Explore 1426 historical events from 1950–1959.
Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate. He is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan k…
Gichin Funakoshi, Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (born 1868)
Oskar-Heinrich "Pritzl" Bär was a German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. Bär flew more than one thousand combat missions, and fought in the Weste…
Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (born 1913)
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican senator from Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most …
Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1908)
Sir Albert Ernest de Silva was a Ceylonese business magnate, banker, barrister and public figure, considered to be the most prominent Ceylonese philanthropist of the 20th century. …
Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman (born 1887)
Michael (Mihály) Fekete was a Hungarian-Israeli mathematician.
Michael Fekete, Hungarian-Israeli mathematician and academic (born 1886)
Mariya Ivanovna Vassilieva, gallicised and known in Western sources as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian-born painter and set designer active in Paris.
Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (born 1884)
Keith Phillip Andrews was an American racecar driver. He was killed after crashing his car during practice for the 1957 Indianapolis 500.
Keith Andrews, American race car driver (born 1920)
Eliot Ness was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone while enforcing Prohibition in Chicago. He was leader of a team of law enforcement agents…
Eliot Ness, American federal agent (born 1903)
Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artisti…
Alexander Vertinsky, Ukrainian-Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (born 1889)
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the …
Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (born 1885)
James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Cana…
Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1892)
Leo Joseph "Bud" Goodwin was an American swimmer, diver, and water polo player who competed for the New York Athletic Club. He participated for the U.S. in the 1904 and 1908 Summer…
Leo Goodwin, American swimmer, diver, and water polo player (born 1883)
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: Franken…
James Whale, English director (born 1889)
Piero Carini was a racing driver from Italy. He was born in Genoa and died in Saint-Étienne, France.
Piero Carini, Italian race car driver (born 1921)
Stefanos Sarafis was an officer of the Hellenic Army and Major General in EAM-ELAS, who played an important role during the Greek Resistance.
Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (born 1890)
Leopold Henryk Staff was a Polish poet; an artist of European modernism twice granted the Degree of Doctor honoris causa by universities in Warsaw and in Kraków. He was also nomina…
Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (born 1878)
Irving Knott Baxter was an American athlete, who won the gold medal in both the men's high jump and the pole vault at the 1900 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France.
Irving Baxter, American high jumper and pole vaulter (born 1876)
James Robert Williams was a Canadian cartoonist who signed his work J. R. Williams. He was best known for his long-run daily syndicated panel Out Our Way. As noted by Coulton Waugh…
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James Francis Dorsey was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You " and "…
Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The Dorsey Brothers and The California Ramblers) (born 190
Dorothy Miller Richardson was a British author and journalist. Author of Pilgrimage, a sequence of 13 semi-autobiographical novels published between 1915 and 1967—though Richardson…
Dorothy Richardson, English journalist and author (born 1873)
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered recognition in 1949 as the associated State of …
South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm began a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon, using nuclear fusion. The most destructive weapons ever created, their yields…
The United Kingdom tested its first hydrogen bomb over Malden Island in Operation Grapple
John George Diefenbaker was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1935 and 1979 to lead the pa…
Led by John Diefenbaker (pictured), the Progressive Conservative Party won a plurality of House of Commons seats in the
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. Prior to her m…
Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco