Historic Baby Boomer Events
Overview (1946 - 1964)
If America values freedom, stable principles, traditional families, truth, justice, law and order, mercy and grace, and equal rights, it must protect against anything undermining these values. While Christ's message is the answer, the Church must play a significant role in addressing and overcoming these struggles.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
The Baby Boomer Generation (Boomers) consists of the children of soldiers who returned from World War II. This generation played a key role in ushering in the era of Rock 'n' Roll and significantly engaged in the sexual revolution. They were also prominent in leading protests against the Vietnam War. In contrast, the Silent Generation had not protested the Korean "Police Action," as Congress never officially declared it a war. Interestingly, Boomers largely accepted the polio vaccine, with very little to no public outcry against it. During their lifetime, Boomers witnessed historical milestones such as the rebirth of Israel as a nation, the founding of NATO (which succeeded the failed League of Nations), the rise of McCarthyism, the development of the Interstate Highway System, and advancements in nuclear power.
The Boomers lived through a time of intense global tension, marked by the transformation of the Atomic Bomb into the Hydrogen Bomb, a weapon thousands of times more destructive. The power of this bomb was such that an Hydrogen bomb explosion above a country, known as an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) attack, could completely disable that nation's AC power grid, potentially resulting in 90 percent death rates within the first year after its use. This grim possibility prompted global efforts to prevent such attacks through treaties among nations possessing nuclear technology, as the consequences of a nuclear strike were considered "too terrible to contemplate."
Concerns about hydrogen weapons instilled a palpable and unsettling fear in the world, leading schools to instruct children to 'duck and cover' under their desks in case the United States was ever attacked with such a weapon. The beginning of the Cold War era was characterized by former World War II allies, such as Russia and China, becoming adversaries as communism spread. As a generation, Boomers played a crucial role in advancing Civil Rights. They were at the forefront of the movement, advocating for equality and justice. They witnessed major events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the election, and the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and later Robert Kennedy, his brother, and then Dr. Martin Luther King. You can explore these significant events further using the Year Selector above.
1946 - United Nations & Nuclear Energy
The General Assembly of the United Nations held its first meeting in January. The fifty-one original member states met at Westminster Central Hall in London, England. They adopted their first resolution, which dealt with the new issues related to atomic energy and nuclear weapons.
The League of Nations held its final meeting in April. Founded in 1920 after World War I, the League of Nations was intended to maintain worldwide peace through an international governing body. Despite being first proposed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, the United States never joined the organization and lacked the power to enforce its directives.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) was created and held its first session in November. Its purpose was to prevent the possibility of a world war by nurturing worldwide peace through collaboration on educational, scientific, and cultural issues.
The Mensa Society was created in England to provide a nurturing and inclusive club. Membership was limited to those with an IQ in the top 2 percent.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946, also known as the McMahon Act, was signed into law by President Truman. The act created the civilian-controlled United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to oversee the creation of nuclear weapons, research and implement the peaceful use of atomic energy, and regulate the nuclear power industry until 1974, when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was created.
After the end of World War II, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased, leading to heightened hostilities between the U.S. and its allies and the U.S.S.R. and its allies, known as the Cold War. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave one of his most well-known speeches in Fulton, Missouri, in which he coined the phrase "Iron Curtain" to describe the symbolic divide in Europe between communism and democracy.
1947 - Marshal Plan Introduced
U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall announced the Marshall Plan. Marshall expressed an urgent need for the United States to help Europe recover from the devastation of World War II.
The IMF was conceived following the breakdown of world trade and currencies during the Great Depression to oversee the international monetary system of exchange rates and international payments.
Independent, underground Jewish militias waged a bitter guerilla war against the British, including bombing attacks against the British Military Headquarters. The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine recommended the partition of Palestine into two separate states, one Arab and one Jewish, with the city of Jerusalem being under the direct administration of the United Nations.
President Harry S. Truman outlined the Truman Doctrine to the United States Congress, speaking on the importance of helping secure the democracies of foreign nations facing foreign and domestic authoritarian threats. His speech marked the beginning of the Cold War.
Chuck Yeager, a United States Air Force Captain and World War II veteran, was the first to break the sound barrier. Yeager made history while testing the Bell X-1 experimental rocket plane. He flew the plane just over Mach 1 at over 40,000 feet.
The National Security Act was a major restructuring of the United States military, creating the Department of Defense and the National Security Council (NSC). It served as a helpful tool for Truman and future presidents to coordinate and consult on foreign policy issues during the Cold War. It also created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a civilian-based intelligence-collecting institution used for secretive operations within foreign nations.
1948 - State of Israel Born
The creation of Israel marked the first time in 2,000 years that an independent Jewish state had existed. David Ben-Gurion became the country's first Prime Minister. Immediately after the creation of Israel, the Arab-Israeli War began when forces from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan invaded the country.
The first Land camera, the Model 95, was sold in Boston at the Jordan Marsh department store for $89.75. This model was the prototype for all Polaroid Land cameras produced for the next 15 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948. The date it was founded became a worldwide awareness day known as World Health Day. The organization was an agency of the United Nations.
Religious Instruction Ruling: On March 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution. Instances of Polio (Infantile Paralysis) increased around the world.
1949 - Fourth Geneva Convention and NATO
The Fourth Geneva Convention was agreed upon. The previous three Geneva Conventions had dealt with rules of war for combatants and the measure to protect civilians in the fourth Geneva Convention was largely a reaction to the atrocities committed against civilians during World War II. It outlawed murder, torture, degradation and humiliation, hostage taking, and sentencing or executing persons in the absence of a court.
The Lucky Lady II airplane completed the first non-stop circumnavigation flight after 94 hours and 1 minute of travel time. The Boeing B-50 Superfortress plane was piloted by Captain James Gallagher and had a crew of 14 men and was re-fueled in the air four times during the 23,452 mile journey.
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. Considered to be one of the most influential novels written during the twentieth century, the story focused on a futuristic totalitarian state that set out to control the thoughts of its citizens and rewrite history.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established. It was a collective defense pact meant to protect Europe from the Soviet Union which had been aggressively controlling much of Eastern Europe at the time. It also guaranteed US influence in the region, bolstering the status of the United States at the start of the Cold War.
RCA perfected a system for broadcasting color television and Polaroid sold its first Polaroid Camera sold for $89.95 President Harry S. Truman gave his fair deal speech. He expressed his thoughts on how every American should expect a "fair deal" from the U.S. government.
1950 — The 4-Year Korean “Police Action”
The Korean War was the war that wasn't ever declared by Congress, and started only 5 years after the end of WW II, when the communists in North Korea invaded the South. To prevent the loss of all of Korea, the US, the UK, and Australia intervened. So did United Nations forces, which aimed to force the Communists back to above the 38th parallel. The US provided most of the air units, naval forces, supplies and financing, as the U.K. was still recovering from WW II and rebuilding its nation.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, those not engaged in Korea were busy having babies, writing books, freaking out over the potential for nuclear war with Russia, now that the Atomic bomb had evolved into the Hydrogen bomb that was 1,000 times more powerful, and watching the new invention called television.
1951 - Univac and Nuclear Power
The first commercial computer created in the U.S., the UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer), was dedicated for use at the U.S. Census Bureau. The computer was designed by Presper Eckert and John Mauchly and was created by the Remington Rand company.
The United States government began nuclear bomb testing at a test site in Nevada. After the initial development of the atomic bomb, the U.S. moved its test sites off of the country's mainland and began using islands in the Pacific. Due to logistical and safety concerns, the U.S. Government moved the testing back to the mainland.
The United States performed the first thermonuclear weapon test as a part of "Operation Greenhouse." The test was conducted at the Enewetak Atoll, and the blast, named "George," was the first successful small-scale demonstration of a non-weaponized hydrogen bomb.
Dr. Carl Djerassi and student Luis Miramontes, under the direction of George Rosenkranz, successfully synthesized progestin norethisterone while working at Syntex. The hormone was a crucial ingredient in the creation of the birth control pill.
Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) began operating in Idaho. It was the world’s first electricity-producing nuclear power plant. It produced enough electricity to power a building and was used by scientists to study experiments on “breeding” nuclear fuel in a fission reactor.
1952 - Hydrogen Bomb Tested
The United States tested the first hydrogen bomb at the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The thermonuclear bomb, codenamed Mike, was dropped on the island of Elugelab. The island was completely destroyed in the blast which was equivalent to the force of 10 million tons of T.N.T. and the wildlife and vegetation on the surrounding islands was also demolished. It was about 1000 times more powerful than the original atomic bomb and its successful detonation accelerated the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.
Legendary film maker Charlie Chaplin was denied re-entry into the United States after Chaplin and his family traveled to London for the premiere of his movie Limelight. Chaplin, along with many others in Hollywood, had faced harsh scrutiny from the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Thirty-Three hundred died of polio in the U.S and 57,000 children were paralyzed prior to the widespread use of the Polio vaccine.
1953 — The Korean Police Action Ends in Disillusionment
There were many bloody battles during the Korean War, which ended in 1953. These battles cost lives but never gained or held territory, including the battle of Seoul, the Injin River, Operation Ripper, and the evacuation of forces from Hungnam. Fighting stopped in 1953 with an armistice, but the war has not officially ended to this day. The young Americans who fought there were traumatized, and returned to America with PTSD and an unwillingness to talk about their “wartime” experiences.
36,000 Americans had died, and over 100,000 were seriously wounded which impacted them for the rest of their lives. This bred a distaste for Asian wars where there were many casualties and no clear winners or even a concrete notion of what was gained by the conflicts.
The US economy was in a recession in 1953. At the time the economy entered recession, the unemployment rate was 2.5% and Mean Household Income was $64.6K dollars. The recession was deemed over in 1954, when large business and GDP recovered, but unemployment rates have never again been as low as 2.5%, and household income was not recovered until 1957 when it reached $66.4K dollars.
1954 - Civil Rights and Communists
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separate but equal was inherently unequal when providing public education and that the segregation of public schools violated the 14th Amendment. USS Nautilus Launch: On January 21, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in Groton Connecticut.
On February 23, the first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Army-McCarthy Hearings: Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted televised Senate hearings into alleged Communist influence in the United States Army. His activities led to backlash and condemnation by the Senate.
Ellis Island in New York closed as a point of Immigration. Operation Castle began as a series of nuclear bomb tests conducted by the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense, which took place on Bikini Atoll. The Soviet Union rejected proposals to reunify Germany, contributing to Cold War tensions.
1955 - Polio Vaccine And Rosa Parks
The Disneyland resort and theme park, located in Anaheim, California, opened its doors in July.
Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was deemed safe and highly effective in preventing the disease. The vaccine became more widely available, and the number of new polio cases dramatically declined.
The United States became involved in the Vietnam Conflict with the arrival of the US Military Assistance Advisory Group (M.A.A.G.) in South Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese military after the French left the conflict.
Rosa Parks, an African-American bus passenger, was arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.
In August, the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi shocked the nation and highlighted the ongoing racial violence and injustice faced by African Americans.
1956 - Interstate Highway Systems Created
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into law in June. The Federal Highway Act authorized the creation of the interstate system and the construction of over 41,000 miles of highways across the United States. It was the largest U.S. public construction project undertaken by the government at the time and was estimated to cost between $25 and $30 billion to build.
IBM released the first computer with a hard drive, the IBM 305 RAMAC. The machine weighed about one ton and measured about 16 square feet. The hard drive stored about 5 megabytes of data, allowing users to immediately retrieve the needed data without punch cards.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling on desegregation, congressmen from Southern states issued the Southern Manifesto, calling for massive resistance to integration. This reflected ongoing racial tensions and opposition to civil rights progress.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Browder v. Gayle case. The ruling stated that racial segregation on buses was unconstitutional. The case concluded the year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr., and by the end of the following month, the Alabama buses were desegregated.
Hungarian Revolution: The U.S. refused to provide military support during the Hungarian Revolution, which sought to break free from Soviet control. Soviet forces brutally suppressed the revolution.
1957 — Rock'n'Roll Man & Rocket Man Put Things in Orbit
By 1957 Rock'n'Roll was emerging, producing Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, whose movements and sound would drive young women into orbit. Meanwhile, the Russians launched a rocket and put Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into Earth orbit. This drove American military and political leaders into orbit worrying that Russia could surveil the US and potentially orbit nuclear weapons above America — something America was unable to do.
While the Baby Boomer generation was being rapidly birthed, the Arms Race for control of space and space weapons was kicked off. America regretted not seizing more of the German rocket technology at the End of WW II. Still, through Operation Paperclip, it got Wernher von Braun, the key scientist who managed the German V2 rocket development, a liquid-fueled rocket that reached speeds of 3,500 miles per hour, but had a limited range of only 200 miles.
Dr. von Braun worked on developing the Redstone, Jupiter and Pershing missiles, and then on the Jupiter C, Juno and finally the Saturn launch vehicles, ultimately leading to the Apollo program in the 1960s to reach the Moon and land there.
The U.S. economy entered a recession, with unemployment starting at 3.9%. It increased during the recession and did not return to 3.9% levels again until 1966. Mean Household income before the recession adjusted for inflation was 64.6K dollars. It went down and did not recover until 1976 when Mean Household income reached 67.56K dollars. Yet the recession of 1957 was deemed over by the government in 1958, when companies and the GDP recovered.
1958 — Recession, Technology and Birth Control
Given the spending in Korea for a war, and in the military for rocket technology, a recession causing 5 million Americans to lose their jobs occurred. Many of these were young homeowners who had started families. The recession resulted from a drop in demand for durable goods, and commodities.
This year also saw the birth of the microchip, the beginning of digital telephones, and their use in satellites, as well as the focus of the military-industrial complex and rocket technology.
Then came the introduction of the birth control pill, freeing women to have sex without concern about conception. The sexual revolution was born and empowered the 1960s that followed. Abstract art began to appear, and so did revealing movies like Lady Chatterley's Lover. Girly magazines were being augmented by sex in books and on films. This was the infancy of multi-media pornography.
1959 - Alaska becomes a state
with Hawaii to follow shortly
Alaska was officially admitted as the 49th state of the United States, and legislation was put in motion for Hawaii's statehood to follow soon. Mildred and Richard Loving were found guilty of violating Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, which prohibited interracial marriage. It would not be reversed for 8 years later in 1967 when the Supreme Court held that anti-miscegenation laws violate the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Texas Instruments formally requested a patent for the integrated circuit (IC), a groundbreaking technological innovation that would revolutionize electronics and computing.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson tragically died in a small plane crash.
Fidel Castro assumes the role of Premier of Cuba.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that married couples have a constitutional right to use birth control.
The Soviet Union successfully launched Luna 2, a pioneering spacecraft that became the first human-made object to reach the lunar surface.
IBM introduced the IBM 1401, a groundbreaking business computer that transformed data processing for medium-sized businesses.
1960 - Recession Begins
This was a year the U.S. economy entered a recession, with unemployment starting at 4.8% in Feb. 1960. It increased during the recession and did not return to 4.8% levels again until April 1965. Mean Household income before the recession adjusted for inflation was $65.6K. It went down and did not recover until 1973, when Mean Household income reached $67.56K. Yet the recession of 1958 was deemed over by the government when companies and the GDP recovered.
1961 - John Kennedy Inaugurated
On January 20, John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States, bringing a sense of hope and change to the nation. President Kennedy established the Peace Corps, encouraging young Americans to volunteer abroad and contribute to global development. The Soviet Union launched the first spacecraft to take a man into space carrying Yuri Gagarin.
Outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the growing influence of the “military-industrial complex” in America. Cuban exiles attempted to invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs, but the mission failed, leading to tensions between the US and Cuba. The Berlin Wall was started, a concrete barrier 87 miles long built separating East and West Germany.
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis Threatens Nuclear War
On February 20, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7, marking a major achievement in the space race. NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins commended President John F. Kennedy’s personal role in advancing civil rights. James Meredith became the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi on September 30th.
President John F. Kennedy called for a Consumer Bill of Rights , which was intended to protect consumers from misleading advertising, defective products, and monopolistic practices.
The US and Soviet Union faced off during the Cuban Missile Crisis, coming dangerously close to nuclear conflict. The crisis was resolved when the Soviets agreed to remove missiles from Cuba in exchange for the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey.
Events 1963 - President Kennedy Assassinated By...
NASA's final Project Mercury mission, carrying astronaut Gordon Cooper, launched from Cape Canaveral. African American student Harvey Gantt entered Clemson University in South Carolina, marking the end of racial segregation in all US states.
The biggest news from 1963 was that John F. Kennedy assassination on Friday, November 22nd 1963, in Dallas Texas. Jack Ruby then murdered John F. Kennedy's suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. This occurred during the transportation of Oswald from Dallas Police Headquarters to the Dallas County Jail on live television. President Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One at Love Field Airport in Dallas just over two hours after President Kennedy was assassinated.
Some documents declassified in 2024 now indicate that the Warren Commission conclusions may have been a cover-up for a CIA action that resulted in the President's death. Many documents have still not been declassified on this assassination, which begs the question - Why not if there is nothing to hide?
1964 - Civil Rights Advances
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, which made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their race, religion, sex, national origin, or the color of their skin. The act also made segregation in public places illegal, enforced the desegregation of schools, and addressed unfair and unequal access to voting and voter registration.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr received the Nobel Peace Prize. African American boxer Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) won the world heavyweight title, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi, highlighting the ongoing struggle for racial equality.
Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the US Destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. US Congress Authorized war against North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy concluded Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone, however data declassified in 2025 by President Trump and revealed that the Warren Commission report was an intentional misrepresentation of the assassination.