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A conflict between South Korea (supported by the U.S. and the United Nations) and communist North Korea (supported by China and the Soviet Union) that ultimately ended in a stalemate with the nations divided at the 38th parallel.
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The United States conducted its first nuclear test of a fusion device, or “hydrogen bomb,” at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. It destroyed the island of Elugelab and parts of nearby islands.
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The virus consisted of an injected dose of inactivated (dead) poliovirus. Human testing began in 1957 and it was released to the public in 1962.
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Albert Einstein passes from a ruptured aneurysm. His brain is taken from his corpse without permission by the family by Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the man conducting the autopsy.
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"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" was given by Khrushchev. The speech was sharply critical of the reign of his predecessor Joseph Stalin and denounced his use of a "personality cult."
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Elvis Presley releases the first album of his career with Sun recordings. It was named after himself.
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Sputnik 1 is launched into orbit by the Soviet Union as the first artificial satellite. This sparked the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a piece of the larger Cold War.
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Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of communist Cuba, a very near threat to the democratic United States.
