1957 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal Government">Federal government of the United States">Federal Government

• President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Vice President: Richard Nixon
• Chief Justice: Earl Warren
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn
• Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson
• Congress: 84th, 85th

  Governors

Lieutenant Governors

Events

January

• January 2 - The San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge to form the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.
• January 6 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third and final time. He is only shown from the waist up, even during the gospel segment, singing "Peace In The Valley". Ed Sullivan describes Elvis thus: "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you. You're thoroughly alright."
• January 20 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
• January 22 - The New York City "Mad Bomber", George Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut, and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
• January 23 - Ku Klux Klan members force truck driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into the Alabama River; he drowns as a result.
• January 31 - Pacoima aircraft accident: Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California, are among the 8 persons killed following a mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet, in the skies above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

  February

• February 4 - The first nuclear-powered submarine,, logs its 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
• February 17 - The Warrenton Nursing Home fire in Missouri kills 72 people.
• February 25 - The "Boy In The Box" is discovered along a sidewalk in Philadelphia. The murder victim is described as Caucasian in appearance and 4 to 6 years old; the case is never solved.

  March

• March 7 - The United States Congress approves the Eisenhower Doctrine.
• March 10 - Floodgates of The Dalles Dam are closed, inundating Celilo Falls and ancient Native American fisheries along the Columbia River in Oregon.
• March 13 - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery.
• March 22 - The 5.7 San Francisco earthquake shook the Bay Area in California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing $1 million in losses, one death and forty injuries.
• March 26 - 22-year-old Elvis Presley buys Graceland on 3734 Bellevue Boulevard for $100,000. He and his family move from the house on 1034 Audubon Drive.
• March 27 - The 29th Academy Awards ceremony is held; Around the World in 80 Days wins Best Picture.
• March 31 - Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, the team's only musical written especially for television, is telecast live and in color by CBS, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. The production is seen by millions, but this 1957 version is not telecast again for more than 40 years, when a kinescope of it is shown.

  April

• April 12 - Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl, printed in England, is seized by U.S. customs officials on the grounds of obscenity.

  May

• May 2 - Vincent Gigante fails to assassinate mafioso Frank Costello in Manhattan.
• May 3 - Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, to Los Angeles.
• May 16 – Walt Whitman Bridge opens between Philadelphia and New Jersey.

  June

• June 15 - Oklahoma celebrates its semi-centennial statehood. A brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere is buried in a time capsule.
• June 20 - 1957 Fargo Tornado starts at 7:30 pm.
• June 23 – Royal Ice Cream sit-in
• June 25 - The United Church of Christ is formed in Cleveland, Ohio by the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
• June 27 - Hurricane Audrey demolishes Cameron, Louisiana, killing 400 people.

  July

• July 9 - Elvis Presley's Loving You opens in movie theaters.
• July 16 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies an F8U supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds, setting a new transcontinental speed record.

  August

• August 5 - American Bandstand, a local dance show produced by WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, joins the ABC Television Network.
• August 21 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing.
• August 28 - United States Senator Strom Thurmond sets the record for the longest filibuster with his 24-hour, 18-minute speech railing against a civil rights bill.

  September

• September 4
• *American Civil Rights Movement - Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas calls out the National Guard of the United States to prevent the "Little Rock Nine" African American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School.
• *The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel on what the company proclaims as "E Day".
• September 5 - Viking Press publishes On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
• September 9
• * Civil Rights Act of 1957 enacted, setting up the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
• * Catholic Memorial High School opens its doors for the first time in Boston, Massachusetts.
• September 24 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into Little Rock Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
• September 26 - West Side Story, a new musical by Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim opens at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

  October

• October 9 - Neil H. McElroy is sworn in as United States Secretary of Defense.
• October 10
• * U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a restaurant in Dover, Delaware.
• * Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is published.
• * The Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3, to win their 2nd World Series Title.
• October 11 - The orbit of the last stage of the R-7 Semyorka rocket is first successfully calculated on an IBM 704 computer during Operation Moonwatch, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• October 21 - The U.S. military sustains its first combat fatality in Vietnam, Army Capt. Hank Cramer of the 1st Special Forces Group.
• October 25 - Mafia boss Albert Anastasia is assassinated in a barber shop, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City.
• October 31 - Toyota begins exporting vehicles to the U.S., beginning with the Toyota Crown and the Toyota Land Cruiser

  November

• November 1 - The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's two peninsulas.
• November 6 - Jailhouse Rock opens nationally and Elvis Presley continues to gain more notoriety.
• November 7 - Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.
• November 14 - Apalachin Meeting: American Mafia leaders meet in Apalachin, New York, at the house of Joseph Barbara; the meeting is broken up by a curious patrolman.
• November 16
• * Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wisconsin.
• * Oklahoma celebrates its 50th anniversary of statehood.
• * Notre Dame beats the Oklahoma Sooners 7–0 to end the Sooners record 47 straight college football winning streak.
• November 25 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffers a stroke.

  December

• December 2 - Shippingport Atomic Power Station goes onstream; commercial operation begins on May 26, 1958.
• December 6 - Vanguard TV3, the first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite, fails with the rocket blowing up on the launch pad.
• December 19 - Meredith Willson's classic musical The Music Man, starring Robert Preston, debuts on Broadway.
• December 20 - The Boeing 707 airliner flies for the first time.
• December 22 - The CBS afternoon anthology series The Seven Lively Arts presents Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker on U.S. television for the first time.

  Undated

• Operation Dropshot, an all-out U.S. war with the Soviet Union, is expected to be triggered by the Soviet takeover of Western Europe, the Near East and parts of Eastern Asia, as it was anticipated in 1949.

  Ongoing

• Cold War

  Births

January

• January 1
• * Mark Hurd, American businessman
• * Karen Pence, American educator, and teacher, 48th Second Lady of the United States
• January 4 – Patty Loveless, American country music singer
• January 6 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer
• January 7
• * Nicholson Baker, American novelist
• * Katie Couric, American television host
• * Steve Janaszak, American professional ice hockey player
• January 8
• * Dwight Clark, American football player
• * David Lang, American composer
• January 12 – John Lasseter, American director, writer and animator
• January 13
• * Claudia Emerson, American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner in 2006
• * Lorrie Moore, American writer
• January 15
• * Turk Schonert, American football player
• * Mario Van Peebles, African-American actor and director
• January 17 – Steve Harvey, African-American comedian, television host, radio personality, actor and author
• January 21 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
• January 26 – Road Warrior Hawk, American professional wrestler
• January 27 – Frank Miller, American comic book writer
• January 30 – Payne Stewart, American golfer

  February

• February 6
• * Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
• * Robert Townsend, African-American actor, comedian, director, and writer
• February 8 – Cindy Wilson, American rock singer
• February 15 – Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, American criminal
• February 16 – LeVar Burton, African-American actor
• February 18 – Vanna White, American game show presenter
• February 27 – Ralph Cox, American professional ice hockey player
• February 28 – John Turturro, American actor, writer and director

  March

• March 4
• * Jim Dwyer, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
• * Rick Mast, American NASCAR driver
• * Mykelti Williamson, African-American actor
• March 6 – Eddie Deezen, American voice actor, comedian
• March 12
• * Val Demings, African-American politician
• * Marlon Jackson, African-American singer
• March 13 – David Peaston, American singer
• March 15 – Park Overall, American film and television actress
• March 20
• * Vanessa Bell Calloway, African-American actress
• * John Grogan, American journalist
• * Spike Lee, African-American film director and actor
• * Theresa Russell, American actress
• March 23
• * Teresa Ganzel, American comedian and actress
• * Amanda Plummer, American actress
• March 24 – Jack Edwards, American play-by-play announcer
• March 26 – Leeza Gibbons, American television personality
• March 28 – Paul Eiding, American actor and voice actor
• March 29 – Christopher Lambert, American actor
• March 30 – Paul Reiser, American comedian and actor
• March 31 – Marc McClure, American actor

  April

• April 1 – Denise Nickerson, American actress
• April 11 – Michael Card, American Christian musician
• April 12
• * Vince Gill, American singer and songwriter
• * Adam Parfrey, American journalist and editor
• * Suzzanne Douglas, African-American actress
• April 16 – Essex Hemphill, African American poet and gay activist
• April 17 – Afrika Bambaataa, American DJ and producer
• April 18 – Genie, American feral child
• April 21 – Jesse Orosco, American baseball player
• April 23 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian
• April 29 – Timothy Treadwell, American environmentalist and filmmaker

  May

• May 2 – Michael Coyle, American composer
• May 3 – William Clay Ford Jr., American automobile executive
• May 4 – Iona Morris, American actress
• May 11 – Lynn J. Rothschild, American biologist and astrobiologist
• May 16
• * Joan Benoit, American Olympic gold medal-winning marathon runner
• * Bob Suter, American professional ice hockey player
• May 20 – Stewart Nozette, American astronomer
• May 21 – Judge Reinhold, American actor
• May 24
• * John Harrington, American professional ice hockey player
• * John G. Rowland, American politician, author, and convicted felon
• May 28 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player
• May 29
• * Bobby Hamilton, American stock car racing driver
• * Jeb Hensarling, American politician
• * Ted Levine, American actor
• May 31 – Jim Craig, American professional ice hockey player

  June

• June 6 – Jessica Diamond, American artist
• June 8 – Scott Adams, American cartoonist
• June 12 – Timothy Busfield, American actor
• June 21 – Michael Bowen, American actor
• June 23 – Frances McDormand, American actress

  July

• July 3
• * Shan Goshorn, American Cherokee artist
• * Ken Ober, American actor and game show host
• July 9 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
• July 10 – Cindy Sheehan, American anti-war activist
• July 12
• * Rick Husband, American astronaut
• * Buddy Foster, American actor
• July 13 – Cameron Crowe, American writer and film director
• July 16 – Faye Grant, American actress
• July 21 – Jon Lovitz, American actor and comedian
• July 24 – Jack O'Callahan, American professional ice hockey player
• July 26 – Nana Visitor, American actress
• July 27 – Matt Osborne, American professional wrestler
• July 31 – Paul Provenza, American comedian

  August

• August 1 – Taylor Negron, American actor
• August 2
• * Mojo Nixon, American singer, lyricist and actor
• * Butch Vig, American record producer and drummer
• August 5 – Clayton Rohner, American actor
• August 6 – Jim McGreevey, 52nd Governor of New Jersey
• August 9 – Melanie Griffith, American actress
• August 11 – Richie Ramone, American rock drummer
• August 14 – Tony Moran, American actor and producer
• August 16
• * Laura Innes, American actress and director
• * Phil Murphy, American politician
• August 18 – Denis Leary, American comedian and actor
• August 22 – Holly Dunn, American country music singer and songwriter
• August 28
• * Rick Rossovich, American actor
• * Daniel Stern, American actor
• August 30 – Manu Tuiasosopo, American football player
• August 31 – Gina Schock, American drummer

  September

• September 8 – Heather Thomas, American actress and activist
• September 11 – Jeh Johnson, American politician, 4th Secretary of Homeland Security
• September 13 – Vinny Appice, American drummer
• September 15 – Brad Bird, American animator and director
• September 18 – Mark Wells, American professional ice hockey player
• September 21 – Ethan Coen, American film director, producer, screenwriter and editor
• September 22 – Mark Johnson, American professional ice hockey player and coach
• September 25 – Michael Madsen, American actor
• September 27 – Peter Sellars, theatre director
• September 29 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian
• September 30 – Fran Drescher, American actress

  October

• October 4 – Bill Fagerbakke, American voice actor
• October 5 – Bernie Mac, African-American comedian and actor
• October 7 – Michael W. Smith, American Christian musician
• October 14 – Kenny Neal, American guitarist
• October 15 – Stacy Peralta, American director and skateboarder
• October 16 – Jim Hodges, American installation artist
• October 23 – Martin Luther King III, African-American human rights advocate and community activist
• October 24 – John Kassir, American actor and comedian
• October 25 – Nancy Cartwright, American actress
• October 26 – Bob Golic, American football player
• October 29 – Dan Castellaneta, American actor
• October 30
• * Kevin Pollak, American actor
• * Richard Jeni, American comedian
• October 31
• * Brian Stokes Mitchell, American actor and singer
• * Robert Pollard, American musician
• * Shirley Phelps-Roper, American political and religious activist

  November

• November 1 – Peter Ostrum, American child actor and veterinarian
• November 5 – Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor
• November 6
• * Cam Clarke, American actor and singer
• * Lori Singer, American actress and musician
• November 7 – Christopher Knight, American actor
• November 10 – George Lowe, American voice actor and comedian
• November 13
• * Greg Abbott, American politician
• * Roger Ingram, American jazz musician, author, educator, trumpet designer
• November 14
• * Gregg Burge, American tap dancer and choreographer
• * Bill Farmer, American actor and comedian
• November 15 – Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist
• November 19 – Tom Virtue, American actor
• November 22 – Don Newman, American basketball player and coach
• November 23 – William Kaelin Jr., American cellular biologist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019
• November 24 – Denise Crosby, American actress
• November 26 – Kevin Kamenetz, American politician
• November 27 – Caroline Kennedy, American author and attorney

  December

• December 1 – Vesta Williams, American singer-songwriter
• December 4 – Eric S. Raymond, American open source software advocate
• December 6
• * Thomas Brinkman, American politician
• * Andrew Cuomo, American politician, 56th Governor of New York
• * Dana Sue Gray, American serial killer
• December 9 – Donny Osmond, American pop singer
• December 10 – Michael Clarke Duncan, African-American actor
• December 12 – Sheila E., American percussionist, singer, author, and actress
• December 13 – Steve Buscemi, American actor and comedian
• December 15 – Laura Molina, American artist, musician and actress
• December 19 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player
• December 20 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
• December 21
• * Tom Henke, American baseball player
• * Ray Romano, American actor and comedian
• December 27 – Greg Mortenson, American humanitarian and author
• December 29 – Bruce Beutler, American immunologist and geneticist
• December 30 – Matt Lauer, American newscaster

  Deaths

• January 10 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, novelist
• January 14 - Humphrey Bogart, film actor
• January 16 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian-born orchestral conductor
• February 2 - Marian Cruger Coffin, landscape architect
• February 10 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, author
• February 25 - Bugs Moran, gangster
• March 11 - Richard E. Byrd, explorer
• May 2 - Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator from 1947 to 1957
• May 10 - Annie Malone, African American millionaire businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist
• May 13 - Robert A. "Fuzzy" Theobald, admiral
• May 16
• * Jimmy Dorsey, big band leader
• * Eliot Ness, Prohibition agent
• July 8 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States
• August 7 - Oliver Hardy, comic film actor
• September 2 - Bobby Myers, race car driver
• October 13 - Erich Auerbach, German philologist, literary critic and comparative scholar
• October 25 - Albert Anastasia, Italian American gangster
• October 29 - Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-born film studio head
• November 29 - Erich Korngold, Austrian-born composer
• December 10 - Maurice McLoughlin, tennis player
• December 24 - Norma Talmadge, silent film actress