February 14 - The Iranian government bans rock & roll because they claim that the form of music is against the concepts of Islam and also a health hazard. Iranian doctors warned of the risk of injuries to the hips from the "extreme gyrations" of rock & roll dances.
March 12 - Billie Holiday is given a year's probation by a Philadelphia court following her arrest and guilty plea on narcotics possession charges in 1956.
... Chinese politician and leader
July 13 - Pablo Neruda, poet
August 28 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer
November 30 - Clyfford Still, painter
Deaths:
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