WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1956
Find out what all happened January to August 1956

Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation. (26. July 1956)

45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51. (25. July 1956)

After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series. (6. August 1956)

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas. (16. July 1956)

Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba. (5. April 1956)

Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco. (7. April 1956)

The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa. (23. June 1956)

The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization. (1. March 1956)

A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people. (20. June 1956)

Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee (1. March 1956)

Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbāna. (24. May 1956)

The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland. (24. May 1956)

In Poznań, workers from HCP factory went to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe. (28. June 1956)

American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (30. January 1956)

Elvis Presley makes his first US television appearance (28. January 1956)

SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas. (26. April 1956)

A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both planes. It is the worst-ever aviation disaster at that point in time. (30. June 1956)

First ascent of Lhotse 8,516 meters, by a Swiss team. (18. May 1956)

Fritz Moravec and two other Austrian mountaineers make the first ascent of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m). (7. July 1956)

The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy. (20. February 1956)