Timeline
Click on a year at any time to jump to it!
April 27, 1950 - At the 54th meeting of the Texas State Historical Association, the Euguene C. Barker Texas History Center was officially opened and dedicated in what is now Battle Hall.
June 9, 1950 -- John Chase and Horace Heath attended their first day of classes at UT as African American graduate students. Two other black applicants were turned away under the "separate but equal" argument because the courses in which they planned to enroll were offered at Texas Southern University and Prairie View A & M, at the time both black universities. Chase earned a Master of Architecture degree in 1952, and became the first African American graduate of the University. In 1998, Chase served as president of the Texas Exes.
June 25, 1950 -- North Korean troops invade the 38th parallel and ignites the Korean War.
June, 1950 -- A United States Supreme Court decision opened the doors of the UT Law School to everyone, regardless of race.
July 1, 1950 -- The University of Texas Press was established as a division of the University to publish scholarly book written by the faculty. Frank Wardlaw was chosen by the Board of Regents as the first director.
July 25, 1950 -- Two University students reported seeing what they called a flying disc while watching the skies from the UT Tower. The students described the object as round and racing in and out of the clouds at about 4000 feet. Two other reports of flying saucers were also reported.
July 28, 1950 -- Because of military obligations, the Korean crisis forced forty students to withdraw from the University and enter the armed forces.
August 22, 1950 -- An increase in University enrollment was expected after a draft board policy on the deferment of college students was announced.
September 1950 -- A new University Student Health Center, with an 84-bed hospital, opened at the corner of University Avenue and 26th Street (present-day Dean Keeton Drive). The building was demolished in the summer of 2005.
October 17, 1950 -- Three hundred copies of a petition are circulated on the UT campus to protest the firing of 31 University of California professors. The professors refused to sign an oath that stated they were not communists.
October 22, 1950 -- Dean Henry Tufts Parlin, who founded the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors Program, retires from the University faculty. Parlin advocates that "college must prepare one for living rather than merely making a living."
December 1, 1950 - The number of drive-ins the in the United States doubles to 4,400 in one year.
December 8, 1950 -- Alpha Phi Omega holds their fourth annual "Ugly Man Contest." The man elected most ugly wins a date with the campus beauty queen.
Spring, 1951 -- The Experiment Science Building on 24th Street is opened. With 64 laboratories, and 39 teaching labs and classrooms, it is one of the largest buildings in the United States dedicated to scientific research.
Spring, 1951 -- The UT Press completes its first book. The book is a translation of The Florida of the Inca, a history of the De Soto expedition, by Garcilasco de la Vega. The book’s price is $7.50.
May 22, 1951 -- The University of Texas experiences its first panty raid.
October 15, 1951 -- I Love Lucy makes its television debut.
April 30, 1952 -- Mr. Potato Head becomes the first toy advertised on television.
May 8, 1952 -- United Nations forces attack North Korea.
July 16, 1952 -- Air conditioning is introduced into the latest automobiles by General Motors.
September 8, 1952 -- Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is published.
September 26, 1952 -- B. Hall, the first Men’s dorm on the campus, is razed for future UT construction.
October 29, 1952 -- Ella Fitzgerald announces student government election results during the intermission of "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert in Gregory Gymnasium.
November 4, 1952 -- Dwight Eisenhower wins the U.S. presidential election.
December 6, 1952 -- The Board of Regents appoint a committee to investigate the feasibility for establishing an educational television station on the University campus.
December 11, 1952 -- Members of the Student Engineering Council initiate "Project Gopher," and personally dig out the basement of Taylor Hall, at the time used by the College of Engineering. Over the course of two years, the basement would be transformed into a snack bar and study lounge, and dubbed "Taylor’s T Room."
January 18, 1953 -- "Persons unknown" paint the Littlefield Fountain maroon and white. The statue of the U.S. soldier is found to be wearing a white hat and leis.
March 30, 1953 -- A student mass meeting protests the selection of Senator Joe McCarthy as the San Jacinto Day speaker at the San Jacinto Battleground.
April 1, 1953 -- Mezes Hall, named for former UT president Sidney Mezes, is completed and dedicated.
April 8, 1953 -- Batts Hall -- named for former law professor and UT regent Robert Batts is opened.
April 13, 1953 -- Benedict Hall, named for Harry Benedict, the first UT graduate to also serve as president of the University, is completed and dedicated.
June 27, 1953 -- The Korean War ends after three years and the loss of two million lives.
September 12, 1953 -- Printing of The Daily Texan is separated from the University Printing Division and placed under the School of Journalism.
October 2, 1953 -- Students approve a compulsory Texas Union fee hike from $1.00 to $2.00.
October 29, 1953 -- In an elaborate ceremony in front of the Main Building, Dr. Logan Wilson is inaugurated as the 10th president of The University of Texas.
December 5, 1953 -- Townes Hall and the Tarleton Library are dedicated for use by the Law School. The Hon. Herbert Brownwell, Jr. delivers the keynote address.
January 8, 1954 -- Elvis Presley pays a Memphis studio $4 to record Casual Love and I’ll Never Stand in Your Way.
January, 1954 -- The Board of Regents authorize the University to build three new residence halls and a cafeteria on the campus at a cost of $3.4 million.
January 14, 1954 -- Joe DiMaggio marries Marilyn Monroe.
April 2, 1954 -- The 25th annual Round-Up, a spring homecoming for UT alumni, is celebrated.
May 14, 1954 -- The Boeing Corporation unveils its first jet airliner, the 707.
October 3, 1954 -- Duke Washington is the first black football player to scrimmage at UT’s Memorial Stadium. A member of the Washington State University Cougars, he receives a standing ovation when he leaves the field.
January 13, 1955 -- Texas Governor Alan Shivers suggests to the Legislature that UT tuition be doubled from $25 to $50 per quarter term.
Spring, 1955 -- The University’s Main Building is air conditioned
March 8, 1955 -- The UT Athletics Council budgets $200,000 to install lights in Memorial Stadium.
April 15, 1955 -- The first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois.
May, 1955 -- By a unanimous 9-0 vote the U.S. Supreme Court holds that the "separate but equal" principle in schools is unconstitutional.
June 6, 1955 -- Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets hits number one on the U.S. billboard charts.
July 8, 1955 -- The Board of Regents adopt a resolution admitting qualified students to the Graduate School without regard to race or national origin.
July 18, 1955 -- Disneyland, Walt Disney’s 160 acre, $17 million theme park opens in Anaheim, California.
September 1, 1955 -- In order to curb campus traffic problems, the UT administration imposes a ban on freshman-owned automobiles.
September 17, 1955 -- The first night football game is played at Memorial Stadium against Texas Tech. Tech defeated Texas 14 -- 8.
September 24, 1955 -- Big Bertha, the Longhorn Band’s enormous bass drum, makes its first appearance at the UT vs. Tulane football game. Texas was victorious by a score of 35-2.
October 9, 1955 -- Dr. William J. Battle, who served the University for 62 years as professor, dean, and acting president, founded the University Co-op, designed the UT seal, and chaired the Faculty Building Committee that was responsible for the Main Building and Tower, passes away in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
October 16, 1955 -- Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, opens in theaters nationwide.
November 11, 1955 -- Head cheerleader Harley Clark introduces the Hook ’em Horns hand signal at a football rally in Gregory Gymnasium. The hand signal was suggested to Clark by fellow UT student Henry Pitts.
November 25, 1955 -- In Alabama, Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat for a white woman. Thousands of protesters, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., boycott bus lines and call for an end to segregation.
June 2, 1956 -- Three maces, one for the Senior Marshal (fruit of wisdom), and two for the Deputy Marshals (torches of enlightenment) are used for the first time in University Commencement exercises. The maces are made, in part, from oak architectural ornaments saved from the Old Main Building.
Fall, 1956 -- For the first time, 104 African American undergraduate students enroll at the University of Texas.
January 1, 1957 -- Darrell Royal is hired as the head football coach. His 20-year career will include 167 wins, 45 losses, 5 ties, 16 bowl games and 3 national titles.
August 5, 1957- American Bandstand is aired for the first time.
October 4, 1957 -- The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite.
January 10, 1958 -- The University of Texas observes its 75th anniversary at a convocation of students, faculty, staff, alumni and distinguished educators from other colleges and universities.
February 1, 1958 -- The U.S. launches its first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit.
Spring, 1958 -- The Board of Regents appropriate $1.5 million for the acquisition of library collections for a new Undergraduate Center.
September, 1958 -- Kinsolving, the University’s newest and most modern residence hall, is opened for women students.
November 27, 1958 -- The reconstructed Santa Rita oil rig is dedicated on the campus.
January 23, 1959 -- The Drama Building, the 57-year old "grandmother" of the campus is destroyed by fire. Originally dedicated as the Woman’s Building in 1902, it was the first University residence hall for women, and stood near the spot where the Academic Center is today.
August 21, 1959 -- Hawaii becomes America’s 50th state.
November 11, 1959 -- The film Ben Hur opens in Hollywood, At a cost of $14.5 million, it is the most expensive movie ever made.