- February 6
- University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black). [1]
- February 15
- Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham, Alabama, because of local ordinance barring blacks from playing against whites. [1]
- February 28
- Thirteen die in a train crash in Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
- February 29
- In Centerville, South Dakota, USA a building is hit by a falling meteorite. [521]
- US President Dwight Eisenhower announces he would seek a second term. [1]
- March 12
- Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for first time (500.24). [1]
- March 15
- My Fair Lady opens at Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City for 2,715 performances. [1]
- March 17
- In Hollywood, California, the 8th Annual Emmy Awards are presented.
- Best Action or Adventure Series: Disneyland
- Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series: Phil Silvers for The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series: Lucille Ball for I Love Lucy
- Best Audience Participation Series: The $64,000 Question
- Best Children's Series: Lassie
- Best Comedian: Phil Silvers
- Best Comedienne: Nanette Fabray
- Best Contributing to Daytime Programming: Matinee Theatre
- Best Documentary Program: Omnibus
- Best Dramatic Program: Producers' Showcase
- Best Female Singer: Dinah Shore
- Best Male Singer: Perry Como
- Best MC or Program Host - Male or Female: Perry Como
- Best Music Series: Your Hit Parade
- Best News Commentator or Reporter: Edward R. Murrow
- Best Situation Comedy: The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series: Art Carney for The Honeymooners
- Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series: Nanette Fabray for Caesar's Hour
- Best Variety Program: Toast of the Town.
[1] [171]
- March 21
- 28th Academy Awards: Marty, Ernest Borgnine and Anna Magnani win. [1]
- March 27
- US seizes American communist newspaper Daily Worker. [1]
- April 1
- 10th Tony Awards: Diary of Anne Frank and Damn Yankees win. [1]
- April 8
- Six marine recruits drown during exercise at Paradise Island, South Carolina, USA. [1]
- April 11
- Singer Nat Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham (Alabama) theater by whites. [1]
- April 14
- Ampex Corp demonstrates first commercial videotape recorder at the 1956 NARTB convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1] [5]
- April 23
- US Supreme court ends race segregation on buses. [1]
- May 1
- The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public. [5]
- May 2
- US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus. [1]
- US Methodist church disallows race separation. [1]
- May 4
- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak. [1]
- May 20
- Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll. [1]
- May 21
- US explodes first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll. [1]
- May 23
- Presbyterian Church begins accepting women ministers. [1]
- World Trade Center dedicated in Ferry Building, San Francisco, California. [1]
- May 26
- US Navy aircraft carrier Bennington burns off Rhode Island, killing 103. [1]
- May 27
- US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests). [1]
- May 28
- US President Dwight Eisenhower signs farm bill allowing government to store agricultural surplus. [1]
- May 30
- US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests). [1]
- June 5
- US Federal court rules racial segregation on Montgomery (Alabama) buses anti-Constitutional. [1]
- June 28
- First atomic reactor built for private research operates in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1]
- June 29
- The US Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System. [1] [5]
- July 4
- Independence National Historical Park established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1]
- US most intense rainfall (1.23 inches in one minute) at Unionville, Maryland. [1]
- July 7
- Seven Army trucks loaded with dynamite explode in the middle of California, killing 1,100-1,200, destroying 2,000 buildings. [1]
- July 23
- Bell X-2 rocket plane sets world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph. [1]
- July 25
- (11:20 PM) Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria (29,000 tons) collides with Swedish-American Line steamship M.S. Stockholm (12,600 tons) in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Nantucket, USA. The Andrea Doria is struck midship; the Stockholm loses a portion of its bow, with the loss of five lives. (The Andrea Doria sinks the next day, with the loss of 49 lives.) [7] [260.103]
- July 30
- "In God We Trust" is established as the U.S. national motto. [1] [5]
- August 9
- Alabama begins the first US state-wide, state-supported educational TV network. [1]
- August 16
- Adlai E Stevenson nominated as Democratic US presidential candidate. [1]
- August 22
- US President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon are renominated by Republican convention in San Francisco, California. [1]
- August 24
- First non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrives in Washington DC. [1]
- September 5
- 20 die in a train crash in Springer, New Mexico, USA. [1]
- September 7
- Bell X-2 sets unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000+ feet. [1]
- September 9
- Elvis Presley appears on national TV for first time (Ed Sullivan Show). [1]
- September 13
- In the USA, IBM introduces the IBM 350 Disk File, the first hard drive, as part of the IBM RAMAC 305 computer. The drive features fifty double-sided 24-inch diameter platters, served by one arm and one read/write head. Capacity is about 5MB, and transfer rate is 8800 characters per second. [4]
- September 14
- First prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC. [1]
- September 25
- TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system, is inaugurated. [1] [5]
- September 27
- Milburn Apt in X-2 rocket plane reaches 3370 kph, but dies in crash. [1]
- October 2
- First atomic power clock exhibited-New York City. [1]
- October 16
- William J Brennan Jr becomes a US Supreme Court Justice. [1]
- October 23
- First video recording on magnetic tape televised in USA, coast-to-coast. [1]
- October 31
- Rear Admiral G. J. Dufek becomes the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole. [1] [5]
- November 6
- US President Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) re-elected defeating Adlai E Stevenson (Democrat). [1]
- November 13
- US Supreme Court strikes down segregation of races on public buses. [1]
- December 8
- First test firing of the Vanguard satellite program, TV-0. [1]
- December 20
- Montgomery, Alabama, removes race-based seat assignments on its buses. [1]
- December 22
- Birth of Cojo in Columbus, Ohio, USA; first gorilla born in captivity. [1] [129]
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