic Games swimming gold medalist
February 11 - Earnest Jim Istook, US-American politician
February 11 - Johanna E. Beerens, actress
February 11 - Rochelle Fleming, soul music vocalist
February 12 - Michael Ironside, US actor
February 13 - Peter Gabriel, British musician
February 16 - Peter Hain, British politician
February 18 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
February 22 - Julius Erving, Basketball Hall of Famer
February 22 - Julie Walters, actress
February 22 - Miou-Miou, actress
February 25 - Neil Jordan, director, writer, producer
February 26 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

March, April

March 2 - Karen Carpenter, singer and drummer (d. 1983)
March 4 - Rick Perry, governor of Texas
March 5 - Matheisl Willy, photographer, Germany
March 9 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer
March 11 - Bobby McFerrin, US singer
March 11 - Jery Zucker, producer, director, writer
March 13 - William H. Macy, actor
March 18 - Brad Dourif, actor
March 20 - William Hurt, US actor
March 26 - Teddy Pendergras, singer
March 29 - Bud Cort, actor
March 30 - Robbie Coltrane, British actor, comedian
April 4 - Christine Lahti, US actress
April 10 - Ken Griffey, Sr, Major League Baseball player
April 22 - Peter Frampton, musician
April 28 - Jay Leno, comedian, late night talk show host

May-December

May 3 - Howard Ashman, lyricist
May 7 - Randall 'Tex' Cobb, boxer, actor
May 13 - Stevie Wonder, singer, pianist, bassist, drummer
May 16 - J. Georg Bednorz, physicist, Nobel Prize in physics 1987
May 17 - Janez Drnovsek, Slovene politician
May 18 - Mark Mothersbaugh, composer & musician
May 18 - Thomas Gottschalk, show master
May 18 - Rodney Milburn, American athlete
May 22 - Bernie Taupin, songwriter
June 3 - Suzi Quatro, singer, actress
July 17 - Michel Lotito, Frenchman who eats everything
August 11 - Gennidy Nikonov, designer of the AN-94 assault rifle
August 15 - Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II
September 17 - Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat
September 21 - Charles Clarke, British politician
September 28 - John Sayles director, screenwriter
October 12 - Kaga Takeshi, Japanese actor, host of Iron Chef
October 31 - John Candy, US comedian and actor
November 21 - Alberto Juantorena, Cuban athlete
December 1 - Keith Thibodeaux producer, writer
December 5 - CamarÃÂÃÂ³n de la Isla, flamenco cantaore

Deaths

February 22 - Miou-Miou, actress
February 25 - Neil Jordan, director, writer, producer
March 5 - Matheisl Willy, photographer, Germany
March 9 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer
March 11 - Jery Zucker, producer, director, writer
March 29 - Bud Cort, actor
September 10 - Raymond Sommer, Grand Prix motor racing driver
September 11 - Jan Christian Smuts
September 21 - Arthur Milne, British space physicist
October 23 - Al Jolson, US movie musician
October 29 - Gustav V of Sweden
November 2 - George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born playwright
November 3 - Koiso Kuniaki, Japanese prime minister
December 2 - Dinu Lipatti, pianist
December 5 - Shri Aurobindo, guru
December 27 - Max Beckmann, painter
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish writer, Nobel prize winner

Nobel Prizes

Physics - Cecil Frank Powell
Chemistry - Otto Paul Hermann Diels, Kurt Alder
Medicine - Edward Calvin Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, Philip Showalter Hench
Literature - Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell
Peace - Ralph Bunche