Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
Class of 1959
This is a countdown to the 50th Reunion planned May 15-16, 2009. Below, you'll (eventually) find a summary of each year from 1955-1959. I started on an earlier page with 1955, continue below with 1956 and will be adding info for each month of each year until we reach the June 5, 2009 anniversary of our graduation. At the bottom of the page, I've included links to websites where you'll find gobs of more info on whatever year you're interested in that I discovered while researching these countdown pages.
If the menus above don't work for you, try the text menu at the bottom of the page
Quick-Look at 1956
Like all the lists of important events, movies, etc. that I found, this one may be tainted by my own preferences. Check the links at the bottom of the page to read the lists of others. Click these links for details on months: JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY,
WIKIPEDIA 1956 MAJOR EVENT SUMMARY - CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST:
* January 16 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
* January 26 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
* February 22 - Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel."
* February 23 - Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of
personality."
* March 2 - Morocco declares its independence from France.
* March 12 - United Kingdom abolishes death penalty for murder
* March 15 - The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
* March 20 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
* March 23 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic.
* April 7 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
* April 9 - Habib Bouirgiba is elected prime minister of Tunisia.Confirmation needed
* April 14 - Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB convention in Chicago by Ampex.
* April 19 - Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.Confirmation needed
* early May - The Methodist Church in America decides at its General Conference to grant women
full ordained clergy status.
* May 8 - Austria and Israel form diplomatic relations.
* May 8 - Constitutional union between Indonesia and Netherlands is dissolved.
* May 21 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated.
* June 1 - Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as a foreign minister of Soviet Union.
* June 14 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the phrase "under God" should be added to
the Pledge of Allegiance
* June 23 - Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes the second president of Egypt.
* June 29 - Actress Marilyn Monroe marries the playwright Arthur Miller.
* July 4 - The inventor of the Ant Farm came up with the idea while at an ant-infested picnic.
* 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.
* August 17 - West Germany bans communist party
* October 15 - Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Mexico enroute to Santiago de
Cuba aboard ship Granma with 82 men. After the ship passes a storm, it lands on
Belici, Cuba, December 2
* October 29 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back
toward the Suez Canal.
* October 31 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the
reopening of the Suez Canal.
* November 4 - 1956 Hungarian Revolution: 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 - Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected.
* 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.
* November 16 - Israel is denounced by UN
* November 22 - Beginning of the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
* November 23 - Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
* December 2 - Fidel Castro and his followers land on Cuba in the boat Granma.
* December 12 - Japan becomes member of the United Nations.
* December 23 - British and French troops leave Suez Canal region
1956 TOP MOVIES (CLICK PHOTOS FOR MORE DETAILS):
* Anastasia, Around the World in 80 Days, Bus Stop, Carousel, Forbidden Planet, Friendly Persuasion, Giant, Lust for Life, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Moby Dick, plus those pictured below.
CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR MORE DETAILS
COUNTDOWN TO THE 50TH REUNION OF THE CLASS OF '59
LINKS TO WEBSITES WITH GOBS OF MORE 1956 INFO
Click Photo below to pause scrolling
WANT TO HEAR SOME GREAT 1955-59 SONGS?
CLICK THE JUKEBOX!
THEN, CLICK BACK HERE AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY IN THE BACKGROUND
JUKEBOX COURTESY OF TROPICALGLEN.COM
Here is where the links will live - If they ain't italic & underlined, they ain't active yet!
