1957 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

Quick Facts from 1957:

• World Changing Event: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first space satellite, starting the Space Race.
• The Top Song was All Shook Up by Elvis Presley
• Influential Songs include: The Banana Boat Song (Day-o) by Harry Belafonte and Wake Up Little Suzie by The Everly Brothers
• The Movies to Watch include An Affair to Remember, Jailhouse Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, 12 Angry Men, A Face in the Crowd, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Pal Joey, The Spirit of St. Louis, Old Yeller, and The Bridge on the River Kwai
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Rock Hudson
• Notable books include: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
• Price of 45 RPM single record in 1957: 79 cents
  Burger King Whopper: 37 cents
• US Life Expectancy: Males: 66.4 years, Females: 72.7 years
• Wham-O Company produced the 1st Frisbee, called the “Pluto Platter” until 1958.
• The Three-Point Seatbelt was invented by Volvo’s Nils Bohlin. Volvo let other car companies use the patent at no charge.
• The Funny TV Lady: Lucille Ball
  The Funny Late Show Host: Steve Allen
• The Baseball Hit(s): Richie Ashburn hit Alice Roth with a foul ball, breaking her nose, then hit her again her while she was on the stretcher.

The Scandals:
On March 25, 1957, US Customs agents seized more than 500 copies of the Allen Ginsberg book Howl and Other Poems on charges that it was obscene. It was later decided in the US court that the material was not obscene.

James Vicary announced that he invented subliminal advertising at a Fort Lee, New Jersey movie theater. He flashed the words: “Hungry? Eat Popcorn” and “Thirsty? Drink Coke” very fast between film frames. Food and beverage sales increased significantly, he claimed. In 1962, he said he made the whole thing up.

Pop Culture News:
When US President Harry S. Truman visited Disneyland in 1957, he refused to come aboard the popular Dumbo attraction. Truman, a Democrat, didn’t want to be seen riding in the symbol of the Republican

Comedy film Airplane (1980) is a parody of Zero Hour (1957)

The price of Coca Cola was 5 cents (a nickel) from 1886 to m1959. Coca-Cola reached out to the US Treasury Department, asking them to mint a 7.5 cent coin in 1953, to minimize a needed price increase for soda vending machines.

On April 10, 12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Martin Balsam as Juror 1, John Fiedler as Juror 2, Lee J. Cobb as Juror 3, E. G. Marshall as Juror 4, Jack Klugman as Juror 5, Edward Binns as Juror 6, Jack Warden as Juror 7, Henry Fonda as Davis, Juror 8, Joseph Sweeney as McCardle, Juror 9, Ed Begley as Juror 10, George Voskovec as Juror 11 and Robert Webber as Juror 12, was released.

Philadelphia’s American Bandstand, with Dick Clark, became a national television show.

Elvis asked his audience at a Seattle concert to please rise for the national anthem. He picked up his guitar and sang Hound Dog. A 15-year old Jimmy Hendrix was there, a part of the enthusiastic audience.

Elvis Presley bought Graceland on 3734 Bellevue Boulevard, in Memphis, Tennessee for $100,000.

In 1957, 1 out of 7 US workers’ income was earned in textile or apparel industries.

On Saturday, April 13, 1957, there was no mail delivery due to a budget crunch at the US Post Office. Additional funds insured Saturday mail continued by the following week.

Stan Laurel (of the legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy) refused to ever perform publicly again after the death of his friend and partner Oliver Hardy in 1957.

Fortran, an early computer language, was created.

In 1948, Swiss engineer George de Mestral took his dog on a hike. When he got home, he noticed there were many burrs on the dog. He examined one under the microscope. He noticed that the burrs had small hooks that enabled them to cling to the soft fur. De Mestral got the US patent (#3,009,235) for Velcro in 1955, an upgrade from his earlier 1955 patent (#2,717,437)

Laika, a Russian dog, was the first living creature to be sent into space, in Sputnik 2. Sadly, she did not make it back alive.

January 16 – January 1- Three B-52 Bombers set a record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours and  19 minutes.

The Mayflower II from Plymouth, England, sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The longest ever speech delivered in the United Nations was eight hours long. It was delivered by Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon, from India, on January 23, 1957.

The US Supreme Court decided, in a 6-3 vote, that Major League Baseball is the only antitrust exempt professional US sport.

Mysteries:
The Boy in the Box is a still-unsolved murder of a ~5-year-old boy, whose naked and battered body was found in a cardboard box in a wooded area of Philadelphia in 1957.

William Laing, Michael Crowley, and Ray Baker described a ‘Timeslip‘ journey into the medieval version of the Suffolk village of Kersey.

An explosion occurred at a plutonium plant in the USSR, resulting in the third-worst nuclear accident in history. The government kept it secret for 19 years. An estimated 6,000-8,000 people died in the event.

Oops:
Killer ‘Africanized’ bees are a hybrid species (with European Bees) that exist because they accidentally escaped quarantine in 1957.

During a 1957 Phillies game, Richie Ashburn hit a fan, Alice Roth, with a foul ball, breaking her nose. When play resumed he hit her again with another foul ball as she was being taken out on a stretcher. They later became friends.

The United States Air Force accidentally dropped a 10 Megaton hydrogen bomb in uninhabited land owned by the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. It did not go off, but a cow was reputedly killed.

Civil Rights:
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students who were escorted by 101st Airborne Division soldiers into Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after initially being blocked by the Arkansas National Guard and racial segregationists.

A 24 hour and 18-minute speech by Sen. Storm Thurmond with the intention of stalling the passing of the Civil Rights act of 1957, was the longest Filibuster in US history. He read the Declaration of Independence, talked about Jury Trials, and answered questions from other Senators. He successfully spoke from 8:54 pm to 9:12 pm the next day, but the bill was passed anyway.

The Habits:
Everybody was flying those discs invented by Frederick Morrison, called ‘Pluto Platters,’ later renamed the ‘Frisbee.’
‘Frisbee’ was actually a pie company in Connecticut. The locals used to toss the empty pie plates, hence the name.
Wham-O bought the rights to the product from Frederick.

The cool kids were watching Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

More Firsts:
Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes accidentally invented bubble wrap while trying to create plastic wallpaper.

Standard & Poor’s S&P 500 opened on March 4, 1957, replacing the S&P 90.

The phrase “In God We Trust” first appeared on US coins in 1864, but did not appear on U.S. paper currency until 1957.

1957 Billboard Number One Songs:
December 29, 1956 – February 8, 1957:
Singing The Blues – Guy Mitchell

February 9 – February 15:
Don’t Forbid Me – Pat Boone

February 16 – March 29:
Young Love – Tab Hunter

March 30 – April 19:
Butterfly – Andy Williams

April 20 – June 2:
All Shook Up – Elvis Presley

June 3 – July 14:
Love Letters In The Sand – Pat Boone

July 15 – September 1:
Teddy Bear – Elvis Presley

September 2 – October 6:
Tammy – Debbie Reynolds

October 7 – October 20:
Honeycomb – Jimmie Rodgers

October 21 – November 3:
Wake Up Little Susie – The Everly Brothers

November 4 – December 8:
Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley

December 9 – December 29:
You Send Me – Sam Cooke

December 30, 1957 – January 3, 1958:
April Love – Pat Boone