1957 in the United States

1957 in the United States
Events from the year 1957 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Kansas/New York then Kansas/Pennsylvania)
Vice President: Richard Nixon (R-California)
Chief Justice: Earl Warren (California)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D–Texas)
Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas)
Congress: 84th (until January 3), 85th (starting January 3)
Events
January
January 2 – The San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge to form the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.
January 6 – Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third and final time. He is only shown from the waist up, even during the gospel segment, singing "Peace In The Valley". Ed Sullivan describes Elvis thus: "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you. You're thoroughly alright."
January 20 – Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon are inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States and Vice President of the United States respectively.
January 22 – The New York City "Mad Bomber", George Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut, and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
January 23 – Ku Klux Klan members force truck driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into the Alabama River; he drowns as a result.
January 31 – Pacoima aircraft accident: Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California, are among the 8 persons killed following a mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet, in the skies above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.
February
February 4 – The first nuclear-powered submarine logs its 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
February 17 – The Warrenton Nursing Home fire in Missouri kills 72 people.
February 25 – The "Boy In The Box" is discovered along a sidewalk in Philadelphia. The murder victim is described as Caucasian in appearance and 4 to 6 years old; the boy was identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli in 2022.
March
March 4 – Standard & Poor's first publishes the S&P 500 Index in the United States.
March 7 – The United States Congress approves the Eisenhower Doctrine on assistance to Communist-threatened foreign regimes.
March 10 – Floodgates of The Dalles Dam are closed, inundating Celilo Falls and ancient Native American fisheries along the Columbia River in Oregon.
March 13 – The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery.
March 22 – The 5.7 San Francisco earthquake shook the Bay Area in California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing $1 million in losses, one death and forty injuries.
March 25 – Copies of Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems (first published November 1, 1956), printed in the UK, are seized by United States Customs Service officials in San Francisco, on the grounds of obscenity. On October 3, in People v. Ferlinghetti, a subsequent prosecution of publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the work is ruled not to be obscene.
March 26 – 22-year-old Elvis Presley buys Graceland on 3734 Bellevue Boulevard (Highway 51 South) for $100,000. He and his family move from the house on 1034 Audubon Drive.
March 27 – The 29th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Jerry Lewis and Celeste Holm, is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony started a trend toward blockbusters and colorful spectaculars, with Michael Anderson's Around the World in 80 Days winning Best Motion Picture chief among them. The film is tied with Walter Lang's The King and I for the most awards with five, while George Stevens' Giant receives the most nominations with ten, including Stevens' second Best Director win.
March 31 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, the team's only musical written especially for television, is telecast live and in color by CBS, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. The production is seen by millions, but this 1957 version is not telecast again for more than 40 years, when a kinescope of it is shown.
April
April 12 – Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl, printed in the United Kingdom, is seized by U.S. customs officials on the grounds of obscenity.
May
May 2
Iron Liege, at 8–1, wins the Kentucky Derby in one of the most eventful Derbys ever.
Vincent Gigante fails to assassinate mafioso Frank Costello in Manhattan.
May 3 – Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, to Los Angeles.
May 16 – Walt Whitman Bridge opens between Philadelphia and New Jersey.
June
June 1 – Three-year-old thoroughbred Gallant Man wins the Peter Pan Stakes, at Belmont Park.
June 15 – Oklahoma celebrates its semi-centennial statehood. A brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere is buried in a time capsule (to be opened 50 years later on June 15, 2007).
June 20 – 1957 Fargo Tornado starts at 7:30 pm.
June 23 – Royal Ice Cream sit-in
June 25 – The United Church of Christ is formed in Cleveland, Ohio, by the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
June 27 – Hurricane Audrey demolishes Cameron, Louisiana, killing 400 people.
July
July 9 – Elvis Presley's Loving You opens in movie theaters.
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.
August
August 5 – American Bandstand, a local dance show produced by WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, joins the ABC Television Network.
August 21 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing.
August 28 – United States Senator Strom Thurmond (D-SC) sets the record for the longest filibuster with his 24-hour, 18-minute speech railing against a civil rights bill.
September
September 4
American Civil Rights Movement – Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas calls out the National Guard of the United States to prevent the "Little Rock Nine" African American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School.
The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel on what the company proclaims as "E Day".
September 5 – Viking Press publishes On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
September 9
Civil Rights Act of 1957 enacted, setting up the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Catholic Memorial High School opens its doors for the first time in Boston, Massachusetts.
September 23 – The Academy Award-winning movie The Three Faces of Eve is released.
September 24 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into Little Rock Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
September 26 – West Side Story, a new musical by Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim opens at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.
October
October 4 – The sitcom Leave It to Beaver premieres on CBS.
October 9 – Neil H. McElroy is sworn in as United States Secretary of Defense.
October 10
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a restaurant in Dover, Delaware.
Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is published.
The Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3, to win their 2nd World Series Title.
October 11 – The orbit of the last stage of the R-7 Semyorka rocket (carrying Sputnik I) is first successfully calculated on an IBM 704 computer during Operation Moonwatch, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
October 21 – The U.S. military sustains its first combat fatality in Vietnam, Army Capt. Hank Cramer of the 1st Special Forces Group.
October 25 – Mafia boss Albert Anastasia is assassinated in a barber shop, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City.
October 31 – Toyota begins exporting vehicles to the U.S., beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser
November
November 1
The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's two peninsulas.
The first (westbound) tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, linking Norfolk and Hampton, Virginia, opens at a cost of $44 million.
November 6 – Jailhouse Rock opens nationally and Elvis Presley continues to gain more notoriety.
November 7 – Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.
November 8 – The film Jailhouse Rock opens across the U.S. to reach #3, and Elvis Presley continues to gain more notoriety.
November 14 – Apalachin Meeting: American Mafia leaders meet in Apalachin, New York, at the house of Joseph Barbara; the meeting is broken up by a curious patrolman.
November 16
Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Oklahoma celebrates its 50th anniversary of statehood.
Notre Dame beats the Oklahoma Sooners 7–0 to end the longest winning streak in college football history at 47.
November 25 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffers a stroke.
December
December 2 – Shippingport Atomic Power Station goes onstream; commercial operation begins on May 26, 1958.
December 6 – Vanguard TV3, the first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite, fails with the rocket blowing up on the launch pad.
December 18
A violent F5 tornado wipes out the entire community of Sunfield, Illinois.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is released in the U.S. It goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Additional Oscars go to Alec Guinness (eh Actor) and David Lean (eh Director), among others. This is Lean's first Oscar for directing.
December 19 – Meredith Willson's classic musical The Music Man, starring Robert Preston, is premièred on Broadway.
December 20 – The Boeing 707 airliner flies for the first time.
December 22 – The CBS afternoon anthology series The Seven Lively Arts presents Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker on U.S. television for the first time.
Undated
Operation Dropshot, an all-out U.S. war with the Soviet Union, is expected to be triggered by the Soviet takeover of Western Europe, the Near East and parts of Eastern Asia, as it was anticipated in 1949.
Ongoing
Cold War (1947–1991)
Births
January
January 1
Mark Hurd, American businessman (d. 2019)
Karen Pence, American educator, and teacher, 48th Second Lady of the United States
January 4 – Patty Loveless, American country music singer
January 6
Freddie Glenn, American spree killer and rapist, convicted of murdering the younger sister of actor Kelsey Grammer
Nancy Lopez, American golfer
January 7
Nicholson Baker, American novelist
Katie Couric, American television host
Steve Janaszak, American professional ice hockey player
January 8
Dwight Clark, American football player (d. 2018)
David Lang, American composer
January 12 – John Lasseter, American director, writer and animator
January 13
Ralph DeLoach, American football player (d. 2022)
Claudia Emerson, American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner in 2006 (d. 2014)
Lorrie Moore, American writer
January 15
Turk Schonert, American football player (d. 2019)
Mario Van Peebles, African-American actor and director
January 17 – Steve Harvey, African-American comedian, television host, radio personality and actor
January 21 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
January 26 – Road Warrior Hawk, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
January 27 – Frank Miller, American comic book writer
January 30 – Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
February
February 6
Kathy Najimy, actress and comedian
Robert Townsend, African-American actor, comedian, director and writer (Hollywood Shuffle)
February 7 – Carney Lansford, baseball player and coach
February 8
Robert S. Kapito, business investor
Cindy Wilson, rock singer (The B-52's)
February 14 – Alan Hunter, MTV's first video jockey
February 15
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, criminal (d. 2008)
Jake E. Lee, guitarist and songwriter
Jimmy Spencer, race car driver and sportscaster
February 16 – LeVar Burton, African-American actor
February 18 – Vanna White, American game show presenter (Wheel of Fortune)
February 20 – Dean Zelinsky, American guitar designer, maker and luthier. Founder of (Dean Guitars) and (Dean Zelinsky Guitars)
February 26
David Beasley, lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
Joe Mullen, ice hockey player and coach
Keena Rothhammer, swimmer
February 27 – Ralph Cox, ice hockey player
February 28 – John Turturro, actor, writer and director
March
March 4
Jim Dwyer, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner (d. 2020)
Rick Mast, American NASCAR driver
Mykelti Williamson, African-American actor
March 6 – Eddie Deezen, American voice actor, comedian
March 12
Val Demings, African-American politician
Marlon Jackson, African-American singer
March 13 – David Peaston, American singer (d. 2012)
March 15 – Park Overall, American film and television actress
March 20
Vanessa Bell Calloway, African-American actress
John Grogan, American journalist
Spike Lee, African-American film director and actor
Theresa Russell, American actress
Amy Aquino, American television, film, and stage actress
March 23
Teresa Ganzel, American comedian and actress
Amanda Plummer, American actress
March 24 – Jack Edwards, American play-by-play announcer
March 26 – Leeza Gibbons, American television personality
March 28
Paul Eiding, American actor and voice actor
Harvey Glance, African-American Olympic athlete (d. 2023)
March 29 – Christopher Lambert, American actor
March 30 – Paul Reiser, American comedian and actor
March 31 – Marc McClure, American actor
April
April 1 – Denise Nickerson, actress (d. 2019)
April 8 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
April 11
April 11
Michael Card, Christian musician
Jim Lauderdale, bluegrass musician
April 12
Vince Gill, singer and songwriter
Adam Parfrey, journalist and editor (d. 2018)
Suzzanne Douglas, African-American actress (d. 2021)
April 14 – Richard Jeni, comedian (d. 2007)
April 16 – Essex Hemphill, African American poet and gay activist (d. 1995)
April 17 – Afrika Bambaataa, DJ and producer
April 18 – Genie, feral child
April 21 – Jesse Orosco, baseball player
April 23 – Jan Hooks, actress and comedian (d. 2014)
April 27 – Robert Curtis Brown, television, film and stage actor
April 29 – Timothy Treadwell, environmentalist and filmmaker (d. 2003)
May
May 2 – Michael Patrick Coyle, composer
May 3 – William Clay Ford Jr., automobile executive
May 4 – Iona Morris, actress
May 11 – Lynn J. Rothschild, American biologist and astrobiologist
May 16
Joan Benoit, Olympic gold medal-winning marathon runner
Bob Suter, professional ice hockey player (d. 2014
May 18 – Lionel Shriver, author and journalist
May 20 – Stewart Nozette, astronomer
May 21
Bruce Buffer, ring announcer
Judge Reinhold, actor
May 24
John Harrington, American professional ice hockey player
John G. Rowland, American politician, author, and convicted felon
May 28 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player
May 29
Bobby Hamilton, stock car racing driver (died 2007)
Jeb Hensarling, politician
Ted Levine, actor
May 31 – Jim Craig, professional ice hockey player
June
June 5 – Charles Nolan, fashion designer (died 2011)
June 6 – Jessica Diamond, artist
June 8 – Scott Adams, cartoonist (Dilbert)
June 12 – Timothy Busfield, American actor
June 14
Suzanne Nora Johnson, lawyer and businesswoman
Mona Simpson, novelist
June 21 – Michael Bowen, American actor
June 23 – Frances McDormand, American actress
June 24 – Doug Jones, American baseball player (died 2021)
July
July 3
Shan Goshorn, American Cherokee artist (d. 2018)
Ken Ober, American actor and game show host (d. 2009)
July 9 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
July 10 – Cindy Sheehan, American anti-war activist
July 12
Rick Husband, American astronaut (d. 2003)
Buddy Foster, American actor
July 13 – Cameron Crowe, American writer and film director
July 16 – Faye Grant, actress
July 21 – Jon Lovitz, actor and comedian
July 24 – Jack O'Callahan, professional ice hockey player
July 26 – Nana Visitor, actress
July 27 – Matt Osborne, professional wrestler (d. 2013)
July 31 – Paul Provenza, comedian
August
August 1 – Taylor Negron, actor (d. 2015)
August 2
Mojo Nixon, singer, lyricist and actor
Butch Vig, record producer and drummer (Garbage)
August 5 – Clayton Rohner, actor
August 6 – Jim McGreevey, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
August 9 – Melanie Griffith, American actress
August 11 – Richie Ramone, American rock drummer
August 14 – Tony Moran, American actor and producer
August 16
Laura Innes, American actress and director
Phil Murphy, American politician
August 18 – Denis Leary, comedian and actor
August 19 – Martin Donovan, actor
August 22 – Holly Dunn, country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
August 28
Rick Rossovich, American actor
Daniel Stern, American actor
August 30 – Manu Tuiasosopo, American football player
August 31 – Gina Schock, American drummer (The Go-Go's)
September
September 8 – Heather Thomas, actress and activist
September 11
Jeff Sluman, American golfer
Jeh Johnson, American politician, 4th Secretary of Homeland Security
September 13 – Vinny Appice, drummer
September 15 – Brad Bird, American animator and director
September 18 – Mark Wells, American professional ice hockey player
September 21 – Ethan Coen, American film director, producer, screenwriter and editor
September 22
Mark Johnson, American professional ice hockey player and coach
Ted Williams, announcer, radio personality, and voice-over artist
September 24 – Brad Bird, American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and actor
September 25 – Michael Madsen, American actor
September 27 – Peter Sellars, theatre director
September 28 – Bill Cassidy, Senator from Louisiana, physician and politician
September 29 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian
September 30 – Fran Drescher, American actress
October
October 4 – Bill Fagerbakke, American voice actor
October 5 – Bernie Mac, African-American comedian and actor (d. 2008)
October 7
Marcus Lamb, American televangelist (d. 2021)
Michael W. Smith, American Christian musician
October 12 – Renee Chenault-Fattah, journalist
October 14
Kenny Neal, guitarist
Greg Tate, writer and musician (d. 2021)
October 15 – Stacy Peralta, American director and skateboarder
October 16 – Jim Hodges, American installation artist
October 23 – Martin Luther King III, African-American human rights advocate and community activist
October 24 – John Kassir, American actor and comedian
October 25 – Nancy Cartwright, actress
October 26 – Bob Golic, American football player
October 29 – Dan Castellaneta, American actor
October 30 – Kevin Pollak, American actor
October 31
Lauren Berlant, American cultural theorist (d. 2021)
Brian Stokes Mitchell, American actor and singer
Shirley Phelps-Roper, American political and religious activist
Robert Pollard, American musician
November
November 1 – Peter Ostrum, American child actor and veterinarian
November 5 – Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (d. 1984)
November 6
Cam Clarke, American actor and singer
Lori Singer, American actress and musician
November 7 – Christopher Knight, American actor
November 10 – George Lowe, American voice actor and comedian
November 13
Greg Abbott, American politician
Roger Ingram, American jazz musician, author, educator, trumpet designer
November 14
Gregg Burge, American tap dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)
Bill Farmer, American actor and comedian
November 15 – Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist
November 19 – Tom Virtue, American actor
November 22 – Don Newman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
November 23 – William Kaelin Jr., American cellular biologist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019
November 24 – Denise Crosby, American actress
November 26 – Kevin Kamenetz, American politician (d. 2018)
November 27 – Caroline Kennedy, American author and attorney
December
December 1 – Vesta Williams, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
December 4 – Eric S. Raymond, American open source software advocate
December 6
Tom Brinkman, American politician
Andrew Cuomo, American politician, 56th Governor of New York
Dana Sue Gray, American serial killer
December 9 – Donny Osmond, American pop singer
December 10 – Michael Clarke Duncan, African-American actor (d. 2012)
December 12 – Sheila E., American percussionist, singer, author, and actress
December 13 – Steve Buscemi, American actor and comedian
December 14 – Tim Cone, American professional basketball coach based in the Philippines
December 15 – Laura Molina, American artist, musician and actress
December 19 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player
December 20 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
December 21
John Geddert, American gymnastic coach (d. 2021)
Tom Henke, American baseball player
Ray Romano, American actor and comedian
December 27 – Greg Mortenson, American humanitarian and author
December 29 – Bruce Beutler, American immunologist and geneticist
December 30 – Matt Lauer, American newscaster
Deaths
January 14 – Humphrey Bogart, film actor (born 1899)
January 16 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian-born orchestral conductor (born 1867)
January 26 – Enoch J. Rector, cinema technician, inventor, and film director (born 1863)
February 2 – Marian Cruger Coffin, landscape architect (born 1876)
February 10 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, author (born 1867)
February 16 – William M. Acton, lawyer and politician (born 1876)
February 25
Bugs Moran, gangster (born 1893)
B. P. Schulberg, film producer (born 1892)
March 11 – Richard E. Byrd, explorer (born 1888)
March 29 – Laura Bowman, actress and singer (born 1881)
May 2 – Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator from 1947 to 1957 (born 1908)
May 10 – Annie Turnbo Malone, African American millionaire businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist (born 1869)
May 13 – Robert Alfred Theobald, admiral (born 1884)
May 16 – Eliot Ness, Prohibition agent (born 1903)
June 1 – Russell Hicks, actor (born 1895)
June 4 – Mary Hay, actress and dancer (born 1901)
June 12 – Jimmy Dorsey, big band leader (born 1904)
June 13 – Bruno Albert Forsterer, Marine Sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1869)
July 3 – Judy Tyler, actress (b. 1932)
July 8 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States (born 1879)
July 10 – Julia Boynton Green, poet (born 1861)
July 24 – Frank Fenton, actor (born 1906)
August 7 – Oliver Hardy, comic film actor (born 1892)
September 2 – Bobby Myers, race car driver (killed in racetrack accident) (born 1927)
September 21
Margaret Ashmore Sudduth, educator, editor and temperance advocate (born 1859)
Henry E. Warren, inventor (born 1872)
October 13 – Erich Auerbach, German philologist, literary critic and comparative scholar (born 1892)
October 25 – Albert Anastasia, Italian American gangster (born 1902)
October 29 – Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-born film studio head (born 1885)
November 1 – Charlie Caldwell, sports player and coach (born 1901)
November 29 – Erich Korngold, Austrian-born composer (born 1897)
December 10 – Maurice McLoughlin, tennis player (born 1890)
December 24 – Norma Talmadge, silent film actress (born 1894)
See also
List of American films of 1957
Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)
References
External links
1950s in the United States
United States
United States
Years of the 20th century in the United States