Events in the Life of William McChesney Martin Jr.

Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, 1951-1970

EVENTS
March 21, 1951William McChesney Martin Jr. is confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He formally takes office on April 2, 1951.
March 29, 1951Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
March 30, 1951Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I mainframe computer to the Department of the Census.
November 4, 1952Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President of the United States. He serves 1953-1961.
March 5, 1953Josef Stalin dies.
April 9, 1953August Busch of Anheuser-Busch purchases the St. Louis Cardinals and Sportsman's Park, renaming it Busch Stadium. The St. Louis Browns move to Baltimore.
July 23, 1953A cease fire is established between North and South Korea.
February 29, 1955William McChesney Martin Sr. dies in St. Louis, Missouri.
May 14, 1955Central and Eastern European communist countries form the Warsaw Pact to counter NATO.
January 20, 1956William McChesney Martin Jr. appears before the Senate Banking and Currency Committee on his nomination for a full 14-year term on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
May 9, 1956Bank Holding Company Act is passed. It regulates the activities of bank holding companies and requires Federal Reserve Board approval for the establishment of holding companies and for interstate operations.
October 23, 1956A student demonstration in Budapest becomes a nationwide revolt against the communist government of Hungary. The Hungarian Revolution ended on November 10 after a large Soviet force invades Budapest, killing many civilians.
October 29, 1956The Suez Crisis is precipitated by the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt. Egypt is invaded by forces from Great Britain and France to reopen the Canal.
September 24, 1957President Eisenhower sends federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage to Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
October 4, 1957Sputnik is launched by the Soviet Union, beginning the Space Race.
July 29, 1958Congress creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
January 1, 1959Fidel Castro leads successful revolution in Cuba.
January 3, 1959Alaska becomes the 49th state.
August 21, 1959Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
November 8, 1960John F. Kennedy is elected President of the United States. He serves until November 22, 1963. Richard Nixon blames Federal Reserve policies for his defeat.
August 13, 1961The Berlin Wall is built by the Soviets and their East German allies. (The Wall is dismantled on November 9, 1989.)
October 16, 1962Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban missile crisis begins. It is resolved when President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev agree to remove nuclear missiles from U.S. bases in Turkey and Cuba.
November 22, 1963President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. He is succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson, who wins election on November 3, 1964, and serves 1965-1969.
July 2, 1964Civil Rights Act is passed, outlawing segregation in U.S. public schools and public places.
August 7, 1964Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is passed. It allows President Johnson the authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war.
August 6, 1965Voting Rights Act is passed. It outlaws literacy tests for voting registration and provides for Department of Justice oversight of voter registration.
October 28, 1965Construction of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, also known as the Gateway Arch, is completed in St. Louis, Missouri.
May 12, 1966The new Busch Memorial Stadium, designed by Edward Durrell Stone, opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
April 4, 1968Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
June 6, 1968Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles, California.
November 5, 1968Richard M. Nixon is elected President of the United States. He serves 1969-August 9, 1974.
January 30, 1970William McChesney Martin Jr. resigns from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and ends his career in public service.