1956 (
MCMLVI) was a
leap year starting on Sunday
(link will display full calendar) of the
Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1956
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
- November 1 – The
States Reorganisation Act
of India
reforms the
boundaries and names of Indian states. Two new states
Kerala
and
Karnataka
were formed.
- November 3 – MGM's screen classic,
The Wizard of
Oz, is shown on television for the first time by CBS, as the final installment of their Ford Star Jubilee.
- November 4 –
1956 Hungarian
Revolution: More Soviet
troops
invade Hungary
to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are
wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
- November 6
- November 7 –
Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a
resolution calling for the United Kingdom
, France
, and
Israel
to withdraw
their troops from Arab lands immediately.
- November 13 – The United States
Supreme Court declares Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama laws
requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- November 14 – Fighting ends in
Hungary.
- November 15 –
Middle
East Technical University
is founded in Ankara
, Turkey
.
- November 20 – In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Djilas is arrested after he
criticizes Josip Broz Tito.
- November 22 – The
1956 Summer Olympics begin in
Melbourne
, Australia.
- November 23 – The Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
- November 30 – Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight
boxing championship that was vacant after the retirement of
Rocky Marciano.
December
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January–February
- January 1
- January 3 – Mel
Gibson, Australian actor and director (Lethal
Weapon)
- January 5 – Chen Kenichi, Japan-born Chinese chef
- January 7 – David Caruso, American actor (NYPD
Blue)
- January 9 – Imelda Staunton, British actress
- January 10 – Shawn Colvin, American singer
- January 14 – Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor
- January 16 – Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
- January 17 – Paul Young, English musician
- January 20 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and
political analyst
- January 21 – Geena Davis, American actress
- January 24 – Lounès Matoub, Algerian Berber Kabyle
singer
- January 25 – Bronwyn Pike, Australian politician
- January 27 – Mimi Rogers, American actress
- January 31 – Johnny Rotten, British punk musician and TV
personality
- February 1 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and
coach
- February 2 –
Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya), Famous Turkish author
- February 3 – Nathan Lane, American actor (The Birdcage)
- February 3 – Lee Ranaldo, American musician (Sonic Youth)
- February 6 – Jon Walmsley, British actor (The
Waltons)
- February 11
- February 13
- February 14 – Tom Burlinson, Australian actor
- February 15 – Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer
- February 18 – Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player
- February 19 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist,
recipient of the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry
- February 24
- February 25 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 1995)
- February 26 – Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician
- February 29
March–April
- March 1 – Tim
Daly, American actor
- March 5
- March 11 – Rob
Paulsen, American voice actor
- March 16 – Vladimír Godár, Slovak
composer
- March 18 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish alpine skier
- March 19 – Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and
politician
- March 20 – Catherine Ashton, British politician
- March 21 – Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
- March 24 – Steve Ballmer, American CEO of Microsoft
- March 28 – Evelin Jahl, German athlete
- March 30 – Shahla Sherkat, Iranian feminist
journalist
May–June
- May 1 – Alexander Ivanov,
Russian-born American chess Grandmaster
- May 4
- May 6 – Vladimir
Lisin, Russian business
oligarch
- May 7
- May 10 – Vladislav Nikolayevich Listyev, Russian
journalist (d. 1995)
- May 12 – Greg Phillinganes, Amrican
Keyboardist
- May 13
- May 15 – Dan
Patrick, American sports commentator
- May 17
- May 20 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian
author
- May 23
- May 24 – Michael Jackson, Irish
Anglican bishop
- May 26 – Lisa
Niemi, American actress, widow of Patrick Swayze
- May 28 – Jerry Douglas, American dobro player
- May 29 – La
Toya Jackson, American singer
- June 3 – George
Burley, Scottish football manager
- June 8 – Udo
Bullmann, German politician
- June 6 – Björn
Borg, Swedish tennis player
- June 9 – Patricia Cornwell, American novelist
- June 10 – Duke Georg Borwin of
Mecklenburg, German head of the House of Mecklenburg
- June 11 – Joe
Montana, American football player
- June 14 – King
Diamond, Danish heavy metal musician
- June 20 – Cho
Chikun, Korean professional Go player
- June 23 – Randy
Jackson, African American musician and talent judge
- June 25 – Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic
of Macedonia (d. 2004)
- June 26 – Chris
Isaak, American musician
- June 27 – Heiner
Dopp, German field hockey player
- June 28 – Noel
Mugavin, Australian rules
football player
- June 30 – Ronald Winans, African American musician (d.
2005)
July–August
- July 2 – Jerry
Hall, American model and actress
- July 3 – Rick
Ducommun, Canadian actor and comedian
- July 9 – Tom
Hanks, American actor
- July 11 – Sela
Ward, American actress
- July 12 – Sandi
Patty, American gospel singer
- July 14 – Vladimir Kulich, Czech actor
- July 15
- July 16 – Tony
Kushner, American playwright
- July 18 – Sheila Aldridge, American singer
(The Aldridge Sisters)
- July 19 – Yoshiaki Yatsu, Japanese professional
wrestler
- July 24 – Pat
Finn, American game show host and producer
- July 26 – Andy Goldsworthy, British sculptor and
photographer
- July 31
- August 1 – Steve
Green, American Christian musician
- August 5 – Maureen McCormick, American actress
(The Brady Bunch)
- August 17 – Dave
Jones, English football manager
- August 20 – Joan
Allen, American actress
- August 21 – Kim Cattrall, Canadian actress
- August 22 – Paul Molitor, American baseball player
- August 23
- August 24 – John Culberson, American politician
- August 26 – Mark Mangino, American football coach
- August 29 – Mark Morris, American choreographer
- August 31 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television
performer
September–October
- September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast, American editor and
broadcaster
- September 2 – Angelo Fusco, Provisional Irish Republican Army
member
- September 3 – Pat McGeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army
member (d. 1996)
- September 10 – Johnny Fingers, Irish musician The Boomtown Rats
- September 11 – Phillip D. Bissett, American politician
- September 12
- September 14
- September 15 – George Howard, American jazz saxophone
musician (d. 1998)
- September 16
- September 17 – Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor,
painter, and publisher.
- September 20 – Gary Cole, American actor
- September 21 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
- September 23 – Paolo Rossi, Italian soccer player
- September 24 – Gregory Peter Panos, American futurist, writer,
inventor, virtual reality expert, human simulation visionary
- September 25 – Jamie Hyneman, American television co-host
(MythBusters)
- September 26 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
(Terminator)
- September 29
- October 8 – Stephanie Zimbalist, American
actress
- October 10 – Amanda Burton, Irish actress
- October 11 – Nicanor Duarte, President of Paraguay
- October 17 – Mae Jemison, African American astronaut
- October 18 – Martina Navratilova, Czech-born tennis
player
- October 19 – Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
- October 23 – Dwight Yoakam, American country
singer/musician and actor
- October 27 – Jaq D. Hawkins,
British author, occultist, and lecturer
- October 28 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of
Iran
November–December
- November 8
- November 10 – Mohsen Badawi, Egyptian entrepreneur,
political activist, and writer
- November 14 – Avi Cohen, Israeli football player
- November 18
- November 20 – Bo
Derek, American actress
- November 23
- November 26 – Dale Jarrett, American race car driver
- November 27 – William Fichtner, American actor
- November 28 – Lucy Gutteridge, British actress
- November 29
- December 5 – Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
- December 7 – Larry Bird, American basketball player
- December 11 – Lani Brockman, American playwright
- December 12
- December 13 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese singer
- December 14 – Béla Réthy, German sports
journalist
- December 18 – Ron White, American comedian
- December 19 – Masami Akita, Japanese noise musician (also known as Merzbow)
- December 23 – Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver
(d. 2001)
- December 26 – David Sedaris, American essayist
- December 28
- December 29 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
- December 30 – Sheryl Lee Ralph, African American
actress
- December 31 – Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djiboutian marathon
player
Date unknown
Deaths
January–June
- January 3
- January 5 – Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)
- January 9 – Marion Leonard, American actress (b. 1881)
- January 12 – Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
- January 13 – Lyonel Charles Feininger, German painter
(b. 1871)
- January 14 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (b.
1887)
- January 18 – Konstantin Päts, President of Estonia (b. 1874)
- January 21 – Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
- January 24 – Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film
director (b. 1893)
- January 27 – Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
- January 29 – H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
- January 31 – A. A. Milne, English author (Winnie The Pooh)
(b. 1882)
- February 2
- February 8 – Connie Mack, American baseball
executive and manager (b. 1862)
- February 10 – Hugh Trenchard, 1st
Viscount Trenchard, British marshal of the Royal Air Force (b.
1873)
- February 18 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b.
1860)
- February 20 – James Cousins, Irish writer (b. 1873)
- February 26 – Elsie Janis, American singer and actress (b.
1889)
- March 14 – David Browning, American Olympic diver (b.
1931)
- March 17
- March 18 – Louis Bromfield, American writer (b.
1896)
- March 20
- March 25 – Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)
- March 30 – Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English
inventor (b. 1875)
- March 31 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver
(b. 1884)
- April 19 – Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian
philologist (b. 1886)
- April 21
- April 24 – Henry Stephenson, British character actor
(b. 1871)
- April 26 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b.
1890)
- April 29 – Harold Bride, English-born junior radio officer
on Titanic
(b. 1890)
- April 30 – Alben W. Barkley, Vice President of the United
States (b. 1877)
- May 3 – Peter Watson, English art
collector and benefactor (b. 1908)
- May 12 – Louis
Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
- May 17 – Austin Osman Spare, English magician (b.
1886)
- May 18 – Maurice
Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
- May 20
- May 24 – Guy
Kibbee, American actor (b. 1882)
- May 26 – Al
Simmons, American baseball player (b. 1902)
- May 29 – Frank Beaurepaire, Australian Olympic
swimmer (b. 1891)
- May 31 – Diedrich Hermann Westermann,
German linguist (b. 1875)
- June 2 – Jean
Hersholt, Danish actor (b. 1886)
- June 6 – Margaret Wycherly, English stage &
film actress (b. 1881)
- June 11 – Ralph
Morgan, American actor (b. 1883)
- June 17 – Paul
Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b.
1892)
- June 22 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short
story writer, and novelist (b. 1873)
- June 23 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b.
1875)
- June 26 – Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter (auto
accident) (b. 1930)
July–December
- July 7 – Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)
- July 8 – Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet,
novelist (b. 1881)
- July 10 – Joe
Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
- July 20 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian
politician (b. 1856)
- August 2 – Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran
of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
- August 11 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (b.
1912)
- August 14
- August 16 – Béla Lugosi, Hungarian-born film actor
(Dracula) (b. 1882)
- August 23
- August 25 – Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b.
1894)
- September 11 – Billy Bishop, Canadian pilot (b. 1894)
- September 20 – Flora Eldershaw, Australian novelist,
critic, and historian (b. 1897)
- September 22 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
- September 27 – Babe Zaharias, American athlete and golfer (b.
1911)
- September 29 – Anastasio Somoza García,
President of Nicaragua (b.
1896)
- October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer, American songwriter (b.
1878)
- October 2 – George Bancroft, American actor (b.
1882)
- October 12 – Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
- October 17 – Anne Crawford, British actress (b. 1920)
- October 19 – Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
- October 22 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist and
suffragette (b. 1872)
- October 26 – Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b.
1895)
- November 5 – Art
Tatum, American jazz pianist (b. 1909)
- November 6 – Paul Kelly, stage & screen actor (b.
1899)
- November 10
- November 19 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (b. 1903)
- November 22 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born ballet
dancer, choreographer and actor (b. 1882)
- November 24 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b.
1920)
- November 26 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and
bandleader (b. 1905)
- November 27 – Hugo Ballin, American artist, film production
designer, and director (b. 1879)
- December 2 – Dell Henderson, Canadian actor (b. 1883)
- December 6 – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian untouchable leader (b. 1891)
- December 7 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
- December 16 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
- December 17 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (b. 1903)
- December 26 – Holmes Herbert, English actor (b. 1882)
- December 30 – Ruth Draper, American actress (b. 1884)
Date unknown
Ship events
Nobel Prizes
Notes
External links
Condominium
ends in Sudan
.
missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador
shortly
after making contact with them.
troops
reoccupy Porkkala
after
Soviet
, Italy
.
.
declares its
independence from France
to the
Seychelles
.
ruling (Brown v.
Board of
Education) desegregating public education.
.
.
gains independence from
France
becomes the first Islamic republic, and a national holiday is observed in
the country including the former East
Pakistan state.
relinquishes
its protectorate in Morocco
by Ampex. It is the
demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful
videotape format known as 2"
Quadruplex.
.
and becomes
the first female mayor in Greece.
harbor to investigate a visiting Soviet
and Israel
and the Netherlands
is dissolved.
, 8th highest mountain in the world, is first
ascended.
(main), the
4th highest mountain, is first ascended.
.
, Switzerland
. The winning song is Refrain by
Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, text by
Émile Gardaz).
)
.
, chief minister David Marshall resigns after the
breakdown of talks about internal self government in
London.
, Sweden
(all other
events are held in November in Melbourne, Australia).
is founded in Eindhoven
, The Netherlands
.
, Poland
, are
crushed with heavy loss of life. Soviet
over the Grand Canyon
in Arizona
, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft in the
deadliest civil aviation disaster to date;
the accident leads to sweeping changes in the regulation of
cross-country flight and air traffic
control over the United States
is first ascended.
defeats the abolition of the death
penalty.
, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after
colliding with the Swedish ship SS
Stockholm in heavy fog, killing
51.
sparking international condemnation.
in the fourth Test
between England and Australia, taking 19 wickets in a first class
match (the previous best was 17).
in London
.
, Belgium
.
bans the Communist Party of
Germany.
.
, Mexico
, enroute
to Santiago de
Cuba
aboard the yacht Granma
with
82 men.
and push
Egyptian
is reintegrated into Morocco
in the
boat Granma
, injuring 6 people.
becomes a member of the United Nations.
, Great
Britain
.
section, is founded.
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