1955 In The United States on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Events from the year 1955 in the United States.
* April – Theresa Meikle becomes the presiding judge of
* July 17
** The
* December 1 –
* January 1 – Arthur C. Parker, part-Seneca Nation of New York, Seneca archeologist and ethnographer of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans (b. 1881 in the United States, 1881)
* January 20 – Robert P. Tristram Coffin, poet, essayist and novelist (b. 1892 in the United States, 1892)
* January 21 – Archie Hahn, sprinter (b. 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* January 24 – Ira Hayes, Native American U.S. Marine flag raiser on Iwo Jima (b. 1923 in the United States, 1923)
* January 31 – John Mott, YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865 in the United States, 1865)
* March 3 – Katharine Drexel, Roman Catholic saint (b. 1858 in the United States, 1858)
* March 8 – William C. deMille, screenwriter and director (b. 1878 in the United States, 1878)
* March 9 – Matthew Henson, African-American explorer (b. 1866 in the United States, 1866)
* March 12 –
* April 1 – Robert R. McCormick, newspaper publisher (''Chicago Tribune'') (b. 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* April 7 – Theda Bara, silent film actress (b. 1885 in the United States, 1885)
* April 14 – Cleveland Abbott, African-American football player and coach (b. 1894 in the United States, 1894)
* April 15 – Edgar J. Kaufmann, merchant and patron of Fallingwater (b. 1885 in the United States, 1885)
* April 18 – Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist, developer of theory of relativity (b. 1879 in Germany)
* June 5 – Pattillo Higgins, oil pioneer and businessman (b. 1863 in the United States, 1863)
* June 10 – Margaret Abbott, golfer, first American woman to take first place in the Olympics (b. 1876 in India, 1876)
* June 11 – Walter Hampden, film actor (b. 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* June 13 – Nora Trueblood Gause, humanitarian (b. 1851 in the United States, 1851)
* June 17 – Carlyle Blackwell, actor (b. 1884 in the United States, 1884)
* August 2 – Wallace Stevens, poet (b. 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* August 5 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress (b. 1909)
* August 8 – Grace Hartman (actress), Grace Hartman, actress (b. 1907 in the United States, 1907)
* August 11 – Robert W. Wood, optical physicist (b. 1868 in the United States, 1868)
* August 12 – James B. Sumner, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887 in the United States, 1887)
* August 14 – Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (b. 1861 in the United States, 1861)
* August 22 – Olin Downes, music critic (b. 1886 in the United States, 1886)
* August 28 –
* September 1 – Philip Loeb, actor (b. 1891 in the United States, 1891)
* September 2 – Stephen Victor Graham,
* November 1 – Dale Carnegie, writer and lecturer (b. 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* November 4 – Cy Young, baseball player (Cleveland Spiders), member of MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1867 in the United States, 1867)
* November 7 – Tom Powers, actor (b. 1890 in the United States, 1890)
* November 11 – Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross, lyricist and composer (b. 1926 in the United States, 1926)
* November 14 – Robert E. Sherwood, playwright (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* November 15 – Lloyd Bacon, actor and film director (b. 1889 in the United States, 1889)
* November 22 – Shemp Howard, film actor and comedian (The Three Stooges) (b. 1895)
* November 29 – Rene Paul Chambellan, sculptor (b. 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* December 1 – Chief Thundercloud, character actor (b. 1899 in the United States, 1899)
* December 6
** George Platt Lynes, photographer (b. 1907 in the United States, 1907)
** Honus Wagner, baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates), member of MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1874 in the United States, 1874)
* December 22 – Otto Eppers, cartoonist (b. 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* December 25
** Thomas J. Preston Jr., professor of archeology at Princeton University; second husband of Frances Cleveland (widow of President Grover Cleveland) (b. 1862 in the United States, 1862)
** Elizabeth Harrison Walker, daughter of President Benjamin Harrison and Mary Dimmick Harrison (b. 1897 in the United States, 1897)
Incumbents
Federal Government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
* President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
( R-Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
/New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
)
* Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
: Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
( R-California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
)
* Chief Justice: Earl Warren
Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
(California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph William Martin Jr.
Joseph William Martin Jr. (November 3, 1884 – March 6, 1968) was an American Republican politician who served as the 44th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955. He represented a House district ...
( R-Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
) (until January 3), Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
( D-Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
) (starting January 3)
* Senate Majority Leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...
: William F. Knowland ( R-California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
) (until January 3), Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
( D-Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
) (starting January 3)
* Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
: 83rd (until January 3), 84th (starting January 3)
Events
January
* January 7 –Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...
is the first African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
* January 22 – The Pentagon announces a plan to develop intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s (ICBMs) armed with nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s.
* January 28 – The United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
authorizes President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
to use force to protect Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
from the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
February
* February 1 – Major tornadoes in Mississippi. * February 10 – TheSeventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...
of the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
helps the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
evacuate Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chin ...
army and residents from the Tachen Islands
The Dachen Islands, Tachen Islands or Tachens () are a group of islands off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou. Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, ...
to Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
* February 12 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
sends the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
.
* February 14 – WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Tampa Bay area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside St. Petersburg–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WTTA (channe ...
signs on the air in Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
/St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
.
* February 22 – In Chicago's Democratic primary, Mayor Martin H. Kennelly
Martin Henry Kennelly (August 11, 1887 – November 29, 1961) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 47th Mayor of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois from April 15, 1947 until April 20, 1955. Kennelly was a member of the Democra ...
loses to the head of the Cook County Democratic Party, Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
, 364,839 to 264,77.
March
* March 2 –Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up ...
, a fifteen-year-old African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
girl, refuses to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, to a white woman after the driver demands it. She is carried off the bus backwards whilst being kicked and handcuffed and harassed on the way to the police station. She becomes a plaintiff in ''Browder v. Gayle
''Browder v. Gayle'', 142 F. Supp. 707 (1956),''Browder v. Gayle''
14 ...
'' (1956), which rules bus segregation to be unconstitutional.
* March 5 – 14 ...
WBBJ
WBBJ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Jackson, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with ABC and CBS. Owned by Bahakel Communications, the station maintains studios on Muse Street in Jackson, and its transmitter is located on Potts Cha ...
signs on the air in the Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...
as WDXI, to expanded U.S. commercial television in rural areas.
* March 7 – The 1954 Broadway musical
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
version of ''Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
'', starring Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...
, is presented on television for the first time by NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
(also the first time that a stage musical is presented in its entirety on TV exactly as performed on stage). The program gains the largest viewership of a TV special up to this time and becomes one of the first great television classics.
* March 12 – African-American jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
dies in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
at age 34.
* March 19 – KXTV
KXTV (channel 10) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Broadway, just south of US 50 at the south edge of downtown Sacramento, and its trans ...
of Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
signs on the air as the 100th commercial television station in the U.S.
* March 20 – The film adaptation of Evan Hunter
Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film ''Blackbo ...
's ''Blackboard Jungle
''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. I ...
'' premieres, featuring the famous single "Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...
" by Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to the song. On July 9 it becomes the first Rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
single to reach Number One on the U.S. charts.
* March 26 – Bill Hayes tops the U.S. charts for five weeks with "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn. It was introduced on ABC's television series ''Disneyland'', in the premiere episode of October 27, 1954. Fess Parker is shown performing the ...
" and starts a (fake) coonskin cap
A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail. Beginning as traditional Native American headgear, coonskin caps became associ ...
craze.
* March 28 – The important income tax case of '' Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co.'' is decided in the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
* March 30 – The 27th Academy Awards
The 27th Academy Awards were held on March 30, 1955 to honor the best films of 1954, hosted by Bob Hope at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
'' On the Waterfront'' led the ceremony with twelve nominations and eight wins, including Best ...
ceremony is simultaneously held at RKO Pantages Theatre
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at Hollywood and Vine (6233 Hollywood Boulevard), in Hollywood. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresar ...
in Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
(hosted by Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
) and at NBC Century Theatre in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
(hosted by Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working-class characters and her strong New York accent. She won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and received s ...
). Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...
's ''On the Waterfront
''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. ...
'' wins and receives the most respective awards and nominations with eight and 12, including Best Motion Picture and Kazan's second Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
win.
April
* April – Theresa Meikle becomes the presiding judge of San Francisco County Superior Court
The Superior Court of California of the County of San Francisco is the state superior court with jurisdiction over the City and County of San Francisco.
History
In 1976 the Court helped to create the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, a ...
, the first woman elected to such a position in any major U.S. city.
* April 5 – Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
defeats Robert Merrian to become mayor of Chicago by a vote of 708,222 to 581,555.
* April 10 – In the National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
championship, the Syracuse Nationals
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances.
1946– ...
defeat the Fort Wayne Pistons
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
92-91 in Game 7 to win the title.
* April 12 – Jonas Salk
Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New Y ...
's polio vaccine
Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all chil ...
, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the U.S., receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
.
* April 14 – The Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
win the Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in ice hockey for the 7th time in franchise history, but will not win again until 1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
.
* April 15 – Ray Kroc
Raymond Albert Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman. He purchased the fast food company McDonald's in 1961 and was its CEO from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turnin ...
opens his first McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
in Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...
.
May
* May 9 – A youngJim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
introduces the earliest version of Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...
(made in March), in the premiere of his puppet show ''Sam and Friends
''Sam and Friends'' is an American live-action/puppet sketch comedy television series and a lead-in to ''The Tonight Show'' created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane Nebel. It was taped and aired twice daily as a local series in ...
'', on WRC-TV
WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television se ...
in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
* May 21 – Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
records his first single, "Maybellene
"Maybellene" is a rock and roll song. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune "Ida Red". Berry's song told the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing ...
", for Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
in Chicago.
June
* June 7 – ''The $64,000 Question
''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...
'' premieres on CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
television, with Hal March as the host.
* June 16 – ''Lady and the Tramp
''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hami ...
'', Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's 15th animated feature film, premieres in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. It is the first animated film distributed by Disney's own Buena Vista Film Distribution and the first filmed in CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
.
July
* July 17
** The Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
theme park opens in Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
, an event broadcast on the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television network.
** The first atomic-generated electrical power is sold commercially, partially powering Arco, Idaho
Arco is a city in Butte County, Idaho, United States. The population was 879 as of the 2020 United States census, down from 995 at the 2010 census. Arco is the county seat and largest city in Butte County.
History
Originally known as Root Ho ...
, from the National Reactor Testing Station
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...
; on July 18, Schenectady, New York
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, receives power from a prototype nuclear submarine reactor at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) is an American research and development facility based in Niskayuna, New York and dedicated to the support of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. KAPL was instituted in 1946 under a contract between Gener ...
."1955". ''Houghton Mifflin Guide to Science & Technology''.
* July 18 – Illinois Governor William Stratton
William Grant Stratton (February 26, 1914 – March 2, 2001), was the 32nd governor of Illinois from 1953 to 1961.
Early life and career
Born February 26, 1914 in Ingleside, Lake County, Illinois, the son of William J. Stratton, an Illinoi ...
signs the Loyalty Oath Act, that mandates all public employees take a loyalty oath to the State of Illinois and the U.S. or lose their jobs.
* July 18–23 – Geneva Summit between the U.S., Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.
August
* August 1 – The prototypeLockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...
reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
first flies, in Nevada.
* August 4 – American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
Flight 476, a Convair CV-240-0 attempting an emergency landing at Forney Army Airfield, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Woo ...
following an engine fire, crashes just short of the runway; all 27 passengers and three crew members are killed.
* August 19 – Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than an estimated $1 billion in damage (in 1955 dollars, which would be $ today), including direct costs and the loss of business and personal revenue. It formed on August ...
hits the northeast, killing 200 and causing over $1 billion in damage.
* August 22 – Eleven schoolchildren are killed when their school bus is hit by a freight train in Spring City, Tennessee
Spring City is a town in Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,949 at the 2020 census and 1,981 at the 2010 census. The town is located along Watts Bar Lake, and Watts Bar Dam and the Watts Bar Nuclea ...
.
* August 28 – Black 14-year-old Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
is lynched and shot in the head for allegedly grabbing and threatening a white woman in Money, Mississippi
Money is an unincorporated community near Greenwood in Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta. It has fewer than 100 residents, down from 400 in the early 1950s when a cotton mill operated there. Money is located on ...
; his white murderers, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, are acquitted by an all-white jury.
September
* September 3 – African American rock singerLittle Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
records "Tutti Frutti
Tutti frutti (from Italian ''tutti i frutti'', "all fruits"; also hyphenated tutti-frutti) is a colorful confectionery containing various chopped and usually candied fruits, or an artificial or natural flavouring simulating the combined flavou ...
" in New Orleans; it is released in October.
* September 10 – Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
series ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' debuts on the CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
television network.
* September 24 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
suffers a coronary thrombosis
Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...
while on vacation in Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
* September 26 – "America's Sweethearts", singers Eddie Fisher
Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...
and Debbie Reynolds
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...
, marry.
* September 30 – Film actor James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
, aged 24, is killed when his Porsche 550 Spyder
The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...
collides with another automobile at a highway junction near Cholame, California
Cholame (; Salinan: ''Tco'alam'') is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It sits within a mile of the San Andreas Fault at an elevation of above sea level and is located at . Cholame is reached via ...
.
October
* October – First meeting of thelesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
group that becomes the Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was conceived as a social alternative to lesb ...
.
* October 3 – ''The Mickey Mouse Club
''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...
'' airs on the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television network.
* October 4 – The Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
win the World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
, defeating the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
2–0 in Game 7 of the 1955 Fall Classic.
* October 11 – 70-mm film is introduced with the theatrical release of Rodgers and Hammerstein's masterpiece ''Oklahoma!
''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...
''.
* October 20 – Disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
Bill Randle
Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 – July 9, 2004) was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor.
Randle was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio (now WDTK) calle ...
of WERE
''Were'' and ''wer'' are archaic terms for adult male humans and were often used for alliteration with wife as "were and wife" in Germanic-speaking cultures ( ang, wer, odt, wer, got, waír, ofs, wer, osx, wer, goh, wer, non, verr).
In ...
(Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
) is the key presenter of a concert at Brooklyn High School (Ohio)
Brooklyn High School is a public high school located in Brooklyn, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Brooklyn City School District.
The school colors are royal blue and gold. The sports teams are named the Hurricanes or the 'Canes (Hurcs wa ...
, featuring Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
and Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
and opening with Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, not only Elvis's first performance north of the Mason–Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...
, but also his first filmed performance, for a documentary on Randle titled ''The Pied Piper of Cleveland
''The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey'' is an American musical documentary film produced in the fall of 1955 documenting the career of disc jockey Bill Randle. Arthur Cohen directed the film, which was produce ...
''.
* October 27 – The film ''Rebel Without a Cause
''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social co ...
'', starring James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
, is released.
November
* November 1 – A time bomb explodes in the cargo hold ofUnited Airlines Flight 629
United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft also known as "Mainliner Denver", that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage. The explosion occurred over Longmont, Colo ...
, a Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
B airliner flying above Longmont, Colorado
The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
Longmont ...
, killing all 39 passengers and five crew members.
* November 5 – Racial segregation is forbidden on trains and buses in U.S. interstate commerce
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among ...
.
* November 12 – The Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
cartoon '' Roman-Legion Hare'' debuts.
* November 20 – Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
makes his television debut on Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...
's ''Toast Of The Town'' show for the CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
network.
* November 27 – Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American minister who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in Kansas. He gained nation ...
establishes the Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, as ...
in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
.
December
* December 1 – Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...
is arrested for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
.
* December 5
**The American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
merge to become the AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
.
**The Montgomery Improvement Association The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed on December 5, 1955 by black ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama. Under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Edgar Nixon, the MIA was instrumental in ...
is formed in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
and other Black ministers to coordinate the Montgomery bus boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...
by Black people.
* December 14 – Tappan Zee Bridge in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
opens to traffic.
* December 15 – Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
's "Folsom Prison Blues
"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. Written in 1953, it was first recorded in 1955 for his debut studio album '' Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!'' (1957), appearing as the album's eleventh track. T ...
", recorded on July 30, is released by Sun Records.
* December 22 – Cytogeneticist Joe Hin Tjio
Joe Hin Tjio (2 November 1919 – 27 November 2001), was an Indonesian-born American cytogeneticist. He was renowned as the first person to recognize the normal number of human chromosomes on December 22, 1955 at the Institute of Genetics of the ...
discovers the correct number of human chromosomes
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
(46).
* December 31
**General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
becomes the first American corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
**Michigan J. Frog
Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character from the Warner Bros.' ''Merrie Melodies'' film series. Originally a one-shot character, his only appearance during the original run of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series was as the star of ''One Fro ...
, a Warner Bros. cartoon character, makes his debut in ''One Froggy Evening
''One Froggy Evening'' is a 1955 American Technicolor animated musical short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn. The short, partly inspired by a 1944 Cary Grant film entitled '' On ...
''.
Unknown date
* ThePeoria Zoo
The Peoria Zoo (formerly Glen Oak Zoo) is a zoo located in Peoria, Illinois, in the United States. The zoo is owned and operated by the Peoria Park District and is open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and ...
opens in Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
.
* Agricultural tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
s outnumber horses on U.S. farms for the first time.
* Tappan introduce the first domestic microwave oven
A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce t ...
.
Ongoing
*Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
(1947–1991)
* Second Red Scare
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
(1947–1957)
Births
January–June
* January 1 –LaMarr Hoyt
Dewey LaMarr Hoyt Jr. (January 1, 1955 – November 29, 2021) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres from 1979 to 1986. He won the 1983 Americ ...
, baseball player (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* January 2 – Bonnie Arnold
Bonnie Arnold is an American film producer and executive who has worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation. Arnold was born in Atlanta, Georgia and rose to prominence ...
, film producer
* January 3
** Hal Rayle
Hal Rayle (born January 4, 1955) is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies.
Career
Rayle has had a number of voice acting jobs over his career. Rayle's animated series roles include Miss Pi ...
, voice actor
** Jon Tiven
Jon Tiven (born January 3, 1955) is an American composer, guitarist, record producer, and music journalist. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriti ...
, composer
* January 4
** Cecilia Conrad
Cecilia Ann Conrad (born 4 January 1955) is the Chief executive officer, CEO of Lever for Change, emeritus professor of economics at Pomona College, and managing director of the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. S ...
, economist and academic
** Brian Ray
Brian Thomas Ray (born January 4, 1955) is an American session musician, guitarist, bassist, singer–songwriter, and musical director. He is best known for his work as a bass, rhythm, and lead guitarist with Paul McCartney's touring band, ...
, session musician
* January 9
** Michiko Kakutani
Michiko Kakutani (born January 9, 1955) is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998.
Early life ...
, journalist and critic
** J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He ...
, actor
* January 11 – Max Lucado
Max Lucado (born January 11, 1955) is an American author
"Lucado set a record by concurrently placing seven differe ...
, writer on Christian themes
* January 12 – "Lucado set a record by concurrently placing seven differe ...
Rockne S. O'Bannon
Rockne S. O'Bannon is an American television writer, screenwriter and producer, working primarily in the science fiction genre. O'Bannon has created five original television series (''Farscape'', ''seaQuest DSV'', ''Defiance'', ''Cult'', and '' ...
, writer and producer
* January 13 – Jay McInerney
John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', ''Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last of ...
, novelist
* January 18 – Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
, film actor, producer and director
* January 21 – Jeff Koons
Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish su ...
, "kitsch" artist
* January 22 – Neil Bush
Neil Mallon Bush (born January 22, 1955) is an American businessman and investor. He is the fourth of six children of former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (née Pierce). His five siblings are George W. Bush, the 43rd President of ...
, businessman and investor
* January 23 – Ruth Haring, chess player (d. 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
)
* January 24 – Lynda Weinman
Lynda Susan Weinman (born January 24, 1955) is an American business owner, computer instructor, and author, who founded an online software training website, lynda.com, with her husband, Bruce Heavin. Lynda.com was acquired by online business net ...
, author
* January 26 – Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...
, guitarist and innovator (d. 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)
* January 27 – John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. from 2005
* January 28 – Joe Beckwith
Thomas Joseph Beckwith (January 28, 1955May 22, 2021) was an American baseball pitcher who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals from 1979 to 1986. He threw right-hand ...
, baseball player (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* January 29 – Eddie Jordan
Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championshi ...
, basketball player and coach and politician
* January 30
** John Baldacci
John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
During hi ...
, politician, 73rd Governor of Maine
The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.
The current governor of Maine is Ja ...
** Tom Izzo
Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Izzo has led the Spart ...
, basketball player and coach
** Curtis Strange
Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent ...
, American golfer and sportscaster
* February 8 – John Grisham
John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Am ...
, writer of legal thrillers
* February 10 – Lusia Harris
Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 – January 18, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Ass ...
, basketball player (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* February 12 – Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
, bass player and producer
* February 15
** Janice Dickinson
Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)As per Dickinson in NNDB aJanice Dickinson profilegives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography ''No Lifeguard on Duty'' that she ...
, model, agent, and author
** Christopher McDonald, actor
* February 18
** Cheetah Chrome, musician
** Tim Hankinson, soccer coach (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
** Lisa See, novelist
* February 21 – Kelsey Grammer, TV actor
* February 21 – Kevin Carl Scholz, architect, entrepreneur, professor, artist and business owner
* February 23
** Flip Saunders, basketball coach (d. 2015 in the United States, 2015)
** Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange
* February 24 – Steve Jobs, entrepreneur and inventor (d. 2011 in the United States, 2011)
* February 28 – Gilbert Gottfried, actor and stand-up comedian (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* March 2 – Ken Salazar, U.S. Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009
* March 5 – Penn Jillette, magician
* March 17 – Gary Sinise, film & TV actor
* March 19 – Bruce Willis, actor
* March 22 – Pete Sessions, politician
* March 30
** Connie Cato, country music singer
** Rhonda Jo Petty, pornographic actress
** Randy VanWarmer, singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
* April 1 – Terry Nichols, criminal
* April 6 – Michael Rooker, actor
* April 7
** Grace Hightower, philanthropist, actress and singer
** Gregg Jarrett, lawyer-journalist
* April 8
** Ricky Bell (running back), Ricky Bell, American football player (died 1984 in the United States, 1984)
** Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 2011
** Barbara Kingsolver, novelist, essayist and poet
** David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
* April 26 – Mike Scott (baseball), Mike Scott, baseball player
* April 29 – Kate Mulgrew, TV actress
* April 30 – Fred Hiatt, journalist and editor (d. 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
)
* May 2 – Ed Murray (Washington politician), Ed Murray, Democratic politician and former mayor of Seattle
* May 6 – Tom Bergeron, TV game-show host
* May 7 – Ben Poquette, basketball player
* May 9 – Kevin Reed, theologian and author
* May 10 – Mark David Chapman, murderer
* May 16 – Debra Winger, film actress
* May 17
** Bill Paxton, film actor (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017)
** Marc Weiner, comedian, puppeteer, and actor
* May 26 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
* May 29 – John Hinckley Jr., attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan
* May 31
**Bruce Adolphe, pianist, composer, and scholar
**Marty Ehrlich, multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, clarinet, and flute)
* June 7 – Joey Scarbury, singer-songwriter
* June 14 – Michael D. Duvall, businessman and politician
* June 16 – Laurie Metcalf, TV actress
* June 25 – Patricia Smith (poet), Patricia Smith, African-American poet, "spoken-word performer", playwright, author and writing teacher
July–December
* July 1 – Lisa Scottoline, writer of legal thrillers * July 9 – Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina from 2003 * July 18 – Nancy Garrido, kidnapper * July 21 – Howie Epstein, bass player, songwriter and producer (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) (d. 2003 in the United States, 2003) * July 22 – Willem Dafoe, actor * August 2 ** Caleb Carr, novelist and military historian ** Phase 2 (graffiti artist), Phase 2 (Lonny Wood), graffiti artist (d. 2019 in the United States, 2019) * August 4 **Alberto Gonzales, 80th United States Attorney General **Billy Bob Thornton, film actor, director, screenwriter, producer and singer-songwriter * August 13 – Daryl (magician), Daryl, magician (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017) * August 24 – Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas * August 29 – Jack Lew, 76th United States Secretary of the Treasury * August 30 – Marvin Powell, American football player (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017) * August 31 – Edwin Moses, track & field athlete * September 8 – Terry Tempest Williams, writer, educator and activist * September 17 – Charles Martinet, actor and voice actor * September 19 – Rex Smith (entertainer), Rex Smith, actor and singer * September 29 – Joe Donnelly, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019 * October 15 – Emily Yoffe, journalist and advice columnist * October 17 – Tyrone Mitchell, murderer (suicide 1984 in the United States, 1984) * October 20 ** Thomas Newman, film composer ** Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 2007 * October 21 – Tommy Boggs, baseball player (d.2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* October 26 – Michelle Boisseau, poet (d. 2017 in the United States, 2017)
* October 28
** Ronnie Bass, American football player and sportscaster
** Bill Gates, software designer and entrepreneur
* October 30 – Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019
* November 4 – David Julius, physiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* November 5 – Kris Jenner, television personality
* November 6 – Paul Romer, economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
* November 13 – Whoopi Goldberg, African American comic actress
* November 23
** Steven Brust, fantasy author and musician
** Peter Douglas, television and film producer
** Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015
* November 27 – Bill Nye, science communicator, television presenter and mechanical engineer
* November 29 – Robert Jeffress, pastor
* November 30
** Richard Burr, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 2005
** Kevin Conroy, stage, screen and voice actor (d. 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
* December 11
** Gene Grossman, economist and academic
** Stu Jackson, basketball player, coach and manager
* December 16 – Carol Browner, lawyer, environmentalist and businesswoman
* December 19 – Rob Portman, U.S. Senator from Ohio from 2011
* December 21 – Jane Kaczmarek, television actress
* December 26 – Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011
Unknown dates
* Mark Marderosian, cartoonistDeaths
January
* January 1 – Arthur C. Parker, part-Seneca Nation of New York, Seneca archeologist and ethnographer of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans (b. 1881 in the United States, 1881)
* January 20 – Robert P. Tristram Coffin, poet, essayist and novelist (b. 1892 in the United States, 1892)
* January 21 – Archie Hahn, sprinter (b. 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* January 24 – Ira Hayes, Native American U.S. Marine flag raiser on Iwo Jima (b. 1923 in the United States, 1923)
* January 31 – John Mott, YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865 in the United States, 1865)
February
* February 11 – Ona Munson, actress (b. 1903 in the United States, 1903) * February 12 – Thomas J. Moore, Irish-American film actor (b. 1883 in the United States, 1883) * February 20 – Oswald Avery, physician and medical researcher (b. 1877 in the United States, 1877) * February 22 – John T. Walker (USMC), John T. Walker, Marine Corps lieutenant general (b. 1893 in the United States, 1893) * February 27 – Trixie Friganza, actress (b. 1870 in the United States, 1870)March
* March 3 – Katharine Drexel, Roman Catholic saint (b. 1858 in the United States, 1858)
* March 8 – William C. deMille, screenwriter and director (b. 1878 in the United States, 1878)
* March 9 – Matthew Henson, African-American explorer (b. 1866 in the United States, 1866)
* March 12 – Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
, African-American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920 in the United States, 1920)
April
* April 1 – Robert R. McCormick, newspaper publisher (''Chicago Tribune'') (b. 1880 in the United States, 1880)
* April 7 – Theda Bara, silent film actress (b. 1885 in the United States, 1885)
* April 14 – Cleveland Abbott, African-American football player and coach (b. 1894 in the United States, 1894)
* April 15 – Edgar J. Kaufmann, merchant and patron of Fallingwater (b. 1885 in the United States, 1885)
* April 18 – Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist, developer of theory of relativity (b. 1879 in Germany)
May
* May 2 – Truman Abbe, surgeon who received awards for his research on radium in medicine (b. 1873 in the United States, 1873) * May 11 ** Francis Pierlot, actor (b. 1875 in the United States, 1875) ** Bradley Walker Tomlin, painter (b. 1899 in the United States, 1899) * May 14 – Charles Pelot Summerall, general (b. 1867 in the United States, 1867) * May 16 – James Agee, writer (b. 1909 in the United States, 1909) * May 18 – Mary McLeod Bethune, educator (b. 1875 in the United States, 1875) * May 22 – Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, actor (b. 1891 in the United States, 1891) * May 30 – Bill Vukovich, race-car driver (b. 1918 in the United States, 1918)June
* June 5 – Pattillo Higgins, oil pioneer and businessman (b. 1863 in the United States, 1863)
* June 10 – Margaret Abbott, golfer, first American woman to take first place in the Olympics (b. 1876 in India, 1876)
* June 11 – Walter Hampden, film actor (b. 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* June 13 – Nora Trueblood Gause, humanitarian (b. 1851 in the United States, 1851)
* June 17 – Carlyle Blackwell, actor (b. 1884 in the United States, 1884)
July
* July 13 – Stanley Price, film and television actor (b. 1892 in the United States, 1892) * July 23 – Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1871 in the United States, 1871) * July 31 – Robert Francis (actor), Robert Francis, actor (b. 1930 in the United States, 1930)August
* August 2 – Wallace Stevens, poet (b. 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* August 5 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress (b. 1909)
* August 8 – Grace Hartman (actress), Grace Hartman, actress (b. 1907 in the United States, 1907)
* August 11 – Robert W. Wood, optical physicist (b. 1868 in the United States, 1868)
* August 12 – James B. Sumner, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887 in the United States, 1887)
* August 14 – Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (b. 1861 in the United States, 1861)
* August 22 – Olin Downes, music critic (b. 1886 in the United States, 1886)
* August 28 – Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
, murder victim (b. 1941 in the United States, 1941)
September
* September 1 – Philip Loeb, actor (b. 1891 in the United States, 1891)
* September 2 – Stephen Victor Graham, United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
Rear Admiral and 18th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1874 in the United States, 1874)
* September 3 – Georgina Jones (tennis), Georgina Jones, tennis player (b. 1882 in the United States, 1882)
* September 20 – Robert Riskin, screenwriter (b. 1897 in the United States, 1897)
* September 23 – Martha Norelius, Olympic swimmer (b. 1908 in the United States, 1908)
* September 27 – Leslie Garland Bolling, African-American sculptor (b. 1898 in the United States, 1898)
* September 28 – Sarah Blizzard, labor activist (b. 1864 in the United States, 1864)
* September 30
** James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
, film actor (b. 1931 in the United States, 1931)
** Louis Leon Thurstone, pioneer of psychometrics and psychophysics (b. 1887 in the United States, 1887)
October
* October 1 – Charles Christie, film studio owner (b. 1880 in the United States, 1880) * October 8 – Iry LeJeune, Cajun musician (b. 1928 in the United States, 1928) * October 9 – Alice Joyce, actress (b. 1890 in the United States, 1890) * October 19 – John Hodiak, film actor (b. 1914 in the United States, 1914) * October 31 – William Woodward Jr., banker and horse breeder, shot in mariticide (b. 1920 in the United States, 1920)November
* November 1 – Dale Carnegie, writer and lecturer (b. 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* November 4 – Cy Young, baseball player (Cleveland Spiders), member of MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1867 in the United States, 1867)
* November 7 – Tom Powers, actor (b. 1890 in the United States, 1890)
* November 11 – Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross, lyricist and composer (b. 1926 in the United States, 1926)
* November 14 – Robert E. Sherwood, playwright (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* November 15 – Lloyd Bacon, actor and film director (b. 1889 in the United States, 1889)
* November 22 – Shemp Howard, film actor and comedian (The Three Stooges) (b. 1895)
* November 29 – Rene Paul Chambellan, sculptor (b. 1893 in the United States, 1893)
December
* December 1 – Chief Thundercloud, character actor (b. 1899 in the United States, 1899)
* December 6
** George Platt Lynes, photographer (b. 1907 in the United States, 1907)
** Honus Wagner, baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates), member of MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1874 in the United States, 1874)
* December 22 – Otto Eppers, cartoonist (b. 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* December 25
** Thomas J. Preston Jr., professor of archeology at Princeton University; second husband of Frances Cleveland (widow of President Grover Cleveland) (b. 1862 in the United States, 1862)
** Elizabeth Harrison Walker, daughter of President Benjamin Harrison and Mary Dimmick Harrison (b. 1897 in the United States, 1897)
See also
* 1955–56 in American soccer * List of American films of 1955 * Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)References
External links
* {{Year in North America, 1955 1955 in the United States, 1950s in the United States 1955 by country, United States 1955 in North America, United States Years of the 20th century in the United States