Historical Events
- Against the background of the Soviet invasion of Hungary the nations square off at the Melbourne Olympics in a famous water polo match; game called off with Hungary leading 4-0 and near riot halted by police; Hungary goes on to win gold medal
- Australian swimmer David Theile sets world record 1:02.2 to win the 100m backstroke gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics
World Record
Australian women's 4 × 100m freestyle relay team of Dawn Fraser, Faith Leech, Sandra Morgan & Lorraine Crapp swim world record 4:17.1 and beat powerful US team to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics
- German WWII prisoner of war Helmut Bantz and Soviet gymnast Valentin Muratov tie for the vault gold medal with 18.85 points at the Melbourne Olympics
Happy Hunting
Harold Karr and Matt Dubey's musical "Happy Hunting", starring Ethel Merman and Fernando Lamas, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 412 performances
Event of Interest
Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
- Randhir Singh Gentle scores the winner as India beats Pakistan, 1-0 in the Melbourne Olympics field hockey final to win it's 6th consecutive gold medal in the sport
- Soviet gymnast Viktor Chukarin follows his parallel bars gold medal with the individual all-round title and teams gold at the Melbourne Olympics
Famous Birthdays
- Peter Buck, American rock guitarist (R.E.M. - Murmur), born in Berkeley, California
- Randy Rhoads, American heavy metal guitarist (Quiet Riot), born in Santa Monica, California (d. 1982)
Famous Deaths
- Albert Aftalion, Bulgarian-French economist, dies at 82
B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956)
Indian politician, jurist (architect of the Constitution of India) and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement, dies after suffering from diabetes at 65
About December 6, 1956
Day of the Week: Thursday
How Long Ago? 66 years, 9 months and 27 days
Leap Year: Yes
Generation: Baby Boomer
Chinese Zodiac: Monkey
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Music Charts
#1 Song: Just Walkin' In The Rain - Johnnie Ray
