At A Glance

19 May 1956 at a glance

Day of the week
19 May 1956 was a Saturday.
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 19 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 May 1956 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 May 1956 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 19 May

  • 1950 A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
  • 1959 The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
  • 1961 Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
  • 1962 A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
  • 1963 The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Famous people born on May 19

  • Malcolm X, American minister and activist (1925–1965)
  • Lainey Wilson, American singer-songwriter (born 1992)
  • Archie Manning, American football player (born 1949)
  • Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and bass player (1949–2021)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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.
More events of 1956 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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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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