World Events:
- Nikolai A. Bulganin becomes Soviet premier, replacing Malenkov (Feb. 8). Background: Rulers of Russia since 1533
- Churchill resigns (April 5); Anthony Eden succeeds him (April 6).
- Federal Republic of West Germany becomes a sovereign state (May 5).
- The Soviet Union and seven East European countries sign the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense treaty (May 14).
- Argentina ousts dictator Juan Perón (Sept. 19).
- US starts sending $216 million in aid to Vietnam.
- The US, UK, USSR, and France meet at a summit in Geneva.
- World Statistics
Population: 2.780 billion
US Events:
- President Eisenhower suffers coronary thrombosis in Denver (Sept. 24).
- Rosa Parks refuses to sit at the back of the bus, breaking Montgomery, Ala., segregated seating law (Dec. 1). Martin Luther King, Jr., leads 381-day black boycott of Montgomery bus system; desegregated service begins Dec. 21, 1956. Background: Civil Rights
- AFL and CIO merge to become the AFL-CIO (Dec. 5).
- U.S. Statistics
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Richard M. Nixon
Population: 165,931,202
Life expectancy: 69.6 years
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.5
Economics:
US GDP (1998 dollars): $415.1 billion
Federal spending: $68.44 billion
Federal debt: $274.4 billion
Consumer Price Index: 26.8
Unemployment: 5.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.03
Sports:
World Series
Brooklyn Dodgers d. NY Yankees (4-3)NBA Championship
Syracuse d. Ft. Wayne Pistons (4-3)Stanley Cup
Detroit d. Montreal (4-3)Wimbledon
Women: Louise Brough d. B. Fleitz (7-5 8-6)
Men: Tony Trabert d. K. Nielsen (6-3 7-5 6-1)Kentucky Derby Champion
SwapsNCAA Basketball Championship
San Francisco d. La Salle (77-63)NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (11-0-0)
Entertainment:
Events
- On the Waterfront nearly sweeps the 1954 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Maria Saint), and Best Director (Elia Kazan).
- Gunsmoke debuts on CBS, and will go on to be television’s longest-running western.
- 70mm film is introduced with Oklahoma!
- James Dean dies in a car accident at age 26.
Movies
- Rebel without a Cause, Marty, East of Eden, Bad Day at Black Rock, Picnic
Books
- James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Pictures of a Gone World
- William Gaddis, The Recognitions
- Mary McCarthy, A Charmed Life
- Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
- Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find
- Isaac Bashevis Singer, Satan in Goray
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: A Fable, William Faulkner
Music: The Saint of Bleecker Street, Gian Carlo Menotti
Drama: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee WilliamsOscars awarded in 1955
Academy Award, Best Picture: On the Waterfront, Sam Spiegel, producer (Columbia)Nobel Prize for Literature: Halldór Kiljan Laxness (Iceland)
Miss America: Lee Meriwether (CA)
1955 Emmy Awards
| Best Dramatic Series | U.S. Steel Hour (ABC) |
| Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series | Danny Thomas, Make Room for Daddy |
| Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series | Loretta Young, Loretta Young Show |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series | Art Carney, Jackie Gleason Show |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series | Audrey Meadows, Jackie Gleason Show |
| Best Individual Program of the Year | Operation Undersea (ABC) |
| Best Actor in a Single Performance | Robert Cummings, Studio One: Twelve Angry Men |
| Best Actress in a Single Performance | Judith Anderson, Hallmark Hall of Fame: Macbeth |
| Best Direction | Franklin Schaffner, Studio One: Twelve Angry Men |
| Best Written Dramatic Material | Reginald Rose, Twelve Angry Men |
| Most Outstanding New Personality | George Gobel |
| Best Situation Comedy Series | Make Room for Daddy (ABC) |
| Best Written Comedy Material | James Allardice, Jack Douglas, Hal Kanter and Harry Winkler, George Gobel Show |
| Best Variety Series, Including Musical Varieties | Disneyland (ABC) |
| Best Mystery or Intrigue Series | Dragnet (NBC) |
| Best Western or Adventure Series | Stories of the Century (Syndicated) |
| Best Cultural, Religious or Educational Program | Omnibus (CBS) |
| Best News Reporter or Commentator | John Daly |
| Best Sports Program | Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (NBC) |
| Best Children’s Program | Lassie (CBS) |
| Best Audience, Guest Participation or Panel Program | This Is Your Life (NBC) |
1955 Tony Awards
| Play | The Desperate Hours |
| Musical | The Pajama Game |
| Actor—Play | Alfred Lunt, Quadrille |
| Actress—Play | Nancy Kelly, The Bad Seed |
| Supporting or Featured Actor—Play | Francis L. Sullivan, Witness for the Prosecution |
| Supporting or Featured Actress—Play | Patricia Jessel, Witness for the Prosecution |
| Actor—Musical | Walter Slezak, Fanny |
| Actress—Musical | Mary Martin, Peter Pan |
| Supporting or Featured Actor—Musical | Cyril Ritchard, Peter Pan |
| Supporting or Featured Actress—Musical | Carol Haney, The Pajama Game |
| Author—Play | Joseph Hayes, The Desperate Hours |
| Authors—Musical | George Abbott and Richard Bissell, The Pajama Game |
| Director | Robert Montgomery, The Desperate Hours |
| Producers—Play | Howard Erskine and Joseph Hayes, The Desperate Hours |
| Producers—Musical | Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith and Harold S. Prince, The Pajama Game |
| Composer and Lyricist | Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, The Pajama Game |
| Scenic Designer | Oliver Messel, House of Flowers |
| Costume Designer | Cecil Beaton, Quadrille |
| Choreographer | Bob Fosse, The Pajama Game |
| Conductor and Musical Director | Thomas Schippers, The Saint of Bleecker Street |
| Stage Technician | Richard Rodda, Peter Pan |
| Special Award | Proscenium Productions |
Science:
- Narinder Kapany (England) develops fiber optics.
- Owen Chamberlain and Emilio Segrè discover the antiproton, a form of antimatter.
- The corticosteroid prednisone is developed.
- Severo Ochoa at NYU synthesizes DNA- and RNA-like molecules. Background: genetic engineering
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Vincent du Vigneaud (US), for work on pituitary hormones
Physics: Polykarp Kusch and Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (US), for atomic measurements
Physiology or Medicine: Hugo Theorell (Sweden), for work on oxidation enzymes
Deaths:
- Albert Einstein
- Alexander Fleming
- Thomas Mann
- Carmen Miranda
- Charlie Parker
RETURN TO THE 1955 CLASS WEB PAGE
(34th US President)