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Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events of 1958

January

• January 4 - Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit.
• January 8 - 14-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.
• January 18 - Armed Lumbee Indians confront a handful of Klansmen in Maxton, North Carolina.
• January 28 - Hall of Fame baseball player Roy Campanella is involved in an automobile accident that ends his career and leaves him paralyzed.
• January 31 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit.

February

• February 1 - Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic.
• February 2 - The word Aerospace is coined, from the words Aircraft (aero) and Spacecraft (space), taking into consideration that the Earth's atmosphere and outerspace is to be one, or a single realm.
• February 5 - Gamel Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
• February 5 - The Tybee Bomb, a 7,600 pound (3,500 kg) Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, is lost in the waters off Savannah, Georgia.
• February 6 - Munich air disaster: 23 are killed, including 8 players for Manchester United.
• February 11 - Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign affairs.
• February 11 - Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant.
• February 14 - The Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan unite in the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan with Iraqi King Faisal II as head of state.
• February 17 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare the patron saint of television.
• February 20 - A test rocket explodes at Cape Canaveral.
• February 21 - A peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.
• February 23 - Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio, releasing him 28 hours later.
• February 23 - Arturo Frondizi is elected president of Argentina.
• February 24 - In Cuba, Fidel Castro's Radio Rebelde begins broadcasting from Sierra Maestra.
• February 25 - Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
• February 28 - One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurs at Prestonsburg, Kentucky; 27 are killed.

March

• March 1 - Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, the 9th bishop (4th archbishop) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicago, is appointed Pro-Perfect of the Propagation of Faith, becoming the first American member of the Roman Curia.
• March 1 - The Turkish passenger ship Uskudar capsizes and sinks at Izmit Bay, Kocaeli, Turkey; at least 300 die.
• March 2 - A British team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first crossing of the Antarctic in Snow-cat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams in 99 days.
• March 8 - The USS Wisconsin is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896 (it is recommissioned October 22, 1988).
• March 11 - A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people, but no nuclear fission occurs.
• March 17 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
• March 24 - The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming The King Of Rock & Roll into U.S. private #53310761.
• March 25 - Canada's Avro Arrow makes its debut flight.
• March 26 - The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
• March 26 - The 30th Academy Awards ceremony is held.
• March 27 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

April

• April 1 - The BBC Radiophonic Workshop is established.
• April 3 - Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.
• April 4 - April 7 - In the first protest march for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from Hyde Park, London to Aldermaston, Berkshire, demonstrators demand the banning of nuclear weapons.
• April 4 - Cheryl Crane, daughter of actress Lana Turner, fatally stabs her mother's gangster lover Johnny Stompanato (the stabbing is eventually ruled as self-defense).
• April 6 - Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari divorces the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after she is unable to produce any children.
• April 14 - The satellite Sputnik 2 disintegrates in space after several orbits.
• April 14 - Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky International Competition for pianists in Moscow, breaking Cold War tensions.
• April 15 - The San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0 at San Francisco's Seals Stadium, in the first Major League Baseball regular season game ever played in California.
• April 17 - King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the World Fair in Brussels, also known as Expo '58.

May

• May 1 - Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina.
• May 1 - The Nordic Passport Union comes into force.
• May 9 - Actor-singer Paul Robeson, whose passport has been reinstated, sings in a sold-out one-man recital at Carnegie Hall. The recital is such a success that Robeson gives another one at Carnegie Hall a few days later. But after these two concerts, Robeson is seldom seen in public in the United States again. His Carnegie Hall concerts are later released on records and on CD.
• May 12 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
• May 13 - French Algerian protesters seize government offices in Algiers, leading to a military coup.
• May 13 - During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
• May 15 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• May 18 - An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).
• May 20 - Fulgencio Batista's government launches a counteroffensive against Castro's rebels.
• May 21 - United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area. [1]
• May 23 - Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
• May 30 - The bodies of 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.

June

• June 1 - Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for 6 months.
• June 1 - Iceland extends its fishing limits to 12 miles (22.2 km).
• June 2 - In San Simeon, California, Hearst Castle opens to the public for guided tours.
• June 4 - French President Charles De Gaulle visits Algeria.
• June 16 - Imre Nagy is hanged for treason in Hungary.
• June 27 - The Peronist Party becomes legal again in Argentina.
• June 29 - Brazil beats Sweden 5-2 to win the 1958 World Cup.

July

• July 5 - Gasherbrum I, the 11th highest mountain in the world, is first ascended.
• July 7 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.
• July 7 - The first International House of Pancakes (IHOP) opens in Toluca Lake, Calif.
• July 9 - A 7.5 Richter scale earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, causes a landslide that produces a huge 520-meter high wave
• July 10 - The first parking meters are installed in Britain.
• July 14 - Iraqi Revolution: The Iraqi monarchy is overthrown by Arab nationalists, King Faisal II is murdered and Abdul Karim Qassim assumes power.
• July 15 - In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there.
• July 17 - British paratroopers arrive in Jordan; King Hussein has asked help against pressure from Iraq.
• July 20 - Various rebel groups in Cuba join forces but the communists do not join them.
• July 24 - The first life peerage is created in Britain.
• July 26 - Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched.
• July 26 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom gives her son Charles the title of Prince of Wales.
• July 29 - The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

August

• August 3 - The nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.
• August 14 - A 4-engine Super Constellation aircraft belonging to KLM crashes into the sea with 99 people on board (the worst crash in civil aviation history up to that time).
• August 17 - The first Thor space craft is launched, carrying Pioneer 0 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17 and fails with a first stage malfunction.
• August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
• August 23 - Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
• August 27 - Operation Argus: The United States begins nuclear tests over the South Atlantic.
• August 30 - September 1 - Riots between blacks and whites occur in Notting Hill, London.

September

• September 1 - The first Cod War begins between UK and Iceland.
• September 6 - Paul Robeson performs in concert at the Soviet Young Pioneer camp Artek.
• September 12 - Jack St. Clair Kilby invents the first integrated circuit.
• September 14 - Two rockets designed by German engineer Ernst Mohr (the first German post-war rockets) reach the upper atmosphere.
• September 27 - Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honsh“, Japan.
• September 28 - In France, a majority of 79% says yes to the constitution of the Fifth Republic.
• September 30 - The U.S.S.R. performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

October

• October 1 - Tunisia and Morocco join the Arab League.
• October 1 - NASA starts operations and replaces the NACA.
• October 2 - Guinea declares itself independent from France.
• October 4 - BOAC uses the new De Havilland Comet jets, to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.
• October 9 - Pope Pius XII dies.
• October 11 - Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of 3 project Able space probes, becomes the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.
• October 21 - The Life Peerages Act entitles women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. Baroness Swanbourough, Lady Reading and Baroness Barbara Wooton are the first to take their seats.
• October 28 - Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII as the 261st pope.

November

• November 3 - The new UNESCO building is inaugurated in Paris.
• November 10 - The Bossa nova is born in Rio de Janeiro, with Joao Gilberto's recording of "Chega de Sudade".
• November 22 - The Menzies government in Australia is re-elected for a 5th term.
• November 23 - Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on American radio.
• November 25 - French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.
• November 28 - Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
• November 30 - Gaullists win parliamentary elections in France.

December

• December 1 - Adolfo López Mateos takes office as President of Mexico.
• December 1 - The Central African Republic becomes independent from France.
• December 1 - At least 90 students and 3 nuns are killed in a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago.
• December 5 - 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. [2]
• December 5 - The Preston bypass, the United Kingdom's first motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. This stretch is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.
• December 6 - The 3rd launch of a Thor space craft carrying Pioneer 2 is unsuccessful, due to a 3rd stage ignition failure.
• December 9 - The right-wing John Birch Society is founded in the USA by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer.
• December 14 - The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.
• December 19 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower broadcasts a message from a Project SCORE satellite.
• December 21 - General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France with 78.5% of the votes.
• December 24 - A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England during a test flight.
• December 25 - Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (the George Balanchine version) is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series Playhouse 90.
• December 28 - The Baltimore Colts beat The New York Giants 23-17 in overtime to win The NFL Championship.
• December 29 - Rebel troops under Che Guevara begin to invade Santa Clara, Cuba.
• December 31 - As the year draws to a close, tallies reveal that, for the first time, total passengers carried by air exceeds total passengers carried by sea in transatlantic serivce.

Undated

• During the International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered.
• The Amirkabir University of Technology is founded.
• Based on birth rates (per 1,000 population), the post-war baby boom ends in the United States as an 11-year decline in the birth rate begins (the longest on record in that country).
• The last legal female genital cutting occurs in the United States.
• Denatonium, the bitterest substance known, is discovered. It is used as an aversive agent in products such as bleach to reduce the risk of children drinking them.
• The Jim Henson Company is founded.
• The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.
• The largest solar maximum in the recorded history of solar maxima occurs.
• The Recession of 1958 hits the United States.
• Instant noodles go on sale for the first time.
• The British Rally Championship begins its first year.
• Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
• Nikita Khrushchev orders Western allies to evacuate West Berlin within 6 months but bucks down in the face of the allies' unity.

Ongoing

• Cold War
• Cuban Revolution
• Mau Mau Uprising

Births

January-February

• January 1 - Grandmaster Flash, African-American hip-hop/rap DJ
• January 2 - Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
• January 4 - Matt Frewer, Canadian/American actor (Max Headroom)
• January 9 - Mehmet Ali A-ca, Turkish militant, attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II
• January 11 - Vicki Peterson, American rock guitarist (The Bangles)
• January 13 - Ricardo Acuña, Chilean tennis player
• January 15 - Boris Tadi-, Serbian president
• January 20 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, martial artist and reality show participant (Falcon Crest)
• January 24 - Jools Holland, British musician
• January 26 - Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedian (Ellen)
• January 27 - Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer
• January 29 - Judy Norton Taylor, American actress (The Waltons)
• February 4 - Tomasz Pacy-ski, Polish writer (d. 2005)
• February 8 - Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
• February 11 - Michael Jackson, British broadcasting executive
• February 11 - Regina Mar-íková, Czechoslovakian tennis player
• February 13 - Pernilla August, Swedish actress
• February 13 - Tip Tipping, British actor and stuntman (d. 1993)
• February 14 - Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
• February 14 - Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, Basque separatist
• February 16 - Ice-T, African-American singer, songwriter, and actor (Law and Order)
• February 21 - Jake Burns, Irish punk singer (Stiff Little Fingers)
• February 21 - Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
• February 24 - Sammy Kershaw, American musician
• February 24 - Mark Moses, American actor
• February 25 - Kurt Rambis, American basketball player
• February 26 - Susan Helms, American astronaut

March-April

• March 1 - Nik Kershaw, English singer
• March 3 - Miranda Richardson, English actress
• March 4 - Patricia Heaton, American actress (Everybody Loves Raymond)
• March 4 - Lennie Lee, British artist
• March 5 - Andy Gibb, English-born singer (Shadow Dancing) (d. 1988)
• March 7 - Rik Mayall, English comedian
• March 8 - Gary Numan, British singer (Cars)
• March 10 - Steve Howe, American baseball player (d. 2006)
• March 10 - Sharon Stone, American actress (Basic Instincts)
• March 13 - Linda Robson, English actress (Birds of a Feather)
• March 14 - Albert II, Prince of Monaco
• March 18 - Kayo Hatta, American film director (d. 2005)
• March 20 - Holly Hunter, American actress
• March 21 - Gary Oldman, English actor (Air Force One)
• March 25 - James McDaniel, American actor (NYPD Blue)
• March 28 - Bart Conner, American gymnast
• March 28 - Edesio Alejandro, Cuban music composer
• April 1 - D. Boon, American singer and guiatrist (d. 1985)
• April 3 - Alec Baldwin, American actor (30 Rock)
• April 4 - Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (d. 1990)
• April 10 - Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born pianist
• April 10 - Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, African-American musician and record producer
• April 11 - Luc Luycx, Belgian designer of the Euro coins common side
• April 12 - Will Sergeant, English guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
• April 15 - Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• April 15 - Dolores Gordon-Smith, British writer
• April 15 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician
• April 21 - Andie MacDowell, American actress
• April 22 - Ken Olandt, American actor
• April 24 - Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer
• April 25 - Fish, Scottish singer
• April 28 - Hal Sutton, American golfer
• April 29 - Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress

May-July

• May 3 - Kevin Kilner, American actor
• May 4 - Keith Haring, American artist
• May 10 - Rick Santorum, Former U.S. Senator
• May 11 - Christian Brando, American actor and eldest child of Marlon Brando (d. 2008)
• May 12 - Dries Van Noten, Belgian designer
• May 12 - Eric Singer, American rock drummer (Kiss)
• May 15 - Ron Simmons, American professional wrestler
• 18 May - Toyah Willcox, English actress
• May 21 - Tom Feeney, American Republican politician from the state of Florida
• May 23 - Mitch Albom, American author
• May 23 - Drew Carey, American comedian and actor (The Price is Right)
• May 27 - Neil Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter (Split Enz, Crowded House)
• May 29 - Annette Bening, American actress
• June 2 - Lex Luger, American professional wrestler
• June 7 - Prince, African-American musician
• June 8 - Keenen Ivory Wayans, African-American comedian, actor, and director (In Living Color)
• June 12 - Rebecca Holden, American actress, singer, and entertainer
• June 15 - Wade Boggs, American baseball player
• June 17 - Jello Biafra, American punk musician and activist (Dead Kennedys)
• June 20 - Chuck Wagner, American actor
• June 20 - Kelly Johnston, British guitarist (Girlschool)
• June 22 - Bruce Campbell, American actor, producer, writer and director
• June 24 - Curt Fraser, American ice hockey coach
• June 27 - Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
• June 27 - Jim Cartwright, English actor and playwright
• June 28 - Félix Gray, French singer and songwriter
• June 29 - Jeff Coopwood, American actor, broadcaster and singer
• June 29 - Rosa Mota, Portuguese long-distance runner
• June 30 - Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
• July 2 - Thomas Bickerton, American Methodist bishop
• July 5 - William Watterson, American cartoonist (Calvin and Hobbes)
• July 6 - Jennifer Saunders, British comedian
• July 7 - Michala Petri, Danish recorder player
• July 8 - Kevin Bacon, American actor (Apollo 13)
• July 15 - Mac Thornberry, American politician
• July 15 - Austin Hayes, Irish footballer (d. 1986)
• July 16 - Michael Flatley, Irish-born dancer
• July 20 - Billy Mays, American infomercial salesperson
• July 22 - Tatsunori Hara, Japanese professional-baseball coach and player
• July 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (d. 1981)
• July 30 - Kate Bush, British singer and songwriter
• July 31 - Mark Cuban, American entrepreneur and basketball team owner
• July 31 - Bill Berry, American rock drummer (R.E.M.)

August-September

• August 1 - Adrian Dunbar, Irish actor and airector
• August 4 - Allison Hedge Coke, English poet and writer
• August 7 - Bruce Dickinson, English musician
• August 7 - Russell Baze, champion jockey
• August 15 - Victor Shenderovich, Russian writer
• August 16 - Madonna, American-born singer, songwriter, and actress (Material Girl)
• August 16 - Angela Bassett, African-American actress
• August 17 - Belinda Carlisle, American singer (The Go-Go's)
• August 19 - Anthony Muñoz, American football player
• August 20 - Nicholas Bell, English actor based in Australia
• August 22 - Colm Feore, American-born actor
• August 24 - Steve Guttenberg, American actor (Police Academy)
• August 25 - Tim Burton, American film director (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
• August 27 - Normand Brathwaite, Canadian comedian and television and radio host
• August 29 - Michael Jackson, African-American singer and dancer (The Jackson 5)
• September 6 - Jeff Foxworthy, American comedian, actor, author (Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader-)
• September 6 - Michael Winslow, American comedian, actor, voice actor
• September 8 - Mitsuru Miyamoto, Japanese voice actor
• September 8 - Reiko Terashima, Japanese manga artist and illustrator
• September 14 - Michael Bollner, German actor
• September 14 - Jeff Crowe, New Zealand cricketer
• September 10 - Chris Columbus (filmmaker), American film director/writer/producer
• September 16 - Orel Hershiser, American baseball player
• September 19 - Azumah Nelson, Ghanaian boxer
• September 21 - Bruno Fitoussi, French poker player
• September 22 - Joan Jett, Americn musician
• September 22 - Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor
• September 23 - Danielle Dax, British musician
• September 23 - Marvin Lewis, American football coach
• September 23 - Scott Shaw, American author, actor, and filmmaker
• September 25 - Michael Madsen, American actor
• September 25 - Eamonn Healy, Irish chemist
• September 30 - Marty Stuart, American singer

October-December

• October 12 - Bryn Merrick, British punk musician (The Damned)
• October 13 - Derri Daugherty, American musician (The Choir, Lost Dogs)
• October 14 - Thomas Dolby, English rock musician (She Blinded Me With Science)
• October 16 - Tim Robbins, American actor
• October 17 - Alan Jackson, American country singer and songwriter
• October 20 - Dave Finlay, Northern Irish professional wrestler
• October 20 - Viggo Mortensen, American actor
• October 20 - Mark King, British rock musician (Level 42)
• October 20 - Scott Hall, American professional wrestler
• October 25 - Phil Daniels, English actor
• October 27 - Simon Le Bon, English rock musician (Duran Duran)
• October 29 - Blazej Balaz, Slovak painter
• November 1 - Mark Austin, British newsreader (ITN)
• November 2 - Willie McGee, African-American baseball player
• November 8 - Jeff Speakman, American actor and martial artst