1956 Wellington City mayoral election, Background
The 1956 mayoral election was conducted amidst a selection controversy by the right-leaning Citizens' Association. Under the impression that incumbent mayor Robert Macalister was not intending to seek a third term as Mayor, Ernest Toop applied to gain nomination as the official Citizens' candidacy. As Toop was the only applicant he was successful. However, Macalister had intended to run for mayor again and assumed he, as incumbent, would gain automatic nomination. Undeterred, Macalister ran for mayor again as an Independent which split the Citizens' vote enabling Labour's Frank Kitts to win the mayoralty. Kitts became Wellington's first Labour Mayor in 46 years following David McLaren's defeat in 1913.


1956 Wellington City mayoral election, Background
Labour also polled more votes than the Citizens' Association for the council as well. However it won fewer seats due to a high concentration of Labour votes on several candidates with the remainder of the ticket receiving far less, compared to the Citizens' vote which was more evenly dispersed across its ticket. This was compounded due to Kitts running jointly for both mayor and council.


1956 Wellington City mayoral election, Background
He topped the poll in the council vote, but his election was voided by virtue of winning the mayoralty which saw his council seat awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate, Donald Griffin, who was on the Citizens' ticket. Initially it was to be awarded to another Labour candidate, Thomas Cameron, but after special votes had been counted Griffin has surpassed Cameron's tally.


1956 Wentworth by-election
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Wentworth on 8 December 1956. This was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party MP Eric Harrison.


1956 Wentworth by-election
The by-election was narrowly won by Liberal Party candidate Les Bury. His final opponent on the two-party-preferred vote, after overtaking the Labor candidate on preferences, was Reg Robson, brother of recently deposed state Liberal leader Murray Robson. Murray Robson supported his brother during the campaign, and it was reported that there was "some talk of expelling" Robson from the party for his role.


1956 West Texas State Buffaloes football team
The 1956 West Texas State Buffaloes football team was an American football team that represented West Texas State College (now known as West Texas A&M University) in the Border Conference during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. In its tenth season under head coach Frank Kimbrough, the team compiled an 8–2 record (2–2 against conference opponents), finished in third place in the conference, defeated Mississippi Southern in the 1957 Tangerine Bowl, and outscored all opponents by a total of 296 to 96. The team played its home games at Buffalo Stadium in Canyon, Texas.


1956 West Texas State Buffaloes football team
The team averaged 29.6 points per game, ranking third among 111 major college programs for the 1956 season.


1956 West Texas State Buffaloes football team
The team's statistical leaders included Bubba Hillman with 357 passing yards, Ron Mills with 569 rushing yards, Ken Ballard with 125 receiving yards, and Charles Sanders with 12 touchdowns.


1956 West Virginia Mountaineers football team
The 1956 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season.


1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election
The 1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1956, to elect the governor of West Virginia.


1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election
Elections were held in the Australian state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect 10 of the 30 members of the state's Legislative Council.


1956 Western Australian state election
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Albert Hawke, won a second term in office against the Liberal-Country coalition, led by Sir Ross McLarty.


1956 Western Australian state election, Results
Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956Legislative Assembly << 1953–1959 >>


1956 Western Michigan Broncos football team
The 1956 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented Western Michigan College (renamed Western Michigan University in 1957) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. In their fourth and final season under head coach Jack Petoskey, the Broncos compiled a 2–7 record (1–4 against MAC opponents), finished in sixth place in the MAC, and were outscored by their opponents, 168 to 114. The team played its home games at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.


1956 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Center Bob Soderman was the team captain. End and tackle John Berryman received the team's most outstanding player award.


1956 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Jack Petoskey resigned as the team's head coach on December 13, 1956; he compiled a record of 8–25–2 in four years at Western Michigan.


1956 Wichita Shockers football team
The 1956 Wichita Shockers football team, sometimes known as the Wheatshockers, was an American football team that represented Wichita  University (now known as Wichita State University) as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. In its second and final season under head coach Pete Tillman, the team compiled a 4–6 record (1–3 against conference opponents), finished in fourth place in the MVC, and was outscored by a total of 198 to 117. The team played its home games at Veterans Field, now known as Cessna Stadium.


1956 Wightman Cup
The 1956 Wightman Cup was the 28th edition of the annual women's team tennis competition between the United States and Great Britain. It was held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London in England in the United Kingdom.


1956 Wilkes County 160
The 1956 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 8, 1956, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, United States.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
North Wilkesboro carried a reputation as one of the fastest short-tracks in auto racing in the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1950, speeds reached 73 mph at the track, compared to the next fastest short-track, Charlotte Speedway, where top speeds only reached 66 mph. Most of the fans in the early years of the sport saw the track as notorious for being a great venue to watch races between the legendary racers of the time. Racing at North Wilkesboro was intense and physical.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
The 1950 Wilkes 200 was the second Grand National Series race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Twenty-six cars entered the race. Twenty-one-year-old Fireball Roberts qualified with a lap speed of 73.266 mph on the dirt track for his first-ever Grand National pole, but engine problems dropped him out of the running. Fonty Flock started in the third position and led the most laps in the race with 104, but engine troubles also ended his day. Ultimately, Leon Sales led eight of the 200 laps to become the victor,  the fourth NASCAR driver to win an event in his debut race. Jack Smith finished second after leading 55 laps in the race.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
After hosting only one NASCAR event in 1949 and one in 1950, the track began running two Grand National Series events per year in 1951 (with the except for1956, when only one race was held; the track was being prepared for pavement). One race was held in the spring, normally in late March or early April, and another was held in the fall, normally in late September or early October. In 1957, owner Enoch Stanley had the 5/8-mile track paved.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
The Wilkes 200 in 1952 turned into a battle between brothers. Two sets of brothers competed in the race, and they took the top four spots at the finish. The Flock Brothers (Fonty Flock and Tim Flock) were strong, but the Thomas brothers (Herb Thomas and Donald Thomas) had a better outcome. Herb Thomas, driving his 1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet, won the pole, led 192 of the 200 laps, and grabbed the victory. Fonty Flock led the first eight laps and finished the race second. Donald Thomas, also in a 1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet, finished third, and Tim Flock finished fourth. Eleven of the 27 cars entered in the race finished. Six of the top nine positions were driving Hudson Hornets.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
Herb Thomas started on the pole for the 1953 Wilkes 200 with his record-setting qualifying speed of 78.424 mph on the dirt surface. Outside pole sitter Tim Flock led the first 100 laps before experiencing engine problems. Curtis Turner took the lead on Lap 101 and continued the lead until his car also succumbed to engine troubles nine laps later. Thomas in his Number 92 Hudson Hornet only lead 18 laps in the race but ended the race by taking his third consecutive win at North Wilkesboro. Starting from the third spot, Dick Rathmann led 70 laps and finished behind Herb Thomas. Fonty Flock managed to work his way up from the fourth starting position to the front and led three laps before dropping back and finishing third.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
Pole sitter Buck Baker ran 78.288 mph to gap the pole for the 1953 Wilkes 160. Baker ran strong and led the most laps in the race with 80 out front before falling back into the sixth position at the finish. Speedy Thompson led 25 laps, and Fonty Flock led 37. Curtis Turner led a total of 18 laps. At the end of the race, Thompson finished two laps ahead of second-place Flock. Thompson's win ended Herb Thomas and his Hudson Hornet's three-race winning streak at North Wilkesboro.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
At the 1954 Wilkes County 160, Gober Sosebee won the pole with a lap speed of 78.698 mph. Sosebee led a race-high 112 laps but finished in 12th position, eight laps down. The only other leader was Dick Rathmann, who led 48 laps. Rathmann blew a tire while leading, with three laps to go, and still managed to finish and win the race. Herb Thomas finished some 20 seconds behind in second place.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
In the 1954 Wilkes 160, Hershel McGriff won the pole with a qualifying speed of 77.612 mph. He and Dick Rathman were the only leaders of the race; McGriff led 74 laps, and Rathman led 83. The race was called three laps early because of a serious crash involving Lou Figaro; his car flipped, and the roof caved in. Figaro was transported to a hospital in Winston-Salem, but he died the following day from a skull fracture and brain damage suffered in the crash. McGriff was declared the winner. It was his final victory and his last Grand National race for 17 years.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Background
Dink Widenhouse won his only career Grand National Series pole at the 1955 Wilkes County 160. But engine problems forced him out of the race. Outside pole sitter Buck Baker led all 160 laps, but by the last lap, Dick Rathmann was glued to Baker's bumper, still charging. Rathmann's final charge off of Turn Four came up three feet short of stealing the victory. It was the closest finish in series history up to that time. Local native Junior Johnson ran in his first Grand National race at North Wilkesboro.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
The attendance at the race was 7500 people, and the race was held in one hour, twenty-four minutes, and twenty-eight seconds. There were 160 laps  on the .625-mile (1.006 km) dirt track, with the total distance being 100 miles (160 km). The average speed was 71.034 miles per hour (114.318 km/h), and the pole position speed was 78.37 miles per hour (126.12 km/h). The top three qualifiers were the only drivers who lead the race.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
The top ten finishers of the race were Tim Flock, Billy Myers, Jim Paschal, Herb Thomas, Ralph Moody, Dink Widenhouse, Allen Adkins, Lee Petty, Bill Blair, and Whitey Norman. Some other notable racers were Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, Gwyn Staley, Junior Johnson, and Tiny Lund.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Dick Beaty (who finished twelfth in the race) would go on to become the "top cop" in NASCAR decades later; passing a rule requiring vehicles to "pass to the right" on the restart. This race would be John McVitty's last start. He was killed during qualifying at Langhorne before the next race.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Out of the twenty-nine competitors for this race, thirteen failed to finish, leaving sixteen drivers that completed the entire 160 laps (100 miles) of the race. The most common problem was the piston (which occurred in two different cars). The top prize was $1,100 ($10,344 when considering inflation) and the prize for last place was $0. NASCAR's then-current prize structure only gave out monetary rewards from first place to twentieth place; all other finishers did not receive any prize winnings at all. Several models of automobile participated in the race including: Ford (active), Chevrolet (active), Pontiac (defunct), Dodge (active), Mercury (active but not participating in racing), and Plymouth (defunct).


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
This was the only race for North Wilkesboro Speedway in the 1956 season. Carl Kiekhaefer was a notable crew chief to attend this race; he was also the owner of the #300C Chrysler vehicle driven by Buck Baker.


1956 Wilkes County 160, Race report
Racing numbers in this era were not limited to double-digit numbers. There were a couple of drivers with triple-digit numbers and even a driver using the letter "X" as his race car number. Fortunately, this practice was discarded by NASCAR after the 1963 Sandlapper 200 where Frank Warren would take his single-lettered car to a 13th-place finish (after starting in 18th).


1956 Wilkes County 160, Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race † Driver is deceased.


1956 William & Mary Indians football team
The 1956 William & Mary Indians football team represented William & Mary during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season.


1956 Wimbledon Championships
The 1956 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 25 June until Saturday 7 July 1956. It was the 70th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam tennis event of 1956. Lew Hoad and Shirley Fry won the singles titles.


1956 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Lew Hoad /  Ken Rosewall defeated  Nicola Pietrangeli /  Orlando Sirola, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1


1956 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Angela Buxton /  Althea Gibson defeated  Fay Muller /  Daphne Seeney, 6–1, 8–6


1956 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Vic Seixas /  Shirley Fry defeated  Gardnar Mulloy /  Althea Gibson, 2–6, 6–2, 7–5


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles
Ronnie Holmberg defeated Rod Laver in the final, 6–1, 6–1 to win the Boys' Singles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championships.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Girls' Singles
Ann Haydon defeated Ilse Buding in the final, 6–3, 6–4 to win the Girls' Singles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championships.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles
Rex Hartwig and Lew Hoad were the defending champions, but Hartwig was ineligible to compete after turning professional. Hoad partnered with Ken Rosewall, and they defeated Nicola Pietrangeli and Orlando Sirola in the final, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1 to win the Gentlemen' Doubles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championship.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
In the 1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Lew Hoad defeated Ken Rosewall in the final, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title. It was the first of three years in which Australian players dominated the Wimbledon Men's Singles final. Tony Trabert was the defending champion, but was ineligible to compete after turning professional. The competition lasted from Monday 25 June to Saturday 7 July 1956.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Ulf Schmidt, from Sweden, was the only player from outside Australia and the United States to reach the quarterfinal stage.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
It was the first Wimbledon tournament in which Australian Rod Laver competed in senior competition; 17-year-old Laver, a qualifier, was defeated in the first round by Orlando Sirola.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles
Vic Seixas and Doris Hart were the defending champions, but Hart did not compete. Seixas competed with Shirley Fry, and they defeated Gardnar Mulloy and Althea Gibson in the final, 8–6, 2–6, 6–3 to win the Mixed Doubles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championships.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles
Angela Mortimer and Anne Shilcock were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinal to Fay Muller and Daphne Seeney.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles
Angela Buxton and Althea Gibson defeated Muller and Seeney in the final, 6–1, 8–6 to win the Ladies' Doubles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championships.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles
Shirley Fry defeated Angela Buxton in the final, 6–3, 6–1 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1956 Wimbledon Championships. Louise Brough was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Fry.


1956 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1956 Winter Olympics
The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games (Italian: VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956, was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.


1956 Winter Olympics
Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid for the right to host the 1956 Games. The Cortina Games were unique in that many of the venues were within walking distance of each other. The organising committee received financial support from the Italian government for infrastructure improvements, but the rest of the costs for the Games had to be privately financed. Consequently, the organising committee was the first to rely heavily on corporate sponsorship for funding.


1956 Winter Olympics
Thirty-two nations—the largest number of countries participating in the Winter Olympics until then—competed in the four sports and twenty-four events. Austrian Toni Sailer became the first person to sweep all three alpine skiing events in a single Olympics. The figure skating competition was held outdoors for the last time at these Games. Logistically, the only problem encountered was a lack of snow at the alpine skiing events. To remedy this, the Italian army transported large amounts of snow to ensure the courses were adequately covered.


1956 Winter Olympics
Politics did not affect the 1956 Winter Games - unlike the Summer Games in Melbourne, Australia later in the year which many nations boycotted after the Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution, and the Suez War. The Cortina Olympics were the first Winter Olympics televised to a multi-national audience. Cortina is scheduled to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan, 70 years after the 1956 Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
Cortina d'Ampezzo is a ski resort village situated in the Dolomite Alps in the north-eastern corner of Italy. In 1956, it had a population of 6,500 people. Count Alberto Bonacossa, an accomplished alpine skier, figure skater and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1925, spearheaded the effort to bring the Olympic Games to Cortina d'Ampezzo. He persuaded the city council of Cortina to bid for the 1944 Games. During the 38th IOC Congress held in London in 1939, Cortina d'Ampezzo was awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, but the Games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.


1956 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
In 1946 the Italian Winter Sports Federation convened in Milan and decided to support a new attempt from Cortina to host the Winter Games. A delegation, led by Count Bonacossa, presented Cortina's bid to host the 1952 Winter Olympics at the 40th IOC Session in Stockholm, Sweden. They were backed by the city's council and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano). A rival bid from Oslo, Norway, soundly defeated Cortina. Count Bonacossa's and CONI prepared a third bid, this time for the 1956 Winter Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
The host city selection took place in Rome, during the 43rd IOC Session. On 28 April 1949, Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected with 75% of the votes, over bids from Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid. Unfortunately, Bonacossa died on 30 January 1953, three years before he could witness Cortina host the Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Participating nations
A total of 32 nations sent athletes to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Along with the Soviet Union, Bolivia and Iran competed at the Winter Games for the first time, making Bolivia the first completely Tropical nation to participate in a Winter Olympic. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey returned after having missed the 1952 Winter Olympics, while Argentina, Denmark, New Zealand, and Portugal did not compete at these Games, after having participated in the previous edition. Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany, an arrangement that would continue for the following two Olympiads.


1956 Winter Olympics, Participating nations
Below is the list of participating nations, with the number of competitors indicated in brackets:


1956 Winter Olympics, Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1956 Winter Olympics:


1956 Winter Olympics, Organization
The 1956 Winter Olympics was organised by a committee composed of members of the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian government. Observers were sent to the Oslo Games in 1952 to collect information regarding the sports programme, infrastructure, and accommodation requirements. The intelligence gathered there indicated that Cortina's facilities were not up to Olympic standards. The town did not have an ice stadium, or a speed skating rink; the alpine ski runs, ski jump and bobsleigh run were in poor condition. Cortina was a small village, and its infrastructure would be overwhelmed by the crowds expected for the Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Organization
To accommodate the influx of people, new roads and rail lines had to be built, and the city's power grid and telephone lines expanded. Enhancements also had to be made to sewer and water capacity. The Italian government supplied Italian lira 460 million for infrastructure improvements. The Italian Olympic Committee was responsible for funding the rest of the costs of hosting the Games. They did this by setting aside monies from their own budget, ticket sales, and even culling funds from local football betting pools. The organising committee also took the unprecedented step of selling corporate sponsorship. For example, Fiat was designated the official car of the 1956 Winter Olympics, and Olivetti supplied typewriters for the 400 journalists attending the Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Politics
The Cold War began after the allied victory in World War II. Until 1952, many of the Communist countries of Eastern Europe had participated in Worker's Olympics or Spartakiads. The Soviet Union emerged from international isolation by eschewing the Spartakiad and participating in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki; they made their Winter Olympics debut at the Cortina Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Politics
Soviet general secretary Nikita Khrushchev's aim was to use international sports competitions, such as the Olympics, to demonstrate the superiority of communism, strengthen political ties with other communist countries, and project the Soviet Union as a peace-loving nation actively engaged in the world. The Soviets' participation at the Olympics raised the level of competition as they won the most medals and more gold medals than any other nation. Soviet Olympic team was also notorious for skirting the edge of amateur rules. All Soviet athletes held some nominal jobs, but were in fact state-sponsored and trained full-time.


1956 Winter Olympics, Politics
According to many experts, that gave the Soviet Union a huge advantage over the United States and other Western countries, whose athletes were students or real amateurs. The Cortina Games were held before the Hungarian Revolution and subsequent Soviet invasion, and the Suez War, which occurred in the autumn of 1956; the Winter Games escaped the boycotts that plagued the Melbourne Olympics, which were celebrated in November and December of that year.


1956 Winter Olympics, Politics, Television
The Cortina Games were the first Winter Olympics to be broadcast to a multi-national audience. Television as a mass communication technology was expanding rapidly in the 1950s. In the midst of the Cold War, Europe was a propaganda battlefield as countries relayed television signals across the Iron Curtain. By 1956, countries in the Soviet sphere of influence had achieved a technological advantage and were able to broadcast communist television programmes into Finland, the eastern border regions and more isolated geographic areas of West Germany and Austria, where residents had coverage from an East German broadcast with a pro-communist point-of-view.


1956 Winter Olympics, Politics, Television
Most West Germans watched the 1956 Winter Olympics via Eurovision broadcasts which were relayed all over western Europe including all major West German stations (Eurovision connectivity in 1956) The political ramifications were not the only impact television had these Olympics. The Cortina Games did not generate revenue from television – the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley were the first to do so – but were an experiment in the feasibility of televising a large multi-sport event. For the first time at an Olympic Games, the venues were built with television in mind. For example, the grand stand at the cross-country ski venue (Lo Stadio della neve) was built facing south so that the television cameras would not be adversely affected by the rising or setting sun.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events
Medals were awarded in 24 events contested in 4 sports (8 disciplines). The programme for the 1956 Winter Games saw two new events added to the four sports and twenty-two events from the 1952 Olympics, namely the men's 30 kilometre cross-country ski race and the women's 3x5 kilometre cross-country relay race.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Opening ceremonies
The opening ceremonies took place on Thursday, 26 January 1956 in the Olympic Ice Stadium. Temporary seating was added to boost the stadium's capacity to 14,000 people. Athletes representing 32 nations marched in the ceremony and Mr Giovanni Gronchi, President of the Italian Republic, declared the Games open. At this point, speed skater Guido Caroli skated into the stadium with the Olympic flame. While he was on a circuit of the Ice Stadium he tripped and fell over a television cable; he regained his feet and lit the cauldron.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Opening ceremonies
The Olympic oath was delivered by Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo; this was the first time a female athlete gave the oath at an Olympic Games. Michał Spisak's Olympic Hymn, officially recognised as such at the IOC congress in Paris on 13 June 1955 (declined in 1958 in favor of the Olympic Hymn by Spyridon Samaras), was played for the first time at the Cortina Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Bobsleigh
There were two bobsleigh events, the two-man and four-man competitions. Every participating nation was limited to two sleighs in each event. The sleighs made four runs, with the total time summed. The Italians won gold and silver in the two-man event. Switzerland took third place when they passed Spain on the fourth run. In the four-man event held a week later, the Swiss won the gold medal, Italy picked up the silver, and the United States won the bronze. Italy had participated in all six previous Olympic bobsleigh competitions but had never reached the podium.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Bobsleigh
Italians Renzo Alverà and Eugenio Monti won the silver in the two-man competition and were also on the silver-winning four-man sleigh. Monti's silver medals at the 1956 Games were the first of six Olympic medals he would win in his bobsleigh career. The bobsleigh run at Cortina was eventually renamed the Eugenio Monti track to honour his bobsleigh career. The medals won in bobsleigh would be the host nation's only medals at these Games. One complaint of the bobsleigh events was that the track surface suffered extensive damage due to overuse. This hampered the performance of teams drawn late in the competition.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Ice hockey
The eighth Olympic ice hockey tournament also served as both the European and World Championships. Split into three pools before the tournament, the ten participating nations began by playing each team in their pool in a round robin format. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the final round, with the remaining teams played in a consolation group for 7th through 10th places. Canada, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union took first place in their preliminary pools with undefeated records. Germany, the United States, and Sweden took second place in their pools.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Ice hockey
An important early matchup of the final round was the game between Canada and the United States. The Canadians had never lost to the US in Olympic play prior to that game. In what was considered a tremendous upset, the United States defeated Canada 4–1. The Americans, who placed fourth at the 1955 World Ice Hockey Championships and were not expected to medal, then faced the USSR, who won the tournament in 1954 and took silver in 1955 behind Canada, in a game that would eventually make the difference in the gold medal.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Ice hockey
The Soviets overwhelmed the underdogs and won the match 4–0. The USSR then played Canada, who still had a chance to win the gold if they defeated the Soviets, and won 2–0 despite being dramatically outshot in the first and second periods. The USSR won gold, the United States surprisingly took silver and Canada, with their two losses, earned bronze, their worst result to date in Olympic play.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Figure skating
The Cortina Games were the last Olympics to feature figure skating outdoors. Skaters from the United States won five medals, sweeping the men's event and taking the top two spots in the ladies' event. Tenley Albright was the women's Olympic champion despite sustaining a serious injury in practice. Less than two weeks before the Olympics she was practicing her skating routine when she hit a rut in the ice and fell. Her skate cut through several layers of clothing, and sliced her right leg at the ankle.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Figure skating
Her teammate Carol Heiss won the silver, and Austrian Ingrid Wendl earned the bronze medal. Americans Hayes Jenkins, Ronald Robertson, and Jenkins' brother David Jenkins were the men's medallists. The Austrian pair of Sissy Schwarz and Kurt Oppelt took the gold medal in the pairs event. Canadians Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden won the silver and the Hungarian siblings Marianna Nagy and László Nagy defended their bronze medal from the 1952 Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Speed skating
The Soviet Union dominated the speed skating events by winning seven of the twelve medals, including four golds. Soviet skaters set two world records, an Olympic record, and had at least one medallist in each of the four events. Yevgeny Grishin was the top individual performer, with two gold medals and two world records. Grishin and Soviet teammate Yuri Mikhaylov tied in the 1,500 metre race. It was decided to award both of the athletes gold medals and leave the silver medal position vacant. Sigvard Ericsson of Sweden earned gold and silver medals and set an Olympic record in the 10,000 metre event.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Alpine skiing
Six alpine skiing events were held, three for men and three for women. The races were the downhill, slalom and giant slalom. Toni Sailer of Austria swept the men's gold medals, becoming the first person to win three alpine skiing golds in a single Olympics. Led by Sailer, the Austrians dominated the alpine skiing events for both men and women, winning nine out of a possible eighteen medals. The Austrians were particularly successful in the giant slalom; the men swept the medals and the women took silver and bronze. Chiharu Igaya won the first Winter Olympics medal for Japan when he placed second in the slalom. Swiss teammates, Madeleine Berthod and Renée Colliard won the women's downhill and slalom races. Germany earned its only gold medal of the Games when Ossi Reichert took first in the giant slalom.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Cross-country skiing
Two women's events were added to the cross-country skiing programme for the first time. The Soviet women took the top two spots in the individual 10 kilometre race but lost to Finland in the new 3x5 kilometre relay. The men had a new event as well, the 30 kilometre race, which was won by Veikko Hakulinen from Finland. The other three men's events were won by three different nations: Norway took the 15 kilometre race, Sweden the 50 kilometre event, and the Soviet Union won the relay. Overall the Soviet Union won seven out of a possible eighteen medals in cross-country skiing. Sweden, behind the strong skiing of Sixten Jernberg, won six medals. Jernberg won a gold, two silvers, and a bronze, which were the first of nine Olympic medals he would earn in his cross-country career.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Nordic combined
There were significant changes to the Nordic combined event at the 1956 Games. The event had always been a cross-country race followed by a ski jump. Originally the competitors in the Nordic combined were entered into the open 18 kilometre cross-country race, which meant that they competed alongside athletes who were dedicated cross-country skiers. Their times were combined with their score from two ski jumps to determine the winner. At the Cortina Games, the format was altered to allow the Nordic combined athletes to compete in a dedicated 15 kilometre cross-country race.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Nordic combined
Two days later they had three jumps on the ski jump hill. Their best two scores were combined with their cross-country time to determine a winner. This format would become the standard for Nordic combined competitions going forward. Norway continued its dominance of Nordic combined when Sverre Stenersen won the gold medal. Since its inception at the 1924 Games, the country had only lost the Nordic combined event once. Stenersen was followed by Bengt Eriksson of Sweden and Poland's Franciszek Gąsienica Groń.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Ski jumping
In the ski jumping event, the Swiss jumper, Andreas Däscher introduced a new style of jumping, which would soon come to be known as the Däscher technique. Before these Games, the athletes would hold their arms forward over their heads. Däscher reasoned that if the athlete held his arms at his side he would fly farther. Adherents to this new style dominated the competition. Finnish jumpers Antti Hyvärinen and Aulis Källakorpi took first and second place; Harry Glass of Germany won the bronze medal. This competition marked the end of Norwegian dominance in the sport. Since the first winter Games in 1924, the Norwegians had won the gold medal at each Olympics until 1956. The poor performance of the Norwegian jumpers was attributed to their refusal to use the new jumping technique.


1956 Winter Olympics, Events, Closing ceremonies
The closing ceremonies took place on Sunday, 5 February in the Olympic Ice Stadium. They were preceded by a figure skating exhibition performed by the men's, women's, and pairs figure skating champions. The flag bearers of each nation then entered the stadium followed by the flags of Greece, Italy, and the United States. These three flags were raised to honor the nation that founded the Olympics, the host nation, and the next country to host the Winter Games. Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, declared the Olympics closed, and a fireworks display concluded the Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Calendar
The opening ceremony was held on 26 January, along with the first games of the hockey tournament. From 27 January until 5 February, the day of the closing ceremony, at least one event final was held each day.


1956 Winter Olympics, Calendar
† The numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
A unique feature of the Cortina Olympics was the proximity of many event locations which were in walking distance of each other within the town of Cortina. The speed skating events were held at Lake Misurina, roughly 13 km (8.1 mi) from Cortina. The venues featured grandstands heated by silica coils built into the seats. Silica coil heating was a technology that had only recently become economical. The competitions were held without incident except for the skiing events, which suffered from a lack of snow.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
A notable venue not found at the 1956 Games was an Olympic Village, where the athletes would be housed. The town of Cortina d'Ampezzo had a population of less than 7,000 people in 1956. Local hotels were concerned that after the Olympics an Olympic Village would so significantly increase the hotel capacity it would put many of them out of business. Athletes were billeted by local families or stayed in hotels during the Games.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The Olympic Ice Stadium (Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio) was intended to be the focal point of the Games. It was built on the banks of the Boite river just north of Cortina. After new roads and a bridge had been constructed, the stadium was an eight-minute walk from the center of town. The stadium was built to accommodate 6,000–7,000 people. Due to space limitations the grandstands were constructed vertically, with tiers built directly on top of each other.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
There were two artificial ice rinks of 30 by 60 m (98 by 197 ft), with a total ice surface of 4,320 m2 (46,500 sq ft). A special cooling plant was built under the stadium, which froze the ice through the evaporation of ammonia. The construction cost totaled ITL 1.3 billion (US$2.1 million in 1956), making it the most expensive venue of these Games. The stadium was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, all of the figure skating competitions and select ice hockey events. After the Games, the organising committee made the Ice Stadium a gift to the city of Cortina. It was used as an ice skating rink in the winter and an outdoor gymnasium for judo and gymnastics in the summer.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The Apollonio Stadium was used for select games of the ice hockey tournament. Considerable work had to be done to bring the stadium up to date. A second rink was added to allow for two games to be held simultaneously. The stadium was outfitted with electric lights and the seating capacity was enlarged to accommodate 2,000 people.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The bobsleigh run (Pista Olimpica di Bob – Eugenio Monti), was originally constructed in 1928. The track was rebuilt and expanded several times during the years leading up to the Olympics. A state-of-the-art signal board was installed displaying a diagram of the run with the position of each sleigh on the run shown with lights.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
Situated around 2.5 km (2 mi) from Cortina, near Zuel, the "Italia" Jump (Trampolino Olimpico Italia) was originally built in 1923 as the "Franchetti" Jump. After modifications in 1926, the first structure was demolished in 1939 and rebuilt in 1940. With the 1956 Games coming to Cortina, the jump had to be updated again to comply with the technical demands of the Olympics. On 15 April 1955, the "Franchetti" Jump was finally demolished and the new "Italia Jump" was completed in the same year at a cost of nearly ITL 310 million ($500,000).


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The reinforced concrete platform was 54 m (177 ft) high, and possessed a 87.5 m (287 ft) long, 35° steep in-run. Two grandstands, each with a capacity for 3,000 people, were placed on either side of the landing slope; a natural amphitheatre at the bottom of the hill could hold up to 40,000 standing spectators. A special road was built between Cortina and the venue for the transport of athletes, officials and authorities.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The Snow Stadium (Stadio della neve) was constructed 2 km (1.2 mi) from Cortina, and hosted all of the cross-country events. Two grandstands were constructed to accommodate 6,000 people. Three types of cross-country courses were constructed: one of 15 km (9 mi), three of 5 km (3 mi), and four of 10 km (6 mi). Some of these courses went through the bobsleigh run. As a result, a bridge had to be constructed so events occurring in the two venues would not interfere with each other.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The alpine runs (Le piste alpine) were built on the slopes of Monte Tofana and Monte Faloria in the nearby Dolomite alps. The men's and women's downhill and slalom races were held on Tofana. Faloria was the site of the two giant slalom events. It took nearly two years to complete construction of the runs. In previous years, lack of snow was never an issue, but in the winter of 1956 there was insufficient snowfall for skiers to safely navigate the runs. As a consequence, snow had to be transported from other parts of the mountains by the Italian army.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
The Misurina rink (La pista di Misurina) was the location of the speed skating events. This was the last time that speed skating at the Olympics was held on natural ice. It was 13 km (8.1 mi) from Cortina. The rink was established at the northern end of the lake with a mountain backdrop. Stands were constructed to accommodate 8,500 people. Despite the event being held outdoors on lake ice, two world records and two Olympic records were broken during the competition.


1956 Winter Olympics, Venues
Three of the venues for these games (the bobsleigh run, indoor arena, and ski jump) would serve as film location for the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.


1956 Winter Olympics medal table
This is the full medal table of the 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC. Poland, and Japan won their first Winter Olympic Medal at these games. Japan's medal was also the first Winter Olympics Medal for an Asian nation.


1956 Winter Olympics medal table
The Soviet Union, in their first Winter Olympics, won more gold and total medals than any other nation. USSR's investment in elite sports would lead to their domination of the Olympics for the next three decades, as the Soviets would top the Winter Games from 1956 to 1988 with the exception of 1968, 1980 and 1984.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin in the 1956 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Milt Bruhn, the Baders compiled a 1–5–3 record and 0–4–3 against Big Ten Conference opponents.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The team's statistical leaders included Richard Simonson with 219 passing yards, Danny Lewis with 554 rushing yards, and Dave Howard with 247 receiving yards. Dave Howard was selected as the team's most valuable player.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Preseason
In December 1955, Wisconsin head coach Ivy Williamson was promoted to athletic director. He appointed Milt Bruhn as the school's new head football coach. Bruhn had been a lineman on Minnesota's undefeated 1934 and 1935 national championship teams and had been Wisconsin's line coach since 1949.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On September 29, 1956, Wisconsin defeated Marquette, 41–0, before a crowd of 52,700 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin totaled 441 rushing yards to 43 for Marquette.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On October 6, USC defeated Wisconsin, 13–6, before a crowd of 52,979 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. USC's All-American halfback Jon Arnett rushed for 182 yards on 25 carries.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On October 13, Iowa defeated Wisconsin, 13–7, before a crowd of 53,273 at Iowa Stadium. With only a minute remaining in the first half, Iowa drove 84 yards, running eight plays in 59 seconds and scoring on a pitchout from Ken Ploen to Mike Hagler. Iowa scored again on the first drive of the second half on a short run by Ploen, taking a 13–0 lead.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On October 20, Purdue and Wisconsin played to a 6–6 tie before a Dad's Day crowd of 53,094 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Danny Lewis ran 30 yards for a Wisconsin touchdown in the first quarter, and Len Dawson threw a touchdown pass to Lamar Lundy in the second quarter. Neither team converted its extra point.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On October 27, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin, 21–0, before a crowd of 82,661 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The victory was Ohio State's 16th in a row against a Big Ten opponent, tying a conference opponent.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On November 3, Michigan State (ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll) defeated Wisconsin, 33–0, before a crowd of 53,647 at Macklin Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan State totaled 352 rushing yards and 168 passing yards. The result was Wisconsin's worst defeat since 1949.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On November 10, Northwestern defeated Wisconsin, 17–7, before a homecoming crowd of 54,645 spectators at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The attendance was the highest in the history of Camp Randall Stadium to that point. Northwestern's first touchdown of the game was scored by center Ted Ringer when he recovered a loose ball in the end zone following a fumble by teammate Wilmer Fowler. The outcome was Northwestern's first conference victory under Ara Parseghian.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On November 17, Illinois and Wisconsin played to a 13–13 tie before a crowd of 52,858 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Illinois led 13–6 at halftime. With slightly more than three minutes left in the game, Wisconsin end Sidney Williams threw a 34-yard pass to Danny Lewis on the nine-yard line, setting up a touchdown run on the next play. Williams' pass was his first of the season.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries
On November 24, in the annual battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, Minnesota (ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll) and Wisconsin played to a 13–13 tie before a crowd of 54,149 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. On the final play of the game, Wisconsin's Jon Hobbs missed his third field goal attempt of the game. Wisconsin finished the season without a conference win for the first time since 1939.


1956 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 1957 NFL Draft
The following Wisconsin players were selected in the 1957 NFL Draft:


1956 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
The 1956 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1956. Republican nominee Vernon Wallace Thomson defeated Democratic nominee William Proxmire with 51.89% of the vote.


1956 Wisła Kraków season
The 1956 season was Wisła Kraków's 48th year as a club.


1956 Women's British Open Squash Championship
The 1956 Ladies Open Championships was held at the Lansdowne Club in London from 20–26 February 1956. Janet Morgan won her seventh consecutive title defeating Sheila Speight in the final.


1956 Women's Western Open
The 1956 Women's Western Open was contested from June 28 to July 1 at Wakonda Country Club. It was the 27th edition of the Women's Western Open.


1956 World Fencing Championships
The 1956 World Fencing Championships were held in London, England, United Kingdom. The championships were for non-Olympic events only.


1956 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion.


1956 World Figure Skating Championships
The 1956 competitions for men, ladies, pair skating, and ice dancing took place from February 16 to 19 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany.


1956 World Judo Championships
The 1956 World Judo Championships were the 1st edition of the Men's World Judo Championships, and were held at the Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 3 May, 1956.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship
The 1956 World Professional Match-play Championship was a  snooker tournament that took place from 9 January to 10 March 1956 with the final being held at the Tower Circus in Blackpool, England from 5 to 10 March. Fred Davis won his eighth and last world snooker title by defeating John Pulman by 38 frames to 35 in the final. Pulamn led 31–29 going into the last day of the final on 10 March, but Davis won 8 of the first 10 frames on that day to take a winning lead of 37–33. The event, organised by the Professional Billiards Players' Association, is now recognised as an edition of the World Snooker Championship.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship
There were four participants. Rex Williams made the highest break of the tournament with 141, a championship record, in frame 48 of his semi-final match against Fred Davis in Aston. Pulman defeated Jackie Rea in the other semi-final, which was held in Belfast.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India. Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final. The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until 1935, but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship. Davis also won the title each year until 1940, when the contest was cancelled during World War II, and again when the championship resumed in 1946, accumulating a total of 15 titles before retiring from the event.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In 1952, the World Professional Match-play Championship was created following a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the BACC.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
In response to player complaints that the BACC was taking too large a percentage of income from the tournament, the BACC claimed that the championship "has always been, and in theory is to be, regarded as an affair of honour and a test of merit", and that "every effort is made to arrange terms advantageous to the professionals competing in the championship, compatible with securing an equitable return for the promoters of it, the B.A.& C.C." The PBPA members established an alternative competition which became known as the World Professional Match-play Championship, now recognised as world championships.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Background
There were four entrants for the 1956 World Professional Match-play Championship: John Pulman, Jackie Rea, Rex Williams, and Fred Davis, who had won the world championship in 1948, 1949 and 1951, and the four previous editions of the World Professional Match-play Championship, each year from 1952 to 1955. Joe Davis and Walter Donaldson played in the 1955/1956 News of the World Snooker Tournament, that took place from October 1955 to February 1956, but did not enter the Match-play Championship.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
John Pulman and Jackie Rea played in the first semi-final, at the R.A.O.B. Club, Belfast, from 9 to 13 January 1956. Pulman won the first three frames, making a 55 break in the second frame and a 70 in the third frame. He finished the first session 4–2 ahead, and led 7–5 at the end of the first day. Each player won three frames in the second day's afternoon session. Rea added the first of the evening, before Pulman took four consecutive frames to lead 14–9, compiling a break of 87 in the process.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
Rea made a break of 89 in winning the 24th frame. Pulman extended his lead to six frames by winning the first two of the third day, and was still six ahead at 18–12 by the session's conclusion, and his lead over the evening to eight frames, at 22–14. On the fourth day, Pulman won seven of the twelve frames to lead 29–19, including four of the six in the afternoon session. The correspondent for the Northern Whig commented that "the snooker was not of very good quality ... Pulman impressed as the more consistent player of the two. Rea being far too impetuous at times and breaking down when he should have scored from good positions." Pulman secured victory at 31–25 after winning the second and third frames on the final day, and finished 36–25 ahead after dead frames were played.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
The second semi-final, between Fred Davis and Rex Williams, was staged from 23 to 27 January at the Holte Hotel, Aston. Williams took the first frame, and, after Davis had won the second, moved into a 3–1 lead. A break of 90 from Davis reduced the deficit to one frame, and the match was level when Davis added the sixth frame.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
In the second session, Davis compiled a break of 102 in the seventh frame of the match, and won the following five frames for a 9–3 lead at the end of the first day.<></ref> The players each won three frames on the second afternoon, and also on the second evening, leaving Davis 15–9 ahead. The day's highest break was a 54 made by Davis in frame fifteen, but Williams won that frame by 82 points to 54.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
Davis opened up an 11-frame lead by taking the first five frames on day three, and extended this to twelve at 24–12 by the end of the day, having made a 104 break in the evening session. His lead was increased to 14 frames by adding the first two frames of the fourth day, before Williams reduced the gap to ten frames at 19–29, compiling a 141 break in the 48th frame. This stood as the highest break ever recorded in a version of the world snooker championship, until it was bettered by one point by Williams in 1965. On the last day, Williams took four of the first five frames, but Davis achieved a winning margin at 31–23. Following the dead frames played, the score was 35–26.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
The final was over 73 frames, and was played from 5 to 10 March at the Tower Circus, Blackpool. Davis won the opening frame and took a 4–2 lead during the afternoon session, making a break of 96 in the fourth frame. Pulman, who compiled a break of 85 in the ninth frame, led 7–5 after the opening day. After the second afternoon session, the players were level at 9–9, Davis having compiled a 104 break in the 18th frame.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
Davis won the first frame on the second evening, but Pulman then claimed five consecutive frames to lead 14–10 after the second day. Davis reduced his deficit to two frames at 19–17 after the third day, during which he made his second century break of the final, a 102, in the afternoon session.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
Pulman won four of the six frames on the fourth afternoon, to lead 23–19. In the evening, Davis took the first three frames and the fifth frame, leaving Pulman 25–23 ahead. The following day, the scores were level at both 25–25 and 27–27. Pulman constructed a 104 break in the fourth frame of the afternoon. He won four of the six evening frames, to take a 31–29 lead into the last day. On the sixth day, Davis won five of the six frames in the afternoon session to lead 34–32. He then added three of the first four frames in the evening to achieve a winning margin at 37–33. After dead frames, the final score was 38–35.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Summary
According to authors Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby, "It was, Pulman admitted, the bitterest disappointment of his career." Snooker commentor Ted Lowe wrote in 1984 that Pulman "looked like a winner ... when leading 31–29 at the start of the final day but experience told and Fred ended up champion". In 2012, snooker historian Clive Everton claimed that Pulman "in retrospect believed that it had done him no good to spend two hours in bed with the daughter of a snooker dignitary just prior to the resumption of play [on the last day]". It was the last of eight world snooker titles won by Davis, who chose not to enter the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship.


1956 World Professional Match-play Championship, Main draw
Match results are shown below. Winning players and scores are denoted in bold text.


1956 World Series
The 1956 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the New York Yankees of the American League and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League in October 1956. The Series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series. It was the last all-New York City Series until 44 years later in 2000, as the Dodgers and the New York Giants moved to California after the 1957 season. Additionally, it was the last time a New York team represented the National League until 1969 when the New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles in five games.


1956 World Series
The Yankees won the Series in seven games, capturing their 17th championship. Brooklyn won Games 1 and 2, but New York pitchers threw five consecutive complete games (Games 3–7) to cap off the comeback. The highlight was Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5. Larsen was named the Series MVP for his achievement. The Dodgers scored 19 runs in the first two games, but only six in the remaining five games, with just one in the final three games.


1956 World Series
This was the last World Series to date not to have scheduled off days (although Game 2 was postponed a day due to rain).


1956 World Series
As of March 2020, four original television broadcasts from this Series (Game 2 partial, Games 3 and 5, Game 7 partial) had been released on DVD.


1956 World Series, Summary
AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (3)


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Three batters into the game, the Yankees led 2–0 on a Mickey Mantle home run. Brooklyn struck back with a Jackie Robinson homer in the second inning and a three-run Gil Hodges shot in the third, then won behind Sal Maglie's complete game.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 2
Neither starting pitcher survived the second inning, Don Newcombe giving up a Yogi Berra grand slam, and Don Larsen giving up four unearned runs. Little-known pitcher Don Bessent worked the final seven innings for the win.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 2
Game 2 set a number of peculiar records in World Series history, which are either matched or comparable with similar World Series records and performances, in limited instances:


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 3
Whitey Ford pitched a complete game, scattering eight hits, and got the support he needed from an Enos Slaughter three-run homer in the sixth that gave the Yankees a 4–2 lead; they never trailed in the game afterwards.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 4
Hank Bauer's two-run homer in the seventh off Don Drysdale, pitching in relief, put the game away for the Yankees, who got a complete-game six-hitter from Tom Sturdivant. Mantle hit a home run off Ed Roebuck in the previous inning.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
In Game 5, Don Larsen, dislaying an unusual "no-windup" style and "working the curveball beautifully", pitched the only postseason perfect game, and the only postseason no-hitter until 2010. While striking out seven Dodgers, Larsen had only one at-bat reach a three-ball count (against Pee Wee Reese, in the first inning).


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
Of several close moments, the best remembered is Gil Hodges' fifth-inning line drive toward Yankee Stadium's famed "Death Valley" in left-center, snared by center fielder Mickey Mantle with a spectacular running catch. In addition to that, Yankees fielders had to record three more lineouts, and shortstop Gil McDougald had to make a play on a ball that caromed off third baseman Andy Carey’s glove.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
Brooklyn's Sal Maglie gave up only two runs on five hits and was perfect himself until a fourth-inning home run by Mantle broke the scoreless tie. The Yankees added an insurance run in the sixth as Hank Bauer's single scored Carey, who had opened the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second by Larsen.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
The final out of the game came on a called third strike against Dale Mitchell and generated one of the most iconic images in sports history, when catcher Yogi Berra leaped into Larsen's arms.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
A reporter asked Yankees manager Casey Stengel if this was the best game Larsen had ever pitched. Stengel diplomatically answered, "So far!" For Larsen, this was an especially satisfying performance, as he had acquired perhaps a better reputation as a night owl than as a pitcher. Stengel once said of Larsen, "The only thing he fears is sleep!" Larsen's perfect game was also the last game that umpire Babe Pinelli called behind the plate.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
Sports cartoonist Willard Mullin drew an illustration of a happy Larsen painting a canvas titled The Perfect Game, observed by Mullin's classic "Brooklyn Bum." Referencing the old saw "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like", the disgusted-looking Bum came up with a variation: "I don't care if it is art—I don't like it!"


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 5
Brooklyn starter Sal Maglie appeared on the game show What's My Line? the night before the game, with former Yankee Phil Rizzuto as one of the panel members.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 6
In a 10-inning scoreless pitching duel with both starters going all the way, Jackie Robinson's walk-off single to left in the bottom of the 10th won the game for Clem Labine and kept the Dodgers' championship hopes alive. Tough-luck loser Bob Turley gave up a 10th-inning walk to Jim Gilliam, a sacrifice bunt by Pee Wee Reese and intentional pass to Duke Snider before the decisive hit. Game 6 is one of only three games in World Series history to be scoreless through nine innings, the others being Game 2 in 1913 and Game 7 in 1991.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 7
Yogi Berra's two homers led New York to an unexpectedly easy 9–0 title-clinching victory. Yankee pitcher Johnny Kucks struck out Jackie Robinson to end the Series. It would be Robinson's final at-bat, as he retired at the season's end.


1956 World Series, Matchups, Game 7
After belting the Yankee pitching staff for 19 runs and 21 hits in the first two games, the Dodger bats went silent in the next five games, scoring only six runs on 21 hits, batting only .142 (21–for–148). New York outscored Brooklyn 22–6 in Games 3–7, the Yankees winning their 17th World Series.


1956 World Series, Composite line score
1956 World Series (4–3): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)


1956 World Series, Broadcasting
NBC televised the Series, with announcers Mel Allen (for the Yankees) and Vin Scully (for the Dodgers). In 2006, it was announced that a nearly-complete kinescope recording of the Game 5 telecast (featuring Larsen's perfect game) had been preserved and discovered by a collector. That kinescope recording aired during the MLB Network's first night on the air on January 1, 2009, supplemented with an interview of both Larsen and Yogi Berra by Bob Costas. The first inning of the telecast is still considered lost and was not aired by the MLB Network or included in a subsequent DVD release of the game.


1956 World Series, Broadcasting
The Mutual network aired the Series on radio, with Bob Wolff and Bob Neal announcing. This was the final World Series broadcast for Mutual, which had covered the event since 1935; NBC's radio network would gain exclusive national rights to baseball the following season.


1956 World Sportscar Championship
The 1956 World Sportscar Championship was the fourth annual FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a contested by sportscars over a series of five races from 29 January to 12 August 1956.


1956 World Sportscar Championship
Following the major accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans that killed 80 spectators, 1955 champions Mercedes-Benz officially withdrew from motorsports and thus did not defend their title. This led to the fewest factory-backed competitors for many years.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
The 1956 World Sports Car Championship was ultimately contested over five races. While much of the controversy surrounding the tragedy at Le Mans had subsided by January 1956, those in the international racing community were still contending with the fallout. The organisers of the 24 Heures du Mans introduced regulations reducing the maximum engine capacity for prototype cars to 2.5 litres, which caused the race to lose championship status, but would return to the championship in 1957. Both the RAC Tourist Trophy and Carrera Panamericana were given championship status, but neither was run amid safety concerns.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
The RAC Tourist Trophy would never return to the Dundrod Circuit, and the Carrera Panamericana, the 1955 edition also cancelled, in spite of many attempts would never return. Returning to the championship was the 1000 km Nürburgring after being cancelled in 1955. Since championship regulations required at least five qualifying events actually be held, since Le Mans no longer qualified, and the Tourist Trophy and Carrera Panamericana cancelled, the Sveriges Grand Prix was upgraded to championship status in recognition of a successful race in 1955.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
The championship remained as a contest for manufacturers, with the factory teams of Scuderia Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin and Jaguar leading the way. As in previous seasons, the majority of the fields were made up of amateur or gentlemen drivers, often racing against professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
For Ferrari's assault on the 1956 championship, they settled on using virtually identical four- and twelve-cylinder-engined machines. Both cars shared exactly the same chassis and similarly styling. Carrozzeria Scaglietti built the aluminum bodies for both. The more successful of the two was the V12-engined 290 MM, which was driven to a debut victory in the Mille Miglia by Eugenio Castellotti. In the season finale, Phil Hill and Maurice Trintignant added a second win to the 290 MM's tally in only its third major race.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
The sister 860 Monza had an equally impressive first outing, with a one-two victory in the Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance. During the remainder of the season, the big fours supported Ferrari's chase for the championship with valuable podium finishes. With three very convincing wins in the five rounds, Ferrari were crowned World Champions at the end of the season. For the third time in four seasons, the title had gone to Maranello.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
Ferrari's chief rivals, Maserati hired Stirling Moss for the season, and prepared a works team for all the rounds of the championship. At the opening round, the 1000 km Buenos Aires, the factory efforts paid off, when all the large 4.0-litre Ferraris suffered mechanical problems, and Moss and local hero, Carlos Menditéguy took overall victory, in a 300S. For the next rounds at Sebring and the Mille Miglia, Maserati prepared the 350S. The cars were on pace but succumbed to the competition.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Championship summary
The Internationales ADAC 1000 Kilometer Rennen auf dem Nürburgring changed this when Moss and Jean Behra took over a second car and drove it to victory. The championship ended at the Sveriges Grand Prix and Maserati had high hopes to gain enough points to win over Ferrari. Despite bringing five cars, all the Maseratis retired, leaving Ferrari to take all the top five places and the championship.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. The best result per marque at each race counted. Only the best 3 results out of the 5 races could be retained.


1956 World Sportscar Championship, The cars
The following models contributed to the net championship point scores of their respective makes.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Tokyo from April 2 to April 11, 1956.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles was the 23rd edition of the men's doubles championship. Ichiro Ogimura and Yoshio Tomita won the title after defeating Ivan Andreadis and Ladislav Štípek in the final by three sets to nil.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles was the 23rd edition of the men's singles championship.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
Ichiro Ogimura defeated Toshiaki Tanaka in the final, winning three sets to two to secure the title.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Team
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Swaythling Cup (Men's Team) was the 23rd edition of the men's team championship.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's Team
Japan won the gold medal defeating Czechoslovakia 5-1 in the final. China and Romania won bronze medals after finishing second in their respective groups.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles was the 23rd edition of the mixed doubles championship.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Mixed Doubles
Erwin Klein and Leah Neuberger defeated Ivan Andreadis and Ann Haydon in the final by three sets to two.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles was the 22nd edition of the women's doubles championship. Ella Zeller and Angelica Rozeanu defeated Kiiko Watanabe and Fujie Eguchi in the final by three sets to two.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Singles was the 23rd edition of the women's singles championship. Tomi Okawa defeated Kiiko Watanabe in the final by three sets to two, to win the title.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Team
The 1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Corbillon Cup (Women's Team) was the 16th edition of the women's team championship.


1956 World Table Tennis Championships – Women's Team
Romania won the gold medal with a perfect 7-0 match record, England won the silver medal and Japan won the bronze medal.


1956 Wrestling World Cup
The 1956 Wrestling World Cup was held on May 25–31 in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Mithatpaşa Stadium, under the auspices of FILA. The attendance of the event was around 20 thousand spectators at the stadium. Freestyle wrestling competition was held from May 25 to May 27, 61 wrestlers from 12 countries participated in the freestyle event. Greco-Roman wrestling competition was held from May 29 to May 31, 89 wrestlers from 16 countries participated in the Greco-Roman event.


1956 Wrestling World Cup
The team victory in the freestyle event was won by the Turkish National Team, which scored 44 points out of 48 possible, followed by the USSR National Team. The team victory in the Greco-Roman event was won by the USSR team, which scored 39 points. The overall team victory was won by the Soviet Union, therefore the USSR National Team won the World Cup.


1956 Wrestling World Cup, Participating teams
The competition was attended by teams of the following states and independent territories: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, France, West Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Saarland, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen, Yugoslavia. The United States didn't have a team in competition.


1956 Wyoming Cowboys baseball team
The 1956 Wyoming Cowboys baseball team represented the University of Wyoming in the 1956 NCAA baseball season. The Cowboys played their home games at Cowboy Field. The team was coached by Bud Daniel in his 6th year as head coach at Wyoming.


1956 Wyoming Cowboys baseball team
The Cowboys won the District VII to advance to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Bradley Braves.


1956 Wyoming Cowboys football team
The 1956 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming in the Skyline Conference during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. In their fourth season under head coach Phil Dickens, the Cowboys compiled a perfect 10–0 record (7–0 against Skyline opponents), won the Skyline Conference championship, and outscored all opponents by a total of 252 to 112. The Cowboys were ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll issued on November 19, 1956, but dropped out in the final poll.


1956 Wyoming Cowboys football team
The team's statistical leaders included Larry Zowada with 878 passing yards, Jim Crawford with 1,104 rushing yards and 72 points scored, and John Watts with 287 receiving yards. Crawford led the nation in rushing yards and went on to play five seasons for the Boston Patriots.


1956 Wyoming Cowboys football team
Believing that they would get a better bowl appearance, the team declined a Sun Bowl invitation. No other invitations came.


1956 Xavier Musketeers football team
The 1956 Xavier Musketeers football team was an American football team that represented Xavier University as an independent during the 1956 NCAA College Division football season. In its second season under head coach Harry W. Connelly, the team compiled a 7–3 record and outscored opponents by a total of 215 to 150. The team played its home games at Xavier Stadium in Cincinnati.


1956 Yale Bulldogs football team
The 1956 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 1965 NCAA University Division football season as a member of the Ivy League. They were led by fifth-year head coach Jordan Olivar and played their home games at the Yale Bowl. They finished the season as Ivy League champions with an overall record of eight wins and one loss.


1956 Yorkshire Cup
The 1956 Yorkshire Cup was the forty-ninth occasion on which the rugby league competition known as the Yorkshire County Cup had been held. Featuring clubs from the 1956–57 Northern Rugby Football League season, matches were played over September and October 1956. Wakefield Trinity won the trophy by beating Hunslet in the final.


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Background
The Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from  the  county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from  outside the  county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden.


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Background
The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Competition and results
This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the  same at sixteen. This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Competition and results, Final
The 1956 Yorkshire Cup final was played between Wakefield Trinity and Hunslet. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 31,147 and receipts were £5,609. This is the  last occasion on which the attendance at a Yorkshire Cup final would exceed 30,000. Wakefield won the match 23-5 to claim the trophy.


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Competition and results, Final, Teams and scorers
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments
1 * The  attendance is given as 30,942 by the  Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook of 1991-92 and 1990-91 but 31,147 by "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973 by J C Lindley and D W Armitage and also by RUGBYLEAGUEproject


1956 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments
2 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was  40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom
The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, also known as the Gal Oya riots, was the first organised pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon. It began with anti-Tamil rioting in Colombo, followed by anti-Sinhalese rioting in Batticaloa. The worst of the violence took place in the Gal Oya valley, where local majority Sinhalese colonists and employees of the Gal Oya Development Board commandeered government vehicles, dynamite and weapons and massacred minority Tamils. It is estimated that over 150 people lost their lives during the violence. The police and army were eventually able to bring the situation under control.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Background information
By 1956, 50% of clerical jobs were held by Tamils, although they were a minority of the country's population. This was partly due to the availability of Western style education built by American missionaries in the Tamil dominant Jaffna peninsula during the colonial era. The overrepresentation of Tamils was used by populist Sinhalese politicians to come to political power by promising to elevate the Sinhalese people. The pro-Sinhalese nationalist Freedom Party came to power in 1956 promising to make Sinhala, the language of the majority Sinhalese people, the sole official language. This Sinhala only policy was opposed by the Tamil Federal party which conducted a nonviolent sit-in protest on June 5, 1956, in front of the parliament in Colombo, the capital city. About 200 Tamil leaders and politicians took part in this protest.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Gal Oya settlement scheme
Gal Oya settlement scheme was begun in 1949 to settle landless peasants in formerly jungle land. Gal Oya river in the Eastern province was dammed and a tank was created with 40,000,000 acres (160,000 km2) of irrigated land. In 1956 the settlement had over 50 new villages where over 5,000 ethnic Tamil, Muslim, Indigenous Veddha and Sinhalese were settled. The Sinhalese were approximately 50% of the settlers.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Gal Oya settlement scheme
Sinhalese and others were spatially separated from each other as Sinhalese were settled at the more productive headwaters of the Gal Oya tank and the Tamils and Muslims at the down rivers closer to their former native villages. Settlement of large number of Sinhalese peasants in what Tamil nationalists considered their traditional Tamil homeland, was a source of tension within the settlement area.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Colombo
Federal Party protestors were attacked by a Sinhalese mob that was led by K. M. P. Rajaratne. The same mob, after listening to a speech by populist Sinhalese politicians urging them to boycott Tamil business, went on a looting spree in the city. Over 150 Tamil owned shops were looted and many people were hospitalized for their injuries. But these disturbances were quickly brought under control by the police.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Batticaloa
Following the riots in Colombo, Tamil rioters in Batticaloa attacked Sinhalese. Sinhalese houses were burnt and Sinhalese people were assaulted. In one case, a Sinhalese hotel was burned. An employee of this hotel emerged from the burning hotel and fired at a crowd that had gathered to watch the conflagration, killing 2. Police had also fired on crowd of 10,000 demonstrating Tamils, killing another 2. Tamils from Karaitivu had thrown stones at Gal Oya Board trucks. Near Kalmunai, a group of 11 Tamils hid in trees and shot at a convoy of Sinhalese civilians and government officials, killing 2.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Gal Oya
On June 9th, the trucks that had been stoned arrived in Gal Oya. News of the attacks on Sinhalese in Batticaloa started reaching the valley, and with it, false rumours. The chief amongst the rumours was that a Sinhalese girl had been raped and made to walk naked down the street in Batticaloa by a Tamil mob. Although this was later proved to be false, the rumor inflamed the passions of the mob and led to further massacres and property destruction.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Gal Oya
The riots began on the evening of June 11, 1956, when agitated mobs began roaming the streets of Gal Oya valley looking for Tamils. Properties owned by Tamils, including those of Indian Tamils, were looted and burned down. It was rumored that the local police made no attempt to control the mob.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Gal Oya
Tamil refugees from Amparai had fled to the Amparai police station and the Circuit Bungalow under police protection. On the evening of June 12, a Sinhalese mob surrounded the latter location, threatening to break in. At first, police used tear gas to try and disperse the mob. The mob tried to stop a jeep with a Bren gun; at this point, the police opened fire, killing three of rioters. Then the mob severed the utilities and stole dynamite from a dynamite dump in Inginiyagala to try to blow up the bungalow. They were unable to acquire detonators, and by 11 PM, the military arrived and disperse the crowd.


1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, Riots, Gal Oya
On the morning of June 13, a truck arrived with Sinhalese refugees from Bakiela who had been attacked by Tamil colonists. By noon of that day, there were further rumors that an army of 6,000 Tamils armed with guns were in the process of approaching the Sinhalese settlements in the Gal Oya valley. This led local groups of Sinhalese men to commandeer government vehicles to travel to outlying Tamil villages while Sinhalese officials and settlers fled. It was only after the arrival of army reinforcements and stern action taken by them that the killings and destruction were suppressed.


1956 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in Afghanistan.


1956 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in Australia.


1956 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1956.


1956 in Australian literature, Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1956 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.


1956 in Australian literature, Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1956 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


1956 in Belgian television
This article is a list of Belgian television related events from 1956.


1956 in Brazilian football
The following article presents a summary of the 1956 football (soccer) season in Brazil, which was the 55th season of competitive football in the country.


1956 in Brazilian football, State championship champions
(1)Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro shared the Minas Gerais State Championship title.


1956 in Brazilian football, Brazil national team
The following table lists all the games played by the Brazil national football team in official competitions and friendly matches during 1956.


1956 in Brazilian television
This is a list of Brazilian television related events from 1956.


1956 in British music
This is a summary of 1956 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.


1956 in British radio
This is a list of events from British radio in 1956.


1956 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1956.


1956 in Canadian football
The Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.


1956 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1956
On Sunday, January 22, representatives of the two largest and most powerful leagues in the Canadian Rugby Union, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union, met in Winnipeg and formed the Canadian Football Council as an umbrella organization. G. Sydney Halter, QC, was named as commissioner of the CFC, which would evolve into today's Canadian Football League. The CFC introduced a national negotiation list.


1956 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1956
Television rights for Canadian football games were sold for $101,000. The touchdown point value was increased from five to six points.


1956 in Canadian football, Canadian Football News in 1956
The first East-West All-Star game was played at Vancouver's Empire Stadium on December 8. The day after the game, Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 crashed into Mount Slesse, killing five players and one official who were on their way from Vancouver to Calgary. The five players who died in the crash included four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders: offensive linemen Mario DeMarco and Ray Syrnyk, centre/tight end Mel Becket, and defensive lineman Gordon Sturtridge, along with Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman Cal Jones. The official killed in the crash was Ed Pettit, of Calgary.


1956 in Canadian football, Regular season, Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points


1956 in Canadian football, Grey Cup Championship
44th Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium – Toronto, Ontario


1956 in Canadian television
This is a list of Canadian television-related events in 1956.


1956 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in Chile.


1956 in China
Events in the year 1956 in China. The country had an estimated population of 620 million people.


1956 in Dutch television
This is a list of Dutch television related events from 1956.


1956 in Dutch television, Deaths
This Dutch television–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


1956 in Estonia
This article lists events that occurred during 1956 in Estonia.


1956 in Estonian television
This is a list of Estonian television related events from 1956.


1956 in Estonian television, Deaths
This Estonian television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


1956 in French television
This is a list of French television related events from 1956.


1956 in German television
This is a list of German television-related events in 1956.


1956 in German television, Deaths
This German television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


1956 in Iceland
The following lists events that happened in 1956 in Iceland.


1956 in India
Events in the year 1956 in the Republic of India.


1956 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1956 include:


1956 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent Palestinian fedayeen terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1956 include:


1956 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1956 include:


1956 in Italian television
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1956.


1956 in Laos
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in Laos.


1956 in Libya
The following lists events that happened in 1956 in Libya.


1956 in Luxembourg
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.


1956 in Malaya
This article lists important figures and events in Malayan public affairs during the year 1956, together with births and deaths of significant Malayans.


1956 in Mexico, Awards
Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor – Gerardo Murillo ("Dr. Atl")


1956 in Michigan
The major stories of 1956 in Michigan included: (1) tornado outbreaks that struck western Michigan on April 2 and central and eastern Michigan on May 12; (2) the November 6 elections in which Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower won Michigan's 20 electoral votes while Democrat G. Mennen Williams won re-election to a fifth term as Governor of Michigan; and (3) a slowdown in automobile production after reaching record levels in 1955.


1956 in Michigan, Top stories
The Associated Press  and Detroit Free Press each ranked Michigan's top news stories of 1956 as follows:


1956 in Michigan, Population
In the 1950 United States Census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 6,421,000 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1960, the state's population had grown 22.8% to 7,823,194 persons.


1956 in Michigan, Population, Cities
The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 40,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1956 in Michigan, Population, Counties
The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 100,000 based on 1950 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1940 and 1960 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.


1956 in Michigan, Sports, 1956 Olympics
A contingent of 18 Michiganders competed for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics. A total 11 athletes with ties to Michigan won medals as follows:


1956 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during  1956 in New Zealand.


1956 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government
The 31st New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the National government under Sidney Holland.


1956 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Film
See : Category:1956 film awards, 1956 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1956 films


1956 in New Zealand, Sport, Lawn bowls
The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin.


1956 in North Korea
Events from the year 1956 in North Korea. Andrei Lankov calls 1956 a turning point in North Korean history. It marked the 3rd Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) followed by two important plenums of the Central Committee of the WPK. The plenum in August became known as the August Faction Incident as Kim Il-sung's opponents unsuccessfully tried to oust him. It was followed by another plenum in September that saw Kim being pressured by China and the Soviet Union to tone down his political line. Kim, however, retaliated by beginning the purge of his party's Soviet faction that year.


1956 in Norwegian football
The 1956 season was the 51st season of competitive football in Norway.


1956 in Norwegian music
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1956 in Norwegian music.


1956 in Scottish television
This is a list of events in Scottish television from 1956.


1956 in Singapore
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in Singapore.


1956 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1956 in South Africa.


1956 in Taiwan
Events from the year 1956 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 45 according to the official Republic of China calendar.


1956 in Thailand
The year 1956 was the 175th year of the Rattanakosin Kingdom of Thailand. It was the 11th year in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), and is reckoned as year 2499 in the Buddhist Era.


1956 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1956 to Wales and its people.


1956 in association football
The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1956 throughout the world.


1956 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1956  throughout the world.


1956 in country music
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by 50.26.172.216 (talk) at 20:47, 13 March 2020 (→Top new album releases). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1956 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1956.


1956 in film
The following is an overview of 1956 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.


1956 in film, Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1956 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:


1956 in fine arts of the Soviet Union
The year 1956 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.


1956 in jazz
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1956.


1956 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1956.


1956 in motorsport
The following is an overview of the events of 1956 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.


1956 in motorsport, Annual events
The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had own significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.


1956 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1956.


1956 in music, Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest in the charts of 1956.


1956 in music, US No. 1 hit singles
These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1956.


1956 in music, Classical music, Premieres
1 Variazione sull'aria di Papageno was part of Divertimento für Mozart, an omnibus composition by 12 different composers.


1956 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1956.


1956 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1956 in poetry, Works published in English
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:


1956 in poetry, Works published in other languages
Listed by language and often by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:


1956 in poetry, Works published in other languages, India
In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:


1956 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1956 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1956 in professional wrestling
1956 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.


1956 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1956.


1956 in science
The year 1956 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.


1956 in spaceflight
This is a list of spaceflight related events which occurred in 1956.