Events from the year 1956 in the United States .
Incumbents
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January–March
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January 1 – Carl Perkins ' record "Blue Suede Shoes " is released by Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee .
January 3 – Peter Pan Mary Martin , is restaged live by Producers' Showcase on NBC television by popular demand.
January 8 – Operation Auca : Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
January 22 – Redondo Junction train wreck in Los Angeles kills thirty people.
c. January – The first book in Ed McBain 's long-running 87th Precinct police procedural series, Cop Hater
February 14 – Dwight D. Eisenhower 's doctors say that he is healthy enough to seek another term at the White House .
February 16 – Only a little more than four months after the release of the 70 mm version of Oklahoma! Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Carousel Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones , is released in CinemaScope 55 . MacRae and Jones had previously starred in Oklahoma! Carousel , intended for showing in 55 mm, ends up being shown only in 35 mm.
February 22 – Elvis Presley enters the U.S. music charts for the first time with "Heartbreak Hotel ".
February 23 – Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to Marilyn Monroe .
February 24 – Doris Day records her most famous song, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) "; it is from Alfred Hitchcock 's The Man Who Knew Too Much James Stewart .
February 29 – Dwight D. Eisenhower announces he will seek re-election as President.
March 11 – Laurence Olivier 's film, Richard III Shakespeare 's play, premieres in the U.S. in theaters and on NBC Television, on the same day as an afternoon matinée . It is one of the first such experiments of its kind. Olivier is later nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
March 12
March 13 – Elvis Presley releases his first Gold Album titled "Elvis Presley".
March 15 – The Broadway musical My Fair Lady
March 21 – The 28th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Jerry Lewis , is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood , Los Angeles , with the television broadcast hosted by Claudette Colbert and Joseph L. Mankiewicz in New York . Delbert Mann 's Marty Best Motion Picture and Best Director for Mann. The film is also tied for the most nominations with eight, along with Henry King 's Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing Daniel Mann 's The Rose Tattoo April–June
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June 29: Interstate Highway System authorized July–September
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July 2 – Sylvania Electric Products explosion : A laboratory experiment involving scrap thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in Bayside, New York , results in an explosion.
July 4 – A U.S. Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the Soviet Union .
July 13
July 16 – With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh , Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows" due to changing economics.
July 24 – At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together (their act started on July 25, 1946).
July 25 – 72 kilometers (45 mi) south of Nantucket Island , the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship MS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51 people.
July 29 – McKee refinery fire kills 19 in Texas.
July 30 – A Joint Resolution of Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower , authorizing "In God We Trust " as the U.S. national motto .
August 6 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network has its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
August 11 – Painter Jackson Pollock dies in a car crash in Springs, New York .
September 9 – Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
September 13 – The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team led by Reynold B. Johnson .
September 27 – The Bell X-2 becomes the first manned aircraft to reach Mach 3. October–December
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November 6: Eisenhower re-elected October 5 – Cecil B. DeMille 's epic film The Ten Commandments Charlton Heston as Moses , is released in the U.S. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.[3]
October 8 – Baseball pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers . Yogi Berra catches the game. Dale Mitchell is the final out. The New York Yankees win the series. Larsen is named series MVP.
October 10 – The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner , the final Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight.
October 17 – The Game of the Century: 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats GM Donald Byrne in the NY Rosenwald chess tournament.
October 29 – The Huntley-Brinkley Report NBC -TV.
October 31 – A U.S. Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole (arriving by air) and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station .
October – The Ladder lesbian magazine in the U.S.
November 1
November 3 – MGM 's screen classic, The Wizard of Oz CBS , as the final installment of their Ford Star Jubilee
November 6 – 1956 United States presidential election : Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democratic challenger Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier.
November 13 – Browder v. Gayle United States Supreme Court declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott .
November 30 – African American boxer Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight championship that is vacant after the retirement of Rocky Marciano .
December 2 – A pipe bomb planted by George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York , injuring 6 people.
December 3 – The 1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn.
December 4 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash ) get together at Sun Studio for the only time.
December 18 – To Tell the Truth CBS -TV.
December 31 – Bob Barker makes his TV debut as host of the game show Truth or Consequences
Mel Gibson David Caruso Bill Maher Geena Davis Mimi Rogers February
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Nathan Lane Tim Daly Bryan Cranston April 1 – Jeffrey Beecroft , production designer and art director
April 3 – Ray Combs , game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
April 4 – David E. Kelley , writer and television producer
April 5 – Diamond Dallas Page , professional wrestler
April 6 – Michele Bachmann , politician
April 7 – Christopher Darden , lawyer
April 14 – Barbara Bonney , soprano
April 16 – David M. Brown , astronaut (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster ) (d. 2003)
April 18
April 21 – Phillip Longman , demographer
April 23 - Greg Colson , American artistApril 27 – Bryan Harvey , American musician (d. 2006 ) Sugar Ray Leonard Bob Saget La Toya Jackson May 4 – David Guterson , writer
May 5 – Lisa Eilbacher , actressMay 6 – Cindy Lovell , educator and writerMay 7
May 10 – Paige O'Hara , actress, voice actress, singer and painterMay 12 – Greg Phillinganes , keyboardist
May 15 – Dan Patrick , sports commentator
May 17
May 19 – Steven Ford , actorMay 20 – Dean Butler , actor and producerMay 23 – Buck Showalter , baseball player and manager
May 26 – Lisa Niemi , actress and dancer, spouse of Patrick Swayze
May 28 – Jerry Douglas , dobro player
May 29 – La Toya Jackson , singer Joe Montana Tim Russ Randy Jackson Anthony Bourdain June 1 – Lisa Hartman Black , actress, singer
June 3
June 4 – Keith David , actorJune 5 – Kenny G , grammy-award-winning saxophonist
June 7 – L.A. Reid , record executive
June 9 – Patricia Cornwell , novelist
June 11
June 14 – Fred Funk , golfer and coach
June 15 – Robin Curtis , actress
June 17 – Kelly Curtis , actor
June 19 – Danny Chauncey , guitarist
June 21 – Thomas James O'Leary , American actor
June 22 – Tim Russ , actor, film director, screenwriter and musician
June 23 – Randy Jackson , musician and talent judge
June 25 – Anthony Bourdain , chef, author and television personality (died 2018 )[4]
June 26 – Chris Isaak , musician
June 30
Tom Hanks Sela Ward July 1 – Alan Ruck , actor
July 2 – Jerry Hall , model and actress
July 5 – Louis Herthum , actor and producer
July 9 – Tom Hanks , actor and director
July 11 – Sela Ward , actress
July 12
July 13 – Michael Spinks , African-American boxerJuly 16 – Tony Kushner , playwright
July 18
July 24
July 25 – Frances Arnold , biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018
July 30 – Delta Burke , actress
July 31
Maureen McCormick Kevin Dunn August 1 – Steve Green , Christian musician
August 2 – Jim Neidhart , professional wrestler
August 4 – Gerry Cooney , boxer
August 5 – Maureen McCormick , actress (The Brady Bunch )
August 6 – Stepfanie Kramer , actress (Hunter )
August 10
August 14 – Jackée Harry , actress and television personality
August 18
August 19 – Adam Arkin , actor
August 20 – Joan Allen , actress
August 21 – Jon Tester , U.S. Senator from Montana
August 22 – Paul Molitor , baseball player
August 24
August 26 – Mark Mangino , football coach
August 29 – Mark Morris , choreographer September
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Gary Cole Linda Hamilton September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast , editor and broadcaster
September 6 – Bill Ritter , 41st Governor of Colorado September 7 – Michael Feinstein , singer and pianistSeptember 8 – Maurice Cheeks , basketball player and coachSeptember 11 – Phillip D. Bissett , politician
September 12
September 15 – George Howard , jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
September 16 – David Copperfield , illusionist
September 17 – Brian Andreas , writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
September 20
September 21 – Jack Givens , basketball player
September 24 – Gregory Peter Panos , futurist, writer, inventor, virtual reality expert, human simulation visionary
September 25 – Jamie Hyneman , television co-host (MythBusters
September 26 – Linda Hamilton , actress (The Terminator
September 30 – Carol Jenkins Barnett , businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 2021)[5] Mae Jemison Carrie Fisher Rita Wilson November
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Sinbad Bo Derek William Fichtner November 3 – Dru C. Gladney , anthropologist (d. 2022)November 7 – Judy Tenuta , American comedian and musician (d. 2022)November 8 – Steven Miller , record producerNovember 10 – Sinbad , stand-up comedian and actorNovember 13
November 14
November 15
November 16 – Terry Labonte , Race Car DriverNovember 17 – Kelly Ward , actor
November 18 – Warren Moon , football player
November 20 – Bo Derek , actress and model
November 21 – Terri Welles , actress and adult modelNovember 22
November 26 – Dale Jarrett , race car driver
November 27 – William Fichtner , actor
November 29
December
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Larry Bird
January 9 – Marion Leonard , stage & silent film actress (born 1881 )
January 10 – Zonia Baber , geographer and geologist (born 1862 )
January 12 – Norman Kerry , silent film actor (born 1894 )
January 29 – H. L. Mencken , writer (born 1880 )
February 2
February 3 – Robert Yerkes , psychologist and ethologist (born 1876 )
February 8 – Connie Mack , baseball executive and manager (born 1862 )
February 15 – J. H. Smith , politician and pioneer (born 1858 )
February 26 – Elsie Janis , singer and actress (born 1889 )
March 14 – David Browning , Olympic diver; in aviation accident (born 1931 )
March 17 – Fred Allen , comedian (born 1894 )
March 18 – Louis Bromfield , writer and conservationist (born 1896 )
March 21 – Edwin Thanhouser , actor, businessman and film producer (born 1865 )
March 22 – George Sarton , historian of science (born 1884 in Belgium)
March 25 – Lou Moore , racing driver and team owner (born 1904 )
April 15 – Kathleen Howard , opera singer and film actress (born 1884 in Canada )
April 21
April 26 – Edward Arnold , film actor (born 1890 )
April 30 – Alben W. Barkley , 35th vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 (born 1877 )
May 11 – Walter Sydney Adams , astronomer (born 1876 )
May 12 – Louis Calhern , actor (born 1895 )
May 15 – Arthur Talmage Abernethy , poet, journalist, theologian and minister (born 1872 )
May 24 – Guy Kibbee , actor (born 1882 )
May 26 – Al Simmons , baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics ) (born 1902 )
June 1 – Jesse H. Jones , entrepreneur, 9th United States Secretary of Commerce (born 1874 )
June 2 – Richard S. Edwards , admiral (born 1885 )
June 4 – Katherine MacDonald , silent film actress (born 1891 )
June 6 – Hiram Bingham III , explorer, discoverer of Machu Picchu (born 1875 )
June 11 – Ralph Morgan , character actor (born 1883 )
June 25 – Ernest King , Fleet Admiral (born 1878 )
June 26 – Clifford Brown , jazz trumpeter (born 1930 )
July 4 – Udo Keppler , cartoonist (Puck 1872 )
August 2 – Albert Woolson , last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (born 1850 )
August 11 – Jackson Pollock , painter (born 1912 )
August 13 – Lyonel Feininger , German American painter (born 1871 )
August 16
August 23 – Peaches Browning , divorcee and vaudeville actress (born 1910 )
August 24 – Mitchell Lewis , actor (born 1880 )
August 25 – Alfred Kinsey , sex researcher (born 1894 )
September 6 – Felix Borowski , composer and teacher (born 1872 in the United Kingdom )
September 27
October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer , songwriter (born 1878 )
October 2 – George Bancroft , film actor (born 1882 )
October 9 – Marie Doro , stage & silent film actress (born 1882 )
October 18 – Charles Strite , inventor (born 1878 )
October 19 – Isham Jones , bandleader (born 1894 )
October 27 – Charles S. Johnson , sociologist (born 1893 )
November 1 – Tommy Johnson , Delta blues falsetto singer & guitarist (born 1896 )
November 5 – Art Tatum , jazz pianist (born 1909 )
November 6 – Paul Kelly , actor (born 1899 )
November 10
November 26 – Tommy Dorsey , trombonist and bandleader (born 1905 )
November 27 – Hugo Ballin , artist, film production designer and director (born 1879 )
December 9 – Charles Joughin , baker on RMS Titanic (born 1878 in the United Kingdom )
December 17 – Eddie Acuff , actor (born 1903 )
December 21 – Lewis Terman , psychologist (born 1877 )
December 30 – Ruth Draper , monologuist (born 1884 )
See also
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References
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External links
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Media related to 1956 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons