What Happened in 1955?

MAJOR EVENTS:

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads the first major event of the U.S. civil rights movement, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama
• President Eisenhower suffers heart attack, is hospitalized for three weeks
• World War II Allies sign treaty restoring Austria’s independence
• Interstate Commerce Commission orders all U.S. interstate trains and buses to end segregation practices

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

• The AFL and CIO labor unions merge
• The minimum wage was raised to $1.00 per hour

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

• UHF television developed
• Artificial diamonds created for the first time
• Albert Einstein dies

SPORTS:

• World Series: Brooklyn over New York Yankees, 4-3
• "Sugar" Ray Robinson wins world boxing championship

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

• Movies: Marty, The Seven Year Itch, The Rose Tattoo, Smiles of a Summer Night
• Songs: Rock Around the Clock, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Davy Crockett, Love is a Many Splendored Thing
• TV Shows: Truth or Consequences, Lawrence Welk Show, The Honeymooners, Gunsmoke, Name that Tune, $64,000 Question, Lassie, You’ll Never Get Rich
• Books: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Sloan Wilson; Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Witness for the Prosecution, Agatha Christie
• Johnny Carson Show debuts on CBS-TV
• RCA Records pays $35,000 to Sun Records for Elvis Presley's contract
• The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC

EVERYDAY LIFE:

• Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California
• Rudolph Flesch publishes Why Johnny Can’t Read, a stinging criticism of U.S. education
• Cost of a gallon of gas is 23 cents

FUN FACTS:

• Pink clothes for men become a fashion rage
• Black and white TV costs $99.95