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Rock 'n' Roll is popularized with the help of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley.
# The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens are killed in a tragic plane crash in 1959.
# Many artists of the 1950s provide popular songs considered today as candidates for the first rock and roll song. One such song is "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino in 1949 while "Rocket 88" is another popular candidate.
# Songs about automobiles become popular as cars become more powerful. "Rocket 88" and "Jaguar and Thunderbird" are major examples.
# Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" becomes the first major rock hit.
# Elvis Presley becomes a phenomenal success. His raunchy performance on The Ed Sullivan Show is censored by only showing him from the waist up
The 1950s was the decade that started on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. During the early 1950s in the United States manufacturing and home construction was on the rise as the American economy was on the upswing. The Korean War and the beginning of the Cold War created a politically conservative climate. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States played out through the entire decade. The Red Scare, fear of communism, caused public Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress and Anti-Communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. Conformity and conservatism characterized the social mores of the time. The 1950s in the developed western world are generally considered both socially conservative and highly materialistic in nature.[citation needed] The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia occurred in this decade and accelerated in the following decade of the 1960s.