1956

1956 was a hugely important year for popular culture, and much of it revolved around the “King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis Presley.

Elvis entered US music charts for the first time this year, with his recording of “Heartbreak Hotel.” This year was also when Elvis released his first gold album, titled “Elvis Presley.” Elvis famously caused a national stir in June of 1956 with his performance of “Hound Dog” on The Milton Berle Show with his, for the time, “suggestive” hip movements.

Presley would also take part in the “Million Dollar Quartet” near the end of 1956. On this occasion, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash played together at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, for this one and only time.

1956 was a notable year for female celebrities as well. Doris Day recorded her famous song, “Que, Sera, Sera” and Norma Jean Mortenson legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

For television history, 1956 was incredibly important. This was the year that legendary host, Bob Barker made his television debut, hosting a game show called Truth or Consequences. A very popular production of Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, was restaged live on NBC this year, due to high demand. In another development, the American soap opera, As the World Turns, made its debut on CBS.

This was a big year for film and theatre as well. My Fair Lady opened on Broadway and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I was released in movie theatres. Also released in theatres this year was Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston. 1956 was also the year that the great comic duo, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, held their last comedy show together. Their last performance was at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City.

Discover how the world looked like in 1956

Looking for 1956 Calendar ? Here it is: January 1956, February 1956, March 1956, April 1956, May 1956, June 1956, July 1956, August 1956, September 1956, October 1956, November 1956, December 1956

Oscar Winners

All Academy Awards Prize winners of the 29th edition of the Oscar ceremony

Best director

George Stevens

Best actor

Yul Brynner

Best actress

Ingrid Bergman

Best supporting actor

Anthony Quinn

Best supporting actress

Dorothy Malone

Time Person of the Year

Who was the person of the year of 1956?

The Hungarian freedom fighter

Representing Hungarian revolutionaries involved in the failed 1956 uprising.

Books

Which were the most popular books released in 1956 ?
Unlimited books on any devices, try your first month free

Nobel Prizes

All Nobel Prize winners of 1956

Literature

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Physics

John Bardeen
Walter Houser Brattain
William Shockley

Chemistry

Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
Nikolay Semyonov

Physiology or Medicine

André Frédéric Cournand
Werner Forssmann
Dickinson W. Richards

Music charts

Which were the top hits of 1956?

Top #1 songs in the USA

Doris Day - Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)
The Platters - The Great Pretender
Jim Lowe - The Green Door
George Cates - Moonglow And Theme From Picnic
Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill
Eddie Fisher - Dungaree Doll
Frank Sinatra - Hey! Jealous Lover
George Hamilton IV - A Rose And A Baby Ruth
Elvis Presley - Love Me
Al Hibbler - He

Top #1 songs in the UK

Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon - Why Do Fools Fall In Love
Doris Day - Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera)
Kay Starr - Rock And Roll Waltz
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
Ronnie Hilton - No Other Love
Winifred Atwell - The Poor People Of Paris
The Hilltoppers - Only You
The Dreamweavers - It's Almost Tomorrow
Pat Boone - I'll Be Home
Anne Shelton - Lay Down Your Arms

Movies

Which were the most popular Movies released in those months?
Watch popular movies, TV series and live events, start your 30-day free trial

Popular names

Which were the top popular names given to babies born in 1956 in the USA ?

Top #10 male names

Top #10 female names

World Population

Demographic statistics of the year 1956

Population statistics

Total population: 2.8 billion (2,822,443,282 to be precise!)
Urban population: 903.2 million, that is 32.0% of the total population of 1956 lives in cities
Yearly change: +49.4 million, corresponding to a percentage increase of +1.78%
Average density: 19.0 persons per km²

Historical Events

Which were the important events of 1956?

Events

01 Jan 1956 Elvis Presley records Heartbreak Hotel for RCA in Nashville
02 Jan 1956 Poujadists / communists win French parliamentary elections
03 Jan 1956 A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
04 Jan 1956 Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Russian/American composer, dies at age 91.
05 Jan 1956 Elvis Presley records Heartbreak Hotel
06 Jan 1956 KGNS TV channel 8 in Laredo, TX (NBC / ABC) begins broadcasting
07 Jan 1956 Vinoo Mankad scores 231 versus New Zealand, 413 opening stand with Roy.
08 Jan 1956 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Conrad Aiken.
09 Jan 1956 Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby" column first appears in newspapers.
10 Jan 1956 Elvis records Heartbreak Hotel
14 Jan 1956 Little Richard releases "Tutti Frutti".
15 Jan 1956 D Shostakovitch appointed honorary member of Academia Santa Cecilia
16 Jan 1956 Egyptian President Nassar pledges to reconquer Palestine.
19 Jan 1956 Hoboken dedicates a plaque honoring achievements of Alexander Cartwright in organizing early baseball at Elysian Field.
20 Jan 1956 Buddy Holly records Blue Days Black Night in Nashville
21 Jan 1956 Comedy in Music (Victor Borge) closes at Golden NYC after 849 performances
22 Jan 1956 30 die in a train crash in Los Angeles, California, USA.
24 Jan 1956 96.5 cm precipitation at Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (state record)
25 Jan 1956 96.5 cm (38 inches) of rainfall, Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (state record).
26 Jan 1956 Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
28 Jan 1956 Elvis Presley made his first US TV appearance
30 Jan 1956 Elvis Presley records his version of Blue Suede Shoes
31 Jan 1956 Juscelino Kubitschek becomes President of Brazil.
01 Feb 1956 Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking
02 Feb 1956 Coasters sign with Atlantic Records
03 Feb 1956 Toni Sailor becomes first Olympics skier to sweep the three alpine events.
05 Feb 1956 Louise Suggs win LPGA Havana Golf Open.
06 Feb 1956 French premier Guy Mollet pelted with tomatoes in Algiers.
07 Feb 1956 Autherine Lucy, 1st black admitted to University of Alabama, is expelled
08 Feb 1956 Connie Mack, baseball manager (Philadelphia Athletics, 1901-50), dies at age 93.
09 Feb 1956 KHPL (now KWNB) TV channel 6 in Hayes Center, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
10 Feb 1956 My Friend Flicka premieres on CBS (later NBC) TV
11 Feb 1956 British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union after being missing for 5 years.
12 Feb 1956 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Miami Beach Golf Open.
13 Feb 1956 KYW-AM in Philadelphia Penn gives calls to WTAM (now WWWE) Cleveland
14 Feb 1956 Verhoeven / Nauta / De King / Wijnhout win Dutch 11 city skate
15 Feb 1956 Urho Kekkonen is appointed President of Finland.
16 Feb 1956 Only a little more than four months after the release of the 70mm version of ''Oklahoma!'', the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Carousel'', starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, is released in Cinemascope 55. MacRae and Jones had previously starred in ''Oklahoma!'' ''Carousel'', intended for showing in 55mm, ends up being shown only in 35mm.
17 Feb 1956 Ice Dance Championship at Garmisch won by Pamela Weight/P Thomas of Great Britain.
19 Feb 1956 Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Saint Petersburg Golf Open.
20 Feb 1956 WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
23 Feb 1956 20th Congress of CPSU closes in Moscow
24 Feb 1956 Doris Day records her most famous song: Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be). It is from Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'', in which Day co-stars with James Stewart.
25 Feb 1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at 20th Soviet Party Conference
26 Feb 1956 Writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes meet at a party in Cambridge
27 Feb 1956 Female suffrage in Egypt.
28 Feb 1956 Thirteen die in a train crash in Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA.
29 Feb 1956 In Centerville, South Dakota, USA a building is hit by a falling meteorite.
01 Mar 1956 The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
02 Mar 1956 The British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus to the Seychelles.
03 Mar 1956 Morocco gains independence from France (Anniversary of throne)
05 Mar 1956 King Kong, 1st televised
09 Mar 1956 Weather forecasting phone line set up in London England
10 Mar 1956 Peter Twiss sets new world air record 1,132 mph (1,823 kph).
11 Mar 1956 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship.
13 Mar 1956 Elvis Presley releases his first Gold Album titled ''Elvis Presley''.
14 Mar 1956 Satchel Paige signs with the Birmingham Black Barons (Negro League)
15 Mar 1956 My Fair Lady opens at Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City for 2,715 performances.
16 Mar 1956 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Tenley Albright.
17 Mar 1956 8th Emmy Awards: Ed Sullivan Show, Phil Silvers Show and Lucy Ball
19 Mar 1956 Biggest NBA margin of victory: Minnesota Lakers-133, Saint Louis Hawks-75.
20 Mar 1956 156-day strike against Westinghouse ends
21 Mar 1956 28th Academy Awards - Marty, Anna Magnani and Ernest Borgnine win
22 Mar 1956 Mr Wonderful opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 383 performances
23 Mar 1956 Pakistan proclaimed an Islamic Republic in Commonwealth
26 Mar 1956 Medic Alert Foundation forms
27 Mar 1956 US seizes American communist newspaper Daily Worker.
01 Apr 1956 10th Tony Awards: Diary of Anne Frank and Damn Yankees win.
02 Apr 1956 Soap operas As the World Turns andEdge of Night premieres on TV
03 Apr 1956 Silk Stockings closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 461 performances
05 Apr 1956 Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba.
06 Apr 1956 Polish communist Gomulka freed from prison.
07 Apr 1956 10th NBA Championship: Philadelphia Warriors beat Fort Wayne Pistons, 4 games to 1.
08 Apr 1956 Six marine recruits drown during exercise at Paradise Island, South Carolina, USA.
09 Apr 1956 Habib Bourguiba is elected prime minister of Tunisia.
10 Apr 1956 Philips broadcasts first Dutch color TV programs.
11 Apr 1956 French government decides to send 200,000 reservists to Algeria.
12 Apr 1956 Bandaranaike government forms in Ceylon.
13 Apr 1956 KETA TV channel 13 in Oklahoma City, OK (PBS) begins broadcasting
14 Apr 1956 Plain & Fancy closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 476 performances
15 Apr 1956 Marlene Bauer wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open.
17 Apr 1956 Kominform disbands
18 Apr 1956 Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco (civil ceremony)
19 Apr 1956 1st ML baseball game in NJ, Dodgers beat Phils in Roosevelt Stadium
21 Apr 1956 Former U.S. First Daughter Margaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel.
22 Apr 1956 Patty Berg wins LPGA Dallas Golf Open.
23 Apr 1956 US Supreme court ends race segregation on buses.
26 Apr 1956 First container ship left Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.
27 Apr 1956 Heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano, retires undefeated from boxing.
28 Apr 1956 Reds Frank Robinson hits his 1st of 586 HRs
29 Apr 1956 WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS / NBC / ABC) begins broadcasting
30 Apr 1956 Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming ''I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty.''
01 May 1956 The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
02 May 1956 US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus.
03 May 1956 Most Happy Fella opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 678 performances
04 May 1956 Queen Juliana unveils National Monument to Dams in Amsterdam
05 May 1956 Broekster Boys soccer team forms in Damwoude
06 May 1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
07 May 1956 New York Giants' Bill White homers in his first at bat.
08 May 1956 John Osbornes Look Back in Anger, premieres in London
09 May 1956 Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world, is first ascended.
10 May 1956 KFSN TV channel 30 in Fresno, CA (ABC / CBS) begins broadcasting
11 May 1956 Pinky Lee Show, last airs on NBC-TV
12 May 1956 East Pakistan is struck by cyclone and tidal waves.
13 May 1956 Pachyderm Building at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opens
16 May 1956 Kraft Theater presents an act from Profiles in Courage
18 May 1956 Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record third time.
19 May 1956 Pirate Dale Long hits 9th-inning HR, 1st HR in 8 straight games
20 May 1956 Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll.
21 May 1956 WITI TV channel 6 in Milwaukee, WI (CBS / ABC) begins broadcasting
22 May 1956 Bob Hope Show, last airs on NBC-TV
23 May 1956 World Trade Center dedicated in Ferry Building, San Francisco, California.
24 May 1956 Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana.
25 May 1956 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Haurietis aquas
26 May 1956 US Navy aircraft carrier Bennington burns off Rhode Island, killing 103.
27 May 1956 French raid in Algiers
28 May 1956 US President Dwight Eisenhower signs farm bill allowing government to store agricultural surplus.
29 May 1956 WESH TV channel 2 in Daytona Beach-Orlando, Florida (NBC) 1st broadcast
30 May 1956 Bus boycott begins in Tallahassee Florida
01 Jun 1956 First international flight (to Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport - YUL) from the Atlanta Municipal Airport (ATL); now Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and currently the world's busiest airport)
02 Jun 1956 Yugoslav President Tito visits Moscow
03 Jun 1956 3rd class travel on British Railways ends
04 Jun 1956 Speech by USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev blasting Josef Stalin made public.
05 Jun 1956 Milton Berle Show, last airs on NBC-TV
06 Jun 1956 In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall resigns after the breakdown of talks about internal self-government in London.
07 Jun 1956 Singapore government of Marshall resigns
08 Jun 1956 Lim Yem Hock forms Singapore government
09 Jun 1956 Heavy earthquake strikes Afghanistan, 400 killed
10 Jun 1956 16th modern Olympiad equestrian events open in Stockholm
11 Jun 1956 Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
13 Jun 1956 Shangri-La opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 21 performances
14 Jun 1956 New Faces of 1956 opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 221 performances
15 Jun 1956 Eindhoven University of Technology is founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
16 Jun 1956 56th US Golf Open: Cary Middlecoff shoots a 281 at Oak Hill Country Club - New York
18 Jun 1956 Last of foreign troops leaves Egypt as Brits leave Suez Canal
19 Jun 1956 Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin end partnership after 16 films
20 Jun 1956 Venezuelan Super Constellation crashes in NJ, 74 killed
21 Jun 1956 Anti-protons detected in the atmosphere
23 Jun 1956 Jimmy Durante Show, last airs on NBC-TV
24 Jun 1956 Steve Allen Show, returns on NBC-TV
25 Jun 1956 51 die in collision of Andrea Doria andStockholm
28 Jun 1956 First atomic reactor built for private research operates in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
29 Jun 1956 Federal interstate highway system act signed
30 Jun 1956 Pipe Dream closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 245 performances
01 Jul 1956 Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Western Golf Open
02 Jul 1956 A lab experiment at Sylvania Electric Products results in an explosion.
04 Jul 1956 US most intense rainfall (1.23 inches in one minute) at Unionville, Maryland.
05 Jul 1956 France raises tobacco tax 20% due to war in Algeria
06 Jul 1956 70th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Lew Hoad beats Ken Rosewall (62 46 75 64)
07 Jul 1956 63rd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Shirley Fry beats Angela Buxton (63 61)
08 Jul 1956 Joyce Ziske wins LPGA Syracuse Golf Open
10 Jul 1956 23rd All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-3 at Griffith Stadium, Washington DC
13 Jul 1956 WCBI TV channel 4 in Columbus, MS (CBS) begins broadcasting
14 Jul 1956 Boston Red Sox' pitcher Mel Parnell no-hits Chicago White Sox, 4-0.
15 Jul 1956 Beverly Hanson / Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Hot Springs Golf Invitational
16 Jul 1956 Detroit Tigers and Briggs Stadium sold for then record $5.5 million
19 Jul 1956 US refuse to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam
20 Jul 1956 Great Britain refuses to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam
23 Jul 1956 Joe Cronin and Hank Greenberg inducted into Hall of Fame
24 Jul 1956 Dodgers lose to the Reds, 2-1, playing in Jesey City
25 Jul 1956 38th PGA Championship: Jack Burke at Blue Hill Country Club - Boston
26 Jul 1956 Egypt seizes Suez Canal.
29 Jul 1956 WCKT (now WSVN) TV channel 7 in Miami, Florida (IND) begins broadcasting
30 Jul 1956 US motto In God We Trust authorized
31 Jul 1956 August – The exhibition ''This Is Tomorrow'' opens at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
01 Aug 1956 KRCR TV channel 7 in Redding-Chico, CA (ABC) begins broadcasting
03 Aug 1956 Willie Williams of the US sets 100 metre dash record at 10.1 seconds.
04 Aug 1956 Elvis Presley releases Hound Dog
05 Aug 1956 KUAM TV channel 8 in Agana, GU (CBS / ABC / NBC) begins broadcasting
06 Aug 1956 After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.
07 Aug 1956 Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans
08 Aug 1956 WDIQ (now KMCT) TV channel 2 in Dozier, AL (PBS) begins
09 Aug 1956 1st state-wide, state-supported educational TV network, Alabama
10 Aug 1956 23rd NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Cleveland 26, All-Stars 0 (75,000)
11 Aug 1956 1st flight 4-motor Cessna 620
12 Aug 1956 Canadain actor William Shatner (Star Trek) marries Gloria Brink
13 Aug 1956 WBIR TV channel 10 in Knoxville, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting
16 Aug 1956 Adlai E Stevenson nominated as Democratic US presidential candidate.
17 Aug 1956 Bundesverfassungsgericht bans KPD in West Germany
18 Aug 1956 Cin Reds (8) and Cubs (2) combine to hit 10 HRs in a 9 inning game
19 Aug 1956 Fay Crocker wins LPGA St. Louis Golf Open
20 Aug 1956 Republicans convene at Cow Palace
21 Aug 1956 WTVW TV channel 7 in Evansville, IN (ABC) begins broadcasting
22 Aug 1956 Elvis Presley begins filming The Reno Brothers (Love Me Tender)
24 Aug 1956 First non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrives in Washington DC.
25 Aug 1956 To make room for Enos Slaughter, New York Yanks release Phil Rizzuto
26 Aug 1956 KREY TV channel 10 in Montrose, CO (CBS / NBC) begins broadcasting
27 Aug 1956 Curt Robert of Columbus (International League) hits 4 HRs in 7 inning game
29 Aug 1956 French government routes troops to Cyprus near Suez crisis
30 Aug 1956 White mob prevents enrollment of blacks at Mansfield HS, Texas
01 Sep 1956 KELP (now KCOS) TV channel 13 in El Paso, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
02 Sep 1956 Washington-Jackson cable line replaced by bus service
03 Sep 1956 Tanks are deployed against racist demonstrators in Clinton, Tennessee
04 Sep 1956 The IBM RAMAC 305 is introduced, the first commercial computer to use magnetic disk storage.
05 Sep 1956 20 die in a train crash in Springer, New Mexico, USA.
07 Sep 1956 Bell X-2 sets unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000+ feet.
09 Sep 1956 70th US Womens Tennis: Shirley J Fry beats Althea Gibson (63 64)
10 Sep 1956 Louisville Ky public schools integrates
11 Sep 1956 Vladimir Kuts runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
12 Sep 1956 Black students enter and are barred from Clay Ky elementary school
13 Sep 1956 In the USA, IBM introduces the IBM 350 Disk File, the first hard drive, as part of the IBM RAMAC 305 computer. The drive features fifty double-sided 24-inch diameter platters, served by one arm and one read/write head. Capacity is about 5MB, and transfer rate is 8800 characters per second.
14 Sep 1956 First prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC.
16 Sep 1956 Marlene Bauer wins LPGA Clock Golf Open
17 Sep 1956 Black students enter Clay Ky elementary school
18 Sep 1956 Mickey Mantle is 8th to hit 50 HRs in a seaon
21 Sep 1956 Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García is assassinated.
24 Sep 1956 1st trans atlantic telephone cable in use (Newfoundland-Scotland)
25 Sep 1956 1st transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation (Scot-Canada)
27 Sep 1956 USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first man to exceed Mach 3 while flying the Bell X-2. Shortly thereafter, the craft goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed.
28 Sep 1956 Johnny Carson Show, TV Variety
29 Sep 1956 I Love Mickey by Mickey Mantle and Teresa Brewer peaks at #87
30 Sep 1956 Phillies Robin Roberts gives up a major league record 46th HR
01 Oct 1956 Zestienhoven airport at Rotterdam official opens
02 Oct 1956 First atomic power clock exhibited-New York City.
03 Oct 1956 Sal Maglie and Dodgers defeat Yanks 6-3 in opening game of World Series
05 Oct 1956 Yogi Berra becomes the fourth New York Yankees' player to hit a World Series Grand Slam (World Series #53).
06 Oct 1956 Dr Albert Sabin discovers oral polio vaccine
07 Oct 1956 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Heart of America Golf Open
08 Oct 1956 New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series; one of only 20 perfect games in MLB history.
09 Oct 1956 10th NHL All-Star Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 1-1 at Montreal
10 Oct 1956 Fazal Mahmood takes 13-114 for match vs. Aus, Karachi
11 Oct 1956 1st Pakistan vs. Australia Test 95 runs scored on 1st day
13 Oct 1956 WAGM TV channel 8 in Presque Isle, ME (CBS / NBC / ABC) begins
14 Oct 1956 Patty Berg wins LPGA Arkansas Golf Open
15 Oct 1956 Pyotr Bolotnikov runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
16 Oct 1956 William J Brennan Jr becomes a US Supreme Court Justice.
17 Oct 1956 Pakistan defeat Australia by nine wickets at 1st attempt
19 Oct 1956 The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.
21 Oct 1956 Betty Dodd wins LPGA Lawton Golf Open
22 Oct 1956 France intercept Moroccan plane, arrest Ben Bella
23 Oct 1956 First video recording on magnetic tape televised in USA, coast-to-coast.
24 Oct 1956 AP names Cin manager Birdie Tebbets as NL Manager of the Year
25 Oct 1956 White Sox manager Marty Marion resigns. AL Lopez replaces him
26 Oct 1956 Vietnam promulgates its constitution.
28 Oct 1956 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Luctuosissimi eventus
29 Oct 1956 Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, NBC News, team up
30 Oct 1956 Dodgers sell Ebbets Field to a real estate group They agree to stay until 1959, with an option to stay until 1961
31 Oct 1956 1st American to land an airplane at South Pole - Rear Admiral GJ Dufek
01 Nov 1956 Nobel for physics awarded to Shockley, Brattain and Bardeen
02 Nov 1956 Israel captures Gaza and Sheham.
03 Nov 1956 Wizard of Oz 1st televised (CBS-TV)
04 Nov 1956 200,000 Russian troops attack anti-Stalinist revolt in Budapest
05 Nov 1956 Dutch Communist Party office of Felix Meritis seized
06 Nov 1956 US President Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) re-elected defeating Adlai E Stevenson (Democrat).
07 Nov 1956 Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to immediately withdraw their troops from Egypt.
09 Nov 1956 Lou Thesz beats Whipper Billy Watson in St. Louis, to become NWA champ
12 Nov 1956 Largest observed iceberg, 208 by 60 miles, first sighted.
13 Nov 1956 US Supreme Court strikes down segregation of races on public buses.
14 Nov 1956 Hungarian revolt put down
15 Nov 1956 Middle East Technical University is founded in Ankara, Turkey.
17 Nov 1956 Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43 pts (vs. Colgate)
18 Nov 1956 Morocco gains independence
20 Nov 1956 In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Djilas is arrested after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito.
21 Nov 1956 Don Newcombe, wins NL MVP and 1st-ever Cy Young Award
22 Nov 1956 16th modern Olympic games opens in Melbourne
23 Nov 1956 The Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain. Motorists panic as petrol rations loom, BBC news
24 Nov 1956 Pajama Game closes at St. James Theater NYC after 1063 performances
26 Nov 1956 The Price Is Right debuts on NBC
28 Nov 1956 Photography begins on ... & God Created Women
29 Nov 1956 Bells Are Ringing opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 925 performances
30 Nov 1956 1st use of videotape on TV (Douglas Edwards & the News)
01 Dec 1956 Candide opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 73 performances
02 Dec 1956 The Granma yacht reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente province and Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
03 Dec 1956 KFSA (now KFSM) TV channel 5 in Ft Smith, AR (CBS) 1st broadcast
04 Dec 1956 22nd Heisman Trophy Award: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame (quarterback).
05 Dec 1956 Rose Heilbron becomes Britain's first female judge.
06 Dec 1956 Happy Hunting opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 413 performances
08 Dec 1956 16th Olympic games close at Melbourne, Australia
09 Dec 1956 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board.
10 Dec 1956 Establishment of MPLA in Angola.
11 Dec 1956 Anti-Russian demonstrations in Stettin and Wroclaw, Poland.
12 Dec 1956 Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's ''Border Campaign''.
14 Dec 1956 Paul-Henri Spaak is appointed Secretary-General of NATO.
15 Dec 1956 KGW TV channel 8 in Portland, OR (NBC) begins broadcasting
16 Dec 1956 Fanny closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 888 performances
18 Dec 1956 To Tell the Truth debuts on CBS-TV
19 Dec 1956 Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
20 Dec 1956 Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra.
22 Dec 1956 New Faces of 1956 closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 221 performances
23 Dec 1956 British and French troops leave the Suez Canal region.
24 Dec 1956 I Love Lucy Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
27 Dec 1956 Bill Sharman (Boston) ends NBA free throw streak of 55 games.
28 Dec 1956 Miss Frances [Horwich], last Ding Dong School on NBC-TV
30 Dec 1956 New York Giants beat Chicago Bears 47-7 in NFL championship game.
31 Dec 1956 Bob Barker makes his TV debut as host of the game show ''Truth or Consequences''.

1956

Your place in the Universe on 1956

Find out more about your Moon Sign

Oscar Winners

Best director

George Stevens

Giant

Best actor

Yul Brynner

The King and I

Best actress

Ingrid Bergman

Anastasia

Best supporting actor

Anthony Quinn

Lust for Life

Best supporting actress

Dorothy Malone

Written on the Wind

Time Person of the Year

Books

Love Or Perish

Ten North Frederick

The Search For Bridey Murphy

Gift From The Sea

How To Live 365 Days A Year

1956 Chinese Zodiac and Horoscope