The 50s is often regarded in hindsight as a dull decade, wedged between the war torn 40s and the swinging 60s. However, in reality it was a time of financial prosperity, technological advancement, and patriarchy. ‘Face the future’ was the Labour Party’s 1945 election slogan, which was the mentality that characterised nation’s approach to the 50s after emerging from the suffering and poverty of World War II. Society was also on the brink of many technological developments that would change the fate of the world forever. Our collection of authentic newspapers is the largest in the world, and a fantastic way to learn about this decade that was anything but dull.

Key 1950 events include the introduction of the credit card, which would change the lives of people all over the world. It was the year the Korean war began, after the country had been divided during WWII when the North became communist and the south remained capitalist. This was the year that James Dean got his big break in a Pepsi commercial; the Belgian King Leopold III was reinstated to the throne after giving Belgium’s unconditional surrender to Nazi Germany; and the mummified body of the Tollund Man was found in a peat bog in the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. 1950 newspapers feature plenty of exciting tales from the past. Take a trip back through history with an original newspaper written by people who lived at the time. For a full review of this tumultuous year in history, you can read our in-depth 1950 timeline.

12th January 1950
The British submarine ‘Truculent’ collides with a Swedish oil tanker in the Thames Estuary and sinks; sixty-four people die.

21st January 1950
George Orwell, English author of “1984” and “Animal Farm” (b. 1903) dies.

26th January 1950
India formally declares its own constitution, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.

12th February 1950
Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.

1st March 1950
Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying against both the United States and Britain for the Soviet Union. Fuchs had given top secret atomic bomb data to the Soviet Union, which had led to his arrest.

12th March 1950
An aeroplane carrying returning rugby fans from Ireland to Wales crashes near to Llandow, with the loss of eighty lives.

13th May 1950
The first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone, England.

25th June 1950
North Korean troops cross the 38th parallel into South Korea. The Korean War officially begins.

16th July 1950
Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 to win the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

5th August 1950
Florence Chadwick swims across the English Channel in thirteen hours and twenty-two minutes.

15th August 1950
An earthquake and terrible flooding kills 574 people in Assam, India, and leaves 5,000,000 homeless.

7th September 1950
A coal mine collapses in New Cumnock, Scotland, killing thirteen miners; 116 are rescued.

20th November 1950
Iconic war poet T. S. Eliot speaks-out against television in the United Kingdom.

22nd November 1950
Shirley Temple announces her retirement from show business.

26th November 1950
Troops from the People’s Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces at Chosin. Any hopes of a quick end to the Korean War are dashed.

3rd December 1950
Mount Etna erupts in Sicily. The eruption lasts for 371 days, causing damage to vineyards and orchards.

24th December 1950
Scottish nationalists take the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey.

28th December 1950
The Peak District becomes Britain’s first National Park.

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