At A Glance

18 October 1956 at a glance

Day of the week
18 October 1956 was a Thursday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “A Woman in Love” by Frankie Laine.
Top Film of 1956
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1956 was The Ten Commandments.
Star sign
The star sign for 18 October is Libra.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 18 October 1956 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for October is Opal.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 18 October 1956 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 18 October

  • 1945 A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
  • 1945 Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte.
  • 1954 Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1, the first mass-produced transistor radio.
  • 1963 Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
  • 1967 The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

Famous people born on 18 October

  • Zohran Mamdani, American politician, mayor of New York City (born 1991)
  • Milo Yiannopoulos, British journalist and public speaker (born 1984)
  • Zac Efron, American actor and singer (born 1987)
  • Barry Keoghan, Irish actor (born 1992)

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

Browse by Year

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)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →