What happened in 1958?

Answer 1

The West Indies Federation is formed.

Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).

14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.

Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.

James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.

» January 1958

Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.

A hydrogen bomb known as Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

Bobby Charlton survived the Munich air disaster in Germany, which killed eight of his teammates with Manchester United F.C.

Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television

Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

» February 1958

Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.

1958 - Explorer 2 spacecraft launches.

Faisal becomes King of Saudi Arabia.

The African Regroupment Party (PRA) is launched at a meeting in Paris.

Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

» March 1958

A U.S. federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.

» April 1958

A formal North American Aerospace Defense Commandagreement is signed between the United States and Canada.

An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).

United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marplesannounces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area.

United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

» May 1958

Charles De Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.

The Dutch Reformed Church accepts women ministers.

» June 1958

1958 - Flooding of the St. Lawrence Seaway begins.

Iraqi Revolution: In Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by Arab nationalists and Abdul Karim Kassem becomes the nation's new leader.

In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to provide military support to the pro-Western government there.

The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.

Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched.

» July 1958

The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travels beneath the Arctic ice cap.

Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.

Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisisbegins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.

United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

» August 1958

In Greece, police start shaving the hair of youths called "teddy boys" to the skin.

Two rockets designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, the first German post-war rockets, reach the upper atmosphere.

A New Jersey commuter train crashes through a drawbridge, killing 48.

France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead.

» September 1958

NASA created to replace NACA.

Potter Stewart appointed to U.S. Supreme Court.

Pioneer program: NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 (the probe falls back to Earth and burns up).

Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters The Smurfs.

First commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris

» October 1958

Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on radio.

French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.

Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabonbecome autonomous republics within the French Community.

» November 1958

Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. http://www.bt.com/archives/history/19461959.htm#1958

3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility

Niger becomes an autonomous state within the French Community on December 4, 1958, after the establishment of the Fifth French Republic. Following full independence on August 3, 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.

Charles de Gaulle is elected as the first President and establishes the Fifth Republic