istoryworld
All Events
Anthony Eden moves Harold Macmillan to a new position, as chancellor of the exchequer
Michael Tippett's first opera, A Midsummer Marriage, has its premiere at Covent Garden
Norodom Sihanouk abdicates as king of Cambodia and becomes the country's prime minister
Swedish director Ingmar Bergman wins international fame with his film Smiles of a Summer Night
Harry Eagle begins work on the compounds required to support the growth of cells in tissue culture, leading to the medium known now as Eagle's Medium
Ellaline Terriss, heart-throb of the Edwardian stage and now in her eighties, moves into 1 St Helena Terrace
Elia Kazan directs James Dean in East of Eden
Richard Daley begins a powerful and often unscrupulous reign of 22 years as mayor of Chicago
An armed uprising in Morocco persuades France to accept the principle of independence for the colony
81-year-old Winston Churchill resigns as Britain's prime minister and is succeeded by Anthony Eden
Canadian pianist Glenn Gould wins international fame with his recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations
Russia forms the Warsaw Treaty Organization (or Warsaw Pact) with her east European allies, as a counterbalance to NATO
Kingsley Amis and other young writers in Britain become known as Angry Young Men
Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens on Broadway
Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis forms his own quintet, extending it in 1958 to a sextet
Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is set in contemporary Vietnam and foresees troubles ahead
Thomas Mann publishes a longer but still incomplete version of his novel Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man
Milbourne House, seriously damaged in World War II, is restored and divided into two separate dwellings
Nasser alarms the west by buying eastern-bloc arms through Czechoslovakia
Austria achieves a much delayed return to nationhood after the Soviet Union finally agrees to withdraw from the country
The first Disneyland opens in California, an event watched on television by 90 million Americans
Konrad Adenauer negotiates the release of the last 10,000 German prisoners of war held in the USSR
James Dean is type-cast as the young lead in Rebel without a Cause
English poet Philip Larkin finds his distinctive voice in his collection The Less Deceived
British dancer Joan Benesh and her husband Rudolf develop the Benesh system of dance notation
