In 1957, the Soviet Union shot its Sputnik satellite into orbit, launching a space race with the U.S. The Little Rock Nine integrated an Arkansas high school to fierce local opposition, forcing President Eisenhower to send in federal troops to escort them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such law since Reconstruction. In Liverpool, England, 16-year-old John Lennon and 15-year-old Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church fair. In the U.S., frisbees flew into popularity.
Jan
23
On January 23, 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs—now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees.
UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 01: England, Frisbee Trend In 1966 (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Feb
10
Mar
19
With a $1,000 cash deposit against a sale price of $102,500, Elvis Presley agrees to purchase the home called Graceland on March 19, 1957.
(Original Caption) 3/26/1957-Memphis, TN-A thoughtful Elvis Presley leans against a massive pillar on the front porch of his traditional southern-style home, "Graceland," at Whitehaven, near Memphis.
Bettmann Archive
Mar
25
May
12
On May 12, 1957, race car driver A.J. Foyt (1935- ) scores his first professional victory, in a U.S. Automobile Club (USAC) midget car race in Kansas City, Missouri.
This Day in History – May 12, 1957, legendary driver AJ Foyt won the midget stock car championship. This win set off his career, leading him to win 4 Indy-500 championships. To find out more about the great formula-1 driver, check out this clip.
May
28
Jul
06
On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson claims the women’s singles tennis title at Wimbledon and becomes the first African American to win a championship at London’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Althea Gibson who is favourite for the women's title at Wimbledon is pictured with the trophy after beating her compatriot Darlene Hard 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the final of the Kent All-comers Championship at Beckenham. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)
PA Images via Getty Images
Jul
12
Sep
04
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus enlists the National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. The armed Arkansas militia troops surrounded the school while an angry crowd of some 400 whites jeered, booed, and threatened to lynch the frightened African American teenagers, who fled shortly after arriving. Faubus took the action in violation of a federal order to integrate the school. The conflict set the stage for the first major test of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in educational facilities is unconstitutional.
Elizabeth Eckford ignores the hostile screams and stares of fellow students on her first day of school. She was one of the nine negro students whose integration into Little Rock’s Central High School was ordered by a Federal Court following legal action by NAACP. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Sep
19
On September 19, 1957, the United States detonates a 1.7-kiloton nuclear weapon in an underground tunnel at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a 1,375-square-mile research center located 65 miles north of Las Vegas. The test, known as Rainier, was the first fully contained underground detonation and produced no radioactive fallout. A modified W-25 warhead weighing 218 pounds and measuring 25.7 inches in diameter and 17.4 inches in length was used for the test. Rainier was part of a series of 29 nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons safety tests known as Operation Plumbbob that were conducted at the NTS between May 28, 1957, and October 7, 1957.
(Original Caption) Fizeau was a 11 kiloton tower shot fired September 14, 1957 at the Nevada Test Site. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
Sep
25
Under escort from the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, nine Black students enter all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 25, 1957. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration. After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the court order.
The "Little Rock Nine" form a study group after being prevented from entering Little Rock's racially segregated Central High School, 13th September 1957.
Bettmann Archive
Oct
04
The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “fellow traveler,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.
Sputnik I, the first manmade satellite to orbit the Earth, was launched by the Soviets from an undisclosed location on October 4, 1957. Weighing 184 pounds, it circled the earth every 90 minutes.
Nov
03
Dec
20
On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley receives his draft notice for the United States Army.
UNSPECIFIED - JULY 01: Elvis Presley during national military service duty 1958-1960 (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)
Getty Images
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