Explore 4242 historical events from 1950–1959.
Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American sexologist, biologist, and professor of entomology and zoology who, in 1947, founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now…
Alfred Kinsey, American biologist and academic (born 1894)
Lee Jung-seob was a Korean artist most known for his oil paintings, such as White Ox.
Lee Jung-seob, North Korean painter (born 1916)
Charles Burgess Fry was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words:…
C. B. Fry, English cricketer, academic, and politician (born 1872)
Air Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop, Jr., was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War. He was officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and Briti…
Billy Bishop, Canadian colonel and pilot (born 1894)
Count Sándor Ágost Dénes Festetics de Tolna was a Hungarian nobleman and cabinet minister who later became an advocate of Nazism in Hungary.
Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (born 1882)
Joseph-Adélard Godbout was a Canadian agronomist and politician. He served briefly as the 15th premier of Quebec in 1936 and again from 1939 to 1944. He was also leader of the Part…
Adélard Godbout, Canadian agronomist and politician, 15th Premier of Quebec (born 1892)
William Struth was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder…
Bill Struth, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1875)
Gerald Raphael Finzi was an English composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies n…
Gerald Finzi, English composer and educator (born 1901)
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and fi…
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American basketball player and golfer (born 1911)
William Edward Böing was an American aviation pioneer. He founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which was renamed to Boeing a year later. The company is now the largest exp…
William Boeing, American businessman, founded the Boeing Company (born 1881)
Anastasio Somoza García was the leader of Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956. He was officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 a…
Anastasio Somoza García, Nicaraguan politician, 21st President of Nicaragua (born 1896)
Frederick Soddy FRS was an English radiochemist who explained, with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reac…
Frederick Soddy, English chemist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1877)
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. Prior to her m…
American actress Grace Kelly (pictured) became the princess consort of Monaco upon her marriage to Rainier III
The Eurovision Song Contest 1956, originally titled the Gran premio Eurovisione 1956 della canzone europea, was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 24 May 195…
The first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland
A double referendum was held in Egypt on 23 June 1956. The two issues were the candidacy of Gamal Abdel Nasser for the presidency and a new constitution. Both were approved, with t…
In a nationwide referendum, Gamal Abdel Nasser (pictured) was elected President of Egypt, a post he held until his death
The 1956 Poznań protests, also known as Poznań June, were the first of several massive protests against the communist government of the Polish People's Republic. Demonstrations by …
Polish workers demanding better working conditions began massive protests in Poznań, but were later violently repressed
The Marcinelle mining disaster occurred at the Bois du Cazier coal mine at Marcinelle, Hainaut Province, in Belgium on 8 August 1956. One of the largest and most notorious mining d…
A mining disaster killed 262 workers, mainly Italian nationals, at the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Belgium.
Women's March took place on 9 August 1956 in Pretoria, South Africa. The marchers' aims were to protest the introduction of the Apartheid pass laws for black women in 1952 and the …
About 20,000 women marched on Pretoria, South Africa, to protest the introduction of pass laws for black women under…
The Bonn–Paris conventions were signed in May 1952 and came into force after the 1955 ratification. The conventions put an end to the Allied occupation of West Germany.
The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into
The Austrian State Treaty or Austrian Independence Treaty established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allie…
The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.
The Northeastern United States form one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. Located on the Atlantic coast of North America, the region borders Ca…
In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
The Revolución Libertadora as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down …
The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
The Soviet Navy's Project 611 were one of the first Soviet post-Second-World-War attack submarines. They were similarly capable to the American GUPPY fleet-boat conversions. They w…
A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.
The Treaty on Relations Between the USSR and GDR was a treaty between the Soviet Union and German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany, signed on 20 September 1955. …
The Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR is signed.