1956 — In 1956 Elvis Presley exploded onto the scene and achieved national fame with his song “Heartbreak Hotel.” For the next 16 months he remained in the Top Ten with songs such as “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Love Me Tender”. Other events included:

• Eisenhower and Nixon are re-elected.
• My Fair Lady starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison plays on Broadway.
• U.S. Army Map Service determines that at the Equator the Earth’s circumference is 24,902 miles.
• The first transatlantic phone cable begins operations: two cables, each 2,250 miles long, stretch from Newfoundland to Scotland.
• Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Stockholm off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two people, mostly passengers on the Italian ship, are dead or unaccounted for — over 1600 are rescued.