1951

Jack in the Box gets its start. Robert O. Peterson opens first drive-through restaurant at 63rd Street and El Cajon Boulevard.

1951

Roger Revelle is appointed Director of the Scripps Institution.

1954

San Diego's new Public Library opens.

1954

University of San Diego is founded in Linda Vista.

1956

Campus in San Diego's La Jolla area proposed for a University of California site.

1956

El Cortez Hotel adds the world's first outside glass hydraulic elevator, designed by C.J. Paderewski.

1957

First test of USAF Atlas A missile is launched, built in San Diego by Convair. First successful test firing occurs on Dec 17, 1957 (on the 54th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight), the missile landing in the target area after a flight of some 500 miles. The first operational missile, the Atlas D, will serve for launching Mercury manned spacecraft into orbit. Atlas becomes the workhorse of the space program, launching John Glenn in Mercury 7 for the nation's first manned orbital flight in 1962.

1957

Minor League Padres begin playing at Westgate Park in Mission Valley.

1957

Theodore Seuss Geisel, long-time La Jolla resident writing as Dr. Seuss, publishes "The Cat in the Hat", changing the way American children learn to read. He had been given a 225-word list, with a challenge to develop a book which would improve children's literacy. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and two Academy Awards, Seuss was author and illustrator of 44 children's books.

1958

Interstate Highway 8 opens in February, following ancient Indian trails through Mission Valley.

1958

University of California Regents endorse the idea of a general university campus adjacent to the Scripps Institution.

1959

Billy Wilder's feature film Some Like it Hot is filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado, starring Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, and Tony Curtis.

1960

City of San Diego population is 573,224. San Diego County population is 1,033,011.

1960

State approves proposition to deliver water from northern California as far south as San Diego.

1961

American Football League Chargers open first season at Balboa Stadium.

1961

Mission Valley Shopping Center opens.

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