Information for the Year 1956

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  • Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of USSR Communist Party, denounces Stalin's excesses (Feb. 24).
  • Morocco gains independence from France (March 1) and Spain (April 7).
  • Workers' uprising against Communist rule in Poland is crushed (June 28-30).
  • Egypt takes control of Suez Canal (July 26).
  • Soviet troops and tanks crush anti-Communist uprisings in Hungary (November).
  • Population:  2.833 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  The prize money had 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section for this year.
  • Autherine Lucy, the first black student at the University of Alabama, is suspended after riots (March 1).
  • U.S. tests the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll with the force of 10 million tons TNT (May 21).
  • President:  Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • Vice President:  Richard M. Nixon
  • Population:   168,903,031
  • Life expectancy:  69.7 years
  • US GDP (1998 dollars):  $438 billion
  • Federal spending:   $70.64 billion
  • Federal debt:   $272.7 billion
  • Median Household Income(current dollars):  $4,780
  • Consumer Price Index:  27.2
  • Unemployment:   4.4%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp:  $0.03
  • Super Bowl  The first Super Bowl was not played until the year 1967.
  • World Series of Baseball  New York Yankees defeated Brooklyn Dodgers.
  • National Basketball Association Championship  Philadelphia Warriors defeated Ft. Wayne Pistons
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  Montreal Canadians defeated Detroit Red Wings
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Shirley Fry defeated A. Buxton (6-3 6-1)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis   Lew Hoad defeated K. K. Rosewall(6-2 4-6 7-5 6-4)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion   Needles
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  San Francisco defeated Iowa (SCORE 63-81)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  Oklahoma (RECORD 10-0-0)
  • 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia
  • 1956 Winter Olympics held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
  • Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world's first rock stars.
  • Kay Thompson's Eloise, the Plaza Hotel's most famous guest, is a bestseller.
  • The Wizard of Oz has its first airing on TV.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  Marty
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year  The first Grammy Awards were not until 1959
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy  The Phil Silvers Show - CBS
  • Miss America:  Sharon Ritchie (Colorado)
  • Felix Wankel (Germany) develops the rotary internal combustion engine.
  • The DNA molecule is first photographed.
  • The neutrino is first observed at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

 

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