The Year 1955 From The People History

1955 consumerism takes off in a big way with the sale of some 7.9 million cars in the US with 7 out of 10 families now owning a motor car, and new laws were put in place requiring seatbelts to be installed on all new cars. The average wages were now $3,851 per year, and the minimum wage was raised to $1.00 per hour. The first McDonalds was erected in 1955 and more fast foods and TV dinners are appearing including fish fingers. The first cans of Coca-Cola are sold up till then it had only been sold in bottles. Rock and Roll music continues to grow in popularity with more idols including Elvis Presley , Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry and The Platters, and young mens fashion matches the times with pink shirts and charcoal grey suits.



Cost Of Living, - News, Facts and Events, - Movies, TV and Music, - Technology, - Born This Year, World Leaders,

Cost of Living 1955

How Much things cost in 1955
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 0.28%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.5%
Average Cost of new house $10.950.00
Average Monthly Rent $87.00
Average Yearly Wages $4.130.00
Minimum Hourly Rate $1.00
Average Cost of a new car $1,900.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 23 cents
Ladies Swim Suits $12.95
Black and White TV $99.95
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling

Average House Price 2,064

What Events Happened in 1955

Iran

• US military intervention in Iran

U.S.

• Hurricane Diane hits the northeast United States, killing 200 and causing over $1 billion in damage

UK

• Great Britain declares State of Emergency due to National Rail Strike

UK

• The first Commercial TV Station with advertisements starts in London, England

UK

• British Newspapers Not Printed for 1 month due to strike in Fleet Street By Maintenance Workers

UK

• Clement Attlee who oversaw the creation of the British Welfare System resigns as leader of the Labour Party

UK

• Princess Margaret announces she will not marry divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend.

Canada

• The St. Lawrence Seaway opens to Ocean Vessels from Montreal to US ports on the Great Lakes

Russia

• The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies sign the Warsaw Pact giving integration of military, economic and cultural policy between the eight Communist nations.

UK

• Great Britain effected by worst winter storms causing roads, rail and problems with food and medical supplies

U.S.

• Disneyland opens in California on July 17th

U.S.

• 'In God We Trust' is added to all US paper currency

U.S.

• United Airlines Flight 629 is blown up shortly after takeoff over Longmont, Colorado

UK

• Ruth Ellis the last woman in England to be executed is hung at Holloway Prison

France

• 77 Die in a disaster at 24hr Le Mans Race

World

• The New Synthetic Material Polyurethane used in more and more everyday goods

U.S.

• Emmett Till, a black fourteen year old teenager is murdered for not showing respect to a white woman in Money, Miss.

Germany

• West Germany Joins NATO

Argentina

• The Military seizes control in Argentina forcing Juan Peron to flee

U.S.

• African American Rosa Parks is arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery Alabama

Technology 1955

• First pocket transistor radios available



• Fish Fingers are marketed by Bird's Eye



• The first Atomically generated power is used in the US

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Atomic Clock England
Hovercraft England by Christopher Cockerell

Lego Gotfried Kirk Christiansen

Velcro Switzerland by George De Mestral

Popular Culture 1955

• Ray Kroc starts the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain.
• First riot at an Elvis Presley concert takes place in Jacksonville, FL
• "The $64,000 Question" the popular US television game show starts
• James Dean’s stars in the movie East of Eden
• James Dean killed in car accident near Cholame, California
• First Guinness Book of World Records Published
• "The Mickey Mouse Club" debuts on ABC

Popular Films

• Oklahoma
• The Quatermass Xperiment
• Rebel without a Cause
• To Catch A Thief
• The Quatermass Xperiment
• The seven year itch

Popular Singers

• Elvis Presley
• Bill Haley and the Comets " Rock Around The Clock"
• Chuck Berry
• Fats Domino.
• The Platters

Check out our Television Programmes From The 50s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.

Major World Political Leaders 1955

Australia Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies

Brazil President Café Filho Till 9 November
Brazil President Carlos Luz From 9 November
Brazil President Carlos Luz Till 11 November
Brazil President Nereu Ramos From 11 November

Canada Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent

China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong

France President René Coty

Germany Chancellor Konrad Adenauer

India Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru

Italy Prime Minister Mario Scelba Till 2 July
Italy Prime Minister Antonio Segni From 6 July

Japan Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama

Mexico President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines

Russia / Soviet Union
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev

South Africa Prime Minister Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower

United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill Till 7 April
United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden From 7 April

Political Elections 1955

British General Election 1955 Anthony Eden ( Conservative )defeats Clement Attlee ( Labour ) and Clement Davies ( Liberal )


The Information above is taken from our new page that gives world leaders from 1920 to current.
WorldLeaders