September 7, 1950: The Nikkei Index Is Born and Hemingway Returns

Today in 1950 · Thursday, September 7, 1950

Ernest Hemingway aboard his boat Pilar in 1950, the year of Across the River and into the Trees

Ernest Hemingway aboard his boat Pilar in 1950, the year of Across the River and into the Trees · National Archives (JFK Library), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On this day in 1950, the Tokyo Stock Exchange introduced a new market barometer: the 'Adjusted Stock Average,' calculated across 225 listed companies, with a base value of 176.21. The index was computed retroactively back to May 16, 1949 — the day the exchange reopened after the Second World War. In 1970 the Nikkei newspaper took over its calculation, and under the name Nikkei 225 it became the most-watched number in Asian finance, the daily pulse of the world's postwar economic miracle.

The same day in New York, Charles Scribner's Sons published Ernest Hemingway's 'Across the River and into the Trees,' his first novel in a decade, with a first printing of about 75,000 copies. The story of an aging American colonel in postwar Venice had been serialized in Cosmopolitan that spring, and the reviews were rough — Hemingway was already answering his critics in private letters by August.

The public disagreed with the critics: the novel spent seven weeks atop the New York Times bestseller list, the only Hemingway novel ever to reach No. 1 there. And the sting of the reception had one more consequence — the book he wrote next, as if in answer, was 'The Old Man and the Sea.'

Also on this day

  • Rocket scientist Qian Xuesen was detained by US immigration authorities; his later deportation to China would prove one of the Cold War's great own-goals.
  • The game show 'Truth or Consequences' premiered on CBS television.
  • In Korea, the Great Naktong Offensive began losing momentum against the UN line.
  • Born this day: Julie Kavner — the future voice of Marge Simpson.

🎵 On the radio that week: America’s No. 1 song was “Goodnight Irene” by Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers (Billboard best sellers) — Billboard's top record of 1950, topping the sales, jukebox and disc-jockey charts alike. That sound never really left — we recreate 1950s doo-wop and slow-dance ballads every week: read the stories behind our songs or listen on the lovesong1950s channel.
🎬 At the movies: “Broken Arrow” was widening across the country — the first major Hollywood Western to portray Native Americans sympathetically, with Jeff Chandler's Oscar-nominated Cochise.
⚾ In sports: Phillies ace Curt Simmons, 17-8, made his final start of 1950 before his National Guard unit was called up for Korea — reliever Jim Konstanty, on his way to 74 appearances and the MVP award, finished the win.

Sources: Nikkei's official index guidebook (PDF) · Capital.com: Nikkei 225 history · Hemingway Society: the novel's reception · Biblio: first edition bibliography · Billboard best-seller charts, 1950 (issue scans) · Variety National Boxoffice Survey, 1950 (Lantern scans) · Retrosheet 1950 game logs and box scores. Every fact above is drawn from the records linked here — no dramatization, no invented details.

More from this series: Today in 1950 — the daily archive · every post from September 2026

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