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).
- Population: 2.833 billion
US Events:
- first black student at the University of Alabama, is suspended after riots (March 1).
- U.S. tests the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll with the force of 10 million tons TNT (May 21). Background: nuclear weapons
- U.S. Statistics
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Richard M. Nixon
Population: 168,903,031
Life expectancy: 69.7 years
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.6
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 Series
NY Yankees d. Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3)NBA Championship
Philadelphia Warriors d. Ft. Wayne Pistons (4-1)Stanley Cup
Montreal d. Detroit (4-1)Wimbledon
Women: 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 Champion
NeedlesNCAA Basketball Championship
San Francisco d. Iowa (83-71)NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (10-0-0)1956 Summer Olympics, Melbourne
1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina d’Ampezzo
Entertainment:
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
- John Barth, The Floating Opera
- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room
- Allen Ginsburg, Howl
- John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage
- Lewis Mumford, The Transformations of Man
- William Styron, The Long March
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
| Best Dramatic Series | Producers’ Showcase (NBC) |
| Best Actor, Continuing Performance | Phil Silvers, Phil Silvers Show, You’ll Never Get Rich |
| Best Actress, Continuing Performance | Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Art Carney, The Honeymooners |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Nanette Fabray, Caesar’s Hour |
| Best Single Program of the Year | Producers’ Showcase: Peter Pan (NBC) |
| Best Actor, Single Performance | Lloyd Nolan, Ford Star Jubilee: Caine Mutiny Court Martial |
| Best Actress, Single Performance | Mary Martin, Producers’ Showcase: Peter Pan |
| Best Television Adaptation | Paul Gregory and Franklin Schaffner, Caine Mutiny Court Martial by Herman Wouk |
| Best Director, Film Series | Nat Hiken, Phil Silvers Show, You’ll Never Get Rich |
| Best Director, Live Series | Franklin Schaffner, Caine Mutiny Court Martial |
| Best Original Teleplay Writing | Rod Serling, Kraft TV Theatre: Patterns |
| Best Comedy Series | Phil Silvers Show, You’ll Never Get Rich (CBS) |
| Best Comedian | Phil Silvers |
| Best Comedienne | Nanette Fabray |
| Best Comedy Writing | Nat Hiken, Barry Blitser, Arnold Auerbach, Harvey Orkin, Vincent Bogert, Arnold Rosen, Coleman Jacoby, Tony Webster and Terry Ryan, Phil Silvers Show, You’ll Never Get Rich |
| Best Variety Series | Ed Sullivan Show (CBS) |
| Best Music Series | Your Hit Parade (NBC) |
| Best Action or Adventure Series | Disneyland (ABC) |
| Best Documentary Program, Religious, Informational, Educational or Interview | Omnibus (CBS) |
| Best News Commentator or Reporter | Edward R. Murrow |
| Best Children’s Series | Lassie (CBS) |
| Best Audience Participation Series (Quiz, Panel, etc.) | $64,000 Question (CBS) |
| Best Specialty Act, Single or Group | Marcel Marceau |
| Best Mc or Program Host, Male or Female | Perry Como |
1956 Tony Awards
| Play | The Diary of Anne Frank |
| Musical | Damn Yankees |
| Actor—Play | Paul Muni, Inherit the Wind |
| Actress—Play | Julie Harris, The Lark |
| Supporting or Featured Actor—Play | Ed Begley, Inherit the Wind |
| Supporting or Featured Actress—Play | Una Merkel, The Ponder Heart |
| Actor—Musical | Ray Walston, Damn Yankees |
| Actress—Musical | Gwen Verdon, Damn Yankees |
| Supporting or Featured Actor—Musical | Russ Brown, Damn Yankees |
| Supporting or Featured Actress—Musical | Lotte Lenya, The Threepenny Opera |
| Authors—Play | Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, The Diary of Anne Frank |
| Authors—Musical | George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, Damn Yankees |
| Director | Tyrone Guthrie, The Matchmaker |
| Producer—Play | Kermit Bloomgarden, The Diary of Anne Frank |
| Producers—Musical | Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith and Harold S. Prince in association with Albert B. Taylor, Damn Yankees |
| Composer and Lyricist | Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, Damn Yankees |
| Scenic Designer | Peter Larkin, Inherit the Wind and No Time for Sergeants |
| Costume Designer | Alvin Colt, Pipe Dream |
| Choreographer | Bob Fosse, Damn Yankees |
| Conductor and Musical Director | Hal Hastings, Damn Yankees |
| Stage Technician | Harry Green, Middle of the Night and Damn Yankees |
| Special Awards | The Threepenny Opera |
| The Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library |
Miss America: Sharon Ritchie (CO)
Science:
- Felix Wankel (Germany) develops the rotary internal combustion engine.
- The DNA molecule is first photographed. Background: genetic engineering
- The neutrino is first observed at Los Alamos, New Mexico.
- Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Sir Cyril Hinshelwood (UK) and Nikolai N. Semenov (USSR), for parallel research on chemical reaction kineticsPhysics: William Shockley, Walter H. Brattain, and John Bardeen (all US), for developing electronic transistorPhysiology or Medicine: Dickinson W. Richards, Jr., André F. Cournand (both US), and Werner Forssmann (Germany), for new techniques in treating heart disease
Deaths:
- Tommy Dorsey
- Connie Mack
- Jackson Pollock
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