Five Innovations From the 1950s We Couldn’t Live Without Today

Visionary thinking over sixty years ago drove the development of bold new ideas

1950s calendars, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

After World War II, the civilized world was ready to move into the future with optimism and determination. Post-war economies were ripe with promise and opportunity. Having conserved and sacrificed during the war, consumers had an unquenchable desire for material goods and modern conveniences. In addition, consumers were anxious to focus on raising families and spend their leisure time traveling and experiencing new adventures.

Consumer demand and visionary thinking drove the development of bold new ideas across all sectors. We may think of the modern era as a time for unparalleled innovation, but essential inventions we rely on today were actually created in the 1950s. Here are five significant examples.

Microwave (1947, 1955)

Bestwattage, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The “microwave” that revolutionized mealtime was an accident. The heating quality of radio waves was discovered by Percy Spencer, an engineer who was working on radar for the Raytheon Company. He noticed that the radio waves…