Historical eventOctober 191955
History of the Eurovision Song Contest
The General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union approves the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.
In context
- When
- Wednesday, October 19 195571 years ago
- Category
- Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Era
- 20th century · 1950s
- Recorded from
- Wikipedia “On this day” feed
At a glance
Dates: From 1955.
What happened
The General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union approves the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.
October 19 through the years
Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.
- 1955History of the Eurovision Song Contest
- 2003Mother Teresa
- 2004Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
- 2005Hurricane Wilma
- 2005Saddam Hussein
- 2012Assassination of Wissam al-Hassan
- 20132013 Buenos Aires train crash
- 2013YouTube
- 2017Robert Weryk
- 2019House of Lords
- 2025French Crown Jewels
Also in 1955
- May 25Joe Brown (climber)Joe Brown and George Band, members of the British Kangchenjunga expedition, made the first ascent of the world's third-highest mountain b…
- June 14ChileChile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- July 9Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein, Bertrand Russell (pictured) and nine other preeminent intellectuals and scientists issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto…
- July 9Russell–Einstein ManifestoThe Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.
- May 18Operation Passage to FreedomOperation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from…
- September 4Yumiko-chan incidentA white U.S. soldier raped and murdered a five-year-old local girl in Kadena, Okinawa.
- October 29Naval mineAn explosion, likely caused by a World War II–era naval mine, capsized the Soviet ship Novorossiysk in the harbor of Sevastopol, with the…
- January 7Marian AndersonMarian Anderson became the first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Sources
- Wikipedia article (text, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 for adapted text · how we source this
Cite this page
“History of the Eurovision Song Contest”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/history-of-the-eurovision-song-contest-1955-october-19, accessed October 28, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about this entry
When did History of the Eurovision Song Contest happen?
October 19 1955 — 71 years ago, on a Wednesday.
Where does this text come from?
Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.
How do I cite this page?
Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.
One entry a day, by email
The standout entry each morning. Kept for this site only.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.