Also Within This Year in History:
1957
In 1957, the Soviet Union shot its Sputnik satellite into orbit, launching a space race with the U.S. The Little Rock Nine integrated an Arkansas high school to fierce local opposition, forcing President Eisenhower to send in federal troops to escort them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such law since Reconstruction. In Liverpool, England, 16-year-old John Lennon and 15-year-old Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church fair. In the U.S., frisbees flew into popularity.
On January 3, 1957 Dalip Singh Saund is sworn in as the congressional representative of California’s 29th district. Known to many as “Judge,” and also nicknamed “the Peacemaker,” he is…
In response to the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a proposal to Congress that calls for a new and more proactive U.S. policy…
On January 23, 1957, machines at the Wham‑O toy company roll out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs—now known to millions of fans all over the world as…
On February 10, 1957, Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the best‑selling Little House series of children’s novels based on her childhood on the American frontier, dies at age 90 in…
Noam Chomsky presents his groundbreaking theory about human speech with the publishing of Syntactic Structures on February 14, 1957 (although some scholars debate the exact date). The book launches his…
Following Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Egyptian territory, the Suez Canal is reopened to international traffic. However, the canal was so littered with wreckage from the Suez Crisis that it took…
With a $1,000 cash deposit against a sale price of $102,500, Elvis Presley agrees to purchase the home called Graceland on March 19, 1957. In the spring of 1957, Elvis…
On March 25, 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg sign a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market.…
The U.S. Customs Department confiscates 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl, which had been printed in England. Officials alleged that the book was obscene. City Lights, a publishing company…
On April 22, 1957, John Irvin Kennedy becomes the first African American player on the Philadelphia Phillies, fully integrating the National League 10 years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League…
Senator Joseph McCarthy (R‑Wisconsin) succumbs to illness exacerbated by alcoholism and passes away at age 48. McCarthy had been a key figure in the anticommunist hysteria popularly known as the…
On May 12, 1957, during the famed Mille Miglia motorsport endurance race in Italy, Ferrari driver Alfonso de Portago dies in a horrific crash. The accident, which killed the 28‑year‑old…
On May 12, 1957, race car driver A.J. Foyt (1935‑ ) scores his first professional victory, in a U.S. Automobile Club (USAC) midget car race in Kansas City, Missouri. A…
On May 28, 1957, National League owners vote unanimously to allow the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to move to San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively, at the mid‑season…
On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson claims the women’s singles tennis title at Wimbledon and becomes the first African American to win a championship at London’s All England Lawn Tennis…
On July 6, 1957, two Liverpool music‑minded teenagers named John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time in a church auditorium. It would be the start of one…
On July 12, 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first president to ride in the newest advance in aviation technology: the helicopter. Although experimental military helicopters had been tested since…
On August 5, 1957, TV’s “American Bandstand” began broadcasting nationally beaming images of clean‑cut, average teenagers dancing to the not‑so‑clean‑cut Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” to 67…
On August 17, 1957, Alice Roth experiences what surely is one of the worst days any spectator has had at a Major League Baseball game. After being struck by a…
The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired “into any part of the world.” The announcement caused great concern in…
