1957

1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

Environmental change

• The Africanized bee is accidentally released in Brazil
• The Asian Flu pandemic begins in China
• March 10 - Floodgates of The Dalles Dam are closed inundating Celilo Falls and ancient indian fisheries along the Columbia River in Oregon.
• November 13 - Flooding in the Po River valley of Italy leads to the flooding also in Venice

Undated

• Consumers' Association founded (UK)
• Project Orion begins, a U.S. program to build a spacecraft powered by nuclear explosions.
• Civil Rights Commission established under the Civil Rights Act of 1957
• IBM makes FORTRAN scientific programming language available to customers. It becomes the most widely used computer language for technical work.

January-February

• January 2 - San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges explode.
• January 3 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch
• January 4 - After 69 years the last issue of Collier's Weekly magazine is published
• January 5 - Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be dismissed handled the ball in test match cricket
• January 10 - Harold Macmillan becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom
• January 13 - Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee
• January 16 - The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool
• January 22 - Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula (they captured it from Egypt in a battle on October 29, 1956)
• January 22 - The New York City "Mad Bomber," George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and is charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
• January 23 - Ku Klux Klan members force a truck driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into an Alabama River - he drowns.
• February 4 - France prohibits UN involvement in Algeria

March

Flag of Ghana, the first country in colonial Africa to gain independence

• March 1 - U Nu becomes Prime Minister of Burma
• March 1 - Arturo Lezama becomes President of the National Council of Government of Uruguay
• March 1 - Sud Aviation forms from a merger between SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest)
• March 6 - United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana
• March 8 - Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal
• March 13 - The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery
• March 14 - President Sukarno declares martial law in Indonesia
• March 20 - French newspaper L'Express reveals that French army tortures Algerian prisoners
• March 25 - Treaty of Rome (patto di Roma) establishes the European Economic Community (EEC); see EU

April-June

• April 1 - The first new conscripts join the Bundeswehr
• April 5 - First elected government of Kerala. CPI won the elections and E. M. S. Namboodiripad became the first chief minister of united Kerala
• April 12 - United Kingdom announces that Singapore will gain self rule January 1, 1958
• April 12 - Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl, printed in England, is seized by U.S. customs officials on the grounds of obscenity
• May 3 - Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.
• May 15 - Stanley Matthews plays his final international game, ending an English record international career of almost 23 years
• May 16 - Paul-Henri Spaak becomes the new secretary-general of NATO.
• June 9 - First ascent of Broad Peak
• June 15 - Eindhoven University of Technology is founded.
• June 21 - John Diefenbaker becomes Canada's thirteenth prime minister.
• June 25 - United Church of Christ formed in Cleveland, Ohio by merger of Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
• June 27 - Hurricane Audrey demolishes Cameron, Louisiana, killing 400 people.

July-September

• July - International Geophysical Year begins
• July 16 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies an F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record
• July 25 - Tunisia becomes a republic
• July 29 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
• August 4 - Juan Manuel Fangio, driving for Maserati, wins the Formula One German Grand Prix, clinching (with 4 wins that season) his record fifth world drivers championship, including his fourth consecutive championship (also a record); these two records would endure for nearly half a century.
• August 31 - The Federation of Malaya, which does not include Singapore, gains independence from the United Kingdom. Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan becomes the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
• September 4 - American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis - Orville Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent black students from enrolling in Central High School in Little Rock
• September 4 - Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.

October

• October 4 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.
• October 9 - Neil H. McElroy was sworn in as the 6th Secretary of Defense of United States.
• October 10 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
• October 11 - Radio telescope of Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK, opened.
• October 23 - Morocco begins its invasion of Ifni.
• October 25 - Assassination of a Mafia boss Albert Anastasia in a barber shop in Park Sheraton Hotel.

November-December

• November 1 - Michigan's Mackinac Bridge opened.
• November 3 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika (she was kept alive for several days in space with a sophisticated life-support system).
• November 7 - Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.
• November 14 - Apalachin Meeting - The leaders of the American Mafia meet at a convention in Apalachin, New York at the house of Joseph Barbara. It is broken up by a curious patrolman.
• November 15 - Plane crash in the Isle of Wight - 43 dead.
• November 16 - Serial killer Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wisconsin.
• November 30 - Grenade attack against Indonesian president Sukarno in Cikini School in Jakarta. Six children killed, Sukarno survives unscathed.
• December 4 - Lewisham train disaster in Britain - 92 dead.
• December 5 - All Dutch nationals expelled from Indonesia.
• December 6 - First US attempt to launch a satellite fails, blowing up on the launchpad.

Births

January-February

• January 6 - Nancy Lopez, American golfer
• January 7 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist
• January 7 - Katie Couric, American television host
• January 7 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer
• January 11 - Robert Earl Keen, American musician and singer
• January 15 - Mario Van Peebles, Mexican actor and director
• January 19 - Katey Sagal, American actress, singer, and writer
• January 22 - Mike Bossy, Canadian hockey player
• January 23 - Princess Caroline of Monaco
• January 23 - Earl Falconer, bassist
• January 30, Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
• February 4 - Don Davis, American composer
• February 6 - Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
• February 6 - Robert Townsend, American comedian, actor, director, and producer
• February 8 - Cindy Wilson, American singer (The B-52's)
• February 16 - LeVar Burton, American actor
• February 16 - James Ingram, American singer
• February 18 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
• February 19 - Falco, Austrian musician (d. 1998)
• February 27 - Viktor Markin, Soviet athlete

March-May

• March 10 - Osama bin Laden, Saudi-born Islamic extremist
• March 12 - Steve Harris, English bassist (Iron Maiden)
• March 20 - Spike Lee, American film director and actor
• March 21 - Youssef Rzouga, Tunisian Poet and journalist
• March 29 - Christophe Lambert, American-born French actor
• March 30 - Paul Reiser, American actor
• March 31 - Marc McClure, American actor
• April 4 - Aki Kaurismäki, Finnish film director
• April 4 - Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Japanese television performer and musician (Rats & Star)
• April 5 - Ivan Corea, Sri Lankan autism campaigner
• April 8 - Henry Cluney, Irish musician
• April 9 - Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer
• April 29 - Daniel Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish actor
• May 7 - Sinjin Smith, volleyball player
• May 10 - Sid Vicious, English bassist (Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
• May 22 - Gary Sweet, Australian actor
• May 26 - Margaret Colin, actress
• May 27 - Siouxsie Sioux, English singer (Siouxsie and the Banshees)
• May 28 - Kirk Gibson, baseball player
• May 29 - Jeb Hensarling, American politician

June-October

• June 2 - King Lizzard, American entertainer
• June 8 - Scott Adams, American cartoonist
• June 11 - Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American musician
• June 12 - Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer
• June 19 - Anna Lindh, Swedish politician (d. 2003)
• July 13 - Cameron Crowe, American writer and film director
• July 23 - Theo van Gogh, Dutch film director (d. 2004)
• July 26 - Nana Visitor, American actress
• July 29 - Nelli Kim, Russian gymnast
• August 6 - Jim McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey
• August 7 - Mark Bagley American Comic BookArtist
• August 9 - Melanie Griffith, American actress
• August 11 - Richie Ramone, American drummer (The Ramones)
• August 24 - Stephen Fry, English comedian, author, and actor
• August 27 - Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• August 28 - Daniel Stern, American actor
• September 1 - Gloria Estefan, Cuban-born singer
• September 12 - Rachel Ward, English actress
• October 14 - Kenny Neal, American guitarist
• October 21 - Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• October 26 - Bob Golic, American football player
• October 27 - Jeff East, American actor

November-December

• November 6 - Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO of Siemens AG
• November 7 - Christopher Knight, actor (The Brady Bunch)
• November 15 - Kevin Eubanks, musician
• November 24 - Denise Crosby, actress (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• November 30 - Colin Mochrie, Improv Comic
• December 8 - Phil Collen, singer/guitarist (Def Leppard)
• December 9 - Donny Osmond, singer
• December 10 - Michael Clarke Duncan, actor (Armageddon, The Green Mile)
• December 13 - Steve Buscemi, actor (Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Sopranos)
• December 13 - Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
• December 20 - Billy Bragg, singer
• December 20 - Joyce Hyser, American actress
• December 21 - Tom Henke, baseball relief pitcher
• December 21 - Ray Romano, actor, comedian (Everybody Loves Raymond)
• December 30 - Matt Lauer, NBC newscaster

Unknown date

• Amanda Dickison - British actress
• Walter Moers - German comic artist and writer
• Eugene Spafford - American computer scientist

Deaths

January-March

• January 10 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet (b. 1889)
• January 14 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (b. 1899)
• January 16 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
• February 8 - Walther Bothe, German physicist, Noble Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• February 8 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician (b. 1903)
• February 9 - Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and longtime Regent (b. 1868)
• February 10 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
• February 18 - Henry Norris Russell, astronomer
• February 25 - George "Bugs" Moran, American gangster
• March 11 - Admiral Richard E. Byrd, American explorer
• March 16 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
• March 17 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines
• March 25 - Max Ophüls, director and writer
• March 29 - Joyce Cary, author

April-June

• May 2 - Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator
• May 9 - Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b. 1892)
• May 14 - Marie Vassilieff, artist
• May 16 - Eliot Ness, American F.B.I. agent
• May 31 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
• June 17 - Dorothy Richardson, English feminist writer (b. 1873)
• June 21 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• June 26 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (b. 1878)
• June 27 - Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (b. 1909)

July-September

• July 4 - Judy Tyler, American actress (b. 1933)
• July 24 - Sacha Guitry, Russian-born French playright, actor, and director (b. 1885)
• July 28 - Edith Abbott, American social worker, educator, and author (b. 1876)
• August 5 - Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Prize larueate (b. 1877)
• August 7 - Oliver Hardy, American actor (b. 1892)
• August 16 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• August 19 - David Bomberg, English painter (b. 1890)
• September 1 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (b. 1921)
• September 20 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)
• September 21 - Haakon VII of Norway (b. 1872)
• September 22 - Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral in World War II (b. 1885)

October-December

• October 25 - Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author (b. 1878)
• October 29 - Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (b. 1885)
• November 4 - Laika, Russian Samoyed dog, first to orbit the earth
• November 24 - Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (b. 1886)
• November 29 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian composer (b. 1897)
• November 30 - Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor (b. 1890)
• December 21 - Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)

Religious leaders

• Archbishop of Canterbury - Geoffrey Francis Fisher
• Coptic Pope - see vacant
• Dalai Lama - Tenzin Gyatso
• Patriarch of Constantinople - Athenagoras
• Patriarch of Moscow - Patriarch Alexius I
• Pope - Pope Pius XII
• President of the LDS Church - David O. McKay

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee
• Chemistry- Lord Alexander R. Todd
• Medicine - Daniel Bovet
• Literature - Albert Camus
• Peace - Lester Bowles Pearson