2 January 1960, Saturday (+5,352)

1 January 1960, Friday (+5,351) The independent Republic of the Cameroons was proclaimed.

====================================================================================

31 December 1959,� Thursday (+5,350) Val Kilmer, actor, was born.

30 December 1959, Wednesday (+5,349) Tracey Ullman, actress, was born.

29 December 1959, Tuesday (+5,348) Durgapur steel works, West Bengal, officially opened.

28 December 1959, Monday (+5,347)

26 December 1959, Saturday (+5,345) (1) The first charity walk was organised, in aid of the World Refugee Fund, by Kenneth Johnson of Letchworth, Hertfordshire. The intended route covered 50 miles from Letchworth to Yatesbury in Wiltshire. 20 men and one woman paid 1 shilling to enter; ten gave up after 13 miles, 3 after 22 miles, 1 after 25 miles, 4 at Princes Risborough, and 3, including Johnson, carried on for 50 miles, giving up at Ewelme, Oxfordshire. About �20 was raised.

(2) Bulgarian National Television was founded. Colour broadcasting began in 1970.

25 December 1959, Friday (+5,344) (Syria, Turkey) The USSR agreed to supply financial and technical aid to Syria.

24 December 1959, Thursday (+5,343) Anti-Semitic riots in Cologne.

23 December 1959, Wednesday (+5,342) The Earl of Halifax, politician and Viceroy of India, 1926-31, died.

22 December 1959, Tuesday (+5,341) Bernd Schuster, West German footballer, was born.

20 December 1959, Sunday (+5,339) The first atomic ice-breaker, The Lenin, started operating.

15 December 1959, Tuesday (+5,334) (Aviation) JW Rogers, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 1,525.95 mph.

14 December 1959, Monday (+5,333) Makarios was elected President of Cyprus. he assumed office on 16 August 1960. His Turkish rival Fazil Kucuk became Vice-President.

13 December 1959, Sunday (+5,332) The UN decided not to intervene in Algeria.

12 December 1959, Saturday (+5,331) Despite Paraguay�s closure of its border with Argentina, some 1,000 revolutionaries crossed form Argentina into Paraguay. They penetrated several kilometres before being repulsed. Paraguay�s Government� now declared a State of Emergency. There were six further attempted guerrilla incursions form Argentina during 1960, and unrest in southern Paraguay intensified.

11 December 1959, Friday (+5,330) Lisa Gastineau, US reality show star, was born as Lisa D'Amico in Rockland County, New York

10 December 1959, Thursday (+5,329) (1) In Britain, the Crowther report recommended raising the school leaving age to 16.

(2) US troops began to leave Iceland.

4 December 1959, Friday (+5,323) Paul McGrath, footballer, was born.

1 December 1959, Tuesday (+5,320) Twelve countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, UK, USA, USSR) signed an agreement to preserve Antarctica for peaceful scientific research.

====================================================================================

29 November 1959, Sunday (+5,318) Louise Winter, mezzo-soprano singer, was born

28 November 1959, Saturday (+5,317) The dockyard at Hong Kong closed, after 80 years of operation.

27 November 1959, Friday (+5,316) Viktoria Mullova, violinist, was born

26 November 1959, Thursday (+5,315) Albert Ketelbey, British composer, died on the Isle of Wight.

25 November 1959, Wednesday (+5,314) Charles Kennedy, British politician, was born.

22 November 1959, Sunday (+5,311) Sam M Lewis, US singer, died in New York (born 25 October 1885 in New York)

20 November 1959, Friday (+5,309) Stephen Roche, champion cyclist, was born.

19 November 1959, Thursday (+5,308) The Archbishop of Canterbury said adultery should be a criminal offence.

18 November 1959, Wednesday (+5,307) Ulrich Noethen, German actor, was born.

17 November 1959, Tuesday (+5,306) Two Scottish airports, Prestwick and Renfrew, became the first to offer duty-free goods in Britain.

16 November 1959, Monday (+5,305) The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music opened on Broadway, New York.

15 November 1959, Sunday (+5,304) (Atomic) Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist who invented the cloud chamber for detecting the tracks of subatomic particles, died in Carlops, Peebleshire.

14 November 1959, Saturday (+5,303) (Atomic) The Dounreay fast breeder reactor in Scotland began operating.

13 November 1959, Friday (+5,302) In South Africa, the anti-Apartheid South African Progressive party was founded at a conference in Johannesburg.

12 November 1959, Thursday (+5,301) Vincent Irizarry, US actor, was born.

11 November 1959, Wednesday (+5,300) The film Ben Hur premiered in London.

10 November 1959, Tuesday (+5,299) The UN condemned apartheid and racism.

9 November 1959, Monday (+5,298) Tony Slattery, writer, was born

5 November 1959, Thursday (+5,294) Justin Catanoso, writer, was born.

2 November 1959, Monday (+5,291) (1) London to Birmingham motorway opened. The first stretch of the M1 opened on 1 November 1959. Sightseers flocked to look at it.

(2) Rioting in the Belgian Congo left 70 dead.

1 November 1959, Sunday (+5,290) Jet air services began between London, UK, and Sydney, Australia, run by BOAC.

====================================================================================

31 October 1959, Saturday (+5,289) The first television broadcasts in Africa began, from Ibadan, Nigeria.

30 October 1959, Friday (+5,288) Saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King opened Ronnie Scott�s Jazz Club in Gerrard Street, Soho, London.

29 October 1959, Thursday (+8,940) King Sisavang Vong of Laos died, aged 74, after a reign over 50 years. He was succeeded by his son, King Savang.

28 October 1959, Wednesday (+5,286) South Africa rejected the introduction of television.

27 October 1959, Tuesday (+5,285) The Queen�s Speech promised independence for Cyprus and Nigeria.

25 October 1959, Sunday (+5,283) Nancy Cartwright, voice actress, was born.

23 October 1959, Friday (+5,281) �Weird Al� Yankovic, comedian, was born.

21 October 1959, Wednesday (+5,279) The Solomon R Guggenheim Art Museum, New York, USA, opened.

18 October 1959, Sunday (+5,276) As Chinas stepped up the persecution of the 20 million Christians within its borders, 68-year-old Bishop James E Walsh was arrested. He was imprisoned until 1971.

16 October 1959, Friday (+5,274) George Marshall, US soldier and politician who formulated the Marshall Plan to aid post-War Europe, died in Washington DC.

15 October 1959, Thursday (+5,273) Todd Solondz, film director, was born.

14 October 1959, Wednesday (+5,272) Errol Flynn, British actor, died.

13 October 1959, Tuesday (+5,271) Marie Osmond, singer, was born.

11 October 1959, Sunday (+5,269)

10 October 1959, Saturday (+5,268) State of Emergency in Kenya lifted.

9 October 1959, Friday (+5,267) Henry Tizard, English inventor, died aged 74.

8 October 1959, Thursday (+5,266) UK general election. The Conservatives under Harold MacMillan and his slogan �You�ve never had it so good� won, and Mrs Thatcher was elected an MP. The Conservatives won 365 seats, labour won 258, and the Liberals got 6. Macmillan remained Prime Minister.

7 October 1959, Wednesday (+5,265) The first photographs of the far side of the Moon were transmitted by the Russian spacecraft Lunik III.

6 October 1959, Tuesday (+5,264) Bernard Berenson, US art historian, died in Settignano (born 26 June 1865 in Butremancz, Lithuania)

5 October 1959, Monday (+5,263)

4 October 1959, Sunday (+5,262) Anneka Rice, broadcaster, was born

3 October 1959, Saturday (+5,261) The postcode system for sorting mail was first used in Britain, in Norwich.

2 October 1959, Friday (+5,260)

1 October 1959, Thursday (+5,259) East Germany changed its flag (until now, the same as West Germany�s) to include worker and rural peasant symbols.

====================================================================================

30 September 1959, Wednesday (+5,258) (Aviation) London�s Croydon Airport closed. The last flight was to Rotterdam.

29 September 1959, Tuesday (+5,257) Julius Beresford, rower, died (born 29 June 1868)

28 September 1959, Monday (+5,256) English musician Gerard Hoffnung died in London.

27 September 1959, Sunday (+5,255)

26 September 1959, Saturday (+5,254) Typhoon Vera hit Japan, killing 4,464 on Honshu.

25 September 1959, Friday (+5,253) Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1956, was shot by a Buddhist monk in Colombo, for having concluded a trade deal with China; he died the following day.

24 September 1951, Thursday (+5,252)

23 September 1959, Wednesday (+5,251) Jason Alexander, actor, was born.

22 September 1959, Tuesday (+5,250) The United Nations refused to admit Communist China.

20 September 1959, Sunday (+5,248) The last fly-past of Hurricane aircraft over London to commemorate the Battle of Britain.

17 September 1959, Thursday (+5,245) The Rank Organisation revealed that UK cinema attendance fell from 1.396 million in 1950 to 1.01 million in 1956 and was still falling, due to TV.

16 September 1959, Wednesday (+5,244) Charles de Gaulle, French President, offered Algeria a referendum on independence.

15 September 1959, Tuesday (+5,243) Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev became the head of State of the USSR to be received at the US White House.

14 September 1959, Monday (+5,242) The first man-made object landed on the Moon; the Russian space probe Luna II, near the Mare Serenitatis.

12 September 1959, Saturday (+5,240) Russia launched the lunar probe Luna 2.

10 September 1959, Thursday (+5,238) Colin Gregory, tennis champion, died (born 28 July� 1903).

9 September 1959, Wednesday (+5,237) Susan Cheeseborough, gymnast, was born.

7 September 1959, Monday (+5,235) Kevin Curran, cricketer, was born.

5 September 1959, Saturday (+5,233) Trunk call telephone dialling began in Britain, at Bristol.

1 September 1959, Tuesday (+5,229) Carole Hodges, cricketer, was born.

=====================================================================================

29 August 1959, Saturday (+5,226) India�s PM, Nehru, accused China of violating the frontier twice and of occupying Longju. He sent troops to the India-Tibet border.

28 August 1959, Friday (+5,225) George W Meyer, US composer, died in New York (born 1 January 1884 in New York)

27 August 1959, Thursday (+5,224) Gernhard Berger, racing car driver, was born

26 August 1959, Wednesday (+5,223) Europe was facing fuel shortages due to Egypt�s nationalisation of the Suez Canal and the British Motor Corporation unveiled the Mark 1 Mini this day as a fuel economical car. Production of Minis continued until 2000, when some 5.3 million of them had been manufactured.

24 August 1959, Monday (+5,221) House of Fraser beat Debenhams in a takeover battle for Harrods.

21 August 1959, Friday (+5,218) Hawaii became the 50^th State of the USA.

20 August 1959, Thursday (+5,217) Alfred Kubin, Austrian painter, died near Wernstein (born 10 April 1877 in Bohemia)

19 August 1959, Wednesday (+5,216) Sir Jacob Epstein, sculptor, died in London, England (born 10 November 1880 in New York City).

18 August 1959, Tuesday (+5,215) The British Motor Corporation�s Mini car was launched. At �500 including Purchase Tax, it was short on luxuries, but affordable with a nippy engine and its small size made it was convenient for town driving.

17 August 1959, Monday (+5,214) (Earthquake, USA) Hebgen Lake earthquake, Yellowstone National Park, USA, 7.2 magnitude; 28 died in landslides.

16 August 1959, Sunday (+5,213) Helen Storey, fashion designer, was born.

15 August 1959, Saturday (+5,212) Scott Altman, US astronaut; was born in Lincoln, Illinois

14 August 1959, Friday (+5,211) Earvin �Magic� Johnson, basketball player, was born.

13 August 1959, Thursday (+5,210) Work began on the Verrazano Narrows cable suspension bridge in New York City.

12 August 1959, Wednesday (+5,209) Parents and children rioted in Arkansas over racial segregation in schools.

10 August 1959, Monday (+5,207) Rosanna Arquette, actress, was born.

4 August 1959, Tuesday (+5,201) Barclays Bank became the first to use computers for its branch accounts.

3 August 1959, Monday (+5,200) English baritone singer Simon Keenlyside was born in London.

====================================================================================

31 July� 1959, Friday (+5,197) Andrew Marr, broadcaster, was born.

29 July� 1959, Wednesday (+5,195) Lilias Gower,� croquet champion, died.

28 July� 1959, Tuesday (+5,194) Postcodes were introduced to Britain by the Postmaster General, along with new postal sorting machines. They were used first in the Norwich area on 3 October 1959.

27 July� 1959, Monday (+5,193)

26 July� 1959, Sunday (+5,192) President Nasser of Egypt announced in a speech in Alexandria �I announce from here, on behalf of the United Arab Republic people, that this time we will exterminate Israel�.

25 July� 1959, Saturday (+5,191) The hovercraft, SRN 1, made its first crossing of the English Channel from Dover to Calais in a little over 2 hours.

24 July� 1959, Friday (+5,190) At a trade exhibition in Moscow, USA Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev publically debated the merits of their different political systems, in a model of a typical Ame3rican kitchen.

23 July� 1959, Thursday (+5,189) Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record on Ullswater when he� reached 202.32mph in Bluebird.

21 July� 1959, Tuesday (+5,187) The first nuclear merchant ship, USS Savannah, was launched at Camden, New Jersey, in the USA.� She was launched by Mrs Mamie Eisenhower.

19 July 1959, Sunday (+5,185) Licco Amar, Hungarian violinist, died in Freiburg (born 4 December 1891 in Budapest)

18 July 1959, Saturday (+5,184) English composer Jonathan Dove was born in London.

17 July� 1959, Friday (+5,183) Billie Holliday, US singer, died.

16 July� 1959, Thursday (+5,182) James MacMillan, composer, was born.

15 July 1959, Wednesday (+5,181) Ernest Bloch, Swiss born US composer, died in Portland, Oregon (born 24 July 1880 in Geneva)

13 July� 1959, Monday (+5,179) Richard Leman, hockey champion, was born.

11 July� 1959, Saturday (+5,177) Charles Parker, cricketer, died.

8 July� 1959, Wednesday (+5,174) Pauline Quirke, actress, was born.

7 July 1959, Tuesday (+5,173) Hugh Carleton Green was chosen as the new director-general of the BBC.

6 July� 1959, Monday (+5,172) German artist George Grosz died.

5 July� 1959, Sunday (+5,171) (1) Ghana began a boycott of all South African products.

(2) In the UK, temperatures reached 34 C (94 F), then considered exceptionally hot.

4 July� 1959, Saturday (+5,170) Janette Brittin, cricketer, was born.

3 July� 1959, Friday (+5,169) Julie Burchill, writer, was born.

1 July� 1959, Wednesday (+5,167) A teacher got �900 a year, a nurse was paid �540. At Oxendales in Manchester, a Mastra V.35 camera cost �13 14s 11d (�13.75) and a one-bar electric fire cost �2 6s 3d (�2.31). The average UK house price was �2,500.

====================================================================================

26 June 1959, Friday (+5,162) Queen Elizabeth II and US President Eisenhower opened the St Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic.

25 June 1959, Thursday (+5,161) Eamon de Valera took up office as President of Ireland.

22 June 1959, Monday (+5,158) Michael Kiname, horse racing champion, was born.

18 June 1959, Thursday (+5,154) There was serious rioting in Durban when police moved in on Black settlements. The police were destroying illicit stills discovered during an operation to resettle some 100,000 Black people. Rioting continued throughout June, and 4 Black people died. Property damage was estimated at �250,000. More deaths occurred in September 1959 when police opened fire on rioters.

17 June 1959, Wednesday (+5,153) De Valera resigned as Prime Minister of Ireland, and became President of Ireland. The Tanaiste (Depity Prime Minister), Sean Lemass, became Prime Minister.

16 June 1959, Tuesday (+5,152) George Reeves, actor, died.

14 June 1959, Sunday (+5,150) The US agreed to provide Greece with nuclear information and supply ballistic missiles.

11 June 1959, Thursday (+5,147) The first experimental hovercraft capable of carrying a man was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

9 June 1959, Tuesday (+5,145) The USA launches its first ballistic missile submarine, the George Washington.

6 June 1959, Saturday (+5,142) Josie Lawrence, actress, was born.

4 June 1959, Thursday (+5,140) Cuba nationalised USA sugar mils in its territory.

3 June 1959, Wednesday (+5,139) Singapore achieved self-government. Lee Kuan Yew was Prime Minister.

2 June 1959, Tuesday (+5,138) Lydia Lunch, US singer, was born.

1 June 1959, Monday (+5,137) Martin Brundle, motor racing champion, was born.

====================================================================================

31 May 1959, Sunday (+5,136) Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver, was born.

30 May 1959, Saturday (+5,135) (1) Auckland�s Harbour Bridge on New Zealand�s North Island officially opened.

(2) The first hovercraft flight took place at Cowes, Isle of Wight. The Suffolk boat builder, Christopher Cockerell, had announced its invention in 1958.

29 May 1959, Friday (+5,134) Charles de Gaulle formed a �Government of National Safety� in France.

28 May 1959, Thursday (+5,133) (1) (Olympics) In Munich, the International Olympic Committee voted to withdraw recognition form Nationalist China (Taiwan) and to recognise China if it applied for membership. The US protested and Congress withdrew funding for the Squaw Valley Winter Games.

(2) The Mermaid Theatre opened in the City of London.

27 May 1959, Wednesday (+5,132) Sales of filter tipped cigarettes helped tobacco manufacturers maintain sales after recent reports linking smoking to cancer.

26 May 1959, Tuesday (+5,131) Ed Walsh, US baseball player, died.

25 May 1959, Monday (+5,130) The US Supreme Court ruled that Alabama�s ban on boxing matches between Black and White contestants was unconstitutional.

24 May 1959, Sunday (+5,129) (1) John Foster Dulles (born 1888), US Secretary of State until his resignation due to ill-health in April 1959, died from cancer. He was chief spokesperson for US President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. He believed in a robust �brinkmanship� approach to Soviet threats, reinforcing NATO and creating SEATO. He did not get on with UK prime Minister Anthony Eden, disagreeing in particular with the UK�s policy over Suez. He opposed the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in late 1956, and sometimes failed to anticipate Arab nationalist reactions to external intervention.

(2) Empire day was renamed Commonwealth Day.

(3)� Duvalier suffered a heart attack. There was a brief moment of national rebellion, but he recovered and within a month was fully back in power.

21 May 1959, Thursday (+5,126)

19 May 1959, Tuesday (+5,124) In The Netherlands, a coalition headed by the Catholic Party took power

18 May 1959, Monday (+5,123) Graham Dilley, cricketer, was born.

16 May 1959, Saturday (+5,121) Elisha Scott, footballer, died (born 24 August 1894).

14 May 1959, Thursday (+5,119) David Pugh, theatre director, was born.

7 May 1959, Thursday (+5,112) An agreement was reached enabling Britain to buy components of atomic weapons, as opposed to actual nuclear warheads, from the USA.

6 May 1959, Wednesday (+5,111) The UK protested to Iceland about violence in the Cod War. Icelandic gunboats had fired live ammunition at British trawlers. Iceland said they were just warning shots, but one only missed a trawler by three metres.

5 May 1959, Tuesday (+5,110)

3 May 1959, Sunday (+5,108) Ben Elton, writer, was born.

2 May 1959, Saturday (+5,107) The first nuclear power station in Scotland, at Chapelcross, began operations.

1 May 1959, Friday (+5,106)

====================================================================================

29 April 1959, Wednesday (+5,104) Scottish composer Craig Armstrong was born in Glasgow.

27 April 1959, Monday (+5,102) Mao stepped down as China�s Chief of State, but remained Chairman of the Communist Party.

26 April 1959, Sunday (+5,101) A small band of rebels planning a coup against Panamanian President Ernesto de la Guarda were arrested.

25 April 1959, Saturday (+5,100) (Canal) The St Lawrence Seaway was completed.

23 April 1959, Thursday (+5,098) Britain�s first heliport opened, on the River Thames in London.

21 April 1959, Tuesday (+5,095) The Soviet Union protested to the USA about the stationing of nuclear weapons in West Germany.

20 April 1959, Monday (+5,095) ANC activities were suppressed in Zambia.

19 April 1959, Sunday (+5,094) The Dalai Lama arrived in India.

18 April 1959, Saturday (+5,093) Chinese PM Chou En Lai reported t the Second People�s Congress of gians of some 65% in industrial and farm output during 1958, an �unprecedented leap forward� in the first year of China�s second Five Year Plan. However Chinese output growth relied too much on labour and had insufficient capital investment to maintain� the pace of growth.

17 April 1959, Friday (+5,092) Sean Bean, actor, was born.

15 April 1959, Wednesday (+5,090) Castro made a State visit to the USA.

13 April 1959, Monday (+5,088) French oncologist Georges Mathe reported on his first ever attempted bone marrow transplant.

10 April 1959, Friday (+5,085) Japanese heir-apparent Akihito became the first crown prince to marry a commoner in the 2,619 year history of the Japanese Throne.

9 April 1959, Thursday (+5,084) Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed New York�s Guggenheim Museum, died aged 89.

5 April 1959, Sunday (+5,080) English pianist Julius Drake was born in London.

1 April 1959, Wednesday (+5,076) German conductor Christian Thielemann was born in Berlin

====================================================================================

31 March 1959, Tuesday (+5,075) The Dalai Lama escaped to India. Tibet lost its independence to China in 1951.

30 March 1959, Monday (+5,074) Sabine Meyer, German clarinet player, was born.

29 March 1959, Sunday (+5,073) Easter Sunday. Barthelemy Boganda, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, was born.

28 March 1959, Saturday (+5,072) (1) China dissolved the government of Tibet.

(2) Two monkeys returned alive to earth after being sent into space by the USA.

27 March 1959, Friday (+5,071) Soviet fighter aircraft buzzed US aircraft in the air corridor connecting West Berlin to West Germany.

26 March 1959, Thursday (+5,070) Jersey Zoological Park opened.

25 March 1959, Wednesday (+5,069) John Jeffrey, rugby player, was born.

24 March 1959, Tuesday (+5,068) Iraqi President Kassem announced his withdrawal from the Baghdad Pact, set up in 1955 to counter the spread of Communism in the Middle East.

23 March 1959, Monday (+5,067) Nine coal miners were killed in an explosion at Brimstone, Tennessee.

22 March 1959, Sunday (+5,066) Chris Snode, diving champion, was born.

19 March 1959, Thursday (+5,063) China stepped up its shelling ot the Lama�s Palace, killing many of his supporters camped around it.

17 March 1959, Tuesday (+5,061) (1) The UK Government announced plans for a major expansion of the road network.

(2) Chinese troops fired two shells at the Lama�s palace; at 10pm that day the Lama fled the palace disguised as a soldier.

16 March 1959, Monday (+5,060) The USSR lent money to Iraq.

15 March 1959, Sunday (+5,057) Ben Okri, author, was born

14 March 1959, Saturday (+5,058) Prince Albert II of Monaco was born.

13 March 1959, Friday (+5,057) Revolt began in Tibet against Chinese rule. After fighting in Lhasa, the Tibetan Kashag (Cabinet) unanimously denounced the 1951 treaty under which China took control of Tibetan foreign and military affairs. The rebellion was crushed by 27 March, and the Dalai Lama fled to India where he was granted asylum.

12 March 1959, Thursday (+5,056)

11 March 1959, Wednesday (+5,055) Haydn Wood, British composer, died in London (born 25 March 1882 in Slathwaite, Yorkshire)

10 March 1959, Tuesday (+5,054) Thousands of Tibetans protested in the streets of Lhasa over the influx of Chinese settlers, which had begun when Chinese troops entered eastern Tibet in October 1950.

9 March 1959, Monday (+5,053) (1) A doll named Barbara Millicent Roberts, or Barbie for short, was exhibited at the New York Toy Fair, wearing a black and white swimming costume.

(2) Chinese officials in Tibet ordered the Dalai Lama to go alone to the Chinese military headquarters the next day. This order raised suspicions and the Lama�s supporters formed a human shield around him the following day.

8 March 1959, Sunday (+5,052)

7 March 1959, Saturday (+5,051) Tom Lehman, golfer, was born.

6 March 1959, Friday (+5,050) Fred Stone, US actor, died in Hollywood (born 19 August 1873 in Valmont, Colorado)

4 March 1959, Wednesday (+5,048)

3 March 1959, Tuesday (+5,047) In Nyasaland (Malawi) Hastings Banda and other leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress were arrested.

2 March 1959, Monday (+5,046) A ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House was held at Bennelong Point, Sydney

1 March 1959, Sunday (+5,045) Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus, after almost three years exile.

====================================================================================

28 February 1959, Saturday (+5,042) Maxwell Anderson, US playwright, died in Stamford, Connecticut (born 15 December 1888 in Atlantic, Pennsylvania)

27 February 1959, Friday (+5,042) Frederic Durieux, French composer, was born

26 February 1959, Thursday (+5,042) State of Emergency in Southern Rhodesia.

25 February 1959, Wednesday (+5,041) Norway and Israel signed an agreement providing Israel with heavy water, crucial to Israel's atomic program.

24 February 1959, Tuesday (+5,040) Stanley Shoveller, hockey champion, died (born 2 September 1881).

23 February 1959, Monday (+5,039) The European Court of Human Rights sat for the first time.

22 February 1959, Sunday (+5,038) As part of the Cyprus Agreement, Britain released all EOKA prisoners in Cyprus.

21 February 1959, Saturday (+5,037) Harold MacMillan, British Prime Minister, and Selwyn Lloyd, Foreign Secretary, visited the USSR.

20 February 1959, Friday (+5,036) Disturbances in the British territory of Nyasaland (now Malawi).

19 February 1959, Thursday (+5,035) (Greece-Turkey) Greece and Turkey agreed on plans for the independence of Cyprus.

18 February 1959, Wednesday (+5,034) (Arts) Erich Zeisl, US composer, born 18 May 1905, died.

17 February 1959, Tuesday (+5,033) (Space exploration) The Earth satellite Vanguard 2 was launched by the USA, to take photos of the Earth.

16 February 1959, Monday (+5,032) (Cuba) Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista. At age 32, he was the youngest ever leader of Cuba. See 1 January 1959.

15 February 1959, Sunday (+5,031) Archbishop Makarios arrived in London for talks on Cyprus with Macmillan.

14 February 1959, Saturday (+5,030) The US Weather Bureau released a report that concluded "that the world is in the midst of a long-term warming trend", based on data gathered in Antarctica. Dr. H.E. Landsberg, director of the bureau's office of climatology, said that the cause of the global warming was unknown, but added "One theory is that the change is man-made, that a blanket of carbon dioxide given off by the burning of coal and oil retards the radiation of heat by the earth.".

13 February 1959, Friday (+5,029) The first Barbie Doll went on sale, priced at US$3 (�2), in a zebra-stripe swimsuit. She was created by Ruth Handler, whose daughter was called Barbara.

11 February 1959, Wednesday (+5,027) Iran broke off talks with the USSR after it accepted an offer of economic and defence aid from the USA. On 32 March 1959 the Shah revoked the 1921 treaty allowing the USSR to send troops into Iran.

9 February 1959, Monday (+5,025) The UK supplied arms to Indonesia.

7 February 1959, Saturday (+5,023) (South Africa) Daniel Francois Malan, Prime Minister of South Africa 1948-54 and creator of apartheid, died at Stellenbosch, Cape Province, South Africa, aged 84.

6 February 1959, Friday (+5,022) (Computing) The microchip was patented for Jack Kilby for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas.

3 February 1959, Tuesday (+5,019) Buddy Holly, US musician, was killed in an air crash in Iowa.

1 February 1959, Sunday (+5,017) Swiss referendum turned down votes for women.� But see 7 February 1971.

====================================================================================

31 January 1959, Saturday (+5,016) Kelly Lynch, actress, was born.

30 January 1959, Friday (+5,015) Britain�s first drive-in bank opened.

27 January 1959, Tuesday (+5,012) William Batten, rugby player, died (born 26 May 1889).

25 January 1959, Sunday (+5,010) The Second Vatican Council began work on reforming and modernising the Catholic Church..

23 January 1959, Friday (+5,008) Wilhelm Ludwig, zoologist and geneticist, died in Leipzig (born 20 October 1901).

22 January 1959, Thursday (+5,007) Two thirds of British home snow had a television. The Rank Organisation, on 17 September 1959, said cinema attendance in Britain fell from 1.396 million in 1950 to 1.101 million in 1956 and was still in decline.

21 January 1959, Wednesday (+5,006) In the USA, bus passengers were officially integrated (racially) but the segregationist Governor of Georgia asked for �voluntary� bus segregation to continue. Segregation continued on buses across much of the southern USA.

19 January 1959, Monday (+5,004)

17 January 1959, Saturday (+5,002) Senegal and French Sudan united to form Mali.

16 January 1959, Friday (+5,001) Sade, singer, was born.

12 January 1959, Monday (+4,997) A US$ 400 million contract for the Mercury US space programme was awarded to the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St Louis.

9 January 1959, Friday (+4,994) The film �Rawhide�, starring Clint Eastwood, premiered on CBS TV.

8 January 1959, Thursday (+4,993) (1) Fidel Castro entered Havana in triumph, see 2 December 1956.

(2) Charles de Gaulle was installed as first President of the 5^th Republic.� See 21 December 1958.

7 January 1959, Wednesday (+4,992) (Food) Jean-Michel Lorain, French chef, was born.

6 January 1959, Tuesday (+4,991) More rioting in the Belgian Congo; the root cause was poverty and unemployment. Belgium agreed to make reforms.

5 January 1959, Monday (+4,990) The Chepstow to Monmouth and Ross on Wye railway closed.

4 January 1959, Sunday (+4,989) Rioting in the Belgian Congo.

3 January 1959, Saturday (+4,988) Alaska became the 49^th state of the USA. It is the USA�s largest state.

2 January 1959, Friday (+4,987) The Russians launched Lunik 1, the first rocket to pass near the Moon, from Tyuratam.

1 January 1959, Thursday (+4,986) Right-wing President Fulgencio Batista of Cuba was overthrown and fled to the Dominican Republic. Fidel Castro, aged 32, proclaimed a new Government. See 16 February 1959. Castro executed his opponents and legalised the Communist Party.

====================================================================================

31 December 1958, Wednesday (+4,985) (1) President Sukharno proclaimed a state of Emergency in Sumatra.

(2) There were fears that a drug prescribed for morning sickness, thalidomide, might be causing birth defects.

28 December 1958, Sunday (+4,982) Terry Butcher, footballer, was born.

24 December 1958, Wednesday (+4,978) Nicholas Brodszky, Russian-born composer, died in London.

22 December 1958, Monday (+4,976) In The Netherlands, a coalition headed by the Catholic Party took power.

21 December 1958, Sunday (+4,975) De Gaulle was elected the first President of the Fifth Republic, with 78% of the vote.� He now had the strong Presidency he had desired in 1945 (see 13 November 1945). �See 29 May 1958.

19 December 1958, Friday (+4,973) English cellist Steven Isserlis was born in London

15 December 1958, Monday (+4,969) The last steam locomotive was made at Crewe. This was the 7,331^st locomotive made at Crewe.

14 December 1958, Sunday (+4,968) The Antarctic �pole of inaccessibility�, the point furthest from all coasts, was reached by a Soviet tractor traverse.

13 December 1958, Saturday (-4,967) Ahmed Mukhtar Baban, premier of Iraq, was executed

12 December 1958, Friday (+4,966) William Higgs, horse racing champion, died (born 8 February 1880).

11 December 1958, Thursday (+4,965) Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) gained autonomy from France.

10 December 1958, Wednesday (+4,964) The first domestic jet airliner service within the US began, operated by National Airlines between New York and Miami.

9 December 1958, Tuesday (+4,963) Rikk Agnew, US guitarist, was born in Newport Beach, California.

8 December 1958, Monday (+4,962) The last of the four nuclear reactors at Calder Hall began operating.

7 December 1958, Sunday (+4,961) Romulo Betancourt was elected President of Venezuela

6 December 1958, Saturday (+4,960) Jose Collins, British actress, died in London (born 23 May 1887 in London)

5 December 1958, Friday (+4,959) (1) The first STD telephone exchange in the UK opened.� It was in Bristol, and was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II calling up the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

(2) The UK�s first stretch of motorway, 6 � miles of the M6 at Preston, was opened by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. It took two years to build at a cost of �3,750,000.

4 December 1958, Thursday (+4,958) Tim Hutchings, athletics champion, was born.

3 December 1958, Wednesday (+4,957) Indonesia nationalised Dutch businesses.

1 December 1958, Monday (+4,955)

=====================================================================================

28 November 1958, Friday (+4,952) Kriss Akabusi, athletics (hurdles) champion, was born.

27 November 1958, Thursday (+4,951) The Soviet Union demanded an end to the 4-power occupation arrangements of Berlin and the entire city to become a demilitarised zone.

26 November 1958, Wednesday (+4,950) Tiny Bradshaw, US singer, died in Cincinatti (born 23 September 1905 in Youngstown, Ohio)

25 November 1958, Tuesday (+4,949)

22 November 1958, Saturday (+4,946) Jamie Lee Curtis, actress, was born

21 November 1958, Friday (+4,945) Work began on the Forth Road Suspension Bridge, then the longest suspension bridge in the UK. It was completed in 1964.

20 November 1958, Thursday (+4,944)

19 November 1958, Wednesday (+4,943) Isabella Blow, fashion magazine editor, was born (died 7 May 2007)

18 November 1958, Tuesday (+4,942) Shirley Strong, athlete (hurdles), was born.

17 November 1958, Monday (+4,941) In Sudan, Lieutenant. General Ibrahim Abboud seized control of government in an orderly coup. He made himself PM, suspended the Constitution and abolished all political parties. He was deposed in a coup in 1964.

15 November 1958, Saturday (-4,939) US actor Tyrone Power died.

4 November 1958, Tuesday (+4,928) In the USA, Democrats won the mid-term elections, gaining 62 seats in the Senate (Republicans 34 seats). The Democrats gained 281 seats in the� House of Representatives (Republicans 153 seats).

3 November 1958, Monday (+4,927) Harry Revel, US composer, died in New York (born 21 December 1905 in London)

2 November 1958, Sunday (+4,926) Last British troops left Jordan.

1 November 1958, Saturday (+4,925) Charlie Kaufman, writer, was born.

===================================================================================

31 October 1958, Friday (+4,924) Ake Senning, Swedish doctor, in Stockholm implanted the first internal heart pacemaker.

30 October 1958, Thursday (+4,923)

28 October 1958, Tuesday (+4,921) (1) Cardinal Roncalli, aged 81, was elected Pope John XXIII, succeeding Pope Pius XII. Pope Pius XII died on 9 October 1958.

(2) In Britain, the State Opening of Parliament was televised for the first time.

27 October 1958, Monday (+4,920) The first edition of the BBC programme Blue Peter was broadcast.

26 October 1958, Sunday (+4,919) Two new air services began this day. The New York to London route was operated by BOAC, and the New York to Paris route was operated by Pan Am.

25 October 1958, Saturday (+4,918) US troops withdrew from Lebanon (see 15 July� 1958), now a stable Lebanese Government was in place.

24 October 1958, Friday (+4,917) The USSR loaned Egypt 400 million roubles to build the Aswan Dam.

23 October 1958, Thursday (+4,916) Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced The Smurfs.

22 October 1958, Wednesday (+4,915) Bobby Blotzer, US rock drummer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

21 October 1958, Tuesday (+4,914) Women took seats in the UK House of Lords for the first time.

20 October 1958, Monday (+4,913) Military coup in Thailand, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, commander of the nation�s armed forces, seized control in a bloodless coup. The next day he abolished political Parties and began arresting Communists.

19 October 1958, Sunday (+4,912) The 1958 World Fair closed in Brussels. It attracted 40 million visitors, the main centrepiece being The Atomuim, which remains today.

18 October 1958, Saturday (+4,911) Two Americans, Shirley Sanders and Robert Kardell, married in a church in Hollywood, the first couple to be matched by computer.

16 October 1958, Thursday (+4,909)

14 October 1958, Tuesday (+4,907) Madagascar became independent.

13 October 1958, Monday (+4,906) Fidel Castro warned that any Cuban participating in the general electiosn scheduled for 3 November would be guilty of treason, and that candidates faced execution unless they withdrew by 30 October.

12 October 1958, Sunday (+4,905) Bryn Merrick, British musician (The Damned),was �born in Barry, Wales (died 2015)

11 October 1958, Saturday (+4,904) The BBC sports programme Grandstand was first transmitted.� It was the idea of Paul Fox.

10 October 1958, Friday (+4,903) J Peck, US� actor, was born.

9 October 1958, Thursday (+4,902) Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) died at Castel Gandolfo, the Papal summer residence, 27 kilometres south-east of Rome, aged 82. In Belfast, Protestants objected when the City Hall flag was flown at half-mast.

8 October 1958, Wednesday (+4,901) Ray Lemke opened the first Nissan (Datsun) dealership in the USA.

7 October 1958, Tuesday (+4,900) Following unrest in Pakistan, President Iskander Mirza proclaimed martial law and suspended the Constitution.

6 October 1958, Monday (+4,899) (Taiwan) China announced a 1-week cessation of its shelling of Taiwan. After talks between the USA and Chiang Kai Shek, the Chinese Nationalists announced on 23 October 1958 that they would not use force to try and regain the Chinese mainland.

5 October 1958, Sunday (+4,898) In France the Fifth Republic was formed.

4 October 1958, Saturday (+4,897) BOAC, now British Airways, began the first transatlantic jet air service, with two de Havilland Comet IV jets. Flight time was a record 6 hours 11 minutes.

3 October 1958, Friday (+4,896) The wife of a British soldier was shot in the back whilst shopping in Famagusta, Cyprus. After this British soldiers rounded up 650 Greek Cypriots and beat up 250 of them.

2 October 1958, Thursday (+4,895) (1) Marie Stopes, promoter of birth control, died (born 1880).

(2) Guinea was proclaimed an independent republic.

(3) The TV series The Twilight Zone premiered on CBS created by Rod Serling.

1 October 1958, Wednesday (+4,,894) Tunisia joined the Arab League.

=====================================================================================

30 September 1958, Tuesday (+4,893) The USSR has tested 2 nuclear devices in its far north Arctic, ending the test ban announced by the Soviets 6 months earlier.

29 September 1958, Monday (+4,892) Robert Mason Carlisle, US singer, was born.

28 September 1958, Sunday (+4,891) In France, a referendum gave a 4 to 1 majority approval for the institutions of the new 5th Republic. De Gaulle won the elections of November 1958.

27 September 1958, Saturday (+4,890) Neil Adams, judo player, was born.

26 September 1958, Friday (+4,889) Kenneth Sansom, footballer, was born.

25 September 1958, Thursday (+4,888)

23 September 1958, Tuesday (+4,886) General Fuad Chehab, also a Maronite Christian, succeeded Chamoun as President of Lebanon. He formed a Government of 4 Christians, 3 Muslims and one Druse, controlled the insurgency, and US troops departed by late October 1958.

22 September 1958, Monday (+4.885) Andrea Bocelli, tenor singer, was born.

21 September 1958, Sunday (+4,884) Simon Mayo, broadcaster, was born

20 September 1958, Saturday (+4,883) The USSR performed a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya

19 September 1958, Friday (+4,882) The FLN formed a provisional Government in Algeria

18 September 1958, Thursday (+4,881) John Aldridge, footballer, was born.

17 September 1958, Wednesday (+4,880) Fidel Castro began an offensive against the Batista regime in Cuba.

16 September 1958, Tuesday (+4,879) Hugo MacNeill, rugby player, was born in Dublin, Ireland.

15 September 1958, Monday (+4,878) Wendie Sperber, US comedian and actress, was born.

14 September 1958, Sunday (+4,877) Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany, visited French Prime Minister De Gaulle at his home in Colombey les deux Eglises to discuss Franco-German relations.

13 September 1958, Saturday (+4,876) Bobby Davro, English comedian and actor, was born.

12 September 1958, Friday (+4,875) The Governor of Arkansas closed all High Schools in Little Rock.

11 September 1958, Thursday (+4,874) Robert W Service, Scottish-born Canadian poet, died (born 1874).

10 September 1958, Wednesday (+4,873) David Jack, footballer, died (born 3 April 1899)

9 September 1958, Tuesday (+4,872) Charles Macartney, Australian cricketer, died aged 72

8 September 1958, Monday (+4,871) Race riots in Notting Hill, London. White youths attacked five Black people, leading to 150 arrests and gang fights involving up to 2,000 people.

7 September 1958, Sunday (+4,870) Nikita Kruschev stated that any attack by the US on China would be regarded as an attack on the USSR.

6 September 1958, Saturday (+4,869) William Valentiner, art historian, died in New York (born 2 May 1880 Karlsruhe)

5 September 1958, Friday (+4,868)

3 September 1958, Wednesday (+4,866) Hendrik Verwoerd became Prime Minister of South Africa.

2 September 1958, Tuesday (+4,865) (1) South African President Hendrik Verwoerd promised to strengthen Apartheid.

(2) The first television station in China opened in Beijing.

1 September 1958, Monday (+4,864) British trawlers defied the Icelandic 12-mile fishing limit, which came into force this day.

====================================================================================

31 August 1958, Sunday (+4,863) Fighting between Black and White youths in Notting Hill, London.

30 August 1958, Saturday (+4,862) The police clashed with 500 �Teddy Boys� in Nottingham.

29 August 1958, Friday (+4,861) Michael Jackson, pop star, was born in Gary, Indiana.

28 August 1958, Thursday (+4,860) Ernest O Lawrence, US nuclear scientist, died aged 57.

27 August 1958, Wednesday (+4,859) Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut, was born.

26 August 1958, Tuesday (+4,858) Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer, died aged 85.

25 August 1958, Monday (+4,857) Midland Bank was the first bank to announce it would offer personal loans, from September 1958.

24 August 1958, Sunday (+4,856) J G Strijdom, Prime Minister of South Africa, died 65. He was succeeded by Hendrik Verwoerd on 3 September 1958.

23 August 1958, Saturday (+4,855) The Egyptian Government approved the Aswan Dam project.

22 August 1958, Friday (+4,854) Vernon Reid, musician, was born.

21 August 1958, Thursday (+4,853)

19 August 1958, Tuesday (+4,851) The first motorist in Britain was caught speeding by a radar speed trap. They were fined �3.

18 August 1958, Monday (+4,850) Vladimir Nabokov�s controversial novel Lolita was published in the USA.

17 August 1958, Sunday (+4,849) Britain announced plans to resume Atom Bomb testing on Christmas Island.

16 August 1958, Saturday (+4,848) Madonna, US singer, was born.

15 August 1958, Friday (+4,847) William Lee Conley, US blues singer, died in Chicago (born in Scott Missouri, 26 June 1893)

12 August 1958, Tuesday (+4,844) Andre Bauchant, French na�ve painter, died in Montoire sur Loire (born 24 April 1873 in Indre et Loire)

10 August 1958, Sunday (+4,842) (Russia) Khrushchev opened what was then the largest hydroelectric project in the world, on the Volga near Kuibyshev. The dam contributed to a fall in the level of the Caspian Sea.

9 August 1958, Saturday (+4,841) The USA reaffirmed its refusal to recognise Red China.

8 August 1958, Friday (-4,840) Columbia Records signed up a 17-year-old singer called Cliff Richard.

7 August 1958, Thursday (+4,839) The Litter Act came into force in Britain.

6 August 1958, Wednesday (+4,838) US athlete Glenn Davis broke his own world record by 0.3 seconds (49.2 seconds) in the 400m hurdles in Budapest, Hungary.

5 August 1958, Tuesday (+4,837) The nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus completed its voyage beneath the ice of the North Pole.� William Anderson commanded it. Launched in January 1954, she left Pearl Harbour on 23 July� 1958 and sailed through the Bering Strait, passing the North Pole on 3 August 1958, emerging near Greenland on 5 August 1958. The Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 to become a floating museum.

4 August 1958, Monday (+4,836) Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, died (born 1883)

3 August 1958, Sunday (+4,835) Peter Collins, motor racing champion, died (born 8 November 1931).

2 August 1958, Saturday (+4,834) Chi Chia-wei, Taiwanese gay rights activist, was born in Taiwan

1 August 1958, Friday (+4,833) King Hussein dissolved the federation of Jordan with Iraq.

====================================================================================

31 July� 1958, Thursday (+4,832) Kham tribesmen in eastern Tibet rebelled against Chinese rule.

30 July� 1958, Wednesday (+4,831) Alexander Albrecht, composer, died aged 72.

29 July� 1958, Tuesday (+4,830) NASA, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, was founded.

28 July� 1958, Monday (+4,829) Attempted coup on Papa Doc Duvalier, as a band of 5 Americans and 2� Haitian military officers landed� near Port Au Prince, hoping to rally the population in a revolution. All the band were killed by loyalist troops and the incident strengthened the position of Duvalier.

27 July� 1958, Sunday (+4,828) Christopher Dean, ice skater, was born.

26 July� 1958, Saturday (+4,827) Queen Elizabeth II created her eldest son Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.

25 July� 1958, Friday (+4,826) Thurston Moore, US guitarist, was born in Coral Gables, Florida.

24 July� 1958, Thursday (-4,825) The first life peerages were awarded in Britain, under the Life Peerages Act.

22 July� 1958, Tuesday (+4,823)

17 July� 1958, Thursday (+4,818) British troops landed at Mafrak, 50 miles north of the Jordanian capital Amman, in order to protect the monarchy in that country. King Abdullah of Jordan was, like the assassinated King Faisal of Iraq (14 July� 1958) a Hashemite, and there was resistance also in Jordan, like Iraq, from Bedouins who saw the Hashemite rulers as colonial impositions. Further British troops arrived by sea at Aqaba. China and the USSR protested. King Abdullah attempted to appease his Arab neighbours by removing the British troops. Nevertheless King Abdullah�s plane was attacked by Syrian fighters whilst he was on route to a holiday in Europe, and he was ordered to land at Damascus. King Abdullah ignored this order and returned to Amman. Bad relations between Syria and Jordan continued.

16 July� 1958, Wednesday (+4,817) Michael Flatley, dancer, was born.

15 July� 1958, Tuesday (+4,816) US troops landed near Beirut to protect US lives and property during rioting.

14 July� 1958, Monday (+4,815) A left-wing coup overthrew the Iraqi monarchy. The West feared a Middle Eastern domino effect.

10 July� 1958, Thursday (+4,811) London�s first parking meters were installed, in Mayfair. 625 were put in. The charge was 6d for 1 hour, 1 s for 2 hours, an excess payment of 10 s for the next 2 hours or part thereof, and a �2 penalty for exceeding 4 hours.

8 July� 1958, Tuesday (+4,809) Kevin Bacon, actor, was born.

7 July� 1958, Monday (+4,808) Joseph Merkel, designer of Merkel cars, died.

6 July� 1958, Sunday (+4,807) Jennifer Saunders, comedienne and director, was born.

3 July� 1958, Thursday (+4,804) The last debutantes were presented to the Queen. British high society mourned the passing of this tradition; the Queen had decided this had no place in modern society.� Presentation at Court had been reserved for the daughters of the aristocracy and those prominent in society.� Those who made their curtsies to the Queen were sponsored and chaperoned by those who had been presented themselves earlier.� But some socially ambitious parents had fallen on hard times to finance the fees and expenses of qualified chaperones.� Prince Philip was reported to have suggested the move.

1 July� 1958, Tuesday (+4,802) A farm worker earned �7 10s (�7.50) per week and a train driver got �11 2s 6d (�11.13) a week. The Rolls Royce �Phantom V cost �8,905, and a Mars Bar cost 6d (2.5p).

====================================================================================

30 June 1958, Monday (+4,801) Tamils in Sri Lanka demanded autonomy.

28 June 1958, Saturday (+4,799)

27 June 1958, Friday (+4,798) Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg was born in Helsinki.

26 June 1958, Thursday (+4,797) George Gunn, cricketer, died (born 13 June 1879)

25 June 1958, Wednesday (+4,796) Charles Spencelayh, British painter, died in Northampton (born 27 October 1865 in Rochester)

24 June 1958, Tuesday (+4,795)

22 June 1958, Sunday (+4,793) Rodion Catamaru, Romanian footballer, was born.

21 June 1958, Saturday (+4,792) Ford T Dabney, US composer, died in New York (born 15 March 1883 in Washington DC)

20 June 1958, Friday (+4,791) Kurt Alder, chemist, Nobel prize winner, died.

19 June 1958, Thursday (+4,790)

18 June 1958, Wednesday (+4,789) Douglas Jardine, cricketer, died (born 23 October 1900).

17 June 1958, Tuesday (+4,788) (1) Ex-Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy was executed after a secret trial, two years after the suppressed Hungarian Revolution.

(2) French troops withdrew from most of Tunisia.

16 June 1958, Monday (+4,787) Yellow lines indicating no waiting were painted along British roads.

15 June 1958, Sunday (+4,786) Fran�ois de Vries, Dutch economist, died aged 74

14 June 1958, Saturday (+4,785) France announced it was withdrawing its troops from Morocco.

13 June 1958, Friday (+4,784) Peter Scudamore, champion jockey, was born.

11 June 1958, Wednesday (+4,782) Hugo Sanchez, Mexican footballer, was born.

9 June 1958. Monday (+4,780) Gatwick Airport was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. (see 6 June 1936). The new facilities cost �7 million.

7 June 1958, Saturday (+4,778) British physician Ian Donald published a paper on the first use of ultrasound for diagnosis.

4 June 1958, Wednesday (+4,775) To the dismay of those who wanted the FLN crushed, Charles de Gaulle appeared to offer the prospect of reconciliation in Algeria.

3 June 1958, Tuesday (+4,774) British Railways re-designated Third Class accommodation as Second Class.

2 June 1958, Monday (+4,773) French President Charles de Gaulle was granted emergency powers for three months in respect to the Algeria crisis.

1 June 1958, Sunday (+4,772) Iceland extended its fishing limits from 4 to 12 miles.

====================================================================================

31 May 1958, Saturday (+4,771) The Kremlin and Washington agreed to hold talks on a ban on atmospheric atom bomb tests.

30 May 1958, Friday (+4,770) Annette Bening, actress, was born.

29 May 1958, Thursday (+4,769) De Gaulle was voted into power in France, to deal with the crisis in Algeria. See 21 December 1958.

28 May 1958, Wednesday (+4,768) Pierre Pflimlin resigned as French leader.

27 May 1958, Tuesday (+4,767) A State of Emergency was declared in Sri Lanka.

26 May 1958, Monday (+4,766) Paul Dodge, rugby player, was born.

25 May 1958, Sunday (+4,765) (TUN) Further French bombing of Tunisia (see 8 February 1958), The two countries were now on the brink of war. See also 17 June 1958.

23 May 1958, Friday (+4,763) (1) (China) China, under Mao, began its Great Leap Forward. Peasant farmers were grouped into huge communes of many thousands of families. Farming families were encouraged to build makeshift steel furnaces using household scrap metal, fuelled by firewood. This was disastrous as time was taken away from food production and the �steel� produced was very substandard. Crops rotted in the fields and some 14 � 40 million people starved to death. This was humiliating for Mao and he eased up on the Reforms until his Cultural Revolution in 1966. After Mao�s death in 1976, leaders such as Deng Xiaoping sought to correct his excesses by breaking up the communes and introducing market reforms.

(2) Christopher Cockerell patented the hovercraft.

19 May 1958, Monday (+4,759) (Military) The Joint North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, was officially established by the USA and Canada. NORAD had already been operating for some 8 months on a verbal agreement between the two countries.

18 May 1958, Sunday (+4,758) Toyah Wilcox, singer, was born.

17 May 1958, Saturday (+4,757) Ivor Bolton, conductor, was born.

16 May 1958, Friday (+4,756) (Aviation) W Irwin, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 1,404.09 mph.

15 May 1958, Thursday (+4,755) The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3 into Earth orbit.

14 May 1958, Wednesday (+4,754) In France, Pierre Pflimlin, Popular Republican, formed a government.

13 May 1958, Tuesday (+4,753) Rioting by French settlers in Algeria led to the French army seizing power.

10 May 1958, Saturday (+4,750)

9 May 1958, Friday (+4,749) Muslims in Lebanon rebelled against President Chamoun, a Maronite Christian, who favoured closer ties with Europe and the USA, whereas the Muslims, who made up around half of Lebanon�s population, wanted closer ties to nearby Arab nations.

8 May 1958, Thursday (+4,748) (1) The Supreme Religious Centre for World Jewry was established in Jerusalem.

(2) Segregationists caused unrest in Little Rock, Arkansas, when Ernest Green became the first Black American to graduate from public school. US President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the National Guard to restore civil order.

7 May 1958, Wednesday (+4,747) (Aviation) HC Johnson, USA, set a new aviation altitude record of 91,244 feet.

6 May 1958, Tuesday (+4,746) (Medical) Olivier H�l�non, French radiologist, was born

5 May 1958, Monday (+4,745) Women in Tunisia were allowed to vote in municipal elections for the first time.

4 May 1958, Sunday (+4,744) Alberto Lleras Camargo was chosen as President of Colombia

3 May 1958, Saturday (+4,743) President Eisenhower proposed a demilitarised Antarctic.

2 May 1958, Friday (+4,742) State of Emergency declared in Aden.

1 May 1958, Thursday (+4,741) (TVBroadcasts) Television broadcasting began in the People's Republic of China as Peking Television at 7:00pm local time with experimental two-hour broadcasts in Beijing. The station moved to three hours 30 minutes of regular nightly programming on September 2, 1958, and continued on that schedule for 20 years.

=====================================================================================

30 April 1958, Wednesday (+4,740) (ALG) Conclusion of a 4 day meeting in Tangier by representatives from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. They recommended forming an Algerian Government in Exile, and to work towards a North African Federation.

29 April 1958, Tuesday (+4,,739) Michelle Pfeiffer, actress, was born.

26 April 1958, Saturday (+4,736) Marquess of Bute, racing driver, was born.

21 April 1958, Monday (+4,731) Dom Mintoff, Labour Prime Minister of Malta, found Britain�s terms for integration unacceptable. The British Governor-General,� Sir Robert Laycock, assumed control, and declared a State of Emergency on 30 April 1958 after demonstrations in Valetta.

20 April 1958, Sunday (-4,730) Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian hockey champion, was, born in Moscow, Russia.

19 April 1958, Saturday (+4,729) William Meredith, footballer, died (born 30 July� 1874).

18 April 1958, Friday (+4,728) Maurice Gamelin, French Army General, died aged 85.

17 April 1958, Thursday (+4,727) Laslo Babits: Canadian javelin thrower was born (died 2013).

16 April 1958, Wednesday (+4,726) The EEC, the European Economic Community, was set up. The original six countries were France, Italy, West Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. See 10 August 1952.

15 April 1958, Tuesday (+4,725) Estelle Taylor, US actress, died aged 64.

14 April 1958, Monday (+4,724) In Poland, Gomulka announced that strikes were now illegal, and intensified Communist control of Trades Unions.

10 April 1958, Thursday (+4,720) Israeli US pianist Yefim Bronfman was born in Tashkent.

8 April 1958, Tuesday (+4,718) President Eisenhower of the USA proposed mutual inspections as a means of enforcing the mutual Test Ban.

7 April 1958, Monday (+4,717) The first CND march from London arrived at Aldermaston. It had left Hyde Park on 4 April 1958.

6 April 1958, Sunday (+4,716) Easter Sunday.

5 April 1958, Saturday (+4,715) Castro began 'total war' against the Cuban dictator, Batista.

4 April 1958, Friday (+4,714) The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held its first protest march this Good Friday. Members marched from Hyde Park Corner to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, arriving on 7 April 1958. 600 members completed the 50-mile march and 12,000 attended the final rally.

3 April 1958, Thursday (+4,713) (1) (ALG) France has now lost 6,000 men in the Algerian rebellion. The rebels have lost 62,000 men.

(2) Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.

2 April 1958, Wednesday (+4,712) The USA embargoed arms shipments to Cuba.

1 April 1958, Tuesday (+4,711) Economy class was introduced on transatlantic air routes.

=====================================================================================

31 March 1958, Monday (+4,710) General election in Canada. The Progressive Conservatives won a large majority, 208 seats, against the Liberals with 49 seats, and the Co-operative Commonwealth Foundation with 8 seats. John Diefenbaker remained Prime Minister.

30 March 1958, Sunday (+4,709) Gilles Andruet, French chess player, was born.

29 March 1958, Saturday (+4,708) Sir William Burrell, Scottish shipping merchant and philanthropist, died aged 96.

28 March 1958, Friday (+4,707) William Christopher Handy, US composer, died aged 84.

27 March 1958, Thursday (+4,706) (Cuba) The Havana Hilton Hotel opened. Costing US$ 21 million, it was renamed the Havana Libre in 1959.

26 March 1958, Wednesday (+4,705) Philip Mead, cricketer, died (born 9 March 1887).

25 March 1958, Tuesday (+4,704) Tom Brown, US dixieland jazz trombonist, died aged 69.

24 March 1958, Monday (+4,703) Elvis Presley was sworn in as a US private. He was paid $78 as a regular. He had been given a 60-day deferment to make the film �King Creole�.

23 March 1958, Sunday (+4,702) Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist, was born.

22 March 1958, Saturday (+4,701) Michael Todd, film producer, died.

21 March 1958, Friday (+4,700) (1) The Shah of Iran announced on TV that he was divorcing his wife of seven years, Queen Soraya, because she had not given him an heir. She moved to Paris and became an actress.

(2) London Planetarium opened in Marylebone Street, the first planetarium in Britain.

20 March 1958, Thursday (+4,699) Holly Hunter, actress, was born.

19 March 1958, Wednesday (+4,698)

17 March 1958, Monday (+4,696) The US launched the Vanguard I satellite, the first with solar batteries.

16 March 1958, Sunday (+4,695) (1) Mothers who worked full-time were condemned as enemies of family life by the Bishop of Woolwich.

(2) Ford built its 50 millionth car.

13 March 1958, Thursday (+4,692)

11 March 1958, Tuesday (+4,690) Unemployment in the USA reached 5.2 million.

10 March 1958, Monday (+4,689) Sharon Stone, actress, was born.

9 March 1958, Sunday (+4,688) Yemen merged with the United Arab Republic to form the United Arab States.

8 March 1958, Saturday (+4,687) Gary Numan [Webb], British new wave rock musician ("Cars"), was born in Hammersmith, England

7 March 1958, Friday (+4,686) Rick Mayall, actor in The Young Ones, was born.

6 March 1958, Thursday (+4,685) The TUC and the Labour party called for H-Bomb tests to stop.

5 March 1958, Wednesday (+4,684) Syria accused King Saud of organising a plot to overthrow the Syrian regime and destroy the union of Syria and Egypt.

4 March 1958, Tuesday (+4,683) Albert Kuyle, writer, died aged 54.

3 March 1958, Monday (+4,682) Miranda Richardson, actress, was born.

2 March 1958, Sunday (+4,681) The British Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Dr Vivian Fuchs, completed the first surface crossing of Antarctica. The group of 12 travelled 2,158 miles from Shackleton Station on the Weddell Sea to Scott Station on the Ross Sea in 99 days.

1 March 1958, Saturday (+4,680) English mezzo soprano singer Yvonne Howard was born in Stafford.

====================================================================================

26 February 1958, Wednesday (+4,677) Paul Ackford, rugby player, was born.

21 February 1958, Friday (+4,672) Duncan Edwards, footballer, died (born 1 October 1936).

17 February 1958, Monday (+4,668) (1) France and Tunisia agreed to mediation by the UK and USA.

(2) The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CND, was launched by Bertrand Russell and Canon John Collins.

16 February 1958, Sunday (+4,667) Ice-T, rapper and songwriter, was born.

15 February 1958, Saturday (+4,666) Chrystine Brouillet, Quebec novelist, was born.

14 February 1958, Friday (+4,665) The Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan was proclaimed.

13 February 1958, Thursday (+4,664) Suffragette, Dame Christobel Pankhurst, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, died (born 1880).

12 February 1958, Wednesday (+4,663) General Miguel Fuentes was elected President of Guatemala.

11 February 1958, Tuesday (+4,662) Tunisia banned French warships from using its port at Bizerta.

10 February 1958, Monday (+4,661) Billy Vine, actor, died.

9 February 1958, Sunday (+4,660) A play by Irish-born Samuel Beckett was banned from London stages due to blasphemy.

8 February 1958, Saturday (+4,659) France bombed the Tunisian town of Sakiet Sidi Youssef as a reprisal for alleged Tunisian involvement on a French patrol in Algeria near the Tunisian frontier on 11 January 1958. Tunisia confined all French troops in the country to barracks.

7 February 1958, Friday (+4,658) The 2 millionth Cadillac, a Sedan DeVille, was manufactured.

6 February 1958, Thursday (+4,657) 7 Manchester United players died when the plane bringing the team home from Belgrade crashed on take-off at Munich Airport. Three club officials and 8 sports journalists were also killed.� An eighth team member died of his injuries two weeks later.

5 February 1958, Wednesday (+4,656) Joe Childs, jockey, died.

3 February 1958, Monday (+4,654)

1 February 1958, Saturday (+4,652) Egypt and Syria joined to form the United Arab Republic.� See 29 September 1961.

====================================================================================

31 January 1958, Friday (+4,651) The US Army at Cape Canaveral launched America�s first Earth satellite. Explorer I. This led to the accidental discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth, when the satellite�s radiation meters suddenly showed zero readings. US astronomer James Van Allen realised that the meters had been overloaded and broken down.

30 January 1958, Thursday (+4,650) Yves St Laurent held his first Paris fashion show, aged 22. He was apprenticed to Christian Dior at 18 and when Dior died in 1959 he became head designer of the Dior fashion house.

29 January 1958, Wednesday (+4,649)

28 January 1958, Tuesday (+4,648) (Innovation) Lego building bricks were patented by Godtfred Christiansen in Billund, Denmark. Lego is short for the Danish for �play well�, Leg-Godt.

27 January 1958, Monday (+4,647) Alan Milburn, UK politician, was born.

26 January 1958, Sunday (+4,646) Ellen DeGeneres, US actress and talk show host, was born.

22 January 1958, Wednesday (+4,642)

21 January 1958, Tuesday (-4,641) (1) Driffield experienced the lowest temperature ever recorded in Yorkshire, -18.9 C.

(2) General strike began in Venezuela.

20 January 1958, Monday (+4,640) The first radar speed checks began in Britain.

19 January 1958, Sunday (+4,639) Robert Gibbings, British wood engraver, died in Oxford (born 23 March 1889 in Cork, Ireland)

14 January 1958, Tuesday (+4,634)

13 January 1958, Monday (+4,633) (Atom bomb tests) 9,000 scientists from 43 countries signed a petition against nuclear tests which was presented to the UN Secretary General, Hammarskjold by 1954 Nobel prize winner, Dr Linus Pauling. Japan and India had also called for a testing ban in 1957.

9 January 1958, Thursday (+4,629) Japanese cars first appeared in the USA, with Nissan (as Datsun) also Toyota, appearing at the Los Angeles Imported Car Show (although US servicemen had brought a few of these models back earlier on). Toyota soon found that its sedans were too underpowered for the US market. See 8 October 1958.

8 January 1958, Wednesday (+4,628) Bobby Fischer, then aged 14, won the US Chess Championship.

7 January 1958, Tuesday (+4,627) The first Algerian oil was pumped out, at Touggourt.

6 January 1958, Monday (+4,626)

4 January 1958, Saturday (4,624) Sputnik 1 disintegrated after completing 1,367 orbits of the Earth. It had travelled some 43 million miles in 92 days.

3 January 1958, Friday (+4,623) (1) Banks in The Netherlands were nationalised.

(2) Sir Edmund Hillary, with a party from New Zealand, reached the South Pole � the first man to do so since Captain Scott.

1 January 1958, Wednesday (+4,621) (1)� The European Economic Community came into effect. It then comprised 6 countries; France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries.

(2) In Tunisia, polygamy was abolished.

(3) In Venezuela, the regime of President Marcos Perez Jimenez (born 1914) was accused of corruption, police brutality, and excessive spending on construction of public works and tourist hotels.

====================================================================================

30 December 1957, Monday (+4,619) Malta, fearing that Britain will not maintain investment in the island, passed a resolution that Malta had no obligations to the UK unless Britain found employment for discharged dock workers.

26 December 1957, Thursday (+4,615) Death of French film pioneer Charles Pathe.

25 December 1957, Wednesday (+4,614) The Queen made her first Christmas day broadcast on British TV.

24 December 1957, Tuesday (+4,613) Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, was born.

23 December 1957, Monday (+4,612)

21 December 1957, Saturday (+4,610) Eric Coates, British composer, died in Chichester (born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, 27 August 1886)

20 December 1957, Friday (+4,609) At the height of his career, Elvis Presley received his call-up papers.

19 December 1957, Thursday (+4,608) Regular air services between London and Moscow began.

17 December 1957, Tuesday (+4,606) Dorothy L Sayers, British novelist and playwright, died.

10 December 1957, Tuesday (+4,599)

9 December 1957, Monday (+4,598) Donny Osmond, singer, was born.

7 December 1957, Saturday (+4,596) Geoff Lawson, cricketer, was born.

5 December 1957, Thursday (+4,594) All Dutch nationals were expelled from Indonesia.

4 December 1957, Wednesday (+4,593) Major train crash at Lewisham, south east London, with 92 killed and over 200 injured. In thick fog, the 4.56 steam express from Cannon Street to Ramsgate missed two red signals and ploughed into the back of the stationary Charing Cross to Hayes electric train. The rear of the Hayes train telescoped whilst the tender of the steam train rose up and brought down a bridge carrying another rail line over the tracks. The 350-ton bridge crashed down onto the already-damaged carriages. Two minutes later another train was crossing the bridge; its driver saw the hole in the tracks just in time and stopped his train with the leading carriage leaning over the gap. Trains then did not have automatic warning systems if a red signal was passed.

3 December 1957, Tuesday (+4,592) Sir Hugh Foot became the new British Governor of Cyprus.

2 December 1957, Monday (+4,591) Leslie Henson, British actor, died in Harrow (born 3 August 1891 in London)

1 December 1957, Sunday (+4,590) Women in Colombia voted for the first time,

======================================================================================

30 November 1957, Saturday (+4,589) General election in New Zealand was won by the Labour Party with a majority of one seat. Walter Nash became Prime Minister.

29 November 1957, Friday (+4,588) Erich Wolfgang Korngold, composer, died in Hollywood, USA (born 29 May 1897 in Brno, Czechoslovakia)

27 November 1957, Wednesday (+4,586) Adrian Stoop, rugby player, died (born 27 March 1883).

25 November 1957, Monday (+4,584) Diego Rivera, painter, died in Mexico City aged 70.

24 November 1957, Sunday (+4,583) Edward Stourton, broadcaster, was born

18 November 1957, Monday (+4,577) Following the promise of US aid (see 12 September 1957), Tunisia announced it had rejected Soviet offers of assistance.

15 November 1957, Friday (+4,574) France left NATO in protest at shipments of arms to Tunisia by the UK and USA, to forestall arms supply to Tunisia by the USSR; France feared Tunisian support for Algerian Nationalists.

13 November 1957, Wednesday (+4,572) Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, was born

11 November 1957, Monday (+4,570) Jamaica achieved internal self-government.

9 November 1957, Saturday (+4,568) Peter O�Connor, athlete (long jump), died (born 18 October 1874).

5 November 1957, Tuesday (+4,564) The Delta Plan was published; an ambitious scheme to strengthen the sea defences of The Netherlands by new bridges, dykes and dams. The sea inlets between Rotterdam and Antwerp were to be closed off, and the province of Zeeland opened up to economic development, The project was successfully completed in 1968.

4 November 1957, Monday (+4,563) Sir John Harding retired as British Governor of Cyprus.

3 November 1957, Sunday (+4,562) The Soviets sent a dog into Earth-orbit. The dog, called Laika (meaning �barker�) was a Siberian husky rounded up as a stray. She probably died of overheating after measuring systems on board the Sputnik 2 failed, after a few hours in orbit 2,000 miles above Earth. The space capsule continued to orbit Earth until April 1958 when after 2,570 orbits it crashed to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, in April 1961 aboard Vostok 1. The Soviets sent 13 more dogs into space, 8 of which survived.

2 November 1957, Saturday (+4,561) Elvis Presley set a record with 8 simultaneous UK top 30 entries.

1 November 1957, Friday (+4,560) Brian Stokes Mitchell, actor, was born.

=====================================================================================

31 October 1957, Thursday (+4,559) (Road Traffic) Toyota began exporting vehicles to the USA, beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser.

30 October 1957, Wednesday (+4,558) Women entered the House of Lords for the first time, as a new category of �life peers� was created. Previously, only male bearers of hereditary titles could become peers.

29 October 1957, Tuesday (+4,557) Fulgencio Batista suspended the Cuban Constitution.

28 October 1957, Monday (+4,556) (Sport) Glen Hoddle, athlete, was born.

27 October 1957, Sunday (+4,555) (Turkey) Celal Bayar was re-elected President of Turkey.

26 October 1957, Saturday (+4,554) (Biology) Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori, Czech-US biochemist, died in St Louis, Missouri.

25 October 1957, Friday (+4,553) Lord Edward Dunsany, writer, died in Dublin, Ireland (born 24 July� 1878 in London, England)

24 October 1957, Thursday (+4,552) Christian Dior, French fashion designer and creator of �New Look�, died.

23 October 1957, Wednesday (+4,551) (Morocco) Morocco began invading Ifni.

22 October 1957, Tuesday (+4,550) (1) 13 US servicemen and 5 civilians were injured in Saigon, South Vietnam, by a bomb planted by Communist guerrillas. This was the worst incident since 1954 when the French admitted defeat in the fight against North Vietnam�s Viet Minh army and split Vietnam into North and South, two independent states.

(2) The children�s TV show, Captain Pugwash, was first broadcast.

21 October 1957, Monday (+4,549) Elvis Presley�s 3^rd musical drama film, Jailhouse Rock, opened in the USA.

20 October 1957, Sunday (+4,548) (Sport) Chris Cowdrey, English cricketer, was born.

19 October 1957, Saturday (+4,547) West Germany severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia after Yugoslavia recognised East Germany.

18 October 1957, Friday (+4,546) Queen Elizabeth II met US President Eisenhower; the first visit by a British monarch to the White House.

17 October 1957, Thursday (+4,545) A fire at Windscale (now Sellafield) nuclear plant shut down one of the piles producing Plutonium and released radioactivity into the air. Thousands of gallons of milk from some Cumbrian cows had to be dumped, due to radio-iodine contamination, despite government assurances that the radiation had been carried out to sea.

16 October 1957, Wednesday (+4,544) (Turkey) Syria declared a State of Emergency following Turkish troop movements on the Syrian border. US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles warned the USSR against attacking Turkey.

15 October 1957, Tuesday (+4,543) The naval base at Tricomalee was handed over to Sri Lanka by Britain.

13 October 1957, Sunday (+4,541)

11 October 1957, Friday (+4,539) The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, planned by Sir Bernard Lovell, went into operation.

10 October 1957, Thursday (+4,538) A major radiation leak was detected at Windscale after an accident three days earlier.

9 October 1957, Wednesday (+4,537)

8 October 1957, Tuesday (+4,536) Antonio Cabrini, Italian footballer, was born.

7 October 1957, Monday (+4,535) Jayne Torvill, figure skating champion, was born.

5 October 1957, Saturday (+4,533)

4 October 1957, Friday (+4,532) The first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik I, by the USSR was launched from Tyuratam, 170 miles east of the Aral Sea. It weighed 80 kg.

3 October 1957, Thursday (+4,531) Berlin voted in its youngest ever mayor, 44-year-old Willy Brandt.

2 October 1957, Wednesday (+4,530) Poland, along with Hungary and East Germany, outlined its Rapacki Plan for a denuclearised central Europe to the UN General Assembly.

1 October 1957, Tuesday (+4,429) (Rail Tunnels) The Fukasaka rail tunnel, Japan, 5.173 km long, opened on the Omi-Shintsu-Shinhikada line.

(2) (Medical) Thalidomide was first prescribed to pregnant women, as a cure for morning sickness.

===================================================================================

30 September 1957, Monday (+4,528) Fran Drescher, actress, was born.

29 September 1957, Sunday (+4,527) Chris Broad, cricketer, was born

28 September 1957, Saturday (+4,526) (Netherlands) Queen Juliana of The Netherlands opened the Velser Tunnels, NW of Amsterdam.

27 September 1957, Friday (+4,525) US theatre and opera director Peter Sellars was born in Pittsburgh.

26 September 1957, Thursday (+4,524) Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden was re-elected Secretary-General of the United Nations for a further 5 years.

25 September 1957, Wednesday (+4,523) 1,000 US armed paratroopers turned out to protect 9 Black schoolchildren who were taking their places at the all-White Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This followed a US Supreme Court ruling that segregated schools contravened the 14^th Amendment. However Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus flouted the court ruling and deployed armed National Guardsmen to bar the Black children, whilst a White mob shouted �Niggers go home�. President Eisenhower intervened and the Guardsmen were withdrawn, but a White mob remained. In an unprecedented move, Eisenhower removed control of the National Guard from Faubus and sent in the 101^st Airborne Division to protect the Black schoolchildren, to the fury of southern Governors.

24 September 1957, Tuesday (+4,522) BBC broadcasts to schools began.

23 September 1957, Monday (+4,521) Rosalind Chao, US actress, was born.

22 September 1957, Sunday (+4,520) Dr Francois �Papa doc� Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. He had promised to end corrupt military regimes in Haiti but his own regime mixed voodoo with the presence of brutal secret police, the Ton Ton Macoute.

21 September 1957, Saturday (+4,519) Norway�s King Haakon VII died, aged 85, after a 52-year reign.� His son, aged 54, succeeded him as King Olav V.

20 September 1957, Friday (+4,518) Jean Sibelius, composer, died.

19 September 1957, Thursday (+4,517) The US carried out the first underground nuclear test in the� Nevada desert, the first of 29 such tests.

18 September 1957, Wednesday (+4,516) The railway between Amsterdam and Brussels was electrified.

17 September 1957, Tuesday (+4,515) Military coup in Thailand, Prime Minister Pibul Songgram fled, and was replaced by Pote Sarasin, Secretary-General of SEATO.

16 September 1957, Monday (+4,514) Gerald Balding, polo champion, died.

15 September 1957, Sunday (+4,513) Konrad Adenauer�s Christian Democratic Union Party won a massive victory in German general elections.

14 September 1957, Saturday (+4,512) The last Liverpool tram ran.� It was the 6a, from the Pier Head to Bowring Park, full of civic dignitaries.

13 September 1957, Friday (+4,511) The Mousetrap became Britain�s longest running play, reaching its 1,998^th performance.

12 September 1957, Thursday (+4,510) Tunisia asked for US military assistance, with was then promised by the USA on 14 September 1957. See 18 November 1957.

11 September 1957, Wednesday (+4,509) Preben Elkjaer Larsen, Danish footballer, was born.

9 September 1957, Monday (+4,507) French pianist Pierre Laurent Aimard was born in Lyon.

6 September 1957, Friday (+4,504)

5 September 1957, Thursday (+4,503) Rebels under Fidel Castro, along with Cuban navy Officers, tried to seize a naval base at Cienfuegos.� Forces loyal to President Batista of Cuba defeated the attempt, and the rebel leaders were executed.

4 September 1957, Wednesday (+4,502) In the UK, the Wolfenden Report recommended decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults. This would remove a significant cause of blackmail. �Adult� meant aged 21 or over; some feared this would be a licence for child abuse. On 14 November 1957 the Church of England backed the Wolfenden reforms. However the UK government shied away from this controversial change to the law. It was only in June 1967 when the Sexual Offences Bill legalised such homosexual acts as Wolfenden recommended.

3 September 1957, Tuesday (+4,501)

1 September 1957, Sunday (+4,499) A train accident near Kendal, Jamaica, killed 175 and injured 400.

===================================================================================

31 August 1957, Saturday (+4,498) Malaysia (Malaya) became independent, ending 170 years of British rule. This was Britain�s last major Asian colony. Malay and British forces had defeated Communist rebels, and the new Prime Minister was Tenkgu Abdul Rahman. Rahman (1903-1990) was the son of the Sultan of Kedah, he negotiated the Federation of Malaysia with Sabah and Singapore, 1961-2, remaining Prime Minister if the enlarged Malaysia. However he resigned from politics after the violemnt Chinese-Malay riots of May 1969 in Kuala Lumpur.

30 August 1957, Friday (+4,497) (USA) US senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24hrs 27m against civil rights.

29 August 1957, Thursday (+4,496) Police in the US began using a device to measure the amount of alcohol in a driver�s breath. It was dubbed the �drunkometer�.

28 August 1957, Wednesday (+4,695) (Aviation) M Randrup and W Shirley (UK) set a new aviation altitude record of 70,308 feet.

27 August 1959, Tuesday (+4,694) Bernhard Langer, golfer, was born.

26 August 1957, Monday (+4,693) (Military) The USSR announced it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). On 17 December 1957 the USA did the same.

24 August 1957, Saturday (+4,491) Stephen Fry, comedian, was born.

22 August 1957, Thursday (+4,489) Steve Davis, snooker player, was born.

21 August 1957, Wednesday (+4,488) 1st Soviet rocket launch at Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

20 August 1957, Tuesday (+4,487) Jim and Finlay Carter, twins, rugby players, were born.

19 August 1957, Monday (+4,486) Leonard Bernstein�s musical West Side Story premiered in the National Theatre, Washington, before moving to Broadway, New York.

18 August 1957, Sunday (+4,485) Denis Leary, comedian, was born

17 August 1957, Saturday (+4,484) Robin Cousins, figure skating champion, was born.

13 August 1957, Tuesday (+4,480)

12 August 1957, Monday (+4,479) Following Britain�s decision to restore self-government to British Guiana (Guyana), an election for the 14 seats on the Legislative Council gave Cheddi Jagan�s People�s Progressive Party 9 seats. On 15 August 1957 Jagan formed a new Government.

11 August 1957, Sunday (+4,478|) First performance, in Munich, of Paul Hindemith�s opera Die Harmonie der Welt (the Harmony of the World). A symphony from this opera had premiered in 1951.

9 August 1957, Friday (+4,476) The State of Emergency in Cyprus ended.

7 August 1957, Wednesday (+4,474) Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy fame, died of a stroke, aged 65. Laurel was aged 67.

6 August 1957, Tuesday (+4,473) Despite the Conservative PM, Harold MacMillan, stating that �most of us have never had it so good�, last month, 2,000 people were emigrating from Britain every week, for the USA or Commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia. Many were professionals or science and medical graduates.

5 August 1957, Monday (+4,472) The Andy Capp cartoon first appeared in The Mirror newspaper.

3 August 1957, Saturday (+4,470)

2 August 1957, Friday (+4,469) (Mathematics) John von Neumann, Hungarian-US mathematician, died in Washington DC.

1 August 1957, Thursday (+4,468) The West Indies Federation was formed.

====================================================================================

31 July 1957, Wednesday (+4,467) Pavel Tchelitchew, painter, was born in Kaluga, Russia (died 31 July 1957 near Rome)

30 July� 1957, Tuesday (+4,466)

29 July� 1957, Monday (+4,465) International Atomic Energy Agency established.

28 July� 1957, Sunday (+4,464) (Earthquake) Magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Guerrero, Mexico, killing 65.

27 July� 1957, Saturday (+4,463) Hans Peter Muller, West German footballer, was born.

26 July� 1957, Friday (+4,462) Carlos Castillo Armas, dictatorial President of Guatemala, was assassinated by a palace guard with Leftist sympathies.

25 July� 1957, Thursday (+4,461) Tunisia abolished the monarchy and became a republic.� Habib Bourguiba was elected as the first President.

24 July� 1957, Wednesday (+4,460) Sacha Guitry, French playwright, died aged 72.

23 July� 1957, Tuesday (+4,459) In Britain, violence broke out on picket lines as a national bus strike took effect.

22 July� 1957, Monday (+4,458) Shell and BP announced they would pull out of Israel to pacify some Arab nations, who refused to accept the very existence of Israel.

21 July� 1957, Sunday (+4,457) Stefan Lofven, Swedish Prime Minister (2014-18), was born in Stockholm.

20 July� 1957, Saturday (+4,456) Conservative PM Harold Macmillan said that �most of our people have never had it so good�.

19 July� 1957, Friday (+4,455) The Imam of Oman rebelled against the Sultan of Oman, who requested British aid.

18 July� 1957, Thursday (+4,454) The French National Assembly voted to give the Government special powers to deal with the FLN� insurgency in Algeria.

17 July� 1957, Wednesday (+4,453) Civil war began in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. Sultan Said bin Taimur appealed for UK military aid, which was sent, and rebel strongholds were overrun by 14 August 1957.

15 July� 1957, Monday (+4,451) General Franco announced that the Spanish monarchy would be restored on his death or retirement.

12 July� 1957, Friday (+4,448) US Surgeon-General Leroy E Burney announced the US Public Health Service�s belief that there was a direct causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

11 July� 1957, Thursday (+4,447) The Aga Khan died in Versoix, Switzerland. He was born in Karachi on 2 November 1877, and during World War One, when \Turkey was drawn in on the German side, the Aga Khan was instrumental in reassuring the Moslems of the British Empire that the Allies had no plans against Islam and to stay loyal to Britain. In 1937 he was appointed President of the League of Nations. He spent World war Two in Switzerland and withdrew from further political activity. In 1946, the year of his 60-year jubilee celebration, he was twice weighed by his subjects and paid a sum of diamonds of equivalent weight. The sum of US$3,600,000 which resulted was used by the Khan for building schools and other community projects in Pakistan. He was also famous as a breeder and trainer of racehorses, winning the Epsom races five times.

9 July� 1957, Tuesday (+4,445)

7 July� 1957, Sunday (+4,443) The Polish economy was stabilised with the help of a loan of US$ 30 million. US economic aid continued and between 1957 and 1963 Poland received economic aid worth US$ 529 million.

6 July� 1957, Saturday (+4,442) John Lennon (16) and Paul McCartney (15) meet for the first time as Lennon's rock group Quarrymen perform at St. Peter's, Woolton's Parish Church in Liverpool

3 July� 1957, Wednesday (+4,439)� Laura Branigan, singer, was born.

1 July� 1957, Monday (+4,437) The footballer�s maximum wage was raised to �20 per week. A baker earned �7 15s 3d (�7.76) per week. In the Whiteleys Christmas catalogue, an electric razor cost �10 17s (�10.85), a cashmere cardigan cost �10 17s 6d (�10.88), and a tropical fish tank cost �4 4s (�4.20).

====================================================================================

30 June 1957, Sunday (+4,436)The �lion� was stamped on British eggs from this day.� The practice ended on 31 December 1968.

29 June 1957, Saturday (+4,435)

28 June 1957, Friday (+4,454) German author Alfred Doblin died.

27 June 1957, Thursday (+4,433) The Medical Research Council announced that smoking caused cancer.

26 June 1957, Wednesday (+4,432) The UK government began an anti-smoking campaign, despite fears that this would cause tax revenue to fall. As recently as 1956, the Health Minister, Mr R Turton, had said there was no proof that smoking caused any harm, but recent reports in the UK and USA now suggested links to some bronchial and heart diseases.

25 June 1957, Tuesday (+4,431)

24 June 1957, Monday (+4,430) Frantisek Kupka, Czech painter, died in Puteaux, Paris (born 22 Septe,ber 1871 in Bohemia)

23 June 1957, Sunday (+4,429) Robert Norster, rugby player, was born.

19 June 1957, Wednesday (+4,425) Anna Lindh, Swedish politician, was born.

13 June 1957, Thursday (+4,419) US Vice-President Richard Nixon and civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King discussed how to enforce the racial desegregation of the southern states of the USA. The Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, said he would never permit racial integration of his schools and would use state militia to stop Black students entering White facilities. On 25 September 1957 an angry crowd of 1,500 White demonstrators watched as 1,000 US armed National Guardsmen, bayonets drawn, enforce the arrival of nine black students at the Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Seven protesters were arrested as one demonstrator tried to grab a guardsman�s rifle; some shouted �go home, niggers!�

12 June 1957, Wednesday (+4,418) In France, Maurice Bourges-Manoury, Radical, formed a Government.

11 June 1957, Tuesday (+4,417) Hugh Gallagher, footballer, was born (died 11 June 1957).

10 June 1957, Monday (+4,416) In Canada, Progressive Conservatives won the election with 112 seats. The Liberals got 105 seats, the Cooperative Commonwealth foundation got 25 seats, Others got 23 seats. The Liberal leader, Louis St Laurent, resigned, ending 22 years of Liberal rule, and the Conservative, John Diefenbaker, took office.

9 June 1957, Sunday (+4,415) Broad Peak, Himalayas, the world�s 12^th-highest mountain, was first ascended by an Austrian expedition comprising Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Deimberger and Hermann Buhl.

8 June 1957, Saturday (+4,414) Scott Adams, cartoonist, was born.

7 June 1957, Friday (+4,413) A travel report published in London said a small fishing village called Benidorm was the place for summer holidays, with guaranteed sun and low prices. Tourist development in Benidorm had just begun, with a German company building bed and breakfast accommodation there. There were warnings that the bathrooms may be spartan, with some taps only giving salt water.

6 June 1957, Thursday (+4,412) In Britain the Rent Act received Royal Assent, This removed many controls on rents. Labour MPs protested.

5 June 1957, Wednesday (+4,411) New York narcotics investigator, Dr Herbert Berger, urged the American Medical Association to investigate use of stimulating drugs by athletes.

4 June 1957, Tuesday (+4,410) John Treacy, marathon runner, was born.

3 June 1957, Monday (+4,409) (ISL) The US joined the Baghdad Pact, then consisting of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and the UK, in an effort to counter Soviet expansion.

2 June 1957, Sunday (+4,408) King Lizzard (Randall Colmus), US psychedelic rock singer, was born in Detroit, Michigan

1 June 1957, Saturday (+4,407) The computer, ERNIE, drew the first Premium Bond prize. The first prize was �1,000. The lowest prize was �10. The Church had condemned the �1 premium Bonds as a �squalid raffle� when introduced in 1956.

=====================================================================================

31 May 1957, Friday (+4,406) The American playwright Arthur Miller was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to name other writers as communists. Miller confessed his own communist sympathies but said his conscience would not let him finger others; the judge praised his motives but he could still face a year in jail.

30 May 1957, Thursday (+4,405) (Railways) Brazilian Federal Railways, RFFSA, was established.

29 May 1957, Wednesday (+4,404) George Bacovia, Romanian poet, died aged 75.

28 May 1957, Tuesday (+4,403) (Cuba) Fidel Castro�s forces attacked the Cuban garrison at Uvero.

27 May 1957, Monday (+4,402) Duncan Goodhew, swimmer, was born.

23 May 1957, Thursday (+4,398) (Christian) The Church of England broke with tradition by allowing divorcees to take Communion. The Bible taught that marriage was for life, but Britain�s legal system allowed divorce.

21 May 1957, Friday (+4,396) (France) In France, Guy Mollet, Socialist, resigned as Prime Minister after a Government defeat in the Assembly.

17 May 1957, Friday (+4,392) Michael Roberts, jockey, was born.

16 May 1957, Thursday (+4,391) Nigel Twiston-Davies, racehorse trainer, was born.

15 May 1957, Wednesday (+4,390) Britain�s first H � Bomb was exploded on Christmas Island in the southern Pacific Ocean.

14 May 1957, Tuesday (+4,389) Petrol rationing in the UK, caused by the Suez Crisis, ended.

13 May 1957, Monday (+4,388) India�s second election since independence continued the administration of Nehru�s Congress Party; however in the southern State of Kerala a Communist administration was elected.

12 May 1957, Sunday (+4,387) Alfonso de Portago, racing car driver, died after a tyre blowout.

11 May 1957, Saturday (+4,386) Gabriel Paris formed the government of Colombia.

10 May 1957, Friday (+4,385) The USSR appealed to the US and Britain to cease nuclear tests.

9 May 1957, Thursday (+4,384) Ezio Pinza, Italian baritone singer, died in Stamford Connecticut (born 18 May 1892 in Rome)

8 May 1957, Wednesday (+4,383) Jan Sluyters, Dutch painter, died in Amsterdam (born 17 December 1881 in s�Hertogenbosch)

7 May 1957, Tuesday (+4,382) Eliot Ness, the FBI agent who headed the investigation of Al Capone in Chicago, died.

6 May 1957, Monday (+4,381) The British and French revived plans for a Channel Tunnel link, despite fears over security and rabies.

4 May 1957, Saturday (+4,379)

3 May 1957, Friday (+4,378) South Africa dropped �God Save the Queen� as its national anthem.

2 May 1957, Thursday (+4,377) Senator Joe McCarthy, Republican, died of liver disease. He was most remembered for his �witch-hunts� against suspected Communists. See 2 December 1954.

1 May 1957, Wednesday (+4,376) Rick Darling, Australian cricketer, was born.

===================================================================================

30 April 1957, Tuesday (+4,375) Egypt reopened the Suez Canal.

29 April 1957, Monday (+4,374) Geoffrey Gould, US actor, was born

28 April 1957, Sunday (+4,373) King Hussein of Jordan visited King Saud of Saudi Arabia. The two rulers agreed that the crisis in Jordan is a purely internal affair; Saudi Arabia paid the first instalment of financial aid to Jordan.

27 April 1957, Saturday (+4,372) Michel Barrette, Canadian actor, was born.

26 April 1957, Friday (+4,371)The Anglican Church and the universities in South Africa continued to defy government rulings on enforcing racial segregation, or apartheid.

25 April 1957, Thursday (+4,370) King Hussein proclaimed martial law in Jordan; the USA despatched the 6^th fleet to the Mediterranean. On 29 April 1957 the USSR protested at this move.

24 April 1957, Wednesday (+4,369) (1) In Jordan, Ibrahim Hashem formed a conservative, pro-Western, government following demonstrations.

(2) The BBC broadcast Patrick Moore�s �The Sky at Night� for the first time.

23 April 1957, Tuesday (+4,368) Albert Schweitzer write to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, urging mobilisation of world opinion against nuclear tests.

22 April 1957, Monday (+4,367) Donald Tusk, Polish Prime Minister, was born.

21 April 1957, Sunday (+4,366) Easter Sunday.

20 April 1957, Saturday (+4,365) The US resumed aid to Israel, which had been suspended on October 1956.

17 April 1957, Wednesday (+4,362) Archbishop Makarios arrived back in Athens, from a 13-month exile in the Seychelles.

14 April 1957, Sunday (+4,359) Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev was born in Archangelsk.

11 April 1957, Thursday (+4,356) Britain agreed to self-government for Singapore; this was planned for 1958.

9 April 1957, Tuesday (+4,354) Seve Ballesteros, champion golfer, was born (died 7 May 2011)

8 April 1957, Monday (+4,353) Frank Chester, cricketer, died.

6 April 1957, Saturday (+4,361)

4 April 1957, Thursday (+4,349) Britain announced that compulsory National Service, 2 years long for all reaching 18, would end in 1960.

3 April 1957, Wednesday (+4,348) The UK Labour Party called for H-Bomb tests to stop.

2 April 1957, Tuesday (+4,347) Brasilia Airport opened.

1 April 1957, Monday (+4,346) The BBC ran an April fools spoof documentary about spaghetti being harvested from trees in Switzerland.

===================================================================================

31 March 1957, Sunday (+4,345) India continued its modernisation programme under Nehru with the introduction of a decimal currency. Nine days earlier the country had adopted a standard calendar.

30 March 1957, Saturday (+4,344) Yelena Kondakova, Russian astronaut, was born

29 March 1957, Friday (+4,343) (Railways) 871 km of rail track in the US was closed on one day by the New York Western and Ontario Company.

28 March 1957, Thursday (+4,342) Britain freed Archbishop Makarios.

26 March 1957, Tuesday (+4,340)

25 March 1957, Monday (+4,339) Six nations signed the Treaty of Rome to create the Common Market (EEC) and Euratom. These were Italy, West Germany, France, and the three Benelux countries. The founding nations foresaw a union of some 160 million people, to be developed over 15 years. There was also a shared atomic energy programme, Euratom. Britain was notably absent, preferring to create a wider but looser trading network involving the Common Market, the Commonwealth, and others. Britain feared a supra-national authority that would erode its sovereignty over domestic affairs. However the PM, Harold MacMillan, privately believed that the UK should have sought Common market membership and now began to create the European Free trading Area, EFTA, which included all of western Europe, and involved less loss of sovereignty for the participating nations. A stand-alone Britain faced greater threats to its trade and industry from a developing Common Market.

24 March 1957, Sunday (+4,338) Carson J Robison, US composer, died in Pleasant Valley, New York (born 4 August 1890 in Chetopa, Kansas)

23 March 1957, Saturday (+4,337)

22 March 1957, Friday (+4,336) San Francisco was hit by the worst earthquake since the 1906 disaster.

21 March 1957, Thursday (+4,335) Sabrina Le Beauf, US actress, was born.

20 March 1957, Wednesday (+4,334) Britain favoured UN mediation over Cyprus but the Greeks rejected it.

19 March 1957, Tuesday (+4,333) Elvis Presley paid the US$ 1,000 deposit on a mansion called Graceland, being sold by Mrs Ruth Brown-Moore.

18 March 1957, Monday (+4,332) Wolfgang Schilling, German footballer, was born.

17 March 1957, Sunday (+4,331) 22 were killed and several houses demolished when a British European Airways turbo-prop airliner crashed at Manchester�s Ringway Airport. Failure of one wing flap to deploy on landing was blamed; if only one wing flap deployed, the aircraft would flip over on landing, as was seen by witnesses.

16 March 1957, Saturday (+4,330) Constantin Brancusi, sculptor, died in Paris.

15 March 1957, Friday (+4,329)

13 March 1957, Wednesday (+4,327) A student-led �Revolutionary Directorate� made an unsuccessful attempt to depose Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.� The movement was violently suppressed.

12 March 1957, Tuesday (+4,326) Josephine Hull, US actress, died aged 71.

11 March 1957, Monday (+4,325) (1) Richard Byrd, American aviator and polar explorer, died.

(2) The World Health Information published the first indications that radiation may have genetic effects.

10 March 1957, Sunday (+4,324) Terence Holmes, rugby player, was born.

9 March 1957, Saturday (+4,323) Mona Sahlin, leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, was born in Sollefte�, Sweden.

8 March 1957, Friday (+4,322) The Suez Canal reopened for smaller ships.

7 March 1957, Thursday (+4,321) The United States Congress approved the Eisenhower Doctrine.

6 March 1957, Wednesday (+4,320) Ghana, formerly known as the Gold Coast, became independent; the first British colony in Africa to do so. It had been a British colony since 1874. Dr Kwame Nkrumah became the first Prime Minister, in the capital, Accra. Nkrumah�s party had won the 1956 elections. The name Ghana was chosen by Nkrumah to inspire his people from the time when Africans had wealth and power. it was taken from the Islamic empire which ruled for centuries in Sudan during Europe�s Mediaeval times. On 7 March 1957 Ghana joined the United Nations.

5 March 1957, Tuesday (+4,319) The Union Jack ceased to be one of the official flags of South Africa.

4 March 1957, Monday (+4,318) Jim Dwyer, American journalist was born in New York (died 2020)

3 March 1957, Sunday (+4,317) The UK competed in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. The British entry, All, sung by Hull-born Patricia Bredin, came seventh out of ten in Frankfurt Am Main, Germnay.

1 March 1957, Friday (+4,315)

===================================================================================

28 February 1957, Thursday (+4,314) Jan Ceulemans, Belgian footballer, was born.

27 February 1957, Wednesday (+4,313) Timothy Spall, actor, was born.

25 February 1957, Monday (+4,311) Gene Buck, US songwriter, died in Great Neck, New York (born 8 August 1895 in Detroit)

21 February 1957, Thursday (+4,307) The 70 year old Israeli president, David Ben Gurion, defied US and UN calls to leave the Gaza Strip. In Jerusalem, thousands of Israelis protested on the streets against the UN�s call for withdrawal. On 22 January 1957 Israeli troops left the Sinai Peninsula, and on 6 March 1957 handed the Gaza Strip over to the UN.

18 February 1957, Monday (+4,304) Vanna White, TV game show presenter, was born.

16 February 1957, Saturday (+4,302) Sir Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport responsible for Belisha Beacons, the driving test, and the Highway Code, died.

15 February 1957, Friday (+4,301) In the USSR, Andrei Gromyko replaced Dmitri Shepilov as Foreign Minister.

12 February 1957, Tuesday (+4,298)

11 February 1957, Monday 9+4,297) Gwen Raverat, British painter, died in Cambridge (born 26 August 1885 in Cambridge)

10 February 1957, Sunday (+4,296) Laura Ingalls Wilder, author, died.

9 February 1957, Saturday (+4,295) Poland and Japan resumed diplomatic relations.

8 February 1957, Friday (+4,294) (Astronomy) Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe, German physicist who first used a Geiger counter to detect cosmic rays, died in Heidelberg, West Germany.

7 February 1957, Thursday (+4,293)

6 February 1957, Wednesday (+4,292) Israel undertook to evacuate the Sinai but only on the understanding that the Gulf of Aqaba would not be closed to Israeli shipping. If that happened, Israel said it would go to war again.

5 February 1957, Tuesday (+4,291) General election in Ireland, after Clann na Poblachta withdrew from the Fine Gael-led coalition on 28 January 1957. Fianna Fail with 78 seats won a majority over all other Parties (69 seats, of which 40 were won by Fine Gael). Eamon de Valera became Prime Minister again on 20 March 1957, now aged 75.

3 February 1957, Sunday (+4,289)

1 February 1957, Friday (+4,287) The first turbo-prop airliner, the Bristol Britannia, entered scheduled service in Britain.

===================================================================================

31 January 1957, Thursday (+4,286) The Trans-Iranian oil pipeline, from Abadan to Tehran, was completed.

28 January 1957, Monday (+4,283) Nick Price, golfer, was born.

26 January 1957, Saturday (+4,281) Kashmir joined India, under �special status� agreements, providing for example that non-Kashmiri Indians could not buy property there. Pakistan protested.

25 January 1957, Friday (+4,280) The UN ordered Israel to quit Aqaba and Gaza.

24 January 1957, Thursday (+4,279) (Chemistry) Paul Walden, Russian-German chemist, died in Gammertingen, Germany.

22 January 1957, Tuesday (+4,277)

20 January 1957, Sunday (+4,275) �Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party. Aware of the USSR�s crackdown in Hungary in 1956 he tempered ideas for a Polish form of Communism, strengthening links between Poland and the USSR. However he ended collective farming in Poland, returning 80% of arable land to private hands, and curbed the worst excesses of the Polish secret police.

19 January 1957, Saturday (+4,274) Micky Virtue, musician, was born.

18 January 1957, Friday (+4,273) (USA) The USSR and China stated their support for Middle Eastern Arab States �against Western aggression�; see Eisenhower Doctrine 5 January 1957.

17 January 1957, Thursday (+4,272) Keith Chegwin, English television presenter & actor, was born in Walton, Liverpool (died 2017)

16 January 1957, Wednesday (+4,271) UK forces repelled an attempted invasion of the colony of Aden by Yemeni forces. Aden was annexed from Yemeni territory by the British in 1839 as a military stronghold and naval fuelling station. Yemeni forces managed to overrun some villages just inside Aden but were repelled by ground based rockets and air fire.

15 January 1957, Tuesday (+4,270) (Atomic) Columbia University physics department announced that parity is not conserved for weak interactions.

14 January 1957, Monday (+4,269) Humphrey Bogart, American film actor and 1951 Oscar winner, died of throat cancer.

13 January 1957, Sunday (+4,268) Elvis Presley recorded All Shook Up in a Hollywood studio.

12 January 1957, Saturday (+4,267) President Eisenhower urged the USSR to agree to a ban on warfare in space.

11 January 1957, Friday (+4,266) (Football) Bryan Robson, English footballer, was born.

10 January 1957, Thursday (+4,265) Eisenhower was elected President of the USA, defeating the Democrat challenger, Adlai Stevenson, to win a second term in office. He continued US vigilance against Communism, and supported countries fighting off USSR and China-backed insurgents. He also pledged to continue to support the UN.

9 January 1957, Wednesday (+4,264) (1) Anthony Eden, aged 59, resigned as Prime Minister, on grounds of ill-health, in the wake of the Suez Crisis. On 10 January 1957 Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister. Rab Butler was deputy PM but had also supported the Suez adventure and there would have been a back-bench revolt if Butler had become PM. A bitterly disappointed Butler received the consolation prize of becoming Home Secretary under Macmillan, and Peter Thorneycroft became the new Chancellor. Macmillan dismissed Labour calls for a general election by the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, and busied himself with mending relationships with the US under the recently elected President Eisenhower.

(2) TV detector vans were first used by the UK Post Office to track down licence dodgers.

8 January 1957, Tuesday (+4,263) Amanda Burton, actress, was born

7 January 1957, Monday (+4,262) President Khrushchev of the USSR welcomed China�s Prime Minister Chou En Lai. Behind the scenes, however, there was rivalry between the two countries. The USSR supported Manchurian and Vietnamese Communists, and there were differences on how Communism should be enforced. However Chou En Lai supported the USSR�s crackdown in 1956 in Hungary.

6 January 1957, Sunday (+4,261) (Sport) Nancy Lopez, US golfer, was born.

5 January 1957, Saturday (+4,260) In the USA, President Eisenhower announced the Eisenhower Doctrine; that the US will protect the independence of Middle Eastern States, fearing that the USSR was behind Arab nationalist movements.

4 January 1957, Friday (+4,259) In the wake of the Suez Crisis, a UN sponsored force of German tugs and salvage vessels began to clear the Suez Canal. 13 ships of various nationalities had been stranded in the Canal and could now resume sailing towards the Mediterranean. On 1 January 1957 President Colonel Gamal Nasser of Egypt had abrogated a 1954 treaty that had preciously guaranteed the UK full access to the Canal during international conflicts.

3 January 1957, Thursday (+4,258) Frank Dicopoulos, US actor, was born in Akron, Ohio

2 January 1957, Wednesday (+4,257) The Hamilton Watch Company introduced the first battery powered watch.

1 January 1957, Tuesday (+4,256) The Saar was formally integrated in the German Federal Republic.

===================================================================================

31 December 1956, Monday (+4,255) 90% of Chinese farms had been re-organised into collectives, with land, implements and animals owned collectively, not privately.

30 December 1956, Sunday (4,254) (Railways GB) The last passenger train ran on the Liverpool Overhead Railway. Although the line was busy, major repairs were found to be needed to the overhead section and there was no money for this. The line was losing traffic to electric trams and motor buses.

29 December 1956, Saturday (+4,253) Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian, was born in Perth, UK.

28 December 1956, Friday (+4,252) Nigel Kennedy, violinist, was born.

27 December 1956, Thursday (+4,251) Clearance work on the Suez Canal began.

26 December 1956, Wednesday (+4,250) Sarah Springman, athlete (triathlon), was born.

25 December 1956, Tuesday (+4,249)

23 December 1956, Sunday (+4,247) Italian racing car driver Michele Alboreto was born.

22 December 1956, Saturday (+4,246) Britain and France withdrew their forces from Egypt, under intense pressure from the USA. The Suez Crisis had caused a run on Sterling, and the US would not halt this without a withdrawal.

18 December 1956, Tuesday (+4,242) Japan joined the United Nations.

12 December 1956, Wednesday (+4,236) Twelve attacks by the IRA in Northern Ireland signalled the start of a new terror campaign.

11 December 1956, Tuesday (+4,235) In Britain, the start of TV broadcasting was moved forward from 7pm to 6pm.

10 December 1956, Monday (+4,234) Martial law was declared in Hungary.

9 December 1956, Sunday (+4,233)

8 December 1956, Saturday (+4,232) (Poland, Christian)The Polish government completed a process of reconciliation with the Catholic Church. Cardinal Wyszynski had been released from prison on 26 October 1956, and on this day the Church was now free to make its own ecclesiastical appointments. Religious teaching in schools, and religious posts in hospitals and the army, were restored. Criticism of government policies in church sermons was permitted.

7 December 1956, Friday (+4,231) Henry Fillimore, US composer, died in Miami, Florida (born 2 December 1881 in Cincinatti)

6 December 1956, Thursday (+4,230)

5 December 1956, Wednesday (+4,229) Rose Heilbron became Britain�s first female judge. She sat in Burnley, Lancashire.

4 December 1956, Tuesday (+4,228) Constantino Rocca, golf player, was born.

3 December 1956, Monday (+4,227) Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist, died in Moscow (born 1891 in St Petersburg)

2 December 1956, Sunday (+4,226) Fidel Castro clandestinely returned to eastern Cuba, from Mexico, landing in the yacht Gramma.� He then waged an 18-month guerrilla campaign against the Batista government. See 8 January 1959. The invasion initially suffered major setbacks, with the Gramma first delayed by storms then grounding on a mudbank where government aircraft could easily spot it. The entire invasion force of 82 men were flushed out of cane fields by government soldiers, and only 12 managed to escape to the Sierra Maestra. Here, however, Castro had friends from his childhood as� a sugar farmer�s son. With the increasing support of local peasants, and by clever use of the terrain, Castro�s supporters eventually won.

1 December 1956, Saturday (+4,225)

=================================================================================

30 November 1956, Friday (+4,224) Jean Schwartz, composer, died in Sherman Oaks, California (born 4 November 1878 in Budapest)

29 November 1956, Thursday (+4,223) (FRA) France rationed petrol, due to shortages resulting from the Suez Crisis.

28 November 1956, Wednesday (+4,222) Fiona Armstrong, broadcaster, was born

26 November 1956, Monday (+4,220) Tommy Dorsey, band leader, died.

23 November 1956, Friday (+4,217) As the Suez Crisis deepened, petrol rationing began in the UK, and driving tests were suspended.

22 November 1956, Thursday (+4,216) (1) The withdrawal of Anglo-French troops from Port Said was completed, UN forces moved in.

(2) The 16^th Olympic Games opened in Melbourne.

20 November 1956, Monday (+4,213) Bo Derek, actress, was born.

18 November 1956, Sunday (+4,212) Polish leader, Gomulka, won concessions from the USSR including greater autonomy, territorial integrity guarantees, cancellation of debts to the USSR and limitations on Soviet troop movements within Poland.

17 November 1956, Saturday (+4,211) Kashmir voted to become part of India.

16 November 1956, Friday (+4,210) Terry Labonte, US stock car racing driver, was born.

15 November 1956, Thursday (+4,209) UN emergency forces arrived in Suez, and began to clear the Canal of wrecked ships on 27 December 1956. UN forces began taking over from the British, under strong pressure from the USA. The British PM, Anthony Eden, was suffering from psychological strain caused by the unanticipated world hostility to his Suez adventure, and flew to Jamaica on 23 November 1957 to rest.

14 November 1956, Wednesday (+4,208) Keith Alexander, British footballer, was born in Nottingham, England (died 2010)

13 November 1956, Tuesday (+4,207) The US Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on buses was illegal.

12 November 1956, Monday (+4,206) (UN) Three Arab nations, Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia, were unanimously elected to UN membership. The African-Asian bloc in the UN now numbered 26, which with Soviet bloc of 9 was enough to exercise a veto over General Assembly resolutions. These vetoes required a two-thirds majority.

11 November 1956, Sunday (+4,205) Billy Smith, US country singer, was born in Reidsville, North Carolina

10 November 1956, Saturday (+4,204) Victor Young, US composer, died in Palm Springs, California (born 8 August 1900 in Chicago)

9 November 1956, Friday (+4,203) The UN told the USSR to leave Hungary.

8 November 1956, Thursday (+4,202) Richard Curtis, English actor, was born.

7 November 1956, Wednesday (+4,201) Britain and France reluctantly agreed to UN demands for a ceasefire in the Suez Crisis.

6 November 1956, Tuesday (+4,200) (1) Israeli forces reached Sharm El Sheikh.

(2) Work began on the Kariba High Dam on the River Zambesi, between Zambia and Zimbabwe. See 18 May 1960.

5 November 1956, Monday (+4,199) (Broadcasting) The weekly British TV programme What the Papers Say was first transmitted.

4 November 1956, Sunday (+4,198) 16 Soviet divisions moved into Hungary, with 2,000 tanks, to suppress the Hungarian Revolution.

3 November 1956, Saturday (+4,197) The Elmley Moor ITV transmitter in Yorkshire was switched on. In Scunthorpe, 14 inch TVs cost 14 Guineas, 17 inch ones cost 69 Guineas, and a 21 inch model cost 88 Guineas; black and white, (I Guinea = �1.50).

2 November 1956, Friday (+4,196) Gaza fell to British troops.

1 November 1956, Thursday (+4,195) Ernie (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment) was born as Premium Bonds first went on sale in Britain.

===================================================================================

31 October 1956, Wednesday (+4,194) France and Britain bombed Egyptian airfields in the Suez Crisis. The speed of events � Egypt was only given 12 hours to withdraw from the Canal � suggested to US President Eisenhower that the whole operation was staged to maintain Anglo-French influence in Suez.

30 October 1956, Tuesday (+4,193) Village stops on the Lincoln to Barnetby railway closed to passengers.

29 October 1956, Monday (+4,192) 5.pm. Israeli troops invaded the Sinai Peninsula and troops pushed on towards the Suez Canal, ostensibly to destroy guerrilla strongholds, coming within 20 miles of the Canal. 30,000 tank-supported Israeli troops invaded Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, in retaliation �for Egyptian attacks on land and sea communications near Gaza�. Israeli forces wanted to reach the gun batteries at Sharm El Sheikh at the tip of the Sinai peninsula which were closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. These batteries were destroyed on 5 November 1956. This was part of the Suez Crisis in which President Nasser nationalised the canal. See 16 November 1869, 26 July� 1956, and 23 June 1956. On 30 October 1956 Britain and France issued an ultimatum to Egypt and Israel to stop fighting and on 31 October 1956 France and Britain invaded the Suez area �to stop the Israeli-Egyptian fighting. Nasser closed the canal by sinking 47 old ships full of concrete in it. In fact this move had been pre-planned with Israel�s co-operation. On 25 October 1956 the� British, French, and Israeli PMs, Anthony Eden, Guy Mollet, and David Ben Gurion, had met in secret at Sevres. On 6 November 1956 Anglo-French forces, 600 British and 487 French paratroopers, seized the Canal itself, having landed at Port Said. The UN ordered a ceasefire on 8 November 1956. The US condemned the invasion and the UN saw the rare sight of US and USSR delegates voting together. The US had threatened not to defend Sterling against a run on international markets against it unless the UK pulled out of Suez. Because of the fighting, backed by Britain and France, and ended by a UN ceasefire, the Canal was closed for more than six months, blocked by sunken ships. UK petrol rationing began on 23 November 1956, see this date. The Canal closed again during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and did not reopen until 1975. However by then very large oil tankers had been developed that were too deep to pass through the canal. It is hoped that plans to deepen the Canal and reduce fees will revive the enterprise (2001).

28 October 1956, Sunday (+4,191) (1) Imre Nagy ordered a cease fire by security forces.

(2) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, was born.

27 October 1956, Saturday (+4,190) (1) Prime Minister Imre Nagy formed a new Hungarian Government, see 5 November 1956.

(2) Death of US frozen foods pioneer, Clarence Birdseye.

26 October 1956, Friday (+4,189) The United Nations approved the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

25 October 1956, Thursday (+4,188) In Poland, thousands demonstrated in favour of the new regime in Hungary. Hungarian security forces fired on demonstrators near the Hungarian Parliament, killing some 600 people.

24 October 1956, Wednesday (+4,187) The Hungarian Government declared martial law and Soviet tanks appeared in Budapest.

23 October 1956, Tuesday (+4,186) Anti Communist uprising began in Hungary, see 5 November 1956. Protests were against the pro-Soviet regime which had replaced the reforming regime of Imre Nagy. Stalin's statue in Budapest was torn down and the return of Nagy only served to inflame matters further. The uprising was crushed on 26 October 1956.

22 October 1956, Monday (+4,185) Marco Lodoli, Italian writer, was born in Rome.

21 October 1956, Sunday (+4,184) (Kenya) The Mau-Mau had lost support, and were finally defeated by the Kenyan army and police.

20 October 1956, Saturday (+4,183) Danny Boyle, English film director, was born in Radcliffe, Manchester

19 October 1956, Friday (+4,182) Isham Jones, US composer, died in Florida (born 31 January 1894 in Coalton, Ohio)

18 October 1956, Thursday (+4,181) Martina Navratilova, tennis champion, was born in Prague.

17 October 1956, Wednesday (+4,180) Calder Hall, Britain�s first nuclear power station, in Cumbria, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.� Generation of power had begun on 20 August 1956.

16 October 1956, Tuesday (+4,179) (Egypt, Britain, France) British Prime Minister Anthony Eden and Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd visited Paris and met with French Minister Guy Mollet and Foreign Minister Christian Pineau to discuss joint action against Egypt.

13 October 1956, Saturday (+4,176) In The Netherlands, a coalition headed� by the Social Democrats took power.

English pianist Melvyn Tan was born in Singapore.

10 October 1956, Wednesday (+4,173) Two Israeli regiments bombarded a Jordanian police barracks for three hours.

8 October 1956, Monday (+4,171) Stephanie Zimbalist, actress, was born.

2 October 1956, Tuesday (+4,165) John Speelman, chess player, was born

1 October 1956, Monday (+4,164) Albert Von Tilzer, US composer, died in Los Angeles (born 29 March 1878 in Indianapolis)

=====================================================================================

30 September 1956, Sunday (+4,163) Doenitz (born 1891), German Admiral during World War Two, and technically Head of State of Germany from Hitler�s suicide on 1 May 1945 until his internment on 23 May 1945, was released from Spandau Prison.� He had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 1946 by the Allied Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

29 September 1956, Saturday (+4,162) Sebastian Coe, British international athlete, was born in Chiswick, London.

28 September 1956, Friday (+4,161) Death of US air pioneer, William Boeing.

27 September 1956, Thursday (+4,160) English composer Gerald Finzi died in Oxford.

25 September 1956, Tuesday (+4,158) Transatlantic telephone cable between the UK and the USA became operational.

23 September 1956, Sunday (+4.156) Britain and France took the Suez issue to the UN Security Council.

22 September 1956, Saturday (+4,155) Frederick Soddy, English radiochemist, died aged 79.

20 September 1956, Thursday (+4,153) Gary Cole, actor, was born.

17 September 1956, Monday (+4,150) Rita Rudner, comedienne, was born.

16 September 1956, Sunday (+4,149) Play Doh was invented by Noah and Joseph McVicker in the USA. They were trying to make wallpaper cleaner. It is like modelling clay but easier to use, and rapidly became popular.

14 September 1956, Friday (+4,147) Raymond Wilkins, footballer, was born.

11 September 1956, Tuesday (+4,144) After sporadic attacks by Jordan along the Israeli frontier, Israel retaliated. A battalion of Israeli troops attacked a Jordanian police post at Rahwa, killing 5 policeman and ten soldiers and destroying the building.

10 September 1956, Monday (+4,143) (Astronomy) Robert Julius Trumpler, Swiss-US astronomer, died in Oakland, California.

9 September 1956, Sunday (+4,142) Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. By his 3^rd appearance, the moralistic Ed Sullivan would only show him from the waist up, concerned about his hip-thrusting.

7 September 1956, Friday (+4,140) Charles Fry, cricketer, died (born 25 April 1872)

4 September 1956, Tuesday (+4,137) (AFG) The USSR agreed to supply the 40,00 strong Afghan Army with guns, ammunition and planes. The first 11 MiG fighter planes were to be delivered on 26 October 1956.

3 September 1956, Monday (+4,136) After riots in several towns at cinemas involving Teddy Boys following the film Rock Around The Clock, the film was banned.

2 September 1956, Sunday (+4,135) English oboist and conductor Paul Goodwin was born in Warwick.

1 September 1956, Saturday (+4,134)

==================================================================================

30 August 1956, Thursday (+4,132) Britain announced plans for parking wardens.

29 August 1956, Wednesday (+4,131) Major build-up of British and French forces in the eastern Mediterranean, to intimidate Egypt.

28 August 1956, Tuesday (+4,130) John Eddie Long, US basketball player, was born.

24 August 1956, Friday (+4,126) Adam Gopnik, US writer, was born.

21 August 1956, Tuesday (+4,123) Kim Cattrall, actress, was born.

20 August 1956, Monday (+4,122) Calder Hall, the world�s first large-scale nuclear power station, began operating.

16 August 1956, Thursday (+4,118) Hungarian-born US actor Bela Lugosi died.

14 August 1956, Tuesday (+4,116) German writer Bertolt Brecht died.

11 August 1956, Saturday (+4,113) Jackson Pollock, painter, died in a car accident in Long Island, New York, USA, aged 44.

7 August 1956, Tuesday (+4,109) John Treville laTouche, US author, died in Calais, Vermont (born 13 November 1917 in Richmond, Virginia)

4 August 1956, Saturday (+4,106) Indonesia repudiated its debts to The Netherlands.

3 August 1956, Friday (+4,105) The name of Bedloe�s Island, site of the Statue of Liberty, was changed to Liberty Island, on the approval of President Eisenhower.

1 August 1956, Wednesday (+4,103) The US, Britain, and France met to talk about the Suez problem. On 8 August 1956 Eden said Nasser could not be trusted.

=====================================================================================

30 July� 1956, Monday (+4,101) Eden told Nasser he cannot have the Suez Canal and imposed an arms embargo on Egypt.

28 July� 1956, Saturday (+4,099) Britain froze Egyptian assets in London in retaliation for Nasser�s �nationalisation of the Suez canal.

26 July� 1956, Thursday (+4,097) (1) Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal a month after taking power. Nasser wanted the tolls from the Canal to pay for the Aswan Dam construction. On 28 July� 1956 the Cabinet met in London and agreed that as a last resort military means would be used if the Canal was not kept open for free passage of ships in perpetuity, not just until the Suez Canal Company�s concession ran out in November 1968. On 9 September 1956 Nasser rejected US plans for international control over the Canal.

(2) (Innovation) Superglue was launched in New York, USA. It was sold in Britain from 1976.

25 July� 1956, Wednesday (+4,096) Italian ocean liner SS Andrea sank off Massachusetts after colliding in fog with Swedish liner MS Stockholm; 50 were killed.

23 July� 1956, Monday (+4,094)

20 July� 1956, Friday (+4,091) Charles Magri, boxer, was born in Tunis, Tunisia.

19 July� 1956, Thursday (+4,090) Britain and the USA withdrew financial support for Egypt under its new leader, Nasser, who was seen as too pro-Soviet.

18 July� 1956, Wednesday (+4,089) (SciTech) The Gulbenkian Foundation, a Portuguese charity, was set up by Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, to fund the sciences, arts and education projects.

17 July 1956, Tuesday (+4,088)

15 July� 1956, Sunday (+4,086) South African racing car driver Wayne Taylor was born.

14 July 1956, Saturday (+4,085) (Biology) The structure of vitamin B-12 was published.

9 July� 1956, Monday (+4,080) Tom Hanks, actor, was born.

7 July� 1956, Saturday (+4,078) In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), after the electoral victory of the Freedom Party, Sinhalese replaced English as the official language.

5 July� 1956, Thursday (+4,076) Britain passed the Clean Air Act. This gave industry seven years to stop emitting �dark smoke�. This was in the aftermath of the infamous 1952 London Smog, which kicked 4,000 people.

2 July� 1956, Monday (+4,073) Jerry Hall, actress, was born.

===================================================================================

30 June 1956, Saturday (+4,071) Two planes collided over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 aboard both planes.

29 June 1956, Friday (+4,070) (1) US President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act this day, providing for the construction of a 41,000 mile highway system.

(2) In Los Angeles, athlete Charley Dumas set a new high jump record of 2.1 metres (7 feet),

28 June 1956, Thursday (+4,069) (1) In riots in Poznan, Poland, tanks were called out; 38 people died and 270 were wounded.

(2) Shropshire Cricket Club was founded.

26 June 1956, Tuesday (+4,067) Chris Isaak, singer, was born.

23 June 1956, Saturday (+4,064) General Gamal Adbel Nasser was elected Egypt�s first president. However voting was compulsory and he was the only candidate. Nasser graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Cairo in 1938, aged 20, and was wounded in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Appointed Prime Minister of Egypt in 1954, he enjoyed popular support.

22 June 1956, Friday (+4,063) In Austria, following the general election of 13 May 1956, Julius Raab formed a coalition government of the People�s Party and the Socialists.

19 June 1956, Tuesday (+4,060) Gordon Pirie set a new record of 13 minutes 36.8 seconds for the 5,000 metres run.

15 June 1956, Friday (+4,056) (Algeria) Oil was first struck in Algeria.

14 June 1956, Thursday (+4,055) Peronist revolt in the Argentine provinces of Santa Fe, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. The Argentine Government declared martial law and sent in troops to restore order. Many were killed and 2,000 arrests were made, of whom 38 were later executed. Peronists later stagesd numerous strikes, causing economic disruption.

13 June 1956, Wednesday (+4,054) The last British troops left the Suez Canal Zone.

12 June 1956, Tuesday (+4,053) Burma's Prime Minister U Nu resigned and was replaced by Ba Swe.

11 June 1956, Monday (+4,052) The railway from Shenfield to Chelmsford was electrified.

10 June 1956, Sunday (+4,051) Frank Brangwyn, Belgian-born British artist and designer, died aged 89.

9 June 1956, Saturday (+4,050) Patricia Cornwell, author, was born.

8 June 1956, Friday (+4,049) Marie Laurencin, French painter, died in Paris (born 31 October 1883 in Paris)

7 June 1956, Thursday (+4,048)� The US Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, ruled that the State could not prevent married couples accessing contraception.

6 June 1956, Wednesday (+4,047) Bjorn Borg, Swedish tennis player, was born.

5 June 1956, Tuesday (+4,046) In Luxembourg, Chancellor Adenauer of Germany and Prime Minister Mollet of France agreed that the Saar would have political union with Germany from 1 January 1957, and economic union after a longer period.

4 June 1956, Monday (+4,045) Egypt announced that it would not renew the Suez Canal Company�s concession when it expired in 1968.

3 June 1956, Sunday (+4,044) British Rail abolished third class travel, to conform with Continental practice.

2 June 1956, Saturday (+4,043) President Tito of Yugoslavia visited Moscow, USSR, as relations improved between the two countries.

1 June 1956, Friday (+4,042) In the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov was replaced as Foreign Minister by Dmitri Shepilov.

===================================================================================

31 May 1956, Thursday (+4,041) Yoshiko Sakakibara, Japanese was born in Chiba, Japan

30 May 1956, Wednesday (+4,040) Valaida Snow, US singer, died in New York (born 2.6/1900 in Washington DC)

29 May 1956, Tuesday (+4,039) Hermann Abendroth, German conductor, died in Jena (born 19 January 1883 in Frankfurt)

24 May 1956, Thursday (+4,034) The first Eurovision song contest was held. Europe was just recovering from the Second World War but the Cold War was in full swing. There was a need to unite the countries of western Europe. An Italian radio manager had an idea for a European music festival similar to the popular Italian San Remo Festival. The first Eurovision song contest was held in Switzerland with seven countries participating, each with two songs/performances. These were West Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Belgium, the same countries that took the initiative to form the European Union. Switzerland won the first contest with the song �Refrain�. Since then 37 different countries have participated, 800 different singers have performed 900 new songs, and the show attracts 100 million viewers in 2002.

20 May 1956, Sunday (+4,030) Andre Charlot, French theatre director, died in Woodland, California (born in Paris 26 July� 1882)

19 May 1956, Saturday (+4,029) Oliver Letwin, UK politician, was born.

18 May 1956, Friday (+4,028) Maurice Tate, cricketer, died (born 30 May 1895).

17 May 1956, Thursday (+4,027) �Sugar� Ray Leonard, boxer, was born.

16 May 1956, Wednesday (+4,026) MG produced its 100,000^th car, an MGA 1500.

15 May 1956, Tuesday (+4,025) Adrian Rollini, US jazz saxophonist, died in Homestead, Florida (born 28 June 1904 in New York)

14 May 1956, Monday (+4,024) A British diver disappeared whilst bugging the underside of Soviet President Kruschev�s warship in Portsmouth.

13 May 1956, Sunday (+4,023) Richard Madeley, broadcaster, was born.

11 May 1956, Friday (+4,021)

8 May 1956, Tuesday (+4,018) First performance of John Osborne�s play �Look Back in Anger� at the Royal Court theatre, London. The play heralded the start of the ;Angry Young Men� on the British establishment.

7 May 1956, Monday (+4,017) (1) The UK Health Minister refused to back an anti-smoking campaign because he wasn�t convinced it was harmful.

(2) The inaugural meeting of the Western European Union Council.

4 May 1956, Friday (+4,014)

1 May 1956, Tuesday (+4,011) Germans demonstrated in favour of reunification.

==================================================================================

30 April 1956, Monday (+4,010) Lars von Trier, film director, was born

28 April 1956, Saturday (+4,008)

27 April 1956, Friday (+4,007) Jeffrey Probyn, rugby player, was born.

26 April 1956, Thursday (+4,006) Avril Lennox, gymnast, was born.

22 April 1956, Sunday (+4,002) Finnish conductor Jukka Pekka Saraste was born in Heinola.

20 April 1956, Friday (+4,000) Allen Kearns, Canadian actor, died in Albany, new York (born 1893 in Ontario, Canada)

19 April 1956, Thursday (+3,999) Prince Rainier of Monaco married American actress Grace Kelly.

18 April 1956, Wednesday (+3,998) The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, along with Nikolai Bulganin, visited the UK.

17 April 1956, Tuesday (+3,997) Premium Bonds were introduced by Chancellor Harold MacMillan; prizes went up to �1,000.

16 April 1956, Monday (+3,996)

15 April 1956, Sunday (+3,995) Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter, died aged 88.

14 April 1956, �Saturday (+3,994) The first videotape was demonstrated in Chicago.

10 April 1956, Tuesday (+3,990) (Sri Lanka) Solomon Bandaranaike became Prime Minister of� a United Front

Government of Sri Lanka. He ended the British military and naval presence in Sri Lanka, but also provoked Tamil riots by attempting to institute Sinhalese as the only official language.

7 April 1956, Saturday (+3,987) Spain relinquished its protectorate over Morocco.

6 April 1956, Friday (+3,986) Paramount Pictures signed Elvis for a three-film, five-year contract worth $450,000.

3 April 1956, Tuesday (+3,983)

1 April 1956, Sunday (+3,981) Easter Sunday. The first US U-2 spy planes arrived at RAF Lakenheath.

====================================================================================

31 March 1956, Saturday (+3,980) The last British soldiers left Egypt, and 74 years of British military presence in Egypt ended, as the Grenadier Guards and Life Guards embarked at Port Said, Suez.

30 March 1956, Friday (+3,979) Mount Bezymianny, Kamchatka, USSR, erupted, destroying the top 180m of the volcano and sending a volcanic plume 40km high. There was no recorded loss of life.

27 March 1956, Tuesday (+3,976)

24 March 1956, Saturday (+3,973) (Chemistry) Willem Hendrik Keeson, Dutch physicist who explored the properties of� liquid helium and even produced solid helium, died in Oegstgeest.

23 March 1956, Friday (+3,972) (1) Pakistan became an independent Islamic republic within the Commonwealth

(2) Foundation stone of Coventry Cathedral laid by Queen Elizabeth II. The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962. The former 14^th century cathedral along with the city�s mediaeval centre had been destroyed in an 11-hour Luftwaffe blitz on 14 November 1940 when over 1,000 died.

22 March 1956, Thursday (+3,971) (Race Equality) Martin Luther King was convicted of organising a buy boycott in Alabama.

21 March 1956, Wednesday (+3,970) Ann Mackay, soprano singer, was born

20 March 1956, Tuesday (+3,969) Tunisia became independent, having been a French Protectorate since 1881.

19 March 1956, Monday (+3,968)

18 March 1956, Sunday (+3,967) At the 20^th Party Congress, Khrushchev denounced Stalin�s crimes.

17 March 1956, Saturday (+3,966) (Atomic) The daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie died of leukaemia, possibly brought on by working with radioactive materials.

14 March 1956, Wednesday (+3,963) Theresa Sanderson, athlete (javelin), was born.

12 March 1956, Monday (+3,961) Grace la Rue, US actress, died in Burlingame, California (born 1882)

10 March 1956, Saturday (+3,959) (Aviation) JP Twiss, UK, set a new aviation speed record of 1,132.14 mph.

9 March 1956, Friday (+3,958) Archbishop Makarios, implicated in terrorism, was deported by the British from Cyprus to the Seychelles. Riots broke out in Cyprus.

8 March 1956, Thursday (+3,957) West Germany amended its Constitution to allow for the use of conscription for the military.

7 March 1956, Wednesday (+3,956) Bryan Cranston, US actor, was born.�

6 March 1956, Tuesday (+3,955) British Rail said the steam services on the London to Manchester and Liverpool would be electrified.

5 March 1956, Monday (+3,954) The telephone weather forecast service began in the UK.

4 March 1956, Sunday (+3,953) Kermit Driscoll, US jazz bassist, was born.

3 March 1956, Saturday (+3,952) Harahap took control of the Indonesian government.

2 March 1956, Friday (+3,951) The Treaty of Fez was terminated. France officially recognised the independence of Morocco.

1 March 1956, Thursday (+3,950) (1) The USA raised its Minimum wage from 75 cents to 1 Dollar an hour.

(2) The University of Alabama expelled its first Black student. Autherine Lucy had been suspended �for her own safety� after attacks by an angry White mob. The US Federal Court ruled that she must be re-admitted.

=====================================================================================

29 February 1956, Wednesday (+3,949) Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic.

28 February 1956, Tuesday (+3,948) James Nicholl, footballer, was born.

27 February 1956, Monday (+3,947) Women in Egypt received the vote.

26 February 1956, Sunday (+3,946) Keisuke Kuwata, singer, was born.

25 February 1956, Saturday (+3,945) Mary Stewart, athlete, was born.

23 February 1956, Thursday (+3,943)

22 February 1956, Wednesday (+3,942) Elvis Presley entered the Charts for the first time with Heartbreak Hotel.

21 February 1956, Tuesday (+3,941) Edwin Franko Goldman, US composer, died in new York (born 1 January 1978 in Louisville, Kentucky)

19 February 1956, Sunday (+3,939)

17 February 1956, Friday (+3,937) The first episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood was broadcast, with Richard Greene playing the hero. The famous signature tune entered the top 20, and the series ran to 143 episodes.

16 February 1956, Thursday (+3,936) The British Parliament voted to end the death penalty.

14 February 1956, Tuesday (+3,934)

13 February 1956, Monday (+3,033) Liam Brady, footballer, was born in Dublin, Ireland.

12 February 1956, Sunday (+3,932) The first yellow �No Parking� lines appeared in Britain, in Slough.

11 February 1956, Saturday (+3,931) A Maltese referendum favoured integration with Britain.

10 February 1956, Friday (+3,930) Elvis Presley walked into a recording studio and made his first record, Heartbreak Hotel.

9 February 1956, Thursday (+3,929) Philip Jackson Ford Jr, basketball player, was born.

8 February 1956, Wednesday (+3,928) Malaya was promised independence by Britain by August 1957.

7 February 1956, Tuesday (+3,927) A conference was held in London on establishing the British Caribbean Federation; this was set up on 1 August 1957.

6 February 1956, Monday (+3,926) In Algeria, French PM Guy Mollet was mobbed by an angry crowd. General Georges Catroux, the newly-appointed Resident Minister for Algerian Affairs, had not yet left Paris for Algiers; he would resign within a few hours.

5 February 1956, Sunday (+3,925) The US Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in State-run schools and colleges was illegal.

3 February 1956, Friday (+3,923) Emile Borel, French mathematician, died.

1 February 1956, Wednesday (+3,921) Following French elections on 2 January 1956, Guy Mollett formed a Socialist government in France.

===================================================================================

31 January 1956, Tuesday (+3,920) A A Milne, English author of children�s books, including Winnie the Pooh, died in Hartfield, Sussex.

30 January 1956, Monday (+3,919)

29 January 1956, Sunday (+3,918) H L Mencken, US writer, died aged 75.

28 January 1956, Saturday (+3,917) Elvis Presley made his first appearance on TV, on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show.� He sang Shake Rattle and Roll.

27 January 1956, Friday (+3,916) Mimi Rogers, actress, was born.

26 January 1956, Thursday (+3,915) The UK banned the import and export of heroin.

23 January 1956, Monday (+3,912) Hungarian-born British film director Sir Alexander Korda died.

21 January 1956, Saturday (+3,910) Geena Davis, actress, was born.

19 January 1956, Thursday (+3,908) Sudan joined the Arab league.

17 January 1956, Tuesday (+3,906) Paul Young, singer, was born.

16 January 1956, Monday (+3,905) The Winter Olympics opened at Cortina d�Ampezzo, Italy.

15 January 1956, Sunday (+3,904)

14 January 1956, Saturday (+3,903) Truce agreed between Israel and Jordan.

13 January 1956, Friday (+3,902) Anti-US riots in Jordan.

12 January 1956, Thursday (+3,901) Nelson Tarleton, boxer, died (born 14 January 1906)

11 January 1956, Wednesday (+3,900) Britain sent troops to Cyprus to restore order.

9 January 1956, Monday (+3,898) Imelda Staunton, actress, was born.

7 January 1956, Saturday (+3,896) David Caruso, actor, was born.

6 January 1956, Friday (+3,895) Clive Woodward, rugby player, was born.

5 January 1956, Thursday (-3,894) Jeanne Marie Mistinguett, French actress, died in Bourgival (born 1873)

4 January 1956, Wednesday (+3,893)

3 January 1956, Tuesday (+3,892) The USSR gave technical aid to China.

2 January 1956, Monday (+3,891) The British Astronomer-Royal said the idea of space travel was �bilge�.

1 January 1956, Sunday (+3,890) Sudan became independent, having been administered jointly by Britain and Egypt.

=====================================================================================

31 December 1955, Saturday (+3,889) In response to mounting violence in Algeria, France had increased the number of its troops stationed there from 76,000 at the beginning of 1955 to 170,000 by the end of 1955.

23 December 1955, Friday (+3,881) Leonard Braund, cricketer, died (born 18 October 1875)

21 December 1955, Wednesday (+3,879) Canadian violinist and conductor Peter Oundjan was born in Toronto.

17 December 1955, Saturday (+3,875)

16 December 1955, Friday (+3,874) The new Terminal Two buildings at London Airport, later renamed Heathrow were opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

15 December 1955, Thursday (+3,873) Bulgaria joined the United Nations.

14 December 1955, Wednesday (+3,872) Ireland and Hungary joined the United Nations.

13 December 1955, Tuesday (+3,871) Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) made her stage debut at the Union Theatre, Melbourne, Australia.

12 December 1955, Monday (+3,870) Christopher Cockerell patented his prototype of the hovercraft.

10 December 1955, Saturday (+3,868)

7 December 1955, Wednesday (+3,865) Clement Attlee, aged 72, resigned as leader of the UK Labour Party; Hugh Gaitskell was elected as leader by a wide margin. Gaitskell died in 1963 and Labour did not come to power again until 1964, with Harold Wilson as leader. Attlee entered the House of Lords as First Earl Attlee, until his death in 1969.

6 December 1955, Tuesday (+3,864) Anthony Woodcock, footballer, was born.

5 December 1955, Monday (+3,863) Martin Luther King was elected leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott movement which had started following the arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955.

4 December 1955, Sunday (+33,862) The International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations was founded in Luxembourg.

3 December 1955, Saturday (+33,861) Charles Edward Davenport, US composer, died in Cleveland (born 23 April 1894 in Anniston, Alabama)

2 December 1955, Friday (+3,860) The Barnes rail crash, SW London After a collision caused by a signal error, fire broke out, killing 13 and injuring 35

1 December 1955, Thursday (+3,859) In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her front of bus seat for a White man and move to the rear of the bus. On 4 December 1955 she was fined US$ 14. A boycott of Montgomery City Lines buses began by the Afro-American population, costing 65% of pre-boycott revenue. The bus company had to end seat discrimination and hire Afro-American drivers, an outcome hailed as the start of the Black Rights movement in the USA.

====================================================================================

30 November 1955, Wednesday (+3,858) Floodlights were used for the first time at Wembley Stadium, London, towards the end of an international match against Spain.

29 November 1955, Tuesday (+3,857) Howie Mandel, comedian, was born in Toronto, Ontario

28 November 1955, Monday (+3,856) A state of emergency was declared in Cyprus because of EOKA terrorism. The Greek majority wanted to celebrate Oxi Day, the day Greece entered WW2, but were banned by the British Governor of Cyprus, Sir John Harding. EOKA really wanted enosis, or union with Greece, fiercely opposed by the Turkish minority in Cyprus.

27 November 1955, Sunday (+3,855) Arthur Honegger, Swiss composer, died aged 63.

26 November 1955, Saturday (+3,856) Philip Thompson, footballer, was born.

25 November 1955, Friday (+3,853) Bruno Tonioli, Italian dancer, was born.

24 November 1955, Thursday (+3,852) Ian Botham, cricketer, was born.

23 November 1955, Wednesday (+3,851) Britain handed over the Cocos Islands to Australia.

22 November 1955, Tuesday (+3,850) A Tupolev Tu-16 dropped the first Soviet nuclear bomb, RDS-37, in Siberia.

21 November 1955, Monday (+3,849) The first meeting of the Permanent Council of the Baghdad Pact, later called CENTO, was held.

17 November 1955, Thursday (+3,845) Anglesey became the first authority in Britain to introduce fluoride into the water supply.

13 November 1955, Sunday (+3,841) (Argentina) In Argentina, General Lonardi, who had succeeded Peron, resigned. He had been accused of being too lenient on the Peronistas, also on the trades unions who had been Peron�s main supporters. Lonardi was succeeded by General Pedro Aramburu. Persecution of the Peronistas intensified; the unions called a general strike, and Aramburu sent troops against them. Peronistas were imprisoned, along with some Catholics (despite these being anti-Peron). Many were internally exiled to the harsh terrain of south-eastern Argentina.

11 November 1955, Friday (+3,839) (Rail Tunnels) The Mount Royal Ohara rail tunnel, Japan, 5.063 km long, opened on the Ohara-Katsuura line.

9 November 1955, Wednesday (+3,837) South Africa left the United Nations as controversy over its apartheid policy continued.

5 November 1955, Saturday (+3,833) The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopened with a performance of Beethoven�s Fidelio. It had been destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on 12 March 1945.

4 November 1955, Friday (+3,832) (Finland) Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland 2003-2010, was born in Jyv�skyl�

3 November 1955, Thursday (+3,831) (Rail Tunnels) The Rimutaka rail tunnel, New Zealand, 8.798 km long, opened.

2 November 1955, Wednesday (+3,830) (Jewish) Ben Gurion formed the new government in Israel.

1 November 1955, Tuesday (+3,829) Yemen signed a five year treaty of friendship with the USSR, in Cairo.

==================================================================================

31 October 1955, Monday (+3,828) Princess Margaret decided not to marry divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend. Had she married, she would have lost her Civil List income and place in line to the throne.

30 October 1955, Sunday (+3,827) A street sweeper in Scunthorpe was paid �7.10 a week, for a 44-hour week.

29 October 1955, Saturday (+3,826) Dmitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, originally completed in 1948, was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.

28 October 1955, Friday (+3,825) Bill Gates was born. He founded Microsoft in 1975 and was the world�s richest man, 1995-2007.

27 October 1955, Thursday (+3,824) Vladimir Mikhaylovich Deshevov, composer, died aged 66

26 October 1955, Wednesday (+3,823) Last foreign troops left Austria.

23 October 1955, Sunday (+3,820) South Vietnam became a republic under Ngo Dinh Diem. Emperor Bao Dai was deposed.

20 October 1955, Thursday (+3,817) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by JRR Tolkein was published.

19 October 1955, Wednesday (+3,816) Lonnie Jewel Shelton, US basketball player, was born (died 8 July� 2018).

18 October 1955, Tuesday (+3,815)

15 October 1955, Saturday (+3,812) The Burgtheater in Vienna reopened, after major damage caused by WW2 was finally repaired.

14 October 1955, Friday (+3,811) Baluchistan formally became part of West Pakistan.

13 October 1955, Thursday (+3,810) Pan American Airlines ordered 20 Boeing 707s and 25 Douglas DC-8 jet airliners. This was the start of a major shift by world airlines into large jet aircraft for long-haul passenger flights.

12 October 1955, Wednesday (+3,809) (Britain, Russia) The Soviet Navy made a goodwill visit to Portsmouth, UK, and the British Royal Navy made a goodwill visit to Leningrad (St Petersburg), Russia.

11 October 1955, Tuesday (+3,808) Norm Nixon, US basketball player, was born.

10 October 1955, Monday (+3,807) Experimental colour TV broadcasts were made from by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, London.

9 October 1955, Sunday (+3,806) Steve Ovett, athlete (javelin), was born.

8 October 1955, Saturday (+3,805) Lonnie Pitchford, US blues musician, was born in Lexington, Mississipi (died 1998)

7 October 1955, Friday (+3,804) (Biology) Henry Clapp Sherman, US biochemist, died in Rensselaer, New York, USA.

6 October 1955, Thursday (+3,803) The first group of German PoW�s released from World War Two captivity in Russia were brought to the Russian-Polish border at Bialystok, to be taken on to West Germany. By the end of 1955, over 9,000 such PoWs had been repatriated,

5 October 1955, Wednesday (+3,802) Karamanlis became Prime Minister of Greece, succeeding Alexander Papagos on his death.

4 October 1955, Tuesday (+3,801) John Rutherford, rugby player, was born.

1 October 1955, Saturday (+3,798)

==================================================================================

30 September 1955, Friday (+3,797) TV actor James Dean was killed when his Porsche careered off the road near Los Angeles.

29 September 1955, Thursday (+3,796) Carl Milles, Swedish sculptor, diedin Lidingo (born 23 June 1875 in Uppsala)

27 September 1955, Tuesday (+3,790)

25 September 1955, Sunday (+3,792) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, West German footballer, was born

24 September 1955, Saturday (+3,791) US President Dwight D Eisenhower suffered a heart attack.

23 September 1955, Friday (+3,790) Pakistan joined the Baghdad pact.

22 September 1955, Thursday (+3,789) With the start of commercial television in Britain came the first TV advertisement. It was for Gibbs SR toothpaste. Programmes from the two commercial programme makers, Associated Rediffusion and the Associated Broadcasting Company, included the annual Guildhall banquet, Britain�s first-ever cash prize quiz show, a variety show and a boxing match from Shoreditch. Popular ITV shows included Sunday Night at the London Palladium and Coronation Street. By ITV�s annual advertising revenue increased from an initial �2 million in 1955 to �100 million in 1960. The BBC competed by having Grace Archer, a leading character in their radio drama The Archers, killed off in a fire.

21 September 1955, Wednesday (+3,788) (1) Juan Peron, Presidential dictator of Argentina since 1946, resigned and went into exile, ousted by a military coup. He was born on 8 October 1895, son of a wealthy rancher. In 1930 he took part in an uprising against President Hipolioto Irigoyen A widower in 1945, he met and married Maria Eva Durate, known as Evita. Evita died in the early 1950s, and economic difficulties and labour unrest increased in Argentina. Peron disliked the Catholic Church in Argentina and sought to minimise its influence, which brought him into conflict with the military officers. In 1955 Peron arrested 85 priests and expelled the Bishop of Buenos Aires, which earned him an excommunication from Pope Pius XII. On 18 June 1955 officers from the Argentine air force and navy rebelled and fighter planes bombed government buildings at Plaza del Mayo. Over 300 civilians were killed in the attack and Peron placed Argentina under martial law. A full military coup was launched on 16 September 1955 by General Eduardo Lonardi. Peron fled to Paraguay, remaining in exile until 1973 when his party won Argentine elections. Peron retuned to a hero�s welcome, becoming President until his death on 1 July� 1974.

(2) The UK annexed Rockall, to prevent the USSR using it as a base to spy on British missile tests.

20 September 1955, Tuesday (+3,787) The Radio Times was first published.

19 September 1955, Monday (+3,786) Richard Burmer, US composer, was born in Owosso, Michigan (died 2006)

18 September 1955, Sunday (+3,785) (1) Russian athlete Vladimir Kuts set a world 5,000 metre record of 14 minutes 46.8 seconds.

(2) Four years after they fled to Russia, the British Government officially confirmed that Donald McLean and Guy Burgess were Soviet spies.

17 September 1955, Saturday (+3,784) In Cyprus, Greek supporters of Enosis, who had been urged by Archbishop Makarios to embark on a campaign of �passive resistance� against British troops occupying the island, burnt down the British Institute in Nicosia. There were also attacks on British soldiers, mostly 2-year conscripts doing National Service.

16 September 1955, Friday (+3,783) In Argentina the garrison at Cordoba � a strongly Catholic city � rebelled against Peron, a revolt led by General Eduardo Lonardi, a devout Catholic, Other garrison towns joined the rebellion, and Isaac Roja, a senior naval officer, threatened a naval bombardment of Buenos Aires unless Peron resigned. Peron now had no military support and had to resign.

15 September 1955, Thursday (+3,782) Abdul Qadir, cricketer, was born

14 September 1955, Wednesday (+3,781) Franz Carl Weiskopf, German Czech writer, died aged 55

13 September 1955, Tuesday (+3,780) The crisis in the British colony of Cyprus worsened when EOKA called a General Strike. Illegal marches and demonstrations by both Greeks and Turks led to clashes.

9 September 1955, Friday (+3,776) The West German Chancellor, Dr Adenauer, went to Moscow as a guest of the Soviet Government. At a dinner with Marshall Bulganin, they agreed to the final release of German prisoners of war from World War Two back to West Germany, after more than a decade in captivity.

6 September 1955, Tuesday (+3,773) Anti-Greek riots in Istanbul and Izmir.

3 September 1955, Saturday (+3,770) Steve Jones, musician with the Sex Pistols, was born.

====================================================================================

31 August 1955, Wednesday (+3,767) Ed Moses, athlete, was born.

25 August 1955, Thursday (+3,761) Tom Costello, British music hall comedian, was born in London.

24 August 1955, Wednesday (+3,760) The first microwave atomic clock was unveiled at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK. It was accurate to one second every 300 years. By 2020 atomic clocks were accurate to in second every 300 million years.

23 August 1955, Tuesday (+3,759)

21 August 1955, Sunday (+3,757) Morocco and France reached agreement, and anti-French rioting ended there.

20 August 1955, Saturday (+3,756) Algerian independence fighters (FLN, Front Liberation National) committed atrocities against Europeans in the Constantine area of Algeria. Simultaneous attacks in 25 towns were co-ordinated by former councillor Zirout Youssef; French military posts, police stations, and the homes of Europeans were hit. ^0 Europeans died in Philippeville. The French responded harshly, with villages suspected of harbouring rebels being razed and 500,000 French troops being sent to maintain order. Barbed wire was erected along the borders with Tunisia and Morocco because these two newly-independent states were aiding the rebels. The French mounted a retaliatory raid into Tunisia, sparking UN intervention.

19 August 1955, Friday (+3,755) Hurricane Audrey hit Texas and Louisiana, killing 535.

18 August 1955, Thursday (+3,754) The Anyanya I Rebellion in Sudan, by southern Anyanyas against the northern Muslims, began.

17 August 1955, Wednesday (+3,753) Fernand Leger, painter, died in Gif sur Yvette, France, aged 74.

16 August 1955, Tuesday (+3,752) James Reilly: Irish surgeon, was born.

15 August 1955, Monday (+3,751) India attempted to take over Goa.

14 August 1955, Sunday (+3,750) The US schooner Levin J. Marvel capsized and sank in Chesapeake Bay with the loss of 12 of the 24 people on board.

13 August 1955, Saturday (+3,749) The IRA raided a training centre in Berkshire.

12 August 1955, Friday (+3,748) Thomas Mann, German novelist, died aged 80.

11 August 1955, Thursday (+3,747) Muslim right wing government took over in Indonesia.

10 August 1955, Wednesday (+3,746) (Chad) France signed a Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness with Libya, which by then was independent. This later Treaty is cited by Chad as superseding the unratified 1935 agreement.

8 August 1955, Monday (+3,744) The International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Power opened in Geneva.

5 August 1955, Friday (+3,741) European Monetary Agreement signed.

4 August 1955, Thursday (+3,740) The 1955 Mitropa Cup football competition was won by V�r�s Lobog�,

3 August 1955, Wednesday (+3,739) Duncan Sandys, UK Housing Minister, instructed local authorities to set up Green Belts similar to London�s around other major towns and cities. The idea was to stop food producing farmland being lost to urbanisation, and to stop unsightly �ribbon development� along main roads.� Where possible, urban development was to be by �infilling�.� This month, denim jeans became fashionable in the UK.

2 August 1955, Tuesday (+3,738) Velcro was patented by the Swiss inventor, George de Mestral. Inspired by the way burs attached to clothes, its name derived from a combination of velour (velvet) and crochet (hook).

1 August 1955, Monday (+3,737) Warsaw hosted the Communist Youth Congress.

==================================================================================

30 July 1955, Saturday (+3,735) English conductor and violinist Christopher Warren Green was born in Gloucestershire.

27 July� 1955, Wednesday (+3,732) The Clean Air Bill was presented to Parliament, to prevent the reappearance of the 1952 Smog that killed 4,000, see 4 December 1952.

25 July� 1955, Monday (+3,730) Iman, supermodel, was born.

21 July� 1955, Thursday (+3,726) Willem Dafoe, actor, was born.,

20 July� 1955, Wednesday (+3,725) Desmond Douglas, table tennis champion, was born.

19 July� 1955, Tuesday (+3,724)

17 July� 1955, Sunday (+3,722) (1) The first atomic powered electric power station in the USA began operations, in Arco, Idaho. For two hours between 8pm and 10pm the town was disconnected from the national power grid and plugged in to the new power source. The experiment was a success.

(2) Walt Disney�s Disneyland was opened in Anaheim, California.

(3) the Chinese writer Hu Feng was arrested for publically criticising Communism as having a �blighting influence� on literature.

16 July� 1955, Saturday (+3,721) France declared martial law in Morocco after rioting.

15 July� 1955, Friday (+3,720)

13 July� 1955, Wednesday (+3,718) Nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis became the last woman hanged, at Holloway Prison in Britain, for the murder of her lover David Blakely, following her conviction on 21 June 1955. However there was public sympathy for her; she claimed someone else put the gun in her hand; and her case was influential in bringing about the abolition of the death penalty in the UK.

12 July� 1955, Tuesday (+3,717) The last hanging at Lincoln Prison. Kenneth Roberts, 24, was executed for the murder of 18-year-old Mary Georgina Roberts in Scunthorpe.

9 July� 1955, Saturday (+3,714) Steve Coppell, footballer, was born in Liverpool.

7 July� 1955, Thursday (+3,712) Dixon of Dock Green began on BBC TV with Jack Warner as George Dixon. It was to run for 21 years and 367 episodes.

6 July 1955, Wednesday (+3,711) Segni became Prime Minister of Italy.

5 July� 1955, Tuesday (+3,710) The first meeting of the Assembly of the Western European Union, at Strasbourg, France.

4 July� 1955, Monday (+3,709) (1) British dock strike ended after 1 month.

(2) Britain said it would return the Simonstown military base to South Africa by 31 March 1957, whilst retaining the rights to use the base.

1 July� 1955, Friday (+3,706) A male office worker in the UK earned an average of �728 a year; a woman office worker was paid just �416 a year. A skilled manual worker earned �572 a year if male; if female, she earned �291 a year.� In 2003, average wages for all are �24,000 a year. New houses cost an average �2,000 in 1955, as against �150,000 in 2003. Dockers called off their strike.

===================================================================================

28 June 1955, Tuesday (+3,703) John C Spikes, US songwriter, died in Pasadena, California (born 22 July� 1882)

27 June 1955, Monday (+3,702) Isabelle Adjani., actress, was born.

23 June 1955, Thursday (+3,698) Jean Amadou Tigana, French footballer, was born.

21 June 1955, Tuesday (+3,696) Michel Platini, French footballer, was born.

19 June 1955, Sunday (+3,694) Max Fechstein, German painter, died in West Berlin (born 31 December 1881)

16 June 1955, Thursday (+3,691) Civil strife continued in Argentina. A group of naval officers attacked President Peron�s headquarters at Government House and naval aircraft dropped bombs, killing several bystanders. Two warships were also shelling Government House. However the Army remained loyal to Peron and the naval revolt failed..

15 June 1955, Wednesday (+3,690) The USA and Britain signed an atomic energy agreement, providing for the exchange of information between them.

14 June 1955, Tuesday (+3,689) Rail workers called off the strike which began on 29/ May 1955.

13 June 1955, Monday (+3,688) Alan Hansen, footballer, was born.

11 June 1955, Saturday (+3,686) Tony Allcock, bowls player, was born.

9 June 1955, Thursday (+3,684) Stephen Smith Eccles, champion jockey, was born.

8 June 1955, Wednesday (+3,683) Jose Antonio Camacho, Spanish footballer, was born.

7 June 1955, Tuesday (+3,682)

6 June 1955, Monday (+3,681) Sandra Bernhardt, actress, was born.

5 June 1955, Sunday (+3,680) The Warsaw Pact was founded.

3 June 1955, Friday (+3,678)

1 June 1955, Wednesday (+3,676) Nigel Short, chess player, was born.

===================================================================================

31 May 1955, Tuesday (+3,675) In Britain, troops went on stand-by as the effects of the rail and docks strikes worsened.

30 May 1955, Monday (+3,674) Jake Smith (Roberts), professional wrestler, was born in Texas.

29 May 1955, Sunday (+3,673) Rail strike began in Britain.

28 May 1955, Saturday (+3,672) 16 Teddy Boys were arrested after a disturbance at a dance hall in Bath.

27 May 1955, Friday (+3,671) (Aviation) The French Caravelle aeroplane made its maiden flight.

26 May 1955, Thursday (+3,670) The Conservatives won the General Election, with a majority of 59. They won 345 seats to Labour�s 277. The Liberals won just 6 seats.

25 May 1955, Wednesday (+3,669) A British expedition, led by Charles Evans, became the first to climb Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the Himalayas.

24 May 1955, Tuesday (+3,668) Docks strike began in Britain.

23 May 1955, Monday (+3,667)

22 May 1955, Sunday (+3,666) Petru Kuki, Romanian fencer, was born

21 May 1955, Saturday (+3,665) Paul Barber, English hockey player, was born.

20 May 1955, Friday (+3,664) The Catholic Church was disestablished in Argentina.

18 May 1955, Wednesday (+3,662)

16 May 1955, Monday (+3,660) Olga Korbutt, gymnast, was born.

15 May 1955, Sunday (+3,659) Austria became de jure an independent state within its 1937 borders under the Austrian State Treaty, signed by the USA, USSR, France, and Britain (see 7 January 1946). All the four-power occupation forces were withdrawn by 25 October 1955. On 5 November 1955 Austria declared itself constitutionally to be permanently neutral.

14 May 1955, Saturday (+3,658) Eastern bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact. See 31 March 1954.

13 May 1955, Friday (+3,657) A riot took place at an Elvis Presley concert in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

12 May 1955, Thursday (+3,656) Riots by the Chinese in Singapore who were dissatisfied with British plans for self-government of the island and wanted complete independence. Four people were killed.

11 May 1955, Wednesday (+3,655) Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer, died aged 80.

10 May 1955, Tuesday (+3,654) Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer, died aged 73.

9 May 1955, Monday (+3,653) West Germany became a member of NATO.

8 May 1955, Sunday (+3,652) Hiroshima victims arrived in the USA for plastic surgery.

7 May 1955, Saturday (+3,651) The USSR annulled treaties with Britain and France in retaliation for the setting up of the Western European Union, which included Germany.

6 May 1955, Friday (+3,650) Britain went to the International Court over the Falklands.

5 May 1955, Thursday (+3,649) West Germany became a sovereign state (see 26 May 1952); the Allied occupation by France, UK and USA officially ended.

4 May 1955, Wednesday (+3,648) Georges Enescu, Romanian composer and violinist, died in Paris, France (born 19 August 1881 in Liveni, Romania.

3 May 1955, Tuesday (+3,647) (Atom Electric) The USA and Turkey signed the first Atoms for Peace pact. There would be a research nuclear reactor in Turkey, with work on the use of radioactive isotopes in medicine, agriculture and industry.

2 May 1955, Monday (+3,646) In the UK, passenger services were withdrawn between Oldham and Delph

1 May 1955, Sunday (+3,645) Donna Hartley, athletics champion, was born.

===================================================================================

29 April 1955, Friday (+3,643) Civil conflict within South Vietnam as Binh Xuyen rebels fired mortar shells at the palace of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. The rebels opposed the US-backed Prime Minister, and formerly controlled the police force until 26 January when Diem appointed his own police chief.

27 April 1955, Wednesday (+3,641) The First Bandung Conference ended (started 18 April 1955). This was a meeting of 29 newly-independent African and Asian countries who were keen to distance themselves from the USA/USSR superpower rivalry. Nations in attendance included China (Zhou Enlai), India (Nehru), Cambodia (Sihanouk), Burma (U Nu), and Egypt (Gamal Abd-al-Nasser). The presence of China signalled that country�s determination to pursue its own brand of Communism, independent of Russia, The Summit, held in Bandung, Indonesia, was a major foreign policy triumph for Indonesian President Sukharno.

26 April 1955, Tuesday (+3,640) Sir Lyman Poore Duff, Canadian jurist (born 7 January 1865 in Meaford, Ontario) died in Ottawa, Ontario.

25 April 1955, Monday (+3,639) Christopher Mottram, tennis champion, was born.

24 April 1955, Sunday (+3,638) Alfred Polgar, Austrian writer and theatre critic, died aged 79

23 April 1955, Saturday (+3,637) Anthony Miles, British chess player, was born.

19 April 1955, Tuesday (+3,633)

18 April 1955, Monday (+3,632) Albert Einstein, born 14 March 1879, died in Princeton, New Jersey, of a stroke. He was born to a middle class German family of Jewish ancestry. Einstein graduated in 1900 from the Federal institute of technology in Zurich; he worked hard in the laboratory but skipped lectures. He completed his general theory of relativity in 1915 and received the Nobel Prize in 1922. He became an American citizen in 1940 after having signed a famous letter to President F D Roosevelt warning that Germany might try and build an atomic bomb.

17 April 1955, Sunday (+3,631) Dr Michael Stroud, Antarctic explorer, was born.

15 April 1955, Friday (+3,629)

13 April 1955, Wednesday (+3,627) Safet Susic, Yugoslav footballer, was born

12 April 1955, Tuesday (+3,626) The Salk polio vaccine was pronounced safe.

11 April 1955, Monday (+3,623)

10 April 1955, Sunday (+3,624) Easter Sunday. Lesley Garrett, soprano singer, was born.

9 April 1955, Saturday (+3,623) (Restaurants) Ray Krok bought the McDonalds burger restaurant franchise from its owners, Richard and Mac McDonald. Kroc was impressed with the McDonalds business model, but saw ways to cut costs further. The menu was streamlined, machinery used more intensively, and the burgers made more cheaply. The first of the modern McDonalds restaurants was in Des Plaines, Chicago � or � 15 April 1955, San Bernardino, California. In 1961 Kroc bought the ownership of the chain from the McDonalds brothers for US$2.7 million. By 1963 McDonalds sales of hamburgers amounted to over 1 billion. Kroc died in 1984 worth over US$ 500 million.

8 April 1955, Friday (+3,622) Barbara Kingsolver, writer, was born.

5 April 1955, Tuesday (3,619) Sir Winston Churchill, aged 80, resigned as Prime Minister. He suffered a stroke in 1953. Anthony Eden succeeded him. Harold Macmillan became Eden�s new Foreign Secretary.

3 April 1955, Sunday (+3,617) Karl Hofer, German painter, died in Berlin (born 11 October 1878 in Karlsruhe)

1 April 1955, Friday (+3,615) Greek EOKA terrorists led by Grivas set off a series of bombs in Cyprus, starting a 4-year campaign against British occupation.� Ankara sought to defend the minority Turkish population in Cyprus.� On 9 March 1956 Archbishop Makarios, spiritual leader of the Greek community, was deported by Britain to the Seychelles, but allowed to return to Athens in 1957.� See 16 August 1960.

=================================================================================

31 March 1955, Thursday (+3,614) The Communist Party in China was purged.

30 March 1955, Wednesday (+3,613)

28 March 1955, Monday (+3,611) Israeli made raids on the Gaza Strip.

27 March 1955, Sunday (+3,610) Pakistan declared a State of Emergency.

20 March 1955, Sunday (+3,603)

19 March 1955, Saturday (+3,602) Bruce Willis, actor, was born.

16 March 1955, Wednesday (+3,599) Nicolas de Stael, painter, died in Antibes aged 41.

13 March 1955, Sunday (+3.596) Bruno Conti, Italian footballer, was born

12 March 1955, Saturday (+3,595) US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles modified his defence statement of 12 January 1955, saying that retaliation would involve smaller nuclear bombs on military facilities, not the obliteration of entire cities.

11 March 1955, Friday (+3,594) Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of Penicillin in 1928 and Nobel prize-winner in 1945, died.

10 March 1955, Thursday (+5,593)

9 March 1955, Wednesday (+3,592) Byron Adams, US composer, was born in Atlanta.

8 March 1955, Tuesday (+3,591) In West Bromwich, Birmingham, UK, bus drivers re-imposed a colour bar, which had already led to strikes.

7 March 1955, Monday (+3,590) In Malta, Dom Mintoff, Labour Party, won elections on the platform of seeking greater integration with Britain.

5 March 1955, Saturday (+3,588)

4 March 1955, Friday (+3,587) The Burnham Commission recommended equal salaries for men and women teachers; another step towards equality of pay between the sexes.

3 March 1955, Thursday (+3,586) Katharine Drexel, US philanthropist, teacher and Roman Catholic saint, died aged 96.

2 March 1955, Wednesday (+3,585) Egypt and Syria signed a defensive pact.

1 March 1955, Tuesday (+3,584)

=====================================================================================

27 February 1956, Sunday (+3,582) Ethel Levey, US actress, died in New York (born 22 November 1881 in San Francisco)

26 February 1955, Saturday, (+3,581) US pilot George Smith made the first ejection from a plane at supersonic speed. He required surgery for damage to his liver and intestines, leaving him unable to drink alcohol.

25 February 1955, Friday (+3,580) Britain�s largest aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal was completed.

24 February 1955, Thursday (+3,579) (1) (Iran, Islam, Turkey) Turkey and Iraq signed the Baghdad Pact. This was an alliance of mutual support against Communist activity within their borders or as an external threat. Iran joined later in 1955.

(2) Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, was born.

23 February 1955, Wednesday (-3,580) In France, Edgar Faure formed a Radical government.

19 February 1955, Saturday (+3,574) Jeff Daniels, actor, was born.

17 February 1955, Thursday (+3,572) The UK Government announced it would proceed with the manufacture of H-Bombs.

16 February 1955, Wednesday (+3,571) Nearly 100 died in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.

15 February 1955, Tuesday (+3,570) The UK Government announced it would build 12 nuclear power stations in the next 10 years. Nuclear power was expected to be much cheaper than that from coal fired power stations; the costs of safety and the disposal of nuclear waste had been overlooked.

14 February 1955, Monday (+3,569) Charles Cuvillier, French composer, died in Paris (born 24 April 1877 in Paris)

13 February 1955, Sunday (+3,568) Israel obtained four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

12 February 1955, Saturday (+3,567)

10 February 1955, Thursday (+3,565) The House of Commons voted by a majority of 31 to retain the death penalty.

9 February 1955, Wednesday (+3,564) (South Africa) The final expulsion of Black Africans from Johannesburg began. 60,000 Black South Africans were moved to the Meadowlands development, 13 miles out from the city where they had lived and worked for generations.

8 February 1955, Tuesday (+3,563) (Russia) Soviet Prime Minister Malenkov resigned. He was succeeded by Bulganin, who reaffirmed ties between the USSR and China, and appointed Zhukov as Minister of Defence.

7 February 1955, Monday (+3,562) (Taiwan)� The US 7^th fleet began an evacuation of 14,000 Chinese Nationalist troops and 18,000 Chinese civilians from the Tachen Islands (see 17 January 1955). The evacuation was completed 6 days later, whereupon the Chinese Communists took over the islands.

5 February 1955, Saturday (+3,560) The Algerian crisis caused the fall of the French Government under Pierre Mendes-France.. Former French Minister of Finance and economic affairs, Edgar Faure, formed a new Government.

4 February 1955, Friday (+3,559)

3 February 1955, Thursday (+3,558) Kirsty Wark, TV presenter, was born.

1 February 1955, Tuesday (+3,556) Virginia Leng, equestrian champion, was born.

===================================================================================

31 January 1955, Monday (+3,555) RCA introduced the first musical synthesiser.

28 January 1955, Friday (+3,552) US Congress approved President Eisenhower�s plans for US forces to protect Formosa (Taiwan) in the event of a Chinese invasion. China demanded the removal of Nationalist China from its seat at the UN and that Communist China should have the seat instead.

26 January 1955, Wednesday (+3,550) Eddie van Halen, musician, was born.

25 January 1955, Tuesday (+3,549) (1) Britain announced plans for a �1,240 million electrification of the railways. New motorways were also envisaged.

(2) The USSR officially ended the war with Germany.

24 January 1955, Monday (+3,548) (USA, Taiwan) Because of increasing tensions between China and Formosa (Taiwan), US President Eisenhower asked Congress for authority to protect Formosa; it was granted within four days by 409 votes to 3 in the House of Representatives.

21 January 1955, Friday (+3,545)

20 January 1955, Thursday (+3,544) Curtis Strange, golfer, was born.

19 January 1955, Wednesday (+3,543) Simon Rattle, conductor, was born.

18 January 1955, Tuesday (+3,542) The Kenyan government offered terms to the Mau-Mau.

17 January 1955, Monday (+3,541) Chinese Communists began a heavy bombardment of Chinese Nationalists on the Tachen Islands just west of Taiwan. The next day Chinese Communist forces occupied the small island of Yikiang, which the Nationalists did not have the firepower to defend.

15 January 1955, Saturday (+3,539) Yves Tanguy, painter, died.

14 January 1955, Friday (+3,538)

12 January 1955, Wednesday (+3,536) (Military Technology) The US announced a defence policy known as �Massive Retaliation�, entailing the capacity to inflict huge damage unpredictably in time and location on any aggressor.� This policy was criticised for alienating some of America�s allies. See 12 March 1955.

11 January 1955, Tuesday (+3,535) A small force of Calderon supporters landed in Costa Rica and seized the northern border town of Villa Quesada. Figueres appealed to the Organisation of American states to investigate and it was discovered that Nicaragua was supplying the rebels. Nicaragua then halted its support for the rebels; meanwhile the US had sold four fighter planes to Costa Rica. The rebels were driven north into Nicaragua. In 1956 Costa Rica and Nicaragua agreed to co-operate on border security.

10 January 1955, Monday (+3,534) (Aviation) Pakistan International Airlines was founded.

9 January 1955, Sunday (+3,533) 400 Jamaicans arrived in London to seek work. Much post-war reconstruction needed to be done in Britain.

8 January 1955, Saturday (+3,532) (Biology) Sir Arthur Keith, British anthropologist, died.

7 January 1955, Friday (+3,531) (Race equality) Marian Anderson became the first African-American to appear in the Metropolitan Opera�s production of Verdi�s Masked Ball.

6 January 1955, Thursday (+3,530) Rowan Atkinson, actor and comedian, was born.

4 January 1955, Tuesday (+3,528) (Nuclear Tests) The USA agreed to pay US$ 2 million compensation for damages caused by the nuclear bomb tests in the Marshall Islands in March 1954. 22 Japanese fishermen who were injured and the family of 1 who died will share in the money. Fishing interests that suffered losses will also be paid.

2 January 1955, Sunday (+3,526) President Jose Remon of Panama was assassinated.

1 January 1955, Saturday (+3,525)

===================================================================================

31 December 1954, Friday (+3,524) (1) (Britain) Harold MacMillan, British Conservative Housing Minister, announced that a record number of houses, 354,000, had been built during 1954.

(2) The Mau Mau had murdered 30 European farmers since October 1952; as law and order were enforced again in 1955, only two more White farmers were killed. However since October 1952 the Mau Mau had murdered some 1,800 Christian Kikuyu who had refused to join them.

30 December 1954, Thursday (+3,523) Archduke Eugen, Austrian field marshal, died aged 91.

29 December 1954, Wednesday (+3,522) The Netherlands enacted a �Statute of the Realm�, giving their remaining possessions in South America and the Caribbean autonomy in domestic affairs.

28 December 1954, Tuesday (+3,521) Denzel Washington, actor, was born.

25 December 1954, Saturday (+3,518) Annie Lennox, singer, was born.

23 December 1954, Thursday (+3,516) (1) (Medical) The first successful kidney transplant was performed. Earlier transplant attempts had been thwarted by the problem of rejection; the recipient in this case went on to live another 8 years.

21 December 1954, Tuesday (+3,514) Chris Evert, tennis player, was born.

20 December 1954, Monday (+3,513) France sent an additional 20,000 troops to Algeria to deal with the nationalist uprising there.

19 December 1954, Sunday (+3,512)

18 December 1954, Saturday (+3,511) Greeks rioted in Cyprus, demanding union with Greece instead of British rule. Two rioters were shot by British police as they tore down the Union Jack outside the police station in Limassol, replacing it with the Greek flag. 42 Greek Cypriots were arrested. Athens demanded that Cypriots be allowed to vote on the matter, knowing that Greek Cypriots outnumbered Turks.

17 December 1954, Friday (+3,510) British Petroleum Company (BP) was formed.

15 December 1954, Wednesday (+3,508)

14 December 1954, Tuesday (+3,507) Divorce was legalised in Argentina.

13 December 1954, Monday (+3,506) Raymond Hubbell, US composer, died in Miami (born 1 June 1879 in Urbana, Ohio)

12 December 1954, Sunday (+3,505) In the UK, from 8.30 pm, the BBC broadcast the first of a televised version of George Orwell�s 1984. Many viewers complained about the broadcasting of a �horror movie� on a Sunday night.

11 December 1954, Saturday (+3,504) Jermaine Jackson, singer, was born.

9 December 1954, Thursday (+3,502)

8 December 1954, Wednesday (+3,501) Parking meters were introduced in Britain.

7 December 1954, Tuesday (+3,500) Bui Van Luong was replaced as the head of COMIGAL, Vietnam's government resettlement agency, by Pham Van Huyen.

5 December 1954, Sunday (+3,498) Keith Robertson, rugby player, was born.

2 December 1954, Thursday (+3,495) The US Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for abuse of proceedings, see 25 February 1954 and 2 May 1957.

1 December 1954, Wednesday (+3,494) The Est�dio da Luz football stadium opened in Lisbon, Portugal.

====================================================================================

30 November 1954, Tuesday (+3,493) Mrs Hewlett Hodges, of Sylacauga, Alabama, USA, became the only person to have been struck be a meteorite. The 4kg rock crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off a radio, and hit her hip, causing a massive bruise but no other injuries.

29 November 1954, Monday (+3,492) General Elections in Czechoslovakia. All candidates were Communist-controlled.

28 November 1954, Sunday (+3,491) Enrico Fermi, atomic physicist, died in Chicago, USA.

27 November 1954, Saturday (+3,490) Istanbul�s ancient bazaar was devastated in a� fire that destroyed 2,000 shops and caused �178 million damage.

25 November 1954, Thursday (+3,498)

23 November 1954, Tuesday (+3,496) General Motors produced its 50 millionth vehicle, a gold plated 1955 Chevrolet bel-Air.

22 November 1954, Monday (+3,495) Roy Rene (Mo), comedian, died.

20 November 1954, Saturday (+3,483) Clyde Cessna, US aircraft manufacturer, died.

17 November 1954, Wednesday (+3,480) Nasser became official head of state in Egypt, see 17 April 1954.

16 November 1954, Tuesday (+3,479) (Biology) Albert Francis Blakeslee, US botanist, died in Northampton, Massachusetts.

15 November 1954, Monday (+3,478) Uli Steilke, West German footballer, was born.

14 November 1954, Sunday (+3,477) Bernard Hinault, cyclist, was born

13 November 1954, Saturday (+3,476)

12 November 1954, Friday (+3,475) The immigration centre at Ellis Island, New York, closed. 15 million migrants into the US had been processed through here since 1892.

11 November 1954, Thursday (+3,474) John Rosamond Johnson, US composer, died in new York (born 11 August 1873 in Jacksonville, Florida)

10 November 1954, Wednesday (+3,473) Juan Gomez Gonzalez, Spanish footballer was born.

8 November 1954, Monday (+3,470) Rickie Lee Jones, singer and songwriter, was born.

6 November 1954, Saturday (+3,469) Terrorists from Morocco and Tunisia mounted raids into the French colony of Algeria, killing 9 and injuring 30. French paratroopers were deployed, and police raids mounted on the offices of the Algerian Nationalist Movement in Paris and other cities. This was the start of the Algerian war for Independence.

5 November 1954, Friday (+3,468) (Myanmar, Japan) Burma and Japan signed a peace treaty.

4 November 1954, Thursday (+3,467) Two by-elections in the UK, Sutton and Cheam and Morpeth. Both seats were retained by the incumbent Party, Conservative and Labour respectively.

3 November 1954, Wednesday (+3,466) The first Godzilla movie was released in Japan. The story was of a giant beast awoken from a million-year slumber by nuclear weapons testing in the south Pacific.

2 November 1954, Tuesday (+3,465) A dock workers' strike in the UK ended.

1 November 1954, Monday (+3,464) (1) A nationalist uprising began against the French in their colony of Algeria. On 23 December 1954 France sent 20,000 troops to Algeria. By September 1955 there were about 120,000 French troops in Algeria, a number quadrupled by December 1956 with still no end to the troubles in sight.� The war continued until the Evian agreement of March 1962.

(2) General Fulgencio Batista was elected President of Cuba.

===================================================================================

28 October 1954, Thursday (+3,460)

27 October 1954, Wednesday (+3,459) Benjamin O Davis Jr. became the first Black American General in the US Air Force.

26 October 1954, Tuesday (+3,458) An assassination attempt on Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser failed.

25 October 1954, Monday (+3,457) In the US, meetings of the Cabinet were televised for the first time.

24 October 1954, Sunday (+3,456) Jozef Raz, Slovak musician and singer, was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.

23 October 1954, Saturday (+3,455) NATO voted to end the occupation of West Germany and to form the Western European Union. West Germany became a member of NATO.

22 October 1954, Friday (+3,454) �US President Eisenhower authorised a crash training programme for the South Vietnamese Army.

21 October 1954, Thursday (+3,453) Brian Tobin: Canadian politician, was born.

20 October 1954, Wednesday (+3,452) A docks strike reduced Britain�s trade by half.

19 October 1954, Tuesday (+3,451) Colonel Nasser of Egypt agreed with Britain a timetable for the withdrawal of Britain from the Canal Zone within two years.

18 October 1954, Monday (+3,450) In Britain, Winston Churchill reshuffled his Cabinet, with Harold Macmillan becoming Minister of Defence.

10 October 1954, Sunday (+3,442) Ho Chi Minh returned to Hanoi as the French pulled out.

8 October 1954, Friday (+3,440) William Dodd, archery champion, died (born 18 July� 1867).

7 October 1954, Thursday (+3,439) Seebohn Rowntree, English social reformer, died aged 83.

6 October 1954, Wednesday (+3,438) Emile Male, French art historian, died in Chaalis, Oise (born 2 June 1862 in Commentry)

5 October 1954, Tuesday (+3,437) Bob Geldof, rock musician and charity fundraiser, was born in Dublin.

3 October 1954, Sunday (+3,435) A Nine-Power conference in London agreed that in the interests of European unity, Germany could join NATO.

===================================================================================

29 September 1954, Wednesday (+3,431) (Atomic) CERN, the Centre Europeen de Recherche Nucleaire, was founded.

28 September 1954, Tuesday (+3,430) John Scott, England Rugby Captain, was born.

27 September 1954, Monday (+3,429) (Military Technology) The US and Canada agreed on a string of radar stations across from Arctic Canada to Greenland, to warn of a Soviet attack. This was the DEW, or Distant Early Warning, line.

26 September 1954, Sunday (+3,428)

25 September 1954, Saturday (+3,427) Papa Doc Duvalier won Presidential elections in Haiti.

24 September 1954, Friday (+3,426) Ian Taylor, hockey champion, was born.

23 September 1954, Thursday (+3,425) Cherie Booth QC was born

19 September 1954, Sunday (+3,421) Juan Peron, President of Argentina since 1946, resigned and went into exile in Paraguay.

14 September 1954, Tuesday (+3,416) Kidbrooke School in London, London�s first new comprehensive school, was opened.

11 September 1954, Saturday (+3,413) The �Miss America� beauty contest, held in Atlanta City, New Jersey, was televised across the USA.

10 September 1954, Friday (+3,412) Painter Andre Derain died in Chambourcy, France, aged 74.

9 September 1954, Thursday (+3,411) Earthquake in Algeria killed 1,500 in the city of Orleansville.� Later there were anti-French riots.

8 September 1954, Wednesday (+3,410) South East Asia Collective Defence Treaty was signed.� See 7 November 1973 and 30 June 1974.

7 September 1954, Tuesday (+4,409) Corbin Bernsen, actor, was born.

6 September 1954, Monday (+3,408) Rolls Royce announced that it had developed a new vertical take-off plane; nicknamed the flying bedstead because of its shape.

5 September 1954, Sunday (+3,407) Italy and Yugoslavia reached agreement on the division of Trieste.

1 September 1954, Wednesday (+3,403)

==================================================================================

28 August 1954, Saturday (+3,399) Charlie Collier, motorcycle racer, was born.

27 August 1954, Friday (+3,398) John Lloyd, tennis champion, was born.

26 August 1954, Thursday (+3,397) Howard Clark, English golfer, was born.

25 August 1954, Wednesday (+3,396) Elvis Costello, English musician, was born.

24 August 1954, Tuesday (+3,395) (1) President Vargas of Brazil resigned under pressure, and committed suicide. He was succeeded by Vice-President Filho.

(2) In the USA, the Communist Party was outlawed as �an instrument of a conspiracy to overthrow the US Government�.

23 August 1954, Monday (+3,394) Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance.

22 August 1954, Sunday (+3,393) Jimmy Murphy, hurling champion, was born.

19 August 1954, Thursday (+3,390) Alcide de Gasperi, Italian statesman, died aged 73.

16 August 1954, Monday (+3,387) (Sports) The weekly magazine Sports Illustrated was launched. It did not return a profit until 1964.

11 August 1954, Wednesday (+3,382) Joe Jackson, singer, was born.

10 August 1954, Tuesday (+3,381) The Saint Lawrence Seaway project was officially launched.

9 August 1954, Monday (+3,380) Chinese Nationalists sank a communist gunboat off Taiwan.

8 August 1954, Sunday (+3,379)

7 August 1954, Saturday (+3,378) Anti-French riots in Morocco.

6 August 1954, Friday (+3,377) LUFTAG legally changed its name to Lufthansa.

5 August 1954, Thursday (+3,376) In Iran, an agreement was announced with a consortium of eight foreign oil companies to produce and export oil; this was signed by the Shah on 29 October 1954.

4 August 1954, Wednesday (+3,375) The Independent Television Authority was set up.

2 August 1954, Monday (+3,373)

1 August 1954, Sunday (+3,372) The UK Atomic Energy Authority was founded.

===================================================================================

31 July� 1954, Saturday (+3,371) (1) The Independent Television Act was passed, allowing for independent TV franchises in the UK.

(2) K2, or Godwin Austen Mountain, in the Himalayas, was climbed for the first time.

30 July 1954, Friday (-3,370) Reginald Marsh, US painter, died in Dorset, Vermont (born 14 March 1898 in Paris)

29 July� 1954, Thursday (+3,369) The Fellowship of the Ring, first part of JRR Tolkien�s Lord of the Rings, was published in Britain.

28 July 1954, Wednesday (+3,368) Greek residents in Cyprus demanded Enosis (Union with Greece). Britian strongly objected, saying that Cyprus was a vital base for UK strategic operations in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Cyprus was particularly important after the loss of Suez as a UK base.

27 July� 1954, Tuesday (+3,367) The UK Government agreed to Colonel Nasser�s request to pull British troops out of Suez. They were to leave by 1956.

25 July� 1954, Sunday (+3,365) George Fairbairn, rugby player, was born.

21 July� 1954, Wednesday (+3,361) (1) Britain, America and the World Bank turned down a request for aid from President Nasser of Egypt to build the Aswan Dam.

(2) An armistice divided Vietnam into North and South. See 21 April 1954.

20 July� 1954, Tuesday (+3,360) (1) The Geneva Agreement ended hostilities between North (Communist) and South (French) Korea.

(2) Cambodian independence from France was confirmed.

(3) The expansion of Gatwick Airport was approved by a public committee.

19 July� 1954, Monday (+3,359) The rabbit disease myxomatosis was confirmed in Ireland.

18 July� 1954, Sunday (+3,358) Car engineer Sir Ernest W Petter died this day aged 81.

17 July� 1954, Saturday (+3,357) In West Germany, Theodor Heuss was elected President.

15 July� 1954, Thursday (+3,355) The Boeing 707 (or 367-80) made its maiden flight from Seattle. It could seat 219.

13 July� 1954, Tuesday (+3,353) Frida Kahlo, painter, died.

12 July� 1954, Monday (+3,352) (USA, Roads) US Vice President Richard Nixon announced the construction of a network of Interstate Highways which would enable drivers to cross the USA without encountering a single crossroads or traffic light. They would also be useful as part of a defensive network, and to provide rapid exits from cities in the event of war.

10 July� 1954, Saturday (+3,350) (food, India, USA) US President Eisenhower signed Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, better known as PL-480. This facilitated the export of grain to US-aligned governments that were facing threats from Leftist agencies, either internal rebels or intimidation from a Soviet-aligned State next door. PL-480 could be used to keep recalcitrant allies, those possibly sliding towards Communism, in line. For example in 1965 US President Johnson shifted the renewal of PL-480 food aid to India from an annual to a� monthly basis, threatening India with withdrawal of food aid as India�s President Shastri expressed disapproval of US bombing in Vietnam. However if Shastri abandoned Nehru�s ideas of land distribution to Indian peasants then India would receive US agricultural technology, enhancing food yields.

5 July� 1954, Monday (+3,345) The BBC began daily news broadcasts.

3 July� 1954, Saturday (+3,343) (1) Food rationing ended in Britain; all goods were now off rations. Smithfield Market, London, opened at midnight instead of 6am to cope with the demand for beef.

(2) Plans for a new steelworks at Motherwell, Scotland, were announced.

1 July� 1954, Thursday (+3,341) (1) 90% of rabbits in southern Britain were infected with myxomatosis. Farmers were happy since rabbits destroyed crops worth �50 million each year; scientists worried about upsetting the balance of nature.

(2) A UK coalminer earned �7 15s (�7.75) a week, a police constable got �445 a year. Dunlop�s �Canzonetta� rayon coat cost �7 15s (�7.75), a �Coty 212� lipstick cost 6s 9d (34p), and a sports shirt cost 9s 6d (47.5p).

===================================================================================

30 June 1954, Wednesday (+3,340) Senator McCarthy was censured by the US Senate. He had gone too far by accusing the US Army of harbouring Communist spies.

29 June 1954, Tuesday (+3,339) Marcello Viotti, conductor, was born (died 15 May 2005).

28 June 1954, Monday (+3,338) Alice Krige, actress, was born.

27 June 1954, Sunday (+3,337) The first Soviet nuclear power station was opened, at Obninsk, 55 miles from Moscow.

25 June 1954, Friday (+3,335) British doctors urged tougher drink-driving tests than� having to say tongue twisters or walk in a straight line.

20 June 1954, Sunday (+3,330) Allan Lamb, cricketer, was born.

19 June 1954, Saturday (+3,329) Kathleen Turner, actress, was born.

18 June 1954, Friday (+3,328) (1) A 2,000 strong anti-Communist army under Lieutenant Colonel Catrlos Castillo Armas (1914-57) invaded Guatemala from Honduras, encountering little resistance from the Giuatemala Army.

(2) Pierre Mendes-France became Prime Minister of France. He promised to end the war in Indo-China, after the humiliation of France at Dien Bien Phu. He initiated decolonisation in Tunsia and Morocco as well as Indo-China.

15 June 1954, Tuesday (+3,325) Senator Joe McCarthy�s committee labelled Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atom bomb, a security risk because he opposed development of the Hydrogen Bomb.

11 June 1954, Friday (+3,321) (Innovation) The game Scrabble was patented in the USA.

10 June 1954, Thursday (+3,320) (USA) Charles Adams, US statesman (born 2 August 1866) died.

9 June 1954, Wednesday (+3,319) Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army., accused McCarthy of bad faith and zealotry during investigations as to whether Communists had infiltrated the US Army. McCarthy�s position was rapidly becoming untenable.

8 June 1954, Tuesday (+3,318)

7 June 1954, Monday (+3,317) Alan Turing, mathematician who broke the Nazi codes during World War Two, committed suicide. After his conviction for homosexuality on 31 March 1952 he had opted for chemical �treatment� rather than prison; this consisted of oestrogen injections, which made him put on weight and grow breasts.

6 June 1954, Sunday (+3,316) The Eurovision television link-up was inaugurated.

5 June 1954, Saturday (+3,315) Nicko McBrain, musician (Iron Maiden), was born.

4 June 1954, Friday (+3,314)

3 June 1954, Thursday (+3,313) (1) The Dutch West Indies were given independence.

(2) The new two-track Woodhead railway tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester, 5 km long, opened, replacing the earlier two single-track tunnels, see 2 February 1852.

2 June 1954, Wednesday (+3,312) In Ireland, following the election in May, John Costello (Fine Gael) succeeded Eamon de Valera as Prime Minister and formed a coalition government.

====================================================================================

31 May 1954, Monday (+3,310) The first Bilderberg Group meeting concluded (opened 29 May 1954). The group, of politicians, royalty and industrialists, was named after the hotel where this initial meeting, now held annually, first met; the Hotel Bilderberg, Oosterbeek, The Netherlands.

29 May 1954, Saturday (+3,308) Thailand complained to the United nations Security Council that the activities of the Communists in south east Asia threatened its security.

26 May 1954, Wednesday (+3,306) Alan Hollingshurst, writer, was born.

24 May 1954, Monday (+3,303) IBM announced the development of an �electronic brain� and planned to rent the 30 models out to offices for US$ 25,000 a month. The computer used valves.

23 May 1954, Sunday (+3,302) Gerry Armstrong, British footballer, was born.

21 May 1954, Friday (+3,300)

19 May 1954, Wednesday (+3,298) Charles Ives, US composer died (born 1874)

18 May 1954, Tuesday (+3,297) The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.

17 May 1954, Monday (+3,296) The US Supreme Court, in the case of Brown v The Board of Education,� unanimously �outlawed racial segregation in school as unconstitutional. The principle of �separate but equal� facilities for Black and White pupils was struck down. This ruling was to be extended to all areas of public life.

14 May 1954, Friday (+3,293)

11 May 1954, Tuesday (+3,290) Judith Weir, composer, was born.

10 May 1954, Monday (+3,289) George Hirst, cricketer, died (born 7 September 1871).

9 May 1954, Sunday (+3,288)

7 May 1954, Friday (+3,286) Communist Vietminh forces under General Giap captured Dien Ben Phu in Vietnam, a key French garrison, after a siege. Almost all the 16,000 French soldiers were killed. The Americans had considered using atomic bombs, but Eisenhower was reluctant to start a new war after Korea, and did not wish to support colonialism.� This effectively marked the end of French rule in Indo-China.� Dien Ben Phu was a village in Vietnam, 75 miles south of the Chinese border and commanding a valley into Laos, which lay 20 miles further west, so occupied a strategic position.

6 May 1954, Thursday (+3,285) (1) Sir David Maxwell-Fylde, British Home Secretary, said the problem of Teddy Boys was not widespread.

(2) Roger Bannister, 25 years old, ran the first mile in under four minutes in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, on the Iffley Road track in Oxford. The previous record, 4 minutes 1.3 seconds, had stood since 1945. In September 1993 Algerian athlete Noureddine Morceli ran a mile in 3 minutes 44.39 seconds, currently the world record.

5 May 1954, Wednesday (+3,284) In Paraguay, General Alfredo Stroessner led a successful revolt, backed by the Army and Liberals, deposing President Frederico Chavez.

4 May 1954, Tuesday (+3,283) Doug Jones, US politician, was born.

3 May 1954, Monday (+3,282)

2 May 1954, Sunday (+3,281) (Vietnam) British Prime Minister Anthony Eden made it clear at Geneva that Britain could not support the US in a war in Vietnam when the course and scope of the war was unknown.

1 May 1954, Saturday (+3,280) Ray Parker Jr., singer and songwriter, was born.

====================================================================================

30 April 1954, Friday (+3,279) Jane Campion, film director, was born.

29 April 1954, Thursday (+3,278) Queen Elizabeth II opened the Owen Falls hydroelectric dam at Owen Falls, Uganda.

27 April 1954, Tuesday (+3,276)

24 April 1954, Saturday (+3,273) 40,000 Mau-Mau suspects were arrested in Kenya.

23 April 1954, Friday (+3,272) (European Union) The US made a loan of US$ 100 million to the European Coal and Steel Community to modernise its collieries and power stations. A smaller loan by the French Government facilitated the relocation of miners to the most productive pits.

22 April 1954, Thursday (+3,271) A committee headed by Senator John McCarthy, the �Permanent Investigations Sub-Committee�, began hearings into an alleged Communist spy ring at Fort Monmouth. McCarthy�s methods started alarming his colleagues.

21 April 1954, Wednesday (+3,270) The US Air Force flew a French battalion to northern Vietnam to defend against the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu. Dien Bien Phu fell to the Communists on 7 May 1954.

20 April 1954, Tuesday (+3,269) Michael Manning, 25, murderer, became the last person to be executed in the Irish Republic.

19 April 1954, Monday (+3,268) Trevor Francis, footballer, was born in Plymouth.

18 April 1954, Sunday (+3,267) Easter Sunday. Rick Moranis, comedian, was born.

17 April 1954, Saturday (+3,266) Colonel Nasser took power in Egypt from President Neguib and became Prime Minister.

16 April 1954, Friday (+3,265) Ellen Barkin, US actress, was born in New York City.

15 April 1954, Thursday (+3,264) The first stock car race in Britain was held in front of an audience of 26,000 at new Cross, London.

14 April 1954, Wednesday (+3,263) Aneurin Bevan resigned from the Labour Cabinet in protest at British Government support for the re-arming of Germany, so soon after World War Two.

13 April 1954, Tuesday (+3,262) Vladimir Petrov of the Soviet Embassy in Australia was granted asylum when he defected, in Canberra.

12 April 1954, Monday (+3,261) In British Guiana (Guyana) Dr Cheddi Jagan, leader of the People�s Progressive Party, was jailed for 6 months for violating an order restricting his� movements.

11 April 1954, Sunday (+3,260) In a general election in Belgium, the Christian Social Party wins 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate.

10 April 1954, Saturday (+3,259) Auguste Lumiere, French cinema pioneer, died.

9 April 1954, Friday (+3,258) Dennis Quaid, actor, was born.

8 April 1954, Thursday (-3,257) Fritzi Scheff, US actress and singer, died aged 74.

7 April 1954, Wednesday (+3,256) (Canada, USA) The USA announced that, in conjunction with Canada, it would set up a chain of almost 100 radar stations along a 3,000 mile line at the 55^th parallel. On 27 September 1954 a second chain of radar stations was announced above the Arctic Circle to warn of enemy aircraft approaching from Russia across the North Pole. This was the Distant Early Warning Line, or DEW; within a few years it was obsolete because missiles would be delivered by rockets not planes.

6 April 1954, Tuesday (+3,255) (Vietnam) France informed the US that French public opinion would not support the war in Vietnam anymore and that France�s aim was now a negotiated settlement. The US wanted to carry on the fight against the Communists. The UK too was wary, in case a Soviet nuclear strike on US bases in England was carried out.

5 April 1954, Monday (+3,254) Stan Ridgway, US singer-songwriter, was �born in Barstow, California.

4 April 1954, Sunday (+3,253) Frederick Antal, Hungarian-born art historian, died in London UK (born 21 December 1887 in Budapest)

3 April 1954, Saturday (+3,252) Oxford won the 100^th boat race.

2 April 1954, Friday (+3,251) Ron Palillo, actor, was born (d. 2012)

1 April 1954, Thursday (+3,250) The US Air Force Academy was created.

====================================================================================

31 March 1954, Wednesday (+3,249) The USSR offered to join NATO. See 14 May 1955.

30 March 1954, Tuesday (+3,248) (Science) Fritz Wolfgang London, German physicist, died in Durham, North Carolina.

28 March 1954, Sunday (+3,246)

26 March 1954, Friday (+3,244) Louis Silvers, US composer, died in Hollywood (born 6 September 1889 in New York)

25 March 1954, Thursday (+3,243) (TV Broadcasting) UK Parliament approved the idea of independent TV broadcasting. The Television Act 1954 was passed.

24 March 1954, Wednesday (+3,242) Peter Collins, motorcycle speedway champion, was born.

22 March 1953, Monday (+3,240) Nigel Planer, actor, actor, was born.

20 March 1954. Saturday (+3,238) (Russia) In the USSR, Khrushchev became First Secretary of the Communist Party.

17 March 1954, Wednesday (+3,235) Lesley Anne Down, actress, was born.

15 March 1954, Monday (+3,233) Porsche built its 5,000^th car.

13 March 1954, Saturday (+3,231) The Vietminh assault on Dien Ben Phu began; see 7 May 1954.

12 March 1954, Friday (+3,230) In Kenya, the British arrested 700 Mau-Mau activists.

10 March 1954, Wednesday (+3,228)

9 March 1954, Tuesday (+3,227) Gains for the Centre and Right in Finnish elections.

8 March 1954, Monday (+3,226) The US and Japan signed a mutual defence pact.

7 March 1954, Sunday (+3,225) (Chemistry) Otto Paul Hermann, German chemist, died in Kiel.

5 March 1954, Friday (+3,223) Ollie Campbell, rugby player, was born.

3 March 1954, Wednesday (+3,221) Noel Gay, British composer, died in London (born 15 July� 1898 in Wakefield)

2 March 1954, Tuesday (+3,220) President Lopez of Paraguay died, aged 54, as Asuncion. General Alfredo Stroessner was later �elected� in his place; he gave refuge to Nazi war criminals.

1 March 1954, Monday (+3,219) (1) The UK Parliament approved of establishing an Atomic Energy Authority.

(2) A US test of a 12 megaton hydrogen bomb exposed 23 Japanese fishermen, 70 to 90 miles away, to such severe radiation that one subsequently died. The bomb, weighing ten tons, named Bravo, was expected to deliver just 5 megatons and so the 10,000 observers were relatively near and the Marshall Islands, 100 miles away, were not evacuated. Some Marshall islanders also suffered radiation sickness. In the event the bomb delivered 15 megatons, the fireball was 4 miles across, and the heat could easily be felt 30 miles away. America now realised that just one Hydrogen Bomb could obliterate a major city such as New York.

==================================================================================

28 February 1954, Sunday (+3,218)

25 February 1954, Thursday (+3,215) President Eisenhower censured McCarthy (see 9 February 1950) for his bullying tactics. See 2 December 1954.

24 February 1954, Wednesday (+3,214) The American evangelist Billy Graham arrived in London on a three-month �crusade�.

23 February 1954, Tuesday (+3,213) (Medical) In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, the first mass inoculation of children against polio began, using the Salk vaccine.

22 February 1954, Monday (+3,212) Ian Stark, equestrian champion, was born.

20 February 1954, Saturday (+3,210)

19 February 1954, Friday (+3,209) (Russia) Russia transferred the Crimea to The Ukraine, to mark the 300^th anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian Union.

18 February 1954, Thursday (+3,208) �John Travolta, US film actor, was born in Englewood, New York State.

17 February 1954, Wednesday (+3,207) Rene Russo, actress, was born.

16 February 1954, Tuesday (+3,206) Ian Banks, author, was born.

15 February 1954, Monday (+3,205) Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was born.

10 February 1954, Wednesday (+3,200) Scelba became Prime Minister of Italy.

9 February 1954, Tuesday (+3,199)

6 February 1954, Saturday (+3,196) Paul Althouse, US tenor singer, died in new York (born 2 December 21889 in Reading, Pennsylvania)

5 February 1954, Friday (+3,195) Carl Wickman, founder of Greyhound Lines bus service, died aged 66.

4 February 1954, Thursday (+3,194)

3 February 1954, Wednesday (+3,193) Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to Australia; large crowds turned out to greet her in Sydney.

2 February 1954, Tuesday (+3,192) Christie Brinkley, actress, was born.

1 February 1954, Monday (+3,191) Bill Mumy, actor, was born.

===================================================================================

31 January 1954, Sunday (+3,190) Vivian Woodward, footballer, died.

30 January 1954, Saturday (+3,189) John Murray Anderson, US author, died in New York (born 20 September 1886 in St Johns, Newfoundland)

29 January 1954, Friday (+3,188) Oprah Winfrey, actress and TV host, was born.

26 January 1954, Tuesday (+3,185) Kim Hughes, cricketer, was born

21 January 1954. Thursday (+3,180) The world�s first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, was launched from Groton in Connecticut.

20 January 1954, Wednesday (+3,179) The French military Commander in Chief, General Henri Navarre, launched an attack on Vietminh positions in Annam, the narrow �waist� of the country between North and South. Annam had been abandoned by the French in the face of superior Vietminh numbers; the French hoped to control Annam as a buffer zone, �contain� the North, and pacify the South. However the Vietminh fought back strongly and forced the French to withdraw into the major towns.

19 January 1954, Tuesday (+3,178) General Motors announced a major business expansion.

18 January 1954, Monday (+3,177) Fanfani became Prime Minister of Italy.

16 January 1954, Saturday (+3,175)

14 January 1954, Thursday (+3,173) The American Motors Corporation was formed by a merger between the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company.

13 January 1954, Wednesday (+3,172) Muslim Fundamentalists arrested in Egypt.

12 January 1954, Tuesday (+3,171) A UK official committee linked cigarettes with cancer.

11 January 1954, Monday (+3,170) (1) A British Comet jet airliner crashed into the Mediterranean near Elba.� The newly discovered phenomenon of metal fatigue was to blame.

(2) George Cowling from the Met office became the first weatherman to be seen on TV. Previous forecasts had been sound only.

10 January 1954, Sunday (+3,169) Fred Raymond, Austrian composer, died in Uberlingen (born 20 April 1900 in Vienna)

6 January 1954, Wednesday (+3,165) Anthony Minghella, director, was born.

5 January 1954, Tuesday (+3,164)

1 January 1954, Friday (+3,160) Flashing turn indicator lights became a legal requirement on British vehicles.

====================================================================================

31 December 1953, Thursday (+3,159) A British expedition arrived in India to search for the abominable snowman.

29 December 1953, Tuesday (+3,157)

28 December 1953, Monday (+3,156) Production of the Chevrolet Corvette moved from Flint, Michigan, to St Louis, Missouri.

27 December 1953, Sunday (+3,155) Kevin Wright, cricketer, was born.

26 December 1953, Saturday (+3,154) English choral conductor Victor Hely-Hutchinson was born in Goudhurst.

25 December 1953, Friday (+3,153)

23 December 1953, Wednesday (+3,151) The dismissed Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs, Beria, was shot as a traitor.

22 December 1953, Tuesday (+3,150) US physicist Robert Oppenheimer had his security clearance clearance revoked; he was suspected of Communist sympathies, because he was opposed to developing a Hydrigen Bomb.

21 December 1953, Monday (+3,149) In Iran, Dr Muhammad Mossadeq was sentenced to three years in prison.

19 December 1953, Saturday (+3,147) R A Millikan, US subatomic physicist, died aged 85.

13 December 1953, Sunday (+3,141) Ethel Muckelt, figure skating champion, died (born 30 May 1885)..

10 December 1953, Thursday (+3,138) Churchill received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

9 December 1953, Wednesday (+3,137) John Malkovich, actor, was born.

8 December 1953, Tuesday (+3,136) President Eisenhower made his �Atoms for Power� speech, proposing to the United Nations General Assembly the establishment of an International Atomic Energy Authority to monitor the spread of atomic technology for peaceful purposes.

6 December 1953, Sunday (+3,134)

4 December 1953, Friday (+3,132) Jean-Marie Pfaff, Belgian footballer, was born.

3 December 1953, Thursday (+3,131) Franz Klammer, skier, was born.

2 December 1953, Wednesday (+3,130)

1 December 1953, Tuesday (+3,129) Harold Macmillan boasted that 301,000 new homes have been built in Britain during the Conservatives second year in office.

===================================================================================

30 November 1953, Monday (+3,128) Francis Picabia, painter, died in Paris aged 74.

29 November 1953, Sunday (+3,127)

28 November 1953, Saturday (+3,126) Eugene O�Neill, playwright, died.

27 November 1953, Friday (+3,125) Peter Latham, tennis champion, died (born 18 May 1865).

26 November 1953, Thursday (+3,124) French airborne troops captured the Vietnamese village of Dien Ben Phu from the Vietminh, thereby gaining control of the Hanoi to Laos road.

25 November 1953, Wednesday (+3,123) James Hayden, US actor, was born.

24 November 1953, Tuesday (+3,122) (Poland) Professor Marek Korowicz, having defected in October 1953 from a Polish inspection team in North Korea to the US whilst in the demilitarised border zone, gave details of Polish forced labour camps at a press conference in New York. He said there were at least 73 such camps in the country, with around 300,000 inmates in total. The inmates included middle class merchants, labelled �class enemies�, also a considerable number of young male former anti-Nazi resistance fighters.

21 November 1953. Saturday (+3,119) The discovery of the Piltdown Man skull on 18 December 1912 in Sussex by Charles Dawson was revealed to be a hoax, see 22 September 1990.

16 November 1953, Monday (+3,114) Griff Rhys Jones, writer, was born.

13 November 1953, Friday (+3,111) In Britain, plans for a new commercial TV channel to rival the BBC were announced.

12 November 1953, Thursday (+3,110) (Mental Health) The Samaritans Helpline was set up by Reverend Chad Varah, at St Stephens Church, Walbrook, London

11 November 1953. Wednesday (+3,109) (1) The polio virus was identified.

(2) The BBC programme Panorama was first transmitted, headed by Patrick Murphy.

10 November 1953, Tuesday (+3,108)

9 November 1953. Monday (+3,107) (1) Cambodia became independent.

(2) The Welsh poet Dylan Marlais Thomas, born in Swansea on 27 October 1914, died in New York City aged 39 after falling into an alcoholic coma. He had drunk 18 stiff whiskies. His major work, Under Milk Wood, was broadcast on radio in 1954.

(3) King Ibn Saud (1880-1953)� of Saudi Arabia died aged 73; the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is named after him. He was succeeded by his son, Saud Ibn Abdel Aziz.

8 November 1953, Sunday (+3,106) Rifat Ozbek, fashion designer, was born,

7 November 1953, Saturday (+3,105) Lucinda Green, equestrian champion, was born.

5 November 1953, Thursday (+3,103) Dennis Andries, boxer, was born in Georgetown, Guyana.

2 November 1953, Monday (+3,100) Pakistan announced it was to adopt Sharia law.

====================================================================================

30 October 1953, Friday (+3,097) Demonstrations in Austria against continued Allied occupation.

29 October 1953, Thursday (+3,096) (Aviation) FK Everest, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 755.15 mph.

28 October 1953, Wednesday (+3,095) Mark James, golf champion, was born.

27 October 1953, Tuesday (+3,094) British gunboats foiled a left-wing coup in British Guiana.

25 October 1953, Sunday (+3,092)

24 October 1953, Saturday (+3,091) Ernest Irving, British composer, died in London (born 6 November 18777 in Godalming, Surrey)

23 October 1953, Friday (+3,090) TV broadcasting began in The Philippines.

22 October 1953, Thursday (+3,089) Laos became independent from France; it was admitted to the United Nations in December 1955.

21 October 1953, Wednesday (+3,088) Peter Mandelson, UK politician, was born

20 October 1953, Tuesday (+3,087) Fred E Ahlert, US composer, died in New York (born in New York 19 September 1892)

18 October 1953, Sunday (+3,085)

17 October 1953, Saturday (+3,084) Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a monument to members of the Commonwealth air forces who lost their lives in WW2 and had no known grave, at Coopers Hill, Runnymede.

16 October 1953, Friday (+3,083) Tom Reece, billiards champion, died (born 12 August 1873).

15 October 1953, Thursday (+3,082) Italy and Yugoslavia were in dispute over a piece of territory around Trieste. UK and USA forces as well as the UN were dragged in to the argument. Youth culture was yet to arrive, as was the word �teenager�. Top of the pop charts were Mantovani, Doris Day, and Dean Martin. A Ferguson 12 inch TV cost 55 guineas (about �60). Ultra high stiletto heels were the main thing in fashion and a jackpot winner at Littlewoods would have won �7,297.

14 October 1953, Wednesday (+3,081) Arthur Wimperis, British author, died in London (born 3 December 1874 in London)

13 October 1953, Tuesday (+3,080) Millard Mitchell, Cuban actor died from lung cancer aged 50

12 October 1953, Monday (+3,079) David Threlfall, actor, was born.

11 October 1953, Sunday (+3,078) James Earle Fraser, US sculptor, died aged 76

10 October 1953. Saturday (+3,077) President Eisenhower of the USA signed a treaty with South Korea promising military aid if North Korea attacked.

9 October 1953, Friday (+3,076) Tony Shalhoub, actor, was born.

8 October 1953, Thursday (+3,075) Nigel Bruce, British actor (Sherlock Holmes), died from a heart attack aged 58.

7 October 1953, Wednesday (+3,074) Albert Jenkins, rugby player, died (born 11 March 1895).

6 October 1953, Tuesday (+3,073) Britain, fearing the establishment of a Communist regime in British� Guiana by the People�s Progressive Party, sent troops to the country. On 9 October 1953 the Constitution was suspended and the country governed under a State of Emergency. Party leaders were arrested.

5 October 1953, Monday (+3,072) Roy Laidlaw, rugby player, was born.

4 October 1953, Sunday (+3,071) Tcheky Karyo, Turkish actor, was born.

3 October 1953, Saturday (+3,070) (Aviation) JB Verdin, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 752.94 mph.

2 October 1953. Friday (+3,069) The photograph of William Pettit, wanted for murder, was shown on the BBC by request from the police. It was the first time TV was used in Britain to help find a wanted man.

1 October 1953, Thursday (+3,068) John Martin, painter, died in Addison, Maine, USA.

===================================================================================

30 September 1953, Wednesday (+3,067)

28 September 1953, Monday (+3,065) Ford unveiled their new Anglia and Prefect car models.

27 September 1953, Sunday (+3,064) Japan established a national defence force.

26 September 1953. Saturday (+3,063) Sugar rationing ended in Britain, after nearly 14 years.

25 September 1953, Friday (+3,063) (Aviation) MJ Lithgow, UK, set a new aviation speed record of 735.70 mph.

23 September 1953, Wednesday (+3,060) The Royal Commission on capital punishment said it should be left to the jury as to whether to impose the death penalty.

21 September 1953, Monday (+3,058) English composer Roger Quilter died in London.

20 September 1953, Sunday (+3,057) Tengku Daud Beureh, Military Governor of Aceh (Achin, Atjeh) province, began a rebellion against Indonesia. The province, mainly Muslim, did not wish to be part of the new Indonesian State under President Sukarno. Guerrilla warfare continued until a ceasefire was arranged in 3/1957, with Achin being granted autonomy in areas of religion and local law. Other Indonesian islands also sought greater autonomy.

19 September 1953, Saturday (+3,056)

17 September 1953, Thursday (+3,054) The first successful separation of Siamese Twins took place, at the Ochnser Foundation Hospital in New Orleans.

16 September 1953, Wednesday (+3,053) The wife of former British Foreign Office official and Soviet spy Donald McLean disappeared, two years after her husband fled to Russia with Guy Burgess.

7 September 1953, Monday (+3,044) Benmont Tench, musician, was born.

2 September 1953, Wednesday (+3,039) Maurice Colclough, rugby player, was born.

===================================================================================

30 August 1953, Sunday (+3,036) (Italy) Italy moved troops into the border areas of Trieste, near Yugoslavia, a week after the Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Pella declared that Trieste was �important to Italy�. Yugoslavia alleged that these troops had transgressed 50 metres into Yugoslav territory. President Tito of Yugoslavia demanded the internationalisation of Trieste city and the incorporation of its hinterland into Yugoslavia. The US and UK, unwilling to see Yugoslavia gain a major influence over the northern Adriatic, announced they would end the Allied Military Government in the 25-km coastal strip running NW from Trieste towards Italy and hand the territory over to Italy. Tito said if this happened he would send in Yugoslav troops. In early November Italians demonstrated for unity of Trieste with Italy, and attempted to raise the Italian flag on Trieste Town Hall. There were rioting and arrests; several rioters were killed. Italy protested and for the time being both Italy and Yugoslavia withdrew their troops from the border region, and the Allied Military Government remained in place.

29 August 1953, Saturday (+3,035) France agreed to give Cambodia full control of police and court affairs.

27 August 1953, Thursday (+3,033) (Aviation) The De Havilland Comet II made its first test flight.� Later on several crashed, leading to the discovery of the new problem of metal fatigue.

24 August 1953, Monday (+3,030) Samuel Torrance, golfer, was born.

22 August 1953, Saturday (+3,028) (1) The infamous French prison of Devils Island, depicted in the film Papillon, was closed after a century of operations.

(2) The Shah of Iran returned to the throne and Mossadeq was jailed after a military coup.

21 August 1953, Friday (+3,027) The USSR banned lobotomies.

20 August 1953, Thursday (+3,026) (1) In Iran, Mossadeq was arrested.

(2) The French forced Sultan Mohammad to abdicate over his support for independence.

19 August 1953, Wednesday (+3,025) The US Central Intelligence Agency and the UK were involved in overthrowing the government of Mohammad Mossadeq in Iran, so as to retain power for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

18 August 1953, Tuesday (+3,024) The Iranian police and army took action against Mossadeq�s supporters.

17 August 1953, Monday (+3,023) Pella became Italian Prime Minister.

16 August 1953, Sunday (+3,022) The Shah of Iran fled the country as Mossadeq gained support.

15 August 1953, Saturday (+3,021) 10 people died in the Irk Valley Junction rail crash at Collyhurst near Manchester, UK.

14 August 1953, Friday (+3,020) US composer James Horner was born in Los Angeles.

13 August 1953, Thursday (+3,019) The Shah of Iran dismissed Mossadeq from office as he attempted to take more powers from the Shah.

12 August 1953. Wednesday (+3,018) The USSR tested its first hydrogen bomb, in the Pacific.� Moscow announced the test explosion on 20 August 1953.� Both superpowers now had them.

11 August 1953, Tuesday (+3,017) Hulk Hogan, professional wrestler, was born.

8 August 1953, Saturday (+3,014) Nigel Mansell, motor racing champion, was born.

1 August 1953, Saturday (+3,007) Nyasaland (now Malawi) federated with Southern and Northern Rhodesia to form� the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. This federation lasted until 1963.

===================================================================================

31 July� 1953, Friday (+3,006) Robert Taft, US Conservative politician, died aged 63.

29 July� 1953, Wednesday (+3,004) Ken Burns, film producer, was born.

27 July� 1953. Monday (+3,002) Armistice signed in Panmunjom, Korea, ended the Korean War. The 3-year conflict cost an estimated 4 million lives. These included 1,313,000 South Koreans, 1,000,000 of whom were civilians; 900,000 Chinese soldiers, 520,000 North Korean soldiers, and 1,000,000 North Korean civilians. There were 33,629 US casualties and 3,194 UN soldiers were killed. Across Korea, 43% of industrial facilities and 33% of homes were destroyed.

26 July� 1953, Sunday (+3,001) Fidel Castro led an assault on the Moncada Barracks; this failed, but set him up as revolutionary leader in Cuba.� Castro served two years in prison before release under a general amnesty.� He went into exile in Mexico where he prepared a campaign against Batista.

25 July� 1953, Saturday (+3,000)

23 July� 1953, Thursday (+2,998) Graham Gooch, cricketer, was born.

22 July� 1953, Wednesday (+2,997) Construction of Calder Hall nuclear power station began.

21 July� 1953, Tuesday (+2,996) The first meeting of the Press Council, in London.

20 July� 1953, Monday (+2,995) The USSR and Israel restored diplomatic relations.

18 July� 1953, Saturday (+2,993)

17 July� 1953, Friday (+2,992) Maude Adams, US actress (born 11 November 1872) died.

16 July� 1953, Thursday (+2,991) A new world air speed record, of 716 mph or 1,152 kph was set by an F16 Sabre fighter plane.

15 July� 1953, Wednesday (+2,990) John Christie was hanged ( see 25 March 1953) one day after a government tribunal maintained that Timothy Evans was rightly convicted of murdering his wife at Christie�s house and hanged for the crime. Christie had been convicted of murder on 25 June 1953; three years earlier Christie had been key witness against Evans. After Christie�s conviction, Evans� family asked for a judicial review. See 18 October 1966.

13 July� 1953, Monday (+2,988) Jo Jo Laine (Joanne Patri), model, was born (died 29 October 2006)

11 July 1953, Saturday (+2,986) English conductor Bramwell Tovey was born in Ilford.

10 July� 1953, Friday (+2,985) The Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs, Lavrenti Beria, was dismissed.

7 July� 1953, Tuesday (+2,982) The car company Subaru was established by Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) Ltd. The 6 stars in the Subaru logo represent the 6 companies that merged to form FHI. The stars are arranged in the shape of the Pleiades constellation, known as Subaru in Japan.

5 July� 1953, Sunday (+2,980) In Hungary, Matyas Rakosi was replaced as Prime Minister by Imre Nagy. This led to a more relaxed regime.

4 July� 1953. Saturday (+2,979) Last tram ran in Birmingham.

3 July� 1953, Friday (+2,978) Nanga Parbat Mountain, Himalayas, was first climbed by a German expedition.

2 July� 1953, Thursday (+2,977) In Ireland., following the loss of a seat in a by-election by Fianna Fail, Eamon de Valera called a vote of confidence in his government. He won by 73 to 71.

1 July� 1953. Wednesday (+2,976) (1) At the Army and Navy Stores in London a wool blanket cost �2 9s 6d (�2.48), and a silver spoon and fork with Coronation hallmark cost �4. A one pint thermos flak cost 8s 6d (42.5p). Train drivers got �8 8s 6d (�8.43) a week. Footballers accepted a maximum weekly wage of �15. In the UK, 35% of the population were owner-occupiers, 19% rented from the local council, and 46% rented from private landlords.

(2) MPs rejected a Bill to suspend the death penalty for 5 years.

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30 June 1953, Tuesday (+2,975) The first Chevrolet Corvette sports cars left the factory at Flint, Michigan, for commercial sale.

29 June 1953, Monday (+2,974)

23 June 1953, Tuesday (+2,968) Albert Gliezes, French painter, died in Avignon (born 8 December 1881 in Paris)

22 June 1953, Monday (+2,967) Cyndi Lauper, singer, was born.

21 June 1953, Sunday (+2,966) Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was born in Karachi.

20 June 1953, Saturday (+2,965) The Jewish funeral service of Ethel and Julius Rosenburg was held at Brooklyn (see 19 June 1953). The estimated 10,500 who attended were supportive of the Rosenburgs, who were seen as resisters of American imperialism.

19 June 1953. Friday (+2,964) Ethel and Julius Rosenberg went to the electric chair in Sing Sing prison, 30 miles north of New York, guilty of spying for the USSR. They were the first US civilians to be executed for espionage. They had been condemned on 30 March 1951. Sing Sing prison was built between 1825 and 1828, and took its name from the local village. However the village soon changed its native-American derived name to Ossining to avoid association with the prison.

18 June 1953, Thursday (+2,963) Egypt declared itself a republic.

17 June 1953. Wednesday (+2,962) In East Berlin, Soviet tanks crushed an anti-Soviet uprising. Hundreds of East Germans took to the streets in a protest that began over increased work quotas and food shortages caused by the collectivisation of agriculture (see 12 July� 1952).� The protests escalated to demands for free elections. The first people to protest were construction workers on Stalinallee, a new highway slicing through east Berlin. After Stalin�s death in March 1953 some liberation was hoped for, but instead work quotas were raised by 10%. Churches were also to be abolished. Food prices were high, there was little meat and no fruit at all. Red Army tanks were brought in and the Soviet military commander proclaimed a state of emergency. 50 people were killed by Soviet forces, at least 20 of whom were summarily executed, and over 1,000 were convicted of taking part in the �attempted fascist coup�. Churchill and the other western powers were reluctant to intervene because they feared a reunited Germany. In a memo of 22 June 1953 Churchill felt a divided Germany was safer at present, but feared to say so in public for fear of German public opinion.

16 June 1953, Tuesday (+2,961) Margaret Bondfield, British Women�s Rights activist, died aged 80.

15 June 1953, Monday (+2,960) Chinese leader Xi Jinping was born onto a well-connected political family; his father was Xi Zhongxun.

14 June 1953, Sunday (+2,959) Military coup by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in Colombia. A period of dictatorship began, lasting until 1957.

13 June 1953, Saturday (+2,958) Tim Allen, comedian and actor, was born.

12 June 1953, Friday (+2,957)

10 June 1953, Wednesday (+2,955) General Rojas Pinilla began a coup in Colombia

9 June 1953, Tuesday (+2,954) Frederick Darling, horse racer, died (born 15 May 1884)

8 June 1953, Monday (+2,953) The US Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve African-Americans.

5 June 1953, Friday (+2,950) The Danish Parliament, or Riksdagen, was reformed. The upper chamber, or Landstinget, was abolished. The lower chamber, or Folketinget, now became the entire Parliament.

2 June 1953. Tuesday (+2,947) Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (see 6 February 1952). Britain was still recovering from World War Two.. Just 4% of homes had TV sets. Few had fridges or washing machines, for commercial TV had yet to arrive and ignite the consumer boom, much of which was to be on credit, or �never-never�. Just one marriage in a hundred ended in divorce. Beer was 1 shilling 10 pence (9p) a pint, and the average wage was �9 a week.

1 June 1953. Monday (+2,946) Gordon Richards became the first jockey to be knighted.

====================================================================================

31 May 1953, Sunday (+2,945) Vladimir Tatlin, Russian painter, died in Moscow (born 12 December 1885 in Kharkov, Ukraine)

30 May 1953, Saturday (+2,944) Dooley Wilson, US actor, died aged 67.

29 May 1953. Friday (+2,943) New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa, Tensing became the first two climbers to ascend to the 29,028 foot summit of Mount Everest. They spent 15 minutes at the summit, taking photographs and eating mint cake before leaving the Union Jack, the Nepalese Flag, and the United Nations Flag at the summit. The news reached London on Coronation Day, 2 June 1953.

Sir Hillary headed the New Zealand Antarctic Expedition and reached the South Pole in 1957. In the 60s he set up a hospital for Sherpa tribesmen in Nepal. In 1974 his wife and daughter were killed in a plane crash. He remarried in 1989 and his son climbed Everest in 1990.

28 May 1953, Thursday (+2,942) In Soviet Czechoslovakia, a law was passed introducing short term conscription of labour. Citizens were required to work �voluntarily� for 12 days a year, at weekends or during holidays. �Volunteers� who declined could be imprisoned.

27 May 1953, Wednesday (+2,941) Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer, was born.

26 May 1953, Tuesday (+2,940) Michael Portillo, UK politician, was born.

25 May 1953, Monday (+2,939) Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer, was born.

24 May 1953, Sunday (+2,938) The Foreign office advised British families to leave Egypt.

21 May 1953, Thursday (+2,935) Bum Kun Cha, Korean footballer, was born.

19 May 1953, Tuesday (+2,933) Victoria Wood, comedienne, was born.

18 May 1953, Monday (+2,932) Jacqueline Cochrane, piloting a US F-86 Sabre plane, became the first woman to fly faster than sound.

17 May 1953, Sunday (+2,931) Leon Xanraf, French composer, died in Paris (born 9 December 1867 in Paris)

16 May 1953, Saturday (+2,930) Django Reinhardt, Belgian jazz guitarist, died in Fontainebleau (born 23 January 1910 near Charleroi)

15 May 1953, Friday (+2,929) Mike Oldfield, composer of Tubular Bells, was born.

12 May 1953, Tuesday (+2,926)

11 May 1953, Monday (+2,925) Bradley Walker Tomlin, US painter, died in New York( born 19 august 1899 in Syracuse, New York

10 May 1953, Sunday (+2,924) David Moorcroft, athlete, was born.

9 May 1953, Saturday (+2,923) France granted Cambodia some limited autonomy in military, judicial and economic affairds. However Norodom Sihanouk, ruler of Cambodia, pressed for complete independence. Meamwhile the French began to fortify Dien Bien Phu in northern Vietnam as they tried to hold onto that country.

6 May 1953. Wednesday (+2,920) Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister 1997 - 2007, was born.

4 May 1953, Monday (+2,918) (Aviation) W Gibb, UK, set a new aviation altitude record of 63,668 feet.

3 May 1953, Sunday (+2,917) English composer Stephen Warbeck was born in Southampton.

2 May 1953, Saturday (+2,916) (1) A BOAC Comet airliner crashed near Calcutta. Experts asked why the wings came off in mid air.

(2) King Hussein II became King of Jordan, succeeding his father King Talal, who was deposed in August 1952.

1 May 1953, Friday (+2,915) The BBC began broadcasts from Northern Ireland, from a transmitter near Belfast. Also this day the Pontop Pyke TV transmitter near Consett, Durham began operations. TV engineers were keen to have programmes in operation for Queen Elizabeth�s coronation on 2 June 1953.

====================================================================================

30 April 1953, Thursday (+2,914) In British Guiana (Guyana), elections were won by the left-wing People�s Progressive Party under Cheddi Jagan.

29 April 1953, Wednesday (+2,913) Moise Kisling, Polish-born French painter, died near Toulon (born 22 January 1891 in Cracow)

28 April 1953, Tuesday (+2,912) Japan regained the right to self-government, which had been lost at the end of World War Two.

26 April 1953, Sunday (+2,910)

25 April 1953, Saturday (+2,909) James Watson and Francis Crick described the double-helix structure of DNA in Nature magazine.

24 April 1953. Friday (+2,908) Queen Elizabeth II knighted Winston Churchill.

23 April 1953, Thursday (+2,907) Peter de Rose, US composer, died in New York (born 10 March 1900 in New York)

22 April 1953, Wednesday (+2,906)

20 April 1953, Monday (+2,904) Exchange of PoWs from the Korean War at Panmunjom.

19 April 1953, Sunday (+2,903) Ruby Wax, comedienne, was born.

18 April 1953, Saturday (+2,902)

17 April 1953, Friday (+2,901) The actor Charlie Chaplin announced he would never return to the USA, where he was wanted for back taxes and suspected of being a Communist sympathiser.

16 April 1953. Thursday (+2,900) Queen Elizabeth II launched the Royal Yacht Britannia.

15 April 1953, Wednesday (+2,899) In South African elections the National Party under D F Malan secured a clear majority.

13 April 1953, Monday (+2,897)

11 April 1953, Saturday (+2,895) The US Department of Health and Human Services was established.

10 April 1953, Friday (+2,894) The first full colour feature film from a major studio, The House of Wax, premiered at New York�s Paramount Theater.

9 April 1953, Thursday (+2,893) Communist Vietminh forces under General Giap invaded Laos from Vietnam, forcing the French (who had mauled the Vietminh the previous year in Vietnam) back to the Plain of Jars. The French lost over 2,000 men. Only the arrival of the monsoon rains prevented a Vietminh capture of the Laotian royal capital, Luang Prabang. However the Vietminh did manage to encircle it; however Giap withdrew from the siege, to recruit Laotian guides and stockpile food for future offensives.

8 April 1953. Wednesday (+2,892) In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta and 5 others were convicted of being members of the Mau-Mau terrorists, and sentenced to seven years hard labour. The Mau-Mau had been waging a terrorist war to drive White settlers out of east Africa.

7 April 1953, Tuesday (+2,891) Swedish civil servant Dag Hammarskold succeeded Trygve Lie as secretary of the United Nations.

6 April 1953, Monday (+2,890) German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer visited New York; on 14 May 1953 he visited London.

5 April 1953, Sunday (+2,889) Easter Sunday. Verona Elder, sprinter, was born.

4 April 1953, Saturday (+2,888) Carol II, King of Romania (1930-40), died aged 59.

3 April 1953, Friday (+2,887) (1) Easter air travel from Britain was up 20% on last Easter.

(2) US magazine "TV Guide" publishes its first issue. The cover featured photo of Lucille Ball's new born baby boy, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (later professionally known as Desi Arnaz Jr.)

2 April 1953, Thursday (+2,886) Jim Allister, Northern Irish politician, was born.

1 April 1953, Wednesday (+2,885) Aftab Baloch, Pakistan cricketer, was born in Karachi, Pakistan

=====================================================================================

31 March 1953, Tuesday (+2,884) Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.

30 March 1953, Monday (+2,883) (1) Denmark adopted a new Constitution. The Upper House was abolished, and the voting age reduced to 23.

(2) Albert Einstein announced a revised Unified Field Theory.

28 March 1953, Saturday (+2,881) James Francis Thorpe, athlete, died.

26 March 1953. Thursday (+2,879) The Salk vaccine proved effective against polio.

25 March 1953, Wednesday (+2,878) Police hunted for John Christie after the remains of three women were found at his former house in Notting Hill, London. See 15 July� 1953.

24 March 1953, Tuesday (+2,877) Queen Mary, widow of King George V, died at her London home, Marlborough House in Pall Mall, aged 85. Her funeral was on 31 March 1953.

23 March 1953, Monday (+2,876) Raoul Dufy, French painter (born 3 June 1877 in Le Havre, France) died in Forcalquiers, France.

20 March 1953, Friday (+2,873)

19 March 1953, Thursday (+2,872) Irene Bordoni, singer, died in new York (born in Corsica, 16 January 1895)

16 March 1953, Monday (+2,869) Isabelle Huppert, actress, was born.

15 March 1953, Sunday (+2,868) Tito visited Britain.

14 March 1953, Saturday (+2,867) Nikita Kruschev became First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR, replacing Georgi Malenkov.

10 March 1953, Tuesday (+2,863)

5 March 1953. Thursday (+2,858) (1) Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died aged 74 of a brain haemorrhage at his dacha. He was born in 1879 in Georgia, the son of a shoemaker. In the months before his death Stalin became paranoid, and in January 1953 the discovery of a �Doctor�s Plot�, involving 9 Jewish physicians. Stalin died before the trial of these 9 doctors could be staged, but it was believed they were to be the scapegoats to precipitate a major purge of the Soviet Communist Party. Later in 1953 Pravda announced the doctors were innocent and their confessions had been obtained under torture.

(2) Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer, died.

4 March 1953, Wednesday (+2,857) The RAF made a special Coronation Dish for Queen Elizabeth II, using lampreys � the food which allegedly killed Henry I.

3 March 1953, Tuesday (+2,856) Artur Antunes Coimbra, Brazilian footballer, was born.

===================================================================================

26 February 1953, Thursday (+2,851) Michael Bolton, singer, was born.

23 February 1953, Monday (+2,848) An amnesty was granted to WW II deserters.

20 February 1953, Friday (+2,845) Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly was born in Milan.

18 February 1953, Wednesday (+2,843) The first 3-D film, Bwana Devil, opened in New York City.

17 February 1953, Tuesday (+2,842) Norman Pace, actor, was born.

16 February 1953, Monday (+2,841) (South Africa) In South Africa the Public Safety Act was passed. This gave the Governor-General, or in some cases the Minister of Justice, powers to declare a State of Emergency and override Parliament.

15 February 1953, Sunday (+2,840)

14 February 1953, Saturday (+2,839) Johannes Kranki, Austrian footballer, was born.

13 February 1953, Friday (+2,838) Guatemala instituted a land reform programme, confiscating some 234,000 acres of land from the United Fruit Company for redistribution to landless peasants. Other large companies also lost land.

12 February 1963, Thursday (+2,837)

10 February 1953, Tuesday (+2,835) (Egypt) In Egypt, General Neguib was granted dictatorial powers for three years.

9 February 1953, Monday (+2,834) (Poland) The Polish Government made itself responsible for all appointments and dismissals of posts within the Polish Catholic Church.

8 February 1953, Sunday (+2,833) Mary Steenburgen, actress, was born.

5 February 1953, Thursday (+2,830) (1) The UK Food Minister, Gwilym Lloyd-George, declared an end to the rationing of sweets and chocolate. Domestic purchases of sugar, however, stayed on-rations until September 1953. Toffee apples were in greatest demand, followed by nougat and liquorice strips. Sweets had been briefly de-rationed in 1949 but demand had outstripped supply, prompting re-rationing after 2 months.

(2) Walt Disney�s film Peter Pan went on general release.

2 February 1953. Monday (+2,827) The USSR broke off relations with Israel. Relations were restored on 20 July� 1953.

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31 January 1953. Saturday (+2,825) More than 300 people died as severe flooding hit Kent, Essex, and East Anglia. 1,783 people died in floods in The Netherlands, and Zeeland was very hard hit. 59 died on Canvey Island.

28 January 1953, Wednesday (+2,822) (1) Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, see 11 December 1952.

(2) James Scullin, 13^th Australian Prime Minister from 1929 to 1932, died.

24 January 1953, Saturday (+2,818) Ukrainian viola player Yuri Bashmet was born in Rostov on Don.

22 January 1953, Thursday (+2,816) Korean conductor and pianist Myung Whun Chung was born in Seoul.

20 January 1953. Tuesday (+2,814) Dwight D Eisenhower�s first address to the USA as President.

18 January 1953, Sunday (+2,812) The first Argentine Grand Prix was held.

17 January 1953, Saturday (+2,811) The Chevrolet Corvette sports car was unveiled at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. See 30 June 1958.

16 January 1953, Friday (+2,810) Egypt dissolved all political parties.

14 January 1953. Wednesday (+2,808) Marshall Tito was elected President of Yugoslavia. He had been leader of Yugoslavia since 1945.

10 January 1953. Saturday (+2,804) First meeting of the European Coal and Steel Community.

8 January 1953, Thursday (+2,802) Riots in Karachi, Pakistan, followed by unrest in other cities, due to adverse economic conditions.

7 January 1953, Wednesday (+2,801) US President Harry Truman announced that the US now had a Hydrogen Bomb, a thousand times more powerful than the Atom Bomb.

6 January 1953, Tuesday (+2,800) (1) The Asian Socialist Conference convened in Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar. Israel sent its Foreign Minister, Moshe Sharett, as delegate. Israel provided training to Burmese farmers, and Israel provided officers and equipment for the Burmese Army.

(2) LUFTAG was founded, which later became Lufthansa.

3 January 1953, Saturday (+2,797)

1 January 1953, Thursday (+2,795) �Bomber� Harris, head of Bomber Command responsible for the bombing of Dresden, was knighted.

===================================================================================

31 December 1952, Wednesday (+2,794) China now had 1,200,000 troops under Peng TeHuai fighting alongside North Korea.

30 December 1952, Tuesday (+2,793)

29 December 1952, Monday (+2,792) The miniature hearing aid was invented by Sonotone Corporation.

28 December 1952, Sunday (+2,791) Fletcher Henderson, US composer, died in New York (born 18 December 1897 in Cuthbert, Georgia)

27 December 1952, Saturday (+2,790) David Knopfler, musician, was born.

20 December 1952, Saturday (+2,783) Jenny Agutter, actress, was born.

17 December 1952, Thursday (+2,781) Surgeons in Chicago carried out the first operation to successfully separate conjoined twins.

15 December 1952, Monday +2,778) Allan Simonsen, Danish footballer, was born.

14 December 1952, Sunday (+2,777) John Lurie, US jazz saxophonist (Lounge Lizards), was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

13 December 1952, Saturday (+2,776) John Francombe, champion jockey, was born.

12 December 1952, Friday (+2,775) Charles Kortright, cricketer, died.

11 December 1952, Thursday (+2,774) Derek Bentley, 19, was sentenced to death for the murder of a policeman, even though his accomplice Christopher Craig, 16, fired the fatal shot. The incident occurred during a bungled robbery in which police surrounded the pair on the roof of a Croydon warehouse. Craig was too young to hang and was detained at Her Majesty�s Pleasure. Bentley had shouted to Craig �Let him have it�; did he mean �shoot him� or �let him have the gun�?

10 December 1952, Wednesday (+2,773) Susan Dey, actress, was born.

9 December 1952, Tuesday (+2,772) Michael Dorn, US actor (Trek Next Generation), was born in Luling, Texas.

8 December 1952, Monday (+2,771) (1) Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for next year�s Coronation (1 June 1953) to be televised.

(2) Yitzhak Ben-Zvi became the new President of Israel, succeeding Chaim Weitzmann.

7 December 1952, Sunday (+2,770) (Astronomy) Forest Ray Moulton, US astronomer, died in Wilmette, Illinois.

6 December 1952, Saturday (+2,769) (Sport) Chuck Baker, US basketball player, was born.

5 December 1952, Friday (+2,768) A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) airliner flew non-stop over the North Pole from Los Angeles to Copenhagen.

4 December 1952. Thursday (+2,767) Smog enveloped London and killed over 4,000 people in less than a week.

3 December 1952, Wednesday (+2,766) Mel Smith, English actor, was born.

2 December 1952, Tuesday (+2,765) US President Eisenhower visited Korea.

1 December 1952, Monday (+2,764) George Jorgensen Jr of the USA became the first person to have gender reassignment surgery, becoming Christine Jorgensen.

===================================================================================

30 November 1952, Sunday (+2,763) Elections in the Saar favoured autonomy from Germany and eventual alignment with France. West Germany rejected this result.

29 November 1952, Saturday (+2,762) William Hare, rugby player, was born.

28 November 1952, Friday (+2,761) The UK Government confirmed the order setting up the North York Moors National Park.

25 November 1952, Tuesday (+2,758) 2,000 Kikuyu were rounded up in Kenya as the Mau-Mau began an open revolt against British rule.

21 November 1952, Friday (+2,754) Eamonn Coghlan, athlete, was born in Dublin.

20 November 1952, Thursday (+2,753) (Poland) In Poland, after the first general election held under the new constitution (26 October 1952), Boleslaw Bierut, Communist, was elected Prime Minister by the Sejm.

19 November 1952, Wednesday (+2,752) (Aviation) JS Nash, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 698.50 mph.

18 November 1952, Tuesday (+2,751) In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta was charged with being the head of the Mau Mau.

16 November 1952, Sunday (+2,749) In Greece, Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos formed a government after the success of Greek Rally in the elections.

14 November 1952, Friday (+2,747) Charts for pop singles were published in Britain for the first time, in New Musical Express.

11 November 1952. Tuesday (+2,744) John Mulin and Wayne Johnson at the Bing Crosby Enterprises Laboratory in Beverly Hills, California demonstrated the first video recorder.

10 November 1952, Monday (+2,743) 77-year-old doctor and philosopher Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Prize for his humanitarian work in Africa.

9 November 1952, Sunday (+2,742) Chaim Weitzmann, first President of Israel, died aged 77.

7 November 1952, Friday (+2,740)

5 November 1952, Wednesday (+2,738) Oleg Blokhin, Russian footballer, was born.

4 November 1952. Tuesday (+2,737) Dwight Eisenhower elected President of the USA.

3 November 1952, Monday (+2,736) Rosanne Barr, actress and comedienne, was born.

2 November 1952, Sunday (+2,735) The Croydon Rooftop Murder took place. Two illiterate young men, Christopher Craig (16) and Derek Bentley (18) were seen breaking into a confectionery warehouse. The police were called and Bentley was arrested almost immediately. When the police moved to arrest Craig he pulled out a gun; Bentley, then under arrest, shouted at Craig �Let him have it!� Craig then shot two policemen, one fatally. Craig was too young to hang, and got life imprisonment; Bentley was sentenced to death. Many thought that Bentley too should have got life, as, firstly, he had been under arrest when the fatal shot was fired, and secondly, the doubt surrounding Bentley�s motive in what he said; did he mean �let him have a bullet� or �give him the gun�? The jury recommended mercy in Bentley�s case. However executing Bentley satisfied a general sense of revenge for the death of the policeman, and was supported by the Home Secretary.

1 November 1952, Saturday (+2,734) (1) The USA exploded its first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll, Pacific Ocean.

(2) The new element Fermium was first discovered in the fall-out from a nuclear test of a Hydrogen Bomb.

====================================================================================

31 October 1952, Friday (+2,733) The USA exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific. The bomb was equivalent to 5 to 7 megatons (million tons of TNT) and left a hole a mile in diameter and 175 feet deep. A 5 megaton bomb would devastate about 150 square miles by blast and subject about 800 square miles to searing heat. See 9 September 2003.

28 October 1952, Tuesday (+2,730)

27 October 1952, Monday (+2,729) Roberto Benigni, actor, was born

26 October 1952, Sunday (+2,728) Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, was born

25 October 1952, Saturday (+2,727) The USA blocked the entry of China to the United Nations for the third year running. See 25 October 1971.

24 October 1952, Friday (+2,726) (Korea, USA) In the US, Eisenhower described Korea as �the burial place of twenty thousand Americans� and promised that if he was elected President he would end the Korean War. Meanwhile the United Nations remained deadlocked over the issue of the return of North Korean prisoners of War. The USSR and China wanted them all returned to North Korea, but some PoWs insisted they had been forcibly drafted into the North Korean forces and wanted to settle in South Korea.

23 October 1952. Thursday (+2,725) The Claerwen Dam, on the River Claerwen in mid-Wales, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Construction work had begun on 18 August 1946 when the Mayor of Birmingham set off the first charge of dynamite. Birmingham had begun to be threatened by a water shortage from the 1890s, and the nearest supply was in mid-Wales. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1892 authorising the construction of three dams on the River Elan and three more on the River Claerwen. The Elan reservoirs were built first, and then satisfied the demand of Birmingham, which then had a population of half a million, and most had to carry their water in a bucket from an outside tap. But by 1946 Birmingham had over a million people, and more of these had a sink and a bathroom, and there had been a severe drought in 1937. By 1940 city planners determined to build the Claerwen reservoirs too, as soon as the War was over. The largest dam, designed by Sir William Halcrow, was to be 184 feet high and 1,166 feet long. Behind would be a lake four miles long and holding ten billion gallons of water. Birmingham could not have all the water; places as far as Hereford also relied on the water from here, so enough had to be let through for this. During construction, accommodation had to be built on site for over 200 men, with housing, canteen, stores, and offices. The building work was held up by terrible weather during the late 1940s; blizzards, interspersed with floods and droughts, finally completed in 1952.

22 October 1952, Wednesday (+2,724) Iran broke off diplomatic relations with Britain.

21 October 1952