At A Glance

12 April 1957 at a glance

Day of the week
12 April 1957 was a Friday.
Top Film of 1957
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1957 was The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Bestselling Novel of 1957
“By Love Possessed” by James Gould Cozzens was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1957.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Gunsmoke” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1957–58 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 12 April is Aries.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 12 April 1957 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for April is Diamond.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 12 April 1957 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 12 April

  • 1937 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
  • 1945 World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reaches Tangermünde—only 80 kilometres from Berlin.
  • 1955 The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
  • 1961 Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1.
  • 1970 Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.

Famous people born on April 12

  • Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress (born 1994)
  • Claire Danes, American actress (born 1979)
  • Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer (1971–2024)
  • Ed O'Neill, American actor and comedian (born 1946)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1957 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1957 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • March 4 – Standard & Poor's first publishes the S&P 500 Index in the United States.
  • July 16 – United States Marine Major John Glenn flies an F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds, setting a new transcontinental speed record.
  • September 5 – Viking Press publishes On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
More events of 1957 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in the US in 1957

President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Gas (per gallon)

$0.31

Loaf of Bread

$0.19

Average House

$10,600

Weekly Wage

$77

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Famous Faces Born in the 1950s

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

Michael Jackson29 August 1958Singer & songwriterView their day →Anthony Bourdain25 June 1956Chef & television personalityView their day →Bruce Willis19 March 1955ActorView their day →Madonna16 August 1958SingerView their day →Annette Bening29 May 1958ActressView their day →Robin Williams21 July 1951Actor & comedianView their day →Steve Jobs24 February 1955Entrepreneur & co-founder of Apple Inc.View their day →Prince7 June 1958MusicianView their day →

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

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