On This Day

July 1956 in History

Events in History

  • Jul 1 Ibrahim Hashiroe succeeds Said el-Moefti as premier of Jordan
  • Jul 2 US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
  • Jul 4 Independence National Historical Park forms in Philadelphia
  • Jul 4 US most intense rain fall (1.23" in 1 minute) at Unionville Maryland
  • Jul 5 France raises tobacco tax 20% due to war in Algeria
  • Jul 7 Fritz Moravec reaches the peak of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m).
  • Jul 8 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
  • Jul 10 650,000 US steel workers go on strike
  • Jul 10 Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, South Africa, a soldier of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC
  • Jul 10 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
  • Jul 15 Iharos runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
  • Jul 16 Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes part of Russian SFSR
  • Jul 16 King Faisal of Iraq begins visit to England
  • Jul 16 Last Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus under a canvas tent
  • Jul 18 Erno Gero succeeds Matyas Rákosi as party leader of Hungary
  • Jul 19 US refuse to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam
  • Jul 20 Confirmation of the first detection of the neutrino by Clyde Cowan, Frederick Reines, F. B. Harrison, H. W. Kruse, and A. D. McGuire published in "Science" (Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment)
  • Jul 20 France recognizes Tunisian independence
  • Jul 20 Great Britain refuses to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam
  • Jul 20 US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Bikini Island
  • Jul 21 US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enwetak
  • Jul 23 Bell X-2 rocket plane sets world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph
  • Jul 23 The Loi Cadre is passed by the French Republic in order to order French overseas territory affairs

Event of Interest

Jul 24 Brendan Behan's "Quare Fellow" premieres in London

Brendan Behan
Irish Poet and Playwright Brendan Behan
  • Jul 25 46 die in collision of the SS Andrea Doria and the MS Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket
  • Jul 25 Jordan attacks UN Palestine force

Event of Interest

Jul 26 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announces plan to nationalize Suez Canal, initiating the "Suez Crisis"

Gamal Abdel Nasser
President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser

Event of Interest

Jul 29 Jacques Cousteau's Calypso anchors in 7,500 m of water (record)

Jacques Cousteau
Oceanographer, Explorer and Scientist Jacques Cousteau
  • Jul 30 US motto "In God We Trust" authorized

Birthdays in History

  • Jul 3 Montel Williams, American TV talk show host (Montel), born in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Jul 3 Vincent Margera "Don Vito", American reality TV Viva La Bam castmember, born in Chester, Pennsylvania
  • Jul 10 Tom McClintock, American politician (U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in White Plains, New York
  • Jul 17 Julie Bishop, Australian Liberal Party politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs (2013-present), born in Lobethal, South Australia
  • Jul 20 Jim Prentice, Canadian politician, Premier of Alberta (2014-15), born in South Porcupine, Ontario (d. 2016)
  • Jul 21 Michael Connelly, American crime writer (Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch novels), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Jul 24 Charles Crist, Governor of Florida
  • Jul 25 Frances Arnold, American Chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2018), born in Edgewood, Pennsylvania
  • Jul 29 Ronnie Musgrove, American politician (Governor of Mississippi 2000-04), born in Tocowa, Mississippi
  • Jul 30 Anita Hill, American academic and attorney, accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, born in Lone Tree, Oklahoma
  • Jul 30 Soraida Martinez, American painter and creator of Verdadism, born in Manhattan, New York City
  • Jul 31 Deval Patrick, 71st Governor of Massachusetts (2007-15), born in Chicago, Illinois

Weddings in History

Ben Bradlee

Jul 6 Journalist Ben Bradlee (34) weds Antoinette Pinchot

Ben Bradlee

Pol Pot

Jul 14 30th Prime Minister of Cambodia Pol Pot (31) marries Khieu Ponnary

Pol Pot

Deaths in History

  • Jul 7 Gottfried Benn, German poet and essayist, dies at 70
  • Jul 8 Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, Dutch politician (1954 Nobel Peace Prize as High Commissioner for Refugees of the UN), dies at 55
  • Jul 8 Giovanni Papini, Italian avant-garde writer (Un Uomo Finito), dies at 75
  • Jul 12 Maurice Lippens, Belgian governor of Congo (1921-23), dies at 80
  • Jul 18 Willem Kernkamp, Dutch minister of Colonies (Islam & Woman), dies at 57
  • Jul 20 James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician, dies at 87
  • Jul 29 Ludwig Klages, German philosopher (study of graves), dies at 83
  • Jul 30 Maude Royden, English suffragist and preacher, dies at 79

Historical Figures

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