1958 in the United States

Events from the year 1958 in the United States.

Incumbents

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

President: 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: 85th

Events

January–March

January 8 - Bobby Fischer, 14 years old at the time, wins the United States Chess Championship.
January 13 - In One, Inc. v. Olesen, the Supreme Court affirms that homosexual writing is not per se obscene.
January 18
* Battle of Hayes Pond: Armed Lumbee Indians confront the Ku Klux Klan in Maxton, North Carolina.
* The first of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic is telecast by CBS. The Emmy-winning series will run for more than 14 years. It will make Bernstein's name a household word, and the most famous conductor in the U.S.
January 28 - Hall of Fame baseball player Roy Campanella is involved in an automobile accident that ends his career and leaves him paralyzed.
January 31 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit.
February 5 - The Tybee Bomb, a 7,600 pound Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, is lost in the waters off Savannah, Georgia.
February 11 - Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant. Working for Mohawk Airlines, her career lasts only six months, due to another discriminatory barrier - the airline's ban on married flight attendants.
February 20 - A test rocket explodes at Cape Canaveral.
February 28 - Prestonsburg, Kentucky bus disaster: The worst school bus accident in U.S. history up to this date occurs at Prestonsburg, Kentucky; 27 are killed.
March 1 - Archbishop of Chicago Samuel Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Faith, thus becoming the first American to head a dicastery of the Roman Curia.
March 8 - The USS Wisconsin 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. Its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people, but no nuclear fission occurs.
March 17
* The Convention on the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization enters into force, founding the IMCO as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
* The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
March 19
* Monarch Underwear Company fire in New York.
* Warner Bros. Records, the company which would later become Warner Records, is founded by its namesake, Warner Bros. Pictures.
March 24 - The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming "The King Of Rock & Roll" into U.S. Private #53310761.
March 26
*The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
*The 30th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Bob Hope, Rosalind Russell, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon and a premade animation of Donald Duck, is held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai wins seven awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director for Lean. Joshua Logan's Sayonara receives the most nominations with ten.

April–June

April - Unemployment in Detroit reaches 20%, marking the height of the Recession of 1958 in the United States.
April 4 - Killing of Johnny Stompanato: Actress Lana Turner's 14-year-old daughter Cheryl Crane fatally stabs her mother's abusive partner, mobster Johnny Stompanato, at their home in Beverly Hills, California, in what is ruled to be justifiable homicide.
April 15 - The San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8–0 at San Francisco's Seals Stadium, in the first Major League Baseball regular-season game ever played in California.
April 21 - A United Airlines DC-7 and U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Sabre fighter jet collide near Las Vegas, Nevada, killing all 49 aboard the two aircraft.
May 9 - Actor-singer Paul Robeson, whose passport has been reinstated, sings in a sold-out one-man recital at Carnegie Hall. The recital is such a success that Robeson gives another one at Carnegie Hall a few days later. But after these two concerts, Robeson is seldom seen in public in the United States again. His Carnegie Hall concerts are later released on records and on CD.
May 12 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
May 13 - During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
May 20 - A Capital Airlines airliner and Air National Guard jet collide near Brunswick, Maryland, killing 12.
May 22 - First color television switch: WRC-TV dedication.
May 23 - Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
May 30 - The bodies of unidentified 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 2 - In San Simeon, California, Hearst Castle opens to the public for guided tours.
June 8 – The is launched; it will be the largest freighter on the Great Lakes for more than a dozen years.
June 15 – The first Pizza Hut restaurant opens in Wichita, Kansas.
June 17 – The U.S. condemns the execution of Imre Nagy as a "shocking act of cruelty".

July–September

July – The plastic hula hoop is first marketed.
July 3 – US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement signed in Washington, D.C.
July 7 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.
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 reached on the rim of Lituya Bay.
July 15 - During the 1958 Lebanon crisis, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there.
July 29 - The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
August 3 - The nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.
August 12 - The Federal Switchblade Act is enacted in the United States.
August 17 - The first Thor-Able rocket is launched, carrying Pioneer 0, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17. The launch fails due to a first stage malfunction.
August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
August 21–October 15 - Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln–Douglas debates.
August 23 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, transferring all authority over aviation in the U.S. to the newly created Federal Aviation Agency.
August 27 - Operation Argus: The United States begins nuclear tests over the South Atlantic.
September – The University of New Orleans begins classes as the first racially integrated public university in the Southern United States.
September 15 - Newark Bay rail accident kills 48 people and injures the same number.
September 18 - "Fresno Drop": BankAmericard, the first credit card to be widely offered, is launched in Fresno, California.
September 23 - The Spirit of Detroit statue is dedicated in Detroit, Michigan.

October–December

October 1 - NASA starts operations and replaces the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
October 9 - The New York Yankees defeat the Milwaukee Braves, 4 games to 3, to win their 18th World Series Title.
October 11 - Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of the three-project Able space probes, becomes the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.
November 12 - The Nose (El Capitan) in Yosemite National Park is first climbed, by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore in 47 days.
November 20 - The Jim Henson Company is founded as Muppets, Inc.
November 23 - Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on American radio.
December 1 - Our Lady of the Angels School fire: At least 90 students and 3 nuns are killed in a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago.
December 6 - A third Thor-Able rocket launch, carrying the Pioneer 2 probe, is unsuccessful due to a third-stage ignition failure.
December 9 - The right-wing John Birch Society is founded in the U.S. by Robert W. Welch Jr., a retired candy manufacturer.
December 19 - A message from President Dwight D. Eisenhower is broadcast from SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, launched by the U.S. the previous day.
December 25 - Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series Playhouse 90.
December 28 - 1958 NFL Championship Game: The Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants 23–17 to win the NFL Championship Game, the first to go into sudden death overtime and "The Greatest Game Ever Played".

Undated

Based on birth rates, the post-war baby boom ends in the United States as an 11-year decline in the birth rate begins.
The United Kingdom, Soviet Union and the U.S. agree to stop testing atomic bombs for 3 years.
Robert Frank publishes his photographic essay The Americans.
The PBA Tour is established by the Professional Bowlers Association at its headquarters in Seattle for ten-pin bowling.

Ongoing

Births

January

January 1
* Dave Silk, American ice hockey player and coach
* Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, African American hip-hop/rap DJ
January 4
* Andy Borowitz, American comedian and author
* Lorna Doom, musician
* James J. Greco, American businessman
* Jim Powers, American wrestler
January 6 – Scott Bryce, actor, director, and producer
January 8 – Betsy DeVos, 11th United States Secretary of Education
January 9 – Rob McClanahan, ice hockey player
January 10 – Eddie Cheever, race car driver
January 11
* Alyson Reed, dancer and actress
* Vicki Peterson, rock musician
January 12 – Curt Fraser, American ice hockey coach
January 14 – Patricia Morrison, American singer-songwriter and bass player
January 20 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, martial artist and reality show participant
January 21 – Gareth Branwyn, American journalist and critic
January 23 – Steve Christoff, ice hockey player
January 24 – Neil Allen, baseball player and coach
January 26
* Anita Baker, African-American soul and R&B singer
* Xavier Becerra, politician and attorney, Attorney General of California
* Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedian
January 27 – Susanna Thompson, American actress
January 29 – Stephen Lerner, American labor and community activist

February

February 7 – Kevin Schon, voice actor
February 8 – Sherri Martel, professional wrestler
February 16
* Nancy Donahue, fashion model and entrepreneur
* Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow, rapper
* Lisa Loring, actress
February 17 – Alan Wiggins, baseball player
February 18 – Gar Samuelson, drummer
February 19 – Leslie David Baker, African-American actor
February 21
* Jack Coleman, actor and screenwriter
* Denise Dowse, actress and director
* Jake Steinfeld, actor
* Mary Chapin Carpenter, singer
February 22 - Richard Greenberg, playwright and television writer
February 23 - Charles Sheedy, Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates
February 24 – Todd Fisher, actor
February 25 – Kurt Rambis, basketball player
February 26
* Susan J. Helms, astronaut
* Tim Kaine, politician
* Chris Phillips, American voice actor
February 27
* Maggie Hassan, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
* Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, lawyer and activist
* Nancy Spungen, American groupie and girlfriend of Sid Vicious
February 28 – Mark Pavelich, professional ice hockey player

March

March 4 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
March 9
* Linda Fiorentino, American actress or 1960
* Mary Murphy, dance choreographer
March 10
* Steve Howe, American baseball player
* Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
March 11 – Anissa Jones, American child actress
March 15 – John Friedrich, American actor
March 18
* John Elefante, American singer and producer
* Kayo Hatta, American film director
March 20 – Holly Hunter, American actress
March 23
* Eldon Hoke, American singer and drummer
* Michael Sorich, American voice actor, actor, writer, director and voice director
March 25
* John Ensign, politician
* James McDaniel, actor
March 26 – Todd Joseph Miles Holden, American-born social scientist, author, basketball coach
March 28
* Bart Conner, American gymnast
* Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler
March 31 – Lisa Michelson, American voice actress

April

April 1 – D. Boon, American singer and guitarist
April 3
* Francesca Woodman, American photographer
* Alec Baldwin, American actor, producer and comedian
April 4 – Constance Shulman, American actress
April 12 – Annette McCarthy, American actress
April 14 – John D'Aquino, American film and television actor
April 21 – Andie MacDowell, American actress
April 26 – Giancarlo Esposito, Italian-American actor
April 28 – Hal Sutton, American golfer
April 29
* Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress
* Eve Plumb, American actress

May

May 1 – Nick Stellino, Italian-born American chef and author
May 4 – Keith Haring, artist
May 7 – William Ridenour, politician
May 8 – Lovie Smith, American football player and coach
May 10
* Rick Santorum, politician
* Ellen Ochoa, astronaut, first Hispanic woman to go into space
May 11
* Christian Brando, actor and eldest child of Marlon Brando
* Walt Terrell, baseball player
May 12
* Jennifer Hetrick, actress
* Tony Oliver, voice actor
* Eric Singer, rock drummer
May 15 – Ron Simmons, professional wrestler
May 17 – Amp Fiddler, African-American singer/songwriter
May 19 – Jenny Durkan, politician
May 20
* Ron Reagan, political pundit and son of U.S. president Ronald Reagan
* Jane Wiedlin, musician and actress
May 21 – Tom Feeney, politician
May 23
* Mitch Albom, author
* Drew Carey, comedian and actor
* Lea DeLaria, comedian and actress
May 25 – Carrie Newcomer, singer-songwriter & musician
May 26 – Margaret Colin, actress
May 27
* Linnea Quigley, actress
* Wayne Williams, murderer and suspected serial killer
May 28 – Ric Edelman, investor and author
May 29 – Annette Bening, actress
May 30 – Ted McGinley, actor

June

June 2
* Lex Luger, former American professional wrestler
* Brian Regan, American stand-up comedian
June 4 – Gordon P. Robertson, American televangelist and son of Pat Robertson
June 5
* Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comoroan businessman and politician, President of Comoros
* Eric Strobel, American professional ice hockey player
* Warren Thomas, American comedian
June 7 – Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson, African-American rock musician
June 8
* Cyril O'Reilly, American actor
* Keenen Ivory Wayans, African-American comedian, actor, and director
June 9 – Tony Horwitz, American journalist and author
June 10 – James F. Conant, American philosopher
June 11 – Tim Draper, American venture capitalist
June 12
* Rebecca Holden, American actress, singer, and entertainer
* Meredith Brooks, American singer, songwriter and guitarist
June 14
* Eric Heiden, American speed skater
* Pamela Geller, American activist and blogger
June 15 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
June 17 – Jello Biafra, American punk musician and activist
June 20
* Ron Hornaday Jr., American race car driver
* Chuck Wagner, American actor
June 21 – Eric Douglas, American actor
June 22
* Bruce Campbell, American actor, producer, writer and director
June 24
* John Tortorella, American ice hockey coach
* Tom Lister Jr., American actor and professional wrestler
June 26 – Glen Stewart Godwin, American fugitive and convicted murderer
June 27 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American musician
June 29 – Jeff Coopwood, American actor, broadcaster and singer
June 30 – Tommy Keene, American singer-songwriter

July

July 2 – Thomas Bickerton, Methodist bishop
July 3 – Aaron Tippin, singer
July 5 – Bill Watterson, cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes
July 8 – Kevin Bacon, actor
July 11 – Stephanie Dabney, ballerina
July 13
* Roger L. Jackson, voice actor
* Dan Schachte, hockey linesman
July 15 – Mac Thornberry, politician
July 16
* Mick Cornett, politician
* Michael Flatley, American-Irish dancer and choreographer
* Mike Rogers, politician
July 20 – Billy Mays, salesman

August

August 1 – Michael Penn, singer
August 7
* Buddy Dyer, politician
* Russell Baze, Canadian/American champion jockey
August 10 – Don Swayze, actor
August 13 – Lizzie Grey, musician
August 15 – Rondell Sheridan, actor
August 16
* Angela Bassett, African-American screen actress and film director
* Madonna, born Madonna Louise Ciccone, pop singer and performer
August 17 – Belinda Carlisle, pop rock singer
August 18
* Reg E. Cathey, African-American actor
* Madeleine Stowe, actress
August 19
* Anthony Muñoz, American football player
* Rick Snyder, politician
August 20 – Michael Silka, spree killer
August 22
* Brady Boone, professional wrestler
* Colm Feore, American-born Canadian actor
August 24 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor
August 25
* Tim Burton, film director
* Christian LeBlanc, actor
August 26 – Billy Ray Irick, convicted murderer
August 28 – Colm Feore, American-Canadian actor
August 29 – Michael Jackson, African-American singer and musician
August 31 – Julie Brown, actress

September

September 4 – Drew Pinsky, celebrity doctor
September 6 – Jeff Foxworthy, comedian
September 10 – Chris Columbus, film director, writer, and producer
September 11
* Brad Lesley, baseball player
* Scott Patterson, actor
* Phoef Sutton, screenwriter and producer
September 15 – Wendie Jo Sperber, actress
September 16
* Orel Hershiser, baseball player
* Jennifer Tilly, Canadian-American actress
September 18 – Jeff Bostic, American football player
September 22 – Joan Jett, rock musician
September 23 – Marvin Lewis, American football coach
September 24 – Kevin Sorbo, actor
September 25 – Michael Madsen, American actor
September 26
* Darby Crash, rock songwriter, singer
* Dan Foster, radio host
September 27 – Shaun Cassidy, actor, producer and screenwriter
September 30 – Marty Stuart, singer

October

October 3 – Daryl Sconiers, baseball player
October 4
* Ned Luke, actor
* Wendy Makkena, actress
October 5 – Neil deGrasse Tyson, African-American astrophysicist
October 9 – Michael Paré, actor
October 10 – Tanya Tucker, singer
October 13 – Maria Cantwell, politician
October 15 – Eddie Gossage, American motorsport promoter
October 16 – Tim Robbins, actor and director
October 17 – Alan Jackson, country singer and songwriter
October 18 – Letitia James, lawyer, activist and politician
October 20
* Scott Hall, professional wrestler
* Viggo Mortensen, Danish-American actor
October 22 - Keena Turner, American football player
October 24
* Vincent K. Brooks, general
* Chip Hooper, tennis player and coach

November

November 2 – Willie McGee, African-American baseball player
November 5 – Robert Patrick, American actor
November 8 – Jeff Speakman, American actor and martial artist
November 12 – Megan Mullally, American actress, singer and media personality
November 16 – Marg Helgenberger, American actress
November 17 – Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, American actress and singer
November 18
* Oscar Nunez, Cuban-American actor and comedian
* Kath Weston, American anthropologist, author and academic
November 19 – Michael Wilbon, American sportswriter
November 22 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress and author
November 24 – Tony Fitzpatrick, American artist
November 25 – Darlanne Fluegel, American actress
November 28 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player
November 30 – Stacey Q, American singer & actress

December

December 1 – Charlene Tilton, American actress
December 6 – Debbie Rowe, American ex-wife of Michael Jackson
December 7 – Rick Rude, American pro wrestler
December 11
* Tom Shadyac, American director and producer
* Nikki Sixx, rock musician
* Isabella Hofmann, actress
December 13 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American ice skater and actress
December 17 – Donald Payne Jr., American politician
December 22 – Lenny von Dohlen, American actor
December 25
* Hanford Dixon, American football player
* Rickey Henderson, African-American baseball player
* Cheryl Chase, American voice actress and singer
December 28
* Twila Paris, Christian musician
* Joe Diffie, country singer
December 31
* Johnny Hardwick, American comedian and actor
* Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

Full date unknown

Karl Fields, university professor
John M. Martinis, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Deaths

January

January 1
* Archie Alexander, designer
* William T. Bovie, biophysicist and inventor
* Edward Weston, photographer
January 6 - Lois Irene Marshall, wife of Thomas R. Marshall, Second Lady of the United States
January 8 - Mary Colter, architect and designer
January 13
* Jesse L. Lasky, film producer
* Edna Purviance, silent film actress

February

February 1 - Clinton Davisson, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937
February 4
* Monta Bell, actor and director
* Henry Kuttner, author
February 7 – Walter Kingsford, English actor
February 13 - Helen Twelvetrees, actress
February 15 – Philip Van Zandt, Dutch-American actor
February 17 - Marguerite Snow, actress
February 20 - Thurston Hall, actor
February 27 - Harry Cohn, film producer

March

March 2 – John Held Jr., cartoonist, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and author
March 21 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, writer
March 22
* Mike Todd, film producer
* Art Cohn, screenwriter
March 23 - Charlotte Walker, actress
March 25 - Tom Brown, jazz musician
March 28
* W. C. Handy, African American blues composer
* Chuck Klein, baseball player

April

April 2 - Michael MacDonald, unseen subject of "Tragedy by the Sea"
April 10 – Chuck Willis, singer-songwriter
April 13 - Henry F. Phillips, businessman and inventor
April 15 – Estelle Taylor, actress

May

May 5 – James Branch Cabell, fantasy writer
May 19 – Ronald Colman, English-born actor
May 20 – James Dole, food industrialist

June

June 2
* Townsend Cromwell, oceanographer
* Bell M. Shimada, fisheries scientist
June 4 – Katherine MacDonald, actress, producer, and model
June 6
* Lloyd Hughes, actor
* Virginia Pearson, actress
June 10 - Angelina Weld Grimke, African American lesbian journalist and poet
June 21
* Herbert Brenon, film director
* Robert L. Ghormley, admiral

July

July 9 - James H. Flatley, naval aviator and admiral
July 11 – Evelyn Varden, actress
July 20 - Franklin Pangborn, actor
July 24 - Mabel Ballin, actress
July 25 – Harry Warner, studio executive
July 26
* Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr., Korean War fighter ace and test pilot
* Eugene Millikin, U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1941 to 1957
July 27 – Claire Lee Chennault, military aviator
July 30 - William A. Glassford, admiral

August

August 1 – Albert E. Smith, stage magician, film director, and producer
August 8 – Barbara Bennett, actress and film dancer
August 12 – Augustus Owsley Stanley, politician
August 14 – Big Bill Broonzy, African American blues singer-songwriter
August 21
* Kurt Neumann, film director
* Walter Schumann, composer
August 27
* Ernest Lawrence, nuclear physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939
* Priscilla Lawson, actress
August 29 - Marjorie Flack, artist, illustrator and writer

September

September 15 - Snuffy Stirnweiss, baseball player
September 16 – Alma Bennett, actress
September 25 - John B. Watson, psychologist
September 27 – Rose Stradner, Austrian actress

October

October 7 - Louise Hammond Willis Snead, artist, writer, and composer
October 9 - John Boland, South Dakota politician
October 15 - Jack Norton, actor
October 17 - Paul Outerbridge, photographer
October 20 – Emmett Lynn, actor
October 27 - Marshall Neilan, actor and director
October 26 - Herbert A. Bartholomew, farmer and politician
October 29 - Zoë Akins, playwright, poet and author
October 31 – Tom Pittman, actor

November

November 15
* Samuel Hopkins Adams, writer
* Tyrone Power, actor
November 21
* Mel Ott, baseball player
* Lion Feuchtwanger, German-American novelist and playwright
November 23 – Johnston McCulley, writer
November 24 - Harry Parke, comedian
November 25 – Charles F. Kettering, inventor, engineer, and businessman
November 30 - Oscar C. Badger II, admiral

December

December 1 - Boots Mallory, actress
December 13 - Tim Moore, comedian
December 23 - Henry "Son" Sims, Delta blues fiddler and songwriter
December 29 - Doris Humphrey, dancer and choreographer