 The AARP Class of 2008 (Celebrity Birthdays) |  PRICES for 1958 | What A Year It Was! 1958 | Turning 50? Know somebody who is? CLICK HERE for some books on being 50. |
Note: Music History and Song Lists for 1958 are located HERE
 | By now, more than 45 million American households have television sets. |
 | The John Birch Society, a radical anti-Communist organization, is created in the U.S. |
| Dr. Zhivago is published in the US. Banned in the USSR, Zhivago won author Boris Pasternak the Nobel Prize which he was forced to decline due to political forces at home. |
| The price of 1st class US postage is raised to 4¢ from 3¢ where it had been for 26 years. Hard to believe – only a penny in 26 years! |
| Charles de Gaulle becomes premier of France, a position he will hold until 1969. |
| The Jolly Green Giant appears on TV with less than stellar results! In his first incarnation he looks like a monster which scares kids. So they lightened him up and added “Ho, ho, ho” and the lilting “Good things from the garden” song. |
| Modern consumer credit is born. The American Express Company introduces a charge card meant to compete with the successful Diners Club card. The Bank of American introduces the BankAmericard, which will become the Visa card. |
| Crest toothpaste inaugurates the “Look, Ma! No cavities!” ad campaign. |
| Eighteen-year-old Frank Carney sees a story in the Saturday Evening Post about the “pizza fad” among teenagers and college students. With $600 borrowed from his mother, he opens the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kan. |
| On the Air! You’d find 3,156 AM radio, 537 FM radio and 492 TV Stations. |
| 31.3% of all domestic passenger travel was by railroad; 27.7% by bus; and 38% by air. |
| 30.6% of all advertising dollars are spent on newspapers – 13.3% on TV. Complete allocation of ad dollars. |
| It’s Here! The Hula Hoop! For more, see the FADS section. |
| Sweet n’ Low is introduced as an artificial Sweetener, using saccharin instead of sugar. Sweet’N Low received U.S. trademark patent no. 1,000,000. |
| UP & International News Service merge into United Press International |
| Vice President Richard Nixon is shoved, stoned, booed & spat upon by protesters in Peru as he makes a goodwill tour of South and Latin American. |
| And the winner is…Oscar stuff. |
| NASA is created and Explorer is launched. A big year for the US in the Space Race. |
| RIAA awards the very first Gold record – to Perry Como. Some gold album stats. |
| The first ever Grammy Awards! see the winners |
| In Sports… |
| Sterophonic recordings, which use two separately recorded channels of sound to recreate a sense of space, come into commercial use. Now this is progress! |
| Friskees introduces the first dry cat food |
| Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi patron saint of television. Her placement on the television set is said to guarantee good reception. Maybe I should send one to my cable operator. |
| Pope Pius XII dies. Angelo G Roncalli crowned Pope John XXIII. |
| Harry Winston, Inc. donates the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution. |
| This is the peak year for drive-in movies with 4,063 outdoor screens nationwide. |
| In the worst recession since World War II, nearly 5.5 million people are out of work. |
| 400 million frozen pot pies are sold in the U.S. There’s a statistic you won’t see just anywhere. |
| The first women are admitted to the British House of Lords. Oh, jolly good! |
| Bill and Mark Richards of Dana Point, CA, invented the first skateboard. They attached rollerskate wheels to a square board and sold them at their Val Surf Shop for $8 each. |
| The first domestic jet-airline passenger service is begun by National Airlines between New York City and Miami. |
| 9,000 scientists of 43 nations petition UN for nuclear test ban. |
| Prime commercial paper (4 to 6 mos) was at 2.46%. In New York City a commercial loan ran 4.12% |
| Pulitzer prize awarded to James Agee for his book Death in the Family Buy the book! |
| Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, CO. The all male facility won’t go co-ed unto 1976. |
| Mao Tse tung starts “Great leap forward” movement in China |
| Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate go on their killing spree. |
| The nuclear submarine Nautilus traverses the North Pole under the polar icecap. |
| The National Association of Broadcasters bans subliminal ads. Read the important story. |
| Cocoa Krispies breakfast food is introduced by the Kellogg Company; it’s 45.9% sugar. |
| This year in the Civil Rights movement. |
| There is a 55.9% business failure rate.Chart for 1946-1964 |
| The Chevrolet Impala is introduced! |
| Dr Ake Senning installs the first pacemaker. |
| There are 36,981 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 8 accidents resulting in 125 fatalities. |
| There are 37,955 motor vehicle related deaths. While in the air, there were 6 accidents resulting in 88 fatalities. |
| Unemployment is 6.8% |
| U.S. GNP (Gross National Product) is $468.3 billion |
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