1958 (
MCMLVIII) was a
common year starting on
Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the
Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1958
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
- December 1
- December 5
- December 6 – The 3rd launch of a
Thor-Able rocket, carrying Pioneer 2, is unsuccessful due to a 3rd stage
ignition failure.
- December 9 – The right-wing John Birch Society is founded in the USA
by Robert Welch, a retired candy
manufacturer.
- December 14 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition
becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.
- December 19 – President Dwight D.
Eisenhower broadcasts a message from a Project SCORE
satellite.
- December 21 –
General Charles de Gaulle is
elected president of France
with 78.5%
of the votes.
- December 24 – A
BOAC Bristol
Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near
Winkton, England
during a test flight.
- December 25 – Tchaikovsky's ballet
The Nutcracker (the George Balanchine version) is shown on
prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the
CBS anthology series
Playhouse 90.
- December 28 – The Baltimore Colts
beat The New York Giants 23–17 in overtime to win The NFL
Championship.
- December 29 –
Rebel troops under Che Guevara begin to
invade Santa Clara,
Cuba
. Fulgencio Batista resigns two days later,
on the night of the 31st.
- December 31 – As the year draws to a
close, tallies reveal that, for the first time, total passengers
carried by air exceeds total passengers carried by sea in
transatlantic service.
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January
- January 1 – Grandmaster Flash, African-American
hip-hop/rap DJ
- January 2 – Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian
pianist
- January 3 – James J. Greco,
American businessman
- January 4 – Matt Frewer, Canadian/American actor (Max
Headroom)
- January 9 – Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish militant,
would-be assassin of Pope John Paul
II
- January 11 – Vicki Peterson, American rock musician
- January 13 – Ricardo Acuña, Chilean tennis player
- January 15 – Boris Tadić, Serbian president
- January 20 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, martial artist
and reality show participant
- January 24 – Jools Holland, British musician
- January 25 – Dinah Manoff, American Tony-winning
actress
- January 26 – Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and
comedian
- January 27 – Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry
designer
February
- February 1 – Ryo Horikawa, Japanese voice actor
- February 4 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (d. 2005)
- February 8 – Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler
(d. 2007)
- February 11
- February 13 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
- February 14
- February 16 – Ice-T, African-American singer, songwriter, and
actor
- February 21
- February 25 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player
- February 26 – Susan Helms, American astronaut
- February 28 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian activist (d.
2009)
March
- March 1 – Nik
Kershaw, English singer
- March 3 – Miranda Richardson, English actress
- March 5 – Andy
Gibb, English-born singer (d. 1988)
- March 7 – Rik
Mayall, English comedian and actor
- March 8 – Gary
Numan, British singer
- March 10
- March 13 – Linda Robson, English actress
- March 14 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco
- March 18 – Kayo
Hatta, American film director (d. 2005)
- March 20 – Holly Hunter, American actress
- March 21 – Gary
Oldman, English actor
- March 25 – James McDaniel, American actor
- March 26 – Todd Joseph Miles Holden,
American-born social scientist, author, basketball coach
- March 28
April
- April 3 – Alec
Baldwin, American actor (30 Rock)
- April 4 – Cazuza,
Brazilian poet, singer and composer (d. 1990)
- April 10
- April 11 – Luc
Luycx, Belgian coin designer
- April 12 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian athlete
- April 15
- April 21 – Andie MacDowell, American actress
- April 24 – Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant
commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer
- April 25 – Fish, Scottish singer
- April 28 – Hal
Sutton, American golfer
- April 29 – Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress
May
- May 4 – Keith
Haring, American artist
- May 10 – Rick
Santorum, Former U.S. Senator
- May 11 – Christian Brando, American actor and eldest
child of Marlon Brando (d. 2008)
- May 12
- May 15 – Ron
Simmons, American professional wrestler
- May 18 – Toyah
Willcox, English actress & singer
- May 21 – Tom
Feeney, American Republican politician from the state of
Florida
- May 23
- May 25 – Paul Weller, English
singer-songwriter
- May 27 – Neil
Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter
- May 29 – Annette Bening, American actress
- May 30 – Marie Fredriksson, Swedish
singer-songwriter
June
- June 2 – Lex
Luger, American professional wrestler
- June 3 – Margot Käßmann, Lutheran
theologian, German bishop
- June 7 – Prince, Multiracial American musician
- June 8 – Keenen Ivory Wayans, African-American
comedian, actor, and director
- June 12 – Rebecca Holden, American actress, singer, and
entertainer
- June 15 – Wade
Boggs, American baseball player
- June 17 – Jello
Biafra, American punk musician and activist (Dead
Kennedys)
- June 20 – Chuck
Wagner, American actor
- June 22 – Bruce Campbell, American actor, producer,
writer and director
- June 24 – Curt
Fraser, American ice hockey coach
- June 27 – Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
- June 28 – Félix Gray, French singer and
songwriter
- June 29 – Jeff
Coopwood, American actor, broadcaster and singer
- June 29 – Rosa
Mota, Portuguese long-distance runner
- June 30 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and
composer
July
- July 2 – Thomas Bickerton, American Methodist
bishop
- July 5 – William Watterson, American cartoonist
(Calvin and Hobbes)
- July 6 – Jennifer Saunders, British comedian
- July 7 – Michala
Petri, Danish recorder player
- July 8 – Kevin
Bacon, American actor
- July 8 – Pauline Quirke, British actress
- July 15 – Mac
Thornberry, American politician
- July 15 – Austin
Hayes, Irish footballer (d. 1986)
- July 16 – Michael Flatley, Irish-born dancer
- July 20 – Billy
Mays, American infomercial salesperson (d. 2009)
- July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, Japanese
professional-baseball coach and player
- July 28 – Terry
Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (d. 1981)
- July 30 – Kate
Bush, British singer and songwriter
- July 31 – Mark
Cuban, American entrepreneur and basketball team owner
August
- August 1 – Adrian Dunbar, Irish actor and director
- August 7
- August 10 – Don
Swayze, American actor
- August 15 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian writer
- August 16
- August 17 – Belinda Carlisle, American singer
- August 19 – Anthony Muñoz, American football
player
- August 20 – Nicholas Bell, English actor based in
Australia
- August 22 – Colm
Feore, American-born actor
- August 24 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor
- August 25 – Tim
Burton, American film director
- August 27 – Normand Brathwaite, African-Canadian
comedian and television and radio host
- August 29 – Lenny Henry, British comedian
- August 29 – Michael Jackson, African-American singer,
songwriter and dancer (d. 2009)
September
October
November
- November 2 – Willie McGee, African-American baseball
player
- November 8 – Jeff Speakman, American actor and martial
artst
- November 10 – Vicky Rosti, Finnish singer, former Eurovision
contestant
- November 16
- November 18 – Laura Miller, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
- November 19 – Michael Wilbon, American sportswriter
- November 21 – David Reivers , Jamaican actor
- November 22 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
- November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, Japanese music producer and
song writer
- November 28 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player
- November 29 – Kim Delaney, American actress
- November 30 – Juliette Bergmann, Dutch bodybuilder
December
- December 1 – Charlene Tilton, American actress
- December 5 – Dynamite Kid, English professional
wrestler
- December 6 – Nick Park, English filmmaker and animator
- December 10 – Cornelia Funke, German author
- December 11
- December 13 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American ice skater
and actress
- December 21 – Kevin Blackwell, English football
manager
- December 25 – Hanford Dixon, American football player
- December 25 – Rickey Henderson, African-American baseball
player
- December 29 – Lakhdar Belloumi, Algerian football
player
- December 31 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress
Deaths
January–June
- January 1
- January 7 – Margaret Anglin, stage actress (b. 1876)
- January 8 – Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)
- January 11 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
- January 13 – Jesse L. Lasky,
American film produer (b. 1880)
- January 16 – Aubrey Mather, English actor (b. 1885)
- January 19 – Cândido Rondon, Brazilian military
officer (b. 1865)
- January 30 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)
- February 1 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1888)
- February 2 – Walter Kingsford, English actor (b.
1881)
- February 4
- February 13
- February 17 – Marguerite Snow, American actress (b.
1889)
- February 20 – Thurston Hall, American actor (b. 1882)
- February 27 – Harry Cohn, American film producer (b. 1891)
- March 11 – Princess Ingeborg of Denmark
(b. 1878)
- March 20 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian politician (b.
1915) (car crash)
- March 21 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (b. 1923)
- March 22 (in plane crash)
- March 24 – Herbert Fields, American librettist and
screenwriter (b. 1897)
- March 25 – Tom Brown, American musician (b.
1888)
- March 26 – Phil
Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)
- March 28 – W. C. Handy, African-American blues composer (b.
1873)
- April 8 – George Jean Nathan, American drama critic
(b. 1882)
- April 15 – Estelle Taylor, American actress (b. 1894)
- April 16 – Rosalind Franklin, British
crystallographer (b. 1920)
- April 19 – Billy Meredith, Welsh footballer (b. 1874)
- May 2 – Henry
Cornelius, South African-born director (b. 1913)
- May 3 – Frank
Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
- May 19 – Ronald
Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
- May 26 – Constantin Cantacuzino,
Romanian aviator (b. 1905)
- May 29 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish
writer, Nobel Prize
laureate (b. 1881)
- June 6
- June 9 – Robert
Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
- June 13 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer
(b. 1887)
- June 16
- June 20 – Kurt
Alder, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- June 21 – Herbert Brenon, American film director (b.
1880)
- June 26 – George
Orton, Canadian athlete (b. 1876)
- June 28 – Alfred
Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)
July–December
- July 2 – Martha
Boswell, American singer (b. 1905)
- July 14 (killed during coup
d'état):
- July 15 – Julia
Lennon, English mother of John
Lennon (b. 1914)
- July 18 – Henry
Farman, pioneer French aviator and aircraft company founder (b.
1874)
- July 20 – Franklin Pangborn, American actor (b.
1889)
- July 24 – Mabel
Ballin, American actress (b. 1887)
- July 27
- August 8 – Barbara Bennett, American actress (b.
1906)
- August 14
- August 16 – Paul Panzer, German actor (b. 1872)
- August 18 – Bonar Colleano, American actor (b. 1924)
- August 22 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1881)
- August 24 – Paul Henry, Northern Irish artist (b.
1876)
- August 26 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English
composer (b. 1872)
- August 27 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1901)
- September 11
- September 16 – Alma Bennett, American actress (b. 1904)
- September 23 – Alfred Piccaver, British-American operatic
tenor (b. 1884)
- October 9 – Pope Pius XII (b. 1876)
- October 17
- October 15 – Jack Norton, American actor (b. 1882)
- October 24 – G. E. Moore, British philosopher of (Principia
Ethica) (b.
1873)
- October 27 – Marshall Neilan, American actor and director
(b. 1891)
- October 29 – Zoë Akins, American playwright, poet, and
author (b. 1886)
- November 15
- November 19 – Vittorio Ambrosio, Italian general (b.
1879)
- November 21 – Mel
Ott, American baseball player (b. 1909)
- November 24
- November 27 – Artur Rodziński, Polish conductor (b.
1892)
- December 1 – Boots Mallory, American actress (b. 1913)
- December 8 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b.
1888)
- December 13 – Tim Moore, American comedian (b.
1887)
- December 15 – Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born
physicist, Nobel Prize
laureate (b. 1900)
- December 21 – H.B. Warner, English
actor (b. 1875)
- December 29 – Doris Humphrey, American dancer and
choreographer (b. 1895)
Ship events
Nobel Prizes
Academy Awards
- Best
Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
, Sam
Spiegel
- Best Foreign Language Film: Mon
Oncle,
- Best Documentary Feature: Albert Schweitzer, Jerome Hill
- Best Animated Feature: Birds
Anonymous, Edward Selzer
- Best
Director: David Lean, The Bridge
on the River Kwai

- Best
Actor: Alec Guinness, The Bridge
on the River Kwai

- Best Actress: Joanne Woodward,
The Three Faces of
Eve
- Best Supporting Actor: Red Buttons,
Sayonara
- Best Supporting Actress: Miyoshi
Umeki, Sayonara
- Best Original Screenplay: George
Wells, Designing
Woman
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Novel by Pierre Boulle; screenplay by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, The Bridge over the River
Kwai