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First Peanuts Cartoon Strip
Written by Charles M. Schulz, the Peanuts characters apperared in only seven newspapers. In the original strip, the title was Li'l Folks, but was changed by the United States Syndicate to Peanuts. Schulz never liked the name himself. The first strip was four panels long and showed Charlie Brown walking with Shermy and Patty. -
Color TV Introduced
CBS broadcasted the first commercial color TV program. No one could watch it on their black and white televisions. The first show was called "Premiere" and featured celebrities such as Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Faye Emerson, Arthur Godfrey, Sam Levenson, Robert Alda, and Isabel Bigley. It aired from 4:35 to 5:34 but only reached Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. -
Princess Elizabeth Becomes Queen at Age 25
King George VI died in his sleep on February 6 after suffering from lung cancer. He was 56 years old. His oldest daughter, Elizabeth, became queen. -
Hillary and Norgay Climb Mt. Everest
At 11:30 AM, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay scaled the highest mountain in the world. They were the first people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest. -
Segregation Ruled Illegal in US
In the Supreme Court's ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education, it overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson saying that segregation is "inherently unequal." This ruling overturned all the segregation laws in the country. -
Disneyland Opens
Disneyland opened for a few specially selected vistiors. THe following day, it opened to the public. It was located in Anaheim, California on a 160-acre orange orchard. It cost $17 million to build. -
Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat
A 42-year-old African-American seamstress refused to give up her seat to a white man while riding the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and fined for breaking the laws of segregation. It sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and considered to be the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement. -
Laika Becomes the First Living Animal to Enter Orbit
Laika was a dog on board the Soviet's Sputnik 2. Laika became the first living creature to orbit. The Soviets did not create a re-entry plan, however, and Laika died in space. The dog's death started a huge debate about animal rights around the world. -
Hope Diamond is Donated to the Smithsonian
The huge, blue diamond has a long history, dating back to King Louis XIV. It is said to have been stolen during the French Revolution, sold to earn money for gambling, and worn to raise money for charity. On November 10, the latest owner, Harry Winston, donated the diamond to the Smithsonian to be displayed as part of the National Gem and Mineral Collection in the National Museum of Natural History. -
Castro Becomes Dictator of Cuba
Fidel Castro had been working to take Fulgencio Batista out of office since 1952. He tried to do it legally, but when that didn't work, he turned to violence. Castro was placed in jail for two years before being released. He went to Mexico, where he trained in guerilla warfare tactics. He arrived back in Cuba in December 1956 with a group of trained rebels. On January 1, 1959, Batista surrendered and left, leaving Cuba under Castro's control.
