What Was Really Going on in 1958?

1958 bought Americans recession with a vengeance and large increases in unemployment over 7.0% ( 5.2 million ) , inflation dipped below 2% in 1958 so those in work earning the average wages of $3,851 per year were quite well off , cars continued to get bigger and heavier with larger engines, but imports continued to grow now with the added Datsun and more Toyotas from Japan. Americas first satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral. This is also the year that the Microchip first developed which is the very early stages of PC's we all now use at work and at home. This was also the year of the Munich air disaster on 6th February in which 7 Manchester United Players died. 1958 was 50 years ago this year!

What Events Happened in 1958?

• NASA North American Space Agency is formed
  
• 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.
  
• Munich air disaster on February 6th 1958 - 21 dead, including 7 Manchester United Players
  
• Toyota and Datsun Cars go on sale in The US
  
• Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union
  
• Nelson Rockefella Elected Governor of New York <
  
• US Unemployment reaches 5.2 million
  
• US passenger jet flights start with a National Airlines Boeing 707
  
• President Eisenhower signs the Rivers and Harbors Flood Control Bill into law.
  
• The first Trans Atlantic passenger jetliner service begins with flights between London and
• New York on the new British Comet Jet
  
• Iraq becomes a Republic after Military Coup
  
• Packard Cars end production as the company closes August 19th
  
• Edsel Automobiles begin selling the Citation and Corsair, Pacer and Ranger cars ( closes down end of 1959 )
  
• Pope John XXIII is crowned 262nd pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church
  
• The Great Chinese Famine begins in 1958 and ending in 1961 causing the death of nearly 30 million through a combination of natural disasters and poor planning.
  
• Elvis Presley is inducted into the Army.
  
• General Charles de Gaulle becomes Prime Minister of France.
  
• Brazil wins the 1958 World Cup in Sweden