From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of events
Events from the year 1956 in the United States .
Incumbents
Federal government
Events
January–March
January 1 –
Carl Perkins ' record "
Blue Suede Shoes " is released by
Sun Records in
Memphis, Tennessee .
January 3 –
Peter Pan , starring
Mary Martin , is restaged live by
Producers' Showcase on
NBC television by popular demand.
January 8 –
Operation Auca : Five U.S.
missionaries are killed by the
Huaorani of
Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
January 22 –
Redondo Junction train wreck in Los Angeles kills thirty people.
c. January – The first book in
Ed McBain 's long-running
87th Precinct
police procedural series,
Cop Hater , is published under Evan Hunter's new pseudonym.
February 14 –
Dwight D. Eisenhower 's doctors say that he is healthy enough to seek another term at the
White House .
February 16 – Only a little more than four months after the release of the 70 mm 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 55 mm, ends up being shown only in 35 mm.
February 22 –
Elvis Presley enters the U.S. music charts for the first time with "
Heartbreak Hotel ".
February 23 – Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to
Marilyn Monroe .
February 24 –
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 .
February 29 – Dwight D. Eisenhower announces he will seek re-election as President.
March 11 –
Laurence Olivier 's film,
Richard III , adapted from
Shakespeare 's play, premieres in the U.S. in theaters and on
NBC Television, on the same day as an afternoon
matinée . It is one of the first such experiments of its kind. Olivier is later nominated for an
Oscar for his performance.
March 12
March 13 –
Elvis Presley releases his first
Gold Album titled "Elvis Presley".
March 15 – The Broadway musical
My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
March 21 – The
28th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by
Jerry Lewis , is held at
RKO Pantages Theatre in
Hollywood ,
Los Angeles , with the television broadcast hosted by
Claudette Colbert and
Joseph L. Mankiewicz in
New York .
Delbert Mann 's
Marty wins four awards, including
Best Motion Picture and
Best Director for Mann. The film is also tied for the most nominations with eight, along with
Henry King 's
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing and
Daniel Mann 's
The Rose Tattoo .
April–June
June 29:
Interstate Highway System authorized
July–September
July 2 –
Sylvania Electric Products explosion : A laboratory experiment involving scrap
thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in
Bayside, New York , results in an explosion.
July 4 – A U.S.
Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the
Soviet Union .
July 13
July 16 – With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in
Pittsburgh ,
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows" due to changing economics.
July 24 – At New York City's Copacabana Club,
Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together (their act started on July 25, 1946).
July 25 – 72 kilometers (45 mi) south of
Nantucket Island , the Italian ocean liner
SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship
MS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51 people.
July 29 –
McKee refinery fire kills 19 in Texas.
July 30 – A Joint Resolution of
Congress is signed by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower , authorizing "
In God We Trust " as the U.S. national
motto .
August 6 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster
DuMont Television Network has its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
August 11 – Painter
Jackson Pollock dies in a car crash in
Springs, New York .
September 9 –
Elvis Presley appears on
The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
September 13 – The
hard disk drive is invented by an
IBM team led by
Reynold B. Johnson .
September 27 – The
Bell X-2 becomes the first manned aircraft to reach
Mach 3.
October–December
November 6:
Eisenhower
re-elected
October 5 –
Cecil B. DeMille 's
epic film
The Ten Commandments , starring
Charlton Heston as
Moses , is released in the U.S. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide
list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.
[3]
October 8 – Baseball pitcher
Don Larsen of the
New York Yankees throws the only
perfect game in
World Series history in Game 5 of the
1956 World Series against the
Brooklyn Dodgers .
Yogi Berra catches the game.
Dale Mitchell is the final out. The
New York Yankees win the series. Larsen is named series MVP.
October 10 – The prototype
Lockheed L-1649 Starliner , the final
Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight.
October 17 – The Game of the Century: 13-year-old
Bobby Fischer beats GM Donald Byrne in the NY Rosenwald chess tournament.
October 29 – The
Huntley-Brinkley Report debuts on
NBC -TV.
October 31 – A
U.S. Navy team becomes the third group to reach the
South Pole (arriving by air) and commences construction of the first permanent
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station .
October –
The Ladder becomes the first nationally distributed
lesbian magazine in the U.S.
November 1
November 3 –
MGM 's screen classic,
The Wizard of Oz , is shown on television for the first time by
CBS , as the final installment of their
Ford Star Jubilee .
November 6 –
1956 United States presidential election :
Republican incumbent
Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats
Democratic challenger
Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier.
November 13 –
Browder v. Gayle : The
United States Supreme Court declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the
Montgomery bus boycott .
November 30 – African American boxer
Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight championship that is vacant after the retirement of
Rocky Marciano .
December 2 – A
pipe bomb planted by
George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in
Brooklyn, New York , injuring 6 people.
December 3 – The
1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn.
December 4 – The
Million Dollar Quartet (
Elvis Presley ,
Jerry Lee Lewis ,
Carl Perkins and
Johnny Cash ) get together at
Sun Studio for the only time.
December 18 –
To Tell the Truth debuts on
CBS -TV.
December 31 –
Bob Barker makes his TV debut as host of the game show
Truth or Consequences .
Ongoing
Births
January
Mel Gibson
David Caruso
Bill Maher
Geena Davis
Mimi Rogers
February
Nathan Lane
March
Tim Daly
Bryan Cranston
April
April 1 –
Jeffrey Beecroft , production designer and art director
April 3 –
Ray Combs , game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
April 4 –
David E. Kelley , writer and television producer
April 5 –
Diamond Dallas Page , professional wrestler
April 6 –
Michele Bachmann , politician
April 7 –
Christopher Darden , lawyer
April 14 –
Barbara Bonney , soprano
April 16 –
David M. Brown , astronaut (
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster ) (d. 2003)
April 18
April 21 –
Phillip Longman , demographer
April 23 -
Greg Colson , American artist
April 27 –
Bryan Harvey , American musician (d.
2006 )
May
Sugar Ray Leonard
Bob Saget
La Toya Jackson
May 4 –
David Guterson , writer
May 5 –
Lisa Eilbacher , actress
May 6 –
Cindy Lovell , educator and writer
May 7
May 10 –
Paige O'Hara , actress, voice actress, singer and painter
May 12 –
Greg Phillinganes , keyboardist
May 15 –
Dan Patrick , sports commentator
May 17
May 19 –
Steven Ford , actor
May 20 –
Dean Butler , actor and producer
May 23 –
Buck Showalter , baseball player and manager
May 26 –
Lisa Niemi , actress and dancer, spouse of Patrick Swayze
May 28 –
Jerry Douglas ,
dobro player
May 29 –
La Toya Jackson , singer
June
Joe Montana
Tim Russ
Randy Jackson
Anthony Bourdain
June 1 –
Lisa Hartman Black , actress, singer
June 3
June 4 –
Keith David , actor
June 5 –
Kenny G , grammy-award-winning saxophonist
June 7 –
L.A. Reid , record executive
June 9 –
Patricia Cornwell , novelist
June 11
June 14 –
Fred Funk , golfer and coach
June 15 –
Robin Curtis , actress
June 17 –
Kelly Curtis , actor
June 19 –
Danny Chauncey , guitarist
June 21 –
Thomas James O'Leary , American actor
June 22 –
Tim Russ , actor, film director, screenwriter and musician
June 23 –
Randy Jackson , musician and talent judge
June 25 –
Anthony Bourdain , chef, author and television personality (died
2018 )
[4]
June 26 –
Chris Isaak , musician
June 30
July
Tom Hanks
Sela Ward
July 1 –
Alan Ruck , actor
July 2 –
Jerry Hall , model and actress
July 5 –
Louis Herthum , actor and producer
July 9 –
Tom Hanks , actor and director
July 11 –
Sela Ward , actress
July 12
July 13 –
Michael Spinks , African-American boxer
July 16 –
Tony Kushner , playwright
July 18
July 24
July 25 –
Frances Arnold , biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018
July 30 –
Delta Burke , actress
July 31
August
Maureen McCormick
Kevin Dunn
August 1 –
Steve Green , Christian musician
August 2 –
Jim Neidhart , professional wrestler
August 4 –
Gerry Cooney , boxer
August 5 –
Maureen McCormick , actress (The Brady Bunch )
August 6 –
Stepfanie Kramer , actress (Hunter )
August 10
August 14 –
Jackée Harry , actress and television personality
August 18
August 19 –
Adam Arkin , actor
August 20 –
Joan Allen , actress
August 21 –
Jon Tester , U.S. Senator from Montana
August 22 –
Paul Molitor , baseball player
August 24
August 26 –
Mark Mangino , football coach
August 29 –
Mark Morris , choreographer
September
Gary Cole
Linda Hamilton
September 1 –
Bernie Wagenblast , editor and broadcaster
September 6 –
Bill Ritter , 41st
Governor of Colorado
September 7 –
Michael Feinstein , singer and pianist
September 8 –
Maurice Cheeks , basketball player and coach
September 11 –
Phillip D. Bissett , politician
September 12
September 15 –
George Howard , jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
September 16 –
David Copperfield , illusionist
September 17 –
Brian Andreas , writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
September 20
September 21 –
Jack Givens , basketball player
September 24 –
Gregory Peter Panos , futurist, writer, inventor, virtual reality expert, human simulation visionary
September 25 –
Jamie Hyneman , television co-host (
MythBusters )
September 26 –
Linda Hamilton , actress (
The Terminator )
September 30 –
Carol Jenkins Barnett , businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 2021)
[5]
October
Mae Jemison
Carrie Fisher
Rita Wilson
November
Sinbad
Bo Derek
William Fichtner
November 3 –
Dru C. Gladney , anthropologist (d. 2022)
November 7 –
Judy Tenuta , American comedian and musician (d. 2022)
November 8 –
Steven Miller , record producer
November 10 –
Sinbad , stand-up comedian and actor
November 13
November 14
November 15
November 16 –
Terry Labonte , Race Car Driver
November 17 –
Kelly Ward , actor
November 18 –
Warren Moon , football player
November 20 –
Bo Derek , actress and model
November 21 –
Terri Welles , actress and adult model
November 22
November 26 –
Dale Jarrett , race car driver
November 27 –
William Fichtner , actor
November 29
December
Larry Bird
Deaths
January 9 –
Marion Leonard , stage & silent film actress (born
1881 )
January 10 –
Zonia Baber , geographer and geologist (born
1862 )
January 12 –
Norman Kerry , silent film actor (born
1894 )
January 29 –
H. L. Mencken , writer (born
1880 )
February 2
February 3 –
Robert Yerkes , psychologist and ethologist (born
1876 )
February 8 –
Connie Mack , baseball executive and manager (born
1862 )
February 15 –
J. H. Smith , politician and pioneer (born
1858 )
February 26 –
Elsie Janis , singer and actress (born
1889 )
March 14 –
David Browning , Olympic diver; in aviation accident (born
1931 )
March 17 –
Fred Allen , comedian (born
1894 )
March 18 –
Louis Bromfield , writer and conservationist (born
1896 )
March 21 –
Edwin Thanhouser , actor, businessman and film producer (born
1865 )
March 22 –
George Sarton , historian of science (born
1884 in Belgium)
March 25 –
Lou Moore , racing driver and team owner (born
1904 )
April 15 –
Kathleen Howard , opera singer and film actress (born
1884 in Canada )
April 21
April 26 –
Edward Arnold , film actor (born
1890 )
April 30 –
Alben W. Barkley , 35th
vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 (born
1877 )
May 11 –
Walter Sydney Adams , astronomer (born
1876 )
May 12 –
Louis Calhern , actor (born
1895 )
May 15 –
Arthur Talmage Abernethy , poet, journalist, theologian and minister (born
1872 )
May 24 –
Guy Kibbee , actor (born
1882 )
May 26 –
Al Simmons , baseball player (
Philadelphia Athletics ) (born
1902 )
June 1 –
Jesse H. Jones , entrepreneur, 9th
United States Secretary of Commerce (born
1874 )
June 2 –
Richard S. Edwards , admiral (born
1885 )
June 4 –
Katherine MacDonald , silent film actress (born
1891 )
June 6 –
Hiram Bingham III , explorer, discoverer of
Machu Picchu (born
1875 )
June 11 –
Ralph Morgan , character actor (born
1883 )
June 25 –
Ernest King , Fleet Admiral (born
1878 )
June 26 –
Clifford Brown , jazz trumpeter (born
1930 )
July 4 –
Udo Keppler , cartoonist (
Puck ) (born
1872 )
August 2 –
Albert Woolson , last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (born
1850 )
August 11 –
Jackson Pollock , painter (born
1912 )
August 13 –
Lyonel Feininger , German American painter (born
1871 )
August 16
August 23 –
Peaches Browning , divorcee and vaudeville actress (born
1910 )
August 24 –
Mitchell Lewis , actor (born
1880 )
August 25 –
Alfred Kinsey , sex researcher (born
1894 )
September 6 –
Felix Borowski , composer and teacher (born
1872 in the United Kingdom )
September 27
October 1 –
Albert Von Tilzer , songwriter (born
1878 )
October 2 –
George Bancroft , film actor (born
1882 )
October 9 –
Marie Doro , stage & silent film actress (born
1882 )
October 18 –
Charles Strite , inventor (born
1878 )
October 19 –
Isham Jones , bandleader (born
1894 )
October 27 –
Charles S. Johnson , sociologist (born
1893 )
November 1 –
Tommy Johnson , Delta blues falsetto singer & guitarist (born
1896 )
November 5 –
Art Tatum , jazz pianist (born
1909 )
November 6 –
Paul Kelly , actor (born
1899 )
November 10
November 26 –
Tommy Dorsey , trombonist and bandleader (born
1905 )
November 27 –
Hugo Ballin , artist, film production designer and director (born
1879 )
December 9 –
Charles Joughin , baker on RMS Titanic (born
1878 in the United Kingdom )
December 17 –
Eddie Acuff , actor (born
1903 )
December 21 –
Lewis Terman , psychologist (born
1877 )
December 30 –
Ruth Draper , monologuist (born
1884 )
See also
References
External links