What happened in 1955
41 entries recorded for 1955, listed by date. That was 71 years ago.
1955 at a glance
- Years ago
- 71 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1950s
- Generation born
- Baby Boomers
- Entries here
- 41
- Breakdown
- 41 historical events
January
- January 2
Panama
Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera's death is discovered.
- January 7
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson became the first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
March
- March 17
Ice hockey
Ice hockey fans in Montreal rioted to protest the suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard for hitting an official.
- March 26
Pan Am Flight 845/26
Pan Am Flight 845/26 ditches in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon, killing four.
April
- April 1
Mobile Defence Corps
The British Army's Mobile Defence Corps, intended to assist with civil defence after a nuclear attack, was established by royal warrant.
- April 5
Winston Churchill
Aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally in his old age, Winston Churchill retired as prime minister of the United Kingdom.
- April 15
McDonald's
McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- April 15
Ray Kroc
American restaurateur Ray Kroc opened the ninth McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, an occasion considered to be the founding of the present corporation.
- April 18
Bandung
Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
- April 25
British Museum
Following restoration at the British Museum, the Emesa Helmet was placed on display there (pictured) before its return to Syria.
May
- May 5
Bonn–Paris conventions
The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
- May 9
Cold War
Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
- May 14
Cold War
Cold War: Eight Eastern Bloc countries signed a mutual defense treaty to establish the Warsaw Pact.
- May 18
Operation Passage to Freedom
Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ended.
- May 25
Joe Brown (climber)
Joe Brown and George Band, members of the British Kangchenjunga expedition, made the first ascent of the world's third-highest mountain but deliberately did not set foot on the summit.
June
- June 2
Belgrade declaration
The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration, legitimising different interpretations of Marxism in non-Soviet countries.
- June 2
Soviet Union
The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between the two countries, discontinued since 1948.
- June 7
Lux Radio Theatre
Lux Radio Theatre signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
- June 14
Chile
Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
July
- July 9
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell (pictured) and nine other preeminent intellectuals and scientists issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, calling for a conference to assess the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.
- July 9
Russell–Einstein Manifesto
The Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.
- July 15
Nobel Prize
Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
- July 27
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty came into effect, ending the Allied occupation of Austria, although the country was not free of Allied troops until October.
- July 27
El Al Flight 402
After straying into Bulgarian airspace, El Al Flight 402 was shot down by two MiG-15 fighter jets, resulting in the deaths of all 58 on board.
August
- August 7
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane, the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than $1 billion in damages, formed between the Lesser Antilles and Cape Verde.
- August 26
Pather Panchali
Pather Panchali, the first film in The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, was released and went on to win many Indian and international film awards.
- August 27
Guinness World Records
The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published.
- August 28
Emmett Till
African-American teenager Emmett Till was lynched near Money, Mississippi, for allegedly flirting with a white woman, energizing the nascent American civil rights movement.
September
- September 4
Yumiko-chan incident
A white U.S. soldier raped and murdered a five-year-old local girl in Kadena, Okinawa.
- September 23
Mississippi
An all-white jury in Mississippi finds Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam not guilty in the torture-murder of 14-year-old African American boy Emmett Till.
- September 29
1955 Indonesian legislative election
The first Indonesian legislative election resulted in an unexpectedly poor result for the Masyumi Party of incumbent prime minister Burhanuddin Harahap (pictured).
- September 30
James Dean
American film actor James Dean suffered fatal injuries in a head-on car accident near Cholame, California.
October
- October 19
History of the Eurovision Song Contest
The General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union approves the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.
- October 19
European Broadcasting Union
At a meeting of its general assembly, the European Broadcasting Union approved the staging of the first Eurovision Song Contest.
- October 23
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam voted in a referendum to become a republic.
- October 26
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm proclaimed himself president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam after defeating former emperor Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum supervised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.
- October 29
Naval mine
An explosion, likely caused by a World War II–era naval mine, capsized the Soviet ship Novorossiysk in the harbor of Sevastopol, with the loss of 608 men.
November
- November 22
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union launches RDS-37, a 1.6 megaton two stage hydrogen bomb designed by Andrei Sakharov. The bomb was dropped over Semipalatinsk.
December
- December 1
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.
- December 5
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.
- December 24
NORAD Tracks Santa
According to legend, the NORAD Tracks Santa program began after children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to inquire about Santa Claus's whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number in an advertisement.
Questions about 1955
What happened in 1955?
This site records 41 entries for 1955, including Panama on January 2. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1955?
71 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1955 turns 71 this year.
Which century is 1955 in?
1955 falls in the 20th century, in the 1950s.
Which generation was born in 1955?
Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Born in the post-war birth surge.
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