Baby Boomers - What Happened in 1958?

If you are a baby boomer born in 1958, 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 1958, 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
• Vice President Richard Nixon's goodwill tour of South America sparks open protests and rioting
• Large increases in unemployment - over 7% (5.2 million)
• The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that Little Rock, Arkansas schools must integrate
• Efforts at school desegregation in the South are met with impassioned resistance
• John Birch Society, a radical anti-Communist organization, is created in the U.S.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is founded
• European Economic Community (Common Market) becomes effective
• Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic
• Khrushchev becomes Premier of Soviet Union
• Gen. Charles de Gaulle becomes Prime Minister of France
• Sputnik1 falls to Earth from its orbit
• Sir Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole
• U.S. Marines intervene in Lebanon to bolster government

Business and Economy

• U.S. GDP (1998 dollars): $467.3 billion
• Federal spending: $82.41 billion
• Federal debt: $279.7 billion
• Consumer Price Index: 28.9
• Unemployment: 4.3%

Science and Technology

• The first United States earth satellite, Explorer I, goes into orbit
• First transatlantic jet passenger service started by BOAC with a New York to London route
• NASA initiates Project Mercury aimed at putting a man in space within two years
• The modem was invented
• The microchip was co-invented by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductors
• The internal pacemaker was invented by Wilson Greatbatch in 1958 (there is some dispute about the actual inventor)
• U.S. launches satellites that detect the Van Allen radiation belts around the earth, and determine that the earth is not perfectly round
• U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus passes under the ice cap at the North Pole
• Experimental nuclear power plant goes into operation

Sports

• Baltimore Colts win the NFL championship
• New York Yankees defeat Milwaukee Braves to win the World Series (4-3)
• St. Louis Hawks defeat Boston to win the NBA Championship (4-2)
• Arnold Palmer wins the U.S. Masters' golf tournament

Famous Baby Boomers Born in 1958

• Alec Baldwin
• Drew Carey
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Jamie Lee Curtis
• Kevin Bacon
• Madonna
• Michael Jackson
• Ronald P. Reagan
• Scott Hamilton
• Shaun Cassidy
• Tanya Tucker

Arts and Entertainment

• Books: Doctor Zhivago, Anatomy of a Murder, Lolita, Around the World with Auntie Mame, From the Terrace, Eloise at Christmastime, Ice Palace, The Winthrop Woman, The Enemy Camp, Victorine
  
• Movies: Vertigo, Gigi, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Defiant Ones, The Bridge on the River Kwai, South Pacific, King Creole
• Songs: Johnny B. Goode, Summertime Blues, Good Golly Miss Molly, For Your Precious Love, Sweet Little Sixteen, Yakety Yak, La Bamba, Since I Don't Have You, Rumble, Lonely Teardrops
• Popular Musicians: Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Jerry Butler & the Impressions, Coasters, Ritchie Valens, Skyliners, Link Wray, Jackie Wilson
• TV Shows: Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun - Will Travel, The Rifleman, The Danny Thomas Show, Candid Camera, The Ed Sullivan Show, Come Dancing, The Jack Benny Show, Panorama, Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• The Quiz Show Scandals rock the television industry and the nation
• Elvis Presley enters the U.S. Army
• Billboard debuts its Hot 100 chart
• New York's Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens

Everyday Life

• U.S. Population: 174,881,904
• Life expectancy: 69.6 years
• Average yearly income: $5,087
• Cost of a new home: $12,750
• Cost of a new car: $2,500
• Federal hourly minimum wage: $1.00
• Cost of a first-class stamp: $.04

Popular Culture

• 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship
• Hula Hoops become a national craze - over 100 million are made
• The Cha Cha becomes a dance craze
• Legos are introduced
• Barbie doll is introduced and becomes an instant success
• Toyota and Datsun cars go on sale in the U.S.
• Packard cars end production as the company closes
• The Ford Edsel makes its first appearance
• Chevrolet Impala is introduced
• VISA and American Express cards are introduced
• First Pizza Hut opens in Kansas City
• Sweet n' Low is introduced as an artificial Sweetener
• The Boeing 707 goes into production
• Friskees introduces the first dry cat food
• Modern consumer credit is born
• Stereo recordings become available
• American Express introduces a charge card meant to compete with the Diners Club card
• Bank of American introduces the BankAmericard that will become the Visa card
• Sweet n' Low is introduced as an artificial sweetener and uses saccharin instead of sugar
• Harry Winston, Inc. donates the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian
• Boris Pasternak refuses the Nobel Prize
• Bill and Mark Richards of Dana Point, CA, invent the first skateboard
• Rice-a-Roni is introduced
• Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, CO