1955 Headlines
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015
How did what was going on in Troy fit in with events in the rest of the United States? To give us a quick look at what the country looked like and what people were interested in, during the year that the city of Troy was established, here are a few events that took place in The United States in 1955.
National news included these highlights:
President Dwight Eisenhower increased the minimum hourly wage from .75 to $1.00.
The Federal Air Pollution Control Act, the first of the Clean Air Acts, became law.
The Supreme Court ordered that, following the resolution of Brown v Board of Education in 1954, public schools be integrated “with all deliberate speed.”
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This resulted in a bus boycott, more than a year long, which was led by Martin Luther King, and was followed by a federal court decision that bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.
Sports highlights included the following:
World Series – Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees, 4-3
Stanley Cup – Detroit Red Wings defeated Montreal Canandiens, 4-3
NFL Championship – Cleveland Browns defeated Los Angeles Rams, 38-14
In the realm of leisure:
On the Waterfront won Academy Awards for Best Film, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), and Best Director (Elia Kazan).
Gunsmoke’s Marshal Matt Dillon and Captain Kangaroo made their television debuts.
Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California on 160 acres that had previously been an orange grove.
Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s, with the original version of the golden arches, in Des Plaines, Illinois, and Harland Sanders took to the road, selling the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken to restauranteurs who would pay him a nickel for each chicken they sold.
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.troyhistoricvillage/facebook. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
