Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 40

Birth of the US Interstate Highway System

In June 1956, Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings.

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Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainer of Monaco

In April 1956 popular American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Kelly retired fully retired from acting at age 26 and subsequently had three children as the Princess of Monaco.

Selected Filmography

Source: Wikipedia

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Christmas in the 1950s

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War for Algerian Independence

The Algerian War was fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962 with Algeria ultimately winning independence.

The war was characterized by guerrilla warfare and the use of torture. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities — mainly in Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.

The Battle of Algiers was a 1966 film based on events during the Algerian War concentrating mainly on the years 1954-1957 when guerrilla fighters of the FLN fought French paratroopers who were attempting to regain territory in the Casbah. Although critically acclaimed, the film was not screened for five years in France.

Source: Wikipedia

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First Commercial Videotape Recorder

A video tape recorder (VTR) is designed to record and play back video and audio material from magnetic tape. 

In 1956, Ampex Corporation introduced the first practical videotape recorder for television stations to produce and time-shift broadcasts, replacing impractical “kinescope” movie film previously used to record TV.

Worldwide, the Ampex “VTR” analog-video standard was the predominant recorder used for broadcasting and video production for twenty years.

Source: Wikipedia

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US Hydrogen Bomb Dropped Over Bikini Atoll

In May 1956 the United States conducted the first airborne test of an improved hydrogen bomb.

Dropped from a B-52 bomber over the island of Namu in the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the successful test indicated that hydrogen bombs were viable airborne weapons and that the arms race had taken another giant leap forward.

The US began testing nuclear weapons at Bikini Atoll in 1946.  Early bombs were large, unwieldy and exploded from the ground.

The hydrogen bomb dropped over Bikini Atoll was far more powerful than those previously tested and was estimated to be equivalent to ~ 15 megatons of TNT. The explosive fireball measured was ~4 miles in diameter and its light brighter than 500 suns.

Source: History.com

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Nat King Cole Attacked on Birmingham Alabama Stage

In April 1956, African American singer and pianist Nat King Cole was knocked down by a group of white men while he was performing before an all-white audience in Birmingham, Alabama. Before the attack, a drunk man near the front row jeered “Negro, go home.”

A singer, jazz pianist, and actor, Nat King Cole had more than 100 hit songs on pop charts. He also acted in films, on television and Broadway and was the first African-American man to host an American television series.

Nat King Cole was also the father of singer-songwriter Natalie Cole.

Source: Wikipedia

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Pakistan and Tunisia Granted Independence

In 1947 British India was divided into the independent sovereign states of India and Pakistan. From 1947 to 1956 Pakistan was a monarchy within the United Kingdom and the other Dominions in the British Commonwealth of Nations.

With the adoption of a republican constitution in 1956, Pakistan abolished the monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Source: Wikipedia

Tunisia achieved independence from France in March 1956 with Habib Bourguiba as Prime Minister.

A year later, Tunisia was declared a republic, with Bourguiba as the first President.

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My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady was a musical based on George Bernard Shaw‘s 1913 play Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.

In the play Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl takes speech lessons from a phonetics professor named Henry Higgins in order to pass as a lady.

The original Broadway and London shows starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews.

The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a major critical and popular success. It set a record for the longest run of any musical on Broadway up to that time.

Source: Wikipedia

In 1964 a popular film version starred Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.

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Syngman Rhee Re-elected South Korean President

This newsreel seems to reflect American support for the virtual dictatorship of this anti-communist strong man.

Syngman Rhee
Wikipedia

In May 1956 81-year-old Syngman Rhee won 70% of the popular South Korean vote with a voter turnout of 94%.

With re-election, Rhee continued to hold a virtual monopoly on political power in South Korea.

One opposition candidate Shin Ik-hee died before the election.

[image error]Cho Bong-am Wikipedia

The other candidate Cho Bong-am, who campaigned on a platform of peaceful reunification of Korea in opposition to Rhee’s policy of “March North and unify Korea,” received 30% of the presidential election vote.

In 1959 Cho was accused of violating the National Security Law and executed.

Source: Wikipedia

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