1957 in the United States

Events from the year 1957 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government">Federal government of the United States">Federal government

President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
[Vice President of the United States|President of the United States|Vice President]: Richard Nixon
Chief Justice: Earl Warren
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn
Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
Congress: 84th, 85th

Events

January

January 2 - The San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge to form the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.
January 6 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third and final time. He is only shown from the waist up, even during the gospel segment, singing "Peace In The Valley". Ed Sullivan describes Elvis thus: "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you. You're thoroughly alright."
January 16 - Global hotel brand Marriott opens its first hotel, the Marriott Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
January 20 - Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon are inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States and Vice President of the United States respectively.
January 22 - The New York City "Mad Bomber", George Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut, and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
January 23 - Ku Klux Klan members force truck driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into the Alabama River; he drowns as a result.
January 31 - Pacoima aircraft accident: Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California, are among the 8 persons killed following a mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet, in the skies above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

February

February 4 - The first nuclear-powered submarine,, logs its 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
February 17 - The Warrenton Nursing Home fire in Missouri kills 72 people.
February 25 - The "Boy In The Box" is discovered along a sidewalk in Philadelphia. The murder victim is described as Caucasian in appearance and 4 to 6 years old; the boy was identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli in 2022.

March

March 4 - Standard & Poor's first publishes the S&P 500 Index in the United States.
March 7 - The United States Congress approves the Eisenhower Doctrine on assistance to Communist-threatened foreign regimes.
March 10 - Floodgates of The Dalles Dam are closed, inundating Celilo Falls and ancient Native American fisheries along the Columbia River in Oregon.
March 13 - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery.
March 22 - The 5.7 San Francisco earthquake shook the Bay Area in California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing $1 million in losses, one death and forty injuries.
March 25 - Copies of Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems, printed in the UK, are seized by United States Customs Service officials in San Francisco, on the grounds of obscenity. On October 3, in People v. Ferlinghetti, a subsequent prosecution of publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the work is ruled not to be obscene.
March 26 - 22-year-old Elvis Presley buys Graceland on 3734 Bellevue Boulevard for $100,000. He and his family move from the house on 1034 Audubon Drive.
March 27 - The 29th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Jerry Lewis and Celeste Holm, is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony started a trend toward blockbusters and colorful spectaculars, with Michael Anderson's Around the World in 80 Days winning Best Motion Picture chief among them. The film is tied with Walter Lang's The King and I for the most awards with five, while George Stevens' Giant receives the most nominations with ten, including Stevens' second Best Director win.
March 31 - Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, the team's only musical written especially for television, is telecast live and in color by CBS, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. The production is seen by millions, but this 1957 version is not telecast again for more than 40 years, when a kinescope of it is shown.

April

April 12 - Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl, printed in the United Kingdom, is seized by U.S. customs officials on the grounds of obscenity.

May

May 2
*Iron Liege, at 8–1, wins the Kentucky Derby in one of the most eventful Derbys ever.
* Vincent Gigante fails to assassinate mafioso Frank Costello in Manhattan.
May 3 - Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, to Los Angeles.
May 16 - Walt Whitman Bridge opens between Philadelphia and New Jersey.

June

June 1 - Three-year-old thoroughbred Gallant Man wins the Peter Pan Stakes, at Belmont Park.
June 15 - Oklahoma celebrates its semi-centennial statehood. A brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere is buried in a time capsule.
June 20 - The 1957 Fargo Tornado caused 12 deaths.
June 23 – Royal Ice Cream sit-in
June 25 - The United Church of Christ is formed in Cleveland, Ohio, by the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
June 27 - Hurricane Audrey demolishes Cameron, Louisiana, killing 400 people.

July

July 9 - Elvis Presley's Loving You opens in movie theaters.
July 16 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies an F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds, setting a new transcontinental speed record.

August

August 5 - American Bandstand, a local dance show produced by WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, joins the ABC Television Network.
August 21 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing.
August 28 - United States Senator Strom Thurmond sets the record for the longest filibuster with his 24-hour, 18-minute speech railing against a civil rights bill.

September

September 4
*American Civil Rights Movement - Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas calls out the National Guard of the United States to prevent the "Little Rock Nine" African American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School.
*The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel on what the company proclaims as "E Day".
September 5 - Viking Press publishes On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
September 9
* Civil Rights Act of 1957 enacted, setting up the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
* Catholic Memorial High School opens its doors for the first time in Boston, Massachusetts.
September 23 - The Academy Award-winning movie The Three Faces of Eve is released.
September 24 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into Little Rock Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
September 26 - West Side Story, a new musical by Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim opens at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

October

October 4 - The sitcom Leave It to Beaver premieres on CBS.
October 9 - Neil H. McElroy is sworn in as United States Secretary of Defense.
October 10
* U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a restaurant in Dover, Delaware.
* Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is published.
* The Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3, to win their 2nd World Series Title.
October 11 - The orbit of the last stage of the R-7 Semyorka rocket is first successfully calculated on an IBM 704 computer during Operation Moonwatch, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
October 21 - The U.S. military sustains its first combat fatality in Vietnam, Army Capt. Hank Cramer of the 1st Special Forces Group.
October 25 - Mafia boss Albert Anastasia is assassinated in a barber shop, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City.
October 31 - Toyota begins exporting vehicles to the U.S., beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser

November

November 1
* The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's two peninsulas.
* The first tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, linking Norfolk and Hampton, Virginia, opens at a cost of $44 million.
November 6 - Jailhouse Rock opens nationally and Elvis Presley continues to gain more notoriety.
November 7 - Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.
November 8 - The film Jailhouse Rock opens across the U.S. to reach #3, and Elvis Presley continues to gain more notoriety.
November 14 - Apalachin Meeting: American Mafia leaders meet in Apalachin, New York, at the house of Joseph Barbara; the meeting is broken up by a curious patrolman.
November 16
* Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wisconsin.
* Oklahoma celebrates its 50th anniversary of statehood.
* Notre Dame beats the Oklahoma Sooners 7–0 to end the longest winning streak in college football history at 47.
November 25 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffers a stroke.

December

December 2 - Shippingport Atomic Power Station goes onstream; commercial operation begins on May 26, 1958.
December 6 - Vanguard TV3, the first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite, fails with the rocket blowing up on the launch pad.
December 18
*A violent F5 tornado wipes out the entire community of Sunfield, Illinois.
*The Bridge on the River Kwai is released in the U.S. It goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Additional Oscars go to Alec Guinness and David Lean, among others. This is Lean's first Oscar for directing.
December 19 - Meredith Willson's classic musical The Music Man, starring Robert Preston, is premièred on Broadway.
December 20 - The Boeing 707 airliner flies for the first time.
December 22 - The CBS afternoon anthology series The Seven Lively Arts presents Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker on U.S. television for the first time.

Undated

Operation Dropshot, an all-out U.S. war with the Soviet Union, is expected to be triggered by the Soviet takeover of Western Europe, the Near East and parts of Eastern Asia, as it was anticipated in 1949.

Ongoing

Cold War

Births

January

January 1
* Mark Hurd, American businessman
* Karen Pence, American educator, and teacher, Second Lady of the United States
January 4 – Patty Loveless, American country music singer
January 6
* Freddie Glenn, American spree killer and rapist
* Nancy Lopez, American golfer
January 7
* Nicholson Baker, American novelist
* Katie Couric, American television host
* Steve Janaszak, American professional ice hockey player
January 8
* Dwight Clark, American football player
* David Lang, American composer
January 12 – John Lasseter, American director, writer and animator
January 13
* Ralph DeLoach, American football player
* Claudia Emerson, American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner in 2006
* Lorrie Moore, American writer
January 15
* Turk Schonert, American football player
* Mario Van Peebles, African-American actor and director
January 17 – Steve Harvey, African-American comedian, television host, radio personality and actor
January 21 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
January 22 – Brian Dayett, American baseball player
January 26 – Road Warrior Hawk, American professional wrestler
January 27 – Frank Miller, American comic book writer
January 30 – Payne Stewart, American golfer

February

February 6
* Kathy Najimy, actress and comedian
* Robert Townsend, African-American actor, comedian, director and writer
February 7 – Carney Lansford, baseball player and coach
February 8
* Robert S. Kapito, business investor
* Cindy Wilson, rock singer
February 14 – Alan Hunter, MTV's first video jockey
February 15
* Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, criminal
* Jake E. Lee, guitarist and songwriter
* Jimmy Spencer, race car driver and sportscaster
February 16 – LeVar Burton, African-American actor
February 18 – Vanna White, American game show presenter
February 20 – Dean Zelinsky, American guitar designer, maker and luthier. Founder of and
February 26
* David Beasley, lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
* Joe Mullen, ice hockey player and coach
* Keena Rothhammer, swimmer
February 27 – Ralph Cox, ice hockey player
February 28 – John Turturro, actor, writer and director

March

March 4
* Jim Dwyer, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Rick Mast, American NASCAR driver
* Mykelti Williamson, African-American actor
March 6 – Eddie Deezen, American voice actor, comedian
March 12
* Val Demings, African-American politician
* Marlon Jackson, African-American singer
March 13 – David Peaston, American singer
March 15 – Park Overall, American film and television actress
March 20
* Vanessa Bell Calloway, African-American actress
* John Grogan, American journalist
* Spike Lee, African-American film director and actor
* Theresa Russell, American actress
* Amy Aquino, American television, film, and stage actress
March 23
* Teresa Ganzel, American comedian and actress
* Amanda Plummer, American actress
March 24 – Jack Edwards, American play-by-play announcer
March 26 – Leeza Gibbons, American television personality
March 28
* Paul Eiding, American actor and voice actor
* Harvey Glance, African-American Olympic athlete
March 29 – Christopher Lambert, American actor
March 31 – Marc McClure, American actor

April

April 1 – Denise Nickerson, actress
April 8 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
April 11
April 11
* Michael Card, Christian musician
* Jim Lauderdale, bluegrass musician
April 12
* Vince Gill, singer and songwriter
* Adam Parfrey, journalist and editor
* Suzzanne Douglas, African-American actress
April 14 – Richard Jeni, comedian
April 16 – Essex Hemphill, African American poet and gay activist
April 17 – Afrika Bambaataa, DJ and producer
April 18 – Genie, feral child
April 21 – Jesse Orosco, baseball player
April 23 – Jan Hooks, actress and comedian
April 27 – Robert Curtis Brown, television, film and stage actor
April 29 – Timothy Treadwell, environmentalist and filmmaker

May

May 3 – William Clay Ford Jr., automobile executive
May 4 – Iona Morris, actress
May 15 – Kevin Von Erich, professional wrestler
May 11 – Lynn J. Rothschild, American biologist and astrobiologist
May 16
* Joan Benoit, Olympic gold medal-winning marathon runner
* Bob Suter, professional ice hockey player
May 18 – Lionel Shriver, author and journalist
May 20 – Stewart Nozette, astronomer
May 21
* Bruce Buffer, ring announcer
* Judge Reinhold, actor
May 24
* John Harrington, American professional ice hockey player
* John G. Rowland, American politician, author, and convicted felon
May 28 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player
May 29
* Bobby Hamilton, stock car racing driver
* Jeb Hensarling, politician
* Ted Levine, actor
May 31 – Jim Craig, professional ice hockey player

June

June 5 – Charles Nolan, fashion designer
June 6 – Jessica Diamond, artist
June 8 – Scott Adams, cartoonist
June 12 – Timothy Busfield, American actor
June 14
* Suzanne Nora Johnson, lawyer and businesswoman
* Mona Simpson, novelist
June 21 – Michael Bowen, American actor
June 23 – Frances McDormand, American actress
June 24 – Doug Jones, American baseball player

July

July 3
* Shan Goshorn, American Cherokee artist
* Ken Ober, American actor and game show host
* Faye Resnick, American TV personality
July 8 – James E. Malone Jr., American politician
July 9 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
July 10 – Cindy Sheehan, American anti-war activist
July 12
* Rick Husband, American astronaut
* Buddy Foster, American actor
July 13 – Cameron Crowe, American writer and film director
July 15 – Cecile Richards, American women's rights activist
July 16 – Faye Grant, American actress
July 21 – Jon Lovitz, actor and comedian
July 24 – Jack O'Callahan, professional ice hockey player
July 26 – Nana Visitor, actress
July 27 – Matt Osborne, professional wrestler
July 31 – Paul Provenza, comedian

August

August 1 – Taylor Negron, actor
August 2 – Mojo Nixon, singer, lyricist and actor
August 5 – Clayton Rohner, actor
August 6 – Jim McGreevey, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
August 9 – Melanie Griffith, American actress
August 11 – Richie Ramone, American rock drummer
August 14 – Tony Moran, American actor and producer
August 16
* Laura Innes, American actress and director
* Phil Murphy, American politician
August 18 – Denis Leary, comedian and actor
August 19 – Martin Donovan, actor
August 22 – Holly Dunn, country music singer and songwriter
August 24 – Kristina Gjerde, American oceanographer
August 28
* Rick Rossovich, American actor
* Daniel Stern, American actor
August 30 – Manu Tuiasosopo, American football player
August 31 – Gina Schock, American drummer

September

September 3 – Earl Cureton, American basketball player
September 8 – Heather Thomas, American actress and activist
September 11
* Jeff Sluman, American golfer
* Jeh Johnson, American politician, 4th Secretary of Homeland Security
September 13 – Vinny Appice, drummer
September 15 – Brad Bird, American animator and director
September 18 – Mark Wells, American professional ice hockey player
September 21 – Ethan Coen, American film director, producer, screenwriter and editor
September 22
* Mark Johnson, American professional ice hockey player and coach
* Ted Williams, announcer, radio personality, and voice-over artist
September 24 – Brad Bird, American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and actor
September 27 – Peter Sellars, theatre director
September 28 – Bill Cassidy, Senator from Louisiana, physician and politician
September 29 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian
September 30 – Fran Drescher, American actress

October

October 4 – Bill Fagerbakke, American voice actor
October 5 – Bernie Mac, African-American comedian and actor
October 7
* Marcus Lamb, American televangelist
* Michael W. Smith, American Christian musician
October 12 – Renee Chenault-Fattah, journalist
October 14
* Kenny Neal, guitarist
* Greg Tate, writer and musician
October 15 – Stacy Peralta, American director and skateboarder
October 16 – Jim Hodges, American installation artist
October 18 – Gary Gensler, American banker
October 21 – Steve Lukather, American musician
October 23 – Martin Luther King III, African-American human rights advocate and community activist
October 24 – John Kassir, American actor and comedian
October 25 – Nancy Cartwright, actress
October 26 – Bob Golic, American football player
October 29 – Dan Castellaneta, American actor
October 30 – Kevin Pollak, American actor
October 31
* Lauren Berlant, American cultural theorist
* Brian Stokes Mitchell, American actor and singer
* Shirley Phelps-Roper, American political and religious activist
* Robert Pollard, American musician

November

November 1 – Peter Ostrum, American child actor and veterinarian
November 5 – Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor
November 6
* Cam Clarke, American actor and singer
* Lori Singer, American actress and musician
November 7 – Christopher Knight, American actor
November 9 – Eric Sievers, American football player
November 10 – George Lowe, American voice actor and comedian
November 12 – Brad Sigmon, American convicted murderer
November 13
* Greg Abbott, American politician
* Roger Ingram, American jazz musician, author, educator, trumpet designer
November 14 – Gregg Burge, American tap dancer and choreographer
November 15 – Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist
November 19 – Tom Virtue, American actor
November 22 – Don Newman, American basketball player and coach
November 23 – William Kaelin Jr., American cellular biologist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019
November 24 – Denise Crosby, American actress
November 26 – Kevin Kamenetz, American politician
November 27 – Caroline Kennedy, American author and attorney

December

December 1 – Vesta Williams, American singer-songwriter
December 4 – Eric S. Raymond, American open source software advocate
December 6
* Tom Brinkman, American politician
* Andrew Cuomo, American politician, 56th Governor of New York
* Dana Sue Gray, American serial killer
December 9 – Donny Osmond, American pop singer
December 10 – Michael Clarke Duncan, African-American actor
December 12 – Sheila E., American percussionist, singer, author, and actress
December 13 – Steve Buscemi, American actor and comedian
December 14 – Tim Cone, American professional basketball coach in the Philippines
December 15 – Laura Molina, American artist, musician and actress
December 19 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player
December 20 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
December 21
* John Geddert, American gymnastic coach
* Tom Henke, American baseball player
* Ray Romano, American actor and comedian
December 23 – Steve Silberman, American writer and editor
December 27 – Greg Mortenson, American humanitarian and author
December 29 – Bruce Beutler, American immunologist and geneticist
December 30 – Matt Lauer, American newscaster

Deaths

January 14 - Humphrey Bogart, film actor
January 16 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian-born orchestral conductor
January 26
* Helene Costello, actress
* William Eythe, actor
* Enoch J. Rector, cinema technician, inventor, and film director
February 2
* Marian Cruger Coffin, landscape architect
* Julia Morgan, architect and engineer
February 5 – Ben Hardaway, film director
February 10 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, author
February 16 - William M. Acton, lawyer and politician
February 25
* Bugs Moran, gangster
* B. P. Schulberg, film producer
March 11 - Richard E. Byrd, explorer
March 12 – Josephine Hull, actress
March 29 - Laura Bowman, actress and singer
March 31 – Gene Lockhart, Canadian-American actor
April 3 – Ned Sparks, Canadian-born actor
April 8 – Dorothy Sebastian, actress
May 1 – Grant Mitchell, actor
May 2 - Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator from 1947 to 1957
May 10 - Annie Turnbo Malone, African American millionaire businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist
May 13 - Robert Alfred Theobald, admiral
May 16 - Eliot Ness, Prohibition agent
May 29 – James Whale, English director and actor
June 1 - Russell Hicks, actor
June 4 - Mary Hay, actress and dancer
June 12 - Jimmy Dorsey, big band leader
June 13 - Bruno Albert Forsterer, Marine Sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
June 15 – Norina Matchabelli, actress
July 3 - Judy Tyler, actress
July 8 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States
July 10 - Julia Boynton Green, poet
July 15 – George Cleveland, Canadian-American actor
July 24 - Frank Fenton, actor
August 7 - Oliver Hardy, comic film actor
September 2 - Bobby Myers, race car driver
September 21
* Margaret Ashmore Sudduth, educator, editor and temperance advocate
* Henry E. Warren, inventor
October 13 - Erich Auerbach, German philologist, literary critic and comparative scholar
October 25 - Albert Anastasia, Italian American gangster
October 29 - Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-born film studio head
November 1 - Charlie Caldwell, sports player and coach
November 17 – Cora Witherspoon, actress
November 29 - Erich Korngold, Austrian-born composer
December 2 - Harrison Ford, silent film actor
December 10 - Maurice McLoughlin, tennis player
December 24 - Norma Talmadge, silent film actress
December 28 - Hilda Vaughn, actress