February 9, 1950

1950Richard F. Colburn, American sergeant and politician^[†]

Richard Franklin Colburn was an American politician who was a Republican state senator for District 37 in Maryland.

1950Ted Theodore, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Queensland (born 1884)^[†]

Edward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the state Labor Party. He later entered federal politics, serving as Treasurer in the Scullin Labor government.

1950Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.^[†]

McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s, heavily associated with the Second Red Scare, also known as the McCarthy Era. After the mid-1950s, U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy, who had spearheaded the campaign, gradually lost his public popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false. The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren made a series of rulings on civil and political rights that overturned several key laws and legislative directives, and helped bring an end to the Second Red Scare.