The 20th Century - 3rd Quarter

• Overview
• Britain
• Europe
• America
• Asia
  • Australia
• Africa
• Science & technology
• see also:
  • History of the world
  • History of Australia
  • The 17th century
  • The 18th century
  • The 19th century
  • The 20th century - 1st quarter
  • The 20th century - 2nd quarter
  • The 20th century - 4th quarter
  • The 21st century
  • History of religion
  • History of Western Philosophy
  • History of Music

Overview:

• the age of:
  • car ownership, high levels of road trauma, better roads, rising oil prices
  • urban sprawl due to the self-reinforcing rise in car ownership and the resultant rise of supermarkets and the suburban shopping mall  targeting bored middle class 30-50yr old women with cars
  • television, 35mm photography, home movie cameras, tape recorders
  • the Cold War, Korean & Vietnam wars and ongoing conflicts particularly in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
  • computerisation, air and space travel
  • rock & roll, the sexual revolution, rise of feminism, and substance abuse
  • genetics
  • pharmaceutics - corticosteroids, antihistamines, sedatives, new antibiotics
  • the rise of the global third world charity institutions to tackle famines, etc.
• the "baby boomers":
  • Western people born after WWII from 1946 - 1961 (some say 1943-1960)
  • Beatlemania, Woodstock, recreational drugs, free love & peace protests marked the coming of age of a highly opinionated group named after the post-WWII spike in the birth-rate
  • stereotypically selfish, they've had it the easiest, enjoying a housing boom, free education & an era of unprecedented prosperity, but caused their children much pain, with their high divorce rates & their refusal to grow up.
  • spoilt-rotten idealists
  • generally did not save money & when they retire, they won't like discovering what its like to live on a pension
  • accused of selling out their youthful idealism, many became what they used to call "breadheads", with corporate jobs & large suburban houses
  • defining movie: The Big Chill
  • icons: Mick Jagger; The Beatles; Julie Christie
  • motto: "Viagra's a great invention, baby"
  • fashion faux pas: hippie facial hair
• the generation X:
  • Western people born 1961-1976
  • the tag was taken from the Douglas Coupland book Generation X: Tales for an accelerated culture
  • slightly too young to profit from the materialistic frenzy of the 1980's
  • the first generation to experience broken homes, job insecurity & user-pays higher education - they've done it tough
  • stereotypically a cynical group, having lived through unemployment, and know what it's like not to get a job straight after uni.
  • might have had parents who only cared about themselves
  • their taxes will need to fund the retiring baby boomers
  • generally developed a reputation as malcontents & embraced gloomy grunge music in the 1990's
  • the high divorce rates of their parents has made them reluctant to marry or settle down until much later in life
  • many are unable to enter the housing market and many still struggle with the financial burden of HECS debts
  • more likely to have had a string of short term jobs & relationships
  • the experience of impermance has taught them to be more resourceful & adaptable than the baby boomers as well as empowering women in particular to take control of their lives
  • defining movie: The Breakfast Club
  • icons: Tom Cruise; Demi Moore; Duran Duran;
  • motto: trust no-one
  • fashion faux pas: Bananarama-style
• literature:
  • Ernest Hemingway; Nicholas Monsarrat; Agatha Christie; Ian Fleming; Grahame Greene; Arthur Miller; John Steinbeck; Leon Uris; Peter Ustinov; William Golding; J.R.R. Tolkien; Dr Seuss; Robert Bolt; Harper Lee; Solzhenitsyn;
  • 1950: Leslie-Poles Hartley The Go-Between;
  • 1951: Anthony Powell A Question of Upbringing; Jerome Salinger The Catcher in the Rye; John Wyndham The Day of the Triffids;
  • 1952: Agatha Christie Mousetrap; John Steinbeck East of Eden;
  • 1953: Ian Fleming Casino Royale; Arthur Miller The Crucible;
  • 1954: William Golding Lord of the Flies;
  • 1955: John Tolkien Lord of the Rings; William Gaddis The Recognitions; Patricia Highsmith The Talented Mr Ripley; Vladimir Nabokov Lolita; John Wyndham Chrysalids; Graham Greene The Quiet American;
  • 1956: Clive-Staples Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof;
  • 1957: John Wyndham Midwich Cuckoo; Ian Fleming From Russia with Love;
  • 1959: Kurt Vonnegut The Siren's of Titan; Keith Waterhouse Billy Liar;
  • 1960: Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird; William Harris Palace of the Peacock;
  • 1962: Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange; Ken Kesey One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest;
  • 1963: Thomas Pynchon V;
  • 1964: Charles-Percy Snow Corridors of Power; Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory;
  • 1966: John Barth Giles Goat Boy;
  • 1967: Andrew Sinclair Gog;
  • 1968: Arthur Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey;
  • 1969: John Fowles The French Lieutenant's Woman; Vladimir Nabokov Ada;
  • 1972: Thomas Keneally The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith; Frederick Forsythe The Day of the Jackal; Chaim Potok The Name is Asher Lev;
  • 1973: Thomas Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow;
• art:
  • Salvador Dali; Picasso; art noveau; Andy Warhol; 
• music:
  • "classical music" - Stravinsky; Vaughan Williams; Shostakovich;
  • musicals - Rodgers & Hammerstein; Leonard Bernstein; Jesus Christ Superstar; Hair;
  • rock & roll - Elvis Presley; The Beatles; Rolling Stones; Pink Floyd; etc.
  • dance - cool jazz (1950); rock & roll (1956); cha cha cha (1958);
• film:
  • James Bond films;
  • actors: Gene Kelly; Marlon Brando; Richard Burton; Ernest Borgnine; Billy Wilder; Laurence Olivier; Henry Fonda; Elvis Presley; Jack Lemmon; Walter Matthau; Woody Allen;
  • actresses: Grace Kelly; Audrey Hepburn; Marilyn Monroe; Elizabeth Taylor; Julie Andrews; Barbara Streisand; Jane Fonda; Vanessa Redgrave; Liza Minelli;

Britain:

• 1950: Fuchs found guilty of betraying Brit. atomic secrets to USSR; London dock strike; 
• 1951: Conservatives win election, Churchill forms govt; Monsarrat's "The Cruel Sea"; Brit. film censors introduce "X" rating;
• 1952: K.George VI dies, succeeded by his daughter Q. Elizabeth II; Churchill announces Britain has produced atomic bomb; last London trams retired; 
• 1953: Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale"; 
• 1954: Q.Eliz. II begin C'wealth tour; Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings";
• 1955: Churchill resigns; railroad & dock strikes; Duke of Edinburgh award for young people;
• 1956: int. rate rises to 5.5%, highest since 1932;
• 1957: Brit. explodes thermonuclear bomb in Pacific; Wolfenden Report on homosexuality & prostitution published; int. rate rises to 7%;
• 1958: 1st car parking meters; London bus strike; 1st life peerages; the last debutantes are presented at the Brit. court;
• 1959: 1st section of London-Birmingham (M1) motorway opens; printing strike; 
• 1961: farthings no longer legal tender; 
• 1963: C'wealth Immigrants Act passed to control immigration; Great Train Robbery nets £2.5m; coldest Jan/Feb since 1740;
• 1964: "brain drain" as Brit. scientists emigrate to US; Brit. grants licences to drill for oil & gas in North Sea; Easter outbreak of Mods vs Rockers disturb Brit. sea resorts; 
• 1965: Churchill dies; The Beatles become popular - "A Hard Day's Night", "Help";
• 1966: Wilson freezes wages & prices;
• 1967: Sandy Shaw wins Eurovision Song Contest with "Puppet on a string";
• 1968: Brit. restricts immigration from India, Pakistan & W. Indies;
• 1969: violent fighting in Nth Ireland b/n Protestants & Catholics; Brit. army send 600 troops to quell rioting in Belfast;
• 1971: violence in Nth Ireland worsens; Rolls Royce declares bankruptcy; 47 day postal strike ; 
• 1972: Britain imposed direct rule on Nth Ireland: 467 Northern Irish killed during year; 47 day coal strike;
• 1973: Britain, Ireland & Denmark join the Common Market; 250 killed in Nth Ireland for year;
• 1974: Nth Ireland terrorism continues and spreads to London;

Europe:

• 1950:
• 1951: Czech Communist Party purged; King Abdullah of Jordan assassinated in Jerusalem;
• 1952: 
  • Egypt: anti-British riots erupt; Gen. Naguib seizes power, King Farouk abdicates in favour of his son. 1923 constitution abolished;
  • 16,000 people escape from E. to W. Germany in August alone; Israel & Germany agree on restitution for damages done to Jews by Nazis; Germany becomes member of World Bank; Christian Dior gains influence in Paris haute couture;
• 1953: Egypt becomes a republic; USSR severs relations with Israel from Feb-July; Stalin dies; USSR explodes H-bomb;
• 1954: Russians reject Germany reunification; Col. Nasser seizes power in Egypt; Malenkov becomes head of USSR; France & W. Germ. sign cultural & economic agreement;
• 1955: USSR decrees end of war with Germany; Italy, W. Germ. & France establish European Union; Germ. becomes NATO member; the Vienna Treaty restores Austria's independence; raids on Israel-Jordan border increase;
• 1956: Jordan & Israel accept UN truce proposals; 
  • Egyptian crisis:
    • Israeli troops invade Sinai Peninsula; Anglo-Fr. ultimatum in Egypt & Israel; US sends aid to Israel; Krushchev denounces Stalin's policy; Nasser elected President of Egypt; US & Brit. inform Egypt they will not finance Aswan High Dam; Nasser seizes Suez Canal; Brit. & Fr. nationals leave Egypt; Anglo-Fr. forces bomb Egyptian airfields; US & USSR pressures effect Egyptian ceasefire; Fr. & Brit. troops withdraw from Egypt; UN fleet clears Suez Canal; 
  • soviet troops march into Hungary; martial law & mass arrests in Hungary;
• 1957: Eisenhower formulates "Eisenhower Doctrine" for protection of Middle Eastern nations from Communist aggression; Israel withdraws from Sinai Pen. & hand over Gaza strip to UN forces; UN reopens Suez Canal; US resumes aid to Israel; King Hussein declares martial law in Jordan;  "The Six" sign Rome Treaty; beginning of Common Market; 
• 1958: European Common Market; Egypt & Sudan join to form United Arab Republic; England & Spain sign trade pact; USSR grants loan to UAR for building Aswan Dam;
• 1959: De Gaulle proclaimed President of 5th Republic of France; Cyprus becomes a republic; European Free Trade Assoc. ("The Seven") ratify treaty; Britain & UAR resume diplomatic relations;
• 1960: Brezhev becomes President of USSR; US admits to aerial flights over USSR; 
• 1961: Berlin wall constructed; Moscow synagogues closed; Trans-Siberian railroad electrified b/n Moscow & Irkutsk; last journey of "Orient Express"; USSR trade fair held in London; 
• 1962: earthquake in northwestern Iran kills 10,000; 
• 1963: De Gaulle successfully objects to Brit. entry into Common Market; UAR, Syria & Iraq agree to union; eathquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia kills 1,100; 
• 1964: UN peace force takes over in Cyprus; Turk. planes attack Cyprus; Malta becomes independent within C'wealth; King Saud of Saudi Arabia deposed, his son, Faisal becomes king; 
• 1966: De Gaulle requests removal of NATO forces from France; floods ravage northern Italy, thousands of art treasures ruined at Venice & Florence; W.Ger. autobahn system totals 2,000 miles; supermarket retailing expands; 
• 1967: Israeli forces use tanks against Syria; Israeli Mirage fighters shoot down 6 Syrian MIG-21s; six-day war b/n Israel & Arab nations; Sweden changes from left to right-side driving;
• 1968: Soviet & Warsaw-pact troops invade Czech. at night to fight Czech's liberation drive; 27,000 Czech refugees enter Austria; Aswan Dam completed; Iran earthquake kills 12,000; 
• 1969: Al Fatah leader Yasir Arafat elected Chairman of Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) & shifts his main guerilla forces to Jordan; De Gaulle resigns as President of France; Czech. New Party guidelines established on strict Marxist-Leninist rules;
• 1970: Arab commandos hijack 3 passenger jets;
• 1971: Algeria seizes control of all French oil & gas interests within its borders but promises restitution;
• 1972: Arab terrorists kill 2 Jewish athletes in Munich Olympics;
• 1973: Arab-Israeli fighting breaks out again; OPEC oil embargo; E & W Germany establish diplomatic relations; 
• 1974: Kissinger finally persuades Syria & Israel to agree to ceasefire; workmen clear Suez Canal, closed since 1967; Turkish airliner crashes near Paris killing 345;

America:

• 1950: Sen. McCarthy advises Pres. Truman that State Dept is riddled with Communists & Communist sympathisers; Truman instructs US Atomic Energy Commission to develop hydrogen bomb; Congress passes McCarran Act of severe restrictions against Communists & for registration of all Communist organisations & individuals; assassination attempt on Truman by two Puerto Rican nationalists; cool jazz develops from bebop;  songs: "Goodnight Irene"; world record crowd of 199,854 attend soccer game (Brazil vs Uruguay) in Rio de Janeiro;
• 1951: films: "The African Queen"; "A streetcar named Desire";
• 1952: Truman announces H-bomb tests in Pacific; Dwight D Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander in Europe & is elected President of US; Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap"; films: "High Noon";
• 1953: Arthur Miller's "The crucible"; tornadoes in  Texas, Michigan & Mass. kill 350; all price controls removed;
• 1954: Supreme Court rules segregation by colour in public schools violates 14th amendment; 
  Potomac Charter; US & Canada agree to build radar warning stations across northern Canada to warn of approaching aircraft or missiles; Golding's "Lord of the flies"; Billy Graham's evangelistic crusades; films: "Rear Window"; songs: "Mister Sandman";
• 1955: Peron resigns as Argentinian President; Pres. Eisenhower suffers heart attack; films: "The Seven Year Itch", "Richard III"; songs: "The yellow rose of Texas", "Rock around the clock";
• 1956: Martin Luther King emerges as leader of campaign for desegregation; Fidel Castro lands in Cuba with small armed force intent on the overthrow of the dictator Batista; Elvis Presley gains popularity with "Blue suede shoes" & "Hound dog"; rock & roll dance in vogue;
• 1957: Dr Seuss "The Cat in the Hat"; musical: "West Side Story"; tidal wave follows hurricane Audrey into coasts of Texas & Louisiana killing 530; "Beat Generation" - beatniks;
• 1958: Castro begins "total war" against Batista govt of Cuba; Uris' "Exodus"; films: "Cat on a hot tin roof"; cha cha cha dance; songs: "Chanson d'amour"; US unemployment reaches 5.2m;
• 1959: Batista flees to Dominican Republic; Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba & expropiates US-owned sugar mills; Hawaii becomes 50th state of US; Wesker's "Roots"; films: "Ben Hur"; songs: "He's got the whole world in his hands", "Tom Dooley", "Mack the Knife", "The sound of music"; US automobile accident deaths now tally 1.25m - more than have died in all US wars combined;
• 1960: historic TV debates b/n J.F.Kennedy & R.M.Nixon; Bolt's "A man for all seasons"; Lee's "To kill a mockingbird"; films: "Psycho", "Exodus", "The Entertainer"; songs: "Let's do the twist";
• 1961: US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba; J.F.Kennedy inaugurated as 35th President US, est. Peace Corps; US-trained Cuban exiled rebels attempt unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs for which JFK accepted responsibility for the fiasco; Stone's "The agony & the ecstacy"; Heller's "Catch-22"; songs: "Moon river", "Exodus";
• 1962: Cuban missile crisis: USSR agrees to send arms to Cuba & est. base for fishing fleet & missile base there; USSR offers to withdraw missile base from cuba if US withdraws its base from Turkey - offer rejected & JFK announces USSR will dismantle bases in Cuba & withdraw bombers resulting in end to blockade;
  • Albee's "Whose afraid of Virginia Woolf?"; Kesey's "One flew over the cuckoo's nest"; films: "Lawrence of Arabia", "Cleopatra"
  • Marilyn Monroe dies; songs: "Blowin' in the wind";
• 1963: Castro visits Moscow; US & USSR agree to "hot line" from Kremlin to White House; JFK assassinated; Andy Warhol's pop art shown; films: "Dr Strangelove"; Joan Baez & Bob Dylan lead popularity as singers; US unemployment reaches 6.1%; 300 spectators die in riots at soccer match in Lima; 4,000 die in Cuba & Haiti in a hurricane; 
• 1964: 24th amendment abolishes poll tax; Alaskan earthquake kills 114; Cassius Clay wins world heavy weight boxing championship;
• 1965: L.B.Johnson inaugurated as 36th President US; Medicare bill becomes law; Malcolm X, black muslim leader shot in NY; Martin Luther King leads 4,000 civil rights demonstrators in Alabama to deliver Negro petition; US anti-Vietnam war demonstrations; new US immigration law based on family condition, refugee status & skills, replacing 1921 law based on nationality; "Op" art becomes the rage; films: "Dr Zhivago"; earthquake shakes Chile; 
• 1966: Susan's "Valley of the Dolls"; bishops rule than US Catholics need no longer abstain from eating meat on Fridays except during Lent; films: "Modesty Blaise"; songs: "Born Free", "Strangers in the night"; mini-skirts come into fashion; colour TV becomes popular;
• 1967: 700,000 people march in NY in support of soldiers fighting in Vietnam; 50,000 demonstrate in Washington, D.C. against Vietnam war; Martin Luther King leads anti-war march in NY; films: "Bonnie & Clyde"; Brit. model "Twiggy" Dunne takes US fashion by storm; Billie Jean King stars in tennis; 
• 1968: Martin Luther King is assassinated; Sen. Robert F. Kennedy assassinated after his victory speech; R. Nixon, promising to end Vietnam war, narrowly wins Pres. election; films: "The Odd Couple", "2001, A Space Odyssey"; songs: "Congratulations", "Mrs Robinson"; the "midi" fails to replace the "mini" skirt; 
• 1969: more anti-war protests; Puzo's "The Godfather"; films: "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid", Woodstock pop festival; Manson murders; songs: "Hair", "Aquarius";
• 1970: films: "Catch-22", "Paint your wagon"; 30,000 die in earthquakes, floods & landslides in Peru;
• 1971: Nixon freezes wages/prices for 90 days as inflation rises; films: "A Clockwork Orange", "The French Connection"; cigarette ads banned from US TV;  US devalues dollar; LA earthquake kills 60;
• 1972: Nixon visits China & USSR; Watergate scandal; Nixon re-elected as President of US; Nicaragua earthquake kills 10,000; oil shortage and high petrol prices, further fuelling inflation; "Fiddler on the roof" - longest running Broadway show in history closes; US courts effectively prohibit capital punishment; films: "Cabaret", "The Godfather"; strict anti-hijack measures instituted at US airports; DJ hits 1,000 for 1st time;
• 1973: Watergate hearings; US devalues dollar a 2nd time; Bahamas granted independence; films: "Last tango in Paris";
• 1974: DJ falls to 663, the lowest level since 1970 recession; all price controls end; Peron dies; Nixon resigns after Watergate investigations reveal his involvement; Vice President Ford becomes 39th US President; Ford grants Nixon pardon & limited amnesty to Vietnam War draft evaders & military deserters; Gallup Poll: 40% adults attend church, Catholic church attendance 55% (down from 71% in 1963); Patricia Hearst, kidnapped heiress, announces she has decided to join her captors, the Symbionese Liberation Army; "streaking" becomes a fad; 

Asia:

• China:
  • 1950: Britain recognises Communist China; USSR & Communist China sign 30yr pact; Chiang Kai-shek resumes presidency of Nationalist China; Communist China's forces occupy Tibet; Tibet appeals to UN, but China rejects UN appeal for ceasefire;
  • 1952: Chow En-Lai visits Moscow; China & Mongolia sign 10yr agreement;
  • 1954: US signs pact with Nationalist China;
  • 1957: Chow En-Lai visits Moscow;
  • 1966: Red Guard demonstrates against Western influences;
  • 1967: China explodes its 1st hydrogen bomb;
  • 1971: new era of China-US detente;
• India:
  • 1964: Pandit Nehru dies;
  • 1966: Mrs Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, becomes PM of India;
  • 1971: India, fighting on side of Bengali rebels go to war against Pakistan; Bengal cyclone kills 10,000;
  • 1973: India begins to release 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war held since 1971;
  • 1974: India becomes 6th nation to explode a nuclear device; smallpox epidemic kills 10,000-20,000;
• Pakistan:
  • 1956: Pakistan becomes Islamic republic;
  • 1963: hurricane & resulting tsunamis leave 22,000 dead in E.Pakistan;
  • 1965: cyclones ravage E. Pakistan killing 12,000-20,000;
  • 1970: cyclones & floods kill 500,000 E. Pakistan;
  • 1971: W. Pakistan military regime massacre the Bengali people in Bangladesh with its President Yahya Khan advising to "kill 3 million of them then the rest will eat out of your hands". Within a week, 30,000 were killed in Dacca by death squads roaming the streets, half its population fled and 10 million refugees (of a pop. of 75 million) from E. Pakistan swamped India.
  • 1972: Bangladesh (E. Pakistan) established as sovereign state;
  • 1974: Bangladesh floods kill 2,500;
• Japan:
  • 1954: US-Jap. defence agreement; Burma & Japan sign treaty;
  • 1956: Japan admitted to UN;
• Korea:
  • 1950: Korean war; N. Korean forces invade S. Korea & capture Seoul; Douglas MacArthur appointed commander of UN forces in Korea; UN forces land in S. Korea & recapture Seoul; S. Korean forces cross 38th parallel but UN troops forced to withdraw creating state of emergency in US; Chinese forces cross 38th parallel;
  • 1951: N.Korean forces break through 38th parallel & take Seoul, rejecting US truce offers; Seoul retaken; Gen. MacArthur relieved of Far East command; new N. Korean offensive; UN forces capture "Heartbreak Ridge";
  • 1952: N.Korean hydroelectric plants bombed by US;
  • 1953: Korean armistice signed; US & S. Korea sign mutual defence treaty;
• Vietnam:
  • 1950: US recognise Vietnam & supply arms; US signs military pact with France, Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam; 
  • 1953: Viet. rebels attack Laos;
  • 1954: death knell for French colonialism as French defeated when Dien Bien Phu taken by Viet. Communists led by Ho Chi Minh - 1300 French killed, 10,000 taken prisoner - most dying in captivity; 8,000 Vietnamese killed;  Communists occupy Hanoi;
  • 1962: US military council est. in S. Vietnam;
  • 1963: Buddhist-led military coup overthrows govt of S. Vietnam;
  • 1964: Vietnam war: US destroyer is allegedly attacked off N. Vietnam, US aircraft attack N. Vietnam bases in reprisal leading to escalation of war & heavy fighting;
  • 1965: N. Viet. MIG aircraft shoot down US jets; USSR admits to supplying arms to N. Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh rejects peace talks with US;
  • 1967: Hanoi attacked by US bombers;
  • 1969: US troops hit peak numbers in Vietnam of 543,000; 1st US troops withdrawn; Ho Chi Minh dies; 
  • 1970: US troops in Vietnam reduced to 400,000;
  • 1971: US planes bomb Vietcong supply routes in Cambodia; fighting in Indochina spreads to Laos & Cambodia;
  • 1972: US mines N. Viet. ports; US troops reduced to 24,000;
  • 1973: US-Viet. ceasefire signed; US losses 46,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, 10,000 deaths from non-combat causes; S.Viet deaths 185,000, 496,000 wounded; Vietcong combat deaths 937,000, civilian deaths 415,000, civilians wounded 935,000; total US expenditures $110b;
• Indonesia:
  • 1949: Sukarno, a Nationalist who led Indonesia's independence movement, becomes President of the now independent Indonesia, the 4th most populous country in the world and the highest muslim population, aiming to keep all religious factions placated and hoping to maintain a political neutral policy, maintaining friendship with both Communist east & the capitalist west, in an attempt to build & unite a multi-lingual & multi-cultural nation, but the Cold War was to interfere with his plans.
  • 1950:  Indonesia admitted to UN;
  • 1953, Nixon in the US outlines fears that Communism will advance over Thailand, Malay then Indonesia with the result that Japan will be forced to closer ties to those countries rather than the US.
  • 1956, Sukarno flies to US Congress and delivers speech of his friendship with US, but 3 months later, meets with China & USSR in an attempt to maintain policy of neutrality, but creating fears in the west that he is leaning towards Communism.
  • 1957: success of PKI Communist party in elections fuels more fears in the west. US Pres. Eisenhower backs a covert US military operation to support Indonesian rebels in outer islands of Indonesia, but was forced to withdraw when a US pilot was shot down exposing it, causing it to backfire against the US. Sukarno is angry at this outside influence in his country.
  • 1958: Britain establishes an independent state of Malaysia on Indonesia's border without consulting Indonesia resulting in Indonesia starting a war against them to crush Malaysia. Britain & US tries to remove Sukarno by falsely showing him in pornographic films & attempting assassination 6 times.
  • 1960: PKI becomes largest Communist party outside USSR & China with over 3million members. Sukarno uses the PKI to his advantage & protects it by banning anti-Communist propaganda as well as restraining his army which acted like a political party it inself.
  • 1964: US now in Vietnam War becomes an enemy of many Indonesian people with many protests resulting. When UN backs Malaysia's independence, Sukarno declares he will form an axis with China, pushing the west too far.
  • 1965: At the height of the Cold War, the West hoping that PKI would try a coup, & its failure would form an excuse for Indonesia's army to overthrow Sukarno. On Sept 30,  6 top communist generals are killed by junior army officers resulting in Sukarno making Suharto the leader of the army and to investigate the murders, and US and British backed propaganda falsely blaming the PKI for the brutal killings and accusing PKI women of bestiality and brutality. The army starts long campaign which killed 600,000 to 3 million and arrested without trial some 600,000 PKI members and sympathisers, the scale of which was prevented from reaching western media until late 1990's after the end of Suharto's regime. 80,000 were butchered in Bali alone in 2wks. Sukarno starts to lose control as army-encouraged students protest against him. 
  • 1966: Sukarno is overthrown by military coup by its army & replaced by the US-backed tyrant, President Suharto
  • 1969: incorporates Iran Jaya.
• Other Asian:
  • 1953: Hillary & Tenzing 1st to climb Mt Everest;
  • 1954: SEATO established;
  • 1972: Lon Nol takes control of Cambodia govt; Ceylon becomes a republic & changes its name to Sri Lanka; Phillipine President Ferdinand Marcos declares martial law in response to what he called a "Communist rebellion", Marcos assumes near-dictatorial powers;
  •  
• Australia:
  • 1950: 
    • Menzies outlaws the Communist Party as Australia enters the Korean War
    • the Communist-led Waterside Workers' Federation successfully challenges the Communist Party Dissolution Act
    • women under federal awards granted 75% of male wage (previously 54%)
    • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) introduced
    • Myxomatosis introduced to combat rabbit plague
  • 1951:
    • National service training established for all 18yr olds as part of the Citizen Military Forces (CMF)
    • ANZUS alliance formed; Aust. Financial Review newspaper 1st published; Chiko Roll invented in Bendigo; 
  • 1952: 
    • Honolulu Conference of 3-power Pacific Council (Aust, NZ, US); 1st Brit. atomic tests in Monte Bello Is. WA;
    • two airline policy instituted to maintain competition between ANA and TAA;
    • Paula Stafford a sensation by appearing in a bikini
  • 1953:
    • oil discovered on NW Shelf
    • voluntary health scheme introduced with Govt subsidised health benefit societies to cover health costs
  • 1954:
    • SEATO pact signed; Queen Eliz. II & Prince Philip tour Australia; Vladimir Petrov seeks political asylum;
    • uranium discovered near Mt Isa
  • 1955:
    • splinter group of right-wing ALP split over communist policies & form the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in 1956
    • polio vaccine introduced; "The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" published; Victa lawnmower invented;
  • 1956: 
    • Melbourne Olympic Games; 
    • B&W commercial TV starts; 
    • Barry Humphries creates "Edna Everage"; 
    • subscriber trunk dialling introduced in Sydney & Melbourne;
    • Sir Eugene Goossens, conductor of Sydney Symphony Orchestra has suitcase of pornography seized by customs.
  • 1957: 
    • Ansett takes over ANA to form Ansett-ANA. Utzon wins design for an opera house for Sydney;
    • "They're a weird mob" published by Nino Culotta; Namatjira, Aboriginal artit jailed for 6 mths with hard labour for supplying liquor to fellow Aborigines; Rolf Harris & his 'wobble board' in "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport"
  • 1958:
    • TV expanded into all states; Channel 9 commences "Bandstand";
    • Slim Dusty's "Pub with no beer" - 1st Australian-recorded song to make the charts in England;
    • Monash Uni. established; Aust's 1st nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights;
  • 1959:
    • Aust. pop. reaches 10million; National Service Scheme of 1951 abolished;
    • work begins on Sydney Opera House; Myer Music Bowl opens; Perth's Narrows Bridge & Kwinana Feeeway opens;
    • Aboriginal social security:
      • a range of exclusionary provisions that had limited the rights of Aboriginals to receive social security benefits on the basis that they were not part of Aust. polity were, with the exception of child endowment, repealed & replaced by one provision which denied access to those deemed 'nomadic or primitive' - this last provision was repealed in 1966.
  • 1960:
    • Pilbara iron ore mining possible after bans on iron ore exports lifted
    • DH Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" banned;
    • the famous tied cricket test Aust vs West Indies at the Gabba, Brisbane.
  • 1961:
    • McBride's papers on thalidomide presented;
    • CSL realise that their Salk polio vaccines since 1956 were contaminated with potentially carcinogenic SM40 monkey virus, but decide to still vaccinate millions of children until it was replaced with oral Sabin vaccine in 1965.
  • 1962:
    • Commonwealth Games held in Perth;
    • Sydney's 1st freeway (Cahill) opens; Aborigines get right to vote in federal elections if they enroll;
  • 1963:
    • workers get 3 weeks paid annual leave;
    • Ord River Irrigation Scheme stage 1 completed;
  • 1964:
    • The Australian becomes Aust's 1st national daily newspaper; 
    • National Service introduced as RAAF is sent to Vietnam;
    • Lionel Rose becomes world bantam-weight boxing champion; Beatles tour Australia; oil in Bass Strait;
    • HMAS Melbourne collides with HMAS Voyager off Jervis bay, NSW killing 82.
  • 1965:
    • Menzies announces he will send troops to Vietnam - 1st arrive in May 1966;
    • Sabin oral polio vaccination program launched after testing in Tasmania - national campaign in 1967;
    • "Lolita" & "Lady Chatterley's Lover" removed from banned list but Henry Miller's books still banned
  • 1966:
    • Menzies resigns after record 16yrs in office - replaced by Harold Holt who endorsed Australia's alliance with US in Vietnam by "All the way with LBJ"
    • opposition leader Calwell shot at & wounded while addressing an anti-Vietnam war rally
    • Prince Charles attends Timbertop school, an annexe of Geelong Grammar;
    • Crown of Thorns starfish plague threaten the Great Barrier Reef;
    • pubs allowed to open till 10pm instead of 6pm in Victoria;
    • decimal currency
    • Jean Shrimpton's mini-skirt of 1965 becomes accepted fashion & introduced new fashion accessory - the pantyhose
  • 1967:
    • pop. almost 12million; Ronald Ryan sentenced to death - the last person executed in Australia;
    • Whitlam becomes leader of ALP; referendum votes by 91% to end all discrimination against Aborigines;
    • PM Harold Holt disappears whilst surfing off Portsea;
    • Aust. Workers Union joins ACTU
    • $5 note introduced;  postcode system for mail introduced;
    • 1967 referendum resulted in Aboriginal people being counted in the Census & the Commonwealth would be granted power to make laws for Aboriginal people.
  • 1968:
    • 8,000 Australians in Vietnam war; conscription enforced;
    • Aust's 1st heart transplant operation; KFC introduced;
    • Lionel Rose wins world bantamweight title becoming Australia's 1st aboriginal champion.
  • 1969:
    • Famechon wins world featherweight boxing title; HMAS Melbourne collides with a US destroyer in the Phillipines, killing 73 US officers & sailors
    • mining company Poseidon NL announces discovery of nickel find in WA, shares rocket from $1 to $280 by Feb 1970, then slump disastrously. By the end of the 70's, Aust. produced 11% of world nickel.
    • standard gauge railway completed creating a complete & unbroken line from Sydney to Perth
    • Mt Newman begins iron ore production - the world's largest open cut iron ore mine
    • Brisbane is the 1st capital city to get natural gas, soon followed by Melbourne & Adelaide
    • rock opera "Hair"
  • 1970:
    • Indian-Pacific train passenger service starts - longest stretch of straight track in the world - 478km b/n Ooldea & Nurina
    • anti-war rallies force Australia to reduce troop numbers in Vietnam
    • British research satellite launched from Woomera rocket range, SA
    • Westgate Bridge span collapses during construction killing 35 & injuring 19;
    • seatbelts become compulsory in Victoria (other states followed in 1971)
    • Germaine Greer's "The Female Eunuch"; Pope Paul IV visits Australia;
    • McDonald's & Pizza Hut arrive in Australia
  • 1971: 
    • 72% of Victorian pop. live in Melbourne; 85% Australian pop. are urban;
    • Gorton faces a "no-confidence" motion, & as chairman of the liberals casts the deciding vote against himself. He is replaced by McMahon as PM.
    • Evonne Cawley nee Goolagong wins Wimbledon tennis from Margaret Court.
    • R rating film censorship introduced;
    • Qld premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen declares state of emergency for 1 month in anticipation of anti-apartheid protests during the visit by Springbok Sth African rugby union team.
    • Brisbane's suburban railways are electrified
  • 1972: 
    • Cleo magazine 1st published, complete with discreetly nude male centrefold
    • Whitlam becomes PM, ending 23 years of Coalition rule; Melbourne's 1st stainless steel trains;
    • Lake Pedder flooded despite protestation & a moratorium being recomended by the Fed. Committee of Inquiry;
    • Snedden becomes Liberal leader after McMahon resigns.
    • Shane Gould sets Olympic swimming records for 100, 200 & 400m freestyle at age 15.
    • last Aust. troops withdrawn from Vietnam where 420 were killed; National Service Scheme abolished;
    • Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme completed.
  • 1973: 
    • Sydney Opera House opens after 16yrs construction at cost $100m (original estimate $7m)
    • Aust's 1st legal casino opens at Wrest Point, Tasmania
    • Cosmo magazine 1st published; $50 note; voting age dropped from 21 to 18yrs;
    • Bob Hawke, president of ACTU becomes ALP president despite possible conflict of interests.
    • Melbourne's Bourke St closed to traffic to become a mall;
  • 1974:
    • Brisbane suffers its worst floods since 1893 when more than 600mm rain fell on the city in 3 days killing 15 people and flooding a third of the city leaving $200m damage bill.
    • Tasmania's Gordon Dam completed.
    • Molly Meldrum hosts ABC's "Countdown" program;
    • Australia adopts the metric system with road signs being changed.
    • Bankcard credit system introduced
    • "Advance Australia Fair" becomes national anthem in place of "God Save The Queen"
    • Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin on Christmas Day killing 50 with 16 missing at sea;
• New Zealand:
  •  

Africa:

• 1950: riots in Johannesburg against apartheid;
• 1952: state of emergency in Kenya following Mau Mau disturbances;
• 1956: Sudan proclaimed independent democratic republic;
• 1957: Koprowski commenced forced vaccination of 1 million Belgium Congo children with his chimpanzee-derived live polio vaccine which is likely to have been contaminated with Simian virus and is thought be many that it may be the cause of the HIV epidemic of the 1980's which started in the same areas in Belgium Congo where the vaccinations took place. Eventually he lost the polio vaccine race to his competitor Sabin.
• 1959: Belgium grants reforms in Congo/Zaire after its brutal exploitation resulted in a wave of nationalistic riots in the 1950's.
  • Rwanda:
    • Belgium prepares to leave Rwanda after having occupied it since WWI and during this time favoured the minority Tutsis who tended to own cattle and appeared to be more intelligent and in effect became the aristocracy, than the majority subordinate Hutus who worked on farms but did not own cattle; The differential treatment set the scene for the Hutu uprising in 1959, Hutu government from 1962 to 1994 which discriminated against the Tutsis and perpetuated tribalism & extremist Hutu genocidal wars against the Tutsis in the 1960's and again in 1994.
• 1960: Belgian Congo/Zaire granted full independence but civil war soon erupted as the President Kasavubu and his PM were in conflict, the Soviet-allied PM Lumumba was murdered, allegedly with complicity of US & Belgium and was replaced by the activist Tshombe who had temporarily seceded a province.
• 1961: UN general assembly condemns apartheid; Tanganyika conference moves to protect African wildlife;
• 1962: Uganda, Rwanda & Tanganyika become independent;
• 1963: Kenya becomes independent republic within Commonwealth;
• 1964: Zanzibar declared a republic, sultan banished & unites with Tanganyika to form Tanzania; Kaunda becomes President of Northern Rhodesia which becomes independent republic of Zambia; Nyasaland becomes independent country of Malawi within the Commonwealth;
• 1965: 
  • Gambia becomes independent; Algerian revolution; Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration Independence; Brit. imposes oil embargo on Rhodesia; 
  • Congo/Zaire: Joseph Mobutu leads a coup to overthrow Pres. Kasavubu & becomes an authoritarian president until 1993
• 1966: military coup in Ghana; Brit. Guiana becomes independent nation of Guyana;
• 1968: Mauritius becomes independent state within C'wealth;
• 1970: Biafra capitulates to federal Nigerian govt ending 2yr civil war; Gambia proclaimed republic within C'wealth;
• 1971: 
  • Idi Amin overthrows the Obote presidency in Uganda
  • Pres. Mobutu renames his country from Congo to Zaire, changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko, banned European names & dress & promoted use of African languages. He allegedly stole billions of Western aid & earnings from mineral wealth, and following the Belgian tradition, amassed a vast personal fortune while his nation suffered economic ruin.
• 1972: 
  • largest diamond ever discovered - the Star of Sierra Leone (969.8 carats)
  • Burundi conflict with mass murder of Hutu
• 1974: Africa hit by severe famine;

Science & Technology:

• 1950: plutonium separated from pitchblende; californium; berkelium; Einstein's general field theory; meprobomate tranquilliser; antihistamines for colds & allergies; 1.5m TV sets in US;
  • pop: world 2.3b; US 151m; London 8.3m; NY 7.8m; Tokyo 5.3m; Moscow 4.1m; 1.5m Germans still missing;
• 1951: 15m TV sets in US; colour TV introduced in US; electric power from atomic energy; heart-lung machine;  Gordion, the Phrygian capital 4000-3000BC excavated;
• 1952: isotopes used in medicine; OCP (phosphorated hesperidin); hydrogen bomb; panoramic movie; Jericho excavated;
• 1953: cosmic ray observatory erected; Hillary climbs Mt Everest; Kinsey's "Sexual behaviour in human female"; rocket-powered plane flies at 1,600mph; lung cancer reported as attributable to cigarette smoking;
• 1954: nuclear powered submarine; Salk's polio vaccine;
• 1955: ultra-high frequency waves produced; nuclear power; vitamin B12; molecular structure of insulin; artificial diamonds; commercial TV in UK; Universal Copyright Convention takes effect;
• 1956: neutrino produced; anti-neutron; ion microscope; Transatlantic cable service; 4 new antibiotics; Sabin polio vaccine;
• 1957: USSR launches Sputnik I & II - 1st earth satellites; nobelium; Fort Salmanassar in Nimrud-Kalash (840BC) excavated;
  • 71 cities now have pop. > 1m (cw 16 in 1914); 
• 1958: stereophonic recordings; NASA established; Van Allen belts around earth;
• 1959: USSR launches rocket with monkeys aboard; xi-particle;
• 1960: optical microwave laser; gamma ray discoveries; chlorophyll synthesised; pituitary hormone synthesised; methicillin; laser; Walsh & Piccard dive to record 35,800 feet in the Pacific;  AMA issues report of higher death rates in middle aged male smokers; 1st weather satellite;
• 1961: Yuri Gagarin (USSR) orbits earth; Alan Shepard (US) makes 1st US space flight; leucotomy operations; Atlas computer; 
  • pop: China 660m; India 435m; USSR 209m; US 179m; Japan 95m; Pakistan 94m; Brazil 66m; W. Germ. 54m; Gr.Brit. 53m; Sabin's oral live attenuated polio vaccine starts to replace the injected Salk vaccine.
• 1962: Mariner 2 launched as probe to Venus; molecular biology advances; Carson's "Silent Spring"; 250m year old fossil algae revived; thalidomide causes birth defects; world pop. 3.1b with 1.6b adults of which 44% are illiterate;
  • nuclear reactors: US 200; Britain 39; USSR 39;
• 1963: nuclear testing ban signed by US, USSR, Gr. Britain; anti-xi-zeno; transmission of nerve impulses; friction welding; quasars; De Bakey uses artificial heart;
  • religions: Christians 890m; Buddhists 200m; Hindus 365m; Jews 13m;
• 1964: omega-minus particle; new theory of gravitation;
• 1965: 1st flight around world over both poles; gas chromatography;
• 1966: Soviet Luna 9 then US Surveyor I soft-lands on moon; Aldrin's space walk;
• 1967: Montreal Expo '67; synthetic DNA;  Barnard's 1st heart transplant operation; cryosurgery for Parkinson's disease; 7 new mesons; Morris' "The Naked Ape"; 
• 1968: Apollo 8 orbits moon; pulsars; Watson's "The Double Helix"; foundations of Temple of Herod (70AD) discovered;
  • TV sets: US 78m; USSR 25m; Japan 20.5m; Gr.Brit. 19m; W. Germ. 13.5m; France 10m;
• 1969: Concorde; Apollo 11 - man on moon; gravitational waves observed; US acts to reduce food additives that may cause cancer - cyclamates, MSG and to ban insecticide DDT; Mariner probe images of Mars; inflation becomes worldwide problem; trousers become acceptable wear for women; world pop. growth 2% pa;
• 1970: gene synthesis; Apollo 13; world recession & 8 year bear market bottoms with DJ hitting 631;
  • pop: Peoples Rep. China 760m; India 550m; USSR 243m; US 205m;
• 1971: Apollo 14 & 15 explore moon's surface; Mariner 9 orbits Mars; USSR soft lands capsule on Mars; human growth hormone synthesised;
• 1972: Apollo 16 & 17 on moon; Soviet Venus 8 lands on Venus;
• 1973: Skylab; Pioneer 10 probe to Jupiter transmits images back; energy crisis;
• 1974: worldwide inflation; Skylab 3 astronauts 84 days in space; Mariner 10 transmits images of both Venus & Mercury; USSR space probe lands on Mars & detects more water vapour than expected;  jet flight London-NY under 2hrs, reaching speeds of 2,000mph;
  • pop: world 3.782b