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Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar).
[edit] Events of 1957
[edit] January
- January 1 - The Saarland joins West Germany.
- January 1 - An Irish Republican Army attack on the Brookeborough police barracks leads to the deaths of Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon.
- January 1 - Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini suffers the stroke that leads to his death a little over 2 weeks later.
- January 2 - The San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge to form the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.
- January 3 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
- January 4 - After 69 years the last issue of Collier's Weekly Magazine is published.
- January 5 - Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be dismissed for having handled the ball in test match cricket.
- January 6 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the 3rd and final time. He is only shown from the waist up, even during the gospel segment, singing "Peace In The Valley". Ed Sullivan describes Elvis thus: "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you. You're thoroughly all right."
- January 9 - British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns.
- January 10 - Harold Macmillan becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- January 11 - The African Convention is founded in Dakar.
- January 13 - Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee.
- January 16 - The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool.
- January 20 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
- January 22 - Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula (captured from Egypt on October 29, 1956).
- January 22 - The New York City "Mad Bomber," George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and is charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
- January 23 - Ku Klux Klan members force truck driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into the Alabama River; he drowns as a result.
- January 26 - The Ibirapuera Planetarium (the first in the Southern Hemisphere) is inaugurated in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.
- January 31 - Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the 8 persons killed following a mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet, in the skies above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.
[edit] February
Flag of Ghana, the first country in colonial Africa to gain independence
- July - The International Geophysical Year begins.
- July - The University of Waterloo is founded in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
- July 6 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the very first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, 3 years before forming the Beatles.
- July 9 - Elvis Presley's Loving You opens in theaters.
- July 11 - His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan becomes the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims at age 20. His grandfather Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan III appoints Prince Karim in his will.
- July 16 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies an F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds, setting a new transcontinental speed record.
- July 25 - Tunisia becomes a republic, with Habib Bourguiba its first president.
- July 28 - The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students, a high point of The Thaw, kicks off in Moscow.
- July 28 - Heavy rains and mudslides at Isahaya, western Kyūshū, Japan kill 992.
- July 28 - A strong earthquake shakes Mexico City and Mexican port city Acapulco.
- July 29 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
[edit] August
[edit] September
[edit] October
- October 2 - David Lean's film The Bridge on the River Kwai opens in the UK.
- October 4 - Space Age - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.
- October 4 - Canada's Avro Arrow is unveiled to the public.
- October 9 - Neil H. McElroy is sworn in as United States Secretary of Defense.
- October 10 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
- October 11 - The Jodrell Bank Radio telescope opens in Cheshire, UK.
- October 11 - The orbit of the last stage of the R-7 Semyorka rocket (carrying Sputnik I) is first successfully calculated on an IBM 704 computer by teams at The M.I.T. Computation Center and Operation Moonwatch, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- October 21 - Two trains collide in Turkey; 95 die.
- October 21 - The U.S. military sustains its first combat fatality in Vietnam, Army Capt. Hank Cramer of the 1st Special Forces Group.
- October 23 - Morocco begins its invasion of Ifni.
- October 25 - Mafia boss Albert Anastasia is assassinated in a barber shop, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City.
- October 27 - Celal Bayar is re-elected president of Turkey.
- October 31 - Toyota begins exporting vehicles to the U.S., beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser
[edit] November
[edit] December
[edit] Undated
[edit] Ongoing
[edit] Environmental change
[edit] Births
[edit] January
- January 1 - Ewa Kasprzyk, Polish actress
- January 1 - Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
- January 4 - Charles Allen, British television magnate
- January 6 - Nancy Lopez, American golfer
- January 7 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist
- January 7 - Katie Couric, American television host
- January 7 - Hannu Kamppuri, Finnish ice hockey goaltender
- January 7 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer
- January 9 - Bibie, Ghanaian singer
- January 11 - Bryan Robson, English footballer
- January 12 - John Lasseter, American director, writer, and animator
- January 13 - Lorrie Moore, American writer
- January 14 - Anchee Min, Chinese writer
- January 15 - Mario Van Peebles, American actor and director
- January 15 - Patrick Dixon, British business guru and author
- January 17 - Steve Harvey, American actor
- January 21 - Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
- January 22 - Mike Bossy, Canadian hockey player
- January 22 - Rene Requiestas, Filipino comedian (d. 1993)
- January 22 - Godfrey Thoma, Nauruan politician
- January 23 - Princess Caroline of Monaco
- January 24 - Adrian Edmondson, British comedian
- January 27 - Janick Gers, British rock guitarist (Iron Maiden)
- January 29 - Grazyna Miller, Polish poet
- January 30 - Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
[edit] February
- February 2 - Phil Barney, French singer
- February 4 - Don Davis, American composer
- February 4 - Elaine Carbines, Member of the Australian Labor Party
- February 5 - Jackie Woodburne, Australian actress
- February 6 - Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
- February 8 - Cindy Wilson, American rock singer (The B-52's)
- February 9 - Gordon Strachan, Scottish footballer and manager
- February 16 - LeVar Burton, American actor
- February 16 - James Ingram, American singer
- February 18 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
- February 18 - Marita Koch, German athlete
- February 19 - Falco, Austrian rock musician (d. 1998)
- February 20 - Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey coach
- February 27 - Viktor Markin, Russian athlete
- February 27 - Adrian Smith, British rock guitarist (Iron Maiden)
- February 28 - Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer
- March 3 - Eric Walters, Canadian author
- March 4 - Rick Mast, American NASCAR driver
- March 4 - Jim Dwyer, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner
- March 5 - Ray Suarez, American journalist
- March 9 - Mona Sahlin, Swedish politician
- March 10 - Osama bin Laden, Saudi-born Islamic extremist
- March 10 - Matt Knudsen, American actor
- March 11 - Rob Paulsen, American voice actor
- March 17 - Mal Donaghy, Northern Irish footballer
- March 18 - György Pazdera, Hungarian rock bassist (Pokolgép)
- March 20 - Spike Lee, American film director and actor
- March 29 - Christopher Lambert, French actor
- March 31 - Marc McClure, American actor
- April 1 - J. Karjalainen, Finnish rock musician
- April 1 - Denise Nickerson, American child actress
- April 4 - Aki Kaurismäki, Finnish film director
- April 5 - Ivan Corea, Sri Lankan autism campaigner
- April 8 - Henry Cluney, Irish musician
- April 9 - Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer
- April 11 - Michael Card, American Christian musician
- April 12 - Suzzanne Douglass, American actress
- April 14 - Mikhail Pletnev, Russian pianist, conductor and composer
- April 18 - Genie (feral child), "Genie", American feral child
- April 22 - Vladimir Alexeyevich Smirnov, Russian businessman
- April 25 - Eric Bristow, English darts player
- April 27 - Michel Barrette, Canadian actor and stand-up comedian
- April 29 - Daniel Day-Lewis, English-born actor
- May 3 - William Clay Ford, Jr., American automobile executive
- May 3 - Jo Brand, English comedian
- May 10 - Sid Vicious, English rock bassist (Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
- May 14 - Big Van Vader, American professional wrestler
- May 15 - Juan José Ibarretxe, Basque Lehendakari (Prime Minister)
- May 17 - Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish rock singer and songwriter (Leevi and the Leavings) (d. 2003)
- May 21 - Judge Reinhold, American actor
- May 21 - Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
- May 22 - Gary Sweet, Australian actor
- May 22 - Shinji Morisue, Japanese gymnast
- May 23 - Jimmy McShane (aka Baltimora), Northern Irish dancer (d. 1995)
- May 24 - Walter Moers, German comic artist and writer
- May 26 - Margaret Colin, American actress
- May 26 - Pontso S.M. Sekatle, Lesotho academic and politician
- May 27 - Siouxsie Sioux, British rock singer (Siouxsie and the Banshees)
- May 28 - Kirk Gibson, American baseball player
- May 29 - Jeb Hensarling, American politician
- June 1 - Dorota Kędzierzawska, Polish film director
- June 2 - King Lizzard, American entertainer
- June 3 - Horst-Ulrich Hänel, German field hockey player
- June 7 - Juan Luis Guerra, Dominican singer and songwriter
- June 8 - Scott Adams, American cartoonist (Dilbert)
- June 10 - Hidetsugu Aneha, Japanese architect
- June 12 - Timothy Busfield, American actor
- June 12 - Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer
- June 15 - Seppo Pääkkönen, Finnish actor
- June 19 - Anna Lindh, Swedish politician (d. 2003)
- June 19 - Maxwell Fraiser, African-British rapper for Faithless, DJ
- June 23 - Frances McDormand, American actress
- June 27 - John Bolaris, American meteorologist
- June 27 - Georgi Parvanov, President of Bulgaria
- June 28 - Lance Nethery, Canadian ice hockey player
- July 1 - Hannu Kamppuri, Finnish ice hockey player
- July 2 - Bret Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
- July 3 - Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
- July 9 - Marc Almond, English singer
- July 9 - Kelly McGillis, American actress
- July 11 - Peter Murphy, British rock singer (Bauhaus)
- July 13 - Cameron Crowe, American writer and film director
- July 16 - Faye Grant, American actress
- July 17 - Fern Britton, British television presenter
- July 21 - George Landress, American songwriter, music producer and sound engineer
- July 23 - Theo van Gogh, Dutch film director (d. 2004)
- July 26 - Nana Visitor, American actress
- July 26 - Yuen Biao, Hong Kong actor
- July 27 - Bill Engvall, American comedian
- July 27 - Hansi Muller, German footballer
- July 29 - Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast
[edit] August
- August 6 - Jim McGreevey, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
- August 7 - Alexander Dityatin, Soviet gymnast
- August 9 - Melanie Griffith, American actress
- August 11 - Richie Ramone, American rock drummer (The Ramones)
- August 14 - Peter Costello, Australian politician
- August 17 - Robin Cousins, British figure skater
- August 18 - Carole Bouquet, French actress
- August 18 - Denis Leary, American comedian and actor
- August 19 - Li-Young Lee, Indonesian-born poet
- August 20 - Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player
- August 22 - Steve Davis, British snooker player
- August 24 - Stephen Fry, British comedian, author, and actor
- August 27 - Bernhard Langer, German golfer
- August 28 - Daniel Stern, American actor
- August 30 - Manu Tuiasosopo, American football player
- August 31 - Ingrid Washinawatok, Native American activist (d. 1999)
[edit] September
- September 1 - Gloria Estefan, Cuban-born American singer
- September 6 - Tim Whitnall, English actor and narrator
- September 8 - Ricardo Montaner, Argentine-born Venezuelan singer
- September 11 - Brad Bird, American animator and director
- September 11 - Preben Elkjaer Larsen, Danish footballer
- September 12 - Rachel Ward, British actress
- September 13 - Vinny Appice, American drummer
- September 16 - David McCreery, Irish footballer
- September 21 - Ethan Coen, American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor
- September 21 - Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister
- September 22 - Nick Cave, Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter and actor
- September 26 - Luigi De Canio, Italian footballer and football manager
- September 28 - Luis Cluzeau Mortet, Uruguayan composer and musician
- September 30 - Fran Drescher, American actress
[edit] October
- October 4 - Alexander Tkachyov, Soviet gymnast
- October 5 - Bernie Mac, American stand-up comedian and actor (d. 2008)
- October 7 - Jayne Torvill, British ice skater
- October 7 - Michael W. Smith, American Christian musician
- October 8 - Ewan Stewart, Scottish actor
- October 11 - Dawn French, British comedian
- October 14 - Kenny Neal, American guitarist
- October 15 - Stacy Peralta, American director and former skateboarder
- October 18 - Doug Isaacson, Alaskan politician
- October 21 - Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 26 - Julie Dawn Cole, British actress
- October 26 - Bob Golic, American football player
- October 27 - Jeff East, American actor
- October 27 - Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwanese film director
- October 29 - Dan Castellaneta, American voice actor
- October 30 - Richard Jeni, American comedian (d. 2007)
- October 31 - Robert Pollard, American musician
- October 31 - Brian Stokes Mitchell, American actor and singer
[edit] November
- November 5 - Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (d. 1984)
- November 6 - Klaus Kleinfeld, German business executive
- November 7 - Christopher Knight, American actor
- November 14 - Gregg Burge, American tap dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)
- November 15 - Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist
- November 17 - Debbie Thrower, British TV news presenter
- November 18 - Olivia Heussler, Swiss photojournalist
- November 24 - Denise Crosby, American actress
- November 27 - Kenny Acheson, Irish race car driver
- November 30 - Colin Mochrie, Scottish-born Canadian comedian
[edit] December
- December 4 - Eric S. Raymond, American open source software advocate
- December 6 - Thomas Brinkman, American politician
- December 8 - Phil Collen, British rock singer and guitarist (Def Leppard)
- December 9 - Donny Osmond, American pop singer
- December 10 - Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor
- December 13 - Steve Buscemi, American actor
- December 13 - Morris Day, American musician (The Time)
- December 15 - Laura Molina, American artist, musician and actress
- December 19 - Kevin McHale, American basketball player
- December 20 - Billy Bragg, British singer
- December 20 - Joyce Hyser, American actress
- December 20 - Anna Vissi, Greek singer
- December 21 - Tom Henke, American baseball player
- December 21 - Ray Romano, American actor and comedian
- December 24 - Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
- December 25 - Shane McGowan, Irish singer and songwriter (The Pogues)
- December 30 - Matt Lauer, American newscaster
[edit] Deaths
[edit] January–March
- January 10 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- January 14 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (b. 1899)
- January 16 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
- February 1 - Friedrich Paulus, German field marshal (b. 1890)
- February 8 - Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- February 8 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician (b. 1903)
- February 9 - Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and regent (b. 1868)
- February 9 - John Axon, British railwayman and hero (b. 1900)
- February 10 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
- February 16 - Józef Hofmann, Polish-born pianist and composer (b. 1876)
- February 18 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
- February 18 - Walter James Bolton, Last person to be executed in New Zealand (b. 1888)
- February 23 - Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
- February 25 - Bugs Moran, American gangster (b. 1893)
- March 8 - János Esterházy, Hungarian politician in Czechoslovakia (b. 1901)
- March 11 - Richard E. Byrd, American explorer (b. 1888)
- March 14 - Eugenio Castellotti, Italian racing driver (car crash) (b. 1930)
- March 16 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
- March 17 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- March 25 - Max Ophüls, German film director and writer (b. 1902)
- March 29 - Joyce Cary, Irish author (b. 1888)
[edit] April–June
- April 4 - E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (b. 1909)
- April 5 - Alagappa Chettiar, Indian philanthropist (b. 1909)
- April 15 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (b. 1917)
- May 2 - Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator (b. 1908)
- May 7 - Wilhelm Filchner, German explorer (b. 1877)
- May 9 - Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b. 1892)
- May 14 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
- May 16 - Eliot Ness, American policeman (b. 1903)
- May 31 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
- June 1 - Luisa Casati, Italian patron of the arts (b. 1881)
- June 15 - Princess Norina Matchabelli, Italian perfumier (b. 1880)
- June 17 - Dorothy Richardson, English feminist writer (b. 1873)
- June 21 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
- June 26 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (b. 1878)
- June 27 - Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (b. 1909)
- June 27 - Hermann Buhl, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1924)
[edit] July–September
- July 4 - Judy Tyler, American actress (b. 1933)
- July 15 - Vasily Maklakov, Russian liberal politician and parliamentary orator (b. 1869)
- July 23 - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Sicilian writer (b. 1896)
- July 24 - Sacha Guitry, Russian-born playwright, actor, and director (b. 1885)
- July 28 - Edith Abbott, American social worker, educator, and author (b. 1876)
- August 5 - Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
- August 7 - Oliver Hardy, American actor (b. 1892)
- August 16 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
- August 19 - David Bomberg, English painter (b. 1890)
- August 20 - Julio Lozano Díaz, President of Honduras (b. 1885)
- September 1 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (b. 1921) (car crash)
- September 9 - Muhammad al-Muqri, grand vizier of Morocco (b. ?1844)
- September 16 - Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (b. 1864)
- September 20 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)
- September 21 - Haakon VII of Norway (b. 1872)
- September 22 - Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
- September 28 - Luis Cluzeau Mortet, Uruguayan composer and musician (b. 1888)
[edit] October–December
- October 24 - Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef, South African artist (b. 1886)
- October 25 - Albert Anastasia, American gangster (b. 1902)
- October 25 - Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author (b. 1878)
- October 26 - Gerty Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)
- October 29 - Louis B. Mayer, American studio mogul and former head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (b. 1885)
- November 4 - William Haywood, British architect (b. 1876)
- November 4 - Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í leader (b. 1897)
- November 24 - Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (b. 1886)
- November 29 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian composer (b. 1897)
- November 30 - Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor (b. 1890)
- December 21 - Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)
- December 25 - Stanley Vestal, American writer, poet, historian (b. 1877)
[edit] Ship events
[edit] Nobel Prizes
[edit] Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Around the World in Eighty Days, Michael Todd
- Best Director: George Stevens, Giant
- Best Foreign Language Film: La strada, Italy
- Best Actor: Yul Brynner, The King and I
- Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman, Anastasia
- Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn, Lust for Life
- Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind
- Best Original Screenplay: The Red Balloon, Albert Lamorisse
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Around the World in Eighty Days, James Poe and John Farrow and S.J. Perelman
- Best Motion Picture Story: The Brave One, Dalton Trumbo
- Best Black-and-White Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg, Somebody Up There Likes Me
- Best Color Cinematography: Lionel Lindon, Around the World in 80 Days
[edit] 1957 in film
[edit] 1957 in television
- Leave it to Beaver, which began in 1957, gives its viewers a glimpse of American Caucasian Suburban life in that era. However, no references to current events are ever made in the show.
- Brooklyn Bridge, another TV show, is set in 1957 but was actually produced four decades later. There are several references to current events of that year, including the launching of the first Sputnik and the removal of the Brooklyn Dodgers (which at that time included such distinguished players as Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese) from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
- KAOS is founded in 1957 according to Maxwell Smart in the 60s hit TV show, Get Smart.