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1956
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World Events
- Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of USSR Communist Party, denounces Stalin's excesses (Feb. 24).
- Morocco gains independence from France (March 1) and Spain (April 7).
- Workers' uprising against Communist rule in Poland is crushed (June 28-30).
- Egypt takes control of Suez Canal (July 26). Israel launches attack on Egypt's Sinai peninsula and drives toward Suez Canal (Oct. 29). British and French invade Egypt at Port Said (Nov. 5). Cease-fire forced by US pressure stops British, French, and Israeli advance (Nov. 6). Background: Arab-Israeli Wars
- Soviet troops and tanks crush anti-Communist uprisings in Hungary (November).
U.S. Events
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $438 billion
Federal spending: $70.64 billion
Federal debt: $272.7 billion
Consumer Price Index: 27.2
Unemployment: 4.4%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.03
Sports
World SeriesNY Yankees d. Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3)NBA ChampionshipPhiladelphia Warriors d. Ft. Wayne Pistons (4-1)Stanley CupMontreal d. Detroit (4-1)WimbledonWomen: Shirley Fry d. A. Buxton (6-3 6-1)
Men: Lew Hoad d. K. Rosewall (6-2 4-6 7-5 6-4)Kentucky Derby ChampionNeedlesNCAA Basketball ChampionshipSan Francisco d. Iowa (83-71)NCAA Football ChampionsOklahoma (10-0-0)
Entertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Andersonville, MacKinlay Kantor
Music: Symphony No. 3, Ernst Toch
Drama: The Diary of Anne Frank, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett Oscars awarded in 1956
Academy Award, Best Picture: Marty, Harold Hecht, producer (United Artists) Nobel Prize for Literature: Juan Ramón Jiménez (Spain) 1956 Emmy Awards 1956 Tony Awards Miss America: Sharon Ritchie (CO) More Entertainment Awards...
Events- With many hit singles (including "Heartbreak Hotel"), Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world's first rock stars. The gyrating rocker enjoys fame on the stages of the Milton Berle, Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan shows, as well as in the first of his many movies, Love Me Tender.
- Kay Thompson's Eloise, the Plaza Hotel's most famous guest, is a bestseller.
- Grace Metalious's steamy Peyton Place is a bestseller.
- The Wizard of Oz has its first airing on TV.
Movies- The Seventh Seal, Giant, The Searchers, Around the World in 80 Days, The King and I, Friendly Persuasion
Music- Woody Guthrie, "This Land is Your Land"
Books
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Sir Cyril Hinshelwood (UK) and Nikolai N. Semenov (USSR), for parallel research on chemical reaction kinetics Physics: William Shockley, Walter H. Brattain, and John Bardeen (all US), for developing electronic transistor Physiology or Medicine: Dickinson W. Richards, Jr., André F. Cournand (both US), and Werner Forssmann (Germany), for new techniques in treating heart disease
Deaths
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