• Sports Color Barriers Fell in the USA- 1950's, Chuck Cooper joined the NBA's Boston Celtics in 1950, Althea Gibson was the first Black to win Wimbledon in 1957, and Willie O'Ree made it to the NHL in 1957.
• The Great Brink's Robbery - January 17 - an 11 member gang stole $2.775 million from the Brink's armored car company headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. At the time it was then the largest bank robbery in the history of the United States.
• The Korean War - June 25, 1950, North Korea mounted a massive attack on South Korea. The conflict between communist North Korea and anti-communist South Korea was started. The US and a large multi-national peace keeping force entered the conflict two weeks later.
• TV - What's My Line debuted on CBS.
• Silverstone, England - May 13, 1953, the first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone, England.
• The Strait of Dover, England - Florence Chadwick, an American swimmer, became the first woman to swim across the 33.3 km (20.7 mi) English Channel. She completed the swim in 13 hours, 22 minutes.
• USA -November 24, 1950, a strong winter storm cause havoc in the northeastern region of United States. Between 30 to 50 inches of snow fell with cold temperatures below zero, the storm killed 323 people.
Notable Deaths -
Eric Arthur Blair, 1903-1950, known by his pen name George Orwell, died in London at the age of 46 after a three-year battle against tuberculosis. He was the author of Animal Farm (in 1945), and 1984 (in 1949).
L'Equipe Sport Figure of the Decade 1950-1959 -
L'Equipe's athlete of the decade was Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, a champion Formula One race car driver. Fangio dominated in a time of great growth of Formula One auto racing. In 1954, he won 8 championships in 12 races and scored enough points to win his second World Championship. Fangio would go on to win four World Titles in a row and gain the nickname "the Maestro." His record of wins per start will probably never be challenged.
