The video above is from a previous segment.
DALLAS (KDAF) — What decade did America peak?
Each decade has its good and bad, triumphs and tragedies — and according to Ranker, the 1950s topped the list of America’s greatest decades. See the top five decades below, and view the full report here.
The 1950s
Peak Achievements: The “Golden Age of Television,” Brown v. Board of Education integrates schools, Jonas Salk creates polio vaccine, Disneyland opens, the rise of Rock n’ Roll and Elvis Presley, formation of NASA
Major Moments: Rise of McCarthyism, Korean War, execution of the Rosenbergs, Rosa Parks sparks Montgomery bus boycott, National Guard enforces desegregation in Little Rock, AR
The 1960s
Peak Achievements: Moon landing, Martin Luther King gives “I Have a Dream” speech during March on Washington, Civil Rights Acts of 1960 and 1964, Woodstock music festival, Harper Lee publishes To Kill A Mockingbird
Major Moments: Bay of Pigs Invasion; Vietnam War begins; Cuban Missile Crisis; death of Marilyn Monroe; The Feminine Mystique sparks women’s liberation movement; assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.; Beatlemania; counterculture movement; the Manson murders
The 1770s
Peak Achievements: The signing of the Declaration of Independence, America founded
Major Moments: The Revolutionary War, Articles of Confederation
The 1980s
Peak Achievements: Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman on the Supreme Court, “We Are The World” and Live Aid fundraise against famine, The Simpsons debuts
Major Moments: “Reaganomics,” rise of AIDS crisis and awareness, Iran-Contra affair, The Challenger space shuttle explosion, Black Monday stock market crash, War on Drugs begins
The 1990s
Peak Achievements: Cold War ends, debut of the World Wide Web
Major Moments: The Gulf War, Los Angeles Riots, the “Storm of the Century,” Oklahoma City bombing, OJ Simpson murder trial, Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton’s impeachment, Columbine shootings, Y2K panic