1955 Context: News, Entertainment, Lifestyle

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News

Walt Disney's first theme park Disneyland opens to the public on July 18, 1955 in Anaheim, California.

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News

Rosa Parks, an African American, is arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers to relinquish seats to white passengers whenever the bus is full. Blacks are also required to sit at the back of the bus.

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News

The hallmarks of the Polio Era include children on crutches, iron lungs, shuttered swimming pools and theaters warning movie-goers to not sit too close to one another. In 1955 The polio vaccine is developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and is approved for widespread use.

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Movies

Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell star in the 1955 romantic comedy film The Seven Year Itch directed by Billy Wilder.

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News

Ray Kroc buys out the McDonald brothers and opens his first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. Today the chain operates in over 100 countries and is the largest restaurant chain by revenue.

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Advertising

Advertisement for Schwinn bicycles 1955

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Advertising

Advertising image for the 1955 Buick Special Cadet. The name comes from the cadet blue metallic paint applied by GM. The Special was the entry level Buick, at that time.

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Movies

Director Nicolas Ray working with actors James Dean and Natalie Wood during the filming of the teen drama Rebel Without A Cause.

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Television

The CBS TV series Gunsmoke debuts. The second drama series about the old American West, the show would be one of the longest running live action dramas ever, airing from 1955 to 1975. The television show is based on the popular radio drama of the same name which ran from 1952 to 1961.

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