1950-1959

This page contains a timeline of major events related to the Lost Generation between 1950 and 1959, with U.S. and world events to provide context.

Previous: 1940-1949 Next: 1960-1969

• 1950

  January 21 – George Orwell dies in London, England

  June 25 – North Korea invades South Korea, starting the Korean War

  June 27 – United Nations declares war on North Korea

  September 6 – Olaf Stapledon dies in Cheshire, England

  October 19 – Edna St. Vincent Millay dies in Austerlitz, New York

• 1951

  January 10 – Sinclair Lewis dies near Rome, Italy

  September 27 – Requiem for a Nun, William Faulkner’s fifteenth novel, is published

• 1952

  May 26 – Eugene Jolas dies in Paris, France

  November 1 – U.S. detonates the first thermonuclear device

• 1953

  January 20 – Dwight Eisenhower sworn in as the 34th U.S. President

• 1954

  May 17 – Supreme Court declares segregated schools violate the 14th Amendment

  August 2 – A Fable, William Faulkner’s sixteenth novel, is published

• 1956

  January 29 – H.L. Mencken dies in Baltimore, Maryland

  March 18 – Louis Bromfield dies in Columbus, Ohio

• 1957

  January 21 – Dwight Eisenhower sworn in for a second term

  May 1 – The Town, William Faulkner’s seventeenth novel, is published

• 1959

  January 3 – Alaska becomes the 49th state

  August 21 – Hawaii becomes the 50th state

  November 13 – The Mansion, William Faulkner’s eighteenth novel, is published

See also: 1870s-80s, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s