The 1950s - HISTORY

The 1950s were about more than just poodle skirts and rock and roll.

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Flashback: Mall Shopping in the 1950s

The Harlem Hellfighters were an African-American infantry unit in WWI who spent more time in combat than any other American unit. Despite their courage, sacrifice and dedication to their country, they returned home to face racism and segregation from their fellow countrymen.

Learn more about the 1930s, a particularly tumultuous decade in world history that got its start with a bang - or, more accurately, a crash.

Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. The elopement takes place at San Francisco City Hall, and draws a record crowd.

Public acceptance of the VCR was not immediate, but it still had many enthusiasts, including the actor Tony Curtis, who speaks in 1971 of the device and its impact on his new television program "The Persuaders."

On March 1, 1954, five Congressmen were shot when a gang of Puerto Rican Nationalists opened fire on the House of Representatives. News coverage of the event reveals suspicions that the shooters are part of the same group that attempted the assassination of President Harry Truman in November 1950.