1958

Events

January

• January 1 – The European Economic Community comes into being.
• January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
• January 4
• * Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles.
• * Sputnik 1 falls towards Earth from its orbit and burns up.
• January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol.
• January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the "Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C.

  February

• February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic.
• February 2 – The Falcons aerobatic team of the Pakistan Air Force led by Wg Cdr Mitty Masud set a world record performing a 16 aircraft diamond loop in F-86 Sabres. 30,000 people are in attendance including President Iskandar Ali Mirza, General Ayub Khan, Air Marshal Asghar Khan, Air Commodore Nur Khan, C-in-C Turkish Air Force Hamdullah Suphi Göker, Chief of the Iraqi Air Force Abdul Kadhim Abaddi, Chief of the Imperial Iranian Air Force and Chief Guest King Zahir Shah in whose honor the performance has been organized.
• February 5 – 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision: A U.S. B-47 bomber jettisons a hydrogen bomb into Wassaw Sound off Tybee Island, Georgia; it is never recovered.
• February 6 – Seven Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed in the Munich air disaster in West Germany, on the return flight from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia. 23 people survive; manager Matt Busby and players Johnny Berry and Duncan Edwards are in a serious condition. Berry will never play again and Edwards dies a fortnight later, as does the co-pilot.
• February 11 – Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• February 14 – The Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan unite in the Arab Federation, with King Faisal II of Iraq as head of state.
• February 23
• * Cuban rebels kidnap five-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio, releasing him 28 hours later.
• * Arturo Frondizi is elected president of Argentina.
• February 24 – In Cuba, Fidel Castro's Radio Rebelde begins broadcasting from Sierra Maestra.
• February 25 – Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the United Kingdom, initiated at a meeting called by Canon John Collins on January 15. The campaign peace symbol has been launched on 21 February by Gerald Holtom. Protests will focus on the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston.
• February 28 – Prestonsburg bus disaster: One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurs in Kentucky when a school bus hits a truck and falls into a river, resulting in 27 deaths, 26 of them schoolchildren. Twenty-two others are rescued.

  March

• March 1 – Turkish passenger ship capsizes and sinks in a sudden gale while crossing the Gulf of İzmit, Turkey; many of the 272 who die are teenage students.
• March 2 – A British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition team, led by Sir Vivian Fuchs, completes the first overland crossing of the Antarctic, using snowcat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams, in 99 days, via the South Pole.
• March 8 – The is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896.
• March 11 – 1958 Mars Bluff B-47 nuclear weapon loss incident: A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Without a fissile warhead, its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure six people.
• March 17 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
• March 19 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire occurs in New York, United States, killing 24 people.
• March 26 – The 30th Academy Awards Ceremony takes place in Hollywood; The Bridge on the River Kwai wins 7 awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture.
• March 27 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

  April

• April 1 – The Treaty of Angra de Cintra is signed by Spain and Morocco, ending the Spanish protectorate in Morocco.
• April 3 – In Cuba, Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.
• April 13 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 disintegrates during reentry from orbit.
• April 14 – Van Cliburn wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition for pianists in Moscow, easing Cold War tensions.
• April 17 – King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the world's fair in Brussels, also known as Expo 58. The Atomium forms the centrepiece.
• April 20 – The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey, after defeating the Boston Bruins in 6 games.
• April 21 – United Airlines Flight 736 is involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force F-100F jet fighter over what becomes Enterprise, Nevada; all 49 persons in both aircraft are killed.
• April 28 – A bomber flown by a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency operative in support of Indonesian Permesta rebels bombs the harbor at Balikpapan, Borneo, Indonesia, hitting an Indonesian naval corvette and two British oil tankers. In June, the Indonesian and British governments both claim that Indonesian rebels are responsible for such attacks, concealing the C.I.A.'s involvement.

  May

• May 1
• * Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina.
• * U.S. space scientist James van Allen announces the discovery of Earth's magnetosphere.
• * The Nordic Passport Union comes into force.
• May 10 – Interviewed in the Chave d'Ouro café, when asked about his rival António de Oliveira Salazar, Humberto Delgado utters one of the most famous comments in Portuguese political history: "Obviamente, demito-o! ".
• May 12 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
• May 13
• * Crisis in France: French Algerian protesters seize government offices in Algiers, leading to a military coup.
• * During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
• May 15 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
• May 18 – A U.S. Lockheed F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of.
• May 20 – The Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista launches a counteroffensive against Castro's rebels.
• May 22 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first American elected official to appear on color television.
• May 28 – Real Madrid beats A.C. Milan 3–2 at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, and wins the 1957–58 European Cup in Association football.
• May 30 – The bodies of unidentified United States soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns, in Arlington National Cemetery.

  June

• June 1
• * Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises to lead France by decree for 6 months.
• * Iceland extends its fishing limits to 12 miles.
• June 4 – French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle visits Algeria.
• June 16 – Imre Nagy and other leaders of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956 are hanged for treason, following secret trials.
• June 20 – The iron barque Omega of Callao, Peru, the world's last full-rigged ship trading under sail alone, sinks on passage carrying guano from the Pachacamac Islands for Huacho.
• June 29 – Brazil beats Sweden 5–2 in the final game to win the football World Cup in Sweden.
• June 30 – The 1957–58 Ifni War ends in Spanish Sahara.

  July

• July 9 – 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami: A 7.8 strike-slip earthquake in Southeast Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reaches on the rim of Lituya Bay.
• July 12 – Henri Cornelis becomes Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the last Belgian governor prior to independence.
• July 14 – July 14 Revolution in Iraq: King Faisal II and several family members are executed. Abd al-Karim Qasim assumes power.
• July 15 – 1958 Lebanon crisis: 5,000 United States Marines land in the Lebanese capital Beirut in support of the pro-Western government.
• July 24 – Fourteen life peerages, the first under the Life Peerages Act 1958, are created in the United Kingdom.
• July 26
• * Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched in the United States.
• * Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom announces that she is giving her son Prince Charles the customary title for the heir apparent of Prince of Wales. The announcement is made at the end of the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held in Cardiff.
• July 29 – The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  August

• August 3 – The nuclear-powered submarine becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.
• August 6
• * Australian athlete Herb Elliott clips almost 3 seconds off the world record for the mile run at Santry Stadium, Dublin, recording a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds.
• * The Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, which outlawed the Communist Party of Chile and banned 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed.
• August 7 – 1958 East Pakistan-India border skirmishes, a skirmish between East Pakistan and the Indian Army in Laxmipur.
• August 14 – KLM Flight 607-E, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, crashes into the Atlantic with 99 people aboard, all of whom are killed.
• August 17 – The first Thor-Able rocket is launched, carrying Pioneer 0, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17. The launch fails due to a first stage malfunction.
• August 18 – Brojen Das from East Pakistan swims across the English Channel in a competition, the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He is first among 39 competitors.
• August 21–October 15 – Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln–Douglas debates.
• August 23 – The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army shelling the island of Kinmen which is controlled by the Republic of China 's Kuomintang forces.
• August 26 – A general strike is called in Paraguay.
• August 30–September 1 – Notting Hill race riots: Riots occur between blacks and whites in Notting Hill, London.