 The AARP Class of 2006 (Celebrity Birthdays) |  PRICES for 1956 |  1956 What a Year it Was |
Note: Music History and Song Lists for 1956 are located HERE
 | Pepsodent inaugurates “You’ll wonder where the yellow went” ad campaign |
 | The U.S. Department of Agriculture formulates the four basic food groups. (I’m sure there would have been five – but Chicken McNuggets hadn’t been invented yet.) |
| Federal minimum wage rises to $1. |
| At a Fourth of July family barbecue, Milton Levine dreams up the idea for the first Ant Farm, complete with live ants |
| Yahtzee is born! |
| Nate Sherman of Chicago establishes Midas and introduces the muffler guarantee – Hugh Landrum signs agreement to open first Midas Muffler shop in Macon, Georgia. |
| The Andrea Doria sinks |
| 200,000 Soviet troops and tanks crush anti-Communist uprisings in Hungary |
| Budweiser Brewery introduces Busch beer |
| As the World Turns and Edge of Night premiere. |
| On the Air! You’d find 2,790 AM radio, 540 FM radio and 442 TV Stations. |
| Los Alamos Laboratory discovers the neutrino, an atomic particle with no electric charge. |
| Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a highly publicized Monte Carlo wedding on April 19. |
| At a reception in the Kremlin, Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev tells ambassadors from the West, “History is on our side. We will bury you!” |
| A busy year for Nikita – The Soviet Union sends troops and tanks to occupy Hungary to put down anti-Soviet protests. Why? Hungary is the best place from which to launch mid-range ballistic missiles and Soviets can’t afford to let the natives think independence. |
| Choosy mothers can now choose – Jif Peanut Butter! Some fun facts! |
| Dash laundry detergent – gets clothes cleaner than any other product especially made for automatic washers! |
| President Eisenhower (R) is re-elected defeating Adlai E Stevenson (D). |
| And the winner is…Oscar stuff. |
| Britain abolishes death penality. |
| Certs, the first candy breath mint, is introduced. |
| Anti-protons detected in the atmosphere. |
| In Sports… |
| Admiral George Dufek, as part of Operation Deep Freeze, is the first American to land an airplane at the South Pole. |
| My Fair Lady opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York and enjoyed a run of 2,717 performances over nine years. The original production featured Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and Julie Andrews as Eliza. Buy on Movie DVD |
| Wizard of Oz first aired on TV. Buy on Movie DVD |
| Elvis Presley makes his television debut on CBS Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show. The Fifties Web Elvis Pages |
| The Dow Jones Industrial Average marks a new high – 500.24 points. |
| The after-tax income of the average American is $1700, up $63 from 1955. The average weekly take-home for a worker with three dependents is $74.04. |
| Albert Woolson, the last Union soldier of the Civil War dies at age 109. The last Confederate soldier, Walter Williams will die in 1959. |
| And while we’re on passings…Samuel J. Seymour , the last eyewitness to the death of Abraham Lincoln dies. |
| Marilyn Monroe marries Arthur Miller. |
| Finally, a law is passed allowing the FBI to enter a kidnapping case 24 hours after the abduction. Before, it was local matter. |
| A dollar buys only as much food in 1956 as 41¢ bought in 1939. |
| A big year as momentum builds in the quest for Civil Rights. |
| The first transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation (Newfoundland-Scotland) |
| Americans exported 700 million cases of canned goods. And no doubt called it “cuisine.” |
| The gross national product is $408 billion. |
| 650,000 US steel workers go on strike. |
| Unemployment is 4.2% |
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