1955

Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 - 1955 - 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960

• January 2 - Panama president Jose Antonio Remon[?] is assassinated.
• January 19 - The Scrabble board game debuts.
• February 13 - Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls.
• February 23 - First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
• March 2 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates the throne in favor of his father, King Norodom Suramarit[?]
• March 25 - United States Customs seizes Allen Ginsberg's Howl as obscene
• April 5 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing heath.
• May 9 - Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
• May 14 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries including the Soviet Union sign a mutual-defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
• December 31 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make sales of over one billion dollars in a year.

• Dick Bruna draws Miffy for the first time.
• Disneyland opens.
• Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of Britain for the second time.
• Mattachine Society, one of the first gay rights organizations, is founded in the City of New York.
• Maurice Wilkes publishes a description of microprogramming in IEEE Spectrum.

Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1955 in film
  • Marty
  • Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
• 1955 in literature
• 1955 in music
• 1955 in sports
• 1955 in television
  • April 1 - The DuMont Television network drastically cuts back its programming
  • September 28 - The First World Series game broadcast in color
  • The Honeymooners premieres, starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney and Audrey Meadows[?]
  • Lawrence Welk Show debuts (1955-1982)
  • The Mickey Mouse Club[?] debuts, featuring "Mouseketeer" Annette Funicello[?]. (1955-1959)

Births:

• January 6 - Rowan Atkinson, comedian, actor
• January 12 - Kirstie Alley[?], actress
• January 12 - Rockne O'Bannon, writer, producer
• January 13 - Jay McInerney[?], writer
• January 17 - Steve Earle, musician
• January 18 - Kevin Costner, actor
• January 19 - Simon Rattle, conductor
• January 26 - Eddie Van Halen, musician
• February 8 - John Grisham, novelist
• February 10 - Greg Norman, golfer
• February 12 - Arsenio Hall[?], actor, talk show host
• February 19 - Jeff Daniels[?], actor
• February 23 - Howard Jones, musician
• February 24 - Alain Prost, Formula One driver
• February 24 - Steve Jobs, computer pioneer
• March 5 - Penn Jillette[?], magician, comedian
• March 15 - Dee Snider[?], singer
• March 16 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxing world champion
• March 17 - Gary Sinise[?], actor
• March 19 - Bruce Willis, actor
• March 28 - Reba McEntire, country music singer, actress
• March 29 - Earl Campbell[?], American football star
• April 1 - Ronnie Burk, surrealist and AIDS activist
• April 16 - Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg[?]
• April 23 - Tony Miles, chess player
• May 10 - Mark David Chapman[?], assassin
• May 16 - Debra Winger, actress
• May 16 - Olga Korbut, gymnast
• May 17 - Bill Paxton[?], actor
• May 18 - Chow Yun-Fat, actor
• May 20 - Zbigniew Preisner, film composer
• May 26 - Doris Dörrie[?], actor and screenplay writer
• June 27 - Isabelle Adjani, actress
• August 4 - Billy Bob Thornton, actor
• September 10 - Pat Mastelotto, musician
• October 7 - Yo-Yo Ma, cellist
• October 17- Mae Jemison, astronaut
• November 4 - Matti Vanhanen, prime minister of Finland
• November 23 - Steven Brust, fantasy author
• Tor Norretranders, science author

Deaths:

• March 11 - Sir Alexander Fleming, British discoverer of penicillin.
• March 12 - Charlie Parker, jazz saxophonist
• April 7 - Theda Bara, silent film actress
• April 18 - Albert Einstein, scientist.
• May 10 - Tommy Burns, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
• August 5 - Carmen Miranda, singer, actress
• October 1 - Charles Christie, pioneer film studio owner in Hollywood
• November 4 - Cy Young, American baseball player
• November 5 - Maurice Utrillo, a "Montmartre" artist
• November 27 - Arthur Honegger, composer

Nobel Prizes:

• Physics - Willis Eugene Lamb[?], - Polykarp Kusch[?]
• Chemistry - Vincent du Vigneaud[?]
• Medicine- Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell
• Literature - Halldór Kiljan Laxness
• Peace - not awarded