What Happened in January 1956

Historical Events

"Peter Pan"

Jan 9 Musical "Peter Pan", starring Mary Martin broadcast live, for a 2nd time, on NBC as part of "Producers' Showcase" series

Jan 9 Samir el-Rifai forms government in Jordan

Heartbreak Hotel

Jan 10 Elvis Presley records single "Heartbreak Hotel", written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, at RCA Studios in Nashville, Tennessee

Jan 12 FBi arrests 6 members of the Great Brink's robbery gang, 6 days before statute of limitations runs out
Jan 14 Jordan government refuses to join Pact of Baghdad

"Tutti Frutti"

Jan 14 Little Richard releases single "Tutti Frutti"

Singer-Songwriter and Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer Little Richard

6th NFL Pro Bowl

Jan 15 6th NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 31-30; MVP: Ollie Matson, Baltimore Colts, RB

Shostakovich Honorary Status

Jan 15 Dmitri Shostakovich appointed honorary member of Academia Santa Cecilia

Jan 15 KWAB TV channel 4 in Big Spring, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting

Nasser's Pledge

Jan 16 Egyptian President Nasser pledges to reconquer Palestine

Jan 18 German Democratic Republic (East Germany) forms own army (National People's Army)

Alexander Cartwright Honored

Jan 19 City of Hoboken, New Jersey dedicates a plaque honoring achievements of Alexander Cartwright in organizing early baseball at Elysian Field

Inventor of Modern Baseball Alexander Cartwright

"Blue Days Black Night"

Jan 20 Buddy Holly records "Blue Days Black Night" in Nashville, Tennessee for country music producer Owen Bradley

"Comedy in Music"

Jan 21 Victor Borge's one-man show "Comedy in Music" closes at John Golden Theatre, NYC; runs for 849 performances, a Guinness world record

Jan 22 30 people die in a train crash in Los Angeles
Jan 22 Canadian Football Council forms

6th NBA All-Star Game

Jan 24 6th NBA All-Star Game, Rochester War Memorial Coliseum, NY: West beats East, 108-94; MVP: Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks, C

Jan 24 96.5 cm precipitation at Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (state record)
Jan 24 An inquiry considers building homes in a war devastated area in London
Jan 25 96.5 cm (38.0") of rainfall in a day, Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (state record, until 2018)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 26 Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 26 Porkkala military base returned to Finland by USSR
Jan 26 VII Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Jan 27 NFL's New York Giants move their home from the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan to Yankee Stadium in The Bronx
Jan 27 RCA records releases Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel", his first million-seller (written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden)
Jan 27 Veikko Hakulinen of Finland wins Olympic 30k cross country gold medal at Cortina d'Ampezzo; second career Olympic title after winning the 15k event in Oslo, 1952
Jan 28 Austrian skier Toni Sailer wins the giant slalom at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics on his way to a sweep of the 3 alpine skiing events at the Games
Jan 28 Elvis Presley's 1st appearance on national TV on the Dorsey Brothers's "Stage Show"
Jan 28 Italy goes 1-2 in the 2-man bobsleigh at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics; along with silver in 4-man event, the only medals for the home nation at the Games
Jan 29 Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Der Besuch der Alten Dame" premieres in Zurich

Hoad's First Grand Slam Title

Jan 30 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Lew Hoad beats fellow Australian Ken Rosewall 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 for his first Grand Slam title

Tennis Player and Four-Time Major Champion Lew Hoad

Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion Ken Rosewall

Jan 30 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Mary Carter Reitano beats fellow Australian Thelma Coyne Long 3-6, 6-2, 9-7 for her 1st Australian singles title
Jan 30 Elvis Presley records his cover version of Carl Perkins' song "Blue Suede Shoes"
Jan 30 Hallgeir Brenden of Norway wins Olympic 15k cross country gold medal at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games; his 2nd career Olympic title after taking out the 18k event in Oslo (1952)

King's Home Bombed

Jan 30 Home of Martin Luther King Jr. is bombed

Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr.

Jan 30 KRMA TV channel 6 in Denver, CO (PBS) begins broadcasting
Jan 30 KTXS TV channel 12 in Sweetwater-Abilene, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
Jan 30 Soviet 500m speed skating champion Yevgeni Grishin wins 2nd gold medal of the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics when he dead heats teammate Yuri Mikhatlov in the 1,500m in world record 2:08.6
Jan 31 Austrian skier Toni Sailer wins the slalom at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics for his 2nd gold medal of the Games; sweeps all 3 alpine skiing events

Mollet Government

Jan 31 French government of Guy Mollet forms

Jan 31 Juscelino Kubitschek becomes president of Brazil

Events in 1956

Famous Birthdays

Jan 1 Abdalla Hamdok, Sudanese politician (Prime Minister of Sudan 2021-22), born in Al Dibaibat, Sudan
Jan 1 Anatoli Borisovich Polonsky, Russian lt-colonel/cosmonaut
Jan 1 Andy Gill, British guitarist and record producer (Gang of Four - "Damaged Goods"), born in Manchester, England (d. 2020)

Christine Lagarde (68 years old)

Jan 1 French lawyer and politician, 1st female head of the IMF, born in Paris

Jan 1 John O'Donohue, Irish poet (Anam Cara; Benedictus), philosopher, theologian, and one-time priest, born in Connemara, Ireland (d. 2008)
Jan 1 Kôji Yakusho [Hashimoto], Japanese actor (Shall We Dance?), born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan
Jan 1 Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (founder and CEO of Herbalife International), born in La Mirada, California Ltd, d. 2000)
Jan 1 Martin Plaza [Murphy], Australian new wave singer-songwriter (Mental As Anything - "Live It Up"; solo - "Concrete and Clay"), born in Sydney, Australia
Jan 1 Mike Mitchell, American basketball small forward (NBA All-Star 1981; Italian League top scorer 1998), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2011)
Jan 1 Sergei Vasiliyevich Avdeyev, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-15, SK:TM-28)
Jan 1 Sergio Victor Palma, Argentine boxer (WBA Super Bantamweight champion 1980-82), born in La Tigra, Argentina (d. 2021)
Jan 2 Lynda Barry, American cartoonist

Mel Gibson (68 years old)

Jan 3 American actor (Mad Max, Mrs Soffel, Lethal Weapon) and filmmaker, born in Peekskill, New York

Jan 3 Willy T. Ribbs, American auto racer (first African-American to drive in Indianapolis 500), born in San Jose, California
Jan 4 Ann Magnuson, actress (Anything But Love, Hunger), born in Charleston, West Virginia
Jan 4 Bernard Sumner [Albrecht], English rock guitarist, vocalist (Joy Division and New Order), born in Salford, England
Jan 4 Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer (Wilco), born in Los Angeles, California
Jan 5 Chen Kenichi [Ken'ichi Azuma], Japanese celebrity chef, "The Szechuan Sage" (Iron Chef Chinese), born in Tokyo, Japan
Jan 5 Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German politician (President of Germany 2017-), born in Detmold, West Germany
Jan 6 Elizabeth Strout, American novelist ("Olive Kitteridge" - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2009), born in Portland, Maine [1]
Jan 7 David Caruso, American actor (NYPD Blue, Michael Hayes), born in Forest Hills, New York
Jan 7 Rosalyn Bryant, American 4x400m runner (Olympic silver 1976), born in Chicago, Illinois
Jan 8 Archie Roach, Aboriginal Australian blues singer-songwriter (Took The Children Away), born in the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve, Australia (d. 2022)
Jan 9 David Smith, English cricketer (England lefty batsman in 2 Tests v WI 1986), born in Balham, London
Jan 9 Imelda Staunton, British actress (Finding Your Feet, Maleficent), born in Archway, London
Jan 9 Kimberly Beck Hilton, American actress (Kim-Peyton Place), born in Glendale, California
Jan 9 Mike Walczewski, American public address announcer
Jan 10 Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish writer (Royal Spanish Academy), born in Úbeda, Jaén, Spain
Jan 10 Don Letts, British film director and musician (Big Audio Dynamite), born in London, England
Jan 10 Shawn Colvin, American country folk singer-songwriter ("Sunny Came Home"), born in Vermillion, South Dakota
Jan 11 Big Bank Hank [Henry Lee Jackson] American rapper (The Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2014)
Jan 11 Robert Earl Keen, American singer-songwriter ("What I Really Mean"), born in Houston, Texas
Jan 13 Janet Hubert-Whitten, actress (Vivian Banks-Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
Jan 13 Malcolm Foster, British rock bassist (Pretenders, 1984-89; Simple Minds, 1989-95), born in Hereford, England
Jan 14 Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor, and broadcaster, born in Murrayville, British Columbia
Jan 14 Étienne Daho, French singer-songwriter, born in Oran, Algeria
Jan 15 Mayawati, Indian politician, born in New Delhi, India
Jan 15 Paul Parker, English cricketer (one Test England v Australia 1981), born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Jan 15 Vera Sosulya, Soviet tobogganist (Olympic gold 1980)
Jan 16 Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 2007)
Jan 16 Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress, born in Toronto, Canada
Jan 16 Martin Jol, Dutch football manager, born in The Hague, Netherlands
Jan 16 Saadeddine Othmani, Moroccan politician and Prime Minister of Morocco (2017-present), born in Inezgane, Morocco
Jan 16 Wayne Daniel, West Indies cricketer (WI fast bowler 1976-84), born in Saint Philip, Barbados
Jan 17 Cristina [Monet Zilkha], American dance-pop singer songwriter ("Sleep It Off"), born in New York City (d. 2020)
Jan 17 Faouzi Mansouri, Algerian soccer defender (13 caps; Montpellier, FC Mulhouse), born in Djerba, Tunisia (d. 2022)
Jan 17 Mitch Vogel, American actor (Jamie-Bonanza), born in Alhambra, California
Jan 17 Paul Young, British rock and blue-eyed soul vocalist ("Every Time You Go Away"; Band-Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"), born in Luton, England
Jan 18 George Mark Collie, American country singer ("Another Old Soldier"), born in Waynesboro Tennessee
Jan 19 Carman Licciardello, American Christian music singer-songwriter ("The Champion"; "Radically Saved"), born in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 2021)
Jan 19 Parthenon Huxley [Richard Miller], American rock guitarist, singer- songwriter and producer (ELO II; The Orchestra; P. Hux), born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 20 Adrian Vernon Fish, British classical composer, and Irish radio host (Fish on Fridays), born in Bristol, England

Bill Maher (68 years old)

Jan 20 American comedian and political commentator (Real Time with Bill Maher, Politically Incorrect), born in New York City

Jan 20 John Naber, American swimmer (Olympic gold 100m/200m backstroke, 4×200m freestyle relay, 4×100m medley; silver 200m freestyle 1976), born in Evanston, Illinois
Jan 20 Maria Larsson, Swedish politician, born in Långasjö, Sweden
Jan 21 Bob Brill, American drummer (Berlin - "You Take My Breath Away"), born in New York City
Jan 21 Forrest Gander, American poet (Be With - 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry), born in Barstow, California
Jan 21 Geena Davis, American actress (Beetlejuice, Fly), born in Wareham, Massachusetts
Jan 21 Robby Benson, American actor (One on One, Running Brave, Chosen), born in Dallas, Texas
Jan 22 Steve Riley, American rock drummer (L.A. Guns; W.A.S.P.), born in Revere, Massachusetts
Jan 23 Larysa Kuzmenko, Canadian concert pianist, and composer, of Ukrainian heritage (Memoriam for the Victims of Chornobyl; Golden Harvest), born in Toronto, Ontario
Jan 23 Lazar Ristovski, Serbian keyboardist (Smak and Bijelo Dugme), born in Novi Pazar, Yugoslavia (d. 2007)
Jan 24 Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer (Bobbysocks), born in Oslo, Norway
Jan 24 Lounès Matoub, Kabylian singer-songwriter, guitar and mandole player, and Berber rights activist, born in of Taourirt Moussa, Algeria (d. 1998)
Jan 25 Andy Cox, British guitarist (Fine Young Cannibals - "She Drives Me Crazy"), born in Birmingham, England
Jan 25 Bill Turnbull, British television and radio presenter and journalist (Radio Clyde; BBC), born in Guildford, Surrey, England (d. 2022)
Jan 26 Lisa Boray [Schulte Nordholt], Dutch jazz singer ("Lovers Until the End"), born in Breda, Netherlands
Jan 27 Mimi Rogers [Miriam Spickler], American actress (The Rapture; Paper Dolls; Weapons of Mass Distraction), and producer, born in Coral Gables, Florida
Jan 28 [Pierre] "Peter" Schilling, German synthpop musician ("Major Tom (Coming Home)"), born in Stuttgart, Germany
Jan 30 Jeremy Gittins, English actor, born in Manchester, United Kingdom
Jan 30 Keiichi Tsuchiya, Japanese racing driver, born in Tomi, Japan

John Lydon (68 years old)

Jan 31 English singer-songwriter and musician (Sex Pistols - "God Save the Queen"), born in Holloway, United Kingdom

Jan 31 Trevor Manuel, South African politician, born in Cape Town, South Africa

Born in 1956

Famous Weddings

Gene Hackman

Jan 1 American actor Gene Hackman (25) weds Fay Maltese; divorce in 1986

Neil Armstrong

Jan 28 Science student later astronaut Neil Armstrong marries fellow student Janet Elizabeth Shearon in Wilmette, Illinois

Famous Deaths

Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956)

Jan 3 Russian-American Romantic composer, dies at 91

Jan 3 Joseph Wirth, 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, Germany (Stalin Peace Prize), dies at 76
Jan 4 Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, composer, dies at 91
Jan 5 Mistinguett [Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois], French actress and singer (Moulin Rouge star), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 80
Jan 8 Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary, dies at 28
Jan 9 Paul Malengreau, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (Brussels Conservatory, 1813-53), dies at 71
Jan 10 Henk Bremmer, Dutch art historian (Beeldende Kunst), dies at 84
Jan 10 Karl Ludwig Schmidt, German-Swiss theologist (Urchristentum), dies at 64
Jan 12 John Raedecker, Dutch sculptor (WW II Monument Amsterdam), dies at 70
Jan 12 Norman Kerry, American actor (Air Eagles, Phantom of the Opera), dies at 61
Jan 13 Lyonel Feininger, German-American cartoonist and painter, dies at 84
Jan 14 Siegfried Frederick Nadel, Austrian-British anthropologist (Nuba), dies at 52
Jan 18 Konstantin Päts, Estonian Prime Minister (1921-23, 1932-33) and dictator (1933-40), dies at 81
Jan 19 Charles Dingle, American actor (The Little Foxes), dies at 68
Jan 21 Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (World Coloured Heavyweight Champion x 5 1910-18), dies at 72
Jan 22 P A M Speet, Dutch broadcast CEO (KRO), dies
Jan 23 Alexander Korda, British movie producer (Henry VIII), dies at 62
Jan 23 Billy Evans, American Baseball HOF umpire (American League 1906-27; at age 22, youngest umpire in MLB history), dies from a stroke at 71
Jan 27 Erich Kleiber, Austrian-Argentine conductor (Teatro Colón, 1937-49; NBC Symphony, 1947-48), dies at 65

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Jan 29 American newspaperman and critic (Prejudices, Smart Set), dies at 75

Jan 30 Gerrit Mannoury, Dutch mathematician and philosopher, dies at 88
Jan 30 Jane Seymour [Marjorie S. Fitz-patrick], Canadian-American actress (Tom, Dick and Harry, Young Mr Bobbin), dies at 62

A. A. Milne (1882-1956)

Jan 31 English author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, dies at 74

On This Day