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  • Cambodia
    1955
    Vietnam War

    Cambodia is neutral

    Cambodia
    1955

    Prince Norodom Sihanouk had proclaimed Cambodia neutral since 1955, but permitted the NVA/Viet Cong to use Cambodia as a staging ground for the Sihanouk Trail.




  • Military Academy, Zaragoza, Spain.
    1955
    Juan Carlos I

    Joining The Army

    Military Academy, Zaragoza, Spain.
    1955

    He then joined the army, doing his officer training from 1955 to 1957 at the Military Academy of Zaragoza.




  • England
    Jan, 1955
    Margaret Thatcher

    The Orpington by-election

    England
    Jan, 1955

    In 1954, Thatcher was defeated when she sought selection to be the Conservative party candidate for the Orpington by-election of January 1955.




  • Algeria
    Jan, 1955
    Algerian War

    The Soustelle Plan

    Algeria
    Jan, 1955

    By 1955, effective political action groups within the Algerian colonial community succeeded in convincing many of the Governors-General sent by Paris that the military was not the way to resolve the conflict. A major success was the conversion of Jacques Soustelle, who went to Algeria as governor-general in January 1955 determined to restore peace. Soustelle, a one-time leftist and by 1955 an ardent Gaullist, began an ambitious reform program (the Soustelle Plan) aimed at improving economic conditions among the population.




  • Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
    Jan, 1955
    Neil Armstrong

    College Graduation

    Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
    Jan, 1955

    Armstrong graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in January 1955.




  • Cuba
    1955
    Fidel Castro

    Divorce

    Cuba
    1955

    Castro's wife Mirta gained employment in the Ministry of the Interior, something he discovered through a radio announcement. Appalled, he raged that he would rather die "a thousand times" than "suffer impotently from such an insult". Both Fidel and Mirta initiated divorce proceedings, with Mirta taking custody of their son Fidelito; this angered Castro, who did not want his son growing up in a bourgeois environment.




  • Mexico City, Mexico
    1955
    Carlos Slim

    Shareholder in Mexico's Largest Bank

    Mexico City, Mexico
    1955

    By the age of 15, Slim had become a shareholder in Mexico's largest bank.


  • Geneva, Switzerland
    Jan, 1955
    World Trade Organization

    Geneva Round: 1955–56

    Geneva, Switzerland
    Jan, 1955

    The Geneva Round was the fourth session of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) multilateral trade negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. It started in 1955 and lasted until May 1956. Twenty-six countries took part in the round. $2.5 billion in tariffs were eliminated or reduced.


  • Monteagle, Tennessee, U.S.
    1955
    Rosa Parks

    Attending the Highlander Folk School

    Monteagle, Tennessee, U.S.
    1955

    Parks worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for Clifford and Virginia Durr, a white couple. Politically liberal, the Durrs became her friends. They encouraged—and eventually helped sponsor—Parks in the summer of 1955 to attend the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers' rights and racial equality in Monteagle, Tennessee. There Parks was mentored by the veteran organizer Septima Clark.


  • U.S.
    1955
    Pam Foreman Testroet

    Birth

    U.S.
    1955

    Pamela Lynn Foreman was born to Llyod Andrew Foreman in 1955, in United Stated.


  • U.S.
    Friday Jan 7, 1955
    Marilyn Monroe

    Marilyn Monroe Productions Announcement

    U.S.
    Friday Jan 7, 1955

    Monroe began a new battle for control over her career and left Hollywood for the East Coast, where she and photographer Milton Greene founded their own production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP) – an action that has later been called "instrumental" in the collapse of the studio system. Announcing its foundation in a press conference in January 1955, Monroe stated that she was "tired of the same old sex roles. I want to do better things


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Jan, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Eisenhower requested and secured from Congress their "Free China Resolution"

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Jan, 1955

    Eisenhower requested and secured from Congress their "Free China Resolution" in January 1955, which gave Eisenhower unprecedented power in advance to use military force at any level of his choosing in defense of Free China and the Pescadores. The Resolution bolstered the morale of the Chinese nationalists and signaled to Beijing that the U.S. was committed to holding the line.


  • U.S.
    1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Operation Teapot

    U.S.
    1955

    Eisenhower openly threatened the Chinese communists with the use of nuclear weapons, authorizing a series of bomb tests labeled Operation Teapot. Nevertheless, he left the Chinese communists guessing as to the exact nature of his nuclear response. This allowed Eisenhower to accomplish all of his objectives—the end of this communist encroachment, the retention of the Islands by the Chinese nationalists, and continued peace. Defense of the Republic of China from an invasion remains a core American policy.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1955
    Edward VIII

    Edward visited President Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1955

    In 1955 they visited President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House.


  • The Caribbean
    Jan, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Margaret made the first of many trips to the Caribbean

    The Caribbean
    Jan, 1955

    In January 1955 Margaret made the first of many trips to the Caribbean, perhaps to distract, and as a reward for being apart, from Townsend. The attaché secretly traveled to Britain; while the palace was aware of one visit, he reportedly made other trips for nights and weekends with the princess at Clarence House—her apartment had its own front door—and friends' homes.


  • Harwell, Didcot, England
    Feb, 1955
    Computer

    The First Completely Transistorized Computer

    Harwell, Didcot, England
    Feb, 1955

    The first completely transistorized computer was the Harwell CADET of 1955, built by the electronics division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell.


  • Then South Vietnam
    Feb, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army

    Then South Vietnam
    Feb, 1955

    In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, commonly known as South Vietnam) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance.


  • Chicago, Illinois, United States
    1955
    Mamie Till

    Emmett traveled to Mississippi

    Chicago, Illinois, United States
    1955

    In 1955, when Emmett was 14, his mother put him on the train to spend the summer visiting his cousins in Money, Mississippi.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Thursday Feb 24, 1955
    Audrey Hepburn

    Hepburn received the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite that year

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Thursday Feb 24, 1955

    Although she appeared in no new film releases in 1955, Hepburn received the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite that year.


  • Algeria
    Mar, 1955
    Algerian War

    Rabah Bitat was arrested by the French

    Algeria
    Mar, 1955

    In March 1955, Rabah Bitat, head of the FLN in Algiers, was arrested by the French.


  • Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
    Tuesday Mar 1, 1955
    Neil Armstrong

    Armstrong made his First Test Flight

    Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
    Tuesday Mar 1, 1955

    Following his graduation from Purdue, Armstrong became an experimental research test pilot. He applied at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base. NACA had no open positions, and forwarded his application to the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, where Armstrong made his first test flight on March 1, 1955.


  • southern United States, Dixie, Dixieland, U.S.
    Wednesday Mar 2, 1955
    Martin Luther King

    Claudette Colvin

    southern United States, Dixie, Dixieland, U.S.
    Wednesday Mar 2, 1955

    March 1955, Claudette Colvin—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws, local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue because the incident involved a minor.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Friday Mar 11, 1955
    World Bank

    Economic Development Institute

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Friday Mar 11, 1955

    The World Bank Institute (WBI) was a "global connector of knowledge, learning and innovation for poverty reduction". It aimed to inspire change agents and prepare them with essential tools that can help achieve development results. WBI had four major strategies to approach development problems: innovation for development, knowledge exchange, leadership and coalition building, and structured learning. World Bank Institute (WBI) was formerly known as Economic Development Institute (EDI), established on 11 March 1955 with the support of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations.


  • Glicério, São Paulo, Brazil
    Monday Mar 21, 1955
    Jair Bolsonaro

    Birth

    Glicério, São Paulo, Brazil
    Monday Mar 21, 1955

    Bolsonaro was born on 21 March 1955 in the town of Glicério, in São Paulo.


  • Messina, Sicily, Italy
    1955
    Brexit

    Messina Conference

    Messina, Sicily, Italy
    1955

    The 1955 Messina Conference deemed that the ECSC was a success, and resolved to extend the concept further, thereby leading to the 1957 Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).


  • South Vietnam
    Apr, 1955
    Vietnam War

    Diệm eliminated any political opposition in the south

    South Vietnam
    Apr, 1955

    From April to June 1955, Diệm eliminated any political opposition in the south by launching military operations against two religious groups: the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo of Ba Cụt. The campaign also focused on the Bình Xuyên organized crime group, which was allied with members of the communist party secret police and had some military elements. As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diệm increasingly sought to blame the communists.


  • Hungary
    Apr, 1955
    Hungarian Revolution of 1956

    Rákosi Removed Nagy From Office

    Hungary
    Apr, 1955

    By April 1955, Rákosi had Nagy discredited and removed from office.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Apr 5, 1955
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill retired as Prime Minister

    England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Apr 5, 1955

    Churchill retired as Prime Minister in April 1955 and was succeeded by Eden.


  • United Kingdom
    Tuesday Apr 5, 1955
    James Bond

    Moonraker was published

    United Kingdom
    Tuesday Apr 5, 1955

    Moonraker novel was published. Moonraker is the third novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. It was published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955 and featured a cover design conceived by Fleming.


  • Bandung, Indonesia
    Monday Apr 18, 1955
    W. E. B. Du Bois

    U.S. government prevented Du Bois from attending the 1955 Bandung Conference

    Bandung, Indonesia
    Monday Apr 18, 1955

    The U.S. government prevented Du Bois from attending the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia.


  • New Jersey, United States
    Monday Apr 18, 1955
    Albert Einstein

    Death

    New Jersey, United States
    Monday Apr 18, 1955

    Einstein died in Princeton Hospital early the next morning at the age of 76, having continued to work until near the end.


  • Bonn, Germany
    May, 1955
    NATO Establishment

    West Germany Joined NATO

    Bonn, Germany
    May, 1955

    Following the London and Paris Conferences, West Germany was permitted to rearm militarily, as they joined NATO in May 1955.


  • Warsaw, Poland
    Saturday May 14, 1955
    NATO Establishment

    The Creation of The Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact

    Warsaw, Poland
    Saturday May 14, 1955

    The joining of West Germany to the NATO was in turn a major factor in the creation of the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact, delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.


  • Warsaw, Poland
    Saturday May 14, 1955
    Hungarian Revolution of 1956

    The Warsaw Pact

    Warsaw, Poland
    Saturday May 14, 1955

    On 14 May 1955, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact, binding Hungary to the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. Among the principles of this alliance were "respect for the independence and sovereignty of states" and "non-interference in their internal affairs".


  • Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
    Sunday May 15, 1955
    Fidel Castro

    Castro's Release

    Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
    Sunday May 15, 1955

    In 1954, Batista's government held presidential elections, but no politician standing against him; the election was widely considered fraudulent. It had allowed some political opposition to be voiced, and Castro's supporters had agitated for an amnesty for the Moncada incident's perpetrators. Some politicians suggested an amnesty would be good publicity, and the Congress and Batista agreed. Backed by the US and major corporations, Batista believed Castro to be no threat, and on 15 May 1955, the prisoners were released.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Saturday May 21, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Daily Express published an editorial demanding that Buckingham Palace confirm or deny the rumors

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Saturday May 21, 1955

    That spring Townsend for the first time spoke to the press: "I am sick of being made to hide in my apartment like a thief", but whether he could marry "involves more people than myself". He reportedly believed that his exile from Margaret would soon end, their love was strong, and that the British people would support marrying. Townsend received a bodyguard and police guard around his apartment after the Belgian government received threats on his life, but the British government still said nothing. Stating that people were more interested in the couple than the recent 1955 United Kingdom general election, on 29 May the Daily Express published an editorial demanding that Buckingham Palace confirm or deny the rumors.


  • Houston, Texas, United States
    May, 1955
    Kroger

    Kroger entered the Houston

    Houston, Texas, United States
    May, 1955

    In May, Kroger entered the Houston, Texas, market by acquiring the Houston-based 26-store chain, Henke & Pillot.


  • Moscow, Russia
    Jun, 1955
    Mikhail Gorbachev

    Graduation

    Moscow, Russia
    Jun, 1955

    In June 1955, Gorbachev graduated school of law (Moscow State University) with a distinction his final paper had been on the advantages of "socialist democracy" (the Soviet political system) over "bourgeois democracy" (liberal democracy).


  • Cuba
    Sunday Jun 12, 1955
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    26th of July Movement

    Cuba
    Sunday Jun 12, 1955

    The best known of these anti-Batista groups was the "26th of July Movement" (MR-26-7), founded by a lawyer named Fidel Castro. With Castro as the MR-26-7's head, the organization was based upon a clandestine cell system, with each cell containing ten members, none of whom knew the whereabouts or activities of the other cells.


  • Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
    Sunday Jun 19, 1955
    Martin Luther King

    Doctoral Studies

    Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
    Sunday Jun 19, 1955

    King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955


  • U.S.S.R.
    1955
    Laser

    Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of a multi-level system as a method for obtaining the population inversion

    U.S.S.R.
    1955

    Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov were independently working on the quantum oscillator and solved the problem of continuous-output systems by using more than two energy levels. These gain media could release stimulated emissions between an excited state and a lower excited state, not the ground state, facilitating the maintenance of a population inversion. In 1955, Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of a multi-level system as a method for obtaining the population inversion, later a main method of laser pumping.


  • London, England
    Saturday Jul 9, 1955
    Atomic Bomb

    The Russell–Einstein Manifesto

    London, England
    Saturday Jul 9, 1955

    The Russell–Einstein Manifesto was issued in London on July 9, 1955, by Bertrand Russell in the midst of the Cold War. It highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict.


  • Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S.
    Monday Jul 11, 1955
    Neil Armstrong

    Neil reported for work at High-Speed Flight Station

    Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S.
    Monday Jul 11, 1955

    Armstrong's stint at Cleveland lasted only a couple of months before a position at the High-Speed Flight Station became available, and he reported for work there on July 11, 1955.


  • Disneyland Resort, 1313 Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, California, U.S.
    Sunday Jul 17, 1955
    Walt Disney

    The Opening of Disneyland

    Disneyland Resort, 1313 Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, California, U.S.
    Sunday Jul 17, 1955

    For several years Disney had been considering building a theme park. When he visited Griffith Park in Los Angeles with his daughters, he wanted to be in a clean, unspoiled park, where both children and their parents could have fun. He visited the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was heavily influenced by the cleanliness and layout of the park.= In March 1952 he received zoning permission to build a theme park in Burbank, near the Disney studios. This site proved too small, and a larger plot in Anaheim, 35 miles (56 km) south of the studio, was purchased. To distance the project from the studio‍—‌which might attract the criticism of shareholders‍—‌Disney formed WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) and used his own money to fund a group of designers and animators to work on the plans.Construction work started in July 1954, and Disneyland opened in July 1955; the opening ceremony was broadcast on ABC, which reached 70 million viewers. Although there were early minor problems with the park, it was a success, and after a month's operation, Disneyland was receiving over 20,000 visitors a day; by the end of its first year, it attracted 3.6 million guests.


  • Geneva, Switzerland
    Monday Jul 18, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Open Skies

    Geneva, Switzerland
    Monday Jul 18, 1955

    In 1955, the American nuclear arms policy became one aimed primarily at arms control as opposed to disarmament. The failure of negotiations over arms until 1955 was due mainly to the refusal of the Russians to permit any sort of inspections. In talks located in London that year, they expressed a willingness to discuss inspections; the tables were then turned on Eisenhower when he responded with an unwillingness on the part of the U.S. to permit inspections. In May of that year, the Russians agreed to sign a treaty giving independence to Austria and paved the way for a Geneva summit with the US, UK, and France. At the Geneva Conference, Eisenhower presented a proposal called "Open Skies" to facilitate disarmament, which included plans for Russia and the U.S. to provide mutual access to each other's skies for open surveillance of military infrastructure. Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev dismissed the proposal out of hand.


  • Jacksonville, Texas, United States
    Jul, 1955
    Kroger

    Kroger purchased Child's Food Stores

    Jacksonville, Texas, United States
    Jul, 1955

    In late July, Kroger purchased Child's Food Stores, Inc. of Jacksonville, Texas.


  • U.S.
    1955
    KFC

    Traveling the U.S.

    U.S.
    1955

    In 1955, Sanders sold his properties and traveled the US to franchise his chicken recipe to restaurant owners. Independent restaurants would pay four (later five) cents on each chicken as a franchise fee, in exchange for Sanders' secret blend of herbs and spices and the right to feature his recipe on their menus and use his name and likeness for promotional purposes.


  • Stavropol Krai, Russia
    Aug, 1955
    Mikhail Gorbachev

    Stavropol Komsomol

    Stavropol Krai, Russia
    Aug, 1955

    In August 1955, Gorbachev started work at the Stavropol regional procurator's office, but disliked the job and used his contacts to get a transfer to work for Komsomol, becoming deputy director of Komsomol's agitation and propaganda department for that region.


  • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
    1955
    KFC

    First in Canada

    Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
    1955

    The first KFC opened in 1955, 65 years ago in Saskatoon, Canada. Now, there are more than 600 restaurants.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Aug, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Margaret wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Eden

    England, United Kingdom
    Aug, 1955

    Why a betrothal did not occur is unclear. Margaret may have been uncertain of her desire, has written to Prime Minister Anthony Eden in August that "It is only by seeing him in this way that I feel I can properly decide whether I can marry him or not".


  • Torit, South Sudan
    Thursday Aug 18, 1955
    First Sudanese Civil War

    Members of The British-administered Sudan Defence Force Equatorial Corps Mutinied

    Torit, South Sudan
    Thursday Aug 18, 1955

    On 18 August 1955, members of the British-administered Sudan Defence Force Equatorial Corps mutinied in Torit, and in the following days in Juba, Yei, and Maridi.


  • Skikda, Algeria
    Saturday Aug 20, 1955
    Algerian War

    The massacre of Pieds-Noirs

    Skikda, Algeria
    Saturday Aug 20, 1955

    The FLN adopted tactics similar to those of nationalist groups in Asia, and the French did not realize the seriousness of the challenge they faced until 1955, when the FLN moved into urbanized areas. "An important watershed in the War of Independence was the massacre of Pieds-Noirs civilians by the FLN near the town of Philippeville (now known as Skikda) in August 1955. Before this operation, FLN policy was to attack only military and government-related targets. The commander of the Constantine wilaya/region, however, decided a drastic escalation was needed. The killing by the FLN and its supporters of 123 people, including 71 French,S including old women and babies, shocked Jacques Soustelle into calling for more repressive measures against the rebels.


  • Scotland, United Kingdom
    Sunday Aug 21, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Margaret was free to marry

    Scotland, United Kingdom
    Sunday Aug 21, 1955

    The press described Margaret's 25th birthday, 21 August 1955, as the day she was free to marry, and expected an announcement about Townsend soon. Three hundred journalists waited outside Balmoral, four times as many as those later following Diana, Princess of Wales. "COME ON MARGARET!", the Daily Mirror's front page said two days earlier, asking her to "please make up your mind!".


  • Chicago, Illinois, United States
    1955
    Mamie Till

    Emmett was killed

    Chicago, Illinois, United States
    1955

    Mamie's son was abducted and brutally murdered on August 28, 1955, after being accused of interacting inappropriately with a white woman. 


  • Corona, California, U.S.
    Wednesday Aug 31, 1955
    Gary Webb

    Webb birth

    Corona, California, U.S.
    Wednesday Aug 31, 1955

    Webb was born in Corona, California. His father was a Marine sergeant, and the family moved frequently, as his career took him to new assignments.


  • U.S.
    Sep, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Eisenhower was recovering from a heart attack late in September 1955

    U.S.
    Sep, 1955

    Eisenhower initially planned on serving only one term, but he remained flexible in the case leading Republicans wanted him to run again. He was recovering from a heart attack late in September 1955 when he met with his closest advisors to evaluate the GOP's potential candidates; the group concluded that a second term was well advised, and he announced that he would run again in February 1956.


  • White House, Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Sep 24, 1955
    Richard Nixon

    President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack

    White House, Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Sep 24, 1955

    On September 24, 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack; his condition was initially believed to be life-threatening. Eisenhower was unable to perform his duties for six weeks. The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution had not yet been proposed, and the Vice President had no formal power to act. Nonetheless, Nixon acted in Eisenhower's stead during this period, presiding over Cabinet meetings and ensuring that aides and Cabinet officers did not seek power.


  • Colorado, U.S.
    Saturday Sep 24, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Serious heart attack

    Colorado, U.S.
    Saturday Sep 24, 1955

    Eisenhower was the first president to release information about his health and medical records while in office, but people around him deliberately misled the public about his health. On September 24, 1955, while vacationing in Colorado, he had a serious heart attack. Dr. Howard Snyder, his personal physician, misdiagnosed the symptoms like indigestion and failed to call in the help that was urgently needed. Snyder later falsified his own records to cover his blunder and to protect Eisenhower's need to portray he was healthy enough to do his job.


  • Scotland, United Kingdom
    Saturday Oct 1, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    More than 100 journalists waited at Balmoral when Eden arrived to discuss the marriage with the Queen and Margaret

    Scotland, United Kingdom
    Saturday Oct 1, 1955

    More than 100 journalists waited at Balmoral when Eden arrived to discuss the marriage with the Queen and Margaret on 1 October 1955. Lord Kilmuir, the Lord Chancellor, that month prepared a secret government document on the proposed marriage.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 12, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Townsend returned from Brussels

    England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 12, 1955

    On 12 October Townsend returned from Brussels as Margaret's suitor. The royal family devised a system in which it did not host Townsend, but he and Margaret formally courted each other at dinner parties hosted by friends such as Mark Bonham Carter. A Gallup poll found that 59% of Britons approved of their marrying, with 17% opposed. Women in the East End of London shouted "Go on, Marg, do what you want" at the princess. Although the couple was never seen together in public during this time, the general consensus was that they would marry. Crowds waited outside Clarence House, and a global audience read daily updates and rumors on newspaper front pages.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 12, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Margaret may have told Townsend that governmental and familial opposition to their marriage had not changed

    England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 12, 1955

    Margaret may have told Townsend as early as 12 October that governmental and familial opposition to their marriage had not changed; it is possible that neither they nor the Queen fully understood until that year how difficult the 1772 Act made a royal marriage without the monarch's permission.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Saturday Oct 15, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    NOW - THE NATION WAITS

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Saturday Oct 15, 1955

    "Nothing much else than Princess Margaret's affairs is being talked of in this country", The Guardian said on 15 October. "NOW - THE NATION WAITS" was a typical headline.


  • England, United Kingdom
    1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Leslie Hutchinson had a "brief liaison" with Margaret

    England, United Kingdom
    1955

    According to biographer Charlotte Breese, entertainer Leslie Hutchinson had a "brief liaison" with Margaret in 1955.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Monday Oct 17, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    NO RING YET!

    England, United Kingdom
    Monday Oct 17, 1955

    As no announcement occurred—the Daily Mirror on 17 October showed a photograph of Margaret's left hand with the headline "NO RING YET!"—the press wondered why. Parliamentarians "are frankly puzzled by the way the affair has been handled", the News Chronicle wrote. "If a marriage is on, they ask, why not announce it quickly? If there is to be no marriage, why to allow the couple to continue to meet without a clear denial of the rumors?".


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Oct, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    First time the palace discussed the princess's recent personal life

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Oct, 1955

    Observers interpreted Buckingham Palace's request to the press to respect Margaret's privacy—the first time the palace discussed the princess's recent personal life—as evidence of an imminent betrothal announcement, probably before the Opening of Parliament on 25 October.


  • Vietnam
    Sunday Oct 23, 1955
    Vietnam War

    Referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam

    Vietnam
    Sunday Oct 23, 1955

    In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam on 23 October 1955, Diệm rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu and was credited with 98.2 percent of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisors had recommended a more modest winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diệm, however, viewed the election as a test of authority.


  • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
    1955
    Kroger

    Kroger began acquiring supermarket chains

    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
    1955

    Beginning in 1955, Kroger began acquiring supermarket chains, expanding into new markets.


  • Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
    Oct, 1955
    Kroger

    Kroger acquired the Krambo Food Stores

    Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
    Oct, 1955

    In June, Kroger acquired the Krambo Food Stores, Inc. of Appleton, Wisconsin.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 26, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    The QUEEN's sister married to a divorced man (even though the innocent party) would be irrevocably disqualified from playing her part in the essential royal function

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Oct 26, 1955

    An influential 26 October editorial in The Times stating that "The QUEEN's sister married to a divorced man (even though the innocent party) would be irrevocably disqualified from playing her part in the essential royal function" represented The Establishment's view of what is considered a possibly dangerous crisis.


  • Seattle, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 28, 1955
    Bill Gates

    Birth

    Seattle, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 28, 1955

    Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Friday Oct 28, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Margaret would announce that she would marry Townsend and leave the line of succession

    England, United Kingdom
    Friday Oct 28, 1955

    In the 28 October 1955 final draft of the plan, Margaret would announce that she would marry Townsend and leave the line of succession. As prearranged by Eden Anthony, the Queen would consult with the British and Commonwealth governments, then ask them to amend the 1772 Act. Eden would have told Parliament that it was "out of harmony with modern conditions"; Kilmuir estimated that 75% of Britons would approve of allowing the marriage. He advised Eden that the 1772 Act was flawed and might not apply to Margaret anyway.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Friday Oct 28, 1955
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

    Daily Mirror on 28 October discussed The Times's editorial with the headline "THIS CRUEL PLAN MUST BE EXPOSED"

    England, United Kingdom
    Friday Oct 28, 1955

    The Daily Mirror on 28 October discussed The Times's editorial with the headline "THIS CRUEL PLAN MUST BE EXPOSED". Although Margaret and Townsend had read the editorial the newspaper denounced as from "a dusty world and a forgotten age", they had earlier made their decision and written an announcement. On 31 October Margaret issued a statement: I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But mindful of the Church's teachings that Christian marriage is indissoluble and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before others. I have reached this decision entirely alone, and in doing so I have been strengthened by the unfailing support and devotion of Group Captain Townsend. "Thoroughly drained, thoroughly demoralized", Margaret later said, she and Townsend wrote the statement together. She refused when Oliver Dawnay, the Queen Mother's private secretary, asked to remove the word "devotion". The written statement, signed "Margaret", was the first official confirmation of the relationship. Some Britons were disbelieving or angry while others, including clergy, were proud of the princess for choosing duty and faith; newspapers were evenly divided on the decision. Mass-Observation recorded indifference or criticism of the couple among men, but great interest among women, whether for or against. Kenneth Tynan, John Minton, Ronald Searle, and others signed an open letter from "the younger generation". Published in the Daily Express on 4 November, the letter said that the end of the relationship had exposed The Establishment and "our national hypocrisy".


  • Semipalatinsk Test Site, U.S.S.R. (Present-Day in Kazakhstan)
    Nov, 1955
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    RDS-37

    Semipalatinsk Test Site, U.S.S.R. (Present-Day in Kazakhstan)
    Nov, 1955

    Nevertheless, the Cold War escalated during his presidency. When the Soviet Union successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in late November 1955, Eisenhower, against the advice of Dulles, decided to initiate a disarmament proposal to the Soviets. In an attempt to make their refusal more difficult, he proposed that both sides agree to dedicate fissionable material away from weapons toward peaceful uses, such as power generation. This approach was labeled "Atoms for Peace".


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Sunday Nov 27, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Sunday Nov 27, 1955

    In August 1955, black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered after reportedly flirting with a young white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi. On November 27, 1955, four days before she would make her stand on the bus, Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery that addressed this case as well as the recent murders of the activists George W. Lee and Lamar Smith. The featured speaker was T. R. M. Howard, a black civil rights leader from Mississippi who headed the Regional Council of Negro Leadership.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955
    Martin Luther King

    Rosa Parks

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955

    Nine months later on December 1, 1955, a similar incident occurred when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    Parks was Arrested

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955

    When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." She later said, "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind. ... ". Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955
    06:00:00 PM
    Rosa Parks

    The 2nd bus Incident

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 1, 1955
    06:00:00 PM

    around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers. Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded. Blake noted that two or three white passengers were standing, as the front of the bus had filled to capacity. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Parks later said about being asked to move to the rear of the bus, "I thought of Emmett Till and I just couldn't go back." Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Sunday Dec 4, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    The Montgomery Bus boycott

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Sunday Dec 4, 1955

    On Sunday, December 4, 1955, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were announced at black churches in the area, and a front-page article in the Montgomery Advertiser helped spread the word. At a church rally that night, those attending agreed unanimously to continue the boycott until they were treated with the level of courtesy they expected, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was handled on a first-come basis.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955

    The next day, Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. The trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs, Parks appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    Discussing The boycott Strategies

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955

    After the success of the one-day boycott, a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; when she asked if she should say something, the reply was, "Why, you've said enough." The group agreed that a new organization was needed to lead the boycott effort if it were to continue. Rev. Ralph Abernathy suggested the name "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The name was adopted, and the MIA was formed. Its members elected as their president Martin Luther King, Jr., a relative newcomer to Montgomery, who was a young and mostly unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.


  • Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955
    Rosa Parks

    Discussing actions to respond to Parks' arrest

    Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
    Monday Dec 5, 1955

    That Monday night, 50 leaders of the African-American community gathered to discuss actions to respond to Parks' arrest. Edgar Nixon, the president of the NAACP, said, "My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!" Parks was considered the ideal plaintiff for a test case against city and state segregation laws, as she was seen as a responsible, mature woman with a good reputation.


  • Spain
    Wednesday Dec 14, 1955
    Francisco Franco

    Admitted to the United Nations

    Spain
    Wednesday Dec 14, 1955

    Spain was then admitted to the United Nations in 1955.


  • U.S.
    1955
    Russell Bufalino

    Frank Sheeran

    U.S.
    1955

    Bufalino met truck driver Frank Sheeran in 1955, when Bufalino offered to help him fix his truck; Sheeran later worked jobs driving him around and making deliveries. Bufalino had introduced Sheeran to Teamsters International President Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa, who became a close friend to Sheeran, used him for muscle, including the assassination of recalcitrant union members and members of rival unions threatening the Teamsters' turf.


  • Kyoto, Japan
    1955
    Nintendo

    Hiroshi Yamauchi

    Kyoto, Japan
    1955

    In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales.


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