1958 - What happened in 1958 ?

January 1958

Wednesday 01:

The European Community is established.

Monday 13:

Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera

Saturday 18:

Willie O'Ree, the first African American National Hockey League player, make his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.

Monday 20:

Elvis Presley receives his draft notice.

Friday 31:

James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.

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.

Saturday 22:

Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.

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 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.

Saturday 22:

Faisal becomes King of Saudi Arabia.

April 1958

Friday 18:

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

May 1958

Tuesday 13:

1958 - Velcro's trade mark is registered.

Thursday 15:

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.

Sunday 18:

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

Saturday 24:

United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

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 07:

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.

Monday 14:

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

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.

Tuesday 14:

The District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept black Americans as members.

Sunday 26:

First commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris

Monday 27:

Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, is deposed in a bloodless coup d'état by General Ayub Khan, who was appointed the enforcer of martial law by Mirza 20 days earlier.

Tuesday 28:

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII.

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.

Friday 05:

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. http://www.bt.com/archives/history/19461959.htm#1958

Tuesday 09:

John Birch Society founded.

Thursday 11:

Upper Volta declares its independence from France

Tuesday 16:

A fire at a store in Bogotá, Colombia kills 83 people.