At A Glance

17 February 1956 at a glance

Day of the week
17 February 1956 was a Friday.
Top Film of 1956
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1956 was The Ten Commandments.
Bestselling Novel of 1956
“Don't Go Near the Water” by William Brinkley was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1956.
Top-Rated TV Show
“I Love Lucy” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1956–57 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 February is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 February 1956 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for February is Amethyst.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 February 1956 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 17 February

  • 1949 Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
  • 1959 Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
  • 1964 In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
  • 1964 Gabonese president Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
  • 1965 Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

Famous people born on February 17

  • Case Keenum, American football player (born 1988)
  • Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1991)
  • Michael Jordan, American basketball player, executive, and businessman (born 1963)
  • Jensen Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia (born 1963)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1956 in the United States

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

  • February 24 – Doris Day records her most famous song, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"; it is from Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which Day co-stars with James Stewart.
  • March 15 – The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
  • April 2 – The first episodes of As the World Turns and The Edge of Night are broadcast on CBS television.

Life in the US in 1956

President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Gas (per gallon)

$0.30

Loaf of Bread

$0.18

Average House

$10,000

Weekly Wage

$73

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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