The Space Program: The "Space Race"

During the late fifties, the Soviet Union and the United States battled over who could be the first to send something up into space. October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union won this race when they launched Sputnik, a satellite that circled the globe. It traveled 18,000 miles per hour. It completed a rotation around the Earth within only 96 minutes! Immediately after this shocking event, the United States poured their efforts into making their own satellite. Their first attempt failed when the rocket toppled onto the ground. Finally on January 31, 1958 the first American satellite was launched.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union felt a need to push their space program in order to go above and beyond each other. The Soviet Union was the first to send a man into space, which was a risky decision. On April 12, 1961 Yuri A. Gagarin was the first to travel into space, surpassing the American’s for the second time in this “space race”.
The United States government wanted to out shine the Soviet Union, but simply sending a man into space was not going to do it. One month after Gagarin was launched, an American astronaut followed suit. Meanwhile, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was developing a way to send a man to a moon. They set up testing launch sites to develop their plans further.
Finally, after working diligently for seven years, the U.S. was able to beat the Soviet Union for the first time. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Thousands of American citizens learned of this through television sets that broadcasted it. Kennedy was thrilled to have been a part of this event, which became the biggest bookmark in American history.
With this final feat, the Soviet Union was unable to compete with America’s latest achievement. This concluded the infamous “space race”. As a result of the countless months spent on developing new technologies, space and defense related industries expanded and the federal government provided funding for more research.

By: Liz and Noel

1950's Culture

The 1950’s were revolutionary times in which Americans celebrated the return of their soldiers. The baby boom during the fifties involved the birthrate skyrocketing after soldiers began returning home. With men home from war, women happily returned to their positions as housewives, yet not all gave up their jobs.
With the baby boom, education systems were forced to grow in order to accommodate for the incoming students; 10 million new students entered elementary school during the 50’s. There were increased jobs in the toy business due to the demand for child entertainment.
Adult leisure became more widespread. Home appliances, like the invention of the washing machine and dishwasher, made it easier for women go out without worrying. Fans went out to sports events and participated in bowling, fishing, and hunting. Magazines and comic books entertained millions of readers. The populace read more fiction books, for their amusement, rather than educational ones; they indulged in romance and mystery novels.
With the growing population, came the automotive boom (auto mania) and in five years car sales rose by one million. Commuting workers needed cars to get from their suburban neighborhoods to more urban areas. With the influx of cars, more efficient routes of travel were built such as highways and interstates.
During the 1950’s advertising flourished, creating mass consumerism. On television, billboards or in magazines, these advertisements brought customers to stores. Housewives were drawn to advertisements for the newest appliances to make their work at home easier. Planned obsolescence became a system for manufacturers so that owners would need to replace an item after a few short years. The credit system allowed people to spend more freely knowing that they could buy now and pay later. Because of this rise in credit, private debt increased by over $100 billion.

by Noel Thompson and Liz Talalai