1958

1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January 1 - Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented.
• January 3 - The West Indies Federation is formed.
• January 4 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957).
• January 8 - 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.
• January 13 - 9235 scientists publish a plea to stop nuclear bomb tests.
• January 18 - Armed Lumbee Indians confront a handful of Klansmen at the town of Maxton, North Carolina.
• January 23 - Following a two-day general strike, dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez of Venezuela was overthrown by a military-popular uprising.
• January 28 - Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.
• January 29 - Police capture Charles Starkweather in Wyoming.
• January 31 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched into orbit.
• January 31 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.

February

• February 1 - Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic\
• February 2 - The word Aerospace is coined, from the words Aircraft (aero) and Spacecraft (space) taking into considering that the earths atmosphere and outerspace is to be one, or a single realm.
• February 5 - Gamel Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic
• February 6 - Munich air disaster - 21 dead, including 7 players for Manchester United
• February 11 - Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign affairs.
• February 11 - Ruth Carol Taylor is 1st African American woman hired as a flight attendant
• February 14 - The Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan unites in the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan with the Iraqi King Faisal II as head of state.
• February 17 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare the patron saint of television
• February 20 - Test rocket explodes in Cape Canaveral
• February 23 - Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio. They release him 28 hours later
• February 23 - Arturo Frondizi wins presidential elections in Argentina
• February 24 - In Cuba, Radio Rebelde, radio of rebels of Fidel Castro, begins broadcasting from Sierra Maestra
• February 25 - Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• February 28 - One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurred at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, killing 27.

March

• March 1 - Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, ninth bishop (fourth archbishop) of the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago, appointed Pro-Perfect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia
• March 2 - A British team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first crossing of the Antarctic in Snow-cat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams in 99 days
• March 8 - USS Wisconsin is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896.
• March 11 - U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people, but no nuclear fission occurs.
• March 17 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite
• March 25 - Canada's Avro Arrow makes its debut flight.
• March 26 - The United States Army launches Explorer III
• March 27 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union

April

• April 3 - Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana
• April 4-April 7 - The first protest march for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from Hyde Park, London to Aldermarston, Berkshire. Demonstrators demand ban of nuclear weapons
• April 4 - The daughter of the actress Lana Turner stabs her mother's gangster lover to death (eventually ruled self-defense).
• April 6 - Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari divorces the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after she is unable to produce any children.
• April 17 - King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the World Fair in Brussels, also known as Expo '58.

May

• May 1 - Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina
• May 12 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada
• May 13 - During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators
• May 15 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3
• May 16 - Short-lived outburst of friendship between Arabs and Europeans in Algiers
• May 18 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph
• May 20 - Fulgencio Batista's government launches counteroffensive against Castro's rebels
• May 21 - United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area. [1]
• May 23 - Explorer I ceased transmission
• May 30 - The bodies of unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

June

• June 1 - Charles De Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months
• June 1 - Iceland extends its fishing limits to 12 miles (22.2 km)
• June 4 - Charles De Gaulle visits Algeria
• June 16 - Imre Nagy is hanged for treason in Hungary
• June 27 - Peronist party becomes legal again in Argentina
• June 29 - Brazil beats Sweden 5-2 to win the 1958 World Cup

July

• July 5 - First ascent of Gasherbrum I, 11th highest mountain in the world
• July 7 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law
• July 10 - 7.5 Richter scale earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, causes a landslide that produces a huge 520-meter high wave
• July 10 - First parking meters installed in Britain
• July 14 - Iraqi Revolution: The Iraqi monarchy is overthrown by Arab nationalists, King Faisal II is murdered and Abdul Karim Qassim assumes power.
• July 15 - In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there
• July 17 - British paratroopers arrive in Jordan; king Hussein has asked help against pressure from Iraq
• July 20 - Various rebel groups in Cuba join forces but communists do not join the deal
• July 24 - The first life peerage is created in Britain
• July 26
  • Explorer program: Explorer IV is launched
  • Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom gives her son Charles the title of Prince of Wales.
• July 29 - The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

August

• August 3 - The nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) became the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water
• August 23 - Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
• August 30-September 1 - Riots between blacks and whites in Notting Hill, London

September

• September 12 - Jack St. Clair Kilby invents first integrated circuit
• September 14 - Two rockets designed by German engineer Ernst Mohr (the first German post-war rockets) reach the upper atmosphere
• September 27 - Typhoon Vera in Honshū, Japan, kills 615
• September 28 - In France, a majority of 79% says yes to the constitution of the Fifth Republic.
• September 30 - U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.

October

• October 1 - Tunisia and Morocco join the Arab League
• October 1 - NASA starts operations and replaces the NACA
• October 2 - Guinea declares itself independent from France
• October 4 - BOAC uses new Comet jets to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.
• October 9 - Pope Pius XII dies.
• October 11 - Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of three project Able space probes, became the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.
• October 28 - Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII as the 259th pope.

November

• November 3 - New UNESCO building inaugurated in Paris
• November 22 - Menzies Government (Australia) re-elected for a 5th Term
• November 23 - Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on radio
• November 25 - French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community
• November 28 - Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community
• November 30 - Gaullists win parliamentary elections in France

December

• December 1 - Central African Republic becomes independent from France.
• December 1 - At least 90 students and 3 nuns are killed in a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago.
• December 5 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. [2]
• December 5 - The Preston bypass, the United Kingdom's first motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. This stretch is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.
• December 9 - The John Birch Society is founded in the USA by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer.
• December 14 - The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility
• December 21 - General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France with 78.5% of the votes.
• December 25 - Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (the George Balanchine version) is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series Playhouse 90.
• December 28 - The Baltimore Colts beat The New York Giants 23-17 in overtime to win The NFL Championship.
• December 29 - Rebel troops under Che Guevara begin to invade Santa Clara in Cuba

unknown dates

• The First Cod War between UK and Iceland
• BBC Radiophonic Workshop created
• During the International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered
• The United States conducts Operation Argus during August and September
• Foundation of Amirkabir University of Technology
• Based on birth rates (per 1,000 population), the post-war baby boom ended in the United States as an eleven-year decline in the birth rate began - the longest on record in that country
• Last legal female circumcision in the United States.
• Denatonium, the bitterest substance known is discovered. It is used as an aversive agent in products such as bleach to reduce the risk of children drinking them.
• Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in the USSR, breaking cold war tensions.
• The Jim Henson Company founded
• The Japanese 10 yen coin ceased having serrated edges after a five year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since and before had smooth edges.

Births

January-February

• January 2 - Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
• January 9 - Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish militant
• January 15 - Boris Tadić, Serbian president
• January 20 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
• January 24 - Jools Holland, British musician
• January 26 - Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedienne
• January 27 - Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer
• January 29 - Judy Norton Taylor, American actress
• February 4 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (d. 2005)
• February 11 - Michael Jackson, British broadcast executive
• February 11 - Regina Maršíková, Czechoslovakian tennis player
• February 13 - Pernilla August, Swedish actress
• February 16 - Ice-T, American singer, songwriter, and actor
• February 21 - Jake Burns, Irish singer (Stiff Little Fingers)
• February 21 - Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
• February 24 - Sammy Kershaw, American musician
• February 26 - Susan Helms,American astronaut

March-April

• March 1 - Nik Kershaw, English singer
• March 3 - Miranda Richardson, English actress
• March 4 - Patricia Heaton, American actress
• March 4 - Lennie Lee British artist
• March 5 - Andy Gibb, English-born singer (d. 1988)
• March 8 - Gary Numan, British singer
• March 10 - Steve Howe, baseball player (d. 2006)
• March 10 - Sharon Stone, American actress
• March 14 - Albert II, Prince of Monaco
• March 18 - Kayo Hatta, American film director (d. 2005)
• March 20 - Holly Hunter, American actress
• March 21 - Gary Oldman, English actor
• April 3 - Alec Baldwin, American actor
• April 10 - Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born pianist
• April 10 - Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, American musician and record producer
• April 12 - Will Sergeant, English guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
• April 15 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician
• April 21 - Andie MacDowell, American actress
• April 22 - Ken Olandt, American actor
• April 24 - Brian Paddick, British police commander
• April 25 - Fish, Scottish singer
• April 28 - Hal Sutton, American golfer
• April 29 - Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress

May-July

• May 12 - Eric Singer, American drummer (KISS)
• May 15 - Ron Simmons, American professional wrestler
• May 23 - Mitch Albom, American author
• May 23 - Drew Carey, American comedian and actor
• May 27 - Neil Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter
• May 29 - Annette Bening, American actress
• June 7 - Prince, American musician
• June 8 - Keenen Ivory Wayans, American comedian, actor, and director
• June 12 - Rebecca Holden, American actress, singer, and entertainer
• June 17 - Jello Biafra, American musician and activist
• June 20 - Chuck Wagner, American actor
• June 27 - Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
• June 30 - Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
• July 2 - Thomas Bickerton, American Methodist bishop
• July 5 - William Watterson, American cartoonist
• July 6 - Jennifer Saunders, British comedienne
• July 7 - Michala Petri, Danish recorder player
• July 8 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
• July 15 - Mac Thornberry, American politician
• July 15 - Austin Hayes, Irish footballer (d. 1986)
• July 16 - Michael Flatley, Irish-born dancer
• July 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (d. 1981)
• July 30 - Kate Bush, British singer and songwriter
• July 31 - Mark Cuban, American entrepreneur and basketball team owner
• July 31 - Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M.)

August-September

• August 1 - Adrian Dunbar, Irish actor
• August 7 - Bruce Dickinson, English musician
• August 15 - Victor Shenderovich, Russian writer
• August 16 - Madonna, American-born singer, songwriter, and actress
• August 16 - Angela Bassett, American actress
• August 17 - Belinda Carlisle, American singer (The Go-Go's)
• August 19 - Anthony Muñoz, American football player
• August 22 - Colm Feore, American-born actor
• August 29 - Michael Jackson, American singer
• September 6 - Jeff Foxworthy, American comedian, actor, author
• September 8 - Mitsuru Miyamoto, Japanese voice actor
• September 14 - Jeff Crowe, New Zealand cricketer
• September 16 - Orel Hershiser, baseball player
• September 19 - Azumah Nelson, Ghanaian boxer
• September 22 - Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor
• September 23 - Danielle Dax, British musician
• September 23 - Marvin Lewis, American football coach
• September 23 - Scott Shaw, American author, actor, and filmmaker
• September 25 - Michael Madsen, American actor
• September 30 - Marty Stuart, American singer

October-December

• October 5 - Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian
• October 13 - Derri Daugherty, American musician (The Choir and The Lost Dogs)
• October 14 - Thomas Dolby, English musician
• October 16 - Tim Robbins, American actor
• October 17 - Alan Jackson, American singer and songwriter
• October 20 - Dave Finlay, Northern Irish professional wrestler
• October 20 - Viggo Mortensen, American actor
• October 27 - Simon Le Bon, English musician (Duran Duran)
• November 1 - Mark Austin, English newsreader (ITN)
• November 2 - Willie McGee, baseball player
• November 16 - Marg Helgenberger, American actress
• November 18 - Laura Miller, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
• November 22 - Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
• November 25 - Kim Ashfield, British model
• November 28 - Dave Righetti, baseball player
• November 30 - Juliette Bergmann, Dutch bodybuilder
• December 1 - Charlene Tilton, American actress
• December 4 - Jeff Wilson, Canadian cartoonist
• December 6 - Nick Park, English filmmaker and animator
• December 9 - Rikk Agnew, American punk rock musician
• December 11 - Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
• December 17 - Mike Mills, American bassist (R.E.M.)
• December 25 - Alannah Myles, Canadian musician
• December 25 - Hanford Dixon, American football player
• December 25 - Rickey Henderson, baseball player
• December 31 - Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

Deaths

January-June

• January 1 - Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
• January 8 - Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)
• January 11 - Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
• January 30 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)
• February 1 - Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
• February 4 - Henry Kuttner, American author (b. 1915)
• February 13 - Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)
• March 21 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (b. 1923)
• March 22 - Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)
• March 25 - Tom Brown, American musician (b. 1888)
• March 26 - Phil Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)
• March 28 - W.C. Handy, American composer (b. 1873)
• April 16 - Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (b. 1920)
• April 19 - Billy Meredith, Welsh footballer (b. 1874)
• May 3 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
• May 19 - Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
• May 29 - Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• June 13 - Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer (b. 1887)
• June 20 - Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• June 26 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (b. 1876)
• June 28 - Alfred Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)

July-December

• July 14 - King Faisal II of Iraq (b. 1935)
• August 14 - Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1900)
• August 22 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• August 24 - Paul Henry, Northern Irish artist (b. 1876)
• August 27 - Ernest Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• October 9 - Pope Pius XII (b. 1876)
• November 15 - Tyrone Power, American actor (n.1914)
• October 17 - Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (b. 1876)
• October 24 - G. E. Moore, British philosopher, author of Principia Ethica (b. 1873)
• November 24 - Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, English politician and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)
• November 27 - Artur Rodziński, Croatian conductor (b. 1892)
• December 8 - Tris Speaker, baseball player (b. 1888)
• December 15 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)

Nobel prizes

• Physics - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Ilya Mikhailovich Frank, Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm
• Chemistry - Frederick Sanger
• Physiology or Medicine - George Wells Beadle, Edward Lawrie Tatum, Joshua Lederberg
• Literature - Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
• Peace - Georges Pire

Fields Medalists

• Klaus Roth, Rene Thom

Ship events

• List of ship launches in 1958
• List of ship commissionings in 1958
• List of ship decommissionings in 1958

External links

• 1958 Coin Pictures

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