Buddy Holly & The Crickets
Dec 1 Seminal rock band Buddy Holly & The Crickets make their "Ed Sullivan Show" debut, performing "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue"; singer Sam Cooke also performs after getting bumped due to time constraints on November 3rd - he sings "You Send Me" and “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” [1] [2]
- Dec 2 1st US large scale nuclear power plant for peacetime use opens, Shippingport, Pennsylvania
- Dec 2 NFL Draft: Rice quarterback King Hill #1 pick by Chicago Cardinals
- Dec 2 Pacific Coast League franchises forced to relocate when Dodgers and Giants confirm their move to California for 1958 MLB season; Hollywood Stars move from LA to Salt Lake City; LA Angels move to Spokane, and San Francisco Seals transfer to Phoenix
- Dec 3 23rd Heisman Trophy Award: John Crow, Texas A&M (HB)
- Dec 4 2 commuter trains collide in heavy fog killing 92 (St John's, England)
- Dec 4 First edition of "Chase's Annual Events" published
- Dec 5 NYC is first US city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in housing market (Fair Housing Practices Law)
Indonesia Expels Dutch
Dec 5 President Sukarno of Indonesia expels all Dutch people.
- Dec 5 William Inge's "Dark at the Top of the Stairs" premieres in NYC
- Dec 6 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
- Dec 6 AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
US vs. Philippines
Dec 6 Gardnar Mulloy becomes oldest American to win a Davis Cup tennis match at age 44 years, 14 days; teams with Vic Seixas to give US a match-clinching, 3-0 lead over the Philippines in the Inter Zone 1st round in Adelaide, Australia
- Dec 6 Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
Sessions' 3rd Symphony
Dec 6 Roger Sessions' 3rd Symphony premieres in Boston with Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony
- Dec 7 Tony Kubek of the Yanks selected as AL Rookie of the Year
The Sound of Jazz
Dec 8 CBS broadcasts "The Sound of Jazz", live from NYC: an all-star program featuring swing era and contemporary jazz artists, including Count Basie, Red Allen, Ben Webster;, Thelonious Monk, and Gerry Mulligan; highlight is the final collaboration of Billie Holiday and Lester Young on "Fine and Mellow"
- Dec 9 1st Japanese ambassador to Israel
- Dec 10 Chinese physicists Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on parity laws, which created a major breakthrough in particle research
- Dec 12 Maj Adrian Drew flies 1,943 kph in F-101 Voodoo
- Dec 12 US announces manufacture of Borazon (harder than diamond)
- Dec 12 Willem J. Kolff and his team at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic removed the heart from a dog and replaced it with a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes, proving the viability of the artificial heart
Peyton Place
Dec 13 "Peyton Place" film based on the novel by Grace Metalious, directed by Mark Robson and starring Lana Turner and Hope Lange is released
- Dec 14 "Rumple" musical closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 45 performances
The Most Happy Fella
Dec 14 Frank Loesser's musical "The Most Happy Fella", based on Sidney Howard's 1924 stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 678 performances
- Dec 16 Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan
Alfredo Di Stéfano Wins
Dec 17 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stéfano wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of Englishmen Billy Wright and Duncan Edwards
The Nat King Cole Show
Dec 17 Last episode of "The Nat King Cole Show" airs on NBC, cancelled due to lack of national sponsorship
- Dec 17 The largest trade in NHL history at the time in terms of quantity; Chicago Black Hawks move Nick Mickoski, Jack McIntyre, Bob Bailey & Hec Lalonde to Detroit Red Wings for Earl Reibel, Billy Dea, Bill Dineen & Lorne Ferguson
- Dec 17 US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
- Dec 18 World's first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania
- Dec 19 Meredith Willson's musical "The Music Man", starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 1375 performances, wins 5 Tony and a Grammy Award
Elvis Receives Draft Notice
Dec 20 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice to join the US Army for national service
Cricket Debut
Dec 23 Test cricket debut for all-time great Australian wicketkeeper Wally Grout and future captain and coach Bobby Simpson, 1st Test v South Africa in Johannesburg
Ringo's First Drum Set
Dec 25 Liverpudlian teenager Richard Starkey (later better known as Ringo Starr) receives his first drum set aged 17
"Christmas Show of Stars"
Dec 26 Alan Freed's "Christmas Show of Stars", featuring the Everly Brothers, Paul Anka; Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis, opens at the Paramount Theatre, NYC; runs for 14 performances
"Wild Strawberries"
Dec 26 Swedish film "Wild Strawberries" is released, written and directed by legendary filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, considered one of his best
- Dec 28 46th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Melbourne (3-2)
- Dec 28 CBS states it won't broadcast baseball where minor league games are on
- Dec 28 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
- Dec 29 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 50-14; Lions score 2 touchdowns in each quarter
Ben-Gurion Resigns
Dec 30 Israeli government of Ben-Gurion, resigns
Event of Interest
Dec 31 AAU awards Bobby Morrow, James Sullivan Memorial Trophy
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