People pt1
The Russian author, publishes his famous novel Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak
Is elected first president of the French Fifth Republic following the Algerian Crisis.
Charles de Gaulle
Is the site of an anti-integration standoff, as Governor Orval Faubus stops the Little Rock Nine from attending Little Rock Central High School and President Dwight D. Eisenhower deploys the 101st Airborne Division to counteract him.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Production of this car marketing disaster (Ford spent $400 million developing it) ends after only two years.
Edsel
Is the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, the start of the space race.
Sputnik
Publishes his first novel in seven years, On the Road.
Jack Kerouac
Comes to power after a revolution in Cuba and visits the United States later that year on an unofficial twelve-day tour.
Fidel Castro
Is engulfed in a political and religious crisis that eventually involves US Intervention.
Lebanon
An American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
Lockheed U-2
Reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.
Hula hoops
Dies in a plane crash on February 3 with Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper"), in a day that had a devastating impact on the country and youth culture.
Buddy Holly
Was rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than twenty million U.S. dollars.
Syngman Rhee
The Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared independent of Belgium on June 30, with Joseph Kasavubu as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister. The Belgians, however, had other plans.
Congo Crisis
Is released as a film adaptation of the 1954 novel and receives seven Academy Awards.
1958
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Able and Miss Baker are the first living beings to successfully return to Earth from space aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18.
Monkeys in space
Is in the middle of his career as a famous New York Yankees' outfielder and American League All-Star for the sixth year in a row.
Mickey Mantle
Beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election amongst allegations of vote fraud.
John F. Kennedy
Capture the attention of Americans, killing eleven people before he is caught in a massive manhunt in Douglas, Wyoming.
Charles Starkweather homicides
Wins eleven Academy Awards as a film based around the New Testament starring Charlton Heston.
Ben-Hur
Mothers taking the drug Thalidomide had children born with congenital birth defects caused by the sleeping aid and antiemetic, which was also used at times (although not in the USA) to treat morning sickness.
Thalidomide
Premier of the People's Republic of China, survives an assassination attempt on the Charter jet Kashmir Princess.
Zhou Enlai
Are the center of attention for the FBI and public attention builds to this organized crime society with a historically Sicilian-American origin.
Mafia
Popularizes the dance The Twist with his song of the same name (see "The Twist").
Chubby Checker
An Alfred Hitchcock thriller, based on a pulp novel by Robert Bloch and adapted by Joseph Stefano, which becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism. The screeching violins heard briefly in the background are a trademark of the film's soundtrack.
Psycho
Begins as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They are the first major league teams west of Kansas City.
California baseball