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January 1 - End of Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan.

January 8 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.

January 16 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.

January 25-26 - Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala after Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4.

January 26 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

January 26 - The United Kingdom bans heroin.

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February 22 - Elvis Presley enters the United States music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel."

February 23 - Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of personality."

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March 1 - the International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.

March 2 - Morocco declares its independence from France.

March 9 - British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus to Seychelles.

March 12 - 96 U.S. Congressmen sign the Southern Manifesto, a protest against the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Brown vs. Board of Education) 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 15 - 2,000th anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar

March 19 - At age 48, Dutch boxer Bep van Klaveren contests his last match in Rotterdam.

March 20 - Tunisia gains independence from France.

March 23 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic and a national holiday is observed in the country included the former East Pakistan state.

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April 7 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.

April 9 - Habib Bourgiba is elected prime minister of Tunisia.

April 14 - Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB (now NAB) convention in Chicago by Ampex. It was the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex.

April 17 - Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated Chew Valley Lake.

April 19 - British diver Lionel Crabb dives into the Portsmouth harbor to investigate visiting Soviet cruiser and vanishes.

April 19 - Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

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May 2 - The Methodist Church in America decides at its General Conference to grant women full ordained clergy status. It also calls for an end to segregation in the denomination.

May 8 - Austria and Israel form diplomatic relations.

May 8 - Constitutional union between Indonesia and Netherlands is dissolved.

May 9 - First ascent of Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world.

May 18 - First ascent of Lhotse (main), fourth highest mountain.

May 21 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.

May 23 - French minister Pierre Mendès-France resigns due to his government's policy on Algeria.

May 24 - The first Eurovision Song Contest is broadcast from Lugano, Switzerland. The winning song is Refrain by Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, text by Émile Gardaz).

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June 1 - Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as a foreign minister of Soviet Union; he later becomes ambassador in Mongolia.

June 3 - British Rail renamed 'Third Class' passenger facilities as 'Second Class' (Second Class facilities had been abolished in 1875, leaving just First Class and Third Class).

June 6 - In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall resigns after breakdown of talks about internal self government in London.

June 8 - General Electric/Telechron introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", first snooze alarm clock ever.

June 10 - 1956 Summer Olympics: Equestrian events open in Stockholm, Sweden. (All other events held in November in Melbourne, Australia.)

June 14 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the phrase "under God" should be added to the Pledge of Allegiance

June 18 - Last foreign troops leave Egypt.

June 23 - Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes the second president of Egypt.

June 28 - MP Sydney Silverman's bill for abolition of death penalty passes the British House of Commons.

June 28 - Labour riots at Poznań, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life. Soviet troops fire at crowd that protests high prices - 53 dead.

June 29 - Actress Marilyn Monroe marries the playwright Arthur Miller.

June 29 - 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 and crash. All 128 people aboard the two aircraft are killed in the disaster. The accident prompts tighter air traffic control to be implemented in the United States.

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July 8 - First ascent of Gasherbrum II.

July 10 - British House of Lords defeats the abolition of death penalty.

July 24 - At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together which started on July 25, 1946.

July 25 - 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS ''Andrea Doria'' sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship SS ''Stockholm'' in heavy fog, killing 51.

July 26 - Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation.

July 30 - A Joint Resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto.

July 31 - Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first class match (the previous best was seventeen).

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Exhibition This is Tomorrow at Whitechapel Art Gallery

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 17 - West Germany bans Communist Party of Germany

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September 21 Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia is hit by fire from the weapon of a single gun man Rigoberto Lopez Perez during a ball at the House of the Official Workers Union in León -second largest city of Nicaragua. Somoza had been in power since 1936. He was known to have ordered the assassination of guerrilla leader Augusto César Sandino in 1934. Somoza died later on September 29. His son Luis Somoza took over power since he was ruling head of the parliament.

September 25 - Submarine Transatlantic telephone cable opened

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October 8 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the first, and only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yogi Berra caught the game. Dale Mitchell was the final out. The New York Yankees won the series.

October 10 - Finland joins UNESCO

October 14 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers. See Neo-Buddhism.

October 15 - RAF retires its last Lancaster bomber

October 15 - Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Mexico enroute to Santiago de Cuba aboard the yacht Granma with 82 men. After the ship passes a storm, it lands at Belici, Cuba, on December 2

October 17 - The 13 years old Bobby Fischer beaten GM Donald Byrne in the NY Rosenwald chess tournament (The Game of the Century).

October 23 - Hungarian revolution against the pro-Soviet government. Soviet Union intervenes. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact.

October 26 - Red Army troops invade Hungary.

October 29 - The Huntley-Brinkley Report debuts on NBC-TV.

October 29 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.

October 29 - Tangier Protocol signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.

October 29 - The first hard disk drive (5MB) is born at IBM.

October 31 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

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November 1 - the States Reorganisation Act of India reformed the boundaries and names of Indian states.

November 3 - MGM's screen classic, The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), is shown on television for the first time by CBS.

November 4 - 1956 Hungarian Revolution: more Soviet troops invade Hungary to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1956: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier.

November 6 - Enoch A. Holtwick defeated as presidential candidate of Prohibition Party.

November 7 - Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately.

November 14 - Fighting ends in Hungary.

November 15 - Middle East Technical University founded in Ankara, Turkey.

November 16 - Israel is denounced by UN

November 20 - In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Djilas is arrested after he criticized Josip Broz Tito

November 22 - Beginning of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

November 23 - Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.

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December 2 - Fidel Castro and his followers land on Cuba in the boat Granma.

December 2 - A pipe bomb explodes at a movie theater in Brooklyn (work of George Metesky), injuring six people.

December 5 - Rose Heilbron becomes Britain's first female judge

December 12 - Japan becomes member of the United Nations.

December 23 - British and French troops leave Suez Canal region

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Eindhoven University of Technology founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Minamata disease discovered

Founding of the Alpine Club of Canada, Toronto section (who have their own site)

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January 1 - Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)

January 3 - Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director

January 4 - Bernard Sumner, British guitarist (Joy Division and New Order)

January 5 - Chen Kenichi, Japanese chef

January 7 - David Caruso, American actor

January 9 - Imelda Staunton, British actress

January 10 - Shawn Colvin, American singer

January 14 - Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor

January 16 - Martin Jol, Dutch football manager

January 17 - Paul Young, English musician

January 17 - Steve Harvey, American actor

January 20 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst

January 21 - Geena Davis, American actress

January 27 - Mimi Rogers, American actress

January 31 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)

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February 3 - Nathan Lane, American actor

February 11 - Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist

February 13 - Peter Hook, British bassist (Joy Division and New Order)

February 14 - Tom Burlinson, Australian actor

February 15 - Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer

February 18 - Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player

February 19 - Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

February 24 - Paula Zahn, American television journalist

February 25 - Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 1995)

February 26 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician

February 28 - Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born footballer

February 29 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician

February 29 - Aileen Carol Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)

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March 11 - Rob Paulsen, American voice actor

March 12 - Steve Harris, British bass player, founding member of Iron Maiden

March 21 - Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner

March 24 - Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft

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April 3 - Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian

April 4 - Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician

April 4 - David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer

April 6 - Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer

April 12 - Andy Garcia, American actor

April 13 - Peter 'Possum' Bourne, New Zealand rally car driver (d. 2003)

April 13 - Alison Wheeler, British activist

April 14 - Barbara Bonney, American soprano

April 16 - David M. Brown, astronaut (d. 2003)

April 16 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier

April 19 - Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter

April 21 - Phillip Longman, American demographer

April 23 - Judy Davis, Australian actress

April 26 - Koo Stark, British actress

April 28 - Jimmy Barnes, Australian musician

April 30 - Jorge Chaminé, Portuguese baritone

April 30 - Lars von Trier, Danish film director

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May 4 - David Guterson, American writer

May 4 - Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper

May 7 - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

May 11 - Andrew Hidalgo, American entrepreneur

May 13 - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru

May 13 - Steve Blackwood, American actor and musician

May 15 - Dan Patrick, American sportscaster

May 16 - Olga Korbut, Russian gymnast

May 17 - Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer

May 17 - Bob Saget, American actor

May 20 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author

May 23 - Buck Showalter, baseball player and manager

May 23 - Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician

May 24 - Michael Jackson, Irish Anglican bishop

May 28 - Jerry Douglas, American dobro player

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June 6 - Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player

June 9 - Patricia Cornwell, American novelist

June 11 - Joe Montana, American football player

June 23 - Glenn Danzig, American musician (Danzig)

June 23 - Randy Jackson, American musician

June 25 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)

June 27 - Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player

June 30 - Ronald Winans, American musician (d. 2005)

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July 2 - Jerry Hall, American model and actress

July 6 - Casey Sander, American actor

July 9 - Tom Hanks, American actor

July 11 - Sela Ward, American actress

July 14 - King Diamond, Danish heavy metal musician

July 15 - Ian Curtis, British musician (Joy Division) (d. 1980)

July 15 - Barry Melrose, Canadian hockey player, coach, and commentator

July 15 - Marky Ramone American drummer (The Ramones)

July 16 - Tony Kushner, American playwright

July 27 - Robert Kirkpatrick, American animator and Jeopardy! contestant

July 31 - Michael Biehn, American actor

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August 5 - Maureen McCormick, American actress

August 14 - Rusty Wallace, American race car driver

August 20 - Joan Allen, American actress

August 21 - Kim Cattrall, Canadian actress

August 22 - Paul Molitor, baseball player

August 23 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)

August 24 - John Culberson, American politician

August 29 - Mark Morris, American choreographer

August 31 - Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer

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September 11 - Phil Bissett, American politician

September 12 - Ricky Rudd, American race car driver

September 14 - Costas Caramanlis, Greek politician

September 14 - Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach

September 16 - Mickey Rourke, American actor

September 16 - David Copperfield, American illusionist

September 20 - Gary Cole, American actor

September 21 - Jack Givens, American basketball player

September 22 - Masayuki Suzuki, Japanese singer (Rats & Star)

September 26 - Linda Hamilton, American actress

September 29 - Sebastian Coe, British athlete, co-ordinator of London 2012 Olympic Games

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October 10 - Amanda Burton, Irish actress

October 11 - Nicanor Duarte Frutos, President of Paraguay

October 17 - Mae Jemison, astronaut

October 18 - Martina Navratilova, Czech-born tennis player

October 19 - Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)

October 23 - Dwight Yoakam, country singer/musician and actor

October 28 - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian president

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November 18 - Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (d. 1995)

November 18 - Warren Moon, American football player

November 21 - Ed Kaz, American journalist

November 23 - Shane Gould, Australian swimmer

November 26 - Dale Jarrett, American race car driver

November 27 - William Fichtner, American actor

November 28 - Lucy Gutteridge, British actress

November 29 - Leo Laporte, American author and television host

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December 5 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist

December 5 - Brian Backer, American actor

December 6 - Peter Buck, American guitarist (R.E.M.)

December 6 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne) (d. 1982)

December 7 - Larry Bird, American basketball player

December 8 - Warren Cuccurullo, American musician (Missing Persons and Duran Duran)

December 12 - Johan Van der Velde, Dutch cyclist

December 17 - Mike Mills, American guitarist (R.E.M.)

December 18 - Ron White, American comedian

December 23 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver

December 23 - Dave Murray, British guitarist

December 26 - David Sedaris, American essayist

December 28 - Nigel Kennedy, English violinist

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Ronan Bennett, Irish writer

Shelagh Rogers, Canadian radio host

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January 3 - Alexander Grechaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)

January 3 - Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)

January 5 - Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)

January 13 - Lyonel Charles Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)

January 18 - Konstantin Päts, President of Estonia (b. 1874)

January 21 - Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)

January 24 - Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)

January 27 - Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)

January 29 - H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)

January 31 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)

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February 8 - Connie Mack, baseball executive and manager (b. 1862)

February 18 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)

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March 17 - Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)

March 20 - Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer (b. 1889)

March 20 - Wilhelm Miklas, Austrian politician and third President of Austria

March 25 - Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)

March 30 - Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English inventor (b. 1875)

March 31 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (b. 1884)

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April 19 - Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886)

April 30 - Alben Barkley, Vice-President of the United States (b. 1877)

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May 12 - Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)

May 17 - Austin Osman Spare, English magician (b. 1886)

May 18 - Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)

May 20 - Max Beerbohm, English theater critic (b. 1872)

May 26 - Al Simmons, baseball player (b. 1902)

May 31 - Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist (b. 1875)

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June 17 - Paul Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b. 1892)

June 22 - Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1873)

June 23 - Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875)

June 26 - Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter (auto accident) (b. 1930)

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July 7 - Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)

July 8 - Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet, novelist (b. 1881)

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August 2 - Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)

August 11 - Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)

August 14 - Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898)

August 16 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born film actor (b. 1882)

August 23 - Peaches Browning, American actress (b. 1910)

August 25 - Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b. 1894)

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September 22 - Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)

September 27 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete and golfer (b. 1911)

September 29 - Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (b. 1896)

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October 12 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)

October 19 - Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)

October 26 - Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)

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November 24 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)

November 26 - Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and bandleader (b. 1905)

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December 6 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian untouchable leader (b. 1891)

December 7 - Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)

December 16 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)

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James Alexander Allan, Australian poet (b. 1889)

James Cousins, Irish writer (b. 1873)

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Physics - William Bradford Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain

Chemistry - Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov

Physiology or Medicine - André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards

Literature - Juan Ramón Jiménez

Peace - not awarded

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List of ship launches in 1956

List of ship commissionings in 1956

List of ship decommissionings in 1956