1956
1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday. (see link for calendar)
EventsJanuary January 1 - End of Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan. January 16 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine January 26 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy January 26 - United Kingdom bans heroin January 26 - The last Soviet troops leave the military base in Porkkala, FinlandFebruary February 15 - Urho Kekkonen is elected President of Finland February 22 - Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel". February 23 - Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of personality"
March March 1 - the International Air Transport Association finalises a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization March 2 - Morocco declares its independence from France March 9 – British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus March 15 - The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City. March 20 - Tunisia gains independence from France March 23 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic.April April 7 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco. April 19 - Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco
May May 9 - First ascent of Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world. May 18 - First ascent of Lhotse (main), fourth highest mountain May 21 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.June June 10 - 1956 Summer Olympics: Equestrian events open in Stockholm, Sweden. June 14 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" to the United States' Pledge of Allegiance. June 18 - Last foreign troops leave Egypt June 28 - MP Sydney Silverman's bill for abolition of death penalty passes the British House of Commons June 28 - Labour riots at Poznan, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life June 29 - Marilyn Monroe marries the playwright Arthur Miller
July July 8 - First ascent of Gasherbrum II July 10 - British House of Lords defeats the abolition of death penalty July 24 - At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together which started on July 25, 1946 July 25 - 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the SS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51. July 26 - Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation July 30 - A Joint Resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto. July 31 - Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first class match (the previous best was seventeen).
August August 8 - Fire and explosion kills 263 miners at Marcinelle, BelgiumOctober October 14 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers. See Neo-Buddhism. October 23 - Hungarian revolution against the communist government. Soviet Union intervenes. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact October 26 - Warsaw Pact troops invade Hungary October 29 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal October 29 - Tangier Protocol signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco October 31 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal
November November 4 - 1956 Hungarian Revolution: Soviet troops invade Hungary to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded and nearly a quarter million leave the country November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1956: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier November 7 - Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Egypt immediately. November 14 - Fighting ends in Hungary November 16 - Suez canal blocked November 22 - Beginning of the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. November 23 - Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain
December December 2 - Fidel Castro and his followers land on Cuba December 2 - Pipe bomb explodes at a movie theater in Brooklyn (work of George Metesky)- six people injured December 5 - Rose Heilbron becomes Britain's first female judge December 12 : Japan becomes member of the United Nations Minamata disease discovered
Unknown dateEindhoven University of Technology founded in Eindhoven, The NetherlandsFirst hard disk (5MB) invented by IBM.
Year in topic 1956 in art 1956 in film*Around the World in Eighty Days*The King and I*The Ten Commandments*Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much starring Jimmy Stewart*The Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 in literature 1956 in music*First ever Eurovision Song Contest - May 24 1956 in rail transport 1956 in sports 1956 in television*April - WNBQ Chicago becomes the first TV station to broadcast all its local programming in color. *April Ampex demonstrates a videotape recorder at the NAB Convention in Chicago. The three networks place orders for the recorders. *April 2 - The first half-hour soap operas, As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, debut on American television. Before, all soap operas only transmitted fifteen-minute episodes each weekday.*August 8 - Final telecast of the DuMont Network.*September 16 - Australia's first television station TCN-9 commences transmission in Sydney*October 1 - Ernie Kovacs becomes the host for NBC's Tonight Show on Mondays and Tuesdays. *October 29 - First use of videotape in network television programming; CBS uses its Ampex VTR to record the evening news, anchored by Douglas Edwards. The tape is then fed to West Coast stations three hours later*October 29 - Chet Huntley and David Brinkley take over anchor duties of the NBC evening newscast, which is renamed The Huntley-Brinkley Report*November - The first use of videotape on a network television entertainment program; Jonathan Winters, uses videotape and superimposing techniques to be able to play two characters in the same skit for his NBC television show*The Price is Right game show premieres*Black-and-white portable TV sets hit the market
BirthsJanuary births January 3 - Mel Gibson, actor and director January 7 - David Caruso, actor January 10 - Shawn Colvin, singer January 14 - Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor January 17 - Paul Young, English musician January 20 - Bill Maher, actor, comedian, political analyst January 21 - Geena Davis, actress January 27 - Mimi Rogers, actress January 31 - Johnny Rotten, musician (The "Sex Pistols")
February births February 3 - Nathan Lane, actor February 6 - Ken Lorraway, Australian athlete February 11 - Kathleen Beller, actress February 14 - Tom Burlinson, Australian actor February 15 - Desmond Haynes, West Indies cricketer February 24 - Paula Zahn, television journalist February 26 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese Musician February 29 - Randy Jackson, American musician, American Idol judge February 29 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician February 29 - Aileen Carol Wuornos, serial killer
April births April 3 - Ray Combs, game show host, comedian April 4 - Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician April 4 - David E. Kelley, writer, television producer April 6 - Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer April 12 - Andy Garcia, US actor April 13 - Alison Wheeler, British Political activist April 13 - Peter 'Possum' Bourne, Australian Rally Driver (d. 2003) April 14 - Barbara Bonney, US soprano April 16 - Lise-Marie Morerod, slalom skier April 19 - Sue Barker, British TV presenter and former tennis champion April 21 - Rick DeMont, US Olympic swimmer April 23 - Judy Davis, Australian actress April 26 - Koo Stark, UK actress April 28 - Jimmy Barnes, Australian rocker
May births May 4 - Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper May 7 - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands May 9 - John Jay Ruskin. Fiddle player May 15 - Dan Patrick, sportscaster May 16 - Olga Korbut, Russian Olympic gymnast May 17 - Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer May 17 - Bob Saget, US actor May 19 - James Gosling, the "father" of Java programming language May 20 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author May 21 - Judge Reinhold, actor May 23 - Buck Showalter, baseball player, manager
June births June 6 - Björn Borg, tennis great June 9 - Patricia Daniels (later Patricia Cornwell), American crime novelist. June 11 - Joe Montana, Pro Football Hall of Fame June 21 - Kasper Winding, Danish composer, popular music June 23 - Glenn Danzig, rock and roll performer of Danzig
July births July 9 - Tom Hanks, actor July 14 - Ran Andrews, Canadian painter July 15 - Barry Melrose, hockey player, coach, commentator July 16 - Tony Kushner, playwright July 31 - Michael Biehn, actor
August births August 5 - Maureen McCormick, actress August 14 - Rusty Wallace, NASCAR driver August 20 - Joan Allen, US film actress August 21 - Kim Cattrall, Canadian actress August 22 - Paul Molitor, Baseball Hall of Famer August 24 - John Culberson, American politician
September births September 11 - Phil Bissett, former state delegate in Maryland September 12 - Ricky Rudd, NASCAR race car driver September 14 - Costas Caramanlis, Greek politician September 14 - Ray Wilkins, football player September 26 - Linda Hamilton, actress
October births October 11 - Nicanor Duarte Frutos, President of Paraguay October 18 - Martina Navratilova, tennis great
November births November 07 - Fabio Domingos Pannoni, Brazilian Scientist November 18 - Warren Moon, Canadian football and American football star November 23 - Shane Gould, Australian Olympic swimmer November 23 - Steve Harvey, actor, comedian November 26 - Dale Jarrett, NASCAR race car driver November 28 - Lucy Gutteridge, British actress November 29 - Leo Laporte, author and host of Call for Help 2.0 on G4techTV Canada
December births December 5 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist December 7 - Larry Bird, Basketball Hall of Fame December 7 - Mark Rolston, actor December 8 - Warren Cuccurullo, musician, Missing Persons, Duran Duran December 23 - Michele Alboreto, Italian racecar driver December 26 - David Sedaris, American essayist December 28 - Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
Deaths January 3 - Alexander Grechaninov, Russian composer January 5 - Mistinguett, French cabaret singer January 13 - Lyonel Charles Feininger, German painter January 24 - Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian/UK film director January 27 - Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890) January 29 - H. L. Mencken January 31 - A. A. Milne, author of Winnie-the-Pooh February 2 - Charley Grapewin, US actor February 8 - Connie Mack, baseball executive, coach February 18 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer March 17 - Irène Joliot-Curie, French scientist March 20 - Fanny Durack, Australian Olympic swimmer March 25 - Robert Newton, English film actor March 30 - Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English inventor of the clerihew March 30 - Fritz Lehmann, German conductor March 31 - Ralph DePalma, race car driver (b. 1884) April 30 - Alben W Barkly, US Vice-President May 12 - Louis Calhern, US film actor May 17 - Austin Osman Spare, magician May 18 - Maurice Tate, Sussex and England cricketer. May 20 - Max Beerbohm, theater critic May 26 - Al Simmons, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1902) May 31 - Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist July 7 - Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886) August 2 - Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847) August 11 - Jackson Pollock, US painter August 14 - Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898) August 16 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born film actor August 23 - Peaches Browning, American actress August 25 - Alfred Kinsey, sex researcher September 27 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete and golfer October 19 - Isham Jones, jazz musician (b. 1894) October 26 - Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895) November 24 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor December 6 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader December 7 - Huntley Gordon, pioneer Hollywood actor December 16 - Jack Coe, Pioneer Tent Evangelist of Bublar Polio (b. 1918) 38 years old December 16 - Nina Hamnett, artist December 18 - Ron White, stand-up comedian
Nobel prizes Physics - William Bradford Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain Chemistry - Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov Medicine - André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W Richards Literature - Juan Ramón Jiménez Peace - not awarded
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