Time Line

1950’s

- The war, which lasted from June 25, 1950 until a cease-fire on July 27, 1953, started as a civil war between communist North Korea and the Republic of South Korea
- During this time, racial segregation was still enacted in the USA and other countries, although the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s would soon start brewing. Key figures like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks highlighted and challenged those who were against equal rights and freedoms for black Americans.
- Juvenile delinquency was said to be at epidemic proportions in the United States, although by modern standards the crime rate was low.
- Sales of television sets boomed in the '50s
- Automobiles changed considerably over the course of the 1950s
- The Suez Crisis was a war fought on Egyptian territory in 1956. Following the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956 by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the United Kingdom, France and Israel subsequently invaded. The operation was a military success


1960’s

- The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends in the west, particularly United States, Britain, France, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Italy, and West Germany. Social and political upheaval was not limited to these countries, but included such nations as Japan, Mexico, and others.
- The 1960s have become synonymous with all the new, exciting, radical, and subversive events and trends
- The rapid rise of a "New Left" applied the class perspective of Marxism to postwar America, but had little organizational connection with older Marxist organizations such as the Communist Party, and even went as far as to reject organized labor as the basis of a unified left-wing movement. The New Left differed from the traditional left in its resistance to dogma and its emphasis on personal as well as societal change.
- The 1960s has also been associated with a large increase in crime and urban unrest of all types
- The Soviet Union and the United States were involved in the space race. This led to an increase in spending on science and technology during this period.


1970’s

- The hippie culture, which started in the 1960s, continued in the early 1970s and faded towards the middle part of the decade, which involved opposition to the Vietnam War, opposition to nuclear weapons, the advocacy of world peace, and hostility to the authority of government and big business.
- The environmentalist movement began to increase dramatically in this period. Western countries experienced an economic recession due to oil crisis caused by oil embargoes by Arab countries in the Middle East, while Japan's economy boomed
- The 1970s emerged from a transition of the global social structure from the decline of colonial imperialism since the end of World War II to globalization and the rise of a new middle class in the developing world.
- Globally, the 1970s had several features that were similar and definitive across economic levels and regions

1980’s

- The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies
- The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. Continuing the 1970s' trend, more and more women in the English-speaking world took to calling themselves "Ms.", rather than "Mrs." or "Miss." A similar change occurred in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fräulein" in an effort to disassociate marital status from title.
- Rejection of smoking based on health concerns increases throughout the western world.
- Western European countries adopted "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycle most of their nations' waste, and increase focus on water and energy conservation efforts. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appeared in the U.S. in the late 1980s.

1990’s

- This decade started with the fall of the Soviet Union and the fighting of the Gulf War in Iraq and Kuwait, as well as the cementation of free market capitalism in many countries worldwide, both developed and developing.
- gender roles for women changed dramatically in many industrialized countries as women assumed leadership and gained power in politics, business, and other aspects of life.
- Explosive growth of the Internet, perhaps caused by a decrease in the cost of computers and other related technology.
- 3-D graphics become the standard by end of decade
- Politically, the 1990s was an era of spreading democracy
- It was a time of peace in terror-ridden Northern Ireland when the IRA agreed to a truce in 1994. This marked the beginning of the end of 25 years of violence between the two sectarian groups, Protestant and Catholic, and the start of political negotiations.


2000’s

- Popular culture also holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the third millennium.
- The year 2000 was the target of Y2K concerns, fearing computers could not shift from 2-digit "99" to "2000"; however, many companies had already converted their software, even obtaining Y2K certification, and relatively few problems occurred.