Was there more progress from 1890 to 1950 than 1950 to 2010?

[Mechaman]

It really depends upon what definition of "progress" you use.  If you go by purely technological progress 1890 to 1950 is the clear winner.  If we go by economic progression that would depend on if you are talking about the "western" or "non-western" world.  If you go by societal progress it is arguably 1950 to 2010.  For me it really depends on if you are talking about results or if you are talking about where society seems to be headed.

With that stated out of the two choices I'd go with 1890 to 1950.  In addition to the technological advancements of that era that pretty much gave rise to modern America there was also a very good deal of societal progress.  The world went from being ruled by a handful of white European powers to hundreds of sovereign nations (though your mileage may vary on how independent many of these countries were).  Western nations went from traditional "the business of the government is business" mentality to actively creating large welfare states to address the concerns of the lower classes.  Political ideologies like Communism and Socialism were finally taken out of the philosophy textbook and practiced in the real world, though results did vary.  Women were finally given the right to vote.  The concerns of the organized labor went from being demonized as "radical" and "fringe" to being a very strong special interest comparable to multi-million dollar corporations.  The Atomic Bomb put a very apocalyptic face to the carnage and desolation caused by major wars like World War I and World War II.  And even in the field of Civil Rights, while the US at least embraced extreme segregationism in the 1890s-mid 1930s and Jim Crow was not overturned, in the years following World War II not even the United States Democratic Party was willing to ignore the issue of non-white equality.

And these are just a few I could think of in twenty minutes.  It'd probably take me all day to list the rest.

Yeah, I'm going with option A here.