1942 | North America - USA
| Edward Hopper paints Nighthawks |
1943 | North America - USA
| The film Casablanca is released. |
1945 | Europe - Great Britain
| George Orwell publishes Animal Farm. |
1949 | North America - USA
| Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman opens. |
1949 | Europe - France
 Jean Manzon, 1952, 12 January, Front cover for "Paris Match" No. 147, Magazine cover, Private collection, LL/13322 | Paris Match is founded as a quality weekly using extensive photo-reportage. |
1951 | North America - USA
| J. D. Salinger publishes The Catcher in the Rye |
1951 | Europe - Great Britain
| The Festival of Britain is held to mark to centennial of the Great Exhibition of 1851. |
1953 | Global
| James Watson and Francis Crick announce that DNA has the form of a double helix and go on to receive the Nobel prize for their work. Their work is partially based on the 1952 work of Rosalind Franklin who had produced x-ray evidence and notes on the DNA molecule. |
1955 | North America - USA
| The poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg with its exploration of drug-induced realities of the Beat generation was censored but finally published in 1957 to wide acclaim. |
1957 | North America - USA
| Jack Kerouac publishes On the Road. |