December 1958 calendar

Events

• 01 Dec 1958 Flower Drum Song opens at St. James Theater NYC for 602 performances
• 02 Dec 1958 KNOP TV channel 2 in North Platte, NB (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 03 Dec 1958 Indonesian parliament accepts nationalisation of Dutch businesses.
• 04 Dec 1958 Finnish government of Fagerholm resigns.
• 05 Dec 1958 WTOL TV channel 11 in Toledo, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting
• 06 Dec 1958 US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back.
• 09 Dec 1958 Robert H W Welch Jr and 11 other men meet in Indianapolis, Indiana to form the anti-Communist John Birch Society.
• 10 Dec 1958 University of Pittsburgh agrees to buy Forbes Field from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• 11 Dec 1958 4th (last) Dutch government of Drees falls.
• 12 Dec 1958 Dutch Social Democratic Party-ministers / Premier Drees dismissed
• 14 Dec 1958 The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.
• 15 Dec 1958 Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes of Bell Laboratories publish a paper in ''Physical Review Letters'' setting out the principles of the optical laser.
• 16 Dec 1958 A fire breaks out in the Vida Department Store in Bogota, Colombia and kills 84 persons.
• 18 Dec 1958 1st voice from space: recorded Christmas message by Eisenhower
• 19 Dec 1958 First radio broadcast from space (recorded Christmas message by President Eisenhower: "To all mankind, America's wish for Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men Everywhere").
• 21 Dec 1958 Charles De Gaulle wins seven-year term as first President of 5th Republic of France.
• 22 Dec 1958 Chipmunk Song reaches #1
• 23 Dec 1958 Party with Comden & Green opens at John Golden NYC for 38 performances
• 24 Dec 1958 A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England during a test flight.
• 25 Dec 1958 Tchaikovsky's ballet ''The Nutcracker'' (the George Balanchine version) is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series ''Playhouse 90''.
• 28 Dec 1958 Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hit #1
• 29 Dec 1958 Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants 23-17 in NFL championship game
• 31 Dec 1958 Cubans Dictator Batista flees

Famous Birthday

• Nikki Sixx

  American musician; bass guitarist, songwriter and leader of the rock group Motley Crue, the reigning "bad boys" of American heavy metal for...

• Bruno Gaccio

  French comedian, screenwriter and television producer, best known for his involvement in the writing of the show "Les Guignols de l'info" on...

• Charlene Tilton

  TV Actress.

• Marc-Edouard Nabe
• Debbie Rowe

  Family Member.

• Bebe Neuwirth

  American actress, singer and dancer.

• Anil Kapoor
• Tara Sutphen

  American mystic, a natural occultist with an affinity for the psychic sciences.

• Rabah Madjer
• Mike Scott (musician)
• Mike Mills

  American musician and bass player who is with the band R.E.

• Joan Severance

  American model actress and producer.

• Gaëtan Gorce

  French politician, a member of the National Assembly of France.

• Michel Ferté

  French race car driver.

• Martine Kempf
• Hélène Halphen
• Pierre-Jean Gaucher

  French guitarist, composer and arranger.

• Gilles Leroy

  French author.

• François Marcela-Froideval
• Lynn-Holly Johnson
• See more

Famous Deaths

• Harry Redman

  Composer, dies on 89th birthday.

• Ferdinand Bruckner

  Writer, dies at 67.

• Erwin Bodky

  Composer, dies at 62.

• H[arry] B[yron] Warner

  Actor (10 Commandments, New Moon), dies at 83.

• Fjodor W Gladkow

  Russian Author (Cement), dies at 75.

• Brand Dirck Ochse

  Film / bioscope pioneer (Polygoon), dies at 66.

• Gustav Hermann Unger

  Composer, dies at 72.

• Juliane Gabriels

  Flemish physician, dies at age 72.

• Barhanuddin Bashajan

  Iraqi minister of Foreign affairs, is executed.

• Ahmed Mukhtar Baban

  premier of Iraq, is executed.

• Rafiq Aref

  Iraqi chief-staff Arabs Statenbond, is executed.

• Wolfgang Ernst Pauli

  Austrian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (Born 1900).

• Albert Walsh

  Canadian lawyer and politician 1st Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958).

• Tris Speaker

  American baseball player and manager (d. 1958).

• Adolfo Camarillo

  American-Mexican rancher and philanthropist (d. 1958).

• Doris Humphrey

  US dancer/choreographer (Dances of Women), dies at age 63.

• Lion Feuchtwanger

  Philosopher / writer (Der falsche Nero), dies at 74.

• See more

Top #5 songs in the USA

1. The Teddy Bears - To Know Him, Is To Love Him
2. The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song
3. The Kingston Trio - Tom Dooley
4. The Everly Brothers - Problems
5. The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Top #5 songs in the UK

1. Lord Rockingham's XI - Hoots Mon
2. Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe
3. Lonnie Donegan - Tom Dooley
4. Tommy Edwards - It's All In The Game
5. Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington - Tea For Two Cha Cha