On This Day

Historical Events in September 1956

  • Sep 1 Indian state of Tripura becomes a territory
  • Sep 1 KELP (now KCOS) TV channel 13 in El Paso, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • Sep 2 Collapse of a rail bridge under a train kills 120 (India)
  • Sep 2 San Francisco cable line replaced by bus service
  • Sep 2 Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina finishes 2nd in Italian GP at Monza to win his 3rd straight F1 World Drivers Championship by 3 points from Englishman Stirling Moss
  • Sep 2 British Ferrari driver Peter Collins sportingly hands over his car to retired team mate Juan Manuel Fangio during season ending Italian Grand Prix at Monza; Fangio finishes 2nd to win F1 World Drivers Championship
  • Sep 3 Tanks are deployed against racist demonstrators in Clinton, Tennessee
  • Sep 3 American Johnny Longden becomes thoroughbred racing's winningest rider, breaking the record of 4,870 wins by British jockey Sir Gordon Richards; rides Arrogate to victory in the Del Mar Handicap
  • Sep 5 20 die in a train crash in Springer NM
  • Sep 7 Bell X-2 sets Unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000'+
  • Sep 8 Harry Belafonte's album "Calypso" goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
  • Sep 9 African Party for Liberation of Guinea-Bissau & Cape Verde forms

Appears on tv showTV Show Appearance

Sep 9 Elvis Presley appears on the Ed Sullivan Show for the 1st time

Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis Presley
Singer & Cultural Icon
Elvis Presley
TV Host Ed Sullivan
TV Host
Ed Sullivan

Sport awardUS Men's Tennis Open

Sep 9 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall wins his first US singles title, beating Lew Hoad 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3

Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion Ken Rosewall
Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion
Ken Rosewall
Tennis Player and Four-Time Major Champion Lew Hoad
Tennis Player and Four-Time Major Champion
Lew Hoad
  • Sep 9 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-American final Shirley Fry Irvin beats Althea Gibson 6-3, 6-4 for her only US singles crown
  • Sep 10 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Maralinga, Australia

  • Sep 10 Louisville Ky public schools integrates
  • Sep 10 WSYE (now WETM) TV channel 18 in Elmira-Corning, NY (NBC) 1st broadcast
  • Sep 11 Cincinnati Red Frank Robinson ties rookie record with his 38th HR
  • Sep 11 Vladimir Kuts runs world record 10k (28:42.8)

Sports record brokenBaseball Record

Sep 11 Yanks Yogi Berra ties career record for HRs (236) by a catcher

MLB Catcher and Manager Yogi Berra
MLB Catcher and Manager
Yogi Berra
  • Sep 12 Black students enter & are barred from Clay Ky elementary school
  • Sep 13 Dike around Dutch polder Eastern Flevoland closes
  • Sep 13 Stravinsky's "Canticum Sacrum," premieres in Venice
  • Sep 14 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed in Washington, D.C.

Historic InventionIBM 305 RAMAC

Sep 14 IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton
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IBM 305 RAMAC at the U.S. Army Red River Arsenal; foreground: two 350 disk drives; background: 380 console and 305 processing unit
IBM 305 RAMAC at the U.S. Army Red River Arsenal; foreground: two 350 disk drives; background: 380 console and 305 processing unit
  • Sep 17 Black students enter Clay Ky elementary school
  • Sep 17 Yanks clinch pennant #22 on Mantle's 50th homer of year
  • Sep 17 Television is first broadcast in Australia.

Sports record brokenBaseball Record

Sep 18 Mickey Mantle is 8th to hit 50 HRs in a seaon

Baseball Legend Mickey Mantle
Baseball Legend
Mickey Mantle
  • Sep 19 1st international conference of black writers & artists meets (Sorbonne)
  • Sep 21 Yanks set dubious record, stranding 20 men on base Mantle hits a 500' plus homer but Red Sox win 13-9 in Fenway
  • Sep 25 Transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation from Newfoundland to Oban
  • Sep 25 Brooklyn Dodger Sal Maglie no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Sep 28 "Johnny Carson Show" TV Variety last airs on CBS-TV

Comedian and TV Host Johnny Carson
Comedian and TV Host
Johnny Carson
  • Sep 28 RCA Records reports Elvis Presley sold over 10 million records
  • Sep 29 "I Love Mickey" by Mickey Mantle & Teresa Brewer peaks at #87
  • Sep 29 "Oh! Susanna" debuts on CBS-TV
  • Sep 29 Yanks Mickey Mantle hits his 52nd HR of season
  • Sep 30 Phillies Robin Roberts gives up a major league record 46th HR
  • Sep 30 White Sox Jim Derrington, 16, is youngest to start a game (he loses)

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