Significant Events
- Feb 25 Nikita Khrushchev denounces Joseph Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Mar 2 Morocco tears up the Treaty of Fez, declaring independence from France
- Apr 26 First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
- Jun 13 The last British troops leave the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt
- Sep 13 IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton
- Sep 14 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed in Washington, D.C.
- Sep 25 First transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation from Newfoundland to Oban
- Oct 6 Dr Albert Sabin discovers oral polio vaccine
- Nov 5 Britain and France land airborne forces at Port Said in Egypt, escalating the Suez Crisis
- Nov 13 US Supreme court rules race separation on buses in Alabama unconstitutional
1956 in Film & TV
- Aug 28 17th Venice Film Festival opens. No Golden Lion awarded
- Oct 29 NBC anchors Chet Huntley and David Brinkley first team up in "The Huntley–Brinkley Report"
- Nov 5 The Nat King Cole Show debuts on NBC, the first variety program to be hosted by an African-American
1956 in Music
- Jan 8 Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" single goes #1 & stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single)
- Jan 27 "Heartbreak Hotel" single released by Elvis Presley, his first million-selling single
- Aug 4 Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog"
- Sep 9 Elvis Presley appears on the Ed Sullivan Show for the 1st time
- Nov 5 The Nat King Cole Show debuts on NBC, the first variety program to be hosted by an African-American
Did You Know?
Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, Ohio
On December 22, 1956
World Leaders in 1956
Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th US President & WWII General
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet First Secretary
Famous People in 1956
Ingrid Bergman
Oscar for Best Actress
Yul Brynner
Oscar for Best Actor
Björn Borg
Joe Montana
Larry Bird
Martina Navratilova
Patty Sheehan
Tom HanksFamous Weddings
- Jan 1 Actor Gene Hackman (25) weds Fay Maltese
- Jan 28 Science student later astronaut Neil Armstrong marries fellow student Janet Elizabeth Shearon in Wilmette, Illinois
- Feb 14 MLB center fielder Willie Mays (24) weds Margherite Wendell Chapman in NYC, New York
- Mar 3 Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke (26) weds first wife Hazel Masterson (26) at Perth Trinity Church in Australia
- Mar 19 Author Aldous Huxley (62) weds musician and author Laura Archera (45)
A. A. Milne
Bela Lugosi
Billy Bishop
Connie Mack
Hiram Bingham
Irene Joliot-Curie