Year 1950: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1950. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1950, the Korean War, McCarthyism, and the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” were all on center stage. Chicken à la King and pineapple upside-down cake were crowd-pleasers, and Robert and Linda were popular baby names. For a quarter, you could buy five pounds of potatoes, a mass-market paperback, a ballpoint pen, a fresh pineapple, or two cans of Heinz cream of tomato soup. You could also buy a movie ticket for 46 cents, a 20-inch black and white TV for $229.95, and a Cadillac Coupe DeVille for $3,150.
2. Harry S. Truman (D-Missouri) was the president of the United States, and Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky) was the nation's vice president.
3. The minimum wage was 75 cents, the average annual income was $3,210, and a new house cost $8,450.
4. In the marketplace, a gallon of gas averaged 30 cents, and a McDonald’s hamburger cost 15 cents. White bread was 12 cents a loaf, 10 pounds of potatoes were 35 cents, and frozen chicken pies cost 19 cents apiece.
5. The homicide rate in the United States was 5.3 per 100,000 people.
6. On May 9, Sam Walton opened Walton's 5&10 on the town square in Bentonville, Arkansas. His five-and-dime store eventually became Walmart, a global retail giant that had $648.1 billion in sales in 2024 and has more than two million employees. Today, Walton’s humble 5&10 on Bentonville’s town square is the location of the ever-popular Walmart Museum.
7. The Korean War began on June 25, when the Northern Korean People's Army “invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack.” The Imperial War Museum tells us that the three-year war was “exceptionally bloody and led to the deaths of three million people and tens of thousands of casualties.”
8. On July 5, Private Kenneth Shadrick of Harlan County, Kentucky, became the first U.S. casualty of the Korean War.
9. President Truman announced that the United States would pursue the development of the hydrogen bomb.
10. President Truman also signed the Defense Production Act (DPA) into law. The DPA “gives the U.S. president the power to order companies to produce goods and supply services to support national defense.” The law was implemented during the Korean War in 1950 and is used today to protect the United States from terrorism.
11. The FBI introduced the “Ten Most Wanted” list to publicize dangerous fugitives.
12. An eleven-member gang stole more than $2 million from the Brinks Building in Boston.
13. U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy began a witch hunt for Americans who were believed to be “communists” or “communist supporters.” His fear-based campaign, known as McCarthyism, was short-lived.
14. The Chinchaga Firestorm also occurred in 1950, when the moon and sun turned blue in both the United States and Europe. Cordy Tymstra tells us that in 1950, the biggest firestorm ever documented in North America created a large smoke layer in the atmosphere. The smoke travelled halfway around the northern hemisphere and made the moon and sun appear blue. Since there was very little news of the fire, many thought that the dark sky was a nuclear holocaust and the end of the world.
15. New York businessmen Frank McNamara and Ralph Schneider launched Diner's Club, which became the world’s first multipurpose credit card company. The original Diners Club cards were made of cardboard and were not replaced by plastic until the 1960s. Within a year, Diners Club had over 10,000 cardholders from New York’s business elite. The company later introduced a travel insurance policy as well as corporate credit cards. Diners Club also became a pioneer in the credit card industry by introducing Club Rewards.
16. The eastern U.S. was devastated by the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950. Weather.gov explains that “One of the most damaging and meteorologically unique winter storms to strike the eastern United States occurred on Thanksgiving weekend, 1950. After it was over, up to 57 inches of snow blanketed the central Appalachians, and one of the most widespread and damaging wind events ever recorded over the northeastern U.S. made the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 the costliest storm on record up until that time.”
17. The 1950 Atlantic hurricane season was the first year that storms were given names. Hurricanes were named according to the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, etc.). The names were the same for each hurricane season until 1953, when the practice of using women's names began—starting with Tropical Storm Alice.
18. Twelve nations created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to provide security for the United States, Canada, and Europe. The 12 founding countries were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
19. At the 22nd Academy Awards, which honored the best films of 1949, All the King’s Men won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives) won an Oscar for Best Director. Broderick Crawford (All the King’s Men) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress) won an Oscar for Best Actress.
20. In 1950, eight million homes in the U.S. had televisions. The largest TVs were 16 inches, and television manufacturers at the time included Regal Electronics, Rembrandt Television, and Remington Radio.
21. There were 2,200 drive-in movie theaters across America, a 200% increase over 1949.
22. Undergraduate tuition at the University of Pennsylvania was $600 for the academic year. (Just so you know, Penn’s undergraduate tuition for the 2025-26 academic year is about $65,000.)
23. Prevention magazine began publishing.
24. Chicken à la King, green bean casseroles, deviled ham, and pineapple upside-down cake were nationwide food trends.
25. The first Peanuts comic strip appeared in nine newspapers.
26. PaperMate marketed the first leak-proof ballpoint pen.
27. John Hopps invented the cardiac pacemaker.
28. The first metal lunchbox, featuring Hopalong Cassidy, appeared in the marketplace. Over 600,000 “Hoppy” lunch boxes were eventually sold.
29. Hideo Yamashita created the first electronic computer in Japan.
30. Canadian inventors Harry Wasylyk and Larry Hansen invented green plastic garbage bags made from polyethylene. Today, trash bags come in a variety of colors, including black, white, clear, and blue (for recycling).
31. Marion Donovan developed disposable diapers.
32. Otis installed the first self-service elevator in Dallas.
33. Xerox developed the first photocopy machine.
34. All About Eve was the most popular film, Texaco Star Theatre (NBC) was a top-rated TV show, and The Cardinal was a best-selling fiction book.
35. Popular music artists and groups included the Ames Brothers, the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine, Guy Lombardo, Jo Stafford, Nat King Cole, Patti Page, Perry Como, Phil Harris, Sammy Kaye, and Dinah Washington.
36. Here are some sports facts from 1950: The Cleveland Browns were the NFL champions, the Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup champs, and the New York Yankees won their 14th World Series.
37. In 1950 as well, the words “BLT,” “butterfly chair,” “charge card,” “funny farm,” “hot potato,” “shopping mall,” “side hustle,” “spray tan,” “squeeze bottle,” “stockboy,” “stock split,” “subscription TV,” “tank top,” “tape recorder,” and “test drive” all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1950
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1950
3. https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/the-most-popular-recipes-of-the-1950s/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_in_the_United_States
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1950.html
6. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1946.html

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor