Major Events In The 1950's

What would the world be today without the major events, literature, and authors of the 1950’s? For a duration of the 1950’s there was segregation, wars starting and ending ,and a new type of writing style emerging. Throughout the 1950’s, major events in the world reflected how contemporary and a modern type of literature was written and how authors, such as Maya Angelou developed her own personal writing style throughout her lifetime.

During the 1950’s, numerous major events occurred that shaped history. Throughout the early 1950’s the Korean War was starting and science fiction was being created (Grun 532). In 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as president (Grun 534); In 1953 the Korean War ended after an armistice was signed between

Louis Missouri(“Maya Angelou”). Maya Angelou had a very difficult childhood (“Maya Angelou”).Her parents split up when she was young; she and her brother were sent to Arkansas to live with their grandmother (“Maya Angelou”). While in Arkansas, Angelou experienced discrimination and racial prejudices first hand (“Maya Angelou”). Also as a young child at the age of 7, Angelou was raped by her mother's’ boyfriend and felt responsible and became mute (“Maya Angelou”). During World War II, Maya Angelou moved to San Francisco and at the age of 16, she gave birth to a son named Guy (“Maya Angelou”). She went on to marry Greek sailor, Anastasios Angelopoulos and got her name, Maya Angelou (“Maya Angelou”). Angelou had a role in Porgy and Bess and Calypso are and debuted her first album Miss Calypso after being married (“Maya Angelou”). Maya Angelou also became a member of the Harlem Writers Guild and became a civil rights activist In 1960, Maya Angelou moved to Egypt and later went to Ghana and worked as a freelance writer (“Maya Angelou”). When Maya Angelou got back to the United States she wrote some of her well-known books such as I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings, Fore I Die, and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (“Maya Angelou”). On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated on Maya Angelou’s birthday (“Maya Angelou”). She stopped celebrating her birthday for a long time. Maya Angelou then died May 28, 2014, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from old age and other health related complications (“Maya