October 1957

[October 1], 1957 (Tuesday)

• King Haakon VII of Norway was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress.
• Died: Charles Howard Candler Sr., 78, American businessman and author, died of a heart attack.

  [October 2], 1957 (Wednesday)

• In Tel Aviv, Israel, the Fredric R. Mann Auditorium, the concert hall of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, opened with a performance led by American conductor Leonard Bernstein. David Ben-Gurion, the Prime Minister of Israel, spoke at the event.
• The 1957 World Series began between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Braves. The following day, Jack Gould of The New York Times would criticize NBC for attempting to televise the World Series in color.
• The American film Raintree County, directed by Edward Dmytryk, received its world premiere at the Brown Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky.
• Died: Victor Sévère, 89, French politician from Martinique

  [October 3], 1957 (Thursday)

• Willy Brandt was elected as Governing Mayor of West Berlin.
• Born: Diane Finley, Canadian politician; in Hamilton, Ontario
• Died:
• * Artie Auerbach, 54, American comic actor and photographer, died of a heart attack.
• * William Marshall Bullitt, 84, American lawyer and author, former Solicitor General of the United States, died of a heart attack.
• * Walter Duranty, 73, Anglo-American journalist
• * Bernard Maybeck, 95, American Arts and Crafts architect
• * Andre Morize, 74, professor of French literature at Harvard University
• * Lőrinc Szabó, 57, Hungarian poet, died of a heart attack.

  [October 4], 1957 (Friday)

• Sputnik program: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, beginning the Sputnik crisis and the Space Age. This event galvanized interest and action on the part of the American public to support an active role in space research, technology, and exploration.
• The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow delta wing interceptor aircraft was unveiled in Malton, Mississauga, Ontario.
• Santa Mercedes, a Grace Line freighter, became the 200,000th vessel locked through the Panama Canal.
• Born:
• * Bill Fagerbakke, American actor; in Fontana, California
• * Gregory T. Linteris, American scientist and Space Shuttle payload specialist; in Demarest, New Jersey
• Died:
• * Sir Geoffrey Arbuthnot,, 72, Royal Navy vice admiral
• * Clarence C. Caldwell, 80, American attorney, 9th Attorney General of South Dakota
• * Pierneef, 71, South African artist
• * Josephine Pinckney, 62, American novelist and poet, died of complications from a respiratory infection.

  [October 5], 1957 (Saturday)

• In the 11th National Hockey League All-Star Game, held at the Montreal Forum, the NHL All-Star team defeated the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5–3.
• Born: Bernie Mac, American stand-up comedian and actor; in Chicago, Illinois

  [October 6], 1957 (Sunday)

• Died: Robert Renison, 82, Irish-born Anglican Metropolitan of Ontario

  [October 7], 1957 (Monday)

• Born: Jayne Torvill, British Olympic champion ice dancer; in Nottingham, England
• Died:
• * Michael N. Delagi, 78, American lawyer, politician and judge
• * Jekuthiel Ginsburg, 68, Ukrainian-born American professor of mathematics at Yeshiva University, died of a heart attack.
• * Yang Gang, 51–52, Chinese journalist, novelist and translator, committed suicide by drug overdose.

  [October 8], 1957 (Tuesday)

• Born: Magdalena Cajías, Bolivian academic, historian, and politician; in La Paz, Bolivia
• Died:
• * Hassiba Ben Bouali, 19, Algerian militant, was killed in action.
• * Ali La Pointe, 27, Algerian militant, was killed in action.
• * Little Omar, 13, Algerian militant, was killed in action.

  [October 9], 1957 (Wednesday)

• A radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, England, which would later be named the Lovell Telescope, was controlled from its control room for the first time.
• A Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber crashed and exploded in Orlando, Florida, killing the four military officers aboard, including Col. Michael McCoy, the wing commander at Pinecastle Air Force Base, who was piloting the aircraft, and RAF Group Captain John Woodroffe. Pinecastle AFB would later be renamed McCoy Air Force Base in honor of Col. McCoy.
• Born:
• * Herman Brusselmans, Belgian novelist, poet, playwright and columnist; in Hamme, East Flanders, Belgium
• * Yuri Usachov, Russian cosmonaut; in Donetsk, Rostov Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
• Died:
• * Arthur Cranfield, 65, British newspaper editor
• * George M. Stratton, 92, American psychologist

  [October 10], 1957 (Thursday)

• A fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor on the north-west coast of England released radioactive material into the surrounding environment, including iodine-131.
• Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, the Minister for Finance of Ghana, ate breakfast at the White House with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower after having been refused seating at a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Dover, Delaware, because of his race.
• The Milwaukee Braves won the 1957 World Series, defeating the New York Yankees 4 games to 3. President Eisenhower praised the 1957 Series as one of the finest in recent history.
• The Walt Disney Productions television series Zorro debuted on the ABC television network.
• Born: Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese manga artist; in Niigata, Japan
• Died:
• * Choe Nam-seon, 67, Korean author, publisher and political activist
• * William Clark, 66, United States federal judge, died of a heart attack.

  [October 11], 1957 (Friday)

• The orbit of the last stage of the R-7 Semyorka rocket was first successfully calculated on an IBM 704 computer at the MIT Computation Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of Operation Moonwatch.
• American actor Marlon Brando married Indian-born British actress Anna Kashfi. The couple would divorce in 1959.
• In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 17-year-old high school football player John Barczak was injured during a scrimmage. He would die of a ruptured kidney on October 28.
• Born:
• * Dawn French, British comedian; in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales
• * Eric Keenleyside, Canadian actor; in St. Stephen, New Brunswick
• Died:
• * Paul Gunn, 57, United States World War II aviator, died in a plane crash.
• * Donald E. Montgomery, 60, American economist, committed suicide by firearm.
• * Francis R. Stoddard Jr., 80, American lawyer and politician

  [October 12], 1957 (Saturday)

• Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for a royal visit.
• Died: Arlow Stout, 81, American botanist

  [October 13], 1957 (Sunday)

• Egyptian troops landed in Latakia, Syria.
• Died:
• * Erich Auerbach, 64, German philologist
• * Erle P. Halliburton, 65, American oil field businessman, founder of Halliburton
• * James McEntee, 73, American machinist and labor leader, second director of the Civilian Conservation Corps

  [October 14], 1957 (Monday)

• A flood in Valencia, Spain, killed at least 81 people and caused extensive property damage.
• British racing driver Ronald Searles was killed in a fiery crash at the Monza Circuit in Italy.
• Queen Elizabeth II opened the Canadian Parliament, the first monarch to do so.
• The American Rocket Society presented President Eisenhower with a suggested program for outer space exploration. They proposed the establishment of an Astronautical Research and Development Agency similar to the NACA and the United States Atomic Energy Commission. This agency would have responsibility for all space projects except those directly related to the military services. A list of proposed projects was presented at an estimated cost of $100 million per annum.
• Died:
• * Charles G. Johnson, 77, Swedish-born American politician, California State Treasurer
• * Helena Normanton, QC, 74, first female barrister in the United Kingdom
• * Raymond Renefer, 78, French painter
• * Joseph H. Stotler, 69, American Thoroughbred racing trainer
• * Dudley A. White, 56, American newspaper publisher and politician, member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio

  [October 15], 1957 (Tuesday)

• A "Round 3" conference involving studies for a follow-on to the X-15 program, which subsequently led to the X-20 Dyna Soar, was held at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory from October 15 to 21. During the course of the meeting, Alfred J. Eggers of Ames advanced several proposals for possible crewed satellite vehicle development projects.
• Born:
• * Mira Nair, Indian-born American filmmaker; in Rourkela, Orissa, India
• * Stacy Peralta, American director and skateboarder; in Venice, California
• Died:
• * Neal Ball, 76, American Major League Baseball shortstop
• * André Marquis, 73, French Vichyist admiral
• * Henry van de Velde, 94, Belgian artist, architect and art theorist

  [October 16], 1957 (Wednesday)

• Queen Elizabeth II departed Ottawa and arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia, on her North American tour.
• Died:
• * Marion Bachrach, 58–59, American communist, sister of John Abt, died of cancer.
• * Ralph Benatzky, 73, Austrian composer

  [October 17], 1957 (Thursday)

• Continuing her American tour, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Washington, D.C.

  [October 18], 1957 (Friday)

• In a ceremony at the White House, Prince Philip received the gold medal of the National Geographic Society.
• Two United States Navy balloonists flew to an altitude of almost, landing near Hermansville, Michigan.
• Born: Catherine Ringer, French musician, dancer and actress, co-founder of Les Rita Mitsouko; in Suresnes, France
• Died:
• * Eugene Cunningham, 60, American writer
• * Jagadisan Mohandas Kumarappa, 71, Indian author and parliamentarian
• * Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın, 82, Turkish writer, politician and journalist