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1956
• On 25 February, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces Stalin's crimes in a secret speech at the Communist party congress. • On 29 February, Pakistan becomes an Islamic republic. • On 2 March, Morocco becomes independent of France. • On 9 March, the British deport nationalist leader Archbishop Makarios from Cypriot to the Seychelles. • On 24 June, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser is elected president of Egypt. On 26 July, he nationalises the Suez Canal. The Suez crisis begins, which involves the abortive invasion of the country by Israel, Britain and France (British and French forces complete their withdrawal on 22 December). • On 4 November, Soviet troops suppress the popular Hungarian uprising against Communist rule, which had begun with student demonstrations on 23 October. • On 6 November, in a re-run of the 1952 US presidential election, Dwight D Eisenhower trounces Adlai Stevenson. • On 2 December, Fidel Castro lands on the coast of Cuba and the Cuban revolution begins. • The transatlantic cable telephone service begins. • On 17 October, Elizabeth II opens Calder Hall in north-west England, the world's first large-scale nuclear power station. • On 17 January, American singer Elvis Presley releases 'Heartbreak Hotel', beginning a career that will lead him to be hailed as the king of rock 'n' roll. • Folk singer Woody Guthrie writes 'This Land Is Your Land'. • American poet Allen Ginsberg publishes Howl!, a central text for the merging Beat generation. • In May, British playwright John Osborne's Look Back in Anger is first performed in London, and the cult of the 'angry young man' begins. • British artist Richard Hamilton's collage What is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? signals the beginning of pop art. |
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