1956 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Vice President: Richard Nixon
• Chief Justice: Earl Warren
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn
• Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
• Congress: 84th

  Governors

Lieutenant Governors

Events

January–March

• January 1 - Carl Perkins' record "Blue Suede Shoes" is released by Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
• January 3 - Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, is restaged live by Producers' Showcase on NBC television by popular demand.
• January 8 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• January 22 - Redondo Junction train wreck in Los Angeles kills thirty people.
• c. January - The first book in Ed McBain's long-running 87th Precinct police procedural series, Cop Hater, is published under Evan Hunter's new pseudonym.
• February 14 - Dwight D. Eisenhower's doctors say that he is healthy enough to seek another term at the White House.
• February 16 - Only a little more than four months after the release of the 70 mm version of Oklahoma!, the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, is released in CinemaScope 55. MacRae and Jones had previously starred in Oklahoma! Carousel, intended for showing in 55 mm, ends up being shown only in 35 mm.
• February 22 - Elvis Presley enters the U.S. music charts for the first time with "Heartbreak Hotel".
• February 23 - Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to Marilyn Monroe.
• February 24 - Doris Day records her most famous song, "Que Sera, Sera "; it is from Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which Day co-stars with James Stewart.
• February 29 - Dwight D. Eisenhower announces he will seek re-election as President.
• March 11 - Laurence Olivier's film, Richard III, adapted from Shakespeare's play, premieres in the U.S. in theaters and on NBC Television, on the same day as an afternoon. It is one of the first such experiments of its kind. Olivier is later nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
• March 12
• *The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time rising 2.40 points, or 0.48%, to 500.24.
• *96 U.S. Congressmen sign the Southern Manifesto, a protest against the 1954 Supreme Court ruling desegregating public education.
• March 13 - Elvis Presley releases his first Gold Album titled "Elvis Presley".
• March 15 - The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
• March 21 - The 28th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Los Angeles; Marty wins Best Picture.

  April–June

• April 2 - The first episodes of As the World Turns and The Edge of Night are broadcast on CBS television.
• April 14 - Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB convention in Chicago by Ampex. It is the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex.
• April 19 - American actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.
• April 21 - Former U.S. First Daughter Margaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel.
• April 27 - Heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retires without losing a professional boxing match.
• May 2 - The United Methodist Church in the U.S. decides, at its General Conference, to grant women full ordained clergy status. It also calls for an end to racial segregation in the denomination.
• May 22 - The Peacock logo of NBC is introduced on television.
• June 4 - Montgomery bus boycott: Browder v. Gayle is decided by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, ruling state bus segregation laws unconstitutional; this will be confirmed on appeal.
• June 5 - Elvis Presley performs "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
• June 8 - General Electric/Telechron introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", first snooze alarm clock.
• June 14
• *President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the phrase "under God" to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance.
• *The Flag of the United States Army is formally dedicated.
• June 21 - Playwright Arthur Miller appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington, D.C.
• June 26 & August 23 - Books published by discredited psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich are burned under a court injunction.
• June 29
• *Actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller in White Plains, New York.
• *President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act, creating the Interstate Highway System.
• June 30 - A TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft in the deadliest civil aviation disaster to date; the accident leads to sweeping changes in the regulation of cross-country flight and air traffic control over the U.S.
• June – 19-year-old Hunter S. Thompson is arrested as an accessory to robbery.

  July–September

• July 2 - Sylvania Electric Products explosion: A laboratory experiment involving scrap thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in Bayside, New York, results in an explosion.
• July 4 - A U.S. Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the Soviet Union.
• July 13
• * Elvis Presley's recording of "Hound Dog" is released by RCA Records.
• * John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Claude Shannon and Nathaniel Rochester assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of artificial intelligence, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
• July 16 - With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows" due to changing economics.
• July 24 - At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together.
• July 25 - south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship in heavy fog, killing 51 people.
• July 29 - McKee refinery fire kills 19 in Texas.
• July 30 - A Joint Resolution of Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto.
• August 6 - After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network has its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
• August 11 - Painter Jackson Pollock dies in a car crash in Springs, New York.
• September 9 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
• September 13 - The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team led by Reynold B. Johnson.
• September 27 - The Bell X-2 becomes the first manned aircraft to reach Mach 3.

  October–December

• October 5 - Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is released in the U.S. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.
• October 8 - Baseball pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yogi Berra catches the game. Dale Mitchell is the final out. The New York Yankees win the series. Larsen is named series MVP.
• October 10 - The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the final Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight.
• October 17 - The Game of the Century: 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats GM Donald Byrne in the NY Rosenwald chess tournament.
• October 29 - The Huntley-Brinkley Report debuts on NBC-TV.
• October 31 - A U.S. Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.
• October - The Ladder becomes the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine in the U.S.
• November 1
• * City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco publishes Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, a key work of the Beat Generation.
• * The film Oklahoma!, previously released to select cities in Todd-AO, now receives a U.S. national release in CinemaScope, since not all theatres are yet equipped for Todd-AO. To accomplish this, the film has actually been shot twice, rather than printing one version in two different film processes, as is later done.
• November 3 - MGM's screen classic, The Wizard of Oz, is shown on television for the first time by CBS, as the final installment of their Ford Star Jubilee.
• November 6 - 1956 United States presidential election: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat challenger Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier.
• November 13 - Browder v. Gayle: The United States Supreme Court declares Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.
• November 30 - African American boxer Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight championship that is vacant after the retirement of Rocky Marciano.
• December 2 - A pipe bomb planted by George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York, injuring 6 people.
• December 3 - The 1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn.
• December 4 - The Million Dollar Quartet get together at Sun Studio for the only time.
• December 18 - To Tell the Truth debuts on CBS-TV.
• December 31 - Bob Barker makes his TV debut as host of the game show Truth or Consequences.

  Ongoing

• Cold War
• Second Red Scare

  Births

• January 1
• *Mark R. Hughes, entrepreneur
• *Mike Mitchell, basketball player
• January 3 - Mel Gibson, actor and filmmaker
• January 7 - David Caruso, actor
• January 9 - Kimberly Beck, actress
• January 10
• * Shawn Colvin, singer
• * George Merrill, singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• January 11
• * Big Bank Hank, rapper
• * Robert Earl Keen, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• January 20 - Bill Maher, actor, comedian and political analyst
• January 21 - Geena Davis, actress
• January 27 - Mimi Rogers, actress
• January 29 - Irlene Mandrell, actress and singer
• February 3
• * Nathan Lane, actor
• * Lee Ranaldo, musician
• February 11 - Catherine Hickland, actress
• February 13 - Paul Stojanovich, television producer
• February 19
• * Kathleen Beller, actress
• * Roderick MacKinnon, biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2003
• February 22 - Hugh Hewitt, lawyer, academic and radio host
• February 24
• * Judith Butler, philosopher
• * Eddie Murray, baseball player
• * Paula Zahn, television journalist
• February 29
• * Aileen Wuornos, serial killer
• * Mike Compton, mandolinis
• March 1 - Tim Daly, actor
• March 5 - Teena Marie, singer
• March 7 - Bryan Cranston, actor
• March 11 - Rob Paulsen, voice actor
• March 13
• * Dana Delany, actress
• * Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
• March 24 - Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft
• March 28 - Susan Ershler, mountaineer
• April 1 - Jeffrey Beecroft, production designer and art director
• April 3 - Ray Combs, game show host and comedian
• April 4 - David E. Kelley, writer and television producer
• April 5 - Diamond Dallas Page, professional wrestler
• April 14 - Barbara Bonney, soprano
• April 16 - David McDowell Brown, astronaut
• April 18
• * John James, actor
• * Melody Thomas Scott, actress
• April 21 - Phillip Longman, demographer
• May 4 - David Guterson, writer
• May 12 - Greg Phillinganes, keyboardist
• May 15 - Dan Patrick, sports commentator
• May 17
• * Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer
• * Bob Saget, actor and television host
• May 23 - Buck Showalter, baseball player and manager
• May 26 - Lisa Niemi, actress and dancer, spouse of Patrick Swayze
• May 28 - Jerry Douglas, dobro player
• May 29 - La Toya Jackson, singer
• June 1 - Lisa Hartman Black, actress, singer
• June 3
• *Brad Nessler, sportscaster
• *Danny Wilde, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• June 5 - Kenny G, grammy-award-winning saxophonist
• June 9 - Patricia Cornwell, novelist
• June 11 - Joe Montana, football player
• June 15 - Robin Curtis, actress
• June 19 - Danny Chauncey, guitarist
• June 23 - Randy Jackson, musician and talent judge
• June 25 - Anthony Bourdain, chef, author and television personality
• June 26 - Chris Isaak, musician
• June 30 - Ronald Winans, musician
• July 1
• * Alan Ruck, actor
• * Gregg L. Semenza, cellular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019
• July 2 - Jerry Hall, model and actress
• July 9 - Tom Hanks, actor and director
• July 11 - Sela Ward, actress
• July 12
• * Mel Harris, actress
• * Sandi Patty, gospel singer
• July 16 - Tony Kushner, playwright
• July 18
• * Sheila Aldridge, singer
• * Razor Shines, baseball player, manager and coach
• July 24
• * Charlie Crist, politician
• * Pat Finn, game show host and producer
• July 25 - Frances Arnold, biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018
• July 30 - Delta Burke, actress
• July 31
• * Michael Biehn, actor
• * Deval Patrick, 71st Governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.
• August 1 - Steve Green, Christian musician
• August 2 - Jim Neidhart, professional wrestler
• August 4 - Gerry Cooney, boxer
• August 5 - Maureen McCormick, actress
• August 6 - Stepfanie Kramer, actress
• August 10
• * Fred Ottman, professional wrestler
• * Charlie Peacock, Christian producer, singer-songwriter
• August 14 - Jackée Harry, actress and television personality
• August 18
• * Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, drummer
• * Kelly Willard, Christian singer
• August 19 - Adam Arkin, actor
• August 20 - Joan Allen, actress
• August 21 - Jon Tester, U.S. Senator from Montana from 2007
• August 22 - Paul Molitor, baseball player
• August 24 - John Culberson, politician
• August 26 - Mark Mangino, football coach
• August 29 - Mark Morris, choreographer
• September 1 - Bernie Wagenblast, editor and broadcaster
• September 11 - Phillip D. Bissett, politician
• September 12
• * Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011
• * Ricky Rudd, race car driver
• September 15 - George Howard, jazz saxophone musician
• September 16 - David Copperfield, illusionist
• September 17 - Brian Andreas, writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
• September 20
• * Gary Cole, actor
• * Debbi Morgan, actress
• September 21 - Jack Givens, basketball player
• September 24 - Gregory Peter Panos, futurist, writer, inventor, virtual reality expert, human simulation visionary
• September 25 - Jamie Hyneman, television co-host
• September 26 - Linda Hamilton, actress
• October 8 - Stephanie Zimbalist, actress
• October 16 - Marin Alsop, orchestral conductor
• October 17 - Mae Jemison, astronaut
• October 18 - Jim Talent, U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007
• October 21 - Carrie Fisher, actress
• October 24 - Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator from Oregon from 2009
• October 26 - Rita Wilson, actress and producer
• November 8 - Steven Miller, record producer
• November 13 - Cynthia Carroll, businesswoman
• November 14 - Steve Stockman, accountant and politician
• November 15
• * Michael Hampton, guitarist and producer
• * Brian Douglas Wells, crime victim
• November 17 - Kelly Ward, actor
• November 18 - Warren Moon, football player
• November 20 - Bo Derek, actress and model
• November 26 - Dale Jarrett, race car driver
• November 27 - William Fichtner, actor
• November 29
• * Eric Laakso, football player
• * Leo Laporte, author and television host
• December 6 - Randy Rhoads, guitarist
• December 7 - Larry Bird, basketball player
• December 10
• * Rod Blagojevich, politician and convicted felon
• * Jacquelyn Mitchard, journalist and author
• December 11 - Lani Brockman, playwright
• December 18 - Ron White, comedian
• December 26 - David Sedaris, essayist
• December 30
• * Patricia Kalember, actress
• * Sheryl Lee Ralph, actress

  Deaths

• January 9 - Marion Leonard, stage & silent film actress
• January 10 - Zonia Baber, geographer and geologist
• January 12 - Norman Kerry, silent film actor
• January 29 - H. L. Mencken, writer
• February 2
• * Bob Burns, comedian
• * Charley Grapewin, vaudeville, stage & film actor
• February 3 - Robert Yerkes, psychologist and ethologist
• February 8 - Connie Mack, baseball executive and manager
• February 26 - Elsie Janis, singer and actress
• March 14 - David Browning, Olympic diver; in aviation accident
• March 17 - Fred Allen, comedian
• March 18 - Louis Bromfield, writer and conservationist
• March 21 - Edwin Thanhouser, actor, businessman and film producer
• March 22 - George Sarton, historian of science
• March 25 - Lou Moore, racing driver and team owner
• April 15 - Kathleen Howard, opera singer and film actress
• April 21
• * Samuel Gottesman, pulp-paper merchant
• * Charles MacArthur, playwright and screenwriter
• April 26 - Edward Arnold, film actor
• April 30 - Alben W. Barkley, 35th Vice President of the United States from 1949 to 1953
• May 12 - Louis Calhern, actor
• May 15 - Arthur Talmage Abernethy, poet, journalist, theologian and minister
• May 24 - Guy Kibbee, actor
• May 26 - Al Simmons, baseball player
• June 1 - Jesse H. Jones, entrepreneur, 9th United States Secretary of Commerce
• June 2 - Richard S. Edwards, admiral
• June 4 - Katherine MacDonald, silent film actress
• June 6 - Hiram Bingham III, explorer, discoverer of Machu Picchu
• June 11 - Ralph Morgan, character actor
• June 25 - Ernest King, Fleet Admiral
• June 26 - Clifford Brown, jazz trumpeter
• July 4 - Udo Keppler, cartoonist
• August 2 - Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War
• August 11 - Jackson Pollock, painter
• August 13 - Lyonel Feininger, German American painter
• August 16
• * Bela Lugosi, actor
• * Lynde D. McCormick, admiral
• August 23 - Peaches Browning, divorcee and vaudeville actress
• August 25 - Alfred Kinsey, sex researcher
• September 6 - Felix Borowski, composer and teacher
• September 27
• * Milburn G. Apt, test pilot
• * Babe Zaharias, golfer
• October ] - Albert Von Tilzer, songwriter
• October 2 - George Bancroft, film actor
• October 9 - Marie Doro, stage & silent film actress
• October 19 - Isham Jones, bandleader
• October 27 - Charles S. Johnson, sociologist
• November 1 - Tommy Johnson, Delta blues falsetto singer & guitarist
• November 5 - Art Tatum, jazz pianist
• November 6 - Paul Kelly, actor
• November 10
• * Harry F. Sinclair, entrepreneur
• * Victor Young, composer
• November 26 - Tommy Dorsey, trombonist and bandleader
• November 27 - Hugo Ballin, artist, film production designer and director
• December 9 - Charles Joughin, baker on RMS Titanic
• December 17 - Eddie Acuff, actor
• December 21 - Lewis Terman, psychologist
• December 30 - Ruth Draper, monologuist