At A Glance

1 December 1956 at a glance

Day of the week
1 December 1956 was a Saturday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Just Walking in the Rain” by Johnnie Ray.
Top Film of 1956
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1956 was The Ten Commandments.
Star sign
The star sign for 1 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 1 December 1956 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 1 December 1956 was New Moon.

On this day: 1 December

  • 1952 The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgensen, the first notable case of sex reassignment surgery.
  • 1955 American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to that city's bus boycott.
  • 1958 The Central African Republic attains self-rule within the French Union.
  • 1959 Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
  • 1960 Patrice Lumumba is arrested by Mobutu Sese Seko's men on the banks of the Sankuru River, for inciting the army to rebellion.

Famous people born on 1 December

  • Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer, and model (born 1988)
  • Riz Ahmed, English actor and rapper (born 1982)
  • Richard Pryor, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (1940–2005)
  • Robert Irwin, Australian conservationist and television personality (born 2003)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1956 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1956 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 17 February – The Midlands becomes the first region outside of London to receive ITV when ATV Midlands begins broadcasting; ABC, the weekend station, launches the following day.
  • 3 May – Granada Television begins broadcasting with a base in Manchester, extending ITV's coverage to Northern England and later Yorkshire.
  • 8 May – First performance of John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger by the newly formed English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. Alan Bates has his first major role as Cliff.

Life in 1956

Prime Minister

Anthony Eden

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

9p

Loaf of Bread

6p

Average House

£2,140

Weekly Wage

£11.05

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1950s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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