1956

Galway won the All Ireland Senior Football Championship
Waterford  won the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

BORN THAT YEAR WERE

Carrie Fisher (Actress)
David Copperfield (Magician)
Gareth Brooks (Singer)
Geena Davis (Actress)
Joe Montana (American Footballer)
Kim Cattrall (Sex in the City Actress)
Tom Hanks (Actor)
Sebastian Coe (Athlete/Politician)
Rowan Atkinson (Actor – Mr Bean)
Mickey Rourke (Actor)
Mel Gibson (Actor)
Martina Navratilova (Tennis Player)
Linda Hamilton (Actress)

Inventions in 1956 include

First computer hard disk used
Hovercraft
Liquid paper to correct mistakes on typewriters

ALSO THAT YEAR

Suez Crisis caused by the Egyptian Nationalization of the Suez Canal
Israel attacks Egypt during Suez Crisis and Britain and France Bomb Egypt
Following UN resolution condemning the invasion supported by the United States Britain, France and Israel Withdraw forces from Egypt.
Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
The First C.N.D. Marches take place at Aldermarston
Pakistan becomes Islamic Republic
Alabama Bus segregation laws declared illegal by US Supreme Court
Cuban revolutionaries including Fidel Castro land in Cuba at the start of the Cuban Revolution
Continued independence granted for colonies in Africa from Britain and France
US Carries Out H Bomb Tests Bikini Atoll
Warsaw Pact troops invade Hungary during the The Hungarian October Revolution .
Premium Bonds introduced in England to encourage saving
British naval diver “Buster” Crabb Found Dead following covert diving operation on Russian Cruiser
The Summer Olympics are held in Melbourne, Australia
Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 signed into law on 29th June for the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highways over a 20-year period
52 people die when the Italian passenger liner S.S. Andrea Doria collides on July 25th off Nantucket Island, Mass. with the Swedish liner S.S. Stockholm.
The Winter Olympic Games are held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
First hard disk (5MB) invented by IBM.
Black-and-white portable TV sets hit the market
The first Transatlantic Telephone Cable goes in operation
The first commercial videotape recorder the VR-1000 from Ampex Corp goes on sale.
Tefal starts producing non stick Frying Pans
Oral Vaccine developed against Polio by Albert Sabin
Sony exports it’s first products to Canada a Transistor Radio
Popular Culture
Rock and Roll Dance Craze sweeps the World
Prince Ranier of Monaco marries Grace Kelly
Rocky Marciano retires as the only undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the world with a perfect record
Elvis Presley enters the US music charts for the first time, with ” Heartbreak Hotel. ” the first of 170 hit singles
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time
Elvis Presley’s first movie, “Love Me Tender” opens in New York
Diamonds Are Forever is published by Ian Fleming
“My Fair Lady” opens on Broadway starring Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins.
The first half-hour serial “As the World Turns” begins on CBS.
Popular Films
Guys and Dolls
The King and I
Trapeze
High Society
Around the World in Eighty Days