Baby Boomers - What Happened in 1957?
If you are a baby boomer born in 1957, you will find this information extremely interesting. Hope you enjoy learning more about the year you were born! If you have a friend or a family member born in 1957, send them a link to this page. They will appreciate it!
Major Events
- Dwight Eisenhower is president and Richard Nixon is vice president of the United States
- President Eisenhower announces "Eisenhower Doctrine," pledging defense of Middle Eastern nations against communism
- Martin Luther King, Jr heads nationwide resistance to racial segregation and discrimination in the U.S.
- Federal troops ordered to enforce integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas
- First civil rights bill since Reconstruction to protect blacks' voting rights is approved by Congress
- Authorities arrest dozens of Mafia bosses during a Mafia Bosses meeting at Appalachian, New York
- The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery
- The House for Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) convicts a number of writers and playwrites for Un-American Activities / Communist party membership
- The European Economic Community is established
- Russians launch Sputnik I, first earth orbiting satellite - the Space Age begins
- Sputnik II carries a dog into orbit, making that dog the first living being to enter space
- The USSR tests its first successful ICBM
- South Vietnam is attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas
- Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal
- Israel withdraws from Sinai Peninsula
- European Common Market created
- Asian Flu pandemic claims over 150,000 lives world wide
- Teamsters union expelled from the AFL-CIO for failing to deal with organized crime
Business and Economy
- U.S. GDP (1998 dollars): $461 billion
- Federal spending: $76.58 billion
- Federal debt: $272.3 billion
- Consumer Price Index: 28.1
- Unemployment: 4.1%
Science and Technology
- Temporary artificial heart invented by Willem Kolff
- First round-the-world nonstop jet plane flight
- The computer language Fortran is invented
- Portable radar devices used to enforce speed limits
- Ultrasound scanning pioneered in Scotland
- First nuclear reactor plant opens for production of electricity in Pennsylvania
- Britain detonates hydrogen bomb
- U.S. conducts first underground nuclear test
- 67 nations participate in International Geophysical Year of earth science research
- Growth-producing hormone discovered
- Interferon discovered
Sports
- Milwaukee Brewers defeat New York Yankees to win World Series (4-3)
- Boston defeats St. Louis Hawks for the NBA Championship (4-3)
- Detroit Lions win NFL championship
- New York Giants move to San Francisco
- Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles
Famous Baby Boomers Born in 1957
- Donny Osmond
- Gloria Estefan
- Katie Couric
- Matt Lauer
- Melanie Griffith
- Osama bin Laden
- Princess Caroline
- Sid Vicious
- Vanna White
Arts and Entertainment
- Books: By Love Possessed, Peyton Place, Compulsion, Rally Round the Flag, Boys!, Blue Camellia, Eloise in Paris, The Scapegoat, On the Beach, Below the Salt, Atlas Shrugged
- Movies: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Twelve Angry Men, Sayonara, Peyton Place, Witness for the Prosecution, The Ten Commandments, Around the World in Eighty Days, Jailhouse Rock, The Three Faces of Eve
- Songs: Jailhouse Rock, Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On, That'll Be The Day, Bye Bye Love, Great Balls Of Fire, School Day, Rock And Roll Music, Peggy Sue, Lucille, Rocking Pneumonia & the Boogie Woogie Flu
- Popular Musicians: Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Crickets, Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns
- TV Shows: Gunsmoke, The Danny Thomas Show, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun, Will Travel, I've Got a Secret, Perry Mason, Maverick, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
- "And God Created Woman," a film starring Bridgette Bardot, becomes a controversial sensation - many communities ban the film based on its supposed sexual content
- "West Side Story" debuts on Broadway and brings violence to the stage
- "The Music Man" opens in New York
- Leave It to Beaver premieres on CBS
- Humphrey Bogart dies
Everyday Life
- U.S. Population: 171,984,130
- Life expectancy: 69.5 years
- Average yearly income: $4,966
- Cost of a new home: $12,220
- Cost of a new car: $2,749
- Federal hourly minimum wage: $1.00
- Cost of a first-class stamp: $.03
Popular Culture
- The Frisbee is renamed and nationally marketed
- The hula-hoop was invented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin
- The word "Beatnik" takes hold to describe the emerging "Beat Generation" counterculture movement
- 1957 was the peak of the Baby Boomer years
- Elvis Presley purchases a mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, and calls it Graceland
- American Bandstand with Dick Clark as host makes its network debut on ABC
- Toyota starts selling cars in the U.S., the first is the Toyopet Crown
- Kentucky Fried Chicken first sold in buckets
- Tang was formulated by William A. Mitchell for General Foods Corporation in 1957
- Eveready produces AA size alkaline batteries
- Williams-Sonoma opens in San Francisco
- James Hoffa gains control of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- Frozen pizza becomes available
- Margarine sales take the lead over butter
- At age 13, Bobby Fischer becomes a chess champion
- 71 cities have populations of one million or more in 1957 - 40 years earlier such cities numbered only 16
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