1958: NASA, boho and pinsetter; Elvis gets a haircut
BEATNIK, DNA AND SCUBA DIVER
Americans worry about the worst recession in 20 years. Explorer 1, the country’s first satellite, enters orbit, an answer to the Soviets’ 1957 Sputnik; two months later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower calls on Congress to establish NASA. Arnold Palmer wins his first Masters Tournament. The Carney brothers borrow money from their mom to open the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas. Wham-O’s new hip-swiveling Hula-Hoop sells millions. TV favorites include The Rifleman and The Donna Reed Show. And Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary determines these terms are in common use.
BEATNIK: A newspaper columnist plays off the Russian Sputnik to give a name to the avant-garde Beat Generation.
BIGFOOT: Tracks found in California point to a weird biped, top right. Too late, the giant prints will be revealed to be a prank: The creature is already fixed in popular culture.
BOHO: Short for bohemian, this refers to an artistic, eccentric existence—like that of Mame Dennis in 1958’s Auntie Mame.
CAR COAT: Men and women like this threequarter-length overcoat that makes it easier to slide in and out of 1950s automobiles.
DNA: A key historical experiment puts DNA in the news as researchers Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl explain how it replicates.
GAME SHOW: Dotto’s star rises then falls when it’s discovered the show is rigged, which leads to scrutiny of other TV game shows.
HAIR SPRAY: Sales for aerosol-propelled lacquers soar as the beehive rises to rule the teased bouffants of the late ’50s.
LAUNCH PAD: The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, blasts into space from a Cape Canaveral pad.
MICROELECTRONICS: Engineers at Texas Instruments invent a miniature integrated circuit—a microchip, center right. But will there be a use for it?
NOIR: Nearly two decades of Hollywood film noir culminate in Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, a virtuoso portrayal of pessimism and menace; Charlton Heston co-stars as a Mexican detective.
PINSETTER: Bowling alleys use machines to replace humans in this hazardous, low-paying job when Brunswick patents its automatic pinsetter, bottom left.
PREQUEL: Readers now have a word for a story that provides background for an earlier story, thanks to an article in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
SCUBA DIVER: Sea Hunt’s (’58-’61) diver Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) explores a fascinating new world with his self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
THINK TANK: Postwar think tanks provide a space for policymakers to analyze issues and tactics to achieve global peace and prosperity.
VAN ALLEN BELTS: Giant zones of cosmic radiation surrounding earth, above, are named for the University of Iowa physicist who detects them.