Events 1 - 200 of 452
- Jan 1 Chad becomes autonomous republic in French Community
Batista Flees
Jan 1 Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba for the Dominican Republic
- Jan 1 Cuban revolutionary forces capture Havana
- Jan 1 Rohan Kanhai completes 256 v India at Calcutta
Lunar 1 (Mechta)
Jan 2 USSR launches the Luna 1 spacecraft (Mechta), the 1st to leave Earth's gravity, reach the vicinity of the Moon and to be placed in heliocentric orbit
"It Doesn't Matter"
Jan 5 Buddy Holly releases his last record "It Doesn't Matter"; he is killed in a plane crash 29 days later
Gangster Lansky Flees
Jan 7 American gangster Meyer Lansky flees Cuba for the Bahamas due to the Cuban Revolution and rise of Fidel Castro
US Recognizes Castro Government
Jan 7 US recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban government
Charles De Galle President
Jan 8 Charles de Gaulle inaugurated as president of France's 5th Republic
- Jan 9 Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro arrives in recently captured capital city of Havana
- Jan 9 Dam across Tera River in Northwestern Spain collapses after heavy winter rains, killing 135
- Jan 9 Pat O'Connor beats Dick Hutton in St Louis, to become NWA champ
"Rawhide"
Jan 9 TV western "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS
- Jan 11 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Theodore Roethke
Mohammad Smashes 499
Jan 11 Pakistani cricket batsman Hanif Mohammad smashes 499 for Karachi v Bahawalpur, then 1st class world record
Motown Founded
Jan 12 Berry Gordy Jr.'s Tamla Records (later Motown) begins operating in Detroit, Michigan
- Jan 12 KOED TV channel 11 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 12 Rediscovery of the Caves of Nerja in Malaga, Spain
- Jan 13 French President Charles De Gaulle grants amnesty to 130 Algerians sentenced to death
- Jan 13 King Boudouin promises Belgian Congo independence
- Jan 22 Buddy Holly makes his last recordings in his NYC apartment, alone with an acoustic guitar; he tapes five songs including "Peggy Sue" and "Crying, Waiting, Hoping", which were embellished, overdubbed, and released posthumously by Coral Records
- Jan 22 USAF concludes that less than 1% of UFOs are unknown objects
Moscow-Tsjerjomoesjki
Jan 24 Dmitri Shostakovich's operetta "Moscow, Cheryomushki" premieres in Moscow
- Jan 24 WHCT TV channel 18 in Hartford, CT (IND) begins broadcasting
- Jan 25 1st transcontinental commercial jet flight (American) (LA to NY for $301)
2nd Vatican Council
Jan 25 Pope John XXIII proclaims 2nd Vatican council
- Jan 26 Italy government of Fanfani resigns
- Jan 26 KOKH TV channel 25 in Oklahoma City, OK (IND/PBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 28 Soviet Union wins 62-37 for 1st international basketball loss by US
- Jan 29 Smog pollution with readings higher than the 1952 'Great Smog of London' hits London, with many suffering chest and lung-related illnesses
- Jan 29 Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" released
- Jan 30 Australia 1-200 1st day 4th Test v England, Adelaide Oval
- Jan 30 Danish ocean liner MS Hans Hedtoft sinks on maiden voyage after striking an iceberg off the coast of Greenland;, 95 die
"Pittsburgh" Symphony
Jan 30 Paul Hindemith's symphony "Pittsburgh" premieres
Cronin AL President
Jan 31 Former star MLB shortstop and manager Joe Cronin signs 7 year pact to become American League President
- Feb 1 Heiss sisters go 1-2 in US women's Figure Skating C'ships; defending champion Carol wins from Nancy; David Jenkins wins his third straight men's title
- Feb 1 Outfielder Zack Wheat, a Brooklyn Robins favourite of the 1910s and 1920s, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Wheat hit .317 over 19-year career, and batted .300 or better 14 times
- Feb 1 Swiss men vote against voting rights for women
- Feb 1 WVUE TV channel 8 in New Orleans, LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 2 Buddy Holly's last performance at Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa [1]
Lombardi to the Packers
Feb 2 Vince Lombardi signs a 5 year contract to coach NFL Green Bay Packers
- Feb 3 "The Day the Music Died" plane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), and the pilot. near Clear Lake, Iowa
- Feb 3 American Airlines Electra crashes in NY's East River, killing 65
- Feb 4 Israel begins exporting copper ore
- Feb 6 1st successful test-fire of Titan ICBM
- Feb 6 Edward R. Morrow interviews Cuban revolution leader Fidel Castro on his "Person to Person" program
Historic Invention
Feb 6 Texas Instruments files for a patent for it's first integrated circuit (IC), invented by Jack Kilby
- Feb 7 American pilots Bob Timm and John Cook break recently set airplane flight endurance record, exceeding 1550 hours (64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes), landing "The Hacienda", their modified Cessna 172 where they started, in Las Vegas, Nevada [1]
- Feb 7 Fidel Castro proclaims new Cuban constitution
- Feb 10 Dutch Princess Wilhelmina publishes "Lonely, but not alone"
- Feb 10 Tornado in St Louis kills 19 & injures 265
- Feb 11 Vinoo Mankad ends his final Test Cricket (v WI at Delhi)
- Feb 12 The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design
- Feb 13 Miro Cardon, premier of Cuba, resigns
- Feb 14 $3.6 million heroin seizure in NYC
Italian History
Feb 15 Antonio Segni forms Italian government
- Feb 16 Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista
- Feb 16 Leonard Spigelgass' "Majority of One" premieres in NYC
- Feb 17 1st weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8 kg
- Feb 19 Britain, Turkey & Greece sign agreement granting Cyprus independence
- Feb 19 Gabon adopts its constitution
- Feb 19 USAF rocket-powered rail sled attains Mach 4.1 (4970 kph), at Holloman AFB, New Mexico
Avro Arrow is Cancelled
Feb 20 Canada's program to design and manufacture the supersonic jet fighter the Avro Arrow is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate [1]
Hendrix Plays First Gig
Feb 20 Jimi Hendrix (16), rock and roll guitarist, plays his first gig in the Temple De Hirsch synagogue basement, Seattle; fired from the band after the 1st set due to "wild" playing
The Ollie Matson Trade
Feb 28 Chicago Cardinals trade running back Ollie Matson to the LA Rams for an unprecedented 9 players
- Feb 28 Ice Dance Championship at Colorado Springs USA won by Denny & Jones of Great Britain
- Feb 28 Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Springs won by Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul of Canada, their 3rd title
- Feb 28 Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-1st polar orbit
- Mar 1 Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus after 3 years
Sydney Opera House
Mar 2 Ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point in Sydney, Australia; estimates of $7M and four years to complete project balloon to $102M and 14 years
- Mar 3 1st US probe to enter solar orbit, Pioneer 4, launched
- Mar 3 British government arrests Hastings Banda of Nyasaland, ends emergency crisis
- Mar 3 San Francisco Giants rename their stadium Candlestick Park
- Mar 3 The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts opens in Yerevan, Armenia, with a collection of over 23,000 manuscripts [1]
- Mar 4 NASA's scientific spacecraft Pioneer 4 misses moon, enters heliocentric orbit, and becomes 2nd (US 1st) earth-launched 'artificial planet' [1]
- Mar 5 Iran & US sign economic & military treaty
Emmy Awards
Mar 6 11th Emmy Awards: Playhouse 90, Jack Benny Show, Raymond Burr win
- Mar 6 Farthest radio signal heard (Pioneer IV, 400,000 miles)
- Mar 7 1st aviator to fly a million miles (1.61 M km) in a jet (MC Garlow)
Sports History
Mar 7 West Indies all out 76 v Pakistan at Dacca, Fazal Mahmood 6-34
- Mar 8 Groucho, Chico & Harpo Marx's final TV appearance together
- Mar 8 KUAT TV channel 6 in Tucson, AZ (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Mar 8 Pro-Egyptian coup fails in Mosul Iraq
- Mar 9 1st known radar contact is made with Venus
- Mar 9 Barbie makes her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York. Over a billion have been sold worldwide since.
- Mar 9 The Coasters' single "Charlie Brown" peaks at #2 on the Billboard Top 100
Sports History
Mar 10 Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, sells her 54% share of MLB Chicago White Sox to Bill Veeck, for a reported $27M
Event of Interest
Mar 10 Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" premieres in NYC
- Mar 10 Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation force in Lhasa, Tibet
- Mar 12 Dutch Liberal Party wins 2nd parliamentary elections
- Mar 12 US House joins Senate approving Hawaii statehood
- Mar 15 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Louise Suggs wins her 4th Titleholders title by 1 stroke from Betsy Rawls
- Mar 15 Robert Foster sets record by staying underwater 13 m 42.5 s
- Mar 15 WILX TV channel 10 in Lansing, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Mar 16 Iraq & USSR sign economic and technical treaty
- Mar 17 Australia & USSR restore diplomatic relations
NBA Record
Mar 18 Boston Celtic's Bill Sharman begins record of 56 straight free-throws
Event of Interest
Mar 18 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
- Mar 24 Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact
Event of Interest
Mar 24 The Party of the African Federation (PFA) is launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keita.
- Mar 25 Bill White traded to St Louis for pitchers Sam Jones & Don Choate
- Mar 25 French President De Gaulle acknowledges Oder-Neisse boundary
- Mar 26 Test debut for Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Mohammad v West Indies, aged 15 years
- Mar 28 11 days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government & installs Panchen Lama
Some Like It Hot
Mar 29 "Some Like It Hot", American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, premieres at Loew’s Capital Theatre, NYC
- Mar 29 West Indian cricket fast bowler Wes Hall dismisses Pakistani batsmen Mushtaq Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood and Nasim-ul-Ghani for a hat-trick in 3rd Test at Lahore
Event of Interest
Mar 30 Dalai Lama flees China and is granted political asylum in India
- Mar 30 WNED TV channel 17 in Buffalo, NY (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Apr 4 Mali Federation founded, consisting of Senegal & French Sudan (dissolved 1960)
Academy Awards
Apr 6 31st Academy Awards: "Gigi", Susan Hayward & David Niven win
- Apr 7 Oklahoma ends prohibition, after 51 years
- Apr 7 Radar 1st bounced off Sun, Stanford Calif
- Apr 9 13th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics sweep Minnesota Lakers in 4 games, first of Boston Celtics record 8 straight titles
- Apr 9 Baltimore Orioles pull their 2nd triple play (3-6-3 vs Washington Senators)
- Apr 9 Bill Sharman hits a NBA record 56 consecutive foul shot
- Apr 9 NASA names 1st 7 astronauts for Project Mercury
- Apr 10 Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox gets a MLB Opening Day record tying 5 hits in 7 at-bats in a 14-inning, 9–7 win in Detroit
Drysdale's 2nd Opening Day HR
Apr 11 Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale hits his 2nd Opening Day HR
- Apr 11 Dutch Prince Bernhard visits Lockheed factory
- Apr 12 13th Tony Awards: "J.B." (play) & "Redhead" (musical) win
- Apr 12 France Observator reports torture practice by French army in Algeria
- Apr 13 USAF launches Discoverer II into polar orbit
- Apr 13 Vanguard SLV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed)
- Apr 13 Vatican edict forbids Roman Catholics from voting for communists
- Apr 14 (Robert) Taft Memorial Bell Tower dedicated in Washington, D.C.
- Apr 14 KDIN TV channel 11 in Des Moines, Iowa (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Apr 15 Fidel Castro begins US goodwill tour
Event of Interest
Apr 15 US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles resigns
- Apr 16 Datu Abdul Rozak inaugurated as premier of Malaysia federation
- Apr 16 MLB Philadelphia Phillies' Dave Philley gets a major league record 9th straight pinch hit, having ended the previous season with a streak of 8
- Apr 18 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens' 4th straight title; beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 for a 4-1 series win
- Apr 19 Uprising in La Paz Bolivia, fails
- Apr 21 Alf Dean using a rod & reel hooks a 2,664lb, 16' 10" great white shark off the coast of Ceduna, Australia
- Apr 22 Chicago White Sox beat KC Athletics 20-6, in 1 inning Sox score 11 runs on 1 hit, 10 walks, & 3 errors
Baseball Record
Apr 22 Yankee Whitey Ford strikes out 15, beating Senators, 1-0 in 14 innings
- Apr 23 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
- Apr 24 Netherland Dance Theater opens (Rudi of Dantzig & Cut Flier)
- Apr 24 WICD TV channel 15 in Champaign, IL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Apr 25 St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic and the Great Lakes opens to shipping
- Apr 27 "Today" show goes abroard 1st time (Paris France)
Mao Resigns
Apr 27 Mao Zedong resigns as Chairman of the PRC after the disastrous failure of the Great Leap Forward
- Apr 27 The last Canadian missionary leaves the People's Republic of China.
- Apr 28 KLOE TV channel 10 in Goodland, KS (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Apr 28 KPLR TV channel 11 in Saint Louis, MO (IND) begins broadcasting
Boxing Title Fight
May 1 Floyd Patterson scores 11th round KO of Englishman Brian London in Indianapolis; his 4th World Heavyweight Boxing title defence
First Grammy Awards:
May 4 First Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win major awards
Pulitzer Prize to Macleish
May 4 Pulitzer Prize for Drama awarded to Archibald Macleish for his play "J.B."
- May 6 Iceland gunboats shoot at British fishing vessels
Roy Campanella Night
May 7 "Roy Campanella Night" Largest baseball crowd at 93,103 at the LA Coliseum see Yankees beat Dodgers 6-2 in exhibition game
- May 8 3-deck Nile River excursion steamer springs a leak panicking passengers who capsized ship; 200 drown just yards from shore
Little Caesars Pizza Founded
May 8 Little Caesars Pizza is founded by Mike Ilitch and his wife Marian Ilitch in Garden City, Michigan
Rigney Family Resign
May 9 Dorothy Rigney, husband John, and Hank Greenberg resign from White Sox
Sports History
May 11 New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games ends
Television Finale
May 13 Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle last airs on NBC-TV
Sanctuary of Christ the King
May 17 Sanctuary of Christ the King inaugurated, a 28 meter (92 ft) high monument and shrine overlooking Lisbon, Portugal by sculptor Francisco Franco de Sousa
- May 18 "Castin' My Spell" by The Johnny Otis Show hits #52
- May 18 "Judy" by David Seville hits #86
- May 18 "Russian Band Stand" by Spencer & Spencer hits #91
- May 19 Jan de Quay becomes premier of the Netherlands
- May 19 The USS Triton, the first submarine with two nuclear reactors, is completed
- May 20 Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"
- May 20 Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
Event of Interest
May 20 Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi visits Netherlands
- May 20 Yanks sink to last place, 1st time since May 25, 1940
- May 21 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Children's Petting Farm opens (Cleveland, Ohio)
- May 22 Benjamin O Davis Jr becomes 1st black major general in US Air Force
- May 24 1st house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania)
- May 24 Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in Great Britain
Soviet History
May 25 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visits Angola
- May 25 US Supreme Courtt rules Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing unconstitutional
- May 26 MLB Pittsburgh Pirates Harvey Haddix pitches 12 perfect innings, loses in 13th to Braves at Milwaukee County Stadium
- May 26 Wreck of WWII bomber 'Lady Be Good' in the Libyan Desert is reached by a recovery team from US Air Force's Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli; plane had crashed returning from initial mission on 1943 [1]
- May 28 Congressional Committee of Astronautics meets Project 7 astronauts
- May 28 Johnson & Bart's musical "Lock Up Your Daughters" premieres in London
- May 28 Monkeys Able & Baker zoom 300 miles (500 km) into space on Jupiter missile, become 1st animals retrieved from a space mission
- May 29 Charles de Gaulle forms French government
- May 29 Saunders-Roe SR.N1, the first practical hovercraft, performs its first engine run
- May 30 Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact (Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom)
- May 30 President Luis Somoza Debayle ends emergency crisis in Nicaragua
- May 30 President Stroessner disbands Paraguay's parliament
- May 30 The Auckland Harbour Bridge is officially opened in Auckland, New Zealand.
- Jun 1 Constitution of Tunisia promulgated (National Day)
- Jun 1 Two-time defending champion Monterrey, Mexico ruled ineligible to compete in Little League Baseball World Series for using players outside predetermined geographical area
Event of Interest
Jun 2 Allen Ginsberg writes his poem "Lysergic Acid", San Francisco
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
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