October 13

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
White House cornerstone laid, 1792
American Revolution
Continental Congress authorizes first naval force, 1775
Automotive
World's first traveling art museum opens in Virginia, 1953
Civil War
Ohio voters reject Vallandigham, 1863
Cold War
Popular sci-fi film reflects America's ambivalence about nuclear weapons, 1957
Crime
Grand jury dismissed in JonBenet Ramsey murder case, 1999
Disaster
Chilean miners are rescued after 69 days underground, 2010
General Interest
Continental Navy established, 1775
Sir Isaac Brock saves Canada, 1812
B'nai B'rith founded, 1843
Palestinians hijack German airliner, 1977
Hollywood
Jimmy Stewart stars in Harvey, 1950
Literary
Poet Robert Lowell sentenced to prison, 1943
Music
Singer Charlie Rich protests John Denver's big win at the CMA Awards, 1975
Old West
Texans ratify a state constitution and approve annexation, 1845
Presidential
White House cornerstone is laid, 1792
Sports
American Basketball Association debuts, 1967
Vietnam War
McNamara claims that war is progressing satisfactorily, 1966
Sir Robert Thompson advises President Nixon, 1970
World War I
Poet Charles Sorley killed at Loos, 1915
World War II
Italy declares war on Germany, 1943

Cold War

Oct 13, 1957:

Popular sci-fi film reflects America's ambivalence about nuclear weapons

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Movie audiences in America are treated to the science-fiction thriller, The Amazing Colossal Man. The film revolves around a character named Colonel Manning, who strays too close to the test of an atomic device in the Nevada desert and is bombarded with "plutonium rays."

This was but one of many such movies released in the 1950s, which cannot be dismissed as merely amusing artifacts from that decade. While these weapons were the backbone of the nation's defense system, many in the United States were uncertain about the atomic and hydrogen bombs: Were they too inhumane; what were the repercussions of radioactivity; could they ever really be used without sealing the fate of all humankind?

Hollywood registered these concerns and played upon them. In Them! (1954), ants exposed to radiation grow to enormous size and threaten humanity; The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), tells the tale of a dinosaur, thawed out by an atomic test in the Arctic, that ravages New York City; and, in one of the best of this class of film, a man survives being caught in a nuclear test, only to find himself shrinking away to nothing in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). The Cold War, and the issues it raised among the American people, had become part of the nation's popular culture.

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This Week in History, Oct 13 - Oct 19

Oct 13, 1957
Popular sci-fi film reflects America's ambivalence about nuclear weapons
Oct 14, 1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins
Oct 15, 1990
Mikhail Gorbachev wins Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 16, 1964
China joins A-bomb club
Oct 17, 1986
U.S. aid to Contras signed into law
Oct 18, 1989
East Germany and Hungary move toward democracy
Oct 19, 1958
The first Cold War world's fair closes

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