1955
|
'''1955''' '''(MCMLV)''' was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January 7 - Marian Anderson is the first African American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
January 22 - Pentagon announces plan to develop ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) armed with nuclear weapons
February 8 - Nikolai Bulganin becomes Soviet Premier.
February 12 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam.
February 22 - In Chicago's Democratic primary, Mayor Martin H. Kennelly loses to the head of the Cook County Democratic Party, Richard J. Daley, 364,839 to 264,775
March 20 - Blackboard Jungle opens in theaters featuring the song Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets, thus propelling Rock and Roll as a musical genre. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to the song.
April 5 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
April 5 - Richard J. Daley defeats Robert Merrian to become mayor of Chicago by a vote of 708,222 to 581,555.
April 6 - Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
April 12 - The Salk polio vaccine is introduced.
April 15 - Ray Kroc starts the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain.
April 18 - Imre Nagy, premier of Hungary, ousted for being too moderate
May 5 - West Germany becomes a Sovereignty|sovereign state.
May 9 - West Germany joins NATO.
May 14 - The Warsaw Pact is formed by the communist states of Eastern Europe and the USSR.
May 31 - The United States Supreme Court orders school Racial integration|integration at "all deliberate speed"
July 17 - Disneyland opens.
July 18 - The first atomic-generated electrical power is sold commercially.
July 18 - Illinois's Govenor William Stratton signs Loyalty Oath Act that mandates all public employees take a loyalty oath or lose their jobs.
July 18 - Beginning of Geneva Summit between US, USSR, England, and France.
July 23 - Geneva Summit between US, USSR, England, and France ends.
August 19 - Hurricane Diane hits the northeast United States, killing 200 and causing over $1 billion in damage.
August 20 - Hundreds killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
August 25 - The last Soviet forces leave Austria.
September 10 - ''Gunsmoke'' debuts on CBS.
September 19 - President of Argentina Juan Peron is ousted in a military coup.
September 19 - Hurricane Hilda kills 200 in Mexico.
September 22 - Commercial television begins in England.
September 24 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffers coronary thrombosis while on vacation in Denver.
September 30 - Actor James Dean killed in car accident near Cholame, California.
October 4 - The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is released from prison in Seoul, Korea.
October 26 - Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as president.
November 1 - Time bomb explodes aboard a United Airlines DC-6 killing 44 above Longmont, Colorado.
November 5 - Racial segregation is forbidden on trains and buses in interstate commerce.
November 5 - Dr. Emmett Brown invents the Flux Capacitor.
November 23 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
December 1 - Montgomery, Alabama seamstress, Rosa Parks, refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested.
December 5 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge to become the AFL-CIO.
December 14 - Tappan Zee Bridge in New York opens to traffic.
December 31 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over United States dollars|USD $1 billion in a year.
70 mm film is introduced with ''Oklahoma!''.
Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach Airport (Flughafen Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach) was founded.
Births
January-February
January 2 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor
January 6 - Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor
January 12 - Rockne O'Bannon, writer and television producer
January 13 - Jay McInerney, American writer
January 15 - Nigel Benson, British author and illustrator
January 17 - Steve Earle, American musician
January 18 - Kevin Costner, American actor
January 22 - Neil Mallon Bush, son of George Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush and brother of President George W. Bush
January 19 - Simon Rattle, English conductor
January 26 - Edward Van Halen, Dutch-born musician
January 27 - John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States
February 3 - Stephen Euin Cobb, American novelist
February 8 - John Grisham, American novelist
February 10 - Christopher Adams |Chris Adams, American professional wrestler (d. 2001)
February 10 - Greg Norman, Australian golfer
February 12 - Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
February 15 - Christopher McDonald, American actor
February 19 - Jeff Daniels (actor)|Jeff Daniels, American actor
February 20 - Kelsey Grammer, American actor
February 23 - Howard Jones (musician)|Howard Jones, English musician
February 24 - Alain Prost, French race car driver
February 24 - Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer
March-April
March 5 - Penn Jillette, American magician and comedian
March 6 - Alberta Watson, Canadian actress
March 7 - Tommy Kramer, American football player
March 15 - Dee Snider, American singer
March 16 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
March 16 - Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
March 17 - Gary Sinise, American actor
March 19 - Bruce Willis, American actor
March 22 - Pete Sessions, American politician
March 23 - Moses Malone, American basketball player
March 28 - Reba McEntire, American singer and actress
March 29 - Earl Campbell, American football star
March 31 - Angus Young, Scottish musician
April 6 - Michael Rooker, American actor
April 7 - Werner Stocker, German actor (d. 1993)
April 8 - Kane Hodder, American actor
April 11 - Kevin Brady, American politician
April 15 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
April 16 - Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
April 23 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
April 29 - Kate Mulgrew, American actress
May
May 1 - Ray Buttigieg, Maltese composer and poet
May 2 - Dave Winer, American software pioneer
May 3 - David Hookes, Australian cricketer (d. 2004)
May 3 - Steve Jones, guitarist for Sex Pistols
May 6 - Tom Bergeron, American television host
May 9 - Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
May 10 - Chris Berman, American sports broadcaster
May 10 - Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
May 16 - Olga Korbut, Russian gymnast
May 16 - Jack Morris, baseball player
May 16 - Hazel O'Connor, British singer
May 16 - Debra Winger, American actress
May 17 - Bill Paxton, American actor
May 18 - Chow Yun-Fat, Hong Kong actor
May 20 - Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
May 21 - Paul Barber (field hockey player)|Paul Barber, British field hockey player
May 26 - Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef
May 26 - Doris Dorrie|Doris Dörrie, German actress and screenplay writer
May 28 - John McGeoch, Scottish musician (Siouxsie and the Banshees and ) (d. 2004)
May 30 - Topper Headon, British drummer (The Clash)
June-September
June 2 - Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
June 7 - Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
June 8 - Tim Berners-Lee, English inventor of the World Wide Web
June 13 - Larry Mike Garmon, American author
June 20 - Tor Norretranders, Danish author
June 21 - Tim Bray, Canadian computer programmer
June 25 - Terry Chimes, British drummer (The Clash)
June 26 - Mick Jones (The Clash)|Mick Jones, British guitarist (The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite)
June 27 - Isabelle Adjani, French actress
July 1 - Sanma Akashiya, Japanese comedian and actor
July 9 - Fred Norris, American radio personality
August 4 - Billy Bob Thornton, American actor
August 7 - Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer
August 19 - Peter Gallagher, American actor
September 1 - Bruce Foxton, English musician
September 10 - Pat Mastelotto, American musician
September 16 - Robin Yount, baseball player
October-December
October 7 - Yo-Yo Ma, French-born Chinese cellist
October 10 - David Lee Roth, American rock singer
October 15 - Kulbir Bhaura, British field hockey player
October 17 - Mae Jemison, astronaut
October 21 - Rich Mullins, American musician (d. 1997)
October 28 - Bill Gates, American software entrepreneur
November 3 - Phil Simms, American football player
November 4 - Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland
November 6 - Maria Shriver, American journalist
November 7 - Detlef Ultsch, German judoka
November 13 - Whoopi Goldberg, American actress, comedienne, and singer
November 21 - Kyle Gann, American composer and music critic
November 23 - Steven Brust, American author
November 24 - Ian Botham, British cricketer
November 24 - Elvis Ramone, American drummer The Ramones
November 24 - Takashi Yuasa, Japanese lawyer
December 3 - Steven Culp, American actor
December 4 - Maurizio Bianchi, Italian experimental musician
December 12 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek politician and businesswoman
December 15 - Paul Simonon, British bassist (The Clash)
December 17 - Brad Davis (basketball)|Brad Davis, American basketball player
December 18 - Ray Liotta, American actor
December 21 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
December 27 - Barbara Olson, American television commentator (d. 2001)
Deaths
January 2 - Jose Antonio Remon, President of Panama
January 15 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
January 21 - Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
January 31 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
March 11 - Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1881)
March 12 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920)
April 7 - Theda Bara, American film actress (b. 1885)
April 18 - Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
May 4 - Georges Enescu, Romanian composer (b. 1881)
May 10 - Tommy Burns, American boxer (b. 1881)
May 11 - Gilbert Laird Jessop|Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
May 16 - James Agee, American writer (b. 1909)
May 18 - Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator (b. 1875)
May 26 - Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
July 23 - Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1871)
August 2 - Wallace Stevens, American poet (b. 1879)
August 5 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese singer and actress (b. 1909)
August 12 - Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
August 12 - James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
September 30 - James Dean, American actor (automobile accident) (b. 1931)
October 1 - Charles Christie, American film studio owner (b. 1880)
October 9 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna (b. 1875)
November 4 - Cy Young, baseball player (b. 1867)
November 5 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (b. 1882)
November 12 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (b. 1878)
November 27 - Arthur Honegger, French-born Swiss composer (b. 1982)
December 6 - Honus Wagner, baseball player (b. 1874)
December 13 - Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician and neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)
December 27 - Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (b. 1881)
Nobel Prizes
Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics - Willis Eugene Lamb, Polykarp Kusch
Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry - Vincent du Vigneaud
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine- Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell
Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature - Halldor Laxness|Halldór Kiljan Laxness
Nobel Peace Prize|Peace - not awarded
|