Stories from 1956
Browse a timeline of top world events from 1956. Or, use Proust to tell your life story and share personal
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February 22, 1956
Elvis Presley's first number one hit was 'Heartbreak Hotel'.
February 23, 1956
Norma Jean Mortenson legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, originally her stage name.
June 26, 1956
The Federal-Aid Highway Act was passed, creating the Interstate Highway System. The project would cost $129 billion and take over fifty years to complete.
July 17, 1956
Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra star in High Society, the last film Kelly would make before retiring from acting and marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco.
July 30, 1956
'In God We Trust' became the national motto and was printed on American paper currency; it had been minted solely on U.S. coins since the Civil War.
October 5, 1956
Charlton Heston shot to stardom when he portrayed biblical figure Moses in Cecile B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments.
December 1, 1956
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Dallas, TX
Bettie Graham invented and sold paint to use over typewriter mistakes and penned it as Mistake-Out; the name would later be changed to Liquid Paper.
