Playboy
Dec 1 Hugh Hefner publishes 1st edition of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the magazine's 1st centerfold
- Dec 1 Red Sox trade for slugger Jackie Jensen, sending pitcher Mickey McDermott and outfielder Tom Umphlett to Washington; Jensen averages 25 HRs a year for his 7 seasons in Boston; AL RBI leader x 3, and AL MVP in 1958
- Dec 1 WAIM (now WAXA) TV channel 40 in Anderson, SC (IND) 1st broadcast
- Dec 1 WCSH TV channel 6 in Portland, ME (NBC) begins broadcasting
Shostakovich' 5th String Quartet
Dec 3 Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich' 5th String Quartet in Leningrad
- Dec 3 Robert Wright and George Forrest's musical "Kismet" opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 583 performances, wins Tony Award for Best Musical
Republican Party Communists
Dec 3 US President Dwight Eisenhower criticizes Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy for saying communists are in the Republican Party
- Dec 3 Webb Pierce records single "In the Jailhouse Now" (Billboard Song of the Year, 1955)
- Dec 6 Brown's Lou "Toe" Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14
Ben-Gurion Retires
Dec 7 Israel's PM Ben-Gurion retires
- Dec 7 WCCB TV channel 18 in Charlotte, North Carolina (IND/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 8 19th Heisman Trophy Award: Johnny Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)
- Dec 8 Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations in New York
- Dec 9 General Electric announces all Communist employees will be fired
- Dec 9 Montreal Canadiens (106) & Toronto Maple Leafs (98) combine for 204 penalty minutes
- Dec 10 KOMO TV channel 4 in Seattle, WA (ABC) begins broadcasting
John Murray Anderson's Almanac
Dec 10 Musical revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac", starring Harry Belafonte, Hermione Gingold, and Orson Bean, opens at Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs for 229 performances, with Belafonte earning a Tony Award
- Dec 10 WSTV (now WTOV) TV channel 9 in Steubenville-Wheeling, OH (CBS) begins
- Dec 11 KTVA TV channel 11 in Anchorage (CBS) becomes Alaska's 1st TV station
Yeager Reaches Mach 2.43
Dec 12 Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in Bell X-1A rocket plane
- Dec 13 KOAM TV channel 7 in Pittsburg-Joplin, KS (CBS) begins broadcasting
Dodgers Sign Koufax
Dec 14 Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax
- Dec 15 WJHG TV channel 7 in Panama City, FL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 16 Charles E. Yeager flies > 2,575 kph in Bell X-1A
- Dec 17 Dmitri Shostakovich's 10th Symphony premieres in Leningrad
- Dec 17 US Federal Communications Commission approves RCA's black & white-compatible color TV specifications
- Dec 18 KATV TV channel 7 in Little Rock, AR (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 18 KMID TV channel 2 in Midland & Odessa, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 19 KFYR TV channel 5 in Bismarck, ND (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 20 KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls, ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting
- Dec 20 KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City, OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Dec 21 KOMU TV channel 8 in Columbia, MO (NBC/PBS) begins broadcasting
- Dec 22 Jack Dunn III, owner of Baltimore Orioles in Intl League, turns name over to newly relocated St Louis Browns
- Dec 23 Dodgers 2nd baseman Jim Gilliam wins NL Rookie of Year
- Dec 23 René Coty elected President of the Republic and the French Union on the 13th ballot [1]
- Dec 24 KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 24 KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver, CO (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 24 Two fast express trains crash head-on killing 103 in Czechoslovakia
- Dec 24 Wellington-Auckland (NZ) express train swept away in flood kills 166
- Dec 25 Avalanche of lava kills 150 from Ruapehu volcano in New Zealand
- Dec 25 KNEV (95.5 The Vibe) radio broadcaster in Reno, Nevada begins broadcasting
- Dec 27 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 17-16 to retain title
- Dec 28 WLBT TV channel 3 in Jackson, MS (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 30 The first ever NTSC color television sets go on sale for about USD at $1,175 each from RCA.
- Dec 31 42nd Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Melbourne (3-2)
Shoemaker Shatters Record
Dec 31 Bill Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year
- Dec 31 Hulan Jack sworn in as Manhattan Borough president
- Dec 31 WFBC (now WYFF) TV channel 4 in G'ville-Spartanburg, SC (NBC) begins
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