Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– The
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...
ends in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
.
*
January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
–
Operation Auca
Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring Christianity to the Waodani or Huaorani people of the rain forest of Ecuador. The Huaorani, also known pejoratively as Aucas (a modificatio ...
: Five U.S. evangelical Christian
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
,
Nate Saint
Nathanael Saint (30 August 19238 January 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.
Early lif ...
,
Roger Youderian
Roger Youderian (January 21, 1924 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.
Early ...
,
Ed McCully
Theophilus McCully (June 1, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four other missionaries, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people, through efforts known as Operation Auca.
Ea ...
,
Jim Elliot
Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary and one of five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador.
Early life
Elliot was born in Portlan ...
and
Pete Fleming
Peter Sillence Fleming (November 23, 1928 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador.
Early life
Fleming was born ...
, are killed for trespassing by the
Huaorani people
The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...
of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, shortly after making contact with them.
*
January 16
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
* 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spear ...
–
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian leader
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
vows to reconquer
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
–
26 – Finnish troops reoccupy
Porkkala
Porkkalanniemi ( sv, Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland.
The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be able to shoot more than half ...
, after
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
– The
1956 Winter Olympics
The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from ...
open in
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
February
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– British
spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.
Spies or The Spies may also refer to:
* Spies (surname), a German surname
* Spies (band), a jazz fusion band
* "Spies" (song), a song by Coldplay
* ...
Guy Burgess
Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection in 1951 ...
and
Donald Maclean resurface in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, after being missing for 5 years.
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
–
25 – The
20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship ...
is held in Moscow.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
* 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
– The
1956 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion.
The 1956 competitions for men, ladies, pair skating, ...
open in
Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...
, West Germany.
*
February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdina ...
–
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 ...
enters the United States music charts for the first time, with "
Heartbreak Hotel
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...
".
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
–
Norma Jean Mortenson
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
legally changes her name to
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
–
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
records her most famous song, "
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), singing it as ...
"; it is from
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
The Man Who Knew Too Much'', in which Day co-stars with
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
–
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
attacks the veneration of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, in a speech "
On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences
"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...
", at a secret session concluding the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This is not officially made public in the Soviet Union at this time but becomes known in the West in June.
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
– The
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
finalizes a draft of the
radiotelephony spelling alphabet
The (International) Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear code words for communicating the letters of the Roman alphabet, technically a ''radiotelephonic spelling ...
, for the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...
.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
–
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
declares its independence from France.
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
*141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
*1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
* 1226 – ...
** The British deport Archbishop
Makarios Macarius is a Latinized form of the old Greek given name Makários (Μακάριος), meaning "happy, fortunate, blessed"; confer the Latin '' beatus'' and ''felix''. Ancient Greeks applied the epithet ''Makarios'' to the gods.
In other languag ...
from
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
to the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
.
** The
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
suppress
mass demonstrations in the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
, reacting to
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
's
de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
policy.
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a t ...
– The
Fairey Delta 2
The Fairey Delta 2 or FD2 (internal designation Type V within Fairey) is a British supersonic research aircraft that was produced by the Fairey Aviation Company in response to a specification from the Ministry of Supply for a specialised aircraf ...
breaks the World Air Speed Record, raising it to or Mach 1.73, an increase of some over the previous record, and thus becoming the first aircraft to exceed in level flight.
*
March 11
Events Pre-1600
* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the venerati ...
– After having opened in London the previous year,
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
's film, ''
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
'', adapted from
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play, has its U.S. premiere in theatres and on
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 ...
-TV on the same day. On television it is not shown in prime time, but as an afternoon
matinée
In the performing arts, film exhibition, and other forms of entertainment, a matinée is a performance or exhibition in the afternoon (or occasionally earlier), as distinguished from the evening.
Matinée may also refer to:
* ''Matinée'' (album) ...
, in a slightly cut version, one of the first such experiments. Olivier is later nominated for an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
for his performance.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– 96
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
men sign the
Southern Manifesto
The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
, a protest against the 1954
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 ...
ruling (''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...
'') that
desegregate
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
d public education.
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
–
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 ...
releases his first
gold album
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
titled ''
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 ...
'' in the United States.
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
* 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
*44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – Odoa ...
– The
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' opens in New York City.
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
*1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends ...
– At age 48, Dutch
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
Bep van Klaveren
Lambertus "Bep" van Klaveren (26 September 1907 – 12 February 1992) was a Dutch boxer, who won the gold medal in the featherweight division at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Van Klaveren remains the only Dutch boxer to have won an Oly ...
contests his last match in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
.
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
–
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
gains independence from France.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– The
28th Academy Awards
The 28th Academy Awards were held on March 21, 1956 to honor the films of 1955, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
At just 90 minutes, '' Marty'' became the shortest film to win Best Picture, as well as the second to have ...
Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. ''
Marty'' is awarded
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
*
March 23
Events Pre-1600
*1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
*1540 – Waltham Abbey Church, Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of ...
–
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
becomes the first
Islamic republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a theoretical form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been u ...
, and a
national holiday National holiday may refer to:
* National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment
*Public holiday, a holiday established by law, usually a day off for at least a portion of the workforce, ...
is observed in the country, including the state of
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
.
April
![2-inch Quad Tape Reel with miniDV cassette](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/2-inch_Quad_Tape_Reel_with_miniDV_cassette.jpg)
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– The first episodes of ''
As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...
'' and ''
The Edge of Night
''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.
It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...
'' are broadcast 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 in the United States.
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Empe ...
– Spain relinquishes
its protectorate in Morocco.
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
–
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...
is elected
President of the National Constituent Assembly of the
Kingdom of Tunisia
The Kingdom of Tunisia (french: Royaume de Tunisie; ar, المملكة التونسية ') was a short-lived country established as a monarchy on 20 March 1956 after Tunisian independence and the end of the French protectorate period. It appear ...
; on April 15 he becomes
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
–
Videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB (modern-day
NAB) convention in Chicago by
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
. It is the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
format known as
2" Quadruplex
2-inch quadruplex videotape (also called 2″ quad video tape or quadraplex) was the first practical and commercially successful analog recording video tape format. It was developed and released for the broadcast television industry in 1956 by ...
.
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
– Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
inaugurates the 4.9 km
2 Chew Valley Lake
Chew Valley Lake () is a reservoir in Chew Stoke, Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom, with an area of . The lake, created in the early 1950s, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. ...
in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, as a reservoir for the
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
area.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
–
Maria Desylla-Kapodistria
Maria Desylla-Kapodistria ( el, Μαρία Δεσύλλα Καποδίστρια, 1898–1980) was the mayor of Corfu from 1956 until 1959. Her election to mayor on 15 April 1956, made her the first woman elected mayor of a city in the history of ...
is elected
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
, becoming the first female mayor in Greece.
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
** British
diver Lionel (Buster) Crabb (working for
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
) dives into
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
Harbour, to investigate a visiting
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
cruiser, and vanishes.
** American actress
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
marries
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...
.
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Former U.S.
First Daughter Margaret Truman
Mary Margaret Truman Daniel (February 17, 1924 – January 29, 2008) was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry S. Truman a ...
marries
Clifton Daniel
Elbert Clifton Daniel, Jr. (September 19, 1912 – February 21, 2000) was an American newspaperman who was the managing editor of ''The New York Times'' from 1964 to 1969. Before assuming the top editorial job at the paper, he served as the ...
.
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
–
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
boxing champion
Rocky Marciano
Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...
retires, without losing a professional boxing match.
May
*
May 1
Events Pre-1600
* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
* 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
* 1169 &ndas ...
–
Minamata disease
Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cas ...
is discovered in Japan.
*
May 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
* 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
* 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...
** The
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
in America decides, at its General Conference, to grant women full
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
status. It also calls for an end to
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
in the denomination.
**
Violet Gibson
Violet Albina Gibson (31 August 1876 – 2 May 1956) was an Irish woman who attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926. She was released without charge but spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital in England.
She was the daug ...
, who attempted to assassinate
Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
in 1926, dies in a mental hospital in England, after a lifetime of imprisonment.
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
** Austria and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
establish diplomatic Austria–Israel relations, relations.
** Netherlands-Indonesian Union, The constitutional union between Indonesia and the Netherlands is dissolved.
** John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' opens at the Royal Court Theatre, London, changing the scope of theatrical and other forms of drama in the UK: the theatre's press release describes the dramatist as among the angry young men of the time.
* May 9 – Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world (in the Nepalese Himalayas) is first ascended, by a Japanese team.
* May 18 – Lhotse main summit, the fourth highest mountain (on the Nepalese–Tibetan border) is first ascended, by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss.
* May 22 – The Logo of NBC, NBC Peacock logo debuts on television in the United States.
* May 23 – French minister Pierre Mendès France resigns, due to his government's policy on Algeria.
* May 24 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is broadcast from Lugano, Switzerland. The winning song is the host country's ''Refrain'' by Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, lyrics by Émile Gardaz).
* May 25 – India announces the institution of diplomatic India–Spain relations, relations with Francoist Spain.
June
* June 1 – Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as foreign minister of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
; he later becomes ambassador to Mongolia.
* June 3 – British Railways rename 'Third Class' passenger facilities 'Second Class'.
* June 4 – Montgomery bus boycott: The related civil suit is heard in federal district court; the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the ruling in November.
* June 5
** The text of
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
's February attack on Stalin's reputation, "
On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences
"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...
", is first published in the Western Bloc, West, in ''The New York Times''.
**
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 ...
performs "Hound Dog (song), Hound Dog" on ''The Milton Berle Show'', scandalizing the American television audience with his suggestive hip movements.
* June 6 – In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall (Singaporean politician), David Marshall resigns, after the breakdown of talks about internal self-government in London.
* June 8 – General Electric/Telechron introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", the first snooze alarm clock ever.
* June 10 – 1956 Summer Olympics: Equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics, Equestrian events open in Stockholm, Sweden (all other events are held in November in Melbourne, Australia).
* June 13
** The International Criminal Police Organization adopts Interpol as its official name.
** Real Madrid C.F., Real Madrid beats Stade Reims 4–3 at Parc des Princes, Paris and wins the 1955–56 European Cup (football).
* June 14 – The Flag of the United States Army is formally dedicated.
* June 15 – Eindhoven University of Technology is founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
* June 18 – The last British troops leave
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
* June 21 – Playwright Arthur Miller appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington, D.C.
* June 23 –
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
becomes the 2nd president of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, a post he holds until his death in 1970.
* June 28
** Poznań 1956 protests: Labour riots in Poznań, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life.
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops fire at a crowd protesting high prices, killing 53 people.
** The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''The King and I'', starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, is released only a few months after the film version of R&H's ''Carousel''. It becomes the most financially successful film version of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical up to this time, and the only one to win an acting Oscar (Yul Brynner wins Best Actor for his performance as the King of Siam). It is also one of two Rodgers and Hammerstein films to be nominated for Best Picture (which it does not win).
* June 29
** Actress
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
marries playwright Arthur Miller, in White Plains, New York.
** President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System in the United States.
* June 30 – 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision: A Trans World Airlines, TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft, in the deadliest civil aviation disaster to date; the accident leads to sweeping changes in the regulation of cross-country flight and air traffic control over the United States.
July
* July 2 – A laboratory experiment involving scrap thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in Bayside, New York, results in an Sylvania Electric Products explosion, explosion.
* July 4 – An American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
* July 8 – The mountain Gasherbrum II, on the border of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and China, is first ascended, by an Austrian expedition.
* July 9 – The 7.7 1956 Amorgos earthquake, Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The shaking and the subsequent tsunami leave 53 people dead.
* July 10 – The British House of Lords defeats the abolition of the death penalty.
* July 13 – John McCarthy (computer scientist), John McCarthy (Dartmouth), Marvin Minsky (MIT), Claude Shannon (Bell Labs) and Nathaniel Rochester (computer scientist), Nathaniel Rochester (IBM) assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of artificial intelligence, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States.
* July 16 – With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows", due to changing economics.
* July 24 – At New York City's Copacabana (nightclub), Copacabana nightclub, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together (their act started on July 25, 1946).
* July 25 – The Italian ocean liner sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship MS Stockholm (1948), SS ''Stockholm'' in heavy fog south of Nantucket island, killing 51.
* July 26 –
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian leader
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.
* July 30 – A joint resolution of United States Congress, Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God we trust" as the U.S. national motto.
* July 31
** Cricket: Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Old Trafford in the fourth Test cricket, Test between England and Australia, taking 19 wickets in a first class match (the previous best was 17).
** Luzhniki Stadium, well known sports venue of Russia and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, officially opens in Moscow.
August
* August 6 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network airs its final broadcast, an episode of its sports series ''Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena''.
* August 7 – Seven ammunition trucks loaded with 1,053 boxes of dynamite Cali explosion, explode in Cali, Colombia. Death estimates range from 1,300 to 10,000, in a city that at this time has 120,000 inhabitants.
* August 8 – 262 miners (chiefly Italian nationals) die in a fire at the Bois du Cazier coal mine, in Marcinelle, Belgium.
* August 9 – Art exhibition ''This Is Tomorrow'' opens at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
* August 12 – Around 5,000 members of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, Romanian Greek-Catholic Church hold a Mass (liturgy), mass outside Cluj-Napoca Piarists' Church to demonstrate that their church, proscribed by the government in 1948, has not ceased to exist as the regime claims.
* August 17 – West Germany bans the Communist Party of Germany.
September
* September 9 –
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 ...
appears on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' in the United States for the first time.
* September 13
** The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team, led by Reynold B. Johnson.
** The Levee, dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.
* September 16 – Television broadcasting in Australia commences.
* September 21 – Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García is assassinated.
* September 25 – The submarine transatlantic telephone cable opens.
* September 27 – The Bell X-2 becomes the first crewed aircraft to reach Mach number, Mach 3.
October
* October 5 – Cecil B. DeMille's epic film ''The Ten Commandments (1956 film), The Ten Commandments'', starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is released in the United States. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.
* October 8 – Baseball pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the only Perfect game (baseball), perfect game in World Series history, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yogi Berra catches the game. Dale Mitchell (baseball), Dale Mitchell is the final out. The New York Yankees win the series in seven games. Larsen is named series Most valuable player, MVP.
* October 10
** Finland joins UNESCO.
** The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the final Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight.
* October 14 – In India:
** Indira Kala Sangeet University, Khairagarh, is inaugurated by Indira Gandhi.
** Dalit Buddhist movement: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Dalit leader, converts to Buddhism, along with 385,000 followers.
* October 15 – The British Royal Air Force retires its last Avro Lancaster bomber.
* October 17
** The world's first industrial-scale commercial nuclear power plant is opened at Sellafield, Calder Hall in England.
** The Game of the Century (chess): 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster Donald Byrne, in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City.
* October 22 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom, France, and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
secretly meet in Sèvres and make plans to invade
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
* October 23 – The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Revolution breaks out against the pro-Soviet government, originating as a student demonstration in Budapest. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact.
* October 26 – Soviet Red Army troops invade Hungary.
* October 29
** Suez Crisis:
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
** Tangier Protocol: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
** The ''Huntley-Brinkley Report'' debuts on
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 ...
-TV in the United States.
* October 31
** Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.
** A United States Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole (arriving by air), and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.
November
* November 1
** The States Reorganisation Act of India reforms the boundaries and names of Indian states. Three new states, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, are formed.
** City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco publishes ''Howl and Other Poems'' by Allen Ginsberg, a key work of the Beat Generation.
** The film ''Oklahoma! (1955 film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), previously released to select cities in Todd-AO, now receives a U.S. national release in CinemaScope, since not all theatres are yet equipped for Todd-AO. To accomplish this, the film has actually been shot twice, rather than printing one version in two different film processes, as is later done.
* November 3
** Khan Yunis massacre (Suez Crisis): Israeli soldiers shoot dead hundreds of Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants in Khan Yunis Camp.
** MGM's film ''The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), The Wizard of Oz'' is the first major Hollywood film running more than 90 minutes The Wizard of Oz on television, to be televised uncut in one evening, in the United States.
* November 4 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: More
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops invade Hungary, to crush the revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
* November 6 – 1956 United States presidential election: Republican Party (United States), Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democratic Party (United States), Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson II, Adlai Stevenson, in a rematch of their contest 1952 United States presidential election, 4 years earlier.
* November 7 – Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately.
* November 11 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Last insurgents succumb to the invading Soviet army.
* November 12 –
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.
* November 13 – ''Browder v. Gayle'': The United States Supreme Court declares illegal the state and municipal laws requiring segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.
* November 14 – An eight-mile long stretch of highway is opened west of Topeka, Kansas, creating the first portion of the Interstate Highway System in the United States and the first highway to be completed with funds from the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.
* November 15 – Middle East Technical University is founded in Ankara, Turkey.
* November 18 – At a reception for Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow,
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
utters his famous phrase "We will bury you".
* November 20 – In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Đilas is arrested after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito.
* November 22 – The 1956 Summer Olympics begin in Melbourne, Australia.
* November 23 – The Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
* November 25 – Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, en route to Santiago de Cuba aboard the yacht ''Granma (yacht), Granma'', with 82 men.
* November 28 – Roger Vadim's drama film ''And God Created Woman (1956 film), And God Created Woman'', released in France as ''Et Dieu ... créa la femme'', propels Brigitte Bardot into the public spotlight as a "wiktionary:sex kitten, sex kitten".
* November 30 – African-American Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight boxing championship that is vacant after the retirement of
Rocky Marciano
Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...
.
December
* December 2
** Fidel Castro and his followers land in Cuba, from the yacht ''Granma (yacht), Granma''.
** A pipe bomb planted by George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, injuring 6 people.
* December 3 – The 1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn.
* December 4 – The Million Dollar Quartet (
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 ...
, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio, for the first and last time in history.
* December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes into Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack, British Columbia. All 62 people aboard, including five Canadian Football League players, are killed.
* December 12 – Japan becomes a member of the United Nations.
* December 18 – ''To Tell the Truth'' debuts 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 ...
-TV in the United States.
* December 19 – British doctor John Bodkin Adams is arrested for the murder of 2 patients in Eastbourne, England; he will be acquitted.
* December 23 – British and French troops leave the Suez Canal region.
* December 31 – Bob Barker makes his television debut, as host of the game show ''Truth or Consequences'' in the United States.
Date unknown
* Influenza A virus subtype H2N2#Asian flu, Asian flu Influenza pandemic, pandemic originates in China.
* The Alpine Club of Canada, Toronto section, is founded.
Births
January
![John Lydon - 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/John_Lydon_-_2010.jpg)
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
** Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
** Kōji Yakusho, Japanese actor
** Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician, IMF Managing Director and European Central Bank, ECB president
** Dzulkefly Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (d. 2015)
** Andy Gill, English musician (d. 2020)
* January 3
** Mel Gibson, American actor and director
** Tomiko Suzuki, Japanese voice actress (d. 2003)
* January 4 – Bernard Sumner, British musician
* January 5
** Ana Pessoa Pinto, East Timorese politician and jurist
** Celso Blues Boy, Brazilian singer and guitarist (d. 2012)
** Chen Kenichi, Japan-born Chinese chef
** Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German politician
* January 7
** David Caruso, American actor
** Uwe Ochsenknecht, German actor
** Johnny Owen, Welsh boxer (d. 1980)
** Miladin Šobić, Montenegro, Montenegrin singer
* January 9
** Kimberly Beck, American actress
** Imelda Staunton, English actress
* January 12 – Nikolai Noskov, Soviet and Russian rock singer and songwriter
* January 13 – Janet Hubert, African-American actress
* January 14 – Ronan Bennett, Northern Irish writer
* January 15 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian convicted murderer, architect deputy minister of construction of North Ossetia-Alania
*
January 16
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
* 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spear ...
– Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
* January 17 – Paul Young, English musician
* January 18
** Tom Bailey (musician, born 1956), Tom Bailey, English musician
** Sharon Mitchell, American sexologist
** Jim Mothersbaugh, American rock drummer
* January 19 – Adriana Acosta, Argentine militant and field hockey player (d. 1978)
* January 20 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian and political analyst
* January 21
** Robby Benson, American actor, voice actor, director, singer and educator
** Geena Davis, American actress
* January 24 – Lounès Matoub, Algerian Berber Kabyle singer (d. 1998)
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– Bronwyn Pike, Australian politician
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
– Pat Musick, American voice actress
* January 27
** Susanne Blakeslee, American actress
** Mimi Rogers, American actress
* January 28 – Peter Schilling, German singer
* January 29
** Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish film director
** Irlene Mandrell, American musician, actress
* January 30 – Keiichi Tsuchiya, Japanese race car driver
* January 31
** John Lydon, British punk musician and TV personality
** Trevor Manuel, South African politician
February
![Jay Nixon 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Jay_Nixon_2016.jpg)
* February 1 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* February 2
** Philip Franks, English actor and director
** Alireza Soleimani, Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler (d. 2014)
* February 3
** Nathan Lane, American actor
** Lee Ranaldo, American musician
* February 6 – Jon Walmsley, British actor
* February 7
** John Posey (actor), John Posey, American actor and writer
** Heather Jones, Australian writer
** Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
* February 10 – Enele Sopoaga, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
** Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist (d. 2018)
** Catherine Hickland, American actress
* February 13
** Peter Hook, British bass player
** Yiannis Kouros, Greek-Australian ultra marathoner
** Jay Nixon, 55th Governor of Missouri
** Paul Stojanovich, American television producer
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– Tom Burlinson, Australian actor
* February 15 – Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer
* February 18
** Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer, songwriter and musician (d. 1997)
** Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player
* February 19
** Kathleen Beller, American actress
** Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
** Dave Wakeling, English musician
* February 20 – François Bréda, Romanian essayist, poet, literary critic, literary historian, translator and theatrologist (d. 2018)
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
** Reinhold Beckmann, German television presenter
** Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, American composer, record producer (d. 2017)
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
** Judith Butler, American philosopher
** Paula Zahn, American television journalist
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
** Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 1995)
** Michel Friedman, German lawyer, politician and talk show host
* February 26
** Michel Houellebecq, French author
** Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician
* February 27
**Angela Aames, American actress (d. 1988)
** Tim Brando, American sports broadcaster
* February 28
** Liem Swie King, Indonesian badminton player
** Thomas Remengesau Jr., 7th and 9th President of Palau
* February 29
** Mike Compton (musician), Mike Compton, American mandolinist
** Bob Speller, Canadian politician
** Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
March
![Ingemar Stenmark, June 2014-P6170012-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Ingemar_Stenmark%2C_June_2014-P6170012-1.jpg)
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
** Tim Daly, American actor and producer
** Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Eduardo Rodríguez (politician), Eduardo Rodríguez, President of Bolivia
* March 3 – Frank Giroud, French comics writer (d. 2018)
* March 5
** Teena Marie, American singer (d. 2010)
** Marco Paolini, Italian stage actor, dramaturge and author
* March 7
** Andrea Levy, English novelist (d. 2019)
** Bryan Cranston, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* March 8 – John Kapelos, Canadian actor
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
*141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
*1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
* 1226 – ...
** Kadyrzhan Batyrov, Kyrgyz businessman and politician (d. 2018)
** Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician
*
March 11
Events Pre-1600
* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the venerati ...
– Rob Paulsen, American voice actor and singer
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
** Lídice da Mata, Brazilian politician
** Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager and former player (d. 2019)
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– Dana Delany, American actress
* March 16
** Boaz Arad, Israeli visual artist (d. 2018)
** Vladimír Godár, Slovak composer
* March 18 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish alpine skier
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
*1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends ...
– Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician (d. 2009)
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
** Minken Fosheim, Norwegian actress and author (d. 2018)
** Catherine Ashton, British politician
** Sabiamad Abdul Ahad, Malaysian sport shooter (d. 2021)
** Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer and director
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
** José Manuel Barroso, Prime Minister of Portugal
** Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
** Win Lyovarin, Thai author
* March 22
** Tyrone Brunson (musician), Tyrone Brunson, American singer (d. 2013)
** Ilana Kloss, South-African born tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World Team Tennis
** Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, consort of Grand Duke Henri
* March 24 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman, CEO of Microsoft (2000–2014), owner of the Los Angeles Clippers
* March 25 – Matthew Garber, English child actor (d. 1977)
* March 28
** Susan Ershler, American mountaineer
** Evelin Jahl, German athlete
* March 29 – Evie (singer), Evie, American Christian musician
* March 30 – Shahla Sherkat, Iranian feminist journalist
April
![Lars von Trier 2014 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Lars_von_Trier_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg)
* April 3
** Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
** Miguel Bosé, Panamanian-born musician and actor
** Boris Miljković, Serbian TV & theatre director and video artist
* April 4
** Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician
** David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
* April 5
** Diamond Dallas Page, American professional wrestler
** El Risitas, Spanish comedian and actor (d. 2021)
* April 6
** Sebastian Spreng, American-Argentinean visual artist
** Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Empe ...
– Christopher Darden, African-American attorney, author, actor and lecturer
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
– Edmund Chong Ket Wah, Malaysian politician (d. 2010)
* April 12
** Andy García, Cuban-American actor
** Herbert Grönemeyer, German musician and actor
** Yasuo Tanaka (politician), Yasuo Tanaka, Japanese politician, novelist
* April 13 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand rally car driver (d. 2003)
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– Barbara Bonney, American soprano
* April 16
** David M. Brown, American astronaut (d. 2003)
** Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
** John James (actor), John James, American actor
** Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
** Karim Abdul Razak, Ghanaian footballer
** Eric Roberts, American actor
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
– Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Phillip Longman, American demographer
* April 22 – Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Finnish conductor
* April 23 – Greg Colson, American artist
* April 26 – Koo Stark, British actress
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– Bryan Harvey (musician), Bryan Harvey, American musician (d. 2006)
* April 28
** Jimmy Barnes, Scottish-Australian singer and songwriter
** Hanka Paldum, Bosnian singer
* April 30 – Lars von Trier, Danish film director and screenwriter
May
![La Toya Jackson cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/La_Toya_Jackson_cropped.jpg)
*
May 1
Events Pre-1600
* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
* 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
* 1169 &ndas ...
** Alexander Ivanov (chess player), Alexander Ivanov, Russian-born American chess grandmaster
** Danilo De Girolamo, Italian voice actor (d. 2012)
* May 4
** David Guterson, American writer
** Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
* May 5 – Lisa Eilbacher, American actress
* May 6
** Vladimir Lisin, Russian business oligarch
** Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
* May 7
** S. Scott Bullock, American actor and voice actor
** Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002–2010)
** Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host (d. 2016)
* May 9
** Cesare Alpini, Italian art historian
** Frank Andersson, Swedish wrestler (d. 2018)
** Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
* May 10
** Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (d. 1995)
** Paige O'Hara, American actress, voice actress, singer and painter
** Bikenibeu Paeniu, 2-Time Prime Minister of Tuvalu
* May 12
** Jānis Bojārs, Latvian shot putter (d. 2018)
** Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricket player and umpire (d. 2022)
* May 13
** Kenneth Eriksson, Swedish rally driver
** Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru
** Mirek Topolánek, 7th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
** Kirk Thornton, American voice actor
* May 15 – Dan Patrick (sportscaster), Dan Patrick, American sports commentator
* May 17
** Cheenu Mohan, Indian actor (d. 2018)
** Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer, motivational speaker and actor
* May 19 – Steven Ford, American actor
* May 20
** Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
** Dean Butler (actor), Dean Butler, American actor and producer
* May 23
** Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
** Buck Showalter, American baseball player and manager
* May 24
** Michael Jackson (bishop), Michael Jackson, Irish Anglican bishop
** Sean Kelly (cyclist), Sean Kelly, Irish road cyclist
* May 26 – Lisa Niemi, American actress and dancer
* May 27 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian film director
* May 28
** Jerry Douglas, American dobro player
** John O'Donoghue (politician), John O'Donoghue, Irish Fianna Fáil politician
** Sayuri Yamauchi, Japanese voice actress (d. 2012)
** John Wells (filmmaker), John Wells, American television producer and writer
* May 29 – La Toya Jackson, American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and television personality
* May 30 – David Sassoli, 16th President of the European Parliament (d. 2022)
* May 31 – Yoshiko Sakakibara, Japanese voice actress
June
![Chris Isaak at NAMM 1 25 2014 -15 (12243161146)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Chris_Isaak_at_NAMM_1_25_2014_-15_%2812243161146%29.jpg)
* June 1
** Chintaman Vanaga, Indian politician (d. 2018)
** Peter Tomka, Judge, International Court of Justice
** Amanda Miguel, Argentinian singer
* June 2 – Mani Ratnam, Indian film director, screenwriter and producer
* June 3 – George Burley, Scottish football manager
* June 4 – Keith David, African-American actor and voice actor
* June 5 – Kenny G, American saxophonist
* June 6
** Yuri Shundrov, Russian-Ukrainian ice hockey goaltender (d. 2018)
** Christopher Adamson (actor), Christopher Adamson, British actor
** Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
* June 7
** Paul Sherwen, English racing cyclist and broadcaster (d. 2018)
** Antonio M. Reid, American record executive
* June 8
** Péter Besenyei, Hungarian pilot
** Udo Bullmann, German politician
** Jonathan Potter, British psychologist
**John Petrizzelli Font, John Petrizzelli, Venezuelan film director
* June 9 – Patricia Cornwell, American novelist
* June 10 – Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg, German head of the House of Mecklenburg
* June 11
** Ashwini Kumar Chopra, Indian journalist, cricketer and politician (d. 2020)
** Joe Montana, American football player
** Arthur Porter (physician), Arthur Porter, Canadian physician (d. 2015)
* June 13 – Yurik Vardanyan, Soviet weightlifter (d. 2018)
* June 14 – King Diamond, Danish heavy metal musician
* June 15 – Robin Curtis, American actress
* June 17 – Kelly Curtis, American actor
* June 20 – Cho Chikun, Korean Go player
* June 21 – Thomas James O'Leary, American actor
* June 22
** Abdulbaset Sieda, Kurdish-Syrian academic and politician
** François Hadji-Lazaro, French actor and musician
** Tim Russ, American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician
* June 23
** Randy Jackson, African-American musician and talent judge
** Mai Yamani, Saudi Arabian independent scholar, author and anthropologist
* June 24 – Turid Leirvoll, Norwegian-Danish politician
* June 25
** Madeleine Petrovic, Austrian politician
** Isabel de Navarre, German figure skating coach
** Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
** Anthony Bourdain, American chef, writer and television personality (d. 2018)
** Chloe Webb, American actress and singer
** Bob West, American voice actor and graphic designer
* June 26
** Catherine Samba-Panza, President of the Central African Republic
** Chris Isaak, American musician
** Davide Ferrario, Italian film director, screenwriter and author
* June 27
** Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Royal Saudi Air Force pilot
** Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player
* June 28 – Noel Mugavin, Australian rules football player
* June 29
** Nick Fry, British motorsport
** Honorato Hernández, Spanish long-distance runner
** Richard Summerbell, Canadian mycologist, author and songwriter
* June 30
** Sun Chanthol, Cambodian politician
** Jessi Lintl, Austrian politician
** David Alan Grier, African-American actor, comedian (''In Living Color'')
** Piero Aiello, Italian politician
July
![Laura Bush and Dorothy Hamill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Laura_Bush_and_Dorothy_Hamill.jpg)
* July 1
** Alan Ruck, American actor
** Gregg L. Semenza, American cellular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* July 2
** Jerry Hall, American model and actress
** Cynthia Kadohata, Japanese-American children's writer
* July 3
**Dorota Pomykała, Polish actress
**Min Aung Hlaing, Burmese Army General
* July 4 – :pt:Bárbara Bruno, Bárbara Bruno, Brazilian actress, director and producer
* July 5
** Sapawi Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay
** Louis Herthum, American actor and producer
** Sheila Walsh (author/singer), Sheila Walsh, Scottish Christian artist and talk-show hostess
* July 7
** Janet Cruz, American politician
** Mullah Krekar, Iraqi Kurdish scholar and militant
** Ryuho Okawa, Japanese religious leader
** Giam Swiegers, South African-Australian business executive
* July 9 – Tom Hanks, American actor and director
* July 10 – K. Rajagopal (footballer), K. Rajagopal, Malaysian football manager and national player
* July 11
** Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American fiction writer
** Sela Ward, American actress
* July 12 – Mel Harris, American actress
* July 13
** Günther Jauch, German television host
** Koffi Olomide, Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer and composer
** Michael Spinks, African-American boxer
* July 14
** Dragan Despot, Croatian actor
** Vladimir Kulich, Czechoslovakian actor
* July 15
** Ian Curtis, English rock musician (Joy Division) (d. 1980)
** Barry Melrose, Canadian hockey player, coach and commentator
** Steve Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
** Toshihiko Seko, Japanese long-distance runner
* July 16
** Jerry Doyle, American talk show host and actor (d. 2016)
** Tony Kushner, American playwright
** Pratibha Singh, Indian politician
* July 17 – Robert Romanus, American actor and musician
* July 18 – Sheila Aldridge, American singer
* July 19
** Peter Barton (actor), Peter Barton, American actor
** Yoshiaki Yatsu, Japanese professional wrestler
* July 20 – Thomas N'Kono, Cameroonian footballer
* July 24
** Charlie Crist, American politician, 44th Governor of Florida
** Pat Finn (game show host), Pat Finn, American game show host and producer
** Carmen Nebel, German television presenter
* July 25 – Frances Arnold, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* July 26
** Andy Goldsworthy, British sculptor and photographer
** Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater, Olympic gold medalist
* July 30
** Delta Burke, American actress
** Anita Hill, African-American lawyer and academic
* July 31
** Michael Biehn, American actor
** Deval Patrick, American politician, first African-American Governor of Massachusetts
** Laura Zapata, Mexican television actress
August
![Kevin Dunn 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Kevin_Dunn_2014.jpg)
* August 2 – Robert Khuzami, Deputy Attorney for the Southern District of New York
* August 4
** Gerry Cooney, American boxer
** Randall Wright, Canadian economist
* August 5
** Bolland & Bolland, Ferdi Bolland, Dutch musician, songwriter and music producer (Bolland & Bolland)
** Maureen McCormick, American actress
* August 6 – Stepfanie Kramer, American actress
* August 7
** Ernie Johnson, Jr., American sportscaster
** Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and environmentalist
* August 8 – Chris Foreman, English rock guitarist
* August 10
** Fred Ottman, American professional wrestler
** Charlie Peacock, American Christian producer, singer-songwriter
* August 12 – Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
* August 14
** Jackée Harry, American actress and television personality
** Rusty Wallace, American NASCAR race car driver
* August 17 – Dave Jones (footballer, born 1956), Dave Jones, English football manager
* August 18 – John Debney, American film composer
* August 19 – Adam Arkin, American actor
* August 20
** Joan Allen, American actress
** Jan Henry T. Olsen, Norwegian politician (d. 2018)
* August 21
** Kim Cattrall, English-born Canadian actress
** David Clarke (sheriff), David Clarke, African-American law enforcement official
* August 22
** Leah Cherniak, Canadian playwright and theatre director
**Sid Michaels Kavulich, American politician and sportscaster (d. 2018)
** Paul Molitor, American baseball player
* August 23
** Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
** Cris Morena, Argentine actress and television producer
* August 24
** John Culberson, American politician
** Kevin Dunn, American actor
* August 25 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (d. 1986)
* August 26 – Mark Mangino, American football coach
* August 28
**Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
**Pamela Eells O'Connell, American television producer and writer
* August 29
** GG Allin, American punk singer (d. 1993)
** Mark Morris (choreographer), Mark Morris, American choreographer
* August 31
** Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
** Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
September
![Linda Hamilton by Gage Skidmore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Linda_Hamilton_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
* September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast, American editor and broadcaster
* September 2
** Nandamuri Harikrishna, Indian actor and politician (d. 2018)
** Angelo Fusco, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
* September 3 – Pat McGeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member (d. 1996)
* September 6 – Bill Ritter, American politician, 41st Governor of Colorado
* September 7 – Michael Feinstein, American singer and pianist
* September 8 – Maurice Cheeks, American basketball player and coach
* September 11 – Phillip D. Bissett, American politician
* September 12
** Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor (d. 2003)
** Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
** Walter Woon, law professor, Nominated Member of Parliament and Attorney-General of Singapore
* September 13 – Ilie Balaci, Romanian football player (d. 2018)
* September 14
** Kostas Karamanlis, Greek politician
** Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach (d. 2018)
* September 15 – George Howard (jazz), George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
* September 16
** Sergei Beloglazov, Russian free-style wrestler
** David Copperfield (illusionist), David Copperfield, American illusionist
** Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)
** Kazuharu Sonoda, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1987)
* September 17
** Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
** Almazbek Atambayev, 3-Time Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and 4th President of Kyrgyzstan
**Susie Silvey, English actress, dancer and model
* September 18 – Tim McInnerny, English actor
* September 20
** Gary Cole, American television, film and voice actor
** Debbi Morgan, African-American actress
* September 21 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
* September 23
** Mait Riisman, Estonian water polo player (d. 2018)
** Peter David, comic book writer and novelist
** Paolo Rossi, Italian soccer player (d. 2020)
* September 24 – Greg Panos, American futurist, writer, inventor
* September 25 – Jamie Hyneman, American television co-host
* September 26 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
* September 29 – Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe, British athlete; co-ordinator of the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Games
* September 30 – Gordon Elliott (journalist), Gordon Elliott, British-Australian television personality and talk show host
October
![Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 2019 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_2019_02.jpg)
* October 1
** Tara Buckman, American actress
** Andrus Ansip, Estonian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
** Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* October 2 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor and director
* October 3 – Ralph Morgenstern, German actor
* October 4 – Christoph Waltz, German-Austrian actor
* October 8
** Danny Jacob, American composer, songwriter and guitarist
** Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
* October 10 – Amanda Burton, Irish actress
* October 11 – Nicanor Duarte, 47th President of Paraguay
* October 12 – Trần Đại Quang, President of Vietnam (d. 2018)
* October 16 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1991)
* October 17
** Mae Jemison, African-American astronaut
** Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author
** Ken Morrow, American ice hockey player
* October 18
** Craig Bartlett, American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director and voice actor
** Martina Navratilova, Czech-American multiple Grand Slam title winning tennis player
* October 19
** Sunny Deol, Indian actor, director, producer and politician
** Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
* October 20
** Shafie Apdal, Malaysian politician
** Danny Boyle, English film director
* October 21 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and novelist (d. 2016)
* October 22 – Marvin Bush, American businessman
* October 23
** Darrell Pace, American archer
** Dwight Yoakam, American country singer, musician and actor
* October 26 – Rita Wilson, American actress and producer
* October 28 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th President of Iran
* October 29 – Wilfredo Gómez, Puerto Rican boxer
November
![WilliamFichtnerApr2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/WilliamFichtnerApr2011.jpg)
* November 4 – Igor Talkov, Russian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1991)
* November 5 – Rob Fisher (British musician), Rob Fisher, British keyboardist and songwriter (Climie Fisher) (d. 1999)
* November 7
** Mikhail Alperin, Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist (d. 2018)
** Judy Tenuta, American comedian and musician (d. 2022)
* November 8
** Richard Curtis, English film director, producer and screenwriter
** Kurt Sorensen, New Zealand rugby league player
* November 10
** Sinbad (comedian), Sinbad, African-American stand-up, comedian and actor
** Mohsen Badawi, Egyptian entrepreneur, political activist and writer
** Peter Rangmar, Swedish actor, comedian and baritone (d. 1997)
* November 11 – Talat Aziz, ghazal singer
* November 13 – Charlie Baker, American politician, 72nd Governor of Massachusetts
* November 14
** Avi Cohen, Israeli football player (d. 2010)
** Greg Pence, American businessman and politician
** Peter R. de Vries, crime reporter (d. 2021)
* November 16 – Terry Labonte, American Race Car Driver
* November 17
** Angelika Machinek, German glider pilot (d. 2006)
** Kelly Ward, American actor
* November 18
** Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (d. 1995)
** Warren Moon, American football player
* November 20
** Jan Maxwell, American actress (d. 2018)
** Bo Derek, American actress and model
** Olli Dittrich, German actor, comedian, television personality and musician
* November 21 – Terri Welles, American actress and adult model
* November 22 – Richard Kind, American actor
* November 23
** Cal Dodd, Irish-Canadian voice actor and singer
** Shane Gould, Australian Olympic triple gold medallist swimmer (1972)
** Nikolay Sidorov, Soviet athlete
* November 24 – Jouni Kaipainen, Finnish composer
* November 26 – Dale Jarrett, American Race Car Driver
* November 27
** Nazrin Shah of Perak, 35th Sultan of Perak
** William Fichtner, American actor
* November 28
** Kristine Arnold, American singer (Sweethearts of the Rodeo)
** Lucy Gutteridge, English actress
* November 29
** Eric Laakso, American football player
** Leo Laporte, American author and television host
** Bill Baker (ice hockey, born 1956), Bill Baker, American ice hockey player
December
![Larrybird](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Larrybird.jpg)
* December 1
** Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emirati politician and royal (d. 2019)
** Markos Kounalakis, American journalist, author and scholar, Second Gentleman of California
* December 4 – Bernard King, American basketball player and commentator
* December 5
** Klaus Allofs, German football player
** Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
* December 6
** Peter Buck, American guitarist
** Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
* December 7
** Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American actor and entertainer (d. 2019)
** Larry Bird, American basketball player
** Iveta Radičová, Prime Minister of Slovakia
* December 9
** Antony Alda, American actor (d. 2009)
** Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French writer
** Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician and mass murderer (d. 1994)
* December 10 – Rod Blagojevich, American politician and convicted felon, Governor of Illinois (2003–2009)
* December 11 – Lani Brockman, American playwright
* December 12
** Ana Alicia, Mexican actress
** Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
* December 13 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese singer
* December 14 – Béla Réthy, German sports journalist
* December 16 – Duncan Faure, South African musician
* December 18 – Ron White, American comedian
* December 19
** Masami Akita, Japanese noise music, noise musician (also known as Merzbow)
** Jimmy Cauty, British musician (The KLF, The Timelords)
* December 21 – Anna Erlandsson, Swedish filmmaker and animator
* December 23
** Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (d. 2001)
** Dave Murray (musician), Dave Murray, British musician (Iron Maiden)
* December 24
** Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
** Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic
* December 26
** Kashif (musician), Michael Jones (aka Kashif), musician, singer-songwriter (B.T. Express) (d. 2016)
** David Sedaris, American essayist
* December 28
** Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
** Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born footballer
** Phil Verchota, American ice hockey player
* December 29 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
* December 30
** Patricia Kalember, American actress
** Sheryl Lee Ralph, African American-actress
* December 31
** Shelagh Rogers, Canadian radio host
** Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djiboutian marathon runner
Date unknown
* Dong Hao, Chinese host, voice actor and painter
* Gilma Jiménez, Colombian politician (d. 2013)
* Nancy Lynn, American aerobatic pilot (d. 2006)
* Ephraim Mirvis, South African-born Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth
* Mirtha Rivero, Venezuelan journalist and writer.
* Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist
* Chris Wilson (Australian musician), Chris Wilson, Australian musician (d. 2019)
Deaths
January
![Konstantin P%C3%A4ts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Konstantin_P%C3%A4ts.jpg)
* January 3
** Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
** Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
* January 5 – Mistinguett, French singer and actress (b. 1875)
* January 9 – Marion Leonard, American actress (b. 1881)
* January 10
**Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (b. 1862)
**Karl Ludwig Schmidt, German theologian (b. 1891)
* January 12
** Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
** Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
* January 13 – Lyonel Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)
* January 14 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (b. 1887)
* January 18 – Konstantin Päts, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
* January 23 – Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)
* January 27 – Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
* January 29 – H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
* January 31 – A. A. Milne, English author (''Winnie The Pooh'') (b. 1882)
February
![Elpidio R Quirino](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Elpidio_R_Quirino.jpg)
* February 2
** Bob Burns (comedian), Bob Burns, American comedian (b. 1890)
** Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
* February 3 – Robert Yerkes, American psychologist and ethologist (b. 1876)
* February 8 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive and manager (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1862)
* February 10 – Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, British marshal of the Royal Air Force (b. 1873)
* February 13 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish logician and philosopher (b. 1878)
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– Walter Cowan, Sir Walter Cowan, British admiral (b. 1871)
* February 18 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
* February 20
** Heinrich Barkhausen, German physicist (b. 1881)
** James Cousins, Irish writer (b. 1873)
* February 26 – Elsie Janis, American singer and actress (b. 1889)
* February 28 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1880)
* February 29 – Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)
March
![WilhelmMiklas37840v](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/WilhelmMiklas37840v.jpg)
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
*141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
*1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
* 1226 – ...
– Arthur Leopold Busch, English-born American submarine pioneer (b. 1866)
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– Bolesław Bierut, Polish Communist politician and statesman, former Prime Minister of Poland, Prime Minister and President of Poland, President of Poland (b. 1892)
* March 14 – David Browning, American Olympic diver (b. 1931)
* March 17
** Fred Allen, American comedian (b. 1894)
** Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
* March 18
** Louis Bromfield, American writer (b. 1896)
** Paul Masson-Oursel, French orientalist and philosopher (b. 1882)
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
** Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer (b. 1889)
** Wilhelm Miklas, 3rd President of Austria (b. 1872)
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Edwin Thanhouser, American actor, businessman, and film producer, founder of the Thanhouser Company (b. 1865)
* March 22
** Eduardo Lonardi, Argentine military officer, (de facto) 30th President of Argentina (b. 1896)
** George Sarton, Belgian-American chemist and historian (b. 1884)
* March 25
** Lou Moore, American racing driver and team owner (b. 1904)
** Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)
* March 28 – Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer (b. 1885)
* March 30 – Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English writer (b. 1875)
* March 31 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-born American race car driver (b. 1884)
April
![Alben Barkley, Vice-President](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Alben_Barkley%2C_Vice-President.jpg)
* April 6 – Pío Valenzuela, Filipino physician and one of the leaders of the Katipunan (b. 1869)
* April 13 – Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter (b. 1867)
* April 15 – Kathleen Howard, Canadian-born American actress and opera singer (b. 1884)
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
– Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886)
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
** Samuel Gottesman, American pulp-paper merchant (b. 1885)
** Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
* April 24 – Henry Stephenson, British character actor (b. 1871)
* April 26 – Edward Arnold (actor), Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
* June 28 – Friedrich Schmidt-Ott, German lawyer, scientific organizer, and science policymaker (b. 1860)
* April 29
** Harold Bride, English-born junior radio officer on RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1890)
** Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal (b. 1876)
* April 30 – Alben W. Barkley, List of Vice Presidents of the United States, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
May
* May 3
** Rodney Collin, British writer (b. 1909)
** Peter Watson (arts benefactor), Peter Watson, English art collector and benefactor (b. 1908)
* May 6 – Fergus Anderson, British motorcycle racer (b. 1909)
* May 12 – Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
* May 15 – Austin Osman Spare, English artist and occultist (b. 1886)
* May 18 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
* May 20
** Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist and caricaturist (b. 1872)
** Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian Olympic swimmer (b. 1881)
* May 23 – Gustav Suits, Estonian poet (b. 1883)
* May 24
**Guy Kibbee, American actor (b. 1882)
**Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
* May 26 – Al Simmons, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1902)
* May 29 – Frank Beaurepaire, Australian Olympic swimmer (b. 1891)
* May 31 – Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist (b. 1875)
June
![Michio Miyagi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Michio_Miyagi.jpg)
* June 2
** Richard S. Edwards, American admiral (b. 1885)
** Jean Hersholt, Danish actor (b. 1886)
* June 4 – Katherine MacDonald, American silent film actress (b. 1891)
* June 6
** Hiram Bingham III, American explorer, discoverer of Machu Picchu (b. 1875)
** Margaret Wycherly, English stage and film actress (b. 1881)
* June 7 – Julien Benda, French philosopher and novelist (b. 1867)
* June 9 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist (b. 1888)
* June 11
** Frank Brangwyn, Anglo-Welsh artist (b. 1867)
** Ralph Morgan, American actor (b. 1883)
* June 17
** Paul Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b. 1892)
** Artur Văitoianu, Romanian general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1864)
* June 19 – Thomas J. Watson, American computer pioneer (b. 1874)
* June 22 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1873)
* June 23 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875)
* June 25
**Ernest King, American Navy Fleet Admiral and Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II (b. 1878)
** Michio Miyagi, Japanese musician (b. 1894)
* June 26 – Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1930)
* June 28 – Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, British civil servant (b. 1869)
July
* July 1 – Tawfik Abu Al-Huda, 4-Time Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1894)
* July 7 – Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)
* July 8 – Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet, novelist (b. 1881)
* July 10 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
* July 11 – John T. Raulston, American Scopes Monkey Trial judge (b. 1868)
* July 12 – Sprague Cleghorn, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
* July 20 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
* July 24 – Géza Zemplén, Hungarian chemist (b. 1883)
* July 29 – Ludwig Klages, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1872)
August
![Alfred Kinsey 1955](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Alfred_Kinsey_1955.jpg)
* August 2 – Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
* August 6 – Ioan Popovici (divisional general), Ioan Popovici, Romanian general (b. 1857)
* August 9 – Archie Cameron, Australian politician (b. 1895)
* August 11
** Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)
** Mincho Neychev, former Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (head of state) of Bulgaria (b. 1887)
* August 14
** Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898)
** Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi German diplomat and foreign minister (b. 1873)
* August 16
** Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born American film actor (''Dracula'') (b. 1882)
** Lynde D. McCormick, American admiral (b. 1895)
* August 19 – Bernard Griffin, English Cardinal, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster (b. 1899)
* August 23 – Peaches Browning, American actress (b. 1910)
* August 24 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese film director (b. 1898)
* August 25 – Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b. 1894)
September
![Somoza 1952 (centr%C3%A9e)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Somoza_1952_%28centr%C3%A9e%29.jpg)
* September 6
** Lee Jung-seob, Korean oil painter (b. 1872)
** Felix Borowski, British-American composer and teacher (b. 1872)
* September 7 – C. B. Fry, English sportsman and writer (b. 1872)
* September 11
** Billy Bishop, Canadian World War I flying ace (b. 1894)
** Lucien Febvre, French historian (b. 1878)
* September 20 – Flora Eldershaw, Australian novelist, critic, and historian (b. 1897)
* September 22 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
* September 27
** Milburn G. Apt, American test pilot (b. 1924)
** Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer (b. 1911)
* September 28 – William E. Boeing, American engineer and airplane manufacturer (b. 1881)
* September 29 – Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (assassinated) (b. 1896)
October
![Risto Ryti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Risto_Ryti.jpg)
* October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer, American songwriter (b. 1878)
* October 2 – George Bancroft (actor), George Bancroft, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 9 – Marie Doro, American stage & silent film actress (b. 1882)
* October 12 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
* October 14 – Jules Richard (mathematician), Jules Richard, French mathematician (b. 1862)
* October 16
** Jules Rimet, French football administrator, 3rd president of FIFA (b. 1873)
** Jack Southworth, English footballer (b. 1866)
* October 17 – Anne Crawford, British actress (b. 1920)
* October 19 – Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
* October 22 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist and suffragette (b. 1872)
* October 25 – Risto Ryti, 23rd Prime Minister of Finland and 5th President of Finland (b. 1889)
* October 26 – Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)
* October 27 – Charles S. Johnson, American sociologist (b. 1893)
* October 30 – Pío Baroja, Spanish novelist (b. 1872)
November
![Juan Negrín](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Juan_Negr%C3%ADn.png)
* November 1
** Pietro Badoglio, Italian field marshal and 28th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1871)
** Tommy Johnson (musician), Tommy Johnson, American musician (b. 1896)
* November 2 – Leo Baeck, German rabbi, scholar and theologian (b. 1873)
* November 3 – Jean Metzinger, French painter, theorist and critic (b. 1883)
* November 5 – Art Tatum, American jazz pianist (b. 1909)
* November 6 – Paul Kelly (actor), Paul Kelly, American stage and film actor (b. 1899)
* November 10
** Harry F. Sinclair, American entrepreneur (b. 1876)
** Victor Young, American composer (b. 1900)
* November 12 – Juan Negrín, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1892)
* November 13 – Werner Haas, German motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
* November 19 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (b. 1903)
* November 22 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and actor (b. 1882)
* November 24
** Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)
** Lionel Whitby, Sir Lionel Whitby, British haematologist and academic administrator (b. 1895)
* November 26 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
* November 27 – Hugo Ballin, American artist, film production designer, and director (b. 1879)
December
![Paasikivi fi01 06a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Paasikivi_fi01_06a.jpg)
* December 2 – Dell Henderson, Canadian actor (b. 1877)
* December 3 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist (b. 1891)
* December 6 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist and politician (b. 1891)
* December 7
** Henry Fillmore, American composer and bandleader (b. 1881)
** Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
* December 9 – Charles Joughin, English-born baker on RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1878)
* December 10 – David Shimoni, Israeli poet and writer (b. 1891)
* December 12 – Ewald André Dupont, German film director (b. 1891)
* December 14 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, twice Prime Minister of Finland and 7th President of Finland (b. 1870)
* December 16
** René Couzinet, French aeronautics engineer and aircraft manufacturer (suicide) (b. 1904)
** Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
* December 17
** Eddie Acuff, American actor (b. 1903)
** Whitford Kane, Irish-born American actor (b. 1881)
* December 21 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist (b. 1877)
* December 23 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Spanish architect (b. 1867)
* December 25 – William Addison Dwiggins, American book designer, type designer, illustrator, author, marionette artist (b. 1880)
* December 26 – Holmes Herbert, English actor (b. 1882)
* December 30 – Ruth Draper, American actress (b. 1884)
Date unknown
* Dumitru Coroamă, Romanian soldier and fascist activist (b. 1885)
*Victoria Hayward (journalist), Victoria Hayward, Bermudan-born travel writer and journalist (b. 1876)
* Lotte Herrlich, female photographer of German naturism (b. 1883)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – William Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Semyonov
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Juan Ramón Jiménez
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Not Awarded
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* London Institute of World Affairs, ''The Year Book of World Affairs 1957'' (London 1957
full text online comprehensive reference book covering 1956 in diplomacy, international affairs and politics for major nations and regions
External links
{{Authority control
1956,
Leap years in the Gregorian calendar