Historical Events
- 21st Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 34-7 in Birmingham
- Algerian-born French long-distance runner Alain Mimoun wins the men's marathon in 2:25:00.0 at the Melbourne Olympics; first time runners follow painted line
- American Mildred McDaniel jumps world record 1.76m to win the women's high jump gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Briton Thelma Hopkins and Russian Mariya Pisareva dead-heat for silver (1.67m)
World Record
Australian women's 4 x 100m relay team of Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Fleur Mellor & Shirley Strickland de la Hunty run world record 44.65 to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Cuthbert's 3rd gold of the Games
Robinson, Aparicio Rookies
Frank Robinson (NL) & Luis Aparicio (AL) voted Rookie of the Year
Gert Fredriksson's 3rd
Gert Fredriksson of Sweden wins his 3rd consecutive K-1 1,000m canoeing gold medal by 2.5s from Igor Pissarov of the Soviet Union at the Melbourne Olympics; also wins K-1 10,000m gold
- Hungarian boxer László Papp wins his 3rd straight Olympic gold medal when he beats future Hall of Famer José Torres representing the US on points in the light-middleweight final at the Melbourne Olympics
- In front of 100,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a US Army baseball team beats an Australian all-star team, 11–5 in an Olympic exhibition game; Sergeant Vance Sutton belts a grand slam for Army
- Indonesian VP Mohammed Hatta resigns
US Defeats Soviet Union
Led by future Basketball Hall of Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, the US wins it's 4th consecutive Olympic gold medal with an 89-55 victory over the Soviet Union at the Melbourne Games
Dawn Fraser
Legendary Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets world record 1:02.0 to win the women's 100m freestyle at the Melbourne Olympics; first of Fraser's 3 consecutive gold medals in the event
Candide
Leonard Bernstein's musical "Candide" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 73 performances
The Girl Can't Help It
Musical comedy film "The Girl Can't Help It" starring Jayne Mansfield with cameos by rock 'n' roll stars Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent premieres
- Romanian canoeist Leon Rotman wins the men's C-1,000m gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; claims the singles double after also winning the C-1 10,000m gold
- US men's 4 x 100m relay team of Thane Baker, Leamon King, Bobby Morrow & Ira Murchison sets world record 39.60s to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Morrow's 3rd gold medal of the Games
Famous Birthdays
- Julee Cruise, American singer (Falling) and stage actress, born in Creston, Iowa (d. 2022)
About December 1, 1956
Day of the Week: Saturday
How Long Ago? 67 years, 4 months and 26 days
Leap Year: Yes
Generation: Baby Boomer
Chinese Zodiac: Monkey
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Music Charts
#1 Song: Just Walkin' In The Rain - Johnnie Ray
