1955 two larger labor unions united. American Federal Labor- Congress of Industrial Organization
baby boom
the rapid population increase that took place between 1945 and 1960
UNIVAC
Universal Automatic Computer, developed initially for the Bureau of the Census by the Remington Rand Company, was the first computer able to handle both alphabetical and numerical information easily
Sputnik
The world's first space satellite. This meant that the Soviety Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US. US was alarmed & spent money on education and the advancement of science
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
An independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight
hydrogen bomb
Invented in the 1950s, MORE powerful than atomic bomb, example of Cold War arms race
icbm
a ballistic missile that is capable of traveling from one continent to another
AlanShepard
astronaut who made the first US suborbital rocket-powered flight in 1961
Yuri Gagarin
Soviet astronaut who completed first orbit around the earth
FederalHighwayAct (1956)
Under the Eisenhower Administration. Authorized $25 billion for a ten-year project that built over 40,000 miles of interstate highways. This was the largest public works project in American History.
Levittown
William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive ("cookie cutter") homes in suburban NY
Dr Benjamin Spocks
Wrote Baby and Child Care which advised women to stay home with their children
DavidRiesman
Wrote The Lonely Crowd that emphasized the shift in American culture toward conformity
Echo Park
National park in the Dinosaur National Monument, on the border between Utah and Colorado, near the southern border of Wyoming
Saul Bellow
Novelist who produced a series of novels including The Adventures of Augie March, Seize the Day, Herzog, and others that emphasized the struggles of Jewish men in America
J. D. Salinger
Wrote The Catcher in the Rye about adolescents and insecurity in society
William H. Whyte Jr.
Writer of one of the most discussed books of the decade, The Organization Man, which attempted to describe the special mentality of the worker in a large, bureaucratic setting
TheBeatGeneration
Authors who criticized middle-class values and conformity in the 1950s
Allen Ginsberg
Jack Kerouac
MichaelHarrington
Writer of The Other America in 1962
Brownvs.BoardofEducationofTopeka
1954 Supreme Court case resulting in a ruling that refuted the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, ruled that blacks could not be segregated