Chronology of Events

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[July-December]

JANUARY

1 Treaties establishing the European Economic Community went into effect.
1 Delegates in Cairo, Egypt, voted to establish an Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Council.
1 Two passenger trains collided near New Delhi, India, killing 32 persons.
1 General Thanom Kittakachorn was formally named Prime Minister of Thailand by King Phumibol Adulyadej.

2 The 129-mile Connecticut Turnpike officially opened.
2 A revolt of Venezuelan Air Force and artillery units was crushed.

3 Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole after a 2,100-mile trip from the Ross seacoast.
3 A six-member U.S. Civil Rights Commission was sworn in.

5 French troops were sent to the French Cameroons to stop Communist rebels.

6 Peter Thorneycroft resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom.

8 A fire in the Norwegian coastal vessel Erlingjarl blocked cabin exits causing panic and at least 14 deaths.

10 Spain became an associate member of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation.
10 U.S. labor union leaders Johnny Dioguardi and John J. McNamara, both convicted of conspiracy and extortion charges, entered Sing Sing Prison (in New York).

13 Landslides and flood waters swept away the village of Pachaco, Peru, killing 100 persons.
13 The New York-based Communist paper Daily Worker ceased publication.

14 The Spanish government announced the reorganization of Spanish West Africa into the provinces of Ifni and Spanish Sahara.
14 The Council of Europe Assembly convened in Strasbourg, France.

16 A joint effort was begun by British and Malayan troops and police to rid northern Malaya of Communist rebels.
16 A 143-mile highway, the first to link Elath, on the Gulf of Aqaba, with the Negev railhead of Beersheba, was opened by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.
16 Lester B. Pearson was elected to suceed Louis St. Laurent as leader of Canada's Liberal Party..

18 Lumbee Indians raided a Ku Klux Klan rally near Maxton, North Carolina.
18 William O'Ree became the first black player in the National Hockey League, with the Boston Bruins.

19 It was announced that Vivian Fuchs and a 12-man team from Ellsworth Station on the Weddell Sea had reached the South Pole.

20 Treaties signed in Jakarta, Indonesia, ended a 16-year state of war between Japan and Indonesia.
20 The first nuclear reactor in Latin America went into operation at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

22 The first public television station in Puerto Rico went into operation.

23 Venezuelan President General Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown by a seven-man junta.
23 James R. Hoffa took office as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

26 The Japanese ferryboat Nankai Maru with 168 persons aboard sank during a storm.

27 The fourth session of the Baghdad (METO) Council of Ministers convened in Amkara, Turkey.
27 Janos Kadar resigned as Premier of Hungary, but stayed on as First Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party.

28 Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella was seriously injured in an auto accident in Glen Cove, New York.

29 Plans to withdraw 8,500 soldiers from West Germany were approved by the council of the Western European Union.
29 The Dutch government asked the Soviet Union to recall three of its nationals who had been accused of attempting to obtain secret military data.
29 Charles Starkweather was captured, ending an 8-day murder spree that left 10 people dead.

30 The British House of Lords unanimously approved a bill that would admit women to the upper house by creating life peerages for both men and women.
30 Commuter trains crashed in a London, England, surburb, killing 10 persons.

31 The United States launched its first earth satellite, Explorer I.

FEBRUARY

1 Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic.
1 Governor-General Vincent Massey dissolved the Canadian House of Commons and ordered that new elections be held on March 31.
1 A four-engine military transport collided with a Navy patrol bomber over Norwalk, California; 47 persons aboard the two planez and a Norwalk resident were killed.

2 Actress Rita Hayworth married film writer-producer James Henry Hill, in Beverly Hills, California.
2 Mario Echandi Jiménez was elected President of Costa Rica.

3 Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed treaties at The Hague, Netherlands, establishing a Benelux Economic Union.

6 A British airliner en route from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to London, England, crashed and burned soon after taking off from Munich, Germany, killing 23 persons.

7 The Advanced Research Projects Agency was established by the U.S. Department of Defense.

8 Scientists at Osaka University achieved a temperature of 1 million degrees C in Japan's first controlled nuclear reaction.
8 Algerian-based French aircraft bombed and strafed the Tunisian village of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef.
8 Sebastiano Nani, alleged former Mafia leader, was deported from New York to Italy.

9 Alfredo Stroessner was re-elected President of Paraguay.

11 Communist China's Premier Chou En-lai resigned his Foreign Minister's portfolio.

12 The Guatemalan Congress elected General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes to a presidential term of six years.

14 Jordan and Iraq proclaimed in Amman, Jordan, the establishment of the Arab Federal State of Jordan and Iraq.

15 All 16 U.S. servicemen aboard an Air Force C-47 were killed when the transport, en route from West Germany to Istanbul, Turkey, crashed on Mount Vesuvius.
15 Indonesian revolutionists proclaimed a rebel government headed by Dr. Sjafruddin Prawiranegara at Padang, Sumatra.

16 U.S. Airman Donald G. Farrell completed a 7-day simulated trip to the Moon.

19 The Communist Chinese and North Korean governments announced that all Communist Chinese forces would be withdrawn from Korea by the end of 1958.

20 Nathan Leopold, Jr., in Stateville Prison (Joliet, Illinois) since 1924 for his part in the murder of Bobby Franks, was granted parole.
20 Dave Beck, ex-president of the Teamsters Union, was sentenced to a jail term for the theft of union funds.

21 Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected President of the United Arab Republic.
21 A mine elevator broke loose near Taipei, Formosa, killing 18 miners and injuring more than 30.
21 A federal grand jury in New York City, New York, indicted the Radio Corporation of America on charges of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.

22 Arturo Frondizi won the first free presidential election in Argentina since 1928.

24 An ammunition train exploded near the India-Kashmire border, killing 25 persons.
24 The government of Iran announced the arrest of eight persons for subversive activities.

26 A tornado left a 120-mile-wide path of destruction in Missisippi and killed at least 10 persons.

27 A British Wayfarer on its way to Manchester, England, crashed in a blizzard near Bolton, England, killing 35 persons.

28 A school bus crashed into a river at Prestonsburg, Kentucky; 27 persons drowned.
28 General Vali Gharani, former Chief of the Iranian Army Intelligence Service, and 33 others were arrested on charges of plotting against the government.

MARCH

1 The Turkish passenger ferry Usküdar sank in a squall, killing at least 238 persons.

2 Greek Premier Constantine Karamanlis resigned in a dispute with supporters.
2 A British team led by Vivian E. Fuchs completed a 2,100-mile trek across the Antarctic continent.

3 Richard A. Mack resigned as a member of the Federal Communications Commission in the midst of a congressional inquiry into his activities.

5 The American dress industry was hit by its first general strike since 1933.
5 Eleven workmen were killed when a cofferdam collapsed at a bridge construction site in Montreal, Canada.

7 An in-air collision of a U.S. Marine Corps transport plane and a Marine jet fighter over Okinawa killed the jet's pilot and all 25 persons aboard the transport.
7 A commuter train pile-up in Santa Cruz, Brazil, killed 67 persons.
7 The United Arab Republic and Yemen created a federation called the United Arab States.

9 The Kanman Tunnel between Japan's Honshu and Kyushu islands was opened to traffic.

10 An Argentine Air Force jet fighter exploded in flight and crashed in the street of a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 10 persons, half of them children.

11 A U.S. Air Force B-47 accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on Florence, South Carolina.

14 It was announced in Tehran, Iran, that Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi had divorced Queen Soraya because of her failure to produce a male heir to the throne.
14 Prince Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre, the first son and second child of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, was born at Grimaldi Palace.

17 The United States Navy launched Vanguard I.

19 The first session of the European Parliamentary Assembly convened in Strasbourg, France.

20 The Sudan held its first general election since the achievement of independence in 1956.

21 At least 16 persons died in Damat, Egypt, when an oven caught fire and the flames were spread to several buildings by pigeons.

22 The Greek coastal vessel Dodecanessos sank in a hurricane; all 20 persons aboard were presumed drowned.
22 Xavier University won the 21st National Invitational Tournament in New York City, New York.
22 Kentucky won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, with an 84-to-72 victory over Seattle.

24 Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army in Memphis, Tennessee.
24 All 20 persons aboard an Indian Airlines DC-3 were killed when it crashed in Nepal.
24 A Braniff International Airways DC-7C bound for Panama crashed and burned soon after taking off from Miami, Florida, killing 9 of the 24 persons aboard.
24 Crown Prince Emir Faisal al Saud, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, acquired full powers over foreign, internal, and economic affairs.

25 Sugar Ray Robinson reclaimed his world middleweight boxing title for an unprecedented fifth time.

26 The United States launched Explorer III into orbit.

27 Nikita Khrushchev succeeded Nikolai Bulganin as Premier of the U.S.S.R.
27 Two U.S. Air Force planes collided over Bridgeport, Texas, killing 18 persons.
27 Joseph Bech resigned as Premier of Luxembourg.

31 The Soviet Union announced a halt in its atomic and hydrogen weapons testing program.
31 The Cuban Congress voted President Fulgencio Batista extraordinary powers.

APRIL

1 Fidel Castro began an all-out offensive against the government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.

5 New York Governor Averell Harriman signed a bill outlawing age discrimination in employment.
5 An exploding heater caused a fire in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, that killed 8 children and 2 adults.

6 A Capitol Airlines Viscount airplane crashed while attempting to land at Tri-City Airport near Midland, Michigan, killing all 44 persons aboard.
6 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom paid a state visit to the Netherlands.

8 An Ecuadoran airliner with 32 persons aboard went down in the jungle somewhere between Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador.

11 The merger of Daimler-Benz and Autounion was announced.

13 The St. Louis Hawks won their first National Basketball Association championship by defeating the Boston Celtics.

14 A Spanish airliner plunged into the Mediterranean Sea near Barcelona, Spain, killing all 16 persons aboard.
14 The Washington Senators defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-2 in the first Major League Baseball game of the 1958 season, in Washington, D.C.

15 Fire in New York's Museum of Modern Art killed a workman and caused an estimated $32,000 structural damage.

17 The government of French Premier Félix Gaillard was defeated by the French National Assembly.
17 The Brussels World's Fair was opened by Belgium's King Baudouin.

18 An underwater explosion aboard a sunken U.S. munitions ship near Naha, Okinawa, killed 40 salvage workers.
18 Grantley H. Adams took office as the first Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation.

19 Frajo Mihalic won the 62nd Boston Marathon.

21 A United Airlines DC-7 with 49 persons aboard was struck in flight by a U.S. Air Force F-110A Super Sabre jet carrying two men near Las Vegas, Nevada; all were killed.
21 Dominic Mintoff resigned as Prime Minister of Malta.

22 The first Parliament of the Federation of the West Indies was opened in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, by Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom.

24 Cape Hatteras National Seashore was dedicated.

25 Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander's Socialist Cabinet was overthrown by the lower house of Parliament.

26 Constitutional guarantees were suspended in Cuba.

28 The first Irish Air Line flight left Dublin, Ireland, for New York City, New York.
28 U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon began his tour of South America in Montevideo, Uruguay.

30 A state of emergency was declared on Malta by Governor Sir Robert Laycock to control anti-British strikes and unrest.

MAY

1 Arturo Frondizi was inaugurated President of Argentina.

2 The provisional government of Haiti proclaimed a state of siege.

3 Tim Tam, ridden by Ismael Valenzuela, won the Kentucky Derby.

4 Alberto Lleras Camargo was elected President of Colombia.

5 London, England, bus services were suspended by the first full busmen's strike since 1937.

7 A coal mine near Nagasaki, Japan, was flooded; 29 miners were feared drowned.
7 An altar commemorating the 335,451 men and women of the British Commonwealth overseas was consecrated at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England.

8 U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon and his wife were met with catcalls and stone throwing while on a goodwill visit to Lima, Peru.
8 A train crash outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killed 128 persons and injured more than 300.
8 A U.S. Air Force F-104 Starfighter set a world altitude record of 91,249 feet.

9 The last four Nazi war criminals held by the United States were revealed to have been paroled.

10 The Boston (Massachusetts) Globe moved to a new plant in South Boston.
10 The U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range at Point Arguello, California, was dedicated.

11 Twelve miners were trapped when a gold mine in Malaya flooded.

12 King Mohammed V of Morocco installed a new cabinet headed by Ahmed Balafrej as Premier.

13 The French Army, led by General Jacques Massu, seized control of Algeria.
13 A stone throwing, spitting mob of 200 persons attacked U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon and his wife in Caracas, Venezuela.

14 A three-day strike against the Canadian Pacific Railway by 3,000 firemen was settled.
14 Pierre Pflimlin was confirmed by the National Assembly as the 25th post-World War II Premier of France.

15 A Pakistan National Airways Convair crashed and burned after taking off from New Delhi, India, killing 21 persons.
15 The Soviet Union launched Sputnik III.

16 An F-104 set a world speed record of 1,404 miles per hour.

17 A gas explosion wrecked a seven-story building and killed 15 persons in Paris, France.

18 A Belgian DC-8 airliner en route to the Belgian Congo smashed through a military building in Casablanca, Morocco, during an emergency landing, killing 65 persons.

19 General Charles De Gaulle offered to take the leadership of France.
19 José A. Mora was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

20 A mid-air collision between a Capital Airlines passenger plane and a Maryland Air National Guard jet trainer over Brunswick, Maryland, killed 12 persons.

21 A train derailment near Bombay, India, killed 30 persons and injured 41.

22 Eight Nike missiles exploded at an army missile launching base at Leonardo, New Jersey, killing 6 servicemen and 4 civilians.
22 A fire at an Anahim Indian reservation hospital and school in British Columbia, Canada, killed 13 children.
22 The keel of the Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, was formally laid.

23 At least 18 persons were killed when the village of Shahkoubeh, Iran, was flooded.
23 Iroquis Lock was opened on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

24 A flash food killed 18 persons in Çhankiri, Turkey.

26 Lt. Col. George A. Flint, chairman of the UN Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission, was killed by Israeli-Jordanian crossfire on Mount Scopus.
26 The Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant was dedicated.

28 French Premier Pierre Pfimlin submitted his resignation to President René Coty.
28 The Civil Aeronautics Board set up three experimental transcontinental skyways.

29 Federalized National Guardsmen were removed from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

30 The remains of unknown U.S. soldiers killed in World War II and Korea were interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
30 Jimmy Bryan won the 500-mile race at the Indianapolis Speedway.

31 Charles De Gaulle was named Premier-Designate of France.

JUNE

2 All 45 persons aboard a Mexican Lockheed Constellation died when the airliner crashed in the mountains during a rainstorm while en route from Tijuana to Mexico City, Mexico.

3 The government of Belgian Prime Minister Achille Van Acker resigned.

4 French Premier Charles De Gaulle offered equal participation in Algerian government to Moslems.
4 Tornadoes in northwestern Wisconsin killed 30 persons, injured 350 others, and caused damage estimated at $10 million in a 90-mile area.

6 Moslem rebels attacked Lebanese government forces in the Tripoli-Halba area.
6 The aircraft USS Independence was launched.

8 A U.S. Sikorsky H-19 helicopter with nine men aboard made a forced landing on East German territory and was seized by East German police.
8 The Soviet Communist Party Central Committee dismissed 10-year-old charges of "formalistic perversion" against several leading Soviet composers and writers.
8 Rear Admiral Americo Tomas defeated General Humberto Delgado for President of Portugal.

9 A gas explosion inside a coal mine near Sunakawa, Japan, killed 10 miners.
9 Rear Admiral Americo Tomas was elected President of Portugal.

10 A tornado that struck El Dorado, Kansas, caused 13 deaths.

13 A dust storm in western Pakistan killed 12 persons.
13 Ilha Nova II erupted in a volcanic burst from the ocean at Fayal Island in the Azores.

16 A Cruzeiro do Sul Convair hit a tree while landing in a storm near Curitiba, Brazil, killing 21 of the 27 persons aboard.
16 A Pacific storm sank 21 fishing vessels off Oaxaca State, Mexico, with an estimated death toll of 200.

17 France agreed to withdraw all troops in Tunisian territory to the Bizerte naval and air base.
17 The Hungarian Justice Ministry announced the executions of former Premier Imre Nagy and Major General Pal Maleter.
17 An unfinished bridge collapsed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, killing 18 workmen.

18 Wilt Chamberlain announced that he had joined the Harlem Globetrotters.

19 The Canadian House of Commons approved the North American Air Defense Command Agreement.

21 A 2-1/2-year suspension of school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Harry J. Lemley.

22 A train plunged down a mountain near Orizaba, Mexico, killing 20 persons.
22 Olav V was formally crowned as King of Norway.

24 A mid-air collision between a French Air Force combat helicopter and a fighter plane near Algiers, Algeria, killed 11 soldiers.
24 Twelve people were killed when Mount Aso in southern Japan erupted.

26 A train derailment near Johannesburg, South Africa, killed 20 persons.

27 The U.S. Air Force Academy had four complete classes enrolled for the first time in its history.

28 The Mackinac Bridge was dedicated.

30 The Alaska Statehood Bill was passed by the U.S. Senate, 64-20.

[July-December]

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This page was last updated on January 18, 2019.