Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1950s:
U.S. Event
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Farmers Use Trucks
Trucks began to replace rails as the major form of transportation for farm products. With the passage of the Interstate Highway Act in 1956, it became easier for trucks to travel across the country on good roads.
Find out about transportation in Iowa. - 1950s:
U.S. Event
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Population Shifts
During the late 1940s the population of the United States began to shift as people moved from rural areas into cities. Fewer people farmed. More people moved into manufacturing jobs.
- 1950-53:
U.S. Event
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Korean War
The United States was involved in the Korean War. Over 30,000 American service personnel were killed.
- 1950s:
U.S. Event
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Air Conditioning
People started using air conditioners in their homes.
Find out more about what was changed by electricity. - 1950:
Iowa Event
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Iowa's population: 2,621,073
- 1951:
Iowa Event
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Blind Wrestlers Win
The MAASB (Midwest Athletic Association of Schools for the Blind) held their first wrestling championship--where the Iowa team took first place.
Find out more about wrestling in Iowa. - 1952:
Iowa Event
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Polio Reaches Peak
- 1954:
U.S. Event
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A Vaccine for Polio
A vaccine for polio was tested successfully on 13,000 children in Woodbury, Linn and Scott counties in Iowa. The next year the Salk vaccine was available to the public.
Find out more about polio in Iowa. - 1954:
U.S. Event
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Segregation Outlawed
The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that segregation in public schools was illegal.
Find out about civil rights in Iowa. - 1955:
Iowa Event
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National Farmers Organization Formed
The National Farmers Organization (NFO) was founded in Corning, Iowa, to combat low prices for farmers.
Find out more about the economics of agriculture. - 1956:
U.S. Event
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Soil Bank Program Began
The U.S. Department of Agriculture entered into conservation contracts with landowners to share the cost of converting cropland from production to protective vegetation to help prevent erosion.
Find out more about environmental issues in Iowa. - 1956:
U.S. Event
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Federal Highway Act Passed
- 1956:
Iowa Event
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Iowa Federation of Labor Forms
In 1956 the Iowa State Federation of Labor and the Iowa State Industrial Union Council met in a convention in Des Moines and merged to form the Iowa Federation of Labor.
Find out more about labor unions in Iowa. - 1957:
Iowa Event
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First NCASB Wrestling Championship
The first wrestling championship for the North Central Association of Schools for the Blind (NCASB) was held in Vinton.
Find out more about wrestling in Iowa. - 1957:
Iowa Event
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The Music Man Opens on Broadway
Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" opened on Broadway in December 1957 and went on for a 1,375 performance run. The cast album won the very first Grammy Award ever presented. The "Music Man" won eight Tony Awards with Willson winning for Best Musical Author and Best Composer and Lyricist. The movie version won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score.
Find out more about Meredith Willson. - 1958:
U.S. Event
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First U.S. Space Satellite Launched
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed by Congress. Explorer I was launched. It was the first satellite launched by the United States.
Find out about Iowa's space industry. - 1958:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Discovers Radiation Belt Around Earth
Dr. James Van Allen, as a professor of astronomy and space science at the University of Iowa, led the nation in experiments related to the "space race." Scientific instruments designed at the university under the leadership of Van Allen were carried on missions to the Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (on the Pioneer program, Mariner program, Voyager program, Galileo spacecraft). The discoveries contributed vital segments to the world's knowledge of energetic particles, plasmas and radio waves throughout the solar system.
Find out more about Iowa innovators. - 1959:
Iowa Event
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Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Renamed
In 1959 the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Ames was officially renamed Iowa State University of Science and Technology. The name would eventually be changed to Iowa State University.
Find out more about higher education in Iowa. - 1959:
U.S. Event
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Hula Hoop Craze
- 1959:
Iowa Event
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The Day the Music Died
Early in the morning of February 3, 1959, an airplane carrying Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the "Big Bopper" crashed outside Mason City. The popular rock and roll singers had just completed a concert at the nearby Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. A 1971 song by Don McLean, "American Pie," contains many references to this day, including the phrase "The Day the Music Died."
Find out about the arts in Iowa. - 1959:
U.S. Event
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Revolution in Cuba
Communist Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. The United States tried to help overthrow the Castro government in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
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