Today in History for May 1956

Months in 1956: January February March April June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 55 of 55

1st - A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
2nd - US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus
2nd - US Methodist church disallows race separation
3rd - Frank Loesser's musical "Most Happy Fella" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 678 performances
3rd - A new range of mountains discovered in Antarctica (2 over 13,000')
4th - Queen Juliana unveils National Monument to Dams in Amsterdam
4th - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
5th - 82nd Kentucky Derby: David Erb aboard Needles wins in 2:03.4
5th - Broekster Boys soccer team forms in Damwoude
5th - Jim Bailey (US) runs mile a record 3:58.6 in LA Calif
5th - World championships of judo are 1st held, in Tokyo
6th - Gus Bell (Reds) homers off Bob Miller in both ends of a double header
6th - WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
7th - Battle at Oran, Algeria, kills 300
7th - NY Giant Bill White, homers in his 1st at bat
7th - Pulitzer prize awarded to Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett
8th - John Osbornes "Look Back in Anger," premieres in London
9th - First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.
10th - French government sends 50,000 reservists to Algeria
10th - KFSN TV channel 30 in Fresno, CA (ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting
11th - Pinky Lee Show, last airs on NBC-TV
12th - Bkln Dodger Carl Erskine's 2nd no-hitter, beats NY Giants, 3-0
12th - East Pakistan struck by cyclone & tidal waves
13th - Pachyderm Building at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opens
16th - Egypt recognizes People's Republic of China
16th - Great Britain performs nuclear Test at Monte Bello Is Australia
16th - Kraft Theater presents an act from "Profiles in Courage"
16th - Laker takes 10-88 for Surrey v Australians at the Oval
18th - Hungarian party leader Matyas Rákosi enforces his own policy
18th - Mickey Mantle hits HR from both sides of plate for record 3rd time
18th - Queen Juliana opens Rembrandt fairs in Amsterdam
19th - 82nd Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Fabius wins in 1:58.4
19th - Pirate Dale Long hits 9th-inning HR, 1st HR in 8 straight games
20th - Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll
20th - Jordan government of Samir resigns
21st - Jordan government of Said el-Mufti forms
21st - US explodes 1st airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll
21st - WITI TV channel 6 in Milwaukee, WI (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
22nd - "Bob Hope Show," last airs on NBC-TV
22nd - KRIS TV channel 6 in Corpus Christi, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
23rd - World Trade Center dedicated in Ferry Building, SF
24th - Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbāna.
25th - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Haurietis aquas
26th - Aircraft carrier "Bennington" burns off RI, killing 103
26th - Reds' John Klippstein, Hershel Freemman & Joe Blacks no-hitter, broken up with 2 outs in 10th & lose to Braves in 11th, 2-1
27th - French raid in Algiers
27th - US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
28th - Dale Long becomes 1st to hit HRs in 8 straight games
28th - Eisenhower signs farm bill allows government to store agricultural surplus
29th - Arnold Schoenberg's "Modern Psalm," premieres
29th - WESH TV channel 2 in Daytona Beach-Orlando, FL (NBC) 1st broadcast
30th - Bus boycott begins in Tallahassee Florida
30th - Mickey Mantle misses by 18" hitting 1st HR out of Yankee Stadium
30th - US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
31st - Mickey Mantle HR just misses clearing Yankee Stadium's roof

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 68 of 68

1st - Byron Stewart, Baxter Springs Ks, actor (Warren Coolidge-St Elsewhere)
2nd - David Rhodes, English guitarist
3rd - Marc Bellemare, French Canadian lawyer and politician
4th - Jackie Bertsch, LPGA golfer
4th - Michael L Gernhardt, Mansfield OH, astronaut (STS 69, 83, 94, sk 100)
4th - Ulrike Meyfarth, Frankfurt West Germany, high jumper (Olympic-gold-1972)
4th - David Guterson, American author
4th - Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player
4th - Sharon Jones, Augusta Georgia, soul/funk singer (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
5th - Dick Kemper, Amsterdam Neth, rock vocalist/bassist (Vandenberg)
7th - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
7th - Anne Dudley, British composer
7th - Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host
8th - Jeff Madrigali, Walnut Creek California, soling yachter (Olymp-bronze-96)
9th - Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
10th - Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist (d. 1995)
11th - Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
11th - Alex Lester, British broadcaster
12th - Homer Simpson, fictional character from the long running television show "The Simpsons"
Fictional TV Character Homer Simpson (12th) 12th - Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player
12th - Glenn Robbins, Australian comedian
13th - Aleksandr Yuriyevich Kaleri, Russia, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-14)
13th - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
14th - Gillian [Marucha] Bradshaw, US, sci-fi author (Hawk of May)
14th - Steve Hogarth, Kendal England, vocals (Marillion-Clutching at Straws)
15th - Alice Miller, Marysville CA, LPGA golfer (1985 Nabisco Dinah Shore)
15th - Dan Patrick, American sportscaster
17th - Bob Saget, Phila, comedian (Full House, America's Funniest Home Video)
17th - Sue Carpenter, TV presenter/journalist
17th - Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, Rocky Mount North Carolina, boxer (Olympics-gold-76)
17th - Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist
18th - Joe [Naomichi] Ozaki, Tekushima Japan, golfer (1995 Phoenix Open-8th)
19th - Althea Gwyn, WBL center (NY Stars)
19th - Martyn Ware, rocker (Heaven 17-Electric Dreams)
19th - Steve Ford, actor (Young & Restless)/son of Pres Gerald Ford
20th - Andrew Hilditch, cricketer (Australian opening bat 1979-85)
20th - Tomas Smid, Czech, tennis star
20th - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
20th - Dean Butler, American actor
20th - William Michaelian, American novelist and poet
22nd - Douglas Heyes Jr, LA California, actor (Captains & Kings, Aspen)
22nd - Natasha Shneider, Russian-born musician
23rd - Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
23rd - Mark Shaw, New Zealand rugby footballer
23rd - Buck Showalter, American baseball player and manager
24th - Helen Terry, rocker (Now You're Mine)
24th - Michael Jackson, Northern Irish clergyman
25th - Tatsutoshi Goto, wrestler (WAR/NJPW)
25th - Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer
25th - David P. Sartor, American music composer
26th - Frédéric Dutoit, French politician
27th - Lisa Niemi, Houston Tx, actress (Dirty Dancing, Will Rodgers Follies)
27th - Nick Lowery, NFL kicker (NY Jets)
27th - Steve Pagano, horse trainer
27th - Cynthia McFadden, American television anchor
28th - Germaine Montenesdro, 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives)
28th - Jeff Dujon, cricket wicket-keeper (WI 1981-91, their most successful)
28th - Mark Alexander Lees, rowing Coach
28th - Susie Diane Owens, Arkansas City Kansas, playmate (March, 1988)
28th - Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
29th - LaToya Jackson, singer (If You Feel the Funk)/posed for Playboy
29th - Greg R, rocker (Bad)
29th - La Toya Yvette Jackson, Gary Indiana, singer (Playboy, Millipede)
29th - Larry Blackmon, rocker (Cameo-Alligator Woman)
30th - Jonathan Idema, Poughkeepsie, New York, torturer, kidnapper and con artist (d. 2012)
31st - Bart van Poppel, Dutch bassist/guitarist/singer (Tambourine)
31st - Yoshiko Sakakibara, Chiba Japan, actress (Sailor Moon, Vampire Hunter)
31st - Fritz Hilpert, German musician and sound engineer (Kraftwerk)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 15 of 15

5th - Charles R Gallas, lexicographer (French Dictionary), dies at 88
11th - Walter S Adams, US astronomer/director of Mount Wilson, dies at 79
12th - Hendrik P Marchant, Dutch minister of Education, dies at 87
12th - Louis Calhern, dies at 61
12th - Vladimir Ambros, composer, dies at 65
13th - Aleksandr A Fadejev, Russ author (Young Guard), commits suicide at 54
15th - Austin Osman Spare, English magician (b. 1886)
16th - H. B. Reese, American founder of Reese's (b. 1876)
18th - Maurice Tate, cricketer (39 Tests for England, 155 wickets), dies
20th - Andre Eugene Maurice Charlot, actor (Summer Storm), dies
20th - Max Beerbohm, caricturist/writer (Yet Again), dies
24th - Guy Kibbee, actor (Capt Blood, Babes in Arms), dies at 74
26th - Al Simmons, outfielder (A's)/lifetime batting avg of .334, dies at 54
29th - Albert H Edelkoort, theologist (Christusverwachting), dies at 65
29th - Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (Gewandhausorkest), dies at 73