MultiEducator · The 20th Century Almanac
HistoryCentral Est. 1996
5820th C.
1958
The 20th Century Almanac · The Fifties

1958

Major Events · Sports · Music · Screen · Prizes

America answered Sputnik by launching Explorer I and founding NASA, while Charles de Gaulle returned to power and founded France's Fifth Republic. The integrated-circuit microchip was invented, transatlantic jet service began, and Gigi swept nine Academy Awards.

A Year in Review
Best Picture
Gigi
Nobel · Literature
Pasternak
World Series
New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Braves Se
No. 1 Song
At the Hop
Top TV
Academy · Actor
David Niven

Major Events of 1958

9 events
Rome Treaty; common market establishedImry Nagi executed in HungaryEgypt and Syria join United Arab RepublicUS troops land in LebanonExplorer I launchedQuiz Show cancelledCommercial 707 service beginsDouglas introduces the DC-8F-4 Phantom unveilled by McDonnell-Douglas

Sports Highlights

Champions of 1958

Champions

NBASt. Lewis Hawks vs. Boston Celtics Series: 4-2
NCAA FootballLouisiana State Univ. & Iowa Record: 11-0-0 & 8-1-1
Heisman TrophyPete Dawkins, army, HB points: 1,394
Stanley CupMontreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Series: 4-2 US Open Golf: Tommy Bolt Score: 283 Course: Southern Hills CC Location: Tulsa, Ok
World SeriesNew York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Braves Series: 4-3

Top Music of 1958

The year on the charts

Top Songs

  1. At the Hop Danny and the Juniors
  2. Don't I Beg of You Elvis Presley
  3. Tequila The Champs
  4. Twilight Time The Platters
  5. Witch Doctor David Seville
  6. All I Have to Do is Dream Everly Brothers
  7. The Purple People Eater Sheb Wooley
  8. Hard Headed Woman Elvis Presley
  9. Poor Little Fool Ricky Nelson
  10. Volare Domenico Modugno

Grammy Awards

Record of the Year
"Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" ... Domenico Modugno
Song of the Year
"Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" ... Domenico Modugno
Album of the Year
"The Music from Peter Gunn" ... Henry Mancini Male Vocalist: Perry Como ... "Catch a Falling Star" Female Vocalist: Ella Fitzgerald ... "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook"

Screen & Television

At the box office & on the air

Top Movies

  1. The Bridge on the River Kwai
  2. Peyton Place
  3. Sayonara
  4. No Time for Sergeants
  5. The Vikings
  6. Search for Paradise
  7. South Pacific
  8. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  9. Raintree Country
  10. Old Yeller

Academy Awards

Honoring 1958
Best Picture
Gigi
Best Director
Vincente Minnelli
Gigi
Best Actor
David Niven
Separate Tables
Best Actress
Susan Hayward
I Want to Live!

Nobel & Pulitzer Prizes

The year in letters & science

Nobel Prizes

Chemistry
SANGER, FREDERICK, Great Britain, Cambridge University, b. 1918: "for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin"
Literature
PASTERNAK, BORIS LEONIDOVICH, USSR, b. 1890, d. 1960: "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition" (Accepted first, later caused by the authorities of his country t
Peace
PIRE, Rev. DOMINIQUE GEORGES HENRI, Belgium, b. 1910, d. 1969: Father of the Dominican Order, Leader of the relief organization for refugees, l'Europe du Coeur au Service du Monde
Physiology or Medicine
The prize was divided, one half being awarded jointly to: BEADLE, GEORGE WELLS, U.S.A., California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, b. 1903, d. 1989; and TATUM, EDWARD LAWRIE, U.S.A., Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New Yo
Physics
Institute of USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, b. 1885, d. 1971: "for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect"

Pulitzer Prizes

Drama
Ketti Frings ... "Look Homeward, Angel"
Fiction
James Agee ... "A Death in the Family"
History
Bray Hammond ... "Banks and Politics in America - From the Revolution to the Civil War" International Reporting: Staff ... "New York Times" National Reporting: Relman Morin ... "Associated Press" & Clark Mollenhoff ... "Des Moines Register & Tribune"
Public Service
"Arkansas Gazettte"