December 1956 in History

Events in History

Event of Interest

Dec 1 Frank Robinson (NL) & Luis Aparicio (AL) voted Rookie of the Year

Dec 1 Indonesian VP Mohammed Hatta resigns

Event of Interest

Dec 2 Fidel Castro lands with "Granma" on coast of Cuba

Dec 3 Britain and France pull troops out of Egypt

Event of Interest

Dec 5 Thornton Wilder's "Matchmaker" premieres in NYC

Event of Interest

Dec 6 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa

Dec 8 1st test firing of Vanguard satellite program, TV-0
Dec 10 Establishment of The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, MPLA (from Portuguese: Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola), left-wing party that has ruled since independence from Portugal
Dec 11 Anti-Russian demonstrations in Stettin & Wroclaw, Poland
Dec 12 Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.
Dec 14 Paul-Henri Spaak appointed secretary-general of NATO
Dec 15 Emergency crisis in North Ireland proclaimed after IRA strikes
Dec 18 Israeli flag hoisted on Mount Sinai
Dec 18 Japan admitted to UN
Dec 20 Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
Dec 20 Montgomery, Alabama removes race-based seat assignments on its buses

Event of Interest

Dec 21 Martin Luther King Jr. and others sit in the new integrated bus

Dec 22 Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, Ohio
Dec 22 Last British & French troops leave Egypt
Dec 24 "I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
Dec 24 Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt

Birthdays in History

Dec 10 Michael VerMeulen, American journalist and magazine editor (British GQ), born in Lake Forest, Illinois (d. 1995)
Dec 10 Rod Blagojevich, American politician (Governor of Illinois, 2003-09 - impeached and removed), and convicted felon (corruption and solicitation of bribes), born in Chicago, Illinois
Dec 17 Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Mexican drug lord (Juárez Cartel), born in Guamuchilito, Mexico (d. 1997)
Dec 18 Reinhold Ewald, German physicist and cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-25), born in Mönchengladbach, West Germany
Dec 20 Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritanian 8th President of Mauritania (2009-present), born in Akjoujt, French West Africa
Dec 26 David Sedaris, American essayist, born in Binghamton, New York
Dec 26 Gail Tatterson, WBL center (NY Stars)
Dec 26 Karen Smith, WBL forward (NY Stars)
Dec 30 Chéri Samba (Mbimba N'zinga), Congolese contemporary artist, born in Kinto M’Vuila, Democratic Republic of Congo
Dec 31 Martin Joseph Fettman, American researcher & astronaut (STS 58), born in Brooklyn, New York
Dec 31 Steve Rude, American comics artist, born in Madison, Wisconsin

Weddings in History

Malcolm Fraser

Dec 9 Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser (26) weds Tamie Beggs (20)

Deaths in History

Dec 4 Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer, dies at 64

B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956)

Dec 6 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

Dec 14 Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish politician (7th President of Finland 1946-56), dies at 86
Dec 16 Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist and writer, dies at 66
Dec 20 Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist and Public Health minister (b. 1906)
Dec 21 Lewis M Terman, psychologist (Genetic studies of genius), dies at 79
Dec 25 Robert Walser, Swiss writer, dies at 78
Dec 27 Lambert McKenna, Irish editor and lexicographer, dies at 86
Dec 28 Roelof Kranenburg, Dutch social democratic chairman (1st Chamber), dies at 76
Dec 29 Martin Albertz, German theologist (Jesus Christ's Church) and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime, dies at 73