1958 - What happened in 1958 ?

January 1958

Friday 03:

The West Indies Federation is formed.

Saturday 04:

Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).

Wednesday 08:

14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.

Tuesday 28:

Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.

Wednesday 29:

Police capture Charles Starkweather in Wyoming.

February 1958

Saturday 01:

Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.

Wednesday 05:

A hydrogen bomb known as Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

Thursday 06:

Bobby Charlton survived the Munich air disaster in Germany, which killed eight of his teammates with Manchester United F.C.

Monday 17:

Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television

Sunday 23:

Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

March 1958

Monday 03:

Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.

Wednesday 05:

1958 - Explorer 2 spacecraft launches.

Wednesday 12:

In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love).

Monday 17:

The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.

Wednesday 19:

A fire in a loft building in New York, New York kills 24 people.

April 1958

Friday 18:

A U.S. federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.

May 1958

Monday 12:

A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.

Tuesday 13:

1958 - Velcro's trade mark is registered.

Sunday 18:

An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).

Wednesday 21:

United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area.

Friday 30:

The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

June 1958

Sunday 01:

Charles De Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.

Monday 23:

The Dutch Reformed Church accepts women ministers.

July 1958

Tuesday 01:

1958 - Flooding of the St. Lawrence Seaway begins.

Monday 14:

Iraqi Revolution: In Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by Arab nationalists and Abdul Karim Kassem becomes the nation's new leader.

Friday 25:

The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.

Saturday 26:

Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched.

Tuesday 29:

The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

August 1958

Sunday 03:

The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travels beneath the Arctic ice cap.

Monday 18:

Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.

Saturday 23:

Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.

Friday 29:

United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

September 1958

Wednesday 03:

In Greece, police start shaving the hair of youths called "teddy boys" to the skin.

Sunday 14:

Two rockets designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, the first German post-war rockets, reach the upper atmosphere.

Monday 15:

A New Jersey commuter train crashes through a drawbridge, killing 48.

Sunday 28:

France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead.

October 1958

Wednesday 01:

NASA created to replace NACA.

Thursday 02:

Guinea declares itself independent from France.

Saturday 04:

Fifth Republic of France established.

Saturday 11:

Pioneer program: NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 (the probe falls back to Earth and burns up).

Thursday 23:

Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters The Smurfs.

November 1958

Sunday 23:

Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on radio.

Tuesday 25:

French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.

Friday 28:

Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.

December 1958

Monday 01:

Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago, Illinois kills 92 children and three nuns.

Tuesday 09:

John Birch Society founded.

Sunday 14:

3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility

Thursday 18:

Niger becomes an autonomous state within the French Community on December 4, 1958, after the establishment of the Fifth French Republic. Following full independence on August 3, 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.

Sunday 21:

Charles de Gaulle is elected as the first President and establishes the Fifth Republic