2/1/1960, Saturday (+5,352)

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

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31/12/1959,� Thursday (+5,350) Val Kilmer, actor, was born.

30/12/1959, Wednesday (+5,349) Tracey Ullman, actress, was born.

29/12/1959, Tuesday (+5,348) Durgapur steel works, West Bengal, officially opened.

28/12/1959, Monday (+5,347)

26/12/1959, 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.

25/12/1959, Friday (+5,344) (Syria, Turkey) The USSR agreed to supply financial and technical aid to Syria.

24/12/1959, Thursday (+5,343) Anti-Semitic riots in Cologne.

23/12/1959, Wednesday (+5,342) The Earl of Halifax, politician and Viceroy of India, 1926-31, died.

22/12/1959, Tuesday (+5,341) Bernd Schuster, West German footballer, was born.

20/12/1959, Sunday (+5,339) The first atomic ice-breaker, The Lenin, started operating.

16/11/1959, Wednesday (+5,335) The Sound of Music, with Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened at Lunt Fontaine Theatre, New York, USA.

15/12/1959, Tuesday (+5,334) (Aviation) JW Rogers, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 1,525.95 mph.

14/12/1959, Monday (+5,333) Makarios was elected President of Cyprus. he assumed office on 16/8/1960. His Turkish rival Fazil Kucuk became Vice-President.

13/12/1959, Sunday (+5,332) The UN decided not to intervene in Algeria.

12/12/1959, 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.

11/12/1959, Friday (+5,330) Lisa Gastineau, US reality show star, was born as Lisa D'Amico in Rockland County, New York

10/12/1959, Thursday (+5,329) (1) In Britain, the Crowther report recommended raising the school leaving age to 16.

(2) US troops began to leave Iceland.

4/12/1959, Friday (+5,323) Paul McGrath, footballer, was born.

1/12/1959, 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.

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28/11/1959, Saturday (+5,317) The dockyard at Hong Kong closed, after 80 years of operation.

25/11/1959, Wednesday (+5,314) Charles Kennedy, British politician, was born.

20/11/1959, Friday (+5,309) Stephen Roche, champion cyclist, was born.

19/11/1959, Thursday (+5,308) The Archbishop of Canterbury said adultery should be a criminal offence.

18/11/1959, Wednesday (+5,307) Ulrich Noethen, German actor, was born.

17/11/1959, Tuesday (+5,306) Two Scottish airports, Prestwick and Renfrew, became the first to offer duty-free goods in Britain.

16/11/1959, Monday (+5,305) The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music opened on Broadway, New York.

15/11/1959, 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.

14/11/1959, Saturday (+5,303) (Atomic) The Dounreay fast breeder reactor in Scotland began operating.

13/11/1959, Friday (+5,302) In South Africa, the anti-Apartheid South African Progressive party was founded at a conference in Johannesburg.

12/11/1959, Thursday (+5,301) Vincent Irizarry, US actor, was born.

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

10/11/1959, Tuesday (+5,299) The UN condemned apartheid and racism.

5/11/1959, Thursday (+5,294) Justin Catanoso, writer, was born.

2/11/1959, Monday (+5,291) (1) London to Birmingham motorway opened. The first stretch of the M1 opened on 1/11/1959. Sightseers flocked to look at it.

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

1/11/1959, Sunday (+5,290) Jet air services began between London, UK, and Sydney, Australia, run by BOAC.

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31/10/1959, Saturday (+5,289) The first television broadcasts in Africa began, from Ibadan, Nigeria.

30/10/1959, Friday (+5,288) Saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King opened Ronnie Scott�s Jazz Club in Gerrard Street, Soho, London.

29/10/1959, 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.

28/10/1959, Wednesday (+5,286) South Africa rejected the introduction of television.

27/10/1959, Tuesday (+5,285) The Queen�s Speech promised independence for Cyprus and Nigeria.

25/10/1959, Sunday (+5,283) Nancy Cartwright, voice actress, was born.

23/10/1959, Friday (+5,281) �Weird Al� Yankovic, comedian, was born.

21/10/1959, Wednesday (+5,279) The Solomon R Guggenheim Art Museum, New York, USA, opened.

18/10/1959, 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.

16/10/1959, Friday (+5,274) George Marshall, US soldier and politician who formulated the Marshall Plan to aid post-War Europe, died in Washington DC.

15/10/1959, Thursday (+5,273) Todd Solondz, film director, was born.

14/10/1959, Wednesday (+5,272) Errol Flynn, British actor, died.

13/10/1959, Tuesday (+5,271) Marie Osmond, singer, was born.

11/10/1959, Sunday (+5,269)

9/10/1959, Friday (+5,267) Henry Tizard, English inventor, died aged 74.

8/10/1959, 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.

7/10/1959, Wednesday (+5,265) The first photographs of the far side of the Moon were transmitted by the Russian spacecraft Lunik III.

3/10/1959, Saturday (+5,261) The postcode system for sorting mail was first used in Britain, in Norwich.

1/10/1959, Thursday (+5,259) East Germany changed its flag (until now, the same as West Germany�s) to include worker and rural peasant symbols.

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30/9/1959, Wednesday (+5,258) (Aviation) London�s Croydon Airport closed. The last flight was to Rotterdam.

29/9/1959, Tuesday (+5,257) Julius Beresford, rower, died (born 29/6/1868).

27/9/1959, Sunday (+5,255)

26/9/1959, Saturday (+5,254) Typhoon Vera hit Japan, killing 4,464 on Honshu.

25/9/1959, 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.

24/9/1951, Thursday (+5,252)

23/9/1959, Wednesday (+5,251) Jason Alexander, actor, was born.

22/9/1959, Tuesday (+5,250) The United Nations refused to admit Communist China.

20/9/1959, Sunday (+5,248) The last fly-past of Hurricane aircraft over London to commemorate the Battle of Britain.

16/9/1959, Wednesday (+5,244) Charles de Gaulle, French President, offered Algeria a referendum on independence.

15/9/1959, Tuesday (+5,243) Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev became the head of State of the USSR to be received at the US White House.

14/9/1959, Monday (+5,242) The first man-made object landed on the Moon; the Russian space probe Lunik II, near the Mare Serenitatis.

12/9/1959, Saturday (+5,240) Donal Lenihan, rugby player, was born.

10/9/1959, Thursday (+5,238) Colin Gregory, tennis champion, died (born 28/7/1903).

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

1/9/1959, Tuesday (+5,229) Carole Hodges, cricketer, was born.

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26/8/1959, 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.

24/8/1959, Monday (+5,221) House of Fraser beat Debenhams in a takeover battle for Harrods.

21/8/1959, Friday (+5,218) Hawaii became the 50^th State of the USA.

19/8/1959, Wednesday (+5,216) Sir Jacob Epstein, sculptor, died in London, England (born 10/11/1880 in New York City).

18/8/1959, 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.

17/8/1959, Monday (+5,214) (Earthquake, USA) Hebgen Lake earthquake, Yellowstone National Park, USA, 7.2 magnitude; 28 died in landslides.

16/8/1959, Sunday (+5,213)

14/8/1959, Friday (+5,211) Earvin �Magic� Johnson, basketball player, was born.

13/8/1959, Thursday (+5,210) Work began on the Verrazano Narrows cable suspension bridge in New York City.

12/8/1959, Wednesday (+5,209) Parents and children rioted in Arkansas over racial segregation in schools.

10/8/1959, Monday (+5,207) Rosanna Arquette, actress, was born.

4/8/1959, Tuesday (+5,201) Barclays Bank became the first to use computers for its branch accounts.

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29/7/1959, Tuesday (+8,848) Lilias Gower,� croquet champion, died.

28/7/1959, 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 3/10/1959.

27/7/1959, Monday (+5,193)

26/7/1959, 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�.

25/7/1959, 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.

24/7/1959, 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.

23/7/1959, Thursday (+5,189) Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record on Ullswater when he� reached 202.32mph in Bluebird.

21/7/1959, 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.

17/7/1959, Friday (+5,183) Billie Holliday, US singer, died.

13/7/1959, Monday (+5,179) Richard Leman, hockey champion, was born.

11/7/1959, Saturday (+5,177) Charles Parker, cricketer, died.

6/7/1959, Monday (+5,172) German artist George Grosz died.

5/7/1959, Sunday (+5,171) Ghana began a boycott of all South African products.

4/7/1959, Saturday (+5,170) Janette Brittin, cricketer, was born.

1/7/1959, 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.

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

26/6/1959, Friday (+5,162) Queen Elizabeth II and US President Eisenhower opened the St Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic.

25/6/1959, Thursday (+5,161) Eamon de Valera took up office as President of Ireland.

22/6/1959, Monday (+5,158) Michael Kiname, horse racing champion, was born.

18/6/1959, 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.

17/6/1959, 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.

16/6/1959, Tuesday (+5,152) George Reeves, actor, died.

14/6/1959, Sunday (+5,150) The US agreed to provide Greece with nuclear information and supply ballistic missiles.

11/6/1959, Thursday (+5,147) The first experimental hovercraft capable of carrying a man was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

9/6/1959, Tuesday (+5,145) The USA launches its first ballistic missile submarine, the George Washington.

4/6/1959, Thursday (+5,140) Cuba nationalised USA sugar mils in its territory.

3/6/1959, Wednesday (+5,139) Singapore achieved self-government. Lee Kuan Yew was Prime Minister.

2/6/1959, Tuesday (+5,138) Lydia Lunch, US singer, was born.

1/6/1959, Monday (+5,137) Martin Brundle, motor racing champion, was born.

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

30/5/1959, 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.

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

28/5/1959, Thursday (+5,133) The Mermaid Theatre opened in the City of London.

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

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

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

24/5/1959, 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.

16/5/1959, Saturday (+5,121) Elisha Scott, footballer, died (born 24/8/1894).

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

6/5/1959, 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.

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

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27/4/1959, Monday (+5,102) Mao stepped down as China�s Chief of State, but remained Chairman of the Communist Party.

26/4/1959, Sunday (+5,101) A small band of rebels planning a coup against Panamanian President Ernesto de la Guarda were arrested.

23/4/1959, Thursday (+5,098) Britain�s first heliport opened, on the River Thames in London.

21/4/1959, Tuesday (+5,095) The Soviet Union protested to the USA about the stationing of nuclear weapons in West Germany.

19/4/1959, Sunday (+5,094) The Dalai Lama arrived in India.

13/4/1959, Monday (+5,088) Stephen Martin, hockey champion, was born.

9/4/1959, Thursday (+5,084) Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed New York�s Guggenheim Museum, died aged 89.

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31/3/1959, Tuesday (+5,075) The Dalai Lama escaped to India. Tibet lost its independence to China in 1951.

30/3/1959, Monday (+5,074) Sabine Meyer, German clarinet player, was born.

29/3/1959, Sunday (+5,073) Easter Sunday. Barthelemy Boganda, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, was born.

28/3/1959, 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.

27/3/1959, Friday (+5,071) Soviet fighter aircraft buzzed US aircraft in the air corridor connecting West Berlin to West Germany.

26/3/1959, Thursday (+5,070) Jersey Zoological Park opened.

25/3/1959, Wednesday (+5,069) John Jeffrey, rugby player, was born.

22/3/1959, Sunday (+5,066) Chris Snode, diving champion, was born.

19/3/1959, Thursday (+5,063) China stepped up its shelling ot the Lama�s Palace, killing many of his supporters camped around it.

17/3/1959, 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.

16/3/1959, Monday (+5,060) The USSR lent money to Iraq.

13/3/1959, Friday (+5,057)

10/3/1959, 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.

9/3/1959, 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.

7/3/1959, Saturday (+5,051) Tom Lehman, golfer, was born.

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

1/3/1959, Sunday (+5,045) Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus, after almost three years exile.

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26/2/1959, Thursday (+5,042) State of Emergency in Southern Rhodesia.

25/2/1959, Wednesday (+5,041) Norway and Israel signed an agreement providing Israel with heavy water, crucial to Israel's atomic program.

24/2/1959, Tuesday (+5,040) Stanley Shoveller, hockey champion, died (born 2/9/1881).

23/2/1959, Monday (+5,039) The European Court of Human Rights sat for the first time.

22/2/1959, Sunday (+5,038) As part of the Cyprus Agreement, Britain released all EOKA prisoners in Cyprus.

21/2/1959, Saturday (+5,037) Harold MacMillan, British Prime Minister, and Selwyn Lloyd, Foreign Secretary, visited the USSR.

20/2/1959, Friday (+5,036) Disturbances in the British territory of Nyasaland (now Malawi).

19/2/1959, Thursday (+5,035) (Greece-Turkey) Greece and Turkey agreed on plans for the independence of Cyprus.

18/2/1959, Wednesday (+5,034) (Arts) Erich Zeisl, US composer, born 18/5/1905, died.

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

16/2/1959, 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 1/1/1959.

15/2/1959, Sunday (+5,031) Archbishop Makarios arrived in London for talks on Cyprus with Macmillan.

14/2/1959, 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.".

13/2/1959, 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.

11/2/1959, Wednesday (+5,027) Racing car driver Marshall Teague died in an accident.

9/2/1959, Monday (+5,025) The UK supplied arms to Indonesia.

7/2/1959, 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.

6/2/1959, Friday (+5,022) (Computing) The microchip was patented for Jack Kilby for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas.

3/2/1959, Tuesday (+5,019) Buddy Holly, US musician, was killed in an air crash in Iowa.

1/2/1959, Sunday (+5,017) Swiss referendum turned down votes for women.� But see 7/2/1971.

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31/1/1959, Saturday (+5,016) Kelly Lynch, actress, was born.

30/1/1959, Friday (+5,015) Britain�s first drive-in bank opened.

27/1/1959, Tuesday (+5,012) William Batten, rugby player, died (born 26/5/1889).

25/1/1959, Sunday (+5,010) The Second Vatican Council began work on reforming and modernising the Catholic Church..

23/1/1959, Friday (+5,008) Wilhelm Ludwig, zoologist and geneticist, died in Leipzig (born 20/10/1901).

22/1/1959, Thursday (+5,007) Two thirds of British home snow had a television. The Rank Organisation, on 17/9/1959, said cinema attendance in Britain fell from 1.396 million in 1950 to 1.101 million in 1956 and was still in decline.

21/1/1959, 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.

19/1/1959, Monday (+5,004)

17/1/1959, Saturday (+5,002) Senegal and French Sudan united to form Mali.

16/1/1959, Friday (+5,001) Sade, singer, was born.

12/1/1959, Monday (+4,997) A US$ 400 million contract for the Mercury US space programme was awarded to the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St Louis.

9/1/1959, Friday (+4,994) The film �Rawhide�, starring Clint Eastwood, premiered on CBS TV.

8/1/1959, Thursday (+4,993) (1) Fidel Castro entered Havana in triumph, see 2/12/1956.

(2) Charles de Gaulle was installed as first President of the 5^th Republic.� See 21/12/1958.

7/1/1959, Wednesday (+4,992) (Food) Jean-Michel Lorain, French chef, was born.

6/1/1959, Tuesday (+4,991) More rioting in the Belgian Congo; the root cause was poverty and unemployment. Belgium agreed to make reforms.

5/1/1959, Monday (+4,990) The Chepstow to Monmouth and Ross on Wye railway closed.

4/1/1959, Sunday (+4,989) Rioting in the Belgian Congo.

3/1/1959, Saturday (+4,988) Alaska became the 49^th state of the USA. It is the USA�s largest state.

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

1/1/1959, 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 16/2/1959. Castro executed his opponents and legalised the Communist Party.

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

31/12/1958, 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.

28/12/1958, Sunday (+4,982) Terry Butcher, footballer, was born.

21/12/1958, 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 13/11/1945). �See 29/5/1958.

15/12/1958, Monday (+4,969) The last steam locomotive was made at Crewe. This was the 7,331^st locomotive made at Crewe.

14/12/1958, Sunday (+4,968) The Antarctic �pole of inaccessibility�, the point furthest from all coasts, was reached by a Soviet tractor traverse.

13/12/1958, Saturday (-4,967) Ahmed Mukhtar Baban, premier of Iraq, was executed

12/12/1958, Friday (+4,966) William Higgs, horse racing champion, died (born 8/2/1880).

11/12/1958, Thursday (+4,965) Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) gained autonomy from France.

10/12/1958, Wednesday (+4,964) The first domestic jet airliner service within the US began, operated by National Airlines between New York and Miami.

9/12/1958, Tuesday (+4,963) Rikk Agnew, US guitarist, was born in Newport Beach, California.

8/12/1958, Monday (+4,962) The last of the four nuclear reactors at Calder Hall began operating.

6/12/1958, Saturday (+4,960)

5/12/1958, 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.

4/12/1958, Thursday (+4,958) Tim Hutchings, athletics champion, was born.

3/12/1958, Wednesday (+4,957) Indonesia nationalised Dutch businesses.

1/12/1958, Monday (+4,955)

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28/11/1958, Friday (+4,952) Kriss Akabusi, athletics (hurdles) champion, was born.

27/11/1958, 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.

21/11/1958, Friday (+4,945) Work began on the Forth Road Suspension Bridge, then the longest suspension bridge in the UK. It was completed in 1964.

19/11/1958, Wednesday (+4,943) Isabella Blow, fashion magazine editor, was born (died 7/5/2007)

18/11/1958, Tuesday (+4,942) Shirley Strong, athlete (hurdles), was born.

15/11/1958, Saturday (-4,939) US actor Tyrone Power died.

4/11/1958, 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).

2/11/1958, Sunday (+4,926) Last British troops left Jordan.

1/11/1958, Saturday (+4,925) Charlie Kaufman, writer, was born.

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31/10/1958, Friday (+4,924) Ake Senning, Swedish doctor, in Stockholm implanted the first internal heart pacemaker.

30/10/1958, Thursday (+4,923)

28/10/1958, Tuesday (+4,921) (1) Cardinal Roncalli, aged 81, was elected Pope John XXIII, succeeding Pope Pius XII. Pope Pius XII died on 9/10/1958.

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

27/10/1958, Monday (+4,920) The first edition of the BBC programme Blue Peter was broadcast.

26/10/1958, 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.

25/10/1958, Saturday (+4,918) US troops withdrew from Lebanon (see 15/7/1958), now a stable Lebanese Government was in place.

24/10/1958, Friday (+4,917) The USSR loaned Egypt 400 million roubles to build the Aswan Dam.

23/10/1958, Thursday (+4,916) Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced The Smurfs.

22/10/1958, Wednesday (+4,915) Bobby Blotzer, US rock drummer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

21/10/1958, Tuesday (+4,914) Women took seats in the UK House of Lords for the first time.

20/10/1958, Monday (+4,913) Military coup in Thailand,

19/10/1958, Sunday (+4,912) The 1958 World Fair closed in Brussels. It attracted 40 million visitors, the main centrepiece being The Atomuim, which remains today.

18/10/1958, Saturday (+4,911) Two Americans, Shirley Sanders and Robert Kardell, married in a church in Hollywood, the first couple to be matched by computer.

14/10/1958, Tuesday (+4,907) Madagascar became independent.

11/10/1958, Saturday (+4,904) The BBC sports programme Grandstand was first transmitted.� It was the idea of Paul Fox.

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

9/10/1958, 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.

8/10/1958, Wednesday (+4,901) Ray Lemke opened the first Nissan (Datsun) dealership in the USA.

7/10/1958, Tuesday (+4,900) Following unrest in Pakistan, President Iskander Mirza proclaimed martial law and suspended the Constitution.

6/10/1958, Monday (+4,899) Bernie Mac, actor, was born.

5/10/1958, Sunday (+4,898) In France the Fifth Republic was formed.

4/10/1958, 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.

3/10/1958, 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.

2/10/1958, 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.

1/10/1958, Wednesday (+4,,894) Tunisia joined the Arab League.

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

30/9/1958, Tuesday (+4,893) Biggie Tembo, Zimbabwean musician was born in Chinhoye, Mashonaland, Zimbabwe (died 1995)

29/9/1958, Monday (+4,892) Robert Mason Carlisle, US singer, was born.

28/9/1958, 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.

27/9/1958, Saturday (+4,890) Neil Adams, judo player, was born.

26/9/1958, Friday (+4,889) Kenneth Sansom, footballer, was born.

25/9/1958, Thursday (+4,888)

23/9/1958, 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.

22/9/1958, Monday (+4.885) Andrea Bocelli, tenor singer, was born.

20/9/1958, Saturday (+4,883)

18/9/1958, Thursday (+4,881) John Aldridge, footballer, was born.

17/9/1958, Wednesday (+4,880) Fidel Castro began an offensive against the Batista regime in Cuba.

16/9/1958, Tuesday (+4,879) Hugo MacNeill, rugby player, was born in Dublin, Ireland.

15/9/1958, Monday (+4,878) Wendie Sperber, US comedian and actress, was born.

14/9/1958, 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.

13/9/1958, Saturday (+4,876) Bobby Davro, English comedian and actor, was born.

12/9/1958, Friday (+4,875) The Governor of Arkansas closed all High Schools in Little Rock.

11/9/1958, Thursday (+4,874) Robert W Service, Scottish-born Canadian poet, died (born 1874).

10/9/1958, Wednesday (+4,873) David Jack, footballer, died (born 3/4/1899)

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

8/9/1958, 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.

7/9/1958, Sunday (+4,870) Nikita Kruschev stated that any attack by the US on China would be regarded as an attack on the USSR.

5/9/1958, Friday (+4,868)

3/9/1958, Wednesday (+4,866) Hendrik Verwoerd became Prime Minister of South Africa.

2/9/1958, Tuesday (+4,865) (1) South African President Hendrik Verwoerd promised to strengthen Apartheid.

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

1/9/1958, Monday (+4,864) British trawlers defied the Icelandic 12-mile fishing limit, which came into force this day.

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

31/8/1958, Sunday (+4,863) Fighting between Black and White youths in Notting Hill, London.

30/8/1958, Saturday (+4,862) The police clashed with 500 �Teddy Boys� in Nottingham.

29/8/1958, Friday (+4,861) Michael Jackson, pop star, was born in Gary, Indiana.

28/8/1958, Thursday (+4,860) Ernest O Lawrence, US nuclear scientist, died aged 57.

27/8/1958, Wednesday (+4,859) Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut, was born.

26/8/1958, Tuesday (+4,858) Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer, died aged 85.

25/8/1958, Monday (+4,857) Midland Bank was the first bank to announce it would offer personal loans, from September 1958.

24/8/1958, Sunday (+4,856) J G Strijdom, Prime Minister of South Africa, died 65. He was succeeded by Hendrik Verwoerd on 3/9/1958.

23/8/1958, Saturday (+4,855) The Egyptian Government approved the Aswan Dam project.

22/8/1958, Friday (+4,854) Vernon Reid, musician, was born.

21/8/1958, Thursday (+4,853)

19/8/1958, Tuesday (+4,851) The first motorist in Britain was caught speeding by a radar speed trap. They were fined �3.

18/8/1958, Monday (+4,850) Vladimir Nabokov�s controversial novel Lolita was published in the USA.

17/8/1958, Sunday (+4,849) Britain announced plans to resume Atom Bomb testing on Christmas Island.

16/8/1958, Saturday (+4,848) Madonna, US singer, was born.

12/8/1958, Tuesday (+4,844)

10/8/1958, 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.

9/8/1958, Saturday (+4,841) The USA reaffirmed its refusal to recognise Red China.

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

7/8/1958, Thursday (+4,839) The Litter Act came into force in Britain.

6/8/1958, 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.

5/8/1958, 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 23/7/1958 and sailed through the Bering Strait, passing the North Pole on 3/8/1958, emerging near Greenland on 5/8/1958. The Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 to become a floating museum.

4/8/1958, Monday (+4,836) Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, died (born 1883)

3/8/1958, Sunday (+4,835) Peter Collins, motor racing champion, died (born 8/11/1931).

2/8/1958, Saturday (+4,834) Chi Chia-wei, Taiwanese gay rights activist, was born in Taiwan

1/8/1958, Friday (+4,833) King Hussein dissolved the federation of Jordan with Iraq.

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

31/7/1958, Thursday (+4,832) Kham tribesmen in eastern Tibet rebelled against Chinese rule.

30/7/1958, Wednesday (+4,831) Alexander Albrecht, composer, died aged 72.

29/7/1958, Tuesday (+4,830) NASA, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, was founded.

28/7/1958, 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.

27/7/1958, Sunday (+4,828) Christopher Dean, ice skater, was born.

26/7/1958, Saturday (+4,827) Queen Elizabeth II created her eldest son Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.

25/7/1958, Friday (+4,826) Thurston Moore, US guitarist, was born in Coral Gables, Florida.

24/7/1958, Thursday (-4,825) The first life peerages were awarded in Britain, under the Life Peerages Act.

22/7/1958, Tuesday (+4,823)

17/7/1958, 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 (14/7/1958) 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.

16/7/1958, Wednesday (+4,817) Michael Flatley, dancer, was born.

15/7/1958, Tuesday (+4,816) US troops landed near Beirut to protect US lives and property during rioting.

14/7/1958, Monday (+4,815) A left-wing coup overthrew the Iraqi monarchy. The West feared a Middle Eastern domino effect.

10/7/1958, 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.

8/7/1958, Tuesday (+4,809) Kevin Bacon, actor, was born.

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

6/7/1958, Sunday (+4,807) Jennifer Saunders, comedienne and director, was born.

3/7/1958, 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.

1/7/1958, 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).

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

26/6/1958, Thursday (+4,797) George Gunn, cricketer, died (born 13/6/1879).

22/6/1958, Sunday (+4,793) Rodion Catamaru, Romanian footballer, was born.

20/6/1958, Friday (+4,791) Kurt Alder, chemist, Nobel prize winner, died.

18/6/1958, Wednesday (+4,789) Douglas Jardine, cricketer, died (born 23/10/1900).

17/6/1958, 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.

16/6/1958, Monday (+4,787) Yellow lines indicating no waiting were painted along British roads.

15/6/1958, Sunday (+4,786) Fran�ois de Vries, Dutch economist, died aged 74

14/6/1958, Saturday (+4,785) France announced it was withdrawing its troops from Morocco.

13/6/1958, Friday (+4,784) Peter Scudamore, champion jockey, was born.

11/6/1958, Wednesday (+4,782) Hugo Sanchez, Mexican footballer, was born.

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

7/6/1958, Saturday (+4,778) Prince, American singer, was born.

4/6/1958, 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.

3/6/1958, Tuesday (+4,774) British Railways re-designated Third Class accommodation as Second Class.

2/6/1958, Monday (+4,773) French President Charles de Gaulle was granted emergency powers for three months in respect to the Algeria crisis.

1/6/1958, Sunday (+4,772) Iceland extended its fishing limits to 12 miles.

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

31/5/1958, Saturday (+4,771) The Kremlin and Washington agreed to hold talks on a ban on atmospheric atom bomb tests.

30/5/1958, Friday (+4,770) Annette Bening, actress, was born.

29/5/1958, Thursday (+4,769) De Gaulle was voted into power in France, to deal with the crisis in Algeria. See 21/12/1958.

28/5/1958, Wednesday (+4,768) Pierre Pflimlin resigned as French leader.

27/5/1958, Tuesday (+4,767) A State of Emergency was declared in Sri Lanka.

23/5/1958, 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.

19/5/1958, Monday (+4,759) Tony Doyle, champion cyclist, was born.

16/5/1958, Friday (+4,756) (Aviation) W Irwin, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 1,404.09 mph.

15/5/1958, Thursday (+4,755) The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3 into Earth orbit.

14/5/1958, Wednesday (+4,754) In France, Pierre Pflimlin, Popular Republican, formed a government.

13/5/1958, Tuesday (+4,753) Rioting by French settlers in Algeria led to the French army seizing power.

10/5/1958, Saturday (+4,750)

9/5/1958, 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.

8/5/1958, 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.

7/5/1958, Wednesday (+7,747) (Aviation) HC Johnson, USA, set a new aviation altitude record of 91,244 feet.

6/5/1958, Tuesday (+4,746) (Medical) Olivier H�l�non, French radiologist, was born

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

4/5/1958, Sunday (+4,744) Alberto Lleras Camargo was chosen as President of Colombia

3/5/1958, Saturday (+4,743) President Eisenhower proposed a demilitarised Antarctic.

2/5/1958, Friday (+4,742) State of Emergency declared in Aden.

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

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

21/4/1958, 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 30/4/1958 after demonstrations in Valetta.

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

19/4/1958, Saturday (+4,729) William Meredith, footballer, died (born 30/7/1874).

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

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

16/4/1958, 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 10/8/1952.

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

14/4/1958, Monday (+4,724) Michael Hazelwood, water skiing champion, was born.

11/4/1958, Friday (+4,721)

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

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

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

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

4/4/1958, 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 7/4/1958. 600 members completed the 50-mile march and 12,000 attended the final rally.

3/4/1958, Thursday (+4,713) Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.

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

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

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

31/3/1958, 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.

30/3/1958, Sunday (+4,709) Gilles Andruet, French chess player, was born.

29/3/1958, Saturday (+4,708) Sir William Burrell, Scottish shipping merchant and philanthropist, died aged 96.

28/3/1958, Friday (+4,707) William Christopher Handy, US composer, died aged 84.

27/3/1958, Thursday (+4,706) (Cuba) The Havana Hilton Hotel opened. Costing US$ 21 million, it was renamed the Havana Libre in 1959.

26/3/1958, Wednesday (+4,705) Philip Mead, cricketer, died (born 9/3/1887).

25/3/1958, Tuesday (+4,704) Tom Brown, US dixieland jazz trombonist, died aged 69.

24/3/1958, 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�.

23/3/1958, Sunday (+4,702) Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist, was born.

22/3/1958, Saturday (+4,701) Michael Todd, film producer, died.

21/3/1958, 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.

20/3/1958, Thursday (+4,699) Holly Hunter, actress, was born.

19/3/1958, Wednesday (+4,698)

17/3/1958, Monday (+4,696) The US launched the Vanguard I satellite, the first with solar batteries.

16/3/1958, 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.

13/3/1958, Thursday (+4,692)

11/3/1958, Tuesday (+4,690) Unemployment in the USA reached 5.2 million.

10/3/1958, Monday (+4,689) Sharon Stone, actress, was born.

9/3/1958, Sunday (+4,688) Yemen merged with the United Arab Republic to form the United Arab States.

8/3/1958, Saturday (+4,687) Gary Numan [Webb], British new wave rock musician ("Cars"), was born in Hammersmith, England

7/3/1958, Friday (+4,686) Rick Mayall, actor in The Young Ones, was born.

6/3/1958, Thursday (+4,685) The TUC and the Labour party called for H-Bomb tests to stop.

5/3/1958, Wednesday (+4,684) Syria accused King Saud of organising a plot to overthrow the Syrian regime and destroy the union of Syria and Egypt.

4/3/1958, Tuesday (+4,683)

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

2/3/1958, 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.

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

26/2/1958, Wednesday (+4,677) Paul Ackford, rugby player, was born.

21/2/1958, Friday (+4,672) Duncan Edwards, footballer, died (born 1/10/1936).

17/2/1958, 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.

16/2/1958, Sunday (+4,667) Ice-T, rapper and songwriter, was born.

15/2/1958, Saturday (+4,666) Chrystine Brouillet, Quebec novelist, was born.

14/2/1958, Friday (+4,665) The Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan was proclaimed.

13/2/1958, Thursday (+4,664) Suffragette, Dame Christobel Pankhurst, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, died (born 1880).

12/2/1958, Wednesday (+4,663) General Miguel Fuentes was elected President of Guatemala.

11/2/1958, Tuesday (+4,662) Tunisia banned French warships from using its port at Bizerta.

10/2/1958, Monday (+4,661) Billy Vine, actor, died.

9/2/1958, Sunday (+4,660) A play by Irish-born Samuel Beckett was banned from London stages due to blasphemy.

8/2/1958, 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 11/1/1958. Tunisia confined all French troops in the country to barracks.

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

6/2/1958, 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.

5/2/1958, Wednesday (+4,656) Joe Childs, jockey, died.

3/2/1958, Monday (+4,654)

1/2/1958, Saturday (+4,652) Egypt and Syria joined to form the United Arab Republic.� See 29/9/1961.

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

31/1/1958, 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.

30/1/1958, 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.

29/1/1958, Wednesday (+4,649)

28/1/1958, 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.

27/1/1958, Monday (+4,647) Alan Milburn, UK politician, was born.

26/1/1958, Sunday (+4,646) Ellen DeGeneres, US actress and talk show host, was born.

22/1/1958, Wednesday (+4,642)

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

(2) General strike began in Venezuela.

20/1/1958, Monday (+4,640) The first radar speed checks began in Britain.

14/1/1958, Tuesday (+4,635)

9/1/1958, 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 8/10/1958.

8/1/1958, Wednesday (+4,628) Bobby Fischer, then aged 14, won the US Chess Championship.

6/1/1958, Monday (+4,626)

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

3/1/1958, 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.

1/1/1958, 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.

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

30/12/1957, 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.

26/12/1957, Thursday (+4,615) Death of French film pioneer Charles Pathe.

25/12/1957, Wednesday (+4,614) The Queen made her first Christmas day broadcast on British TV.

24/12/1957, Tuesday (+4,613) Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, was born.

23/12/1957, Monday (+4,612)

20/12/1957, Friday (+4,609) At the height of his career, Elvis Presley received his call-up papers.

19/12/1957, Thursday (+4,608) Regular air services between London and Moscow began.

17/12/1957, Tuesday (+4,606) Dorothy L Sayers, British novelist and playwright, died.

10/12/1957, Tuesday (+4,599)

9/12/1957, Monday (+4,598) Donny Osmond, singer, was born.

7/12/1957, Saturday (+4,596) Geoff Lawson, cricketer, was born.

5/12/1957, Thursday (+4,594) All Dutch nationals were expelled from Indonesia.

4/12/1957, 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.

3/12/1957, Tuesday (+4,592) Sir Hugh Foot became the new British Governor of Cyprus.

2/12/1957, Monday (+4,591)

1/12/1957, Sunday (+4,590) Women in Colombia voted for the first time,

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

30/11/1957, 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.

27/11/1957, Wednesday (+4,586) Adrian Stoop, rugby player, died (born 27/3/1883).

25/11/1957, Monday (+4,584) Diego Rivera, painter, died in Mexico City aged 70.

18/11/1957, Monday (+4,577) Following the promise of US aid (see 12/9/1957), Tunisia announced it had rejected Soviet offers of assistance.

15/11/1957, 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.

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

9/11/1957, Saturday (+4,568) Peter O�Connor, athlete (long jump), died (born 18/10/1874).

5/11/1957, 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.

4/11/1957, Monday (+4,563) Sir John Harding retired as British Governor of Cyprus.

3/11/1957, 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.

2/11/1957, Saturday (+4,561) Elvis Presley set a record with 8 simultaneous UK top 30 entries.

1/11/1957, Friday (+4,560) Brian Stokes Mitchell, actor, was born.

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31/10/1957, Thursday (+4,559) (Road Traffic) Toyota began exporting vehicles to the USA, beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser.

30/10/1957, 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.

29/10/1957, Tuesday (+4,557) Fulgencio Batista suspended the Cuban Constitution.

28/10/1957, Monday (+4,556) (Sport) Glen Hoddle, athlete, was born.

27/10/1957, Sunday (+4,555) (Turkey) Celal Bayar was re-elected President of Turkey.

26/10/1957, Saturday (+4,554) (Biology) Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori, Czech-US biochemist, died in St Louis, Missouri.

25/10/1957, Friday (+4,553) Lord Edward Dunsany, writer, died in Dublin, Ireland (born 24/7/1878 in London, England)

24/10/1957, Thursday (+4,552) Christian Dior, French fashion designer and creator of �New Look�, died.

23/10/1957, Wednesday (+4,551) (Morocco) Morocco began invading Ifni.

22/10/1957, 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.

21/10/1957, Monday (+4,549) Elvis Presley�s 3^rd musical drama film, Jailhouse Rock, opened in the USA.

20/10/1957, Sunday (+4,548) (Sport) Chris Cowdrey, English cricketer, was born.

19/10/1957, Saturday (+4,547) West Germany severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia after Yugoslavia recognised East Germany.

18/10/1957, Friday (+4,546) Queen Elizabeth II met US President Eisenhower; the first visit by a British monarch to the White House.

17/10/1957, 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.

16/10/1957, 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.

15/10/1957, Tuesday (+4,543) The naval base at Tricomalee was handed over to Sri Lanka by Britain.

13/10/1957, Sunday (+4,541)

11/10/1957, Friday (+4,539) The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, planned by Sir Bernard Lovell, went into operation.

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

9/10/1957, Wednesday (+4,537)

8/10/1957, Tuesday (+4,536) Antonio Cabrini, Italian footballer, was born.

7/10/1957, Monday (+4,535) Jayne Torvill, figure skating champion, was born.

5/10/1957, Saturday (+4,533)

4/10/1957, 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.

3/10/1957, Thursday (+4,531) Berlin voted in its youngest ever mayor, 44-year-old Willy Brandt.

2/10/1957, Wednesday (+4,530) Poland, along with Hungary and East Germany, outlined its Rapacki Plan for a denuclearised central Europe to the UN General Assembly.

1/10/1957, 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.

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30/9/1957, Monday (+4,528) Fran Drescher, actress, was born.

29/9/1957, Sunday (+4,527)

26/9/1957, Thursday (+4,524) Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden was re-elected Secretary-General of the United Nations for a further 5 years.

25/9/1957, 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.

24/9/1957, Tuesday (+4,522) BBC broadcasts to schools began.

23/9/1957, Monday (+4,521) Rosalind Chao, US actress, was born.

22/9/1957, 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.

21/9/1957, 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.

20/9/1957, Friday (+4,518) Jean Sibelius, composer, died.

19/9/1957, Thursday (+4,517) The US carried out the first underground nuclear test in the� Nevada desert, the first of 29 such tests.

18/9/1957, Wednesday (+4,516) The railway between Amsterdam and Brussels was electrified.

17/9/1957, Tuesday (+4,515) Military coup in Thailand, Prime Minister Pibul Songgram fled, and was replaced by Pote Sarasin, Secretary-General of SEATO.

16/9/1957, Monday (+4,514) Gerald Balding, polo champion, died.

15/9/1957, Sunday (+4,513) Konrad Adenauer�s Christian Democratic Union Party won a massive victory in German general elections.

14/9/1957, Saturday (+4,512) The last Liverpool tram ran.� It was the 6a, from the Pier Head to Bowring Park, full of civic dignitaries.

13/9/1957, Friday (+4,511) The Mousetrap became Britain�s longest running play, reaching its 1,998^th performance.

12/9/1957, Thursday (+4,510) Tunisia asked for US military assistance, with was then promised by the USA on 14/9/1957. See 18/11/1957.

11/9/1957, Wednesday (+4,509) Preben Elkjaer Larsen, Danish footballer, was born.

6/9/1957, Friday (+4,504)

5/9/1957, 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.

4/9/1957, 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 14/11/1957 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.

3/9/1957, Tuesday (+4,501)

1/9/1957, Sunday (+4,499) A train accident near Kendal, Jamaica, killed 175 and injured 400.

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31/8/1957, 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.

30/8/1957, Friday (+4,497) (USA) US senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24hrs 27m against civil rights.

29/8/1957, 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�.

28/8/1957, Wednesday (+4,695) (Aviation) M Randrup and W Shirley (UK) set a new aviation altitude record of 70,308 feet.

24/8/1957, Saturday (+4,491) Stephen Fry, comedian, was born.

22/8/1957, Thursday (+4,489) Steve Davis, snooker player, was born.

21/8/1957, Wednesday (+4,488) 1st Soviet rocket launch at Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

20/8/1957, Tuesday (+4,487) Jim and Finlay Carter, twins, rugby players, were born.

19/8/1957, Monday (+4,486)

18/8/1957, Sunday (+4,485) Denis Leary, comedian, was born

17/8/1957, Saturday (+4,484) Robin Cousins, figure skating champion, was born.

13/8/1957, Tuesday (+4,480)

12/8/1957, 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 15/8/1957 Jagan formed a new Government.

11/8/1957, 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.

9/8/1957, Friday (+4,476) The State of Emergency in Cyprus ended.

7/8/1957, Wednesday (+4,474) Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy fame, died of a stroke, aged 65. Laurel was aged 67.

6/8/1957, 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.

5/8/1957, Monday (+4,472) The Andy Capp cartoon first appeared in The Mirror newspaper.

3/8/1957, Saturday (+4,470)

2/8/1957, Friday (+4,469) (Mathematics) John von Neumann, Hungarian-US mathematician, died in Washington DC.

1/8/1957, Thursday (+4,468) The West Indies Federation was formed.

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30/7/1957, Tuesday (+4,466)

29/7/1957, Monday (+4,465) International Atomic Energy Agency established.

28/7/1957, Sunday (+4,464) (Earthquake) Magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Guerrero, Mexico, killing 65.

27/7/1957, Saturday (+4,463) Hans Peter Muller, West German footballer, was born.

26/7/1957, Friday (+4,462) Carlos Castillo Armas, dictatorial President of Guatemala, was assassinated by a palace guard with Leftist sympathies.

25/7/1957, Thursday (+4,461) Tunisia abolished the monarchy and became a republic.� Habib Bourguiba was elected as the first President.

24/7/1957, Wednesday (+4,460) Sacha Guitry, French playwright, died aged 72.

23/7/1957, Tuesday (+4,459) In Britain, violence broke out on picket lines as a national bus strike took effect.

22/7/1957, 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.

21/7/1957, Sunday (+4,457) Stefan Lofven, Swedish Prime Minister (2014-18), was born in Stockholm.

20/7/1957, Saturday (+4,456) Conservative PM Harold Macmillan said that �most of our people have never had it so good�.

19/7/1957, Friday (+4,455) The Imam of Oman rebelled against the Sultan of Oman, who requested British aid.

18/7/1957, Thursday (+4,454) The French National Assembly voted to give the Government special powers to deal with the FLN� insurgency in Algeria.

15/7/1957, Monday (+4,451) General Franco announced that the Spanish monarchy would be restored on his death or retirement.

12/7/1957, 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.

11/7/1957, Thursday (+4,447) The Aga Khan died in Versoix, Switzerland. He was born in Karachi on 2/11/1877, 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.

9/7/1957, Tuesday (+4,445)

7/7/1957, 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.

6/7/1957, 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

3/7/1957, Wednesday (+4,439)� Laura Branigan, singer, was born.

1/7/1957, 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).

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30/6/1957, Sunday (+4,436)The �lion� was stamped on British eggs from this day.� The practice ended on 31/12/1968.

29/6/1957, Saturday (+4,435)

28/6/1957, Friday (+4,454) German author Alfred Doblin died.

27/6/1957, Thursday (+4,433) The Medical Research Council announced that smoking caused cancer.

26/6/1957, 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.

23/6/1957, Sunday (+4,429) Robert Norster, rugby player, was born.

19/6/1957, Wednesday (+4,425) Anna Lindh, Swedish politician, was born.

13/6/1957, 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 25/9/1957 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!�

12/6/1957, Wednesday (+4,418) In France, Maurice Bourges-Manoury, Radical, formed a Government.

11/6/1957, Tuesday (+4,417) Hugh Gallagher, footballer, was born (died 11/6/1957).

10/6/1957, 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.

9/6/1957, 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.

8/6/1957, Saturday (+4,414) Scott Adams, cartoonist, was born.

7/6/1957, 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.

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

5/6/1957, Wednesday (+4,411) New York narcotics investigator, Dr Herbert Berger, urged the American Medical Association to investigate use of stimulating drugs by athletes.

4/6/1957, Tuesday (+4,410) John Treacy, marathon runner, was born.

3/6/1957, Monday (+4,409)

1/6/1957, 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.

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31/5/1957, 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.

30/5/1957, Thursday (+4,405) (Railways) Brazilian Federal Railways, RFFSA, was established.

29/5/1957, Wednesday (+4,404) George Bacovia, Romanian poet, died aged 75.

28/5/1957, Tuesday (+4,403) (Cuba) Fidel Castro�s forces attacked the Cuban garrison at Uvero.

27/5/1957, Monday (+4,402) Duncan Goodhew, swimmer, was born.

23/5/1957, 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.

21/5/1957, Friday (+4,396) (France) In France, Guy Mollet, Socialist, resigned as Prime Minister after a Government defeat in the Assembly.

15/5/1957, Wednesday (+4,390) Britain�s first H � Bomb was exploded on Christmas Island in the southern Pacific Ocean.

14/5/1957, Tuesday (+4,389) Petrol rationing in the UK, caused by the Suez Crisis, ended.

13/5/1957, 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.

12/5/1957, Sunday (+4,387) Alfonso de Portago, racing car driver, died after a tyre blowout.

10/5/1957, Friday (+4,385) The USSR appealed to the US and Britain to cease nuclear tests.

7/5/1957, Tuesday (+4,382) Eliot Ness, the FBI agent who headed the investigation of Al Capone in Chicago, died.

6/5/1957, Monday (+4,381) The British and French revived plans for a Channel Tunnel link, despite fears over security and rabies.

4/5/1957, Saturday (+4,379)

3/5/1957, Friday (+4,378) South Africa dropped �God Save the Queen� as its national anthem.

2/5/1957, Thursday (+4,377) Senator Joe McCarthy, Republican, died of liver disease. He was most remembered for his �witch-hunts� against suspected Communists. See 2/12/1954.

1/5/1957, Wednesday (+4,376) Rick Darling, Australian cricketer, was born.

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

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

28/4/1957, 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.

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

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

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

24/4/1957, 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.

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

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

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

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

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

11/4/1957, Thursday (+4,456) Britain agreed to self-government for Singapore; this was planned for 1958.

9/4/1957, Tuesday (+4,454) Seve Ballesteros, champion golfer, was born (died 7/5/2011)

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

6/4/1957, Saturday (+4,361)

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

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

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

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

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31/3/1957, 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.

30/3/1957, Saturday (+4,344) Yelena Kondakova, Russian astronaut, was born

29/3/1957, 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.

28/3/1957, Thursday (+4,342) Britain freed Archbishop Makarios.

25/3/1957, 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.

22/3/1957, Friday (+4,336) San Francisco was hit by the worst earthquake since the 1906 disaster.

21/3/1957, Thursday (+4,335) Sabrina Le Beauf, US actress, was born.

20/3/1957, Wednesday (+4,334) Britain favoured UN mediation over Cyprus but the Greeks rejected it.

19/3/1957, Tuesday (+4,333) Elvis Presley paid the US$ 1,000 deposit on a mansion called Graceland, being sold by Mrs Ruth Brown-Moore.

18/3/1957, Monday (+4,332) Wolfgang Schilling, German footballer, was born.

17/3/1957, 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.

16/3/1957, Saturday (+4,330) Constantin Brancusi, sculptor, died in Paris.

15/3/1857, Friday (+4,329)

13/3/1957, Wednesday (+4,327) A student-led �Revolutionary Directorate� made an unsuccessful attempt to depose Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.� The movement was violently suppressed.

12/3/1957, Tuesday (+4,326) Josephine Hull, US actress, died aged 71.

11/3/1957, 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.

10/3/1957, Sunday (+4,324) Terence Holmes, rugby player, was born.

9/3/1957, Saturday (+4,323) Mona Sahlin, leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, was born in Sollefte�, Sweden.

8/3/1957, Friday (+4,322) The Suez Canal reopened for smaller ships.

7/3/1957, Thursday (+4,321) The United States Congress approved the Eisenhower Doctrine.

6/3/1957, 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 7/3/1957 Ghana joined the United Nations.

5/3/1957, Tuesday (+4,319) The Union Jack ceased to be one of the official flags of South Africa.

4/3/1957, Monday (+4,318) Jim Dwyer, American journalist was born in New York (died 2020)

3/3/1957, 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.

1/3/1957, Friday (+4,315)

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28/2/1957, Thursday (+4,314) Jan Ceulemans, Belgian footballer, was born.

27/2/1957, Wednesday (+4,313) Timothy Spall, actor, was born.

21/2/1957, 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 22/1/1957 Israeli troops left the Sinai Peninsula, and on 6/3/1957 handed the Gaza Strip over to the UN.

18/2/1957, Monday (+4,304) Vanna White, TV game show presenter, was born.

16/2/1957, Saturday (+4,302) Sir Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport responsible for Belisha Beacons, the driving test, and the Highway Code, died.

15/2/1957, Friday (+4,301) In the USSR, Andrei Gromyko replaced Dmitri Shepilov as Foreign Minister.

12/2/1957, Tuesday (+4,298)

10/2/1957, Sunday (+4,296) Laura Ingalls Wilder, author, died.

9/2/1957, Saturday (+4,295) Poland and Japan resumed diplomatic relations.

8/2/1957, 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.

7/2/1957, Thursday (+4,293)

6/2/1957, 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.

5/2/1957, Tuesday (+4,291) General election in Ireland, after Clann na Poblachta withdrew from the Fine Gael-led coalition on 28/1/1957. 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 20/3/1957, now aged 75.

3/2/1957, Sunday (+4,289)

1/2/1957, Friday (+4,287) The first turbo-prop airliner, the Bristol Britannia, entered scheduled service in Britain.

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31/1/1957, Thursday (+4,286) The Trans-Iranian oil pipeline, from Abadan to Tehran, was completed.

28/1/1957, Monday (+4,283) Nick Price, golfer, was born.

26/1/1957, Saturday (+4,281) Kashmir joined India, under �special status� agreements, providing for example that non-Kashmiri Indians could not buy property there. Pakistan protested.

25/1/1957, Friday (+4,280) The UN ordered Israel to quit Aqaba and Gaza.

24/1/1957, Thursday (+4,279) (Chemistry) Paul Walden, Russian-German chemist, died in Gammertingen, Germany.

22/1/1957, Tuesday (+4,277)

20/1/1957, 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.

19/1/1957, Saturday (+4,274) Micky Virtue, musician, was born.

18/1/1957, Friday (+4,273) (USA) The USSR and China stated their support for Middle Eastern Arab States �against Western aggression�; see Eisenhower Doctrine 5/1/1957.

17/1/1957, Thursday (+4,272) Keith Chegwin, English television presenter & actor, was born in Walton, Liverpool (died 2017)

16/1/1957, 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.

15/1/1957, Tuesday (+4,270) (Atomic) Columbia University physics department announced that parity is not conserved for weak interactions.

14/1/1957, Monday (+4,269) Humphrey Bogart, American film actor and 1951 Oscar winner, died of throat cancer.

13/1/1957, Sunday (+4,268) Elvis Presley recorded All Shook Up in a Hollywood studio.

12/1/1957, Saturday (+4,267) President Eisenhower urged the USSR to agree to a ban on warfare in space.

11/1/1957, Friday (+4,266) (Football) Bryan Robson, English footballer, was born.

10/1/1957, 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.

9/1/1957, 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 10/1/1957 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.

8/1/1957, Tuesday (+4,263) Amanda Burton, actress, was born

7/1/1957, 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.

6/1/1957, Sunday (+4,261) (Sport) Nancy Lopez, US golfer, was born.

5/1/1957, 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.

4/1/1957, 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 1/1/1957 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.

3/1/1957, Thursday (+4,258) Frank Dicopoulos, US actor, was born in Akron, Ohio

2/1/1957, Wednesday (+4,257) The Hamilton Watch Company introduced the first battery powered watch.

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

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31/12/1956, Monday (+4,255) 90% of Chinese farms had been re-organised into collectives, with land, implements and animals owned collectively, not privately.

30/12/1956, 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.

29/12/1956, Saturday (+4,253) Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian, was born in Perth, UK.

28/12/1956, Friday (+4,252) Nigel Kennedy, violinist, was born.

27/12/1956, Thursday (+4,251) Clearance work on the Suez Canal began.

26/12/1956, Wednesday (+4,250) Sarah Springman, athlete (triathlon), was born.

25/12/1956, Tuesday (+4,249)

23/12/1956, Sunday (+4,247) Italian racing car driver Michele Alboreto was born.

22/12/1956, 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.

18/12/1956, Tuesday (+4,242) Japan joined the United Nations.

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

11/12/1956, Tuesday (+4,235) In Britain, the start of TV broadcasting was moved forward from 7pm to 6pm.

10/12/1956, Monday (+4,234) Martial law was declared in Hungary.

8/12/1956, 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 26/10/1956, 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.

5/12/1956, Wednesday (+4,229) Rose Heilbron became Britain�s first female judge. She sat in Burnley, Lancashire.

2/12/1956, 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 8/1/1959. 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.

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26/11/1956, Monday (+4,220) Tommy Dorsey, band leader, died.

23/11/1956, Friday (+4,217) As the Suez Crisis deepened, petrol rationing began in the UK, and driving tests were suspended.

22/11/1956, 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.

20/11/1956, Monday (+4,213) Bo Derek, actress, was born.

17/11/1956, Saturday (+4,211) Kashmir voted to become part of India.

16/11/1956, Friday (+4,210) Terry Labonte, US stock car racing driver, was born.

15/11/1956, Thursday (+4,209) UN emergency forces arrived in Suez, and began to clear the Canal of wrecked ships on 27/12/1956. 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 23/11/1957 to rest.

13/11/1956, Tuesday (+4,207) The US Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on buses was illegal.

9/11/1956, Friday (+4,203) The UN told the USSR to leave Hungary.

8/11/1956, Thursday (+4,202) Richard Curtis, English actor, was born.

7/11/1956, Wednesday (+4,201) Britain and France reluctantly agreed to UN demands for a ceasefire in the Suez Crisis.

6/11/1956, 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 18/5/1960.

5/11/1956, Monday (+4,199) (Broadcasting) The weekly British TV programme What the Papers Say was first transmitted.

4/11/1956, Sunday (+4,198) 16 Soviet divisions moved into Hungary, with 2,000 tanks, to suppress the Hungarian Revolution.

3/11/1956, 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).

2/11/1956, Friday (+4,196) Gaza fell to British troops.

1/11/1956, Thursday (+4,195) Ernie (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment) was born as Premium Bonds first went on sale in Britain.

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

31/10/1956, 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.

30/10/1956, Tuesday (+4,193) Village stops on the Lincoln to Barnetby railway closed to passengers.

29/10/1956, 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 5/11/1956. This was part of the Suez Crisis in which President Nasser nationalised the canal. See 16/11/1869, 26/7/1956, and 23/6/1956. On 30/10/1956 Britain and France issued an ultimatum to Egypt and Israel to stop fighting and on 31/10/1956 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 25/10/1956 the� British, French, and Israeli PMs, Anthony Eden, Guy Mollet, and David Ben Gurion, had met in secret at Sevres. On 6/11/1956 Anglo-French forces, 600 British and 487 French paratroopers, seized the Canal itself, having landed at Port Said. The UN ordered a ceasefire on 8/11/1956. 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 23/11/1956, 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).

28/10/1956, Sunday (+4,191) (1) Imre Nagy ordered a cease fire by security forces.

(2) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, was born.

27/10/1956, Saturday (+4,190) (1) Prime Minister Imre Nagy formed a new Hungarian Government, see 5/11/1956.

(2) Death of US frozen foods pioneer, Clarence Birdseye.

26/10/1956, Friday (+4,189) The United Nations approved the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

25/10/1956, 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.

24/10/1956, Wednesday (+4,187) The Hungarian Government declared martial law and Soviet tanks appeared in Budapest.

23/10/1956, Tuesday (+4,186) Anti Communist uprising began in Hungary, see 5/11/1956. 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 26/10/1956.

21/10/1956, Sunday (+4,184) (Kenya) The Mau-Mau had lost support, and were finally defeated by the Kenyan army and police.

18/10/1956, Thursday (+4,181) Martina Navratilova, tennis champion, was born in Prague.

17/10/1956, 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 20/8/1956.

16/10/1956, 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.

10/10/1956, Wednesday (+4,173) Two Israeli regiments bombarded a Jordanian police barracks for three hours.

8/10/1956, Monday (+4,171) Stephanie Zimbalist, actress, was born.

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30/9/1956, Sunday (+4,163) Doenitz (born 1891), German Admiral during World War Two, and technically Head of State of Germany from Hitler�s suicide on 1/5/1945 until his internment on 23/5/1945, was released from Spandau Prison.� He had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 1946 by the Allied Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

29/9/1956, Saturday (+4,162) Sebastian Coe, British international athlete, was born in Chiswick, London.

28/9/1956, Friday (+4,161) Death of US air pioneer, William Boeing.

25/9/1956, Tuesday (+4,158) Transatlantic telephone cable between the UK and the USA became operational.

23/9/1956, Sunday (+4.156) Britain and France took the Suez issue to the UN Security Council.

22/9/1956, Saturday (+4,155) Frederick Soddy, English radiochemist, died aged 79.

20/9/1956, Thursday (+4,153) Gary Cole, actor, was born.

18/9/1956, Tuesday (+4,151)

17/9/1956, Monday (+4,150) Rita Rudner, comedienne, was born.

16/9/1956, 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.

14/9/1956, Friday (+4,147) Raymond Wilkins, footballer, was born.

11/9/1956, 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.

10/9/1956, Monday (+4,143) (Astronomy) Robert Julius Trumpler, Swiss-US astronomer, died in Oakland, California.

9/9/1956, 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.

7/9/1956, Friday (+4,140) Charles Fry, cricketer, died (born 25/4/1872).

3/9/1956, Monday (+4,136) After riots in several towns at cinemas involving Teddy Boys following the film Rock Around The Clock, the film was banned.

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30/8/1956, Thursday (+4,132) Britain announced plans for parking wardens.

29/8/1956, Wednesday (+4,131) Major build-up of British and French forces in the eastern Mediterranean, to intimidate Egypt.

28/8/1956, Tuesday (+4,130) John Eddie Long, US basketball player, was born.

24/8/1956, Friday (+4,126) Adam Gopnik, US writer, was born.

21/8/1956, Tuesday (+4,123) Kim Cattrall, actress, was born.

20/8/1956, Monday (+4,122) Calder Hall, the world�s first large-scale nuclear power station, began operating.

16/8/1956, Thursday (+4,118) Hungarian-born US actor Bela Lugosi died.

14/8/1956, Tuesday (+4,116) German writer Bertolt Brecht died.

11/8/1956, Saturday (+4,113) Jackson Pollock, painter, died in a car accident in Long Island, New York, USA, aged 44.

4/8/1956, Saturday (+4,106) Indonesia repudiated its debts to The Netherlands.

3/8/1956, 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.

1/8/1956, Wednesday (+4,103) The US, Britain, and France met to talk about the Suez problem. On 8/8/1956 Eden said Nasser could not be trusted.

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30/7/1956, Monday (+4,101) Eden told Nasser he cannot have the Suez Canal and imposed an arms embargo on Egypt.

26/7/1956, 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 28/7/1956 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 9/9/1956 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.

25/7/1956, Wednesday (+4,096) Italian ocean liner SS Andrea sank off Massachusetts after colliding in fog with Swedish liner MS Stockholm; 50 were killed.

23/7/1956, Monday (+4,094)

20/7/1956, Friday (+4,091) Charles Magri, boxer, was born in Tunis, Tunisia.

19/7/1956, Thursday (+4,090) Britain and the USA withdrew financial support for Egypt under its new leader, Nasser, who was seen as too pro-Soviet.

15/7/1956, Sunday (+4,086) South African racing car driver Wayne Taylor was born.

9/7/1956, Monday (+4,080) Tom Hanks, actor, was born.

7/7/1956, Saturday (+4,078) In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), after the electoral victory of the Freedom Party, Sinhalese replaced English as the official language.

5/7/1956, 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.

2/7/1956, Monday (+4,073) Jerry Hall, actress, was born.

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30/6/1956, Saturday (+4,071) Two planes collided over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 aboard both planes.

29/6/1956, 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),

28/6/1956, 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.

26/6/1956, Tuesday (+4,067) Chris Isaak, singer, was born.

23/6/1956, 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.

22/6/1956, Friday (+4,063) In Austria, following the general election of 13/5/1956, Julius Raab formed a coalition government of the People�s Party and the Socialists.

19/6/1956, Tuesday (+4,060) Gordon Pirie set a new record of 13 minutes 36.8 seconds for the 5,000 metres run.

15/6/1956, Friday (+4,056) (Algeria) Oil was first struck in Algeria.

14/6/1956, 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.

13/6/1956, Wednesday (+4,054) The last British troops left the Suez Canal Zone.

11/6/1956, Monday (+4,052) The railway from Shenfield to Chelmsford was electrified.

9/6/1956, Saturday (+4,050) Patricia Cornwell, author, was born.

7/6/1956, Thursday (+4,048)� The US Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, ruled that the State could not prevent married couples accessing contraception.

6/6/1956, Wednesday (+4,047) Bjorn Borg, Swedish tennis player, was born.

5/6/1956, 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 1/1/1957, and economic union after a longer period.

4/6/1956, Monday (+4,045) Egypt announced that it would not renew the Suez Canal Company�s concession when it expired in 1968.

3/6/1956, Sunday (+4,044) British Rail abolished third class travel, to conform with Continental practice.

2/6/1956, Saturday (+4,043) President Tito of Yugoslavia visited Moscow, USSR, as relations improved between the two countries.

1/6/1956, Friday (+4,042) In the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov was replaced as Foreign Minister by Dmitri Shepilov.

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

24/5/1956, 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.

18/5/1956, Friday (+4,028) Maurice Tate, cricketer, died (born 30/5/1895).

17/5/1956, Thursday (+4,027) �Sugar� Ray Leonard, boxer, was born.

16/5/1956, Wednesday (+4,026) MG produced its 100,000^th car, an MGA 1500.

14/5/1956, Monday (+4,024) A British diver disappeared whilst bugging the underside of Soviet President Kruschev�s warship in Portsmouth.

8/5/1956, 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.

7/5/1956, 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.

4/5/1956, Friday (+4,014)

1/5/1956, Tuesday (+4,011) Germans demonstrated in favour of reunification.

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30/4/1956, Monday (+4,010) Lars von Trier, film director, was born

28/4/1956, Saturday (+4,008)

27/4/1956, Friday (+4,007) Jeffrey Probyn, rugby player, was born.

26/4/1956, Thursday (+4,006) Avril Lennox, gymnast, was born.

22/4/1956, Sunday (+4,002)

19/4/1956, Thursday (+3,999) Prince Rainier of Monaco married American actress Grace Kelly.

18/4/1956, Wednesday (+3,998) The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, along with Nikolai Bulganin, visited the UK.

17/4/1956, Tuesday (+3,997) Premium Bonds were introduced by Chancellor Harold MacMillan; prizes went up to �1,000.

16/4/1956, Monday (+3,996)

15/4/1956, Sunday (+3,995) Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter, died aged 88.

14/4/1956, �Saturday (+3,994) The first videotape was demonstrated in Chicago.

10/4/1956, 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.

7/4/1956, Saturday (+3,987) Spain relinquished its protectorate over Morocco.

6/4/1956, Friday (+3,986) Paramount Pictures signed Elvis for a three-film, five-year contract worth $450,000.

3/4/1956, Tuesday (+3,983)

1/4/1956, Sunday (+3,981) Easter Sunday. The first US U-2 spy planes arrived at RAF Lakenheath.

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31/3/1956, 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.

30/3/1956, 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.

27/3/1956, Tuesday (+3,976)

24/3/1956, Saturday (+3,973) (Chemistry) Willem Hendrik Keeson, Dutch physicist who explored the properties of� liquid helium and even produced solid helium, died in Oegstgeest.

23/3/1956, 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 25/5/1962. The former 14^th century cathedral along with the city�s mediaeval centre had been destroyed in an 11-hour Luftwaffe blitz on 14/11/1940 when over 1,000 died.

22/3/1956, Thursday (+3,971) (Race Equality) Martin Luther King was convicted of organising a buy boycott in Alabama.

21/3/1956, Wednesday (+3,970) Ann Mackay, soprano singer, was born

20/3/1956, Tuesday (+3,969) Tunisia became independent, having been a French Protectorate since 1881.

19/3/1956, Monday (+3,968)

18/3/1956, Sunday (+3,967) At the 20^th Party Congress, Khrushchev denounced Stalin�s crimes.

17/3/1956, Saturday (+3,966) (Atomic) The daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie died of leukaemia, possibly brought on by working with radioactive materials.

14/3/1956, Wednesday (+3,963) Theresa Sanderson, athlete (javelin), was born.

10/3/1956, Saturday (+3,959) (Aviation) JP Twiss, UK, set a new aviation speed record of 1,132.14 mph.

9/3/1956, Friday (+3,958) Archbishop Makarios, implicated in terrorism, was deported by the British from Cyprus to the Seychelles. Riots broke out in Cyprus.

8/3/1956, Thursday (+3,957) West Germany amended its Constitution to allow for the use of conscription for the military.

7/3/1956, Wednesday (+3,956) Bryan Cranston, US actor, was born.�

6/3/1956, Tuesday (+3,955) British Rail said the steam services on the London to Manchester and Liverpool would be electrified.

5/3/1956, Monday (+3,954) (1) The US Supreme Court upheld a ban on racial segregation in schools and universities.

(2) The telephone weather forecast service began in the UK.

4/3/1956, Sunday (+3,953) Kermit Driscoll, US jazz bassist, was born.

3/3/1956, Saturday (+3,952) Harahap took control of the Indonesian government.

2/3/1956, Friday (+3,951) The Treaty of Fez was terminated. France officially recognised the independence of Morocco.

1/3/1956, 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.

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29/2/1956, Wednesday (+3,949) Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic.

28/2/1956, Tuesday (+3,948) James Nicholl, footballer, was born.

27/2/1956, Monday (+3,947) Women in Egypt received the vote.

26/2/1956, Sunday (+3,946) Keisuke Kuwata, singer, was born.

25/2/1956, Saturday (+3,945) Mary Stewart, athlete, was born.

22/2/1956, Wednesday (+3,942) Elvis Presley entered the Charts for the first time with Heartbreak Hotel.

17/2/1956, 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.

16/2/1956, Thursday (+3,936) The British Parliament voted to end the death penalty.

14/2/1956, Tuesday (+3,934)

13/2/1956, Monday (+3,033) Liam Brady, footballer, was born in Dublin, Ireland.

12/2/1956, Sunday (+3,932) The first yellow �No Parking� lines appeared in Britain, in Slough.

11/2/1956, Saturday (+3,931) A Maltese referendum favoured integration with Britain.

10/2/1956, Friday (+3,930) Elvis Presley walked into a recording studio and made his first record, Heartbreak Hotel.

9/2/1956, Thursday (+3,929) Philip Jackson Ford Jr, basketball player, was born.

8/2/1956, Wednesday (+3,928) Malaya was promised independence by Britain by August 1957.

7/2/1956, Tuesday (+3,927) A conference was held in London on establishing the British Caribbean Federation; this was set up on 1/8/1957.

3/2/1956, Friday (+3,923) Emile Borel, French mathematician, died.

1/2/1956, Wednesday (+3,921) Following French elections on 2/1/1956, Guy Mollett formed a Socialist government in France.

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31/1/1956, Tuesday (+3,920) A A Milne, English author of children�s books, including Winnie the Pooh, died in Hartfield, Sussex.

30/1/1956, Monday (+3,919)

29/1/1956, Sunday (+3,918) H L Mencken, US writer, died aged 75.

28/1/1956, Saturday (+3,917) Elvis Presley made his first appearance on TV, on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show.� He sang Shake Rattle and Roll.

26/1/1956, Thursday (+3,915) The UK banned the import and export of heroin.

23/1/1956, Monday (+3,912) Hungarian-born British film director Sir Alexander Korda died.

21/1/1956, Saturday (+3,910) Geena Davis, actress, was born.

19/1/1956, Thursday (+3,908) Sudan joined the Arab league.

17/1/1956, Tuesday (+3,906) Paul Young, singer, was born.

16/1/1956, Monday (+3,905) The Winter Olympics opened at Cortina d�Ampezzo, Italy.

15/1/1956, Sunday (+3,904)

13/1/1956, Friday (+3,902) Lyonel Feininger, painter died in New York, USA, aged 84.

12/1/1956, Thursday (+3,901) Nelson Tarleton, boxer, died (born 14/1/1906)

9/1/1956, Monday (+3,898) Imelda Staunton, actress, was born.

7/1/1956, Saturday (+3,896) David Caruso, actor, was born.

6/1/1956, Friday (+3,895) Clive Woodward, rugby player, was born.

4/1/1964, Wednesday (+3,893)

3/1/1956, Tuesday (+3,892) The USSR gave technical aid to China.

2/1/1956, Monday (+3,891) The British Astronomer-Royal said the idea of space travel was �bilge�.

1/1/1956, Sunday (+3,890) Sudan became independent, having been administered jointly by Britain and Egypt.

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31/12/1955, 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.

27/1/1956, Tuesday (+3,885) Mimi Rogers, actress, was born.

23/12/1955, Friday (+3,881) Leonard Braund, cricketer, died (born 18/10/1875).

17/12/1955, Saturday (+3,875)

16/12/1955, Friday (+3,874) The new terminal buildings at London Heathrow were completed.

15/12/1955, Thursday (+3,873) Bulgaria joined the United Nations.

14/12/1955, Wednesday (+3,872) Ireland and Hungary joined the United Nations.

13/12/1955, Tuesday (+3,871) Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) made her stage debut at the Union Theatre, Melbourne, Australia.

12/12/1955, Monday (+3,870) Christopher Cockerell patented his prototype of the hovercraft.

10/12/1955, Saturday (+3,868)

7/12/1955, 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.

6/12/1955, Tuesday (+3,864) Anthony Woodcock, footballer, was born.

5/12/1955, 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 1/12/1955.

3/12/1955, Saturday (+33,861)

1/12/1955, 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 4/12/1955 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.

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

30/11/1955, Wednesday (+3,858) Floodlights were used for the first time at Wembley Stadium, London, towards the end of an international match against Spain.

29/11/1955, Tuesday (+3,857) Howie Mandel, comedian, was born in Toronto, Ontario

28/11/1955, 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.

27/11/1955, Sunday (+3,855) Arthur Honegger, Swiss composer, died aged 63.

26/11/1955, Saturday (+3,856) Philip Thompson, footballer, was born.

25/11/1955, Friday (+3,853) Bruno Tonioli, Italian dancer, was born.

24/11/1955, Thursday (+3,852) Ian Botham, cricketer, was born.

23/11/1955, Wednesday (+3,851) Britain handed over the Cocos Islands to Australia.

22/11/1955, Tuesday (+3,850) A Tupolev Tu-16 dropped the first Soviet nuclear bomb, RDS-37, in Siberia.

21/11/1955, Monday (+3,849) The first meeting of the Permanent Council of the Baghdad Pact, later called CENTO, was held.

17/11/1955, Thursday (+3,845) Anglesey became the first authority in Britain to introduce fluoride into the water supply.

13/11/1955, 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.

11/11/1955, Friday (+3,839) (Rail Tunnels) The Mount Royal Ohara rail tunnel, Japan, 5.063 km long, opened on the Ohara-Katsuura line.

5/11/1955, Saturday (+3,834) The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopened with a performance of Beethoven�s Fidelio. It had been destroyed in an Allied bombing raid on 12/3/1945.

4/11/1955, Friday (+3,832) (Finland) Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland 2003-2010, was born in Jyv�skyl�

3/11/1955, Thursday (+3,831) (Rail Tunnels) The Rimutaka rail tunnel, New Zealand, 8.798 km long, opened.

2/11/1955, Wednesday (+3,830) (Jewish) Ben Gurion formed the new government in Israel.

1/11/1955, Tuesday (+3,829) Yemen signed a five year treaty of friendship with the USSR, in Cairo.

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31/10/1955, 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.

30/10/1955, Sunday (+3,827) A street sweeper in Scunthorpe was paid �7.10 a week, for a 44-hour week.

29/10/1955, Saturday (+3,826) Dmitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, originally completed in 1948, was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.

28/10/1955, Friday (+3,825) Bill Gates was born. He founded Microsoft in 1975 and was the world�s richest man, 1995-2007.

26/10/1955, Wednesday (+3,823) Last foreign troops left Austria.

23/10/1955, Sunday (+3,820) South Vietnam became a republic under Ngo Dinh Diem. Emperor Bao Dai was deposed.

20/10/1955, Thursday (+3,817) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by JRR Tolkein was published.

19/10/1955, Wednesday (+3,816) Lonnie Jewel Shelton, US basketball player, was born (died 8/7/2018).

18/10/1955, Tuesday (+3,815)

14/10/1955, Friday (+3,811) Baluchistan formally became part of West Pakistan.

13/10/1955, 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.

12/10/1955, 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.

11/10/1955, Tuesday (+3,808) Norm Nixon, US basketball player, was born.

10/10/1955, Monday (+3,807) Experimental colour TV broadcasts were made from by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, London.

9/10/1955, Sunday (+3,806) Steve Ovett, athlete (javelin), was born.

8/10/1955, Saturday (+3,805) Lonnie Pitchford, US blues musician, was born in Lexington, Mississipi (died 1998)

7/10/1955, Friday (+3,804) (Biology) Henry Clapp Sherman, US biochemist, died in Rensselaer, New York, USA.

6/10/1955, 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,

5/10/1955, Wednesday (+3,802) Karamanlis became Prime Minister of Greece, succeeding Alexander Papagos on his death.

4/10/1955, Tuesday (+3,801) John Rutherford, rugby player, was born.

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

30/9/1955, Friday (+3,797) TV actor James Dean was killed when his Porsche careered off the road near Los Angeles.

25/9/1955, Sunday (+3,792) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, West German footballer, was born

24/9/1955, Saturday (+3,791) US President Dwight D Eisenhower suffered a heart attack.

23/9/1955, Friday (+3,790) Pakistan joined the Baghdad pact.

22/9/1955, 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.

21/9/1955, 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 18/6/1955 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 16/9/1955 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 1/7/1974.

(2) The UK annexed Rockall, to prevent the USSR using it as a base to spy on British missile tests.

20/9/1955, Tuesday (+3,787) The Radio Times was first published.

19/9/1955, Monday (+3,786) Richard Burmer, US composer, was born in Owosso, Michigan (died 2006)

18/9/1955, 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.

17/9/1955, 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.

16/9/1955, 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.

13/9/1955, 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.

9/9/1955, 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.

6/9/1955, Tuesday (+3,773) Anti-Greek riots in Istanbul and Izmir.

3/9/1955, Saturday (+3,770) Steve Jones, musician with the Sex Pistols, was born.

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

20/8/1955, 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.

19/8/1955, Friday (+3,755) Hurricane Audrey hit Texas and Louisiana, killing 535.

18/8/1955, Thursday (+3,754) The Anyanya I Rebellion in Sudan, by southern Anyanyas against the northern Muslims, began.

17/8/1955, Wednesday (+3,753) Fernand Leger, painter, died in Gif sur Yvette, France, aged 74.

16/8/1955, Tuesday (+3,752) James Reilly: Irish surgeon, was born.

15/8/1955, Monday (+3,751) India attempted to take over Goa.

14/8/1955, 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.

13/8/1955, Saturday (+3,749) The IRA raided a training centre in Berkshire.

12/8/1955, Friday (+3,748) Thomas Mann, German novelist, died aged 80.

11/8/1955, Thursday (+3,747) Muslim right wing government took over in Indonesia.

8/8/1955, Monday (+3,744) The International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Power opened in Geneva.

5/8/1955, Friday (+3,741) European Monetary Agreement signed.

4/8/1955, Thursday (+3,740) The 1955 Mitropa Cup football competition was won by V�r�s Lobog�,

3/8/1955, 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.

2/8/1955, 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).

1/8/1955, Monday (+3,737) Warsaw hosted the Communist Youth Congress.

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

27/7/1955, Wednesday (+3,732) The Clean Air Bill was presented to Parliament, to prevent the reappearance of the 1952 Smog that killed 4,000, see 4/12/1952.

21/7/1955, Thursday (+3,726) Willem Dafoe, actor, was born.,

20/7/1955, Wednesday (+3,725) Desmond Douglas, table tennis champion, was born.

17/7/1955, 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.

13/7/1955, 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 21/6/1955. 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.

12/7/1955, 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.

9/7/1955, Saturday (+3,714) Steve Coppell, footballer, was born in Liverpool.

7/7/1955, 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.

5/7/1955, Tuesday (+3,710) The first meeting of the Assembly of the Western European Union, at Strasbourg, France.

4/7/1955, 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 31/3/1957, whilst retaining the rights to use the base.

1/7/1955, 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.

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

27/6/1955, Monday (+3,702) Isabelle Adjani., actress, was born.

23/6/1955, Thursday (+3,698) Jean Amadou Tigana, French footballer, was born.

21/6/1955, Tuesday (+3,696) Michel Platini, French footballer, was born.

16/6/1955, 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..

15/6/1955, Wednesday (+3,690) The USA and Britain signed an atomic energy agreement, providing for the exchange of information between them.

14/6/1955, Tuesday (+3,689) Rail workers called off the strike which began on 29//5/1955.

13/6/1955, Monday (+3,688) Alan Hansen, footballer, was born.

11/6/1955, Saturday (+3,686) Tony Allcock, bowls player, was born.

9/6/1955, Thursday (+3,684) Stephen Smith Eccles, champion jockey, was born.

8/6/1955, Wednesday (+3,683) Jose Antonio Camacho, Spanish footballer, was born.

7/6/1955, Tuesday (+3,682)

6/6/1955, Monday (+3,681) Sandra Bernhardt, actress, was born.

5/6/1955, Sunday (+3,680) The Warsaw Pact was founded.

1/6/1956, Wednesday (+3,676)

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

31/5/1955, Tuesday (+3,675) In Britain, troops went on stand-by as the effects of the rail and docks strikes worsened.

30/5/1955, Monday (+3,674) Jake Smith (Roberts), professional wrestler, was born in Texas.

29/5/1955, Sunday (+3,673) Rail strike began in Britain.

28/5/1955, Saturday (+3,672) 16 Teddy Boys were arrested after a disturbance at a dance hall in Bath.

27/5/1955, Friday (+3,671) (Aviation) The French Caravelle aeroplane made its maiden flight.

26/5/1955, 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.

25/5/1955, Wednesday (+3,669) A British expedition, led by Charles Evans, became the first to climb Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the Himalayas.

24/5/1955, Tuesday (+3,668) Docks strike began in Britain.

23/5/1955, Monday (+3,667)

22/5/1955, Sunday (+3,666) Petru Kuki, Romanian fencer, was born

21/5/1955, Saturday (+3,665) Paul Barber, English hockey player, was born.

18/5/1955, Wednesday (+3,662)

16/5/1955, Monday (+3,660) Olga Korbutt, gymnast, was born.

15/5/1955, 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 7/1/1946). All the four-power occupation forces were withdrawn by 25/10/1955. On 5/11/1955 Austria declared itself constitutionally to be permanently neutral.

14/5/1955, Saturday (+3,658) Eastern bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact. See 31/3/1954.

13/5/1955, Friday (+3,657) A riot took place at an Elvis Presley concert in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

12/5/1955, 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.

11/5/1955, Wednesday (+3,655) Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer, died aged 80.

10/5/1955, Tuesday (+3,654) Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer, died aged 73.

9/5/1955, Monday (+3,653) West Germany became a member of NATO.

8/5/1955, Sunday (+3,652) Hiroshima victims arrived in the USA for plastic surgery.

7/5/1955, 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.

6/5/1955, Friday (+3,650) Britain went to the International Court over the Falklands.

5/5/1955, Thursday (+3,649) West Germany became a sovereign state (see 26/5/1952); the Allied occupation by France, UK and USA officially ended.

4/5/1955, Wednesday (+3,648) Georges Enescu, Romanian composer and violinist, died in Paris, France (born 19/8/1881 in Liveni, Romania.

3/5/1955, Tuesday (+3,647) Colin Deans, rugby player, was born.

2/5/1955, Monday (+3,646) In the UK, passenger services were withdrawn between Oldham and Delph

1/5/1955, Sunday (+3,645) Donna Hartley, athletics champion, was born.

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

29/4/1955, Friday (+3,643)

27/4/1955, Wednesday (+3,641) The First Bandung Conference ended (started 18/4/1955). 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.

26/4/1955, Tuesday (+3,640) Sir Lyman Poore Duff, Canadian jurist (born 7/1/1865 in Meaford, Ontario) died in Ottawa, Ontario.

25/4/1955, Monday (+3,639) Christopher Mottram, tennis champion, was born.

24/4/1955, Sunday (+3,638) Alfred Polgar, Austrian writer and theatre critic, died aged 79

23/4/1955, Saturday (+3,637) Anthony Miles, British chess player, was born.

18/4/1955, Monday (+3,632) Albert Einstein, born 14/3/1879, 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.

15/4/1955, Friday (+3,629)

13/4/1955, Wednesday (+3,627) Safet Susic, Yugoslav footballer, was born

12/4/1955, Tuesday (+3,626) The Salk polio vaccine was pronounced safe.

11/4/1955, Monday (+3,623)

10/4/1955, Sunday (+3,624) Easter Sunday.

9/4/1955, 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 � 15/4/1955, 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.

8/4/1955, Friday (+3,622) Barbara Kingsolver, writer, was born.

5/4/1955, 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.

1/4/1955, 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 9/3/1956 Archbishop Makarios, spiritual leader of the Greek community, was deported by Britain to the Seychelles, but allowed to return to Athens in 1957.� See 16/8/1960.

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

31/3/1955, Thursday (+3,614) The Communist Party in China was purged.

30/3/1955, Wednesday (+3,613)

28/3/1955, Monday (+3,611) Israeli made raids on the Gaza Strip.

27/3/1955, Sunday (+3,610) Pakistan declared a State of Emergency.

20/3/1955, Sunday (+3,603)

19/3/1955, Saturday (+3,602) Bruce Willis, actor, was born.

16/3/1955, Wednesday (+3,599) Nicolas de Stael, painter, died in Antibes aged 41.

13/3/1955, Sunday (+3.596) Bruno Conti, Italian footballer, was born

12/3/1955, Saturday (+3,595) Jazz saxophonist Charles Parker died.

11/3/1955, Friday (+3,594) Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of Penicillin in 1928 and Nobel prize-winner in 1945, died.

10/3/1955, Thursday (+5,593)

8/3/1955, Tuesday (+3,591) In West Bromwich, Birmingham, UK, bus drivers re-imposed a colour bar, which had already led to strikes.

7/3/1955, Monday (+3,590) In Malta, Dom Mintoff, Labour Party, won elections on the platform of seeking greater integration with Britain.

5/3/1955, Saturday (+3,588)

4/3/1955, Friday (+3,587) The Burnham Commission recommended equal salaries for men and women teachers; another step towards equality of pay between the sexes.

3/3/1955, Thursday (+3,586) Katharine Drexel, US philanthropist, teacher and Roman Catholic saint, died aged 96.

2/3/1955, Wednesday (+3,585) Egypt and Syria signed a defensive pact.

1/3/1955, Tuesday (+3,584)

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26/2/1955, 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.

25/2/1955, Friday (+3,580) Britain�s largest aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal was completed.

24/2/1955, 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.

23/2/1955, Wednesday (-3,580) In France, Edgar Faure formed a Radical government.

20/2/1955, Sunday (+3,575)

19/2/1955, Saturday (+3,574) Jeff Daniels, actor, was born.

17/2/1955, Thursday (+3,572) The UK Government announced it would proceed with the manufacture of H-Bombs.

16/2/1955, Wednesday (+3,571) Nearly 100 died in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.

15/2/1955, 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.

13/2/1955, Sunday (+3,568) Israel obtained four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

12/2/1955, Saturday (+3,567)

10/2/1955, Thursday (+3,565) The House of Commons voted by a majority of 31 to retain the death penalty.

9/2/1955, 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.

8/2/1955, 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.

7/2/1955, 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 17/1/1955). The evacuation was completed 6 days later, whereupon the Chinese Communists took over the islands.

5/2/1955, 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.

4/2/1955, Friday (+3,559)

3/2/1955, Thursday (+3,558) Kirsty Wark, TV presenter, was born.

1/2/1955, Tuesday (+3,556) Virginia Leng, equestrian champion, was born.

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

31/1/1955, Monday (+3,555) RCA introduced the first musical synthesiser.

28/1/1955, Friday (+3,552)

26/1/1955, Wednesday (+3,550) Eddie van Halen, musician, was born.

25/1/1955, 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.

24/1/1955, 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.

21/1/1955, Friday (+3,545)

20/1/1955, Thursday (+3,544) Curtis Strange, golfer, was born.

19/1/1955, Wednesday (+3,543) Simon Rattle, conductor, was born.

18/1/1955, Tuesday (+3,542) The Kenyan government offered terms to the Mau-Mau.

17/1/1955, 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.

15/1/1955, Saturday (+3,539) Yves Tanguy, painter, died.

14/1/1955, Friday (+3,538)

12/1/1955, Wednesday (+3,536) Kirstie Alley, actress, was born.

11/1/1955, 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.

10/1/1955, Monday (+3,534) (Aviation) Pakistan International Airlines was founded.

9/1/1955, Sunday (+3,533) 400 Jamaicans arrived in London to seek work. Much post-war reconstruction needed to be done in Britain.

8/1/1955, Saturday (+3,532) (Biology) Sir Arthur Keith, British anthropologist, died.

7/1/1955, 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.

6/1/1955, Thursday (+3,530) Rowan Atkinson, actor and comedian, was born.

2/1/1955, Sunday (+3,626) President Jose Remon of Panama was assassinated.

1/1/1955, Saturday (+3,625)

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

31/12/1954, 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.

30/12/1954, Thursday (+3,523) Archduke Eugen, Austrian field marshal, died aged 91.

29/12/1954, 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.

28/12/1954, Tuesday (+3,521) Denzel Washington, actor, was born.

25/12/1954, Saturday (+3,518) Annie Lennox, singer, was born.

23/12/1954, 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.

(2) France sent 20,000 troops to Algeria.

21/12/1954, Tuesday (+3,514) Chris Evert, tennis player, was born.

18/12/1954, 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.

17/12/1954, Friday (+3,510) British Petroleum Company (BP) was formed.

14/12/1954, Tuesday (+3,507) Divorce was legalised in Argentina.

12/12/1954, 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.

11/12/1954, Saturday (+3,504) Jermaine Jackson, singer, was born.

9/12/1954, Thursday (+3,502)

8/12/1954, Wednesday (+3,501) Parking meters were introduced in Britain.

7/12/1954, Tuesday (+3,500) Bui Van Luong was replaced as the head of COMIGAL, Vietnam's government resettlement agency, by Pham Van Huyen.

5/12/1954, Sunday (+3,498) Keith Robertson, rugby player, was born.

2/12/1954, Thursday (+3,495) The US Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for abuse of proceedings, see 25/2/1954 and 2/5/1957.

1/12/1954, Wednesday (+3,494) The Est�dio da Luz football stadium opened in Lisbon, Portugal.

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

30/11/1954, 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.

29/11/1954, Monday (+3,492) General Elections in Czechoslovakia. All candidates were Communist-controlled.

28/11/1954, Sunday (+3,491) Enrico Fermi, atomic physicist, died in Chicago, USA.

27/11/1954, Saturday (+3,490) Istanbul�s ancient bazaar was devastated in a� fire that destroyed 2,000 shops and caused �178 million damage.

25/11/1954, Thursday (+3,498)

23/11/1954, Tuesday (+3,496) General Motors produced its 50 millionth vehicle, a gold plated 1955 Chevrolet bel-Air.

22/11/1954, Monday (+3,495) Roy Rene (Mo), comedian, died.

20/11/1954, Saturday (+3,483) Clyde Cessna, US aircraft manufacturer, died.

17/11/1954, Wednesday (+3,480) Nasser became official head of state in Egypt, see 17/4/1954.

16/11/1954, Tuesday (+3,479) (Biology) Albert Francis Blakeslee, US botanist, died in Northampton, Massachusetts.

15/11/1954, Monday (+3,478) Uli Steilke, West German footballer, was born.

12/11/1954, 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.

10/11/1954, Wednesday (+3,473) Juan Gomez Gonzalez, Spanish footballer was born.

8/11/1954, Monday (+3,470) Rickie Lee Jones, singer and songwriter, was born.

5/11/1954, Friday (+3,468) (Myanmar, Japan) Burma and Japan signed a peace treaty.

4/11/1954, 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.

3/11/1954, 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.

2/11/1954, Tuesday (+3,465) A dock workers' strike in the UK ended.

1/11/1954, Monday (+3,464) (1) A nationalist uprising began against the French in their colony of Algeria. On 23/12/1954 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.

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

28/10/1954, Thursday (+3,460)

27/10/1954, Wednesday (+3,459) Benjamin O Davis Jr. became the first Black American General in the US Air Force.

26/10/1954, Tuesday (+3,458) An assassination attempt on Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser failed.

25/10/1954, Monday (+3,457) In the US, meetings of the Cabinet were televised for the first time.

24/10/1954, Sunday (+3,456) Jozef Raz, Slovak musician and singer, was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.

23/10/1954, 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.

22/10/1954, Friday (+3,454) Louise Nettleton, archery champion, was born.

21/10/1954, Thursday (+3,453) Brian Tobin: Canadian politician, was born.

20/10/1954, Wednesday (+3,452) A docks strike reduced Britain�s trade by half.

19/10/1954, Tuesday (+3,451) Colonel Nasser of Egypt agreed with Britain a timetable for the withdrawal of Britain from the Canal Zone within two years.

18/10/1954, Monday (+3,450) In Britain, Winston Churchill reshuffled his Cabinet, with Harold Macmillan becoming Minister of Defence.

10/10/1954, Sunday (+3,442) Ho Chi Minh returned to Hanoi as the French pulled out.

8/10/1954, Friday (+3,440) William Dodd, archery champion, died (born 18/7/1867).

7/10/1954, Thursday (+3,439) Seebohn Rowntree, English social reformer, died aged 83.

5/10/1954, Tuesday (+3,437) Bob Geldof, rock musician and charity fundraiser, was born in Dublin.

3/10/1954, Sunday (+3,435) A Nine-Power conference in London agreed that in the interests of European unity, Germany could join NATO.

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

29/9/1954, Wednesday (+3,431) (Atomic) CERN, the Centre Europeen de Recherche Nucleaire, was founded.

25/9/1954, Saturday (+3,427) Papa Doc Duvalier won Presidential elections in Haiti.

24/9/1954, Friday (+3,426) Ian Taylor, hockey champion, was born.

19/9/1954, Sunday (+3,421) Juan Peron, President of Argentina since 1946, resigned and went into exile in Paraguay.

14/9/1954, Tuesday (+3,416) Kidbrooke School in London, London�s first new comprehensive school, was opened.

11/9/1954, Saturday (+3,413) The �Miss America� beauty contest, held in Atlanta City, New Jersey, was televised across the USA.

10/9/1954, Friday (+3,412) Painter Andre Derain died in Chambourcy, France, aged 74.

9/9/1954, Thursday (+3,411) Earthquake in Algeria killed 1,500 in the city of Orleansville.� Later there were anti-French riots.

8/9/1954, Wednesday (+3,410) South East Asia Collective Defence Treaty was signed.� See 7/11/1973 and 30/6/1974.

7/9/1954, Tuesday (+4,409) Corbin Bernsen, actor, was born.

6/9/1954, Monday (+3,408) Rolls Royce announced that it had developed a new vertical take-off plane; nicknamed the flying bedstead because of its shape.

1/9/1954, Wednesday (+3,403)

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

28/8/1954, Saturday (+3,399) Charlie Collier, motorcycle racer, was born.

27/8/1954, Friday (+3,398) John Lloyd, tennis champion, was born.

26/8/1954, Thursday (+3,397) Howard Clark, English golfer, was born.

25/8/1954, Wednesday (+3,396) Elvis Costello, English musician, was born.

24/8/1954, Tuesday (+3,395) President Vargas of Brazil resigned under pressure, and committed suicide. He was succeeded by Vice-President Filho.

23/8/1954, Monday (+3,394) Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance.

22/8/1954, Sunday (+3,393) Jimmy Murphy, hurling champion, was born.

19/8/1954, Thursday (+3,390) Alcide de Gasperi, Italian statesman, died aged 73.

16/8/1954, Monday (+3,387) (Sports) The weekly magazine Sports Illustrated was launched. It did not return a profit until 1964.

11/8/1954, Wednesday (+3,382) Joe Jackson, singer, was born.

10/8/1954, Tuesday (+3,381) The Saint Lawrence Seaway project was officially launched.

9/8/1954, Monday (+3,380) Chinese Nationalists sank a communist gunboat off Taiwan.

8/8/1954, Sunday (+3,379)

7/8/1954, Saturday (+3,378) Anti-French riots in Morocco.

6/8/1954, Friday (+3,377) LUFTAG legally changed its name to Lufthansa.

5/8/1954, 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 29/10/1954.

4/8/1954, Wednesday (+3,375) The Independent Television Authority was set up.

2/8/1954, Monday (+3,373)

1/8/1954, Sunday (+3,372) The UK Atomic Energy Authority was founded.

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

31/7/1954, 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.

29/7/1954, Thursday (+3,369) The Fellowship of the Ring, first part of JRR Tolkien�s Lord of the Rings, was published in Britain.

27/7/1954, 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.

25/7/1954, Sunday (+3,365) George Fairbairn, rugby player, was born.

21/7/1954, 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 21/4/1954.

20/7/1954, 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.

19/7/1954, Monday (+3,359) The rabbit disease myxomatosis was confirmed in Ireland.

18/7/1954, Sunday (+3,358) Car engineer Sir Ernest W Petter died this day aged 81.

17/7/1954, Saturday (+3,357) In West Germany, Theodor Heuss was elected President.

15/7/1954, Thursday (+3,355) The Boeing 707 (or 367-80) made its maiden flight from Seattle. It could seat 219.

13/7/1954, Tuesday (+3,353) Frida Kahlo, painter, died.

12/7/1954, 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.

10/7/1954, 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.

5/7/1954, Monday (+3,345) The BBC began daily news broadcasts.

3/7/1954, 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.

1/7/1954, 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).

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

30/6/1954, 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.

29/6/1954, Tuesday (+3,339) Marcello Viotti, conductor, was born (died 15/5/2005).

28/6/1954, Monday (+3,338) Alice Krige, actress, was born.

27/6/1954, Sunday (+3,337) The first Soviet nuclear power station was opened, at Obninsk, 55 miles from Moscow.

25/6/1954, Friday (+3,335) British doctors urged tougher drink-driving tests than� having to say tongue twisters or walk in a straight line.

20/6/1954, Sunday (+3,330) Allan Lamb, cricketer, was born.

19/6/1954, Saturday (+3,329) Kathleen Turner, actress, was born.

18/6/1954, 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.

15/6/1954, 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.

11/6/1954, Friday (+3,321) (Innovation) The game Scrabble was patented in the USA.

10/6/1954, Thursday (+3,320) (USA) Charles Adams, US statesman (born 2/8/1866) died.

9/6/1954, 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.

8/6/1954, Tuesday (+3,318)

7/6/1954, Monday (+3,317) Alan Turing, mathematician who broke the Nazi codes during World War Two, committed suicide. After his conviction for homosexuality on 31/3/1952 he had opted for chemical �treatment� rather than prison; this consisted of oestrogen injections, which made him put on weight and grow breasts.

6/6/1954, Sunday (+3,316) The Eurovision television link-up was inaugurated.

5/6/1954, Saturday (+3,315) Nicko McBrain, musician (Iron Maiden), was born.

4/6/1954, Friday (+3,314)

3/6/1954, 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 2/2/1852.

2/6/1954, 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.

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

31/5/1954, Monday (+3,310) The first Bilderberg Group meeting concluded (opened 29/5/1954). 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.

29/5/1954, Saturday (+3,308) Thailand complained to the United nations Security Council that the activities of the Communists in south east Asia threatened its security.

24/5/1954, 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.

23/5/1954, Sunday (+3,302) Gerry Armstrong, British footballer, was born.

21/5/1954, Friday (+3,300)

19/5/1954, Wednesday (+3,298) Charles Ives, US composer died (born 1874)

18/5/1954, Tuesday (+3,297) The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.��

17/5/1954, 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.

10/5/1954, Monday (+3,289) George Hirst, cricketer, died (born 7/9/1871).

7/5/1954, 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.

6/5/1954, 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.

5/5/1954, Wednesday (+3,284) In Paraguay, General Alfredo Stroessner led a successful revolt, backed by the Army and Liberals, deposing President Frederico Chavez.

4/5/1954, Tuesday (+3,283) Doug Jones, US politician, was born.

3/5/1954, Monday (+3,282)

2/5/1954, 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.

1/5/1954, Saturday (+3,280) Ray Parker Jr., singer and songwriter, was born.

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

30/4/1954, Friday (+3,279) Jane Campion, film director, was born.

29/4/1954, Thursday (+3,278) Queen Elizabeth II opened the Owen Falls hydroelectric dam at Owen Falls, Uganda.

27/4/1954, Tuesday (+3,276)

24/4/1954, Saturday (+3,273) 40,000 Mau-Mau suspects were arrested in Kenya.

23/4/1954, 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.

22/4/1954, 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.

21/4/1954, 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 7/5/1954.

20/4/1954, Tuesday (+3,269) Michael Manning, 25, murderer, became the last person to be executed in the Irish Republic.

19/4/1954, Monday (+3,268) Trevor Francis, footballer, was born in Plymouth.

18/4/1954, Sunday (+3,267) Easter Sunday. Rick Moranis, comedian, was born.

17/4/1954, Saturday (+3,266) Colonel Nasser took power in Egypt from President Neguib and became Prime Minister.

16/4/1954, Friday (+3,265) Ellen Barkin, US actress, was born in New York City.

15/4/1954, Thursday (+3,264) The first stock car race in Britain was held in front of an audience of 26,000 at new Cross, London.

14/4/1954, 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.

13/4/1954, Tuesday (+3,262) Vladimir Petrov of the Soviet Embassy in Australia was granted asylum when he defected, in Canberra.

12/4/1954, 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.

11/4/1954, 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.

10/4/1954, Saturday (+3,259) Auguste Lumiere, French cinema pioneer, died.

9/4/1954, Friday (+3,258) Dennis Quaid, actor, was born.

8/4/1954, Thursday (-3,257) Fritzi Scheff, US actress and singer, died aged 74.

7/4/1954, 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 27/9/1954 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.

6/4/1954, 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.

4/4/1954, Sunday (+3,253)

3/4/1954, Saturday (+3,252) Oxford won the 100^th boat race.

2/4/1954, Friday (+3,251) Ron Palillo, actor, was born (d. 2012)

1/4/1954, Thursday (+3,250) The US Air Force Academy was created.

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

31/3/1954, Wednesday (+3,249) The USSR offered to join NATO. See 14/5/1955.

30/3/1954, Tuesday (+3,248) (Science) Fritz Wolfgang London, German physicist, died in Durham, North Carolina.

28/3/1954, Sunday (+3,246)

25/3/1954, Thursday (+3,243) (TV Broadcasting) UK Parliament approved the idea of independent TV broadcasting. The Television Act 1954 was passed.

24/3/1954, Wednesday (+3,242) Peter Collins, motorcycle speedway champion, was born.

20/3/1954. Saturday (+3,238) (Russia) In the USSR, Khrushchev became First Secretary of the Communist Party.

17/3/1954, Wednesday (+3,235) Lesley Anne Down, actress, was born.

15/3/1954, Monday (+3,233) Porsche built its 5,000^th car.

13/3/1954, Saturday (+3,231) The Vietminh assault on Dien Ben Phu began; see 7/5/1954.

12/3/1954, Friday (+3,230) In Kenya, the British arrested 700 Mau-Mau activists.

10/3/1954, Wednesday (+3,228)

9/3/1954, Tuesday (+3,227) Gains for the Centre and Right in Finnish elections.

8/3/1954, Monday (+3,226) The US and Japan signed a mutual defence pact.

7/3/1954, Sunday (+3,225) (Chemistry) Otto Paul Hermann, German chemist, died in Kiel.

5/3/1954, Friday (+3,223) Ollie Campbell, rugby player, was born.

2/3/1954, 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.

1/3/1954, 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.

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

28/2/1954, Sunday (+3,218)

25/2/1954, Thursday (+3,215) President Eisenhower censured McCarthy (see 9/2/1950) for his bullying tactics. See 2/12/1954.

24/2/1954, Wednesday (+3,214) The American evangelist Billy Graham arrived in London on a three-month �crusade�.

23/2/1954, Tuesday (+3,213) (Medical) In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, the first mass inoculation of children against polio began, using the Salk vaccine.

22/2/1954, Monday (+3,212) Ian Stark, equestrian champion, was born.

20/2/1954, Saturday (+3,210)

19/2/1954, Friday (+3,209) (Russia) Russia transferred the Crimea to The Ukraine, to mark the 300^th anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian Union.

18/2/1954, Thursday (+3,208) �John Travolta, US film actor, was born in Englewood, New York State.

17/2/1954, Wednesday (+3,207) Rene Russo, actress, was born.

16/2/1954, Tuesday (+3,206) Ian Banks, author, was born.

15/2/1954, Monday (+3,205) Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was born.

5/2/1954, Friday (+3,195) Carl Wickman, founder of Greyhound Lines bus service, died aged 66.

3/2/1954, Wednesday (+3,193) Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to Australia; large crowds turned out to greet her in Sydney.

2/2/1954, Tuesday (+3,192) Christie Brinkley, actress, was born.

1/2/1954, Monday (+3,191) Bill Mumy, actor, was born.

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

31/1/1954, Sunday (+3,190) Vivian Woodward, footballer, died.

29/1/1954, Friday (+3,188) Oprah Winfrey, actress and TV host, was born.

26/1/1954, Tuesday (+3,185) Kim Hughes, cricketer, was born

21/1/1954. Thursday (+3,180) The world�s first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, was launched from Groton in Connecticut.

20/1/1954, 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.

19/1/1954, Tuesday (+3,178) General Motors announced a major business expansion.

16/1/1954, Saturday (+3,175)

14/1/1954, Thursday (+3,173) The American Motors Corporation was formed by a merger between the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company.

13/1/1954, Wednesday (+3,172) Muslim Fundamentalists arrested in Egypt.

12/1/1954, Tuesday (+3,171) A UK official committee linked cigarettes with cancer.

11/1/1954, 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.

6/1/1954, Wednesday (+3,165) Anthony Minghella, director, was born.

5/1/1954, Tuesday (+3,164)

1/1/1954, Friday (+3,160) Flashing turn indicator lights became a legal requirement on British vehicles.

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

31/12/1953, Thursday (+3,159) A British expedition arrived in India to search for the abominable snowman.

29/12/1953, Tuesday (+3,157)

28/12/1953, Monday (+3,156) Production of the Chevrolet Corvette moved from Flint, Michigan, to St Louis, Missouri.

27/12/1953, Sunday (+3,155) Kevin Wright, cricketer, was born.

25/12/1953, Friday (+3,153)

23/12/1953, Wednesday (+3,151) The dismissed Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs, Beria, was shot as a traitor.

22/12/1953, 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.

21/12/1953, Monday (+3,149) In Iran, Dr Muhammad Mossadeq was sentenced to three years in prison.

19/12/1953, Saturday (+3,147) R A Millikan, US subatomic physicist, died aged 85.

13/12/1953, Sunday (+3,141) Ethel Muckelt, figure skating champion, died (born 30/5/1885)..

10/12/1953, Thursday (+3,138) Churchill received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

9/12/1953, Wednesday (+3,137) John Malkovich, actor, was born.

8/12/1953, 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.

6/12/1953, Sunday (+3,134)

4/12/1953, Friday (+3,132) Jean-Marie Pfaff, Belgian footballer, was born.

3/12/1953, Thursday (+3,131) Franz Klammer, skier, was born.

2/12/1953, Wednesday (+3,130)

1/12/1953, Tuesday (+3,129) Harold Macmillan boasted that 301,000 new homes have been built in Britain during the Conservatives second year in office.

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

30/11/1953, Monday (+3,128) Francis Picabia, painter, died in Paris aged 74.

29/11/1953, Sunday (+3,127)

28/11/1953, Saturday (+3,126) Eugene O�Neill, playwright, died.

27/11/1953, Friday (+3,125) Peter Latham, tennis champion, died (born 18/5/1865).

26/11/1953, 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.

25/11/1953, Wednesday (+3,123) James Hayden, US actor, was born.

24/11/1953, 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.

21/11/1953. Saturday (+3,119) The discovery of the Piltdown Man skull on 18/12/1912 in Sussex by Charles Dawson was revealed to be a hoax, see 22/9/1990.

13/11/1953, Friday (+3,111) In Britain, plans for a new commercial TV channel to rival the BBC were announced.

12/11/1953, Thursday (+3,110) (Mental Health) The Samaritans Helpline was set up by Reverend Chad Varah, at St Stephens Church, Walbrook, London

11/11/1953. Wednesday (+3,109) (1) The polio virus was identified.

(2) The BBC programme Panorama was first transmitted, headed by Patrick Murphy.

9/11/1953. Monday (+3,107) (1) Cambodia became independent.

(2) The Welsh poet Dylan Marlais Thomas, born in Swansea on 27/10/1914, 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.

7/11/1953, Saturday (+3,105) Lucinda Green, equestrian champion, was born.

5/11/1953, Thursday (+3,103) Dennis Andries, boxer, was born in Georgetown, Guyana.

2/11/1953, Monday (+3,100) Pakistan announced it was to adopt Sharia law.

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

30/10/1953, Friday (+3,097) Demonstrations in Austria against continued Allied occupation.

29/10/1953, Thursday (+3,096) (Aviation) FK Everest, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 755.15 mph.

28/10/1953, Wednesday (+3,095) Mark James, golf champion, was born.

27/10/1953, Tuesday (+3,094) British gunboats foiled a left-wing coup in British Guiana.

25/10/1953, Sunday (+3,092)

23/10/1953, Friday (+3,090) TV broadcasting began in The Philippines.

22/10/1953, Thursday (+3,089) Laos became independent from France; it was admitted to the United Nations in December 1955.

20/10/1953, Tuesday (+3,087) Fred E Ahlert, US composer, died in New York (born in New York 19/9/1892)

17/10/1953, 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.

16/10/1953, Friday (+3,083) Tom Reece, billiards champion, died (born 12/8/1873).

15/10/1953 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.

13/10/1953, Tuesday (+3,080)

10/10/1953. Saturday (+3,077) President Eisenhower of the USA signed a treaty with South Korea promising military aid if North Korea attacked.

9/10/1953, Friday (+3,076) Tony Shalhoub, actor, was born.

8/10/1953, Thursday (+3,075) Nigel Bruce, British actor (Sherlock Holmes), died from a heart attack aged 58.

7/10/1953, Wednesday (+3,074) Albert Jenkins, rugby player, died (born 11/3/1895).

6/10/1953, 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 9/10/1953 the Constitution was suspended and the country governed under a State of Emergency. Party leaders were arrested.

5/10/1953, Monday (+3,072) Roy Laidlaw, rugby player, was born.

4/10/1953, Sunday (+3,071) Tcheky Karyo, Turkish actor, was born.

3/10/1953, Saturday (+3,070) (Aviation) JB Verdin, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 752.94 mph.

2/10/1953. 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.

1/10/1953, Thursday (+3,068) John Martin, painter, died in Addison, Maine, USA.

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

30/9/1953, Wednesday (+3,067)

28/9/1953, Monday (+3,065) Ford unveiled their new Anglia and Prefect car models.

27/9/1953, Sunday (+3,064) Japan established a national defence force.

26/9/1953. Saturday (+3,063) Sugar rationing ended in Britain, after nearly 14 years.

25/9/1953, Friday (+3,063) (Aviation) MJ Lithgow, UK, set a new aviation speed record of 735.70 mph.

23/9/1953, 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.

20/9/1953, 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.

17/9/1953, Thursday (+3,054) The first successful separation of Siamese Twins took place, at the Ochnser Foundation Hospital in New Orleans.

16/9/1953, 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.

7/9/1953, Monday (+3,044) Benmont Tench, musician, was born.

2/9/1953, Wednesday (+3,039) Maurice Colclough, rugby player, was born.

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

30/8/1953, 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.

27/8/1953, 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.

24/8/1953, Monday (+3,030) Samuel Torrance, golfer, was born.

22/8/1953, 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 Mossadegh was jailed after a military coup.

21/8/1953, Friday (+3,027) The USSR banned lobotomies.

20/8/1953, Thursday (+3,026) The French forced Sultan Mohammad to abdicate over his support for independence.

18/8/1953, Tuesday (+3,024)

16/8/1953, Sunday (+3,022) The Shah of Iran fled the country as Mossadeq gained support.

12/8/1953. Wednesday (+3,018) The USSR tested its first hydrogen bomb, in the Pacific.� Moscow announced the test explosion on 20/8/1953.� Both superpowers now had them.

11/8/1953, Tuesday (+3,017) Hulk Hogan, professional wrestler, was born.

8/8;/1953, Saturday (+3,014) Nigel Mansell, motor racing champion, was born.

1/8/1953, 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.

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

31/7/1953, Friday (+3,006) Robert Taft, US Conservative politician, died aged 63.

29/7/1953, Wednesday (+3,004)

27/7/1953. 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.

26/7/1953, 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.

25/7/1953, Saturday (+3,000)

23/7/1953, Thursday (+2,998) Graham Gooch, cricketer, was born.

22/7/1953, Wednesday (+2,997) Construction of Calder Hall nuclear power station began.

21/7/1953, Tuesday (+2,996) The first meeting of the Press Council, in London.

20/7/1953, Monday (+2,995) The USSR and Israel restored diplomatic relations.

18/7/1953, Saturday (+2,993)

17/7/1953, Friday (+2,992) Maude Adams, US actress (born 11/11/1872) died.

16/7/1953, Thursday (+2,991) A new world air speed record, of 716 mph or 1,152 kph was set by an F16 Sabre fighter plane.

15/7/1953, Wednesday (+2,990) John Christie was hanged ( see 25/3/1953) 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 25/6/1953; three years earlier Christie had been key witness against Evans. After Christie�s conviction, Evans� family asked for a judicial review. See 18/10/1966.

10/7/1953, Friday (+2,985) The Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs, Lavrenti Beria, was dismissed.

7/7/1953, 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.

5/7/1953, Sunday (+2,980) In Hungary, Matyas Rakosi was replaced as Prime Minister by Imre Nagy. This led to a more relaxed regime.

4/7/1953. Saturday (+2,979) Last tram ran in Birmingham.

3/7/1953, Friday (+2,978)

2/7/1953, 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.

1/7/1953. 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.

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

30/6/1953, Tuesday (+2,975) The first Chevrolet Corvette sports cars left the factory at Flint, Michigan, for commercial sale.

29/6/1953, Monday (+2,974)

22/6/1953, Monday (+2,967) Cyndi Lauper, singer, was born.

21/6/1953, Sunday (+2,966) Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was born in Karachi.

20/6/1953, Saturday (+2,965) The Jewish funeral service of Ethel and Julius Rosenburg was held at Brooklyn (see 19/6/1953). The estimated 10,500 who attended were supportive of the Rosenburgs, who were seen as resisters of American imperialism.

19/6/1953. 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 30/3/1951. 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.

18/6/1953, Thursday (+2,963) Egypt declared itself a republic.

17/6/1953. 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 12/7/1952).� 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 22/6/1953 Churchill felt a divided Germany was safer at present, but feared to say so in public for fear of German public opinion.

16/6/1953, Tuesday (+2,961) Margaret Bondfield, British Women�s Rights activist, died aged 80.

15/6/1953, Monday (+2,960) Chinese leader Xi Jinping was born onto a well-connected political family; his father was Xi Zhongxun.

14/6/1953, Sunday (+2,959) Military coup by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in Colombia. A period of dictatorship began, lasting until 1957.

13/6/1953, Saturday (+2,958) Tim Allen, comedian and actor, was born.

12/6/1953, Friday (+2,957)

10/6/1953, Wednesday (+2,955) General Rojas Pinilla began a coup in Colombia

9/6/1953, Tuesday (+2,954) Frederick Darling, horse racer, died (born 15/5/1884)

8/6/1953, Monday (+2,953) The US Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve African-Americans.

5/6/1953, 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.

2/6/1953. Tuesday (+2,947) Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (see 6/2/1952). 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.

1/6/1953. Monday (+2,946) Gordon Richards became the first jockey to be knighted.

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

30/5/1953, Saturday (+2,944)

29/5/1953. 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, 2/6/1953.

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.

28/5/1953, 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.

27/5/1953, Wednesday (+2,941) Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer, was born.

26/5/1952, Tuesday (+2,940)

25/5/1953, Monday (+2,939) Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer, was born.

24/5/1953, Sunday (+2,938) The Foreign office advised British families to leave Egypt.

21/5/1953, Thursday (+2,935) Bum Kun Cha, Korean footballer, was born.

18/5/1953, Monday (+2,932) Jacqueline Cochrane, piloting a US F-86 Sabre plane, became the first woman to fly faster than sound.

15/5/1953, Friday (+2,929) Mike Oldfield, composer of Tubular Bells, was born.

10/5/1953, Sunday (+2,924) David Moorcroft, athlete, was born.

9/5/1953, 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.

6/5/1953. Wednesday (+2,920) Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister 1997 - 2007, was born.

4/5/1953, Monday (+2,918) (Aviation) W Gibb, UK, set a new aviation altitude record of 63,668 feet.

2/5/1953, 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.

1/5/1953, 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 2/6/1953.

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

30/4/1953, Thursday (+2,914) In British Guiana (Guyana), elections were won by the left-wing People�s Progressive Party under Cheddi Jagan.

28/4/1953, Tuesday (+2,912) Japan regained the right to self-government, which had been lost at the end of World War Two.

25/4/1953, Saturday (+2,909) James Watson and Francis Crick described the double-helix structure of DNA in Nature magazine.

24/4/1953. Friday (+2,908) Queen Elizabeth II knighted Winston Churchill.

22/4/1953, Wednesday (+2,906)

20/4/1953, Monday (+2,904) Exchange of PoWs from the Korean War at Panmunjon.

19/4/1953, Sunday (+2,903) Ruby Wax, comedienne, was born.

18/4/1953, Saturday (+2,902)

17/4/1953, 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.

16/4/1953. Thursday (+2,900) Queen Elizabeth II launched the Royal Yacht Britannia.

15/4/1953, Wednesday (+2,899) In South African elections the National Party under D F Malan secured a clear majority.

13/4/1953, Monday (+2,897)

11/4/1953, Saturday (+2,895) The US Department of Health and Human Services was established.

10/4/1953, Friday (+2,894) The first full colour feature film from a major studio, The House of Wax, premiered at New York�s Paramount Theater.

9/4/1953, 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.

8/4/1953. 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.

7/4/1953, Tuesday (+2,891) Swedish civil servant Dag Hammarskold succeeded Trygve Lie as secretary of the United Nations.

6/4/1953, Monday (+2,890) German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer visited New York; on 14/5/1953 he visited London.

5/4/1953, Sunday (+2,889) Easter Sunday. Verona Elder, sprinter, was born.

4/4/1953, Saturday (+2,888) Carol II, King of Romania (1930-40), died aged 59.

3/4/1953, 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.)

2/4/1953, Thursday (+2,886) Jim Allister, Northern Irish politician, was born.

1/4/1953, Wednesday (+2,885) Aftab Baloch, Pakistan cricketer, was born in Karachi, Pakistan

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

31/3/1953, Tuesday (+2,884) Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.

30/3/1953, 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 Unifield Field Theory.

28/3/1953, Saturday (+2,881) James Francis Thorpe, athlete, died.

26/3/1953. Thursday (+2,879) The Salk vaccine proved effective against polio.

25/3/1953, 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 15/7/1953.

24/3/1953, 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 31/3/1953.

23/3/1953, Monday (+2,876) Raoul Dufy, French painter (born 3/6/1877 in Le Havre, France) died in Forcalquiers, France.

20/3/1953, Friday (+2,873)

16/3/1953, Monday (+2,869) Isabelle Huppert, actress, was born.

15/3/1953, Sunday (+2,868) Tito visited Britain.

14/3/1953, Saturday (+2,867) Nikita Kruschev became First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR, replacing Georgi Malenkov.

10/3/1953, Tuesday (+2,863)

5/3/1953. 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.

4/3/1953, Wednesday (+2,857) The RAF made a special Coronation Dish for Queen Elizabeth II, using lampreys � the food which allegedly killed Henry I.

3/3/1953, Tuesday (+2,856) Artur Antunes Coimbra, Brazilian footballer, was born.

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

26/2/1953, Thursday (+2,851) Michael Bolton, singer, was born.

23/2/1953, Monday (+2,848) An amnesty was granted to WW II deserters.

18/2/1953, Wednesday (+2,843) The first 3-D film, Bwana Devil, opened in New York City.

17/2/1953, Tuesday (+2,842) Norman Pace, actor, was born.

16/2/1953, 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.

15/2/1953, Sunday (+2,840)

14/2/1953, Saturday (+2,839) Johannes Kranki, Austrian footballer, was born.

13/2/1953, Friday (+2,838) William C Mack, co-founder of Mack trucks, died.

12/2/1963, Thursday (+2,837)

10/2/1953, Tuesday (+2,835) (Egypt) In Egypt, General Neguib was granted dictatorial powers for three years.

9/2/1953, Monday (+2,834) (Poland) The Polish Government made itself responsible for all appointments and dismissals of posts within the Polish Catholic Church.

8/2/1953, Sunday (+2,833) Mary Steenburgen, actress, was born.

5/2/1953, 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.

2/2/1953. Monday (+2,827) The USSR broke off relations with Israel. Relations were restored on 20/7/1953.

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

31/1/1953. 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.

28/1/1953, Wednesday (+2,822) (1) Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, see 11/12/1952.

(2) James Scullin, 13^th Australian Prime Minister from 1929 to 1932, died.

20/1/1953. Tuesday (+2,814) Dwight D Eisenhower�s first address to the USA as President.

18/1/1953, Sunday (+2,812) The first Argentine Grand Prix was held.

17/1/1953, Saturday (+2,811) The Chevrolet Corvette sports car was unveiled at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. See 30/6/1958.

16/1/1953, Friday (+2,810) Egypt dissolved all political parties.

14/1/1953. Wednesday (+2,808) Marshall Tito was elected President of Yugoslavia. He had been leader of Yugoslavia since 1945.

10/1/1953. Saturday (+2,804) First meeting of the European Coal and Steel Community.

8/1/1953, Thursday (+2,802) Riots in Karachi, Pakistan, followed by unrest in other cities, due to adverse economic conditions.

7/1/1953, 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.

6/1/1953, 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.

3/1/1953, Saturday (+2,797)

1/1/1953, Thursday (+2,795) �Bomber� Harris, head of Bomber Command responsible for the bombing of Dresden, was knighted.

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31/12/1952, Wednesday (+2,794) China now had 1,200,000 troops under Peng TeHuai fighting alongside North Korea.

29/12/1952, Monday (+2,792) The miniature hearing aid was invented by Sonotone Corporation.

27/12/1952, Saturday (+2,790) David Knopfler, musician, was born.

20/12/1952, Saturday (+2,783) Jenny Agutter, actress, was born.

15/12/1952, Monday +2,778) Allan Simonsen, Danish footballer, was born.

14/12/1952, Sunday (+2,777) John Lurie, US jazz saxophonist (Lounge Lizards), was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

13/12/1952, Saturday (+2,776) John Francombe, champion jockey, was born.

12/12/1952, Friday (+2,775) Charles Kortright, cricketer, died.

11/12/1952, 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�?

10/12/1952, Wednesday (+2,773) Susan Dey, actress, was born.

9/12/1952, Tuesday (+2,772) Michael Dorn, US actor (Trek Next Generation), was born in Luling, Texas.

8/12/1952, Monday (+2,771) (1) Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for next year�s Coronation (1/6/1953) to be televised.

(2) Yitzhak Ben-Zvi became the new President of Israel, succeeding Chaim Weitzmann.

7/12/1952, Sunday (+2,770) (Astronomy) Forest Ray Moulton, US astronomer, died in Wilmette, Illinois.

6/12/1952, Saturday (+2,769) (Sport) Chuck Baker, US basketball player, was born.

5/12/1952, Friday (+2,768) A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) airliner flew non-stop over the North Pole from Los Angeles to Copenhagen.

4/12/1952. Thursday (+2,767) Smog enveloped London and killed over 4,000 people in less than a week.

3/12/1952, Wednesday (+2,766) Mel Smith, English actor, was born.

2/12/1952, Tuesday (+2,765) US President Eisenhower visited Korea.

1/12/1952, Monday (+2,764) George Jorgensen Jr of the USA became the first person to have gender reassignment surgery, becoming Christine Jorgensen.

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

30/11/1952, Sunday (+2,763) Mandy Patinkin, US actor, was born.

29/11/1952, Saturday (+2,762) William Hare, rugby player, was born.

28/11/1952, Friday (+2,761) The UK Government confirmed the order setting up the North York Moors National Park.

25/11/1952, Tuesday (+2,758) 2,000 Kikuyu were rounded up in Kenya as the Mau-Mau began an open revolt against British rule.

21/11/1952, Friday (+2,754) Eamonn Coghlan, athlete, was born in Dublin.

20/11/1952, Thursday (+2,753) (Poland) In Poland, after the first general election held under the new constitution (26/10/1952), Boleslaw Bierut, Communist, was elected Prime Minister by the Sejm.

19/11/1952, Wednesday (+2,752) (Aviation) JS Nash, USA, set a new aviation speed record of 698.50 mph.

18/11/1952, Tuesday (+2,751) In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta was charged with being the head of the Mau Mau.

16/11/1952, Sunday (+2,749) In Greece, Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos formed a government after the success of Greek Rally in the elections.

14/11/1952, Friday (+2,747) Charts for pop singles were published in Britain for the first time, in New Musical Express.

11/11/1952. Tuesday (+2,744) John Mulin and Wayne Johnson at the Bing Crosby Enterprises Laboratory in Beverly Hills, California demonstrated the first video recorder.

10/11/1952, Monday (+2,743) 77-year-old doctor and philosopher Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Prize for his humanitarian work in Africa.

9/11/1952, Sunday (+2,742) Chaim Weitzmann, first President of Israel, died aged 77.

7/11/1952, Friday (+2,740)

5/11/1952, Wednesday (+2,738) Oleg Blokhin, Russian footballer, was born.

4/11/1952. Tuesday (+2,737) Dwight Eisenhower elected President of the USA.

3/11/1952, Monday (+2,736) Rosanne Barr, actress and comedienne, was born.

2/11/1952, 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.

1/11/1952, 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.

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

31/10/1952, 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 9/9/2003.

28/10/1952, Tuesday (+2,730)

25/10/1952, Saturday (+2,727) The USA blocked the entry of China to the United Nations for the third year running. See 25/10/1971.

24/10/1952, 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.

23/10/1952. 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 18/8/1946 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.

22/10/1952, Wednesday (+2,724) Iran broke off diplomatic relations with Britain.

21/10/1952, Tuesday (+2,723) The President of the Kenya African Movement, Jomo Kenyatta, was arrested as Britain crushed the Mau Mau revolt.

20/10/1952. Monday (+2,722) A state of emergency was declared in Kenya because of Mau-Mau terrorists, killing White settlers.

13/10/1952, Monday (+2,715) Egypt signed an agreement with Sudan on use of the water from the Nile.

9/10/1952, Thursday (+2,711) Sharon Osbourne, music manager, was born.

8/10/1952. Wednesday (+2,710) 112 people were killed in a rail crash in north London. At 7.31 a.m. a commuter train about to leave Harrow and Wealdstone station was hit in the rear by a high speed train from Perth doing nearly 60 mph. A signalman changed all the signals to red but it was too late to stop� a third train travelling north from Euston to hit the wreckage, demolishing a footbridge. Carriages were strewn across six tracks; 112 people died and 200 were injured in the worst rail disaster since 1915 when five trains collided at Quintinshill in Scotland killing 227 people.

7/10/1952, Tuesday (+2,709) Vladimir Putin, who was elected Russian president in 1999, was born.

6/10/1952, Monday (+2,708) In the USSR, the 19^th Congress of the Communist Party adopted the directives of the Fifth Five Year Plan. Industrial production was to rise by 70% by 1955 over the 1950 figure, also a large increase in agricultural output.

5/10/1952, Sunday (+2,707) In the UK, tea came off-ration. However meat, bacon, sugar, butter, margarine, cooking fats, eggs, cheese, were still rationed.

4/10/1952. Saturday (+2,706) The first external pacemaker was developed by Dr Paul Zoll of the Harvard Medical School, and was fitted to David Schwartz. The first internal pacemaker was not developed until 1958.

3/10/1952. Friday (+2,705) The first British Atomic Bomb exploded, aboard a ship in the Monte Bello Islands, in the Pacific off north west Australia. The ship was almost totally vaporised, apart from a few hot fragments which fell on neighbouring islands, starting fires. Watching news reporters felt the blast 4 minutes 15 seconds after the flash, from a distance of 65 miles.

2/10/1952, Thursday (+2,704) China held an �Asia and Pacific Peace� Conference, attended by delegates from 37 countries.

1/10/1952, Wednesday (+2,703) The Liberal Party won Japanese elections.

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

30/9/1952, Tuesday (+2,702) Norman Hughes, hockey champion, was born.

29/9/1952, Monday (+2,701) Asgeir Asgeirsson (born 13/5/1894) was elected President of Iceland by 32,294 votes against 31,094 for Bishop Bjarni Jonsson and 4,155 for Gisli Svensson.

27/9/1952, Saturday (+2,699)

26/9/1952, Friday (+2,698) George Santayana, Spanish writer, died aged 88.

25/9/1952, Thursday (+2,697) Christopher Reeve, US actor, was born.

24/9/1952, Wednesday (+2,696) (1) Romania adopted a revised Constitution, the Workers Party became the only legitimate one.

(2) The new control tower at Luton airport, 15.9 metres high, was opened.

21/9/1952, Sunday (+2,693) Sir Montague Burton, British multiple tailor, knighted in 1931, died in Leeds.

19/9/1952, Friday (+2,691) The comedian Charlie Chaplin was labelled �subversive� by Right-wingers in the USA.

18/9/1952, Thursday (+2,690) Finland paid its final war reparations to the USSR.

15/9/1952. Monday (+2,687) Eritrea, having previously been under British rule since the defeat of the Italians there in 1940, was transferred as an autonomous region to the rule of Ethiopia.

10/9/1952, Wednesday (+2,682) West Germany offered Israel US$ 540 million in compensation for Nazi atrocities.

2/9/1952, Tuesday (+2,674) Alain Girese, French footballer, was born.

1/9/1952, Monday (+2,673) All rationing ended in Norway. The last foods to be rationed until this date were coffee, sugar, syrup and glucose

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

31/8/1952, Sunday (+2,672) During the past month, 16,000 people had escaped from east to West Berlin,

29/8/1952, Friday (+2,670)

27/8/1952, Wednesday (+2,668) Harvey Corbett, US architect, died in New York city.,

26/8/1952, Tuesday (+2,667) (1) A Canberra bomber returned to Aldergrove Airport, Northern Ireland, having completed the first transatlantic return trip in a single day, taking 7 hours 59 minutes.

(2) The Soviet union announced the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile test.

23/8/1952, Saturday (+2,664) Carlos Alonso Gonzalez, Spanish footballer, was born.

21/8/1952, Thursday (+2,662) Joe Strummer, musician, was born.

20/8/1952, Wednesday (+2,661) Kurt Schumacher, German politician, died aged 56.

19/8/1952, Tuesday (+2,660)

18/8/1952, Monday (+2,659) Patrick Swayze, actor, was born,

17/8/1952, Sunday (+2,658) (China, USSR) A large Chinese delegation, led by Zhou Enlai, visited the USSR for discussions.

16/8/1952. Saturday (+2,657) Severe thunderstorms in Somerset and north Devon caused rivers to flood and devastated the towns of Lynmouth and Lynton. 36 died.

14/8/1952, Thursday (+2,655) In Hungary, Matyas Rakosi, Secretary of the Hungarian Workers Party, was also appointed Prime Minister.

12/8/1952, Tuesday (+2,653) In Moscow, 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals were murdered on the orders of Stalin, the so-called �Night of the Murdered Poets�.

11/8/1952. Monday (+2,652) Hussein became King of Jordan. He was pro-Western, like the Saudi ruler, King Saud, and supported Arab Nationalism against a growing movement for Arab Socialism.� His father, King Talal, had been deposed by the Jordanian Parliament due to mental illness.

10/8/1952. Sunday (+2,651) Inauguration of the European Coal and Steel Community. See 28/4/1949 and 16/4/1958.

7/8/1952, Thursday (+2,648) Alexei Sayle, comedian, was born.

5/8/1952, Tuesday (+2,646) Japan and China resumed diplomatic relations.

3/8/1952, Sunday (+2,644) Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentinean footballer, was born.

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

31/7/1952, Thursday (+2,641) Alan Autry, actor, was born.

29/7/1952, Tuesday (+2,639) First non-stop flight by a jet airliner over the Pacific from Alaska to Japan.

28/7/1952, Monday (+2,638) (Thailand) King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand was born.

27/7/1952, Sunday (+2,637) Roxanne Hart, US actress, was born.

26/7/1952. Saturday (+2,636) (1) (Egypt) King Farouk abdicated as King of Egypt.� General Neguib was the first president. This ended the 148-year-old Egyptian monarchy which had begun in 1805 with Ottoman Viceroy Mohammed Ali. Farouk was the 10^th generation of Ali�s descendants. General Gamel Abdel Nasser had orchestrated the coup behind the scenes, organising the revolutionary secret Free Officers group that had ousted Farouk. In 1954 Nasser overthrew Neguib as ruler of Egypt. Nasser then held �elections� in which his was the only name on the ballot paper; Nasser got 99.95% of the vote.

(2) (Argentina) Eva Peron (Evita), Argentina�s first lady, died of cancer aged 33.

25/7/1952, Friday (+2,635) The European Coal and Steel Community came into force.

24/7/1952, Thursday (+2,634) Charles Copeland, US educationalist, died in Massachusetts.

23/7/1952, Wednesday (+2,633) (Egypt) General Neguib marched on Cairo, to overthrow King Farouk I. Farouk fled to France and then Monaco; Egypt became a dictatorial Republic under Neguib and Britain lost its influence in the country.

22/7/1952, Tuesday (+2,632) After riots in Tehran, Dr Muhammad Mossadeq was reappointed Prime Minister with emergency powers for 6 months.

21/7/1952, Monday (+2,631) The Chief Rabbi of France, Isaie Schwartz, died aged 76.

19/7/1952, Saturday (+2,629) The 15^th Olympic Games opened in Helsinki, Finland.

17/7/1952, Thursday (+2,627) Phoebe Snow, singer, was born.

15/7/1952, Tuesday (+2,625) Mario Alberto Kempes, Argentinean footballer, was born.

12/7/1952, Saturday (+2,622) The Soviets began to collectivise agriculture in East Germany.

11/7/1952, Friday (+2,621) Figures from the 1951 Census showed that one household in three lacked a bath, and one in twenty had no piped water.

8/7/1952, Tuesday (+2,618)

7/7/1952, Monday (+2,617) The American liner, United States, on her maiden voyage, made the fastest ever Atlantic crossing.� She covered the 2,949 nautical miles from Ambrose Light Vessel to Bishop Rock Light in 3 days, 10 hours 40 minutes.

6/7/1952. Sunday (+2,616) London�s last tram ran. The last tram ended its journey at New Cross depot after a five-mile journey from Woolwich. The Mayor of Deptford took over the controls for the last few yards into the depot. Souvenir hunters overran the tram and soon virtually stripped it.

5/7/1952, Saturday (+2,615) (1) The Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community became operational.

(2) All food rationing ended in the Republic of Ireland. Up to this date, bread, butter, flour, sugar and tea had been rationed..

3/7/1952, Thursday (+2,613) Ireland established the Bord Failte, to promote tourism.

1/7/1952. Tuesday (+2,611) (1) A UK teacher earned �806 a year, a nurse got �394. A jar of Poem cleansing cold cream cost 3s 6d (17.5p), a bar of Pears transparent soap cost 10.5d (4.5p), and a tube of Solidox toothpaste cost 1s 4d (7p).� A large loaf of white hread cost 3.1p.� A lb of back bacon cost 23p.� A pint of milk cost 2.7p.� A lb of butter cost 15p. A lb of potatoes cost 5.7p.� A lb of oranges cost 5.3p.� A quarter lb loose tea cost 5.6p.� A pint of beer cost 9.5p.� 20 king-size cigarettes cost 21p.� A sack of house coal cost 26p.

(2) In Norway, cheese came off ration.

(3) In China, the Chungking to Chengdu railway opened (construction began 1951)

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

27/6/1952. Friday (+2,607) The USA lifted its ban on immigration from Africa and Asia.

26/6/1952. Thursday (+2,606) Non-violent anti-apartheid demonstrations began in South Africa.

25/6/1952, Wednesday (+2,605) In the US the Immigration Bill was passed, despite Resident Truman�s veto and a Democrat majority of ten in the Senate. This Bill established immigration quotas by nationality, something Truman considered racist.

23/6/1952. Monday (+2,603) US planes bombed hydro-electric plants in North Korea. One of these was close to the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. The US was forced to apologise to its allies for taking the Korean war so close to the border without consulting them.

20/6/1952, Friday (+2,600) In Britain, pedestrian crossings were to be marked by flashing orange beacons.

18/6/1952, Wednesday (+2,598) Italy passed a law making the reconstitution of Fascism illegal. The neo-Fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano *MSI) was allowed to convene on 26/6/1852, where they adopted a policy of partial acceptance of NATO but with a strong trade preference for Spain over Britain.

17/6/1952, Tuesday (+2,597) Jack Parsons, rocket fuel pioneer, died.

14/6/1952, Saturday (+2,594) Construction began on the world�s first nuclear submarine.

7/6/1952, Saturday (+2,587) Liam Neeson, actor, was born.

6/6/1952, Friday (+2,586) William Peall, billiards champion, died (born 31/12/1854).

4/6/1952, Wednesday (+2,584)

2/6/1952, Monday (+2,582) (USA) In Youngstown vs Sawyer, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Truman had gone beyond his powers in ordering the State seizure of the steel industry during a strike.

1/6/1952. Sunday (+2,581) The Soviet Iron Curtain isolated West Berlin.

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

31/5/1952, Saturday (+2,580) The Volga � Don Canal was opened.

30/5/1952, Friday (+2,579) General Mark Clark took over command of UN forces in Korea.

28/5/1952, Wednesday (+2,577) Communist demonstrations in Paris, France.

26/5/1952, Monday (+2,575) A treaty was concluded for West Germany to be a sovereign state (see 5/5/1955), so long as Germany contributed to Western defence.� Fears of the Soviet Union overrode fears of German aggression.

25/5/1952, Sunday (+2,574) David Jenkins, athlete, was born.

23/5/1952, Friday (+2,572) US railways, having been operated by Federal troops for the previous 21 months, now returned to private ownership.

20/5/1952, Tuesday (+2,569) Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer, was born.

17/5/1952, Saturday (+2,566) The Treaty of Paris was signed by the 6 original EEC members setting up the European defence Community. However the French Parliament subsequently declined to ratify this move, voting against it by 319 to 264.

16/5/1952, Friday (+2,565) The British parliament voted in favour of equal pay for women.

13/5/1952, Tuesday (+2,562)

9/5/1952, Friday (+2,558) Zdenek Nehoda, Czech footballer, was born.

8/5/1952, Thursday (+2,557) Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, was born.

6/5/1952, Tuesday (+2,555) Maria Montessori, Italian educationalist, died.

3/5/1952, Saturday (+2,552) Allan Wells, athlete, was born.

2/5/1952, Friday (+2,551) The first scheduled jet flight , a Comet airliner, took off from London for Johannesburg. The 18 � hour BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) flight stopped at Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingstone. The flight by propeller aircraft had previously taken 28 hours.

1/5/1952, Thursday (+2,550)

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29/4/1952, Tuesday (+2,548) (Education-Universities) Southampton University received its Charter.

28/4/1952, Monday (+2,547) Japan regained sovereignty.

26/4/1952, Saturday (+2,545)

25/4/1952, Friday (+2,544) Major French attack on the Vietminh base� of Tay Ninh.

24/4/1952, Thursday (+2,543) Jean Paul Gaultier, fashion designer, was born.

23/4/1952, Wednesday (+2,542) The oil pipeline between Kirkuk and Banias was completed.

22/4/1952, Tuesday (+2,541) In South Africa, Prime Minister D F Malan, having seen the law courts declare Apartheid unconstitutional, got a Bill passed making Parliament a �High Court�, so it was able to overrule any legal decisions against Apartheid.

21/4/1952, Monday (+2,540) Stafford Cripps, British Labour politician, died aged 62.

17/4/1952, Thursday (+2,536) Zelijko Raznatovik, Serb Nationalist, was born.

13/4/1952, Sunday (+2,532) Easter Sunday. John O�Neill, equestrian champion, was born.

9/4/1952, Wednesday (+2,528) (Bolivia) Protests in Bolivia, led by Trotskyist unionised miners, against the military junta who had seized power in 1951. The miners were well organised and armed, and mounted blockade in La Paz to prevent the military from entering to regain power. Three days of fighting followed, after which the demoralised army gave up and Estenssoro became President. He fulfilled his political promises, granting universal suffrage, nationalising the tin industry, raising wages, and redistributing land to Bolivian peasants and the indigenous peoples.

8/4/1952, Tuesday (+2,527) (USA) In the USA, President Truman ordered the State seizure of the steel industry in response to a strike. The output of the steel mills was considered vital for the US forces fighting in Korea. The strike ended in 2/5/1952, but the seizure continued until after the Supreme Court decision of 2/6/1952.

5/4/1952, Saturday (+2,524)

3/4/1952, Thursday (+2,522) (Finland) Miina Sillanpaa, Finnish politician, died.

2/4/1952, Wednesday (+2,521) (Astronomy) Bernard Ferdinand Lyot, French astronomer, died on a train near Cairo, Egypt.

1/4/1952, Tuesday (+2,520) (France) Vincent Bollore, French industrialist, was born.

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

31/3/1952, Monday (+2,519) (1) (Railways GB) Passenger services ceased between Llantrisant and Pontypridd. Ferryhill to Spennymoor (Durham) closed. Stockton on Tees to Ferryhill closed.

(2) Alan Turing, the computing expert who led the effort to break the German Enigma codes in World War Two, was convicted of being party to gross indecency, meaning homosexuality.

30/3/1952, Sunday (+2,518) Anti-French riots in Tangier, French Morocco.

29/3/1952, Saturday (+2,517) (1) In the USA, President Truman announced he would not be standing for the elections that year.

(2) In France, the government of Edgar Faure fell after failing to get the National Assembly to approve tax increases. Antoine Pinay, Conservative, formed a government with Gaullist support.

27/3/1952, Thursday (+2,515) Maria Schnieder, actress, was born.

25/3/1952, Tuesday (+2,513) Widespread anti-French rioting across Tunisia.

20/3/1952, Thursday (+2,508) South Africa�s Supreme Court ruled that Malan�s Apartheid legislation was unconstitutional. However this triumph of the Africa National Congress was short-lived, see 22/4/1952.

18/3/1952, Tuesday (+2,506) Patrick Eddery, horse racing champion, was born in Galway, Ireland.

11/3/1952, Tuesday (+2,499) Douglas Adams, British writer, was born.

10/3/1952, Monday (+2,498) Military coup in Cuba. President Socarra was overthrown and replaced by General Zaldivar (Fulgencio Batista y Zald�var), who had previously been ruler of Cuba, 1933-40.

9/3/1952, Sunday (+2,497) William Beaumont, English rugby player, was born.

8/3/1952. Saturday (+2,496) The first artificial heart was used on a 41-year old man. It kept him alive at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, for 80 minutes.

7/3/1952, Friday (+2,495) Lynn Swann, footballer, was born.

6/3/1952, Thursday (+2,494) William MacLean, hockey champion, was born.

5/3/1952, Wednesday (+2,493) Vladimir Scherbachov, composer, died aged 63.

4/3/1952, Tuesday (+2,492) China accused the US of germ warfare in Korea.

3/3/1952, Monday (+2,491)

2/3/1952, Sunday (+2,490) The Egyptian Parliament was suspended.

1/3/1952, Saturday (+2,489) Martin O�Neill, footballer, was born.

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29/2/1952, Friday (+2,488) The In France, Prime Minister Edgar Faure resigned after 40 days in office. He was succeeded by Paul Reynaud.

28/2/1952, Thursday (+2,487)

27/2/1952, Wednesday (+2,486) The United Nations Building in New York saw its first session.

26/2/1952, Tuesday (+2,485) Winston Churchill announced that Britain had produced its own atom bomb.

25/2/1952, Monday (+2,484) The Plutonium plant at Windscale began operations.

23/2/1952, Saturday (+2,482)

21/2/1952. Thursday (+2,480) Identity cards were abolished in Britain.

20/2/1952. Wednesday (+2,479) NATO agreed to recruit Morocco and Tunisia.

19/2/1952, Tuesday (+2,478) Amy Tan, novelist, was born.

18/2/1952, Monday (+2,477) Greece and Turkey joined NATO.

15/2/1952, Friday (+2,474) King George VI was buried at St George�s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

12/2/1952, Tuesday (+2,471) James Renwick, rugby player, was born,

6/2/1952. Wednesday (+2,465) (Britain) The accession of Queen Elizabeth II, born 21/4/1926. Her coronation was on 2/6/1953, on a dull showery day; it was the first Coronation to be televised. The funeral of King George VI was at Windsor on 15/2/1952, when over 300,000 paid their respects to his coffin at Westminster Abbey.. King George VI had died of lung cancer from smoking, aged 56, during the night at Sandringham, and Elizabeth I was on safari in Kenya at the time.� King George VI had had a lung removed in September 1951 by surgeons at Buckingham Palace.

4/2/1952, Monday (+2,463) (1) The UK Government offered farmers �5 an acre to plough up grassland for crops.

(2) The United Nations Disarmament Commission first met.

3/2/1952, Sunday (+2,462) In England, 283 people died 8in gale force winds and high tides caus8ing major floods in the east coast. Thousands were made homeless.

2/2/1952, Saturday (+2,461) The De Havilland Comet went into service as the world�s first passenger jet.

1/2/1952, Friday (+2,460)

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29/1/1952, Tuesday (+2,457) Tommy Ramone, musician and record producer, was born,

27/1/1952, Sunday (+2,455) Anti-British rioters in Egypt burnt down the Shepheard Hotel, killing 17.

26/1/1952, Saturday (+2,454) (Egypt) In response to the incident of 25/1/1952 mobs in Cairo led by the Muslim Brotherhood attacked British buildings, killing 10 Britons. Cairo police declined to intervene until the evening.

25/1/1952, Friday (+2,453) (Egypt) British troops captured the police headquarters in Ismalia, Egypt; 46 Egyptians were killed. This followed guerrilla attacks on British bases in Egypt, in which the British suspected police complicity.

24/1/1952, Thursday (+2,452) Vincent Massey became the first Canadian to be appointed Governor-General of Canada. He remained in post until September 1959.

23/1/1952, Wednesday (+2,451) Omar Henry, South African cricketer, was born in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

22/1/1952, Tuesday (+2,450) The De Havilland Comet became the first jet aircraft to receive a Certificate of Airworthiness.

21/1/1952, Monday (+2,449) Billy Ocean, musician, was born.

20/1/1952, Sunday (+2,448) John Witherow, newspaper editor at The Times, was born

15/1/1952, Tuesday (+2,443)

12/1/1952, Saturday (+2,440) (Egypt) The first violence by Egyptian nationalists against the British began in the village of Tel el Kebir.

11/1/1952, Friday (+2,439) (France) French General de Lattre de Tassigny died of cancer in Paris. He was the chief architect of the French defence plan in World War Two.

10/1/1952, Thursday (+2,438) The USA reached agreement with the UK over air bases in Britain.

9/1/1952, Wednesday (+2,437) Margaret Beck, badminton player, was born.

5/1/1952, Saturday (+2,433) Uli Hoeness, West German footballer, was born.

2/1/1952, Wednesday (+2,430) Pope Pius XII declared that television was a threat to family life.

1/1/1952, Tuesday (+2,429) (1) Libya became independent. An Italian colony from 1911, when Italy took the territory from the Ottoman Turks, the region had come under British administration in 1942.

(2) In Britain, the single TV channel, BBC, broadcast for just a few hours a day. Programmes ran from 3pm to 6pm, including Children�s Hour. There was then a 2-hour break, the so-called Toddler Truce, to enable mothers to get their small children to bed. Programmes then ran for 2 hours or so from 8pm. News coverage was patchy and sports coverage and light entertainment virtually absent.

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31/12/1951, Monday (+2,428) (1) Television came to north-west England with the opening of a transmitter near Manchester. Scotland would get TV in 1953. TV was only available in the London area until a Midlands transmitter opened in 1950. Now television threatened the popularity of radio and cinema.

(2) The Organisation of American States was founded in Washington DC.

27/12/1951, Thursday (+2,424) A trial armistice period ended and fighting resumed in Korea, but now only to influence the final peace. Both sides realised that complete victory was unattainable.

24/12/1951. Monday (+2,421) Independent kingdom of Libya was established.� Idris I, aged 61, was the first King.

21/12/1951, Friday (+2,418) Stephen Perryman, footballer, was born.

13/12/1951, Thursday (+2,410) (France-Germany, Europe) The French National Assembly ratified the Schuman Plan. This placed French and German steel iron and coal industries under one common authority, to which other countries could also accede.

12/12/1951, Wednesday (+2,409) (Innovation, Construction) The geodesic dome was patented by Richard Buckminster Fuller in New York, USA.

8/12/1951, Saturday (+2,405) (India) Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, began his first 5-year Plan. Energy and Agriculture were to be prioritised in this Plan. Each successive Plan would target the sectors of the Indian economy that most needed improving. This tactic helped India�s economy advance rapidly.

6/12/1951, Thursday (+2,403) Gerald Francis, footballer, was born in Hammersmith, London.

4/12/1951, Tuesday (+2,401) (Egypt) British forces attacked in Egypt during anti-British riots.

1/12/1951, Saturday (+2,398) First performance, in London, of Benjamin Britten�s opera Billy Budd.

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27/11/1951, Tuesday (+2,394) In Czechoslovakia, the Communists conducted a purge of Government.

26/11/1951, Monday (+2,393) Ilona Staller, Italian politician (and porn star) was born.

25/11/1953, Sunday (+2,392)

24/11/1951, Saturday (+2,391) British motor manufacturers Austin and Morris announced a merger.

23/11/1951, Friday (+1,390) Car production began in Poland as part of post-War reconstruction.

22/11/1951, Thursday (+1,389)

20/11/1951, Tuesday (+2,387) (1) Evacuation of British Army families from Egypt began.

(2) Snowdonia in Wales was designated a National Park.

19/11/1951, Monday (+2,386) The world�s first atomic central heating plant began operating, in Harwell.

14/11/1951, Wednesday (+2,381) The US signed a security pact with Yugoslavia.

11/11/1951, Sunday (+2,378) Juan Peron was re-elected President of Argentina.

9/11/1951, Friday (+2,376)

7/11/1951, Wednesday (+2,374) Francis McEvoy, bobsleigh champion, died.

6/11/1951, Tuesday (+2,373)� Thomas Kiely, athlete, died (born 25/8/1869).

5/11/1951, Monday (+2,372) (Roads) The New Jersey Turnpike opened between New York and Philadelphia, 190 km.

4/11/1951, Sunday (+2,371)

1/11/1951, Thursday (+2,368) The US tested an atom bomb over the Nevada desert.

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31/10/1951. Wednesday (+2,367) The first zebra crossings appeared in Britain, in Slough, Berkshire.

29/10/1951, Monday (+2,365)

27/10/1951, Saturday (+2,363) In Britain, Winston Churchill formed a Conservative Government, with Anthony Eden as Foreign Secretary and R A (Rab) Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

26/10/1951, Friday (+2,362) The Chinese news agency Xinhua announced that the Tibetan people had been �liberated from imperialist aggression and returned to the great family of the People�s Republic of China�.

25/10/1951. Thursday (+2,361) (1) Margaret Roberts, later Margaret Thatcher, became the youngest person, at age 26, to stand in a general election. She lost. However the Conservatives won 321 seats against 295 for Labour, 6 for the Liberals, and 3 for other parties. The Conservatives had the majority of seats yet Labour had won more of the votes cast. Winston Churchill succeeded Clement Attlee as Prime Minister. The Conservatives promised to de-nationalise steel and road haulage, but would leave other nationalised industries alone.

(2) Peace talks in Korea resumed at Panmunjom.

24/10/1951, Wednesday (+2,360) Todd Crespi, actor, was born in Frankfurt, Germany.

23/10/1951, Tuesday (+2,359) Fatmir Sejdiu, President of Kosovo, was born.

22/10/1951, Monday (+2,,358) Britain stopped arms exports to Egypt.

21/10/1951, Sunday (+2,357) Four British warships arrived at Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal.

19/10/1951. Friday (+2,355) British troops seized the Suez Canal Zone after Egypt abrogated the 1936 Treaty.

16/10/1951, Tuesday (+2,352) Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated by an Afghan fanatic; civil disorder ensued.

15/10/1951, Monday (+2,351) Britain�s first party political on the BBC, broadcast by Lord Samuel for the Liberal Party.

13/10/1951, Saturday (+2,349)

7/10/1951, Sunday (+2,343) John Cougar Mellencamp, singer, was born.

6/10/1951, Saturday (+2,342) The British High Commissioner in Malaya, Sir Henry Gurney, was killed in an ambush by Communist guerrillas in the Pahang Hills. Chinese-backed Communists were fighting to destroy the rubber plantation economy.

5/10/1951, Friday (+2,341) (1) The US House of representatives approved the US$ 56.9 billion Armed Forces appropriation Bill.

(2) (Morals) The oral contraceptive was patented

4/10/1951, Thursday (+2,340) The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company removed its personnel from Abadan for safety reasons.

3/10/1951, Wednesday (+2,339)

2/10/1951, Tuesday (+2,338) Sting, musician, was born.

1/10/1951, Monday (+2,337) Peter McWilliam, footballer, died.

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30/9/1951, Sunday (+2,336) The Festival of Britain closed, see 3/5/1951.

27/9/1951, Thursday (+2,333) Iranian troops occupied the Abadan oilfields.

23/9/1951, Sunday (+2,329) South Korean forces took Heartbreak Ridge, as fighting continued.

20/9/1951, Thursday (+2,326) NATO invited Greece and Turkey to join.

17/9/1951, Monday (+2,323) Susan Reeve, athletics (long jump) was born).

16/9/1951, Sunday (+2,322) Andrew Irvine, rugby player, was born.

15/9/1951, Saturday (+2,321) Jacinto Guerrero, Spanish musician and composer, died aged 56

14/9/1951, Friday (+2,320) Fawley Oil Refinery, near Southampton, opened.

13/9/1951. Thursday (+2,319) UN peace talks between Israel and the Arabs failed.

10/9/1951, Wednesday (+2,318) Giuseppe Mule, Italian composer, died aged 66

11/9/1951, Tuesday (+2,317) Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the English Channel, taking 16 hours 22 minutes. On 12/10/1955 she broke that record, taking just 13 hours 33 minutes.

10/9/1951, Monday (+2,316) Anti-British riots in Egypt.

9/9/1951, Sunday (+2,315) Chinese troops occupied the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

8/9/1951, Saturday (+2,314) The San Francisco Treaty of Friendship between the US and Japan was signed.

7/9/1951, Friday (+2,313) Painter John F Sloan died in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, aged 80.

6/9/1951, Thursday (+2,312) Melih Kibar, Turkish composer, was born (died 2005).

5/9/1951, Wednesday (+2,311) Paul Breitner, West German footballer, was born.

2/9/1951, Sunday (+2,308)

1/9/1951, Saturday (+2,307) Australia, New Zealand, and the USA signed the ANZUS Pact, a mutual defence treaty.� This marked a shift in New Zealand politics away from the UK and towards the US.

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31/8/1951. Friday (+2,306) Long playing 33 rpm records went on sale in West Germany.

30/8/1951, Thursday (+2,305) The US and The Philippines concluded a mutual defence pact.

28/8/1951, Tuesday (+2,303) The 1,000^th Porsche was manufactured.

24/8/1951. Friday (+2,299) The Mau-Mau rebellion began in Kenya.

23/8/1951, Thursday (+2,298) (1) British oil companies and workers prepared to leave Iran.

(2) Talks to end the Korean War broke up without agreement.

21/8/1951, Tuesday (+2,296)

17/8/1951, Friday (+2,292) Alan Minter, boxer, was born.

16/8/1951, Thursday (+2,291) Louis Jouvet, French theatre director., died.

15/8/1951. Wednesday (+2,290) Dartmoor was designated a National Park.

14/8/1951, Tuesday (+2,289) Randolph Hearst, US newspaper magnate, died in California.

11/8/1951, Saturday (+2,286) Melbourne Inman, billiards champion, died.

6/8/1951, Monday (+2,281) Daryl Somers, TV presenter, was born.

5/8/1951, Sunday (+2,280) John Jarratt, actor, was born.

3/8/1951, Friday (+2,278)

1/8/1951, Wednesday (+2,276) Japan Airlines was founded.

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31/7/1951, Tuesday (+2,275) Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player, was born.

28/7/1951, Saturday (+2,272) Walt Disney�s cartoon Alice in Wonderland was released.

24/7/1951, Tuesday (+2,268) (Britain) The Tyne pedestrian and cycle tunnel, Newcastle, opened. It was Britain�s first purpose-built cycle tunnel, opened as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, and cost �833,000 to construct.

23/7/1951, Monday (+2,267) (France) Marshal Petain, Head of Vichy France between 1940 and 1944, died in prison in the Ile d�Yeu, aged 95, serving a life sentence for collaboration, having been reprieved from a death sentence in 1945.

22/7/1951, Sunday (+2,266)

21/7/1951, Saturday (+2,265) Robin Williams, actor and comedian, was born.

20/7/1951. Friday (+2,264) (Jordan) King Abdullah of Jordan was shot dead in Jerusalem by an Arab Nationalist.� Other Arab leaders were jealous of his leadership of the Palestinians, and his grandson Hussein, aged 15 in 1951, became King of Jordan a year later.

19/7/1951, Thursday (+2,263) Severe flooding hit Kansas and Missouri. 41 died and 200,000 were made homeless.

17/7/1951, Tuesday (+2,261) (Belgium) Baudouin became King of Belgium, after the enforced abdication of his father, King Leopold III. Leopold surrendered the Belgian armed forces to the Nazis on 28/5/1940, just 18 days after the German invasion of Belgium began, a move condemned as too hasty by the Allies. Leopold then chose to become a PoW in the luxurious surroundings of Laeken Castle, near Brussels. However there was evidence that Leopold had averted the deportation of half a million Belgian women in 1942 to work in German munitions factories. After the War Leopold was exiled to London. Belgian opinion on his return wad divided on ethnic/religious lines, with a referendum providing a 58% pro-Leopold majority. This majority was mainly from the Catholic Flemish north of Belgium. The southern Walloon socialist liberals were against Leopold�s return. In July 1950 Belgian coalminers went on strike against Leopold. In the interests of national unity Leopold abdicated in favour of his son.

13/7/1951, Friday (+2,257) Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg died.

10/7/1951, Tuesday (+2,254) Negotiations began between the USA and USSR over the Korean conflict. The USSR demanded a return to the 38^th parallel; the US insisted on the current front line as the frontier. The US also rejected Chinese demands for a withdrawal of all foreign troops from Korea. PoWs were also an issue, with the US holding 171,000 prisoners, 50,000 of whom did not wish to return to Communist rule. Many North Koreans and Chinese wished to go to South Korea or Taiwan. The Communists, afraid of losing face, wanted all returned. Both sides wanted an end to the conflict; Dwight D Eisenhower, in office from 1953, was concerned at the expense of the war. Stalin�s death in 1953 in March 1953 eased the deadlock. Most of the PoWs who wanted to defect to Western countries were allowed to do so.

9/7/1951, Monday (+2,253) Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, was jailed for 6 months for contempt of court after refusing to give testimony that would have helped trace Communists accused of conspiring against the US.

8/7/1951, Sunday (+2,252) Angelica Huston, actress, was born.

7/7/1951, Saturday (+2,251)

6/7/1951, Friday (+2,250) Geoffrey Rush, actor, was born.

5/7/1951, Thursday (+2,249) The International Court of Justice ruled against Iran (see 26/5/1951). US President Truman called for a compromise.

4/7/1951, Wednesday (+2,248)

3/7/1951, Tuesday (+2,247) India lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council over Pakistani violations of the ceasefire in Kashmir.

2/7/1951, Monday (+2,246) Severe floods in Kansas and Missouri killed 41 and left 200,000 homeless.

1/7/1951<