- Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" by launching Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite. A month later Sputnik II carries a dog into orbit, making that dog the first living being to enter space.
- President Eisenhower announces "Eisenhower Doctrine," pledging defense of Miulle Eastern nations against communism
- Federal troops ordered to enforce integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Israel withdraws from Sinai Peninsula
- European Common Market created
- Britain detonates hydrogen bomb; U.S. conducts first underground nuclear test
- Despite record-setting filibuster by Sen. Strom Thurmond, Congress approves the first significant civil rights legislation since the Civil War
MAJOR EVENTS:
- Teamsters union expelled from the AFL-CIO for failing to deal with organized crime
BUSINESS & ECONOMY:
- Successful Sputnik satellites mark the beginning of the "Space Race," with intensive efforts by both the U.S. and Soviet Union to achieve space milestones.
- 67 nations participate in International Geophysical Year of earth science research
- Growth-producing hormone discovered
- Interferon discovered
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:
- World Series: Milwaukee over New York Yankees, 4-3
- At age 13, Bobby Fischer becomes a chess champion
- New York Giants move to San Francisco; Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles
SPORTS:
- Movies: The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Prince and the Showgirl, Twelve Angry Men, Love in the Afternoon
- Songs: Young Love, Tonight, Wake Up Little Susie, That’ll Be the Day, Jailhouse Rock
- TV Shows: Phil Silvers Show, Father Knows Best, Price is Right, American Bandstand, Twenty-One, Leave it to Beaver, Nat "King" Cole Show
- Books: On the Road, Jack Kerouac; Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss
- West Side Story and The Music Man open in New York
- And God Created Woman, a film starring Bridgette Bardot, becomes a controversial sensation; many communities ban the film based on its supposed sexual content
- Humphrey Bogart dies
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:
- "Beatnik" enters the vernacular as a description of the emerging "Beat Generation" counterculture movement
EVERYDAY LIFE:
- 71 cities have populations of one million or more in 1957; 40 years earlier such cities numbered only 16
