Born in 1950
Turns 76 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1950
1950 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from $30.00Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from $30.00
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from $30.00
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from $30.00
Front Page: United States edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1950 · United States
A little history to go with their gift.
Robert Schuman proposed shared French and German coal and steel, Alan Turing described an imitation game for discussing machine intelligence, and the SEAC computer began operating. The year connected European cooperation with new questions and tools in computing.
What happened in 1950?
Truman and MacArthur met as the Korean War widened
The Wake Island meeting brought President Truman and General MacArthur together while UN forces advanced deep into Korea.
Ralph Bunche wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Ralph Bunche received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in Palestine.
Jimmy Demaret wins the Masters again
Jimmy Demaret won the 1950 Masters Tournament, becoming its first champion to win three times.
Gwendolyn Brooks wins the poetry Pulitzer
Gwendolyn Brooks won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Annie Allen.
The Pulitzer Prizes · Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Firsts and new ideas
SEAC brought electronic computing into a government laboratory
The Standards Eastern Automatic Computer entered operation in 1950, one of America’s early stored-program machines.
National Institute of Standards and Technology · U.S. National Bureau of Standards, Circular 551, Government Printing Office
A transistor patent is issued
The U.S. Patent Office issued Bell Telephone Laboratories a patent for a three-electrode semiconductor circuit element on October 3, 1950.
U.S. Patent Office record, hosted by Google Patents · Computer History Museum
Number ones and music in 1950
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Stevie Wonder is born in Saginaw
Stevland Judkins, later known worldwide as Stevie Wonder, was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on May 13, 1950.
Classic Motown · Detroit Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Detroit
Tom Petty is born in Gainesville
Thomas Earl Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida, on October 20, 1950.
Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources · Biography.com
Prices and everyday money in 1950
United States figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic first-class letter postage, first ounce | 3¢ | first ounce United States Postal Service; Smithsonian National Postal Museum |
| White bread, large-city retail average | 14.3¢ | 1 pound loaf U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1956 |
| Fresh milk, reported retail average | 38.6¢ | ½ U.S. gallon Development Planning and Research Associates, Inc., commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; The Groom News / The McLean News, reporting Texas Farm Bureau analysis |
| Regular motor gasoline, all areas average | 26.8¢ | 1 U.S. gallon U.S. Energy Information Administration; Congressional Research Service (copy hosted by Journalist’s Resource), Harvard Kennedy School |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1950 turns 76 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
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