1950s Trivia: Fun Facts From The Decade

Trivia from the 1950s, all of it dateable and checkable.

Every fact below has its year in brackets, so you can read the fact out, hide the year and use it as a quiz round - or leave the year in and use it for a birthday card or a reminiscence session.

For the same decade laid out year by year, use the 1950s calendar linked at the bottom.

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Years covered in the 1950s

  • 1950 - Petrol came off the ration, the Festival of Britain was being built and there was no chart yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1950
  • 1951 - The Festival of Britain, a Conservative return and still no singles chart. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1951
  • 1952 - A new Queen, the Great Smog and the first ever singles chart in November. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1952
  • 1953 - The coronation, Everest, the Matthews final and sweets off the ration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1953
  • 1954 - Rationing finally ended and Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1954
  • 1955 - ITV launched, rock and roll arrived and Britain got its first television adverts. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1955
  • 1956 - Suez, Elvis arriving in the chart and the start of skiffle. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1956
  • 1957 - You've never had it so good, the Munich disaster still to come and skiffle everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1957
  • 1958 - Munich, the first motorway and Cliff Richard's 'Move It'. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1958
  • 1959 - The Mini, the M1 and the last year before the sixties. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1959
  • That is every 1950s year we have written up so far: 1950 to 1959.

News facts from the 1950s

  • A general election in February returned Labour with a tiny majority. (1950)
  • The Festival of Britain opened on the South Bank in May, with the Skylon and the Dome of Discovery. (1951)
  • King George VI died on 6 February; Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya and returned as Queen. (1952)
  • Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June, and the news that Everest had been climbed arrived the same morning. (1953)
  • All food rationing ended on 4 July. (1954)
  • Anthony Eden became Prime Minister in April after Churchill resigned. (1955)
  • The Suez crisis in the autumn led to petrol rationing that lasted into 1957. (1956)
  • Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister in January and told the country most people 'have never had it so good' in July. (1957)
  • The Munich air disaster on 6 February killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players. (1958)
  • Harold Macmillan won the October general election with an increased majority. (1959)

More from the news

  • Petrol rationing ended in May, though food rationing continued. (1950)
  • Winston Churchill returned as Prime Minister after the October general election. (1951)
  • The Great Smog settled over London in December and is estimated to have killed thousands. (1952)
  • Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest on 29 May. (1953)
  • Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Iffley Road, Oxford, on 6 May. (1954)
  • Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged in Britain, in July. (1955)
  • The Clean Air Act was passed after the Great Smog. (1956)
  • The Wolfenden report recommended decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults. (1957)
  • The Preston bypass, Britain's first stretch of motorway, opened in December. (1958)
  • The M1 opened on 2 November, with no speed limit, no crash barriers and no lighting. (1959)

Television and film in the 1950s

  • Cinema attendance was near its peak, with most people going at least once a week. (1950)
  • The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man in the White Suit were released by Ealing Studios. (1951)
  • Television coverage of the King's funeral drew large audiences. (1952)
  • The coronation was the first mass television event in Britain, watched by an estimated twenty million. (1953)
  • The Nineteen Eighty-Four television adaptation in December caused questions in Parliament. (1954)
  • ITV launched on 22 September; the first advert was for Gibbs SR toothpaste. (1955)
  • Rock Around the Clock in cinemas led to seats being ripped out in some towns. (1956)
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai was the film of the year. (1957)
  • Blue Peter began on 16 October. (1958)
  • Juke Box Jury began on the BBC in June. (1959)

Music in the 1950s

  • There was no official singles chart until November 1952, so popularity was measured by sheet music sales. (1950)
  • Popularity was still measured by sheet music, with no record chart until the following year. (1951)
  • The first official UK singles chart was published on 14 November, with Al Martino's 'Here in My Heart' at number one. (1952)
  • Frankie Laine spent a remarkable amount of the year at number one, including eighteen weeks with 'I Believe'. (1953)
  • Doris Day's 'Secret Love' and David Whitfield's 'Cara Mia' were among the year's number ones. (1954)
  • Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' reached number one in November and again the following year. (1955)
  • Elvis Presley reached the UK chart for the first time with 'Heartbreak Hotel'. (1956)
  • Elvis Presley's 'All Shook Up' and Paul Anka's 'Diana' were among the biggest sellers. (1957)
  • Cliff Richard's 'Move It' arrived in the autumn and is often called the first real British rock and roll record. (1958)
  • Cliff Richard's 'Living Doll' was one of the year's biggest sellers. (1959)

Sport in the 1950s

  • England lost 1-0 to the United States at the World Cup in Brazil, one of the biggest upsets in the game. (1950)
  • Tottenham Hotspur won their first league title. (1951)
  • Manchester United won the league. (1952)
  • Stanley Matthews finally won an FA Cup medal as Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3. (1953)
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers won the league. (1954)
  • Chelsea won their first league title. (1955)
  • Manchester United won the league with the young side that became the Busby Babes. (1956)
  • Manchester United retained the league title. (1957)
  • Manchester United reached the FA Cup final months after Munich and lost to Bolton. (1958)
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers retained the league title. (1959)

Everyday life in the 1950s

  • Sweets were still rationed and would be until 1953. (1950)
  • Housing shortages were severe and prefabs were still being lived in. (1951)
  • Tea came off the ration in October. (1952)
  • Street parties for the coronation were held all over the country in the rain. (1953)
  • Ration books were thrown away and butchers put meat in the window without restriction. (1954)
  • Coffee bars with Gaggia machines opened in Soho and then everywhere. (1955)
  • Skiffle groups formed in front rooms with washboards and tea chest basses. (1956)
  • Petrol rationing ended in May. (1957)
  • Parking meters appeared in London for the first time. (1958)
  • The Mini was launched in August at under £500 and changed small cars for good. (1959)

How to use these as a quiz round

  • Read the fact without the year and ask for the year - closest answer wins the point.
  • Ten facts makes a round. Mix news with television and music so nobody sweeps it.
  • For a care home or reminiscence session, use the everyday life facts first - they get the most talk.
  • Anyone born in 1950 turns 50 in 2000, 60 in 2010 and 70 in 2020.

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How to write it so it lands

  • Hide the bracketed year and you have a guess-the-year round ready to go.
  • For a card, use the year they were born rather than the decade.
  • In a reminiscence session, stop on whatever gets a reaction rather than finishing the list.

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Frequently asked questions

What are some fun facts about the 1950s?

Petrol came off the ration, the Festival of Britain was being built and there was no chart yet. The lists above give the news, television, music, sport and everyday facts for every year from 1950 to 1959, each with its date.

What good 1950s quiz questions are there?

Any fact on this page works as a question if you read it out and ask for the year. Ten of them makes a round, and the answers are already in the brackets.

Where do these facts come from?

They are the same checked facts used on our year pages - real, dateable events only. The official UK singles chart begins in November 1952, so earlier years list popular songs rather than chart positions.

Do you sell anything to do with this decade?

We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. This page is free to read and free to copy.

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