In summer 1950, Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel, were arrested on charges of espionage. The pair were accused of sharing secret American intelligence with the Soviets. They were ultimately found guilty and executed in 1953. Though evidence later showed that Julius did in fact spy for the Soviets, Ethel was likely unaware of her husband’s activities.
Created by the Soviet Union, Sputnik I became the first satellite launched into space in October 1957. It was followed by Sputnik II a month later. The launch of the two satellites marked the beginning of the space race as a high stakes competition with national security implications between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviets’ success in launching the satellites also prompted the US to increase federal spending on education and technology advances.
Eight Communist Bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact, a “Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance,” to form a mutual defense coalition.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the nation’s forty-ninth state.
In a speech before the United Nations, President Dwight D. Eisenhower outlined his “Atoms for Peace” plan, proposing an international Atomic Energy Agency to “devise methods where by this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind.”
In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court struck down Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” policy when it ruled that segregation of public school children based on race was unconstitutional.
In Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court ruled that the governor and legislature of Arkansas were bound by the court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The case affirmed the Supreme Court’s rulings and interpretation of the US Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.”
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye was published by Little, Brown and Company.
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the US Commission on Civil Rights to investigate voter restrictions. It also established the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.
President Eisenhower created the Cabinet-level Department of Health, Education and Welfare.