istoryworld
All Events
George Cukor directs Judy Garland and James Mason in A Star Is Born
An invasion of Guatemala from Honduras, with CIA support, brings to power a right-wing military junta
Anglo-Irish novelist Iris Murdoch publishes her first novel, Under the Net
Barn Elms burns down, and its grounds are converted to school playing fields
George Grivas leads a guerrilla movement, EOKA, fighting for Cyprus's independence from Britain and union with Greece
19-year-old Françoise Sagan has a major international success with her first novel, Bonjour Tristesse
US truck driver Elvis Presley makes his first commercial recordings, for Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee
US choreographer Paul Taylor begins a long and fruitful collaboration with Robert Rauschenberg as his set designer
In an armistice ending the Indochina War, France acknowledges the independence of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
18-year-old English jockey Lester Piggott wins the first of a record nine Derbys
Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon launches the Unification Church, a mission to unify world Christianity
Seventeen-year-old English footballer Bobby Charlton begins a 19-year career playing for Manchester United
The country's president, Getúlio Vargas, commits suicide when the army in Brazil demands his resignation
Federico Fellini directs La Strada ('The Road'), starring his wife, Giulietta Masina, and Antony Quinn
Relations are normalized between West Germany and the USA, France and Britain, ending the postwar period of occupation
A radical manifesto and acts of terrorism alert the world to the emergence of the FLN, committed to independence for Algeria
Gamal Abd al-Nasser mounts another coup, this time against his colleague Mohammed Neguib, to make himself president of Egypt
William Walton's opera Troilus and Cressida has its premiere at Covent Garden
The Jehovah's Witnesses first convention at Twickenham rugby ground takes place.
English author Kingsley Amis's first novel, Lucky Jim, strikes an anti-establishment chord
William Golding gives a chilling account of schoolboy savagery in his first novel, Lord of the Flies
Hancock's Half Hour, starring Tony Hancock, begins on BBC radio
Nasser escapes an assassination attempt by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood
Le Corbusier completes the reinforced-concrete pilgrimage church of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp
The new UK prime minister, Anthony Eden, gives Harold Macmillan the post of foreign secretary
