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The 1950s

2,423 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 20th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1950 CE249 entries

  • June 25 – The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People's Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.
  • July 16 – Uruguay beats Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup, the match dubbed the Maracanazo.
  • October 7 – Battle of Chamdo: The Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, begins with the Chinese People's Liberation Army invading across the Jinsha River. By October 19 they will have taken the border town of Chamdo, and the Tibetan army will have surrendered.

1951 CE230 entries

  • 15 February: The start of the 151 day "1951 Waterfront dispute".
  • March 6 – The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for conspiracy to commit espionage begins in the United States.
  • September 8 – Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, 48 representatives out of 51 attending sign a peace treaty with Japan, formally ending the Pacific War; the delegations of the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia do not sign the treaty, instead favoring separate treaties.

1952 CE231 entries

  • February 6 – Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the British Dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. The princess, who is on a visit to Kenya when she hears of the death of her father, King George VI, aged 56, takes the regnal name Elizabeth II.
  • July 19–August 3 – The 1952 Summer Olympics are held in Helsinki, Finland.
  • November 1 – Nuclear testing: Operation Ivy: The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike", at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, with a yield of 10.4 megatons.

1953 CE243 entries

  • March 5 — Joseph Stalin dies, starting a power struggle among Soviet leadership.
  • June 2 – Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, at Westminster Abbey.
  • July 27 – The Korean War ends, with the Korean Armistice Agreement: The United Nations Command (Korea) (United States), China and North Korea sign an armistice agreement at Panmunjom, and the north remains communist, while the south remains capitalist. No formal peace treaty is ever signed.

1954 CE265 entries

  • May 7 – First Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
  • July 4 – "Miracle of Bern": West Germany beats Hungary 3–2 to win the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
  • July 21 – First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference sends French forces to the south, and Vietnamese forces to the north, of a demarcation line. The agreement leads to the establishment of the North Vietnam regime and the state of South Vietnam.

1955 CE231 entries

  • April 18–24 – The Asian-African Conference is held in Bandung, Indonesia.
  • May 14 – Eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty in Warsaw, Poland, that is called the Warsaw Pact (it will be dissolved in 1991).
  • December 1 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger, and is arrested, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott.

1956 CE244 entries

  • 26 July – President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt announces the nationalization of the Suez Canal and Egyptian forces seize control of the canal, moves that precipitate the Suez Crisis and the Sinai Campaign.
  • October 24 – The Protocol of Sèvres, a secret agreement between Israel, France and the United Kingdom, is signed, allowing the former to invade the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and occupy the Suez Canal with the support of the other two governments, giving rise to the Suez Crisis.
  • October 29 – Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.

1957 CE239 entries

  • March 25 – The Treaty of Rome (Patto di Roma) establishes the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
  • October 4 – Space Age – Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
  • November 3 – Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2, with the first animal to orbit the Earth, a dog named Laika, on board. There is no technology available to return her to Earth.

1958 CE244 entries

  • February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic.
  • May 23 – Chairman Mao Zedong started his "Great Leap Forward" movement in the People's Republic of China.
  • June 1 – Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises to lead France by decree for 6 months.

1959 CE247 entries

  • January 7 - Cuba's new government announced the first executions of former officials of Fulgencio Batista. Ten officers were executed at Santiago including Col. Arcadio Casillas, who oversaw Santiago. The same day, the United States recognized the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
  • February 3 – A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper with pilot Roger Peterson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".
  • May 28 – Jupiter AM-18 rocket launches two primates, Miss Baker and Miss Able, into space from Cape Canaveral in the United States along with living microorganisms and plant seeds. Successful recovery makes them the first living beings to return safely to Earth after space flight.