1956 Jan 3, Mel Gibson, actor (Mad Max, Mrs. Lethal Weapon, Braveheart),
was born in Peekskill, NY.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1956 Jan 4, Oun Cheeand Sun was elected by the People's Socialist
Communist Party and installed as premier of Cambodia. He succeeded King
Norodom Sihanouk.
(EWH, 1968, p.1272)
1956 Jan 8, Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog," single
went to #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single).
(MC, 1/8/02)
1956 Jan 13, Lebanon and Syria signed a defense pact providing
for joint retaliation against Israel if either was attacked.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Jan 14, Little Richard released "Tutti Frutti."
(MC, 1/14/02)
1956 Jan 16, Egyptian Pres. Nasser pledged to reconquer Palestine.
His government made Islam the state religion.
(HN, 1/16/99)(MC, 1/16/02)
1956 Jan 19, The UN Security council voted unanimously to censure
Israel for its attack on Syria (12/11/55) as a flagrant violation of the
Palestine armistice.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Jan 19, Sudan became the 9th member of the Arab League.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Jan 20, Buddy Holly recorded "Blue Days Black Night" in Nashville.
(MC, 1/20/02)
1956 Jan 23, Alexander Korda (62), English movie producer (Henry
VIII), died.
(MC, 1/23/02)
1956 Jan 25, Khrushchev said that he believed that Eisenhower
was sincere in his efforts to abolish war.
(HN, 1/25/99)
1956 Jan 26, Buddy Holly had his 1st formal recording session.
[see Jan 20]
(MC, 1/26/02)
1956 Jan 28, Pres. Eisenhower rejected a proposal for a friendship
pact from Soviet Premier Bulganin.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 Jan 29, Henry Louis Mencken (b. Sep 11-12, 1880), author,
critic and journalist, died. H.L. Mencken's work included "Smart Set,"
"American Mercury," "In Defense of Women," "Treatise on the Gods," and
"A Mencken Chrestomathy." Mencken won fame as a journalist with the Baltimore
Morning Herald and Baltimore Sun, as editor of The American Mercury magazine
and as a literary critic. In 2002 Terry Teachout authored "The Skeptic:
A Life of H.L. Mencken."
(AP, 9/12/97)(HNQ, 6/20/98)(MC, 1/29/02)(SSFC, 11/3/02, p.M1)
1956 Jan 30, Elvis Presley recorded his version of "Blue Suede
Shoes."
(MC, 1/30/02)
1956 Jan 31, [Feb 1] A stick of dynamite exploded on the porch
of the Martin Luther King family.
(SFEM, 1/19/97, BR p.8)(SFEM, 2/2/97, p.12)
1956 Feb 2, Archbishop Makarios, spokesman for the Greek Cypriotes,
turned down a proposal for gradual independence and demanded immediate
sovereignty.
(EWH, 1968, p.1250)
1956 Feb 3, Lawyers for the NAACP and the Montgomery Improvement
Association (MIA) filed a petition in federal court challenging the city's
bus segregation ordnance.
(SFEM, 2/2/97, p.12)
1956 Feb 6, The Univ. of Alabama refused admission to Autherine
Lucy because he was black.
(MC, 2/6/02)
1956 Feb 7, Garth Brooks, country vocalist (No Fences), was born
in Tulsa, Okla.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1956 Feb 7, Autherine Lucy, 1st black admitted to U of Alabama,
was expelled.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1956 Feb 8, U.S. banned the launching of weather balloons because
of Soviet complaints.
(HN, 2/8/98)
1956 Feb 10, Elvis Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA.
Truckdriver, Elvis Presley, began Rock-n-Roll with his song "Don't Be Cruel,"
written by Otis Blackwell (d.2002 at 70). He also appeared for the first
time on the Ed Sullivan TV Show. He also recorded the Lieber and Stoller
song "Hound Dog" and "Heartbreak Hotel," the first of his 45 records to
sell over a million copies.
(TMC, 1994, p.1956)(SFC,1/22/97, p.A20)(SFEC, 4/6/97, DB p.65)(WSJ,
1/11/99, p.R34)(SFC, 5/10/02, p.A31)(MC, 2/10/02)
1956 Feb 14-25, Khrushchev denounced Stalin at the 20th Communist
Party Congress at Moscow. [see Feb 23, 25]
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(EWH, 1968, p.1198)
1956 Feb 16, Britain abolished the death penalty.
(MC, 2/16/02)
1956 Feb 17, The US announced a suspension of all arms shipments
to Israel and the Arab nations.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Feb 18, The US lifted its arms ban and shipped tanks to Saudi
Arabia.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Feb 18, Gustave Charpentier (95), French opera composer
(Louise), died.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1956 Feb 21, A Grand Jury in Montgomery, Ala., indicted 115 in
a Negro bus boycott.
(HN, 2/21/98)
1956 Feb 21, Edwin Franko Goldman (78), composer, died.
(MC, 2/21/02)
1956 Feb 22, Elvis Presley's 1st hit in Billboard's top 10: "Heartbreak
Hotel."
(MC, 2/22/02)
1956 Feb 22, The US Montgomery Boycott sparked arrests that included
Martin Luther King.
(HFA, '96, p.22)(SFEM, 1/19/97, BR p.1)
1956 Feb 23, Russian party leader Nikita Khrushchev attacked the
memory of Stalin. [see Feb 14, 25]
(MC, 2/23/02)
1956 Feb 25, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized
the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in
Moscow. Stalin was secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress
for promoting the "cult of the individual." [see Feb 14, 23]
(AP, 2/25/98)(HN, 2/25/01)
1956 Feb 26, Writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes met at a party
in Cambridge.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1956 Feb 27, Female suffrage was granted in Egypt.
(MC, 2/27/02)
1956 Feb 29, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced he would
seek a second term.
(AP, 2/29/00)(HN, 2/29/00)
1956 Mar 2, Morocco tore up the Treaty of Féz and declared
independence from France. A protocol on Moroccan independence was signed
in Paris.
(HN, 3/2/99)(EWH, 1968, p.1244)(SC, 3/2/02)
1956 Mar 3, Indonesian government of Harahap resigned.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1956 Mar 5, "King Kong" was 1st televised.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1956 Mar 5, The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation
in public schools in Brown vs. Board of Education.
(HN, 3/5/01)
1956 Mar 9, British authorities arrested and deported Archbishop
Makarios from Cyprus to the Seychelles. He was accused of supporting terrorists.
(EWH, 1968, p.1250)(HN, 3/9/98)
1956 Mar 10, A general strike in Cyprus protested the exile of
archbishop Makarios.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1956 Mar 11, Curtis L. Brown Jr., astronaut (STS 47, STS 66, 77,
85, sk:95), was born in NC.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1956 Mar 13, Elvis Presley released his first album: "Elvis Presley."
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Mar 15, The Lerner and Loewe musical "My Fair Lady" opened
starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison at the Mark Hellinger Theater in
NYC for 2,715 performances.
(AP, 3/15/97)(HN, 3/15/02)(MC, 3/15/02)
1956 Mar 17, Fred Allen (b.1894), American comedian (Fred Allen
Radio Show), died.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(MC, 3/17/02)
1956 Mar 20, Union workers ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse
Electric Corp.
(AP, 3/20/97)
1956 Mar 20, Tunisia was granted independence by France.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(EWH, 1968, p.1247)
1956 Mar 20, Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula, USSR, exploded.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1956 Mar 21, In the 28th Academy Awards "Marty," Anna Magnani
and Ernest Borgnine won.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1956 Mar 22, Musical "Mr. Wonderful" with Sammy Davis Jr. premiered
in NYC.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1956 Mar 23, Pakistan became an independent republic within the
British Commonwealth. Officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan
became the first Islamic republic,
(HFA, '96, p.26)(AHD, p.943)(AP, 3/23/97)(HN, 3/23/98)
1956 Mar 23, Soviet students protested the campaign to desanctify
Stalin.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1956 Mar 26, Medic Alert Foundation formed.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1956 Mar 26, Red Buttons debuted on TV in Studio One.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1956 Mar 27, US seized the US communist newspaper "Daily Worker."
(MC, 3/27/02)
1956 Mar 27, French commandos landed in Algeria.
(MC, 3/27/02)
1956 Apr 1, Libby Riddles, dogsled racer: 1st woman to win Iditarod
(1985), was born.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1956 Apr 1, 10th Tony Awards: Diary of Anne Frank and Damn Yankees
won.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1956 Apr 2, The soap operas "As the World Turns" and "The Edge
of Night" premiered on CBS television.
(AP, 4/2/99)
1956 Apr 2, Peter Ustinov's "Romanoff and Juliet," premiered
in Manchester.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1956 Apr 3, "Silk Stockings" closed at Imperial Theater in NYC
after 461 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1956 Apr 3, German war criminals Hinrichsen, Ruhl, Siebens and
Viebahn were freed.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1956 Apr 4, Enid Bagnold's "Chalk Garden," premiered in London.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1956 Apr 4, Spain relinquished its protectorate to Morocco.
(EWH, 1968, p.1240)
1956 Apr 6, Polish communist Gomulka was freed from prison.
(MC, 4/6/02)
1956 Apr 8, Poet Gary Snyder resolved to write his opus Mountains
and Rivers Without End.
(SFC, 9/1/96, DB p.31)
1956 Apr 8, Six marine recruits drowned during exercise at Paradise
Island, SC.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1956 Apr 10, Philips broadcasted the 1st Dutch color TV programs.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1956 Apr 11, Elvis Presley made his first gold record: "Heartbreak
Hotel."
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Apr 11, Singer Nat Cole was attacked on stage of Birmingham
theater by whites.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1956 Apr 11, French government sent 200,000 reservists to Algeria.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1956 Apr 14, "Plain and Fancy" closed at Mark Hellinger Theater
in NYC after 476 performances.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1956 Apr 14, Ampex Corporation demonstrated its first commercial
videotape recorder.
(AP, 4/14/00)
1956 Apr 17, "Sugar" Ray Charles Leonard, boxer (Oly-gold-1976)
[or 5/17], was born.
(MC, 4/17/02)
1956 Apr 17, The Soviet Cominform was officially dissolved.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Apr 18, Eric Roberts, actor (Pope of Greenwich Village, King
of Gypsies), was born in Miss.
(MC, 4/18/02)
1956 Apr 18, Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of
Monaco in a civil ceremony. A church wedding took place the next day.
(AP, 4/18/97)(MC, 4/18/02)
1956 Apr 18, An Israeli-Egyptian cease fire, arranged by UN Gen'l.
Sec. Dag Hammarskjold, went into effect.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Apr 21, Elvis Presley's 1st hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel,"
became #1. [see Apr 25, 28]
(MC, 4/21/02)
1956 Apr 21, Carl Perkins (d.1998), rockabilly king, had his
song "Blue Suede Shoes" hit the top of the charts.
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A1,8)
1956 Apr 21, A tripartite military pact was signed in Jidda between
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
(EWH, 1968, p.1257)
1956 Apr 23, US Supreme court ended race segregation on buses.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1956 Apr 23, During a 10-day visit to England Kruschev announced
that the USSR would produce an H-bomb guided missile.
(EWH, 1968, p.1198)
1956 Apr 25, Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" goes number one.
[see Apr 21]
(HN, 4/25/98)(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A9)
1956 Apr 28, The song "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley hit
the top 10. [see Apr 21,25]
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A9)
1956 Apr 28, Last French troops left Vietnam.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1956 Apr 30, Richard Farina, folk singer (Reflections in a Crystal
Wind), was born.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1956 Apr 30, Alben W. Barkley (78), (VP-D-1949-53), died.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1956 May 2, US Methodist church disallowed race separation.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1956 May 4, A new series of atomic tests began in the Pacific.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 May 8, John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger," premiered in
London.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1956 May 9, Sec. of State Dulles announced that the US refused
to supply arms to Israel in order to avoid a US-USSR war by proxy.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 May 9, The Philippines and Japan signed a reparations agreement
that provided for a Japanese payment of $550 million in goods and services
over a 20-year period.
(EWH, 1968, p.1291)
1956 May 10, French government sent 50,000 reservists to Algeria.
[see Apr 11]
(MC, 5/10/02)
1956 May 10, A UN sponsored plebiscite in the British trust territory
of Togoland revealed that the voters wished to join the soon-to-be-established
state of Ghana.
(EWH, 1968, p.1235)
1956 May 12, France shipped 12 jet planes to Israel with the tacit
approval of the US. This complemented an April shipment.
(EWH, 1968, p.1255)
1956 May 12, East Pakistan was struck by a cyclone and tidal
waves.
(SC, Internet, 5/12/97)
1956 May 17, Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, boxer (Olympics-gold-76)
was born in Willington, SC.
(MC, 5/17/02)
1956 May 18, Queen Juliana opened the Rembrandt fairs in Amsterdam.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1956 May 19, R.C., "(You've Got) The Magic Touch" by The Platters
peaked at #4 on the pop singles chart.
(DT, 5/19/97)
1956 May 20, The US dropped a thermonuclear bomb from a plane
onto Bikini Atoll. [see May 21]
(HN, 5/20/98)(MC, 5/20/02)
1956 May 20, Max Beerbohm, caricaturist, writer (Yet Again),
died.
(MC, 5/20/02)
1956 May 21, The first known airborne US hydrogen bomb was tested
over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. [see May 20]
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(EWH, 1968, p.1210)(AP, 5/21/97)
1956 May 25, Pope Pius XII published his encyclical Haurietis
aquas.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1956 May 26, Aircraft carrier "Bennington" burned off RI, killing
103.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1956 May 27, The French staged a raid in Algiers.
(MC, 5/27/02)
1956 May 28, Germaine Montenesdro, 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac
killer, was born.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1956 May 28, Pres. Eisenhower signed the Agriculture Act which
embodied the "soil bank" plan to reduce surpluses.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 May 28, France in a treaty with India renounced sovereignty
over 4 territories held for 140 years.
(EWH, 1968, p.1262)
1956 May 29, Larry Blackmon, rocker (Cameo-Alligator Woman), was
born.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 May 29, LaToya Yvette Jackson, singer (posed in Playboy,
Millipede), was born in Gary, IN.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 May 29, Greg R, rocker (Bad), was born.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 May 29, Arnold Schönberg's "Modern Psalm" premiered.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 May 29, Hermann Abendroth (73) German conductor (Gewandhausorkest),
died.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 May 30, Bus boycott began in Tallahassee, Florida.
(MC, 5/30/02)
1956 May-Aug, Terrorism raged on Cyprus.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Jun 1, Doris Day signed a five-year recording contract with
Columbia Records worth $1 million.
(DT, 6/1/97)
1956 Jun 5, A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in Browder vs. Gayle
that segregation on Montgomery's buses was unconstitutional. Alabama officials
appealed.
(SFEM, 2/2/97, p.12)
1956 Jun 8, The first American of record to die in Vietnam was
Air Force Tech Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. His son, Richard B. Fitzgibbon
III, died in Vietnam Sep 7, 1965.
(SFC, 2/12/99, p.B4)
1956 Jun 10, In Argentina loyalists smashed a Peronist revolt.
26 rebels were executed.
(EWH, 1968, p.1220)
1956 Jun 13, The 74-year British occupation of the Suez Canal
ended.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1956 Jun 14, British forces left the Suez.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Jun 19, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin no longer wished to film
together after 16 films.
(DT, 6/19/97)
1956 Jun 19, Marilyn Monroe & Arthur Miller were married.
(DT, 6/19/97)
1956 Jun 22, The battle for Algiers began as three buildings in
Casbah were blown up.
(HN, 6/22/98)
1956 Jun 23, Egyptians approved a new constitution and elected
Gamal Abdel Nasser as president.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(EWH, 1968, p.1249)(AP, 6/23/97)
1956 Jun 27, Martin Luther King was the featured speaker at the
NAACP convention held at the SF Civic Auditorium.
(SFEM, 2/2/97, p.10)
1956 Jun 28-30, Workers rioted in Poznan, Poland, and some 100
died.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Jun 29, The US Federal Highway Act authorized a 42,500 mile
network linking major urban centers. 90% of the cost was to be borne by
the federal government.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 Jun 30, The Soviet Union recognized Laos.
(EWH, 1968, p.1273)
1956 Jul 2, Turkey rejected a British plan for the eventual self-determination
of Cyprus.
(EWH, 1968, p.1250)
1956 Jul 3, International Paper was added as a component of the
Dow Jones.
(WSJ, 5/28/96, p. R46)
1956 Jul 19-20, The US and Britain announced the withdrawal of
their aid offers to Egypt for the construction of the Aswan high dam.
(EWH, 1968, p.1249)
1956 Jul 25, In Germany compulsory military service became law.
(EWH, 1968, p.1182)
1956 Jul 25, 51 people died when the Italian luxury liner Andrea
Doria sank after colliding with the Swedish ship Stockholm in 200 feet
of water 50 miles southeast of Nantucket Island, Mass. The Dorea was headed
from Genoa, Italy, to NY.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WSJ, 5/30/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/25/97)(SFC, 1/1/99,
p.A16) (SFC, 7/30/99, p.D5)
1956 Jul 26, Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized
the Suez Canal to provide revenue for the construction of the high Aswan
dam.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(EWH, 1968, p.1241)(EWH, 1968, p.1249)
1956 Aug 4, The government of Indonesia repudiated more than $1
billion owed to the Netherlands.
(EWH, 1968, p.1277)
1956 Aug 6, The government of China lifted a 7-year ban on visits
from US newsmen.
(EWH, 1968, p.1280)
1956 Aug 11, Abstract artist Jackson Pollock (b.1912) died at
age 44 in an automobile accident in East Hampton, N.Y. He was born in Wyoming
and became a leader of the abstract expressionist school of art.
(AHD, 1971, p.1015)(AP, 8/11/97)
1956 Aug 13, The 9 members of the Arab League declared that an
attack on Egypt would be interpreted as an attack on all League members.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Aug 14, The US established a Middle-East Emergency Committee
to assure Western Europe of US oil supplies if the Suez crises interrupted
shipments.
(EWH, 1968, p.1210)
1956 Aug 16, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at
the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. John F. Kennedy made his
convention debut at the Democratic convention in Chicago. Tennessee Senator
Estes Kefauver withdrew his name from the balloting and asked his 200 delegates
to support Adlai E. Stevenson for the presidential nomination. Stevenson
won the nomination on the first ballot with 905 votes to New York Governor
Averell Harriman's 200 votes. Kefauver then went on to narrowly defeat
Senator John F. Kennedy for the party's vice-presidential nomination.
(WSJ, 8/26/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 8/10/99)(AP, 8/16/97)
1956 Aug 17, The Cypriots offered a cease fire.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Aug 20, The Republican Convention opened at the Cow Palace.
(SFEC, 5/16/99, Z1 p.4)
1956 Aug 20, The US state department reaffirmed its ban on travel
to China.
(EWH, 1968, p.1280)
1956 Aug 22, President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon were
nominated for second terms in office by the Republican National Convention
in San Francisco.
(AP, 8/22/97)(Ind, 11/3/01, 5A)
1956 Aug 25, In South Africa the government ordered over 100,000
non-whites to leave their homes in Johannesburg within a year, in order
to make room for whites.
(EWH, 1968, p.1232)
1956 Aug 29, French government sent troops to Cyprus near Suez
crisis.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1956 Aug 30, A white mob prevented the enrollment of blacks at
Mansfield HS, Texas.
(MC, 8/30/01)
1956 Sep 1, Indian state of Tripura became a territory.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1956 Sep 2, Tennessee National Guardsmen halted rioters protesting
the admission of 12 African-Americans to schools in Clinton.
(HN, 9/2/98)
1956 Sep 3, Tanks were deployed against racist demonstrators in
Clinton, Tennessee.
(MC, 9/3/01)
1956 Sep 6, Felix Borowski, composer and music critic, died at
84.
(MC, 9/6/01)
1956 Sep 8, Harry Belafonte's album "Calypso," went to #1 and
stayed #1 for 31 weeks.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1956 Sep 9, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances
on "The Ed Sullivan Show." By his third and final appearance on the Sullivan
show, due to a number of viewers, who were outraged at his suggestive gyrations,
Elvis was filmed from only the waist-up.
(AP, 9/9/97)(MC, 9/9/01)
1956 Sep 10, In Louisville, Ky., the public schools integrated.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1956 Sep 11, Britain and France announced economic pressure on
Egypt to accept international control over the Suez Canal.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Sep 12, British Prime Minister Eden announced a British,
French, US agreement to establish an association to operate the Suez. Nasser
dubbed this as an attempt to provoke war.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Sep 12, In Haiti under pressure of a general strike Magloire
gave up the presidency.
(EWH, 1968, p.1220)
1956 Sep 12-17, Pres. Sukarno of Indonesia made a state visit
to Moscow and announced a Soviet loan of $100 million.
(EWH, 1968, p.1277)
1956 Sep 13, Stravinsky's "Canticum Sacrum," premiered in Venice.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1956 Sep 14, The 1st prefrontal lobotomy was performed in Washington,
DC.
(MC, 9/14/01)
1956 Sep 14, Egypt assumed complete control over the operation
of the Suez Canal.
(EWH, 1968, p.1249)
1956 Sep 17, Black students entered a Clay, Ky., elementary school.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1956 Sep 17, Mildred E "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, (Olympic-gold-1932),
died at 42.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1956 Sep 21, Anastasio Somoza, Nicaraguan dictator, was assassinated
by Roliberto Lopez. [see Sep 22]
(MC, 9/21/01)
1956 Sep 22, Pres. Somoza of Nicaragua was shot. [see Sep 21]
(EWH, 1968, p.1216)
1956 Sep 24, The first transatlantic telephone cable system from
Newfoundland to Scotland began operation.
(HN, 9/24/98)(MC, 9/24/01)
1956 Sep 26, Linda Hamilton actress, was born. (Terminator series,
Beauty and the Beast, Children of the Corn).
(MC, 9/26/01)
1956 Sep 26, Lucien Febvre, French historian (Un Destin, Martin
Luther), died at 78.
(MC, 9/26/01)
1956 Sep 27, Gerald Raphael Finzi, composer, died at 55.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1956 Sep 27, The U.S. Air Force Bell X-2, the world's fastest
and highest-flying plane, crashed, killing the test pilot.
(HN, 9/27/98)
1956 Sep 28, RCA Records reported Elvis Presley sold over 10 million
records.
(MC, 9/28/01)
1956 Sep 29, Pres. Somoza of Nicaragua died of gunshot wounds.
He was succeeded by his son Luis.
(EWH, 1968, p.1216)
1956 Oct 6, Dr. Albert Sabin discovered oral polio vaccine. Sabin
developed an oral vaccine against polio. It began to be used in 1961 and
by 1965 was widely used.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(SFC, 6/18/99, p.A40)(MC, 10/6/01)
1956 Oct 8, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World
Series to date as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0.
(AP, 10/8/98)(HN, 10/8/98)
1956 Oct 13, A USSR veto prevented a UN Security Council compromise
resolution over the Suez.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Oct 14, Charles Ives' overture "Robert Browning," premiered
in NYC.
(MC, 10/14/01)
1956 Oct 14, British and French officials met as Israel was about
to attack Egypt. Anthony Nutting (d.1999 at 79), a deputy foreign secretary,
learned that Prime Minister Anthony Eden had agreed with the French that
once fighting began, they would send in paratroopers under the guise to
separate the fighting factions, but would actually support Israel, seize
the canal and undermine Nasser. Nutting resigned when British planes took
to the air Oct 31.
(SFC, 2/26/99, p.A25)
1956 Oct 15, Pres. Eisenhower appointed William J. Brennan Jr.
to the Supreme Court. He served until 1990. In 1997 a collection of essays
on Brennan was edited by Rosenkranz and Schwartz titled: "Reason and Passion:
Justice Brennan's Enduring Influence."
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WSJ, 7/24/97, p.A16)(MC, 10/15/01)
1956 Oct 16, The film "Love Me Tender" with Elvis Presley premiered.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1956 Oct 17, The nuclear power station Calder Hall was opened
in Britain. Calder Hall was the first nuclear station to feed an appreciable
amount of power into a civilian network.
(HN, 10/17/98)
1956 Oct 18, Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakian-born tennis
player, was born.
(HN, 10/18/98)
1956 Oct 19, A Japanese-Soviet peace declaration ended an 11-year
state of war, but left unresolved the disposition of the Kurile Islands.
[see Dec 26]
(EWH, 1968, p.1285)
1956 Oct 20, Polish and Soviet troops exchanged fire.
(EWH, 1968, p.1201)
1956 Oct 20, Tangier became part of independent Morocco.
(EWH, 1968, p.1228)
1956 Oct 22, France intercepted a Moroccan plane and arrested
Ben Bella, an Algerian statesman.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1956 Oct 23, The 1st video recording on magnetic tape was televised
coast-to-coast.
(MC, 10/23/01)
1956 Oct 23, An anti-Stalinist revolt that was subsequently crushed
by Soviet troops began in Hungary.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(AP, 10/23/97)
1956 Oct 23-30, The first shots of an armed revolt and student
uprising were fired against the Communist regime. In 2001 Bela Liptak authored
"A Testament of Revolution."
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(SFC, 10/23/96, p.A8)(WSJ, 6/19/01, p.A20)
1956 Oct 24, Soviet troops invaded Hungary and Imre Nagy became
PM of Hungary.
(MC, 10/24/01)
1956 Oct 26, Walter Gieseking (60), German pianist and composer,
died.
(MC, 10/26/01)
1956 Oct 27, A Franco-German agreement was signed to transfer
the Saar Basin to West Germany. France, Germany and Luxembourg agreed to
canalize the Moselle River, connecting the steel industry with the Ruhr
Valley.
(EWH, 1968, p.1182)
1956 Oct 29, "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" with Chet Huntley &
David Brinkley premiered as NBC's nightly television newscast, replacing
"The Camel News Caravan."
(AP, 10/29/97)(MC, 10/29/01)
1956 Oct 29, During the Suez Canal crisis, Israel launched an
invasion of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Israeli paratroopers dropped into
Sinai to open Straits of Tiran.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(AP, 10/29/97)(MC, 10/29/01)
1956 Oct 29, International zone of Tangier was returned to Morocco.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1956 Oct 29, Polish Cardinal Wyszinski was released from custody.
(EWH, 1968, p.1201)
1956 Oct 30, Britain and France issued an ultimatum to Cairo and
Tel Aviv to end fighting and withdraw from a 10-mile strip along the canal.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Oct 31, President Dwight D. Eisenhower praised the promise
by Moscow made the previous day of major concessions to Hungarians in revolt
as "the dawning of a new day" in Eastern Europe. Anti-government demonstrations
in Budapest a week earlier had forced a reshuffling of the Hungarian government
and demands that the new government denounce the Warsaw Pact and seek liberation
from Soviet domination.
(HNQ, 10/1/99)
1956 Oct 31, Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person
to land an airplane at the South Pole.
(AP, 10/31/97)
1956 Oct 31, Great Britain and France attempted to take over
the Suez Canal. They bombed Egyptian airfields.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Oct 31, Pietro Badoglio (85), Premier of Italy (1943-44),
died.
(MC, 10/31/01)
1956 Oct, The World Series was won by the New York Yankees over
the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Oct, The Brooklyn Dodgers completed their last season in
NYC. In 2003 Michael Shapiro authored "The Last Good Season." The team
moved to LA after Robert Moses, head of the Triborought Bridge and Tunnel
District, blocked the efforts of owner Walter O'Malley to build a new Brooklyn
ballpark.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.D8)
1956 Nov 1, Walter Brattain, John Bardeen and William Shockley
were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of the transistor.
The trio invented the transistor in 1948 at the Bell Laboratories. William
Schockley, co-developer of the transistor, founded Schockley Semiconductor
Laboratory in Palo Alto. Two of his hires, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore,
later went on to start Intel Corp. Tim Jackson in 1998 published "Inside
Intel."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, BR p.4)(WSJ, 2/13/98, p.A13)(HNQ, 12/23/99)(MC,
11/1/01)
1956 Nov 1, The Nagy government of Hungary withdrew from the
Warsaw Pact.
(MC, 11/1/01)
1956 Nov 1, Pietro Badoglio (85), Italian general (1922-43),
died.
(MC, 11/1/01)
1956 Nov 2, Hungary appealed for UN assistance against Soviet
invasion.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1956 Nov 2, Israel captured Gaza and Sheham.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1956 Nov 2, Jacob Weinberg (77), composer, died.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1956 Nov 3, "Wizard of Oz" was 1st televised (CBS-TV).
(MC, 11/3/01)
1956 Nov 4, Arthur Tatum (Art Tatum, 46), US jazz pianist and
composer, died.
(MC, 11/4/01)
1956 Nov 4, Israel captured the Straits of Tiran and reached
the Suez Canal in Egypt.
(MC, 11/4/01)
1956 Nov 4, Some 200,000 Russian troops and tanks attacked Budapest
and crushed the Hungarian revolt under Premier Imre Nagy. Soviet troops
marched into the country. Martial law was proclaimed and mass arrests followed.
The UN censured the USSR. The repression was organized by Yuri Andropov
who later became Chief of the KGB in 1967. 25,000 people were killed. Janos
Kadar was installed by the Soviet Union as head of Hungary's Communist
Party.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(TMC, 1994, p.1956)(WSJ,
12/14/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 10/23/96, p.A8)(WSJ, 12/27/96, p.A5)(AP, 5/22/98)
1956 Nov 5, Britain and France started landing troops in Egypt
during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal.
(A cease-fire was declared two days later.)
(AP, 11/5/97)
1956 Nov 5, Israel liberated Sharm-el-Sheikh, reopening Gulf
of Aqaba.
(MC, 11/5/01)
1956 Nov 6, The Eisenhower-Nixon Republican ticket won the presidential
elections beating Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson. The Democrats won a majority
in both houses of Congress.
(SFC, 11/7/56, p.A1)(EWH, 1968, p.1210)(AP, 11/6/97)
1956 Nov 6, Pressure from the US and USSR effected a cease-fire
in the Middle-East. The UN created an emergency force (UNEF) to supervise
a cease fire.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(EWH, 1968, p. 1242)
1956 Nov 6, Holland and Spain withdrew from Olympics, to protest
Soviets in Hungary.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1956 Nov 12, Largest observed iceberg, 208 by 60 miles, was 1st
sighted.
(MC, 11/12/01)
1956 Nov 13, The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Alabama bus
segregation law. The Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial
segregation on public buses.
(AP, 11/13/97)(HN, 11/13/98)
1955 Nov 14, Robert E. Sherwood (59), dramatist (Abe Lincoln in
Illinois), died.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1956 Nov 14, The Hungarian was revolt put down.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1956 Nov 15, "Love Me Tender," the first Elvis Presley film, opened.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Nov 15, The first units of UNEF arrived to enforce the cease
fire in the Suez Canal Zone.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Nov 17, Soviet Sec. Gen. Nikita Khrushchev told Western diplomats
"We will bury you."
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1956 Nov 18, An agreement in Moscow was signed for equality in
Polish-Soviet relations.
(EWH, 1968, p.1201)
1956 Nov 24, "Pajama Game" closed at St James Theater NYC after
1063 performances.
(MC, 11/24/01)
1956 Nov 25, Fidel Castro and his 81 rebel exiles departed Mexico
to liberate Cuba from the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencia Batista. Che
Guevara had recently joined Fidel and his band of Cuban rebel exiles as
their doctor.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(SFC, 6/16/97, p.D3)(SFC,10/15/97, p.C2)
1956 Nov 26, Tommy Dorsey (51), big bandleader, died.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1956 Nov 29, The musical "Bells Are Ringing," starring Judy Holliday,
opened at Shubert Theater in NYC for 925 performances. It was written by
Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne.
(AP, 11/29/01)(WSJ, 4/18/01, p.A20)(MC, 11/29/01)
1956 Nov 30, U.S. offered emergency oil to Europe to counter the
Arab ban.
(HN, 11/30/98)
1956 Nov 30, Britain and France bowed to UN pressure and agreed
to leave the Suez Canal. Russia and the US forced a combined British, French
and Israeli operation against Nasser in the Suez to abort.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(TMC, 1994, p.1956)
1956 Nov, Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty (b.1892) took refuge in
the US embassy in Budapest.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956 Dec 1, the Leonard Bernstein musical "Candide," based on
Voltaire, opened on Broadway.
(AP, 12/1/99)
1956 Dec 2, Fidel Castro landed on coast of Cuba. Castro landed
with a small armed force to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara
was one of the few who survived the disastrous landing of the rebels' boat,
the Granma.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(SFC,10/15/97, p.C2)(MC, 12/2/01)
1956 Dec 3, England & France pulled troops out of Egypt.
(MC, 12/3/01)
1956 Dec 5, Thornton Wilder's "Matchmaker," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 12/5/01)
1956 Dec 6, Nelson Mandela and 156 others were arrested for political
activities in South Africa.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1956 Dec 7, Larry Bird, American basketball player for the Boston
Celtics, was born. He won the NBA MVP award three years in a row.
(HN, 12//99)
1956 Dec 12, In Hungary a general strike protested the Kadar Regime
and the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that condemned Soviet
repression in Hungary, called on the USSR to withdraw its forces, and urged
Hungarian independence.
(EWH, 1968, p.1183)(HN, 12/12/98)
1956 Dec 14, John Diefenbaker was elected leader of the Progressive
Conservative party in Canada. he succeeded John Drew.
(EWH, 1968, p.1213)
1956 Dec 16, Cardinal Francis Spellman, the Archbishop of New
York, personally denounced the yet-to-be released movie "Baby Doll," saying
Catholics would be committing a sin if they saw it.
(AP, 12/16/98)
1956 Dec 17, A Soviet-Polish agreement limited the role of Soviet
troops in Poland.
(EWH, 1968, p.1201)
1956 Dec 18, "To Tell the Truth" debuted on CBS-TV.
(MC, 12/18/01)
1956 Dec 18, The Israeli flag was hoisted on Mount Sinai.
(MC, 12/18/01)
1956 Dec 18, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(EWH, 1968, p.1292)(AP, 12/18/97)
1956 Dec 20, The Supreme Court affirmed the Jun 5 decision against
segregation on buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomery removed race-based
seat assignments on its buses.
(SFEM, 1/19/97, BR p.8)(SFEM, 2/2/97, p.12,13)(MC, 12/20/01)
1956 Dec 22, The 1st gorilla was born in captivity at Columbus,
Ohio.
(MC, 12/22/01)
1956 Dec 22, The evacuation of the Suez Canal was completed by
Britain and France.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)(MC, 12/22/01)
1956 Dec 22, For the first time a gorilla was born in captivity.
(HFA, '96, p.20)
1956 Dec 24, African Americans defied a city law in Tallahassee,
Fla., and occupied front bus seats.
(HN, 12/24/98)
1956 Dec 25, Pres. Eisenhower invited Robert George (d.1998 at
74) to the White House as the official Santa Claus. George served as the
official Santa for 6 presidents and maintained a year-round Christmas display
at his home in Glendale, CA., until 1987 when it was declared a gaudy eyesore.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.C2)
1956 Dec 26, The USSR ended its state of war with Japan.
(EWH, 1968, p.1198)
1956 Dec 27, Segregation on Tallahassee, Fla. buses was outlawed.
(HN, 12/27/98)
1956 Dec 29, President Eisenhower asked Congress for the authority
to oppose Soviet aggression in the Mideast.
(HN, 12/29/98)
1956 Dec 29, Salvage crews began to clear the Suez Canal.
(EWH, 1968, p.1242)
1956 Dec 31, In Dallas 12-year-old Jeannett Mangan was slain on
Goat Hill bluff. Ernesto Lopez (19) and Simon Rodriguez (16) were later
convicted of the rape and murder. In 1962 both men escaped from prison.
Rodriguez was captured but Lopez remained at large until he was captured
in 1997.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A8)
1956 Pop art emerged pioneered in Britain by such artists as David
Hockney, Richard Hamilton and Peter Blake. In the US the style was led
by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauchenberg. Hungarian born
artist Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) made colorful abstract works in Paris
that created the illusion of movement.
(TL, 1988, p.115)(SFC, 3/16/97, p.C12)
1956 British artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992) painted "Study for
Figure V."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, BR p.6)
1956 Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski aka Count de Rola b.1908) painted
a pair of interior scenes with sleeping girls "The Golden Fruit" and "Golden
Afternoon." Most of his works are of nude prepubescent girls.
(WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-12)(WSJ, 9/30/96, p.A14)(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B1)
1956 Hans Bellmer's art depicted female bodies bound up in tight
coils of twine.
(WSJ, 6/15/95, p.A-14)
1956 Jasper Johns painted "Canvas."
(SFEC, 11/24/96, C15)
1956 Franz Kline painted "Mahoning," in which a welter of hefty,
tilting beams bar the way to a central rectangle.
(WSJ, 12/16/94, A-12)
1956 Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), abstract artist, painted "Saturday
Night."
(SFC, 3/20/97, p.A6)
1956 David Park painted his "Studio Sink."
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.E6)
1956 Picasso painted his "Woman in a Rocking Chair." He also painted
"Woman Nude Before Garden," which was slashed in 1999 by a mental patient
in Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum.
(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20)(SFC, 5/18/99, p.A10)
1956 Stanley Spencer, English artist, painted "Seated Nude."
(SFC, 10/14/97, p.B5)
1956 Eugene O'Neill wrote his play "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
(SFEC, 5/30/99, DB p.37)
1956 Alain Bosquet (d.1998 at 78) edited the first complete French
anthology of American poets.
(SFC, 4/9/98, p.C14)
1956 William Edgar Bowers (d.2000 at 75) published his first book
of poetry, "The Form of Loss."
(SFC, 2/8/00, p.A23)
1956 William Bronk had his first book of poems, "Light and Dark,"
published by the journal Origin edited by Cid Corman.
(SFC, 2/26/99, p.A25)
1956 Werner von Braun authored "The Exploration of Mars." It was
illustrated by Chesley Bonestell.
(WSJ, 5/1/01, p.A24)
1956 Lawrence Ferlinghetti published "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg.
Police and customs agents seized copies and Ferlinghetti was arrested along
with City Lights manager Sigeyoshi Murao on obscenity charges. They were
acquitted in 1957 on the precedent setting grounds of "redeeming social
importance." The defending attorney was J.W. Ehrlich.
(SFEC, 4/6/97, p.A10)(SFC, 11/21/98, p.C2)
1956 John Osborne, English dramatist, introduced the "angry young
man" in his play "Look Back in Anger." It took English theater on a radical
turn.
(TL, 1988, p.115)(SFEC, 4/11/99, DB p.39)
1956 "History of the English Speaking Peoples" by Winston Churchill
was published.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Garret Eckbo (d.2000 at 89), dean of West Coast landscape
architects, authored "The Art of Home Landscaping."
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.D6)
1956 Samuel Eilenberg (d.1998 at 84), mathematician and art collector,
co-authored "Homological Algebra" with Henri Cartan.
(SFC, 2/3/98, p.A15)
1956 Forrest E. Fickling (d.1998 at 72) began writing his Honey
West detective novels under the pseudonym G.G. Fickling. The books were
used as the basis for a TV show in the 1960s.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.D8)
1956 Dr. Arthur Guyton (d.2003 at 83) of the Univ. of Mississippi
authored his "Textbook of Physiology."
(SFC, 4/16/03, p.A20)
1956 Emily Hahn (1905-1997) wrote: "Diamond: The Spectacular Story
of Earth's Rarest Treasure and Man's Greatest Greed."
(SFC, 2/19/96, p.A20)
1956 John Hersey authored his novel "A Single Pebble," about a
trip through the Yangtze River gorges.
(SSFC, 10/27/02, p.M3)
1956 "Profiles in Courage" by John F. Kennedy was published. The
book won the years Pulitzer Prize.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.A6)
1956 John Kerry King (d.2003 at 86), CIA official and consultant
(1956-1979), authored "Southeast Asia in Perspective."
(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A18)
1956 "Essays on the Sociology of Culture" by Karl Mannheim was
published.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 C. Wright Mills published "The Power Elite," which became
a bible of the New Left. It asserted that a small cadre of powerful decision
makers drove national events. In 2000 John B. Judis published "The Paradox
of American Democracy" in which the same theme was seen in a positive light.
(WSJ, 2/16/00, p.A24)
1956 Jan Morris, Welsh essayist and travel writer, authored her
book "Coast to Coast" based on traveling around America in the early 1950s.
(SSFC, 4/28/02, p.C3)
1956 John Rewald published his "Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh
to Gauguin."
(WSJ, 2/10/96, p.A16)
1956 "A Historian's Approach to Religion" by Arnold Toynbee was
published.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Michael Ventris (d.1956) and John Chadwick (d.1998 at 78)
published "Documents in Mycenaean Greek." This was a translation of Greek
writings known as Linear B discovered by Sir Arthur Evans at the Minoan
palace of Cnossos [Knossos] in 1900 and dated to 1400 BC.
(SFC, 12/8/98, p.B6)
1956 "The Organization Man" by William Hollingsworth Whyte (d.1999)
was published. The book defined a generation of big-company executives
and look-alike managers seeking to climb the corporate ladder.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WSJ, 1/19/98, p.A22)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1956 "The Outsider," a novel by Colin Wilson, was published.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Sir Angus Wilson wrote his novel "Anglo-Saxon Attitudes."
(WSJ, 5/14/96, p.A-20)
1956 Voltaire's Candide was staged on Broadway with music by Leonard
Bernstein, and lyrics by Richard Wilbur and Lillian Hellman. It ran for
73 performances.
(WSJ, 5/1/97, p.A16)
1956 The Eugene O'Neill play "Long Day's Journey Into Night" premiered
at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm with Jarl Kulle as Edmond.
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.A20)
1956 The musical play "Li'l Abner" was produced based on the Al
Capp comic strip. The music was by Gene de Paul and the lyrics by Johnny
Mercer.
(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A20)
1956 Charles Jackson Jr. (d.2002 at 88) won $20,000 on the "64,000
Question" and the "$64,000 Challenge" and then revealed that answers had
been given to him.
(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A21)
1956 Dick Clark (27) joined the TV show "American Bandstand" in
Philadelphia after one of the 2 original hosts was arrested for drunk driving.
He was re[placed by David Hirsch for the last season in 1989.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 5/2/02, p.D1)
1956 The Captain Video TV show, created by Lawrence Menkin (d.2000)
in 1949, ended.
(SFC, 7/22/00, p.A21)
1956 The first all-color TV station was NBC-TV in Chicago. It
was dedicated by Robert Sarnoff (1918-1997), president of NBC from 1955-1965.
(SFEC, 2/23/96, p.C12)
1956 "The Ernie Kovac Show" ran for a season under NBC.
(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.37)
1956 "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" began on NBC and ran to 1970.
(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.38)
1956 The big money quiz show "Twenty-One" began on TV. It let
contestants choose questions on a 1-11 scale of difficulty and created
a star player in college professor Charles Van Doren. It was later found
that the shows were rigged. A 194 film "Quiz Show," was based on the resulting
scandal.
(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.38)(WSJ, 1/3/03, p.W4)
1956 Orson Welles made the pilot TV show "Fountain of Youth."
(SFC, 6/7/99, p.B2)
1956 Steve Allen starred in NBC's "The Steve Allen Show." It ran
until 1960.
(SFC, 11/1/00, p.A19)
1956 Mike Wallace hosted the CBS quiz show "The Big Surprise."
(SFC, 10/3/02, p.D9)
1956 "The Mike Wallace Interview" began a 4 year run on CBS.
(SFC, 10/3/02, p.D9)
1956 The American opera "The Balled of Baby Doe" was written by
Douglas Moore with the libretto by John Latouche. It was based on the 19th
century real-life story of Colorado silver magnate Horace Tabor and his
illicit affair with Elizabeth "Baby" Doe.
(SFEC, 9/17/00, DB p.38)
1956 Maria Callas, US born Greek operative soprano, made her debut
at the Metropolitan Opera House.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 Lev Vlasenko (1929-1996) won the prestigious Liszt Piano
Competition in Budapest.
(SFC, 8/27/96, p.A17)
1956 Louis Armstrong recorded with Ella Fitzgerald "Ella and Louis"
on Verve.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1956 The Calypso album by Harry Belafonte was the first to sell
over a million copies.
(SFEC, 9/8/96, DB p.64)
1956 John Lennon formed a British band called the Quarrymen.
(SFC, 12/1/01, p.D1)
1956 Jazz great Clifford Brown was featured on Soupy's On in Detroit
and played "Memories of You" by Eubie Blake and Gershwin's "Lady Be Good."
A few months later he was killed in an auto accident on the Pennsylvania
Turnpike at the age of 25.
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.F1)
1956 James Brown recorded "Please Please Please" on the Federal
label of Cincinnati's King Records.
(SFEC, 7/25/99, BR p.5)
1956 Bill Doggett (1916-1996), pianist and organist, made his
blues hit "Honky Tonk." Matt Honk sold pianos to saloons in the West in
the late 1900s.
(SFC, 11/21/96, p.C7)(SFEC, 6/28/98, Z1 p.8)
1956 Screamin' Jay Hawkins (d.2000 at 70) recorded "I Put a Spell
On You."
(SFEC, 2/13/00, p.D3)
1956 Julie London recorded her hit: "Cry me a River."
(SFC, 10/19/00, p.A29)
1956 The song "Party Doll" was recorded along with "I'm Stickin'
With You" on the Triple-D label by the Rhythm Orchids: Buddy Wayne Knox,
Jimmy Bowen and Don Lanier. Party Doll was written in 1948 by Knox (d.1999
AT 65)
(SFC, 2/17/99, p.C3)
1956 The Louvin brothers recorded their album "Tragic Songs of
Life."
(SFEM,10/19/97, DB p.45)
1956 Guy Mitchell (d.1999 at 72) had a hit with the Marty Robbins
tune "Singing the Blues." Mitchell, the son of Yugoslavia immigrants, was
born as Al Cernick in Detroit.
(SFC, 7/6/99, p.B2)
1956 Patti Page sang "Throw Momma From the Train." The song was
written by Irving Gordon (1915-1996). He wrote the classic comedy routine
used by Abbott and Costello known as "Who's on First." He also composed
"Unforgettable."
(SFC, 12/4/96, p.A17)
1956 Ray Price made a country hit with "Crazy Arms."
(WSJ, 7/13/01, p.W10)
1956 The Maddox Brothers and Rose band broke up. They had been
billed as the "Most Colorful Hillbilly Band in America." Rose Maddox (d.1998)
continued singing on her own.
(SFC, 4/17/98, p.A28)
1956 The Loewe & Lerner song "On the Street Where You Live"
was a hit songs from a Broadway musical.
(WSJ, 5/18/99, p.A24)
1956 The Styme, Comden, Green song "The Party's Over" was a hit
song from a Broadway musical.
(WSJ, 5/18/99, p.A24)
1956 Popular songs of the year included Blue Suede Shoes; Around
the World in 80 Days; I Could Have Danced All Night; On the Street Where
You live; Que Sera, Sera; Don't Be Cruel; Poor People of Paris.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Frank Lloyd Wright designed the New York Guggenheim Museum.
(SFEM, 4/19/98, p.23)
1956 The Danish architect Joern Utzon designed the Sidney Opera
House.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 Eero Saarinen designed the US Embassy in London.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) expanded to include 20
Broad St.
(SFC, 4/23/98, p.D2)
1956 The 210-acre Henry Ford Estate, Fair Lane, was donated to
the Univ. of Michigan. The Ford Motor Company also gave U of M $6.5 million
to establish a campus on the grounds and thus was born U of M Dearborn.
(MT, Win. '96, p.9)
1955 Phyllis Diller, housewife turned comic, began her career
at the SF Purple Onion.
(SFC, 5/24/97, p.E1)
1956 Abigail Van Buren began her career as advice columnist "Dear
Abby" under SF Chronicle editor George Stanleigh Arnold (d.1997 at 78).
(SFC, 5/30/97, p.A26)
1956 Shirley Polykoff (d.1998 at 90) authored the "Does she...
or doesn't she" slogan for Clairol hair dyes She wrote the 1975 book "Does
She... or Doesn't She? And How She Die It."
(SFC, 6/9/98, p.A24)
1956 The New York Coliseum with nine acres of exhibit space opened.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 A Vogue magazine article made famous the Irish wool sweaters
of the Aran Islands.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, p.T10)
1956 In California Chuck Williams opened the first Williams-Sonoma
store in Sonoma.
(SFEM, 8/10/97, p.21)
1956 The Mill Valley, California, annual Harvest Moon Festival
was founded. It was later renamed the Fall Arts Festival.
(SFEC, 9/8/96, DB p.15)
1956 Phyllis, the 92-year-old great-granddaughter of Brigham Young,
and Paul Lyman Wattis (d.1871), of Utah Construction and Mining, established
a philanthropic foundation to spread their wealth.
(SFEC, 1/18/98, p.D7)
1956 Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
(TMC, 1994, p.1956)
1956 Melbourne hosted the summer Olympics. 65 countries and 4,276
athletes competed.
(SFEC, 9/10/00, p.T8)(WSJ, 9/15/00, p.A1)
1956 Michigan State defeated UCLA at the Rose Bowl 17-14.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Rocky Marciano retired undefeated from boxing. Floyd Patterson
at age 21 became the youngest boxer to win the heavyweight crown when he
knocked out Archie Moore.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 The World Calendar Association presented its proposed changes
to the United Nations but never got past committee for approval.
(K.I.-365D)
1956 A Sino-Soviet split developed along ideological lines.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 Eisenhower beat Adlai Stevenson for the US presidency. Stevenson
won only 7 southern states but the Democrats retained control of the House
and Senate.
(TMC, 1994, p.1956)(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 Dr. Leroy Burney was appointed the 8th surgeon general of
the US Public Health Service. He replaced Dr. Leonard Scheele, who resigned
after a number of children developed polio from a defective Salk vaccine.
Burney later helped establish the national Library of Medicine, the National
Center for Health Statistics, and a national influenza surveillance system
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
(SFC, 8/5/98, p.A17)
1956 The Bank Holding Company Act was enacted by Congress. It
kept financial-services conglomerates from amassing too much power. The
law created a barrier between banking and insurance in response to the
rapid growth of TransAmerica Corp.
(WSJ, 4/10/98, p.6)
1956 Riots prevented the enrollment of the first black student
at the Univ. of Alabama.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 The state of Mississippi set up a secret agency to combat
racial desegregation. It spied and collected dossiers on 87,000 people
considered to be potential subversives.
(SFC, 4/5/96, p.A-3)
1956 The US Interstate Highway Act paved the way for a 41,000
highway system.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)
1956 Warren Buffet started an investment partnership in Omaha
with money from family and friends. He went on to become a billionaire.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1956 AT&T Submarine Systems laid its first undersea phone
line. Transatlantic cable telephone service was inaugurated.
(WSJ, 10/17/96, p.A6)(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 AT&T settled an antitrust suit and agreed to confine
itself to common-carrier communications service in return for recognition
of the national Bell system.
(WSJ, 10/26/00, p.A12)
1956 Proctor & Gambol introduced Crest toothpaste with the
slogan "Look Mom, no cavities!"
(WSJ, 8/29/96, p.B1)
1956 Industry experts in 1996 picked the 1956 Hudson as the number
1 worst American-made car.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)
1956 Malcom McLean (d.2001 at 87) used a converted WW II tanker
called the Ideal X to sail 58 cargo filled containers from New Jersey to
Houston. He named his company Sea-Land Service and is considered as the
founder of container shipping.
(SFC, 5/28/01, p.A17)
1956 The neutrino, an atomic particle with no charge, was produced
at the Los Alamos laboratory in the US. An abandoned gold mine in South
Dakota was filled with 100,000 gallons of dry-cleaning fluid was used to
capture neutrinos from the sun. Experimenters Frederick Reines and Clyde
L. Cowan Jr. made the catch.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WSJ, 6/12/98, p.W13)(NYT, 4/28/02, 16wk)
1956 The anti-neutrino was discovered by Cork, Lambertson, Piccioni
and Wenzel.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 The cosmic-ray neutron intensity monitor, developed by physicist
John Simpson, was used to collect the 1st evidence indicating the existence
of the heliosphere, the region beyond the planets that is influenced by
the sun's magnetic field.
(SFC, 9/2/00, p.A23)
1956 Reynold B. Johnson (d.1998 at 92), IBM lab leader, developed
a way to store computer data on a metal disk instead of on tape or drum.
His Random Access Method of Accounting Control began the disk drive industry.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A21)
1956 The Fortran computer language was developed.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 The computer mouse was invented at SRI Int'l. by Doug Engelbart
and Bill English. It was patented in 1963.
(Hem., 1/96, p.11)
1956 Jerome Lemelson (d. 1997 at 74) applied for a patent for
his "machine vision device." It was approved in 1989 and better known as
bar code scanner technology. Revenue from the invention allowed him to
endow the annual $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for outstanding inventors,
to establish the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation,
to make a $10 million cash gift to the Smithsonian Inst., and provide funds
to MIT and other universities to encourage budding inventors.
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.A20)
1956 George Devol and Joseph Engelberger met and formed a partnership
to develop robots.
(Hem., 2/96, p.91)
1956 Bell Telephone began to develop the visual telephone.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 The first video recording was demonstrated in the US.
(TL, 1988, p.115)
1956 French engineer Marc Gregoire devised a way to coat aluminum
with teflon.
(SFC, 3/24/00, p.B3)
1956 Robert Hofstadter conceived the Stanford Linear Accelerator.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A8)
1956 A new ion microscope by F.W. Muller made atoms visible.
(TL, 1988, p.115)(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Dr. Evelyn Hooker (1907-1996) delivered the landmark paper
"The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual," to the American Psychological
Assoc.
(SFC, 11/22/96, p.A28)
1956 Four new antibiotics were tested in the US.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans was discovered in canned
meat. Scientists later used the organism to produce a superbug to attack
heavy metals and radioactive waste.
(SFC, 12/29/99, p.A4)
1956 Otto Wichterle (d.1998 at 84), Czech scientist, invented
soft contact lenses.
(SFC, 8/20/98, p.B4)
1956 Chien-Shiung Wu (1913-1997) conducted an experiment that
disproved left and right symmetry in nature. Her book Beta Decay became
a standard reference on low-energy emission of electrons by decaying atoms.
(SFC, 2/17/96, p.C2)
1956 In Michigan Wayne Univ. became a full-fledged state university
(WSU).
(WSUAN, V.52, p.6)
1956 MD Ross and ML Lewis reached 22.8 km in a balloon.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Dr. Edward Purdy Ney (1921-1996) and colleague, John Winckler,
built a pyramid-shaped balloon that set a world altitude record of 27 miles.
It was lofted with instrumentation for meteorological and cosmic-ray research.
Photographic plates later recorded the track of a helium atom traveling
at nearly the speed of light. His early work was in separating isotopes
of uranium and his findings proved useful to the Manhattan project.
(SFC, 7/13/96, p. A19)
1956 The palace of Emperor Diocletian was excavated in Split,
Yugoslavia.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Victor Riesel, US Labor columnist, was blinded by acid thrown
by a gangster. Four months later labor racketeer Johnny Dio was indicted
for conspiracy with six others.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Alben William Barkley (b.1877) served one term as vice president
of the U.S. under Harry Truman (1949-53), and was reelected to the Senate
from Kentucky in 1954 and died suddenly in 1956 while still a senator.
Barkley served in the senate from 1927 to 1949 (majority leader from 1937-47)
before becoming vice president.
(HNQ, 11/3/99)
1956 Bertolt Brecht (b.1898), dramatist, died. His first play
was "Baal." He also wrote "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui," a satire
on Hitler's rise to power. In 1959 Prof. Martin Esslin (d.2002 at 83) authored
"Brecht: A Choice of Evils."
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WUD, 1994 p.183)(WSJ, 10/3/96, p.A12)(SFEC,
8/10/97, DB p.15)(SFC, 2/28/02, p.A20)
1956 Lyonel Feininger (b.1871), American painter, died. His work
included the woodcut "Kreuzende Segelschiffe" (1919) and the pen and ink
wash "Three Ghosts" (1953). A catalog of his prints was made by Leona Prasse
(1897-1984), late curator of prints at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(WUD, 1994, p.522)(HT, 5/97, p.60)
1956 Alfred Kinsey, American biologist, died.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 Walter de la Mare (b.1873), poet and novelist, died. His
work included 4 novels and over 100 short stories. In 2000 his short story
collection: "Short Stories: 1895-1926" was published.
(WSJ, 2/3/00, p.A24)
1956 Cornelius McGillicuddy (b.1862 aka Connie Mack) died.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 H.L. Mencken (b.1880), American author, editor and critic,
died. He founded the magazines "Smart Set" and "American Mercury."
(WUD, 1994 , p.895)(SFEC, 5/31/98, BR p.4)
1956 A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh, died. He left
the rights to the honey-loving bear to five beneficiaries that included
the Garrick Club, Westminster School, The Royal Literary Fund, his own
family and illustrator E.H. Shepard.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A20)
1956 Kenzi Mizoguchi, Japanese film director, died. His films
included "Ugetsu," "The Life of Oharu," "Crucified Lovers," "Sansho the
Bailiff," "A Geisha," "Street of Shame" and "Red Light District" just before
he died.
(SFEC, 9/29/96, DB p.60,64)
1956 Thomas J. Watson (b.1874), founder of IBM, died.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)
1956 In Argentina Col. Hector Eduardo Cabanillas (d.1998 at 84),
head of military intelligence, was ordered by junta leader, Gen'l. Pedro
Eugenio Aramburu, to transport the embalmed body of Eva Peron to Italy
for burial in a secret grave in Milan.
(SFC, 2/3/98, p.A15)
1956 In Bolivia Hernan Siles Zuazo (1913-1996) became president.
(SFC, 8/8/96, p.A22)
1956 In Guangzou, China, the Canton Trade Fair was begun with
markets held in April and October of every year.
(WSJ, 5/7/96, p.A-14)
1956 A new German army, the Bundeswehr, was created.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A15)
1956 The US and Canada agreed to help India build a nuclear research
reactor for power generation. India rejected oversight by the new Int'l.
Atomic Energy Agency.
(SFC, 5/28/98, p.A9)
1956 In Ecuador members of the Auca tribe killed 5 missionary
men of the Plymouth Brethren.
(WSJ, 1/17/03, p.W13)
1956 Gen. Jacques Massu (d.2002 at 94) took command of the French
10th Parachute Division, the elite force tasked with maintaining order
in Algeria.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A17)
1956 Saddam Hussein joined the Arab Baath Socialist Party.
(WSJ, 1/20/02, p.A13)
1956 The State of Kerala was established in Southwest India from
the Malabar district of Madras state and the principalities of Cochin and
Travancore, to unite the peoples speaking Malayalam.
(NG, 5.1988, pp. 605)
1956 Oil was discovered in Nigeria.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, p.A26)
1956 In the USSR the Balkars, independent Muslim warriors who
live in the Caucasus Mountains between the Black and Caspian seas were
allowed to return home. During WW II Stalin had shipped most of them to
Siberia.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.T2)
1956 Tunisia became an independent nation.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.T5)
1956-1957 "I Love Lucy" was again the top ranking network show on television
with a ranking of 43.7%.
(WSJ, 4/24/95, p.R-5)
1956-1957 The "My Friend Flicka" TV series featured Gene Evans (d.1998
at 75).
(SFC, 4/2/98, p.A23)
1956-1958 Enrique Oltuski, Shell Oil executive and member of the July
26 Movement, helped orchestrate the overthrow of the government. In 2002
he authored "Vida Clandestina: My Life in the Cuban Revolution."
(SFC, 9/15/02, p.M2)
1956-1960 Lawrence Durrell (b.1912) wrote his "Alexandria Quartet."
The 4 linked novels were set in Egypt before and during WW II.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, BR p.7)
1956-1961 The CIA engaged in a secret program called MK-ULTRA that included
dosing hundreds of unsuspecting subjects with LSD and other hallucinogens.
(SFC, 2/21/98, p.A15)(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.A5)
1956-1961 Douglas MacArthur II (d.1997 at 88) served as US ambassador
to Japan.
(SFC,11/17/97, p.A23)
1956-1962 General Lauris Norstad served as the Supreme Allied Commander.
He succeeded Gen'l. Gruenther.
(WUD, 1994, p.1685)
1956-1963 The US installed and financially supported the political regime
of South Viet Nam. This was supported by the Pentagon Papers in a statement
that South Vietnam was essentially a creation of the US.
(WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-23)
1956-1966 In 1999 declassified documents revealed that the US stored
coreless nuclear weapons in Okinawa, and on the islands of Chichi-Jima
and Iwo Jima and other places in Japan.
(SFEC, 12/12/99, p.A24)
1956-1969 The "Silver Age" of comics featured such works characters
as Atom, the Green Lantern, the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man, who
were all drawn by Gil Kane (d.2000 at 73), born as Eli Katz in Latvia.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A25)
1956-1970 David Brinkley co-anchored the NBC nightly news program Huntley
and Brinkley with Chet Huntley.
(SFC, 10/18/96, C6)