What Happened in 1956

Major Events

  • Feb 25 Nikita Khrushchev denounces Joseph Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • Mar 2 French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris rescinds the Treaty of Fez, declaring independence of Morocco from France
  • Apr 26 First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
  • Jun 13 The last British troops leave the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt
  • Sep 14 IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton
  • Oct 6 Scientist Albert Sabin announces that his oral polio vaccine is ready for testing; it would soon supplant Jonas Salk's vaccine in many parts of the world
  • Nov 5 Britain and France land airborne forces at Port Said in Egypt, escalating the Suez Crisis
  • Nov 13 US Supreme court rules race separation on buses in Alabama unconstitutional
  • More 1956 Events

1956 in Film & TV

1956 in Music

  • Jan 27 RCA records releases Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel", his first million-seller (written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden)
  • Apr 21 Elvis Presley's 1st hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel", becomes #1
  • May 24 1st Eurovision Song Contest: Lys Assia for Switzerland wins singing "Refrain" in Lugano
  • Jul 13 RCA releases Elvis Presley's single "Hound Dog", a cover of Big Mama Thorton's original, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, backed with "Don't Be Cruel", written by Otis Blackwell
  • Aug 18 Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" reach #1 in the charts, staying for 11 weeks (a record for a single release) [1]

1956 in Sport

  • Mar 3 Dutch swimmer Cockie Gastelaars breaks 20-year old world record for 100m freestyle (1:04.2)
  • Apr 27 Undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano, retires from the ring

Did You Know?

Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, Ohio

December 22, 1956


More People Born in 1956
More 1956 Deaths

Famous Weddings in 1956

  • Jan 1 American actor Gene Hackman (25) weds Fay Maltese; divorce in 1986
  • Jan 28 Science student later astronaut Neil Armstrong marries fellow student Janet Elizabeth Shearon in Wilmette, Illinois
  • Feb 14 MLB center fielder Willie Mays (24) weds Margherite Wendell Chapman in NYC, New York

More Weddings in 1956