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**America in the 50's**
- The African-American Civil Rights reform was introduced in 1955. It was against any racial discrimination, mostly against African-American people. - Cars are getting updated - more modern. - Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953. - America explodes the first thermonucler bomb at Enewetak Island (1953) - Richard Nixon's Checkers speech was on TV and watched by 56 million people. (1952) - The Supreme Court bans racial segregation in schools. (1954) - Rosa Parks - black woman - refuses in 1955 to sit in the back of a bus (because of the skin-colour-segregation) - it becomes very big in the news of America. - Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th state. = =

The awesome Korean War
The war between North Korea and the Republic of South Korea lasted from from 1950-1953. It started as a civil war but soon it became a proxy war (an indirect war between two powers) between U. S. and A & The Sovjet power supreme. OH HAI RASMUZ HAVE U HAD A GOOF TAIM! oh hai at first i was liek .. but then i lold! :D

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= = =Teenagers and their idols= Mette, Nicholas & Nina During the 1950s teenagers were the prime marketing group for the commercial industry. TV, magazines, films and rock stars had influenced the youth of America in such an extent that teenagers became the prime target of marketing and advertisements. In this period, teenagers made up the entire market of fashion and music. Musicians such as Elvis Presley (Love me tender, Hound Dog) Jerry Lewis (Great balls of fire,) Bill Hayley (Rock around the clock) and film stars James Dean and Marlon Brando were hugely popular among teenagers, and as a result the teenagers emulated their fashion, creating a whole new look - what would be known as "greasers" (as seen in the movie "Grease") and "preppies".

The influence of music was also important in understanding the sudden change of norms and rules in society. The gap between parents and their children would become bigger and bigger, as rock music grew ever more popular. Teenagers would become more set upon their own convictions than their parents, generally viewing freedom of choice as life essential. This would lead to an expansion in the travelling industry, as teenagers travelled across the world to experience a host of cultures different from their own. It would also lead to an increase in concert tickets being sold, and a general increase in everything concerning popular culture.

1) In 1950, Truman was the president of USA 2) There was a war going on in Korea at this time 3) 1951, We’ve got the still camera built with flash 4) Churchill became prime minister in UK 5) DNA was discovered 6) 1954, The racesegregation came illegal 7) 1955, James Dean dies in a car accident 8) 1959, Barbie came out 9) 1960: 60% american families owns their own houses 10) Many musicians supported the rights of the depressed afro-americans, seen both directly and indirectly in their music. For example James Brown ("I'm black and I'm proud") and Aretha Franklin ("Respect"). 11) The Cold War was on the eve to begin, with the Air Blockade of Berlin (1948) sparking a major uproar against communism within the borders of the United States. Throughout the fifties, the Cold War gradually intensified, resulting in a major international crisis, The Cuban Missile Crisis in the early sixties.​

The Suez-crisis was a war between Israel and Egypt, as another result of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The leader of Egypt at this time, Gamal Abdel Nasser, attempted to nationalize the Suez-canal in order to block this important seaway, preventing ship traffic to many cities in Israel, and ultimately hindering their economy. Obviously, Israel wanted to prevent this, and even got support from countries such as England and France, because of their trading partners in the east, and the therefore importance of the passage. The invasion ended when both the USA and the Soviet Union stated their opposition. Seen from a global perspective, the fact that this statement forced the war to stop emphasized the less importance of the European nations, and the superiority of the two superpowers, especially the USA.

=The Long Boom= Johan, Jannick og Emilie

"The Long Boom" (also known as "the Golden Age of Capitalism") was a period of economic growth and prosperity in the western world, lasting from the end of World War 2 in 1945 until the great recession in the 1970's. Especially in Japan, France and Italy the economic growth accelerated, resulting in their GDP's being larger than that of the UK during this period of time (even though the UK also experienced the absolutely largest increase in prosperity in its entire history). The different countries have different terms for it ("Trente Glorieuses" or Glorious Thirty in France, Germany and Austria had "Wirtschaftswunder, and Italy "Miracolo economico) but they all experienced this economic surge upwards. One of the causes was the relatively quick return to more normal relations between the former enemies, and the determination from the major powers towards the goal of evading a catastrophe of the scale of the great depression. The Marshall plan was instituted, Keynsian economics promoted, as well as free trade. (One alternative theory is that the cause was that the enormous spendings on military power helped create production and stabilize the global economic situation) This "Long Boom" had many consequences and/or parallel movements tied to the period, such as the cold war, decolonization, increase in consumerism, the humble beginnings of the wellfare state, etc..

This period also fathered an ideological belief that technological advance would only (or primarily) create scientific solutions, and, because of this techno-positivism, scientific solutions was considered to be able to solve a very large majority of the worlds problems. Examples of this are the 1964 New York Worlds Fair and the Great Society programs of Lyndon Johnson (aiming at eradicating poverty entirely from the States). However, this optimism died out during the years of the 1970's because of high oil prices destroying the picture of the entirely unstoppable technological advance.

by Johan, Jannick and Emilie C
 * SLANG **

SLANG EXAMPLES Slang has always been the province of the young. Words come in and out of favour in direct proportion to the speed with which they travel through the age ranks. Once college kids know that high school kids are using a term, it becomes passé. And seniors don't want to sound like juniors etc. Once a word finds its way to mainstream media or worse, is spoken by parents, no young person with any self-respect would use it. Fifties slang wasn't particularly colourful since hot-rodders (car enthusiasts) and Beats (subculture) provided inspiration. The word “teenager” was created in the 50’s! They created that word because of the population of that age group. That is a fun fact to know huh? The saying, “You want a knuckle sandwich?” started in the 50’s. It was used so often, no one really knew where it came from. The correct definition is “a punch in the mouth.”
 * DID YOU KNOW? **
 * DID YOU KNOW //THIS//? **

Christian Dior dominated fashion in the fifties. Dior's clothes aimed only at wealthy clients. Dior's influence continued throughout the 50s. In 1953, he introduced the Princess Line, and in 1955 the A-line. Skirts were full and wide and bright colours were in. The look was glamorous. Girls aspired to look like movie stars. The Dior look was challenged in the mid fifties when Coco Chanel introduced her new Chanel suit. It was a simple design, featuring a just below the knee skirt and a collarless jacket finished with gold braid. It quickly became the standard formal look for women at all social levels.
 * Fashion in the 1950's**

The pointed pre-formed conically stitched bra was a popular fashion accessory of the 50s. It looked like this: Hairstyles in the fifties reflected the glamorous look of movie stars. These fabulous styles were achieved using curlers and lots of back combing.

Women in the 50s had no problems about wearing fur. Every girl's dream was a mink fur coat. Imitation fur, or fur fabric, was also popular. The movie Grease is about the youth in the 50's. The glothes say a lot about what you wore back then.