WORLD HISTORY · 1958 日本語
Events of 1958Showa 33 (Japan) · Year of the Dog
What happened in 1958?
In 1958, the Kanmon Tunnel between Honshu and Kyushu opened, and Chicken Ramen, the world's first instant ramen, went on sale. Abroad, the European Economic Community was established, and France's Fifth Republic began under a new constitution.
- European Economic Community and others launchedEurope
- U.S. launches its first satelliteNorth America
- Subaru 360 car unveiledAsia
- Kanmon Tunnel opensAsia
- Iraqi monarchy overthrown, republic establishedMiddle East
- Chicken Ramen goes on saleAsia
- Typhoon Kanogawa makes landfall in KanagawaAsia
- French Fifth Republic beginsEurope
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
1958 at a glance
| Japanese era | Showa 33 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Dog |
| Age of people born in 1958 | Turn 68 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1957 (Showa 32) ／ 1959 (Showa 34) |
| Events | 91 |
| AP World History | Unit 8 (Cold War and Decolonization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 8 |
Famous people born in 1958
Our birthday pages list 686 people born in 1958. Here are some of them.
- Michael JacksonBorn August 29 · turns 68 this year · American singer and dancer called the King of Pop, famous for the album Thrille…
- PrinceBorn June 7 · turns 68 this year · American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist behind the landmark albu…
- MadonnaBorn August 16 · turns 68 this year · American pop singer, songwriter, and actress whose hits like "Like a Virgin" an…
- Gary OldmanBorn March 21 · turns 68 this year · English actor known for his wide range, who won an Academy Award for playing Wi…
- Ellen DeGeneresBorn January 26 · turns 68 this year · American comedian and TV host known for the sitcom Ellen, The Ellen DeGeneres S…
- Sharon StoneBorn March 10 · turns 68 this year · American actress who rose to stardom with Basic Instinct and won a Golden Globe…
- Keith HaringBorn May 4 · turns 68 this year · American pop artist whose bold, cartoon-like figures moved from New York subway…
- Wade BoggsBorn June 15 · turns 68 this year · Hall of Fame third baseman and five-time batting champion who collected 3,010 h…
- Bill WattersonBorn July 5 · turns 68 this year · American cartoonist who created Calvin and Hobbes, the beloved comic strip abou…
- Kevin BaconBorn July 8 · turns 68 this year · American actor best known for Footloose, Apollo 13, and Mystic River, and for t…
- Mark CubanBorn July 31 · turns 68 this year · American tech entrepreneur who bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 and became a…
- Joan JettBorn September 22 · turns 68 this year · American rock singer and guitarist of the Runaways and the Blackhearts, famous…
Show 28 more
- Neil deGrasse TysonBorn October 5 · turns 68 this year · American astrophysicist and science communicator who directs the Hayden Planeta…
- Kōji TamakiBorn September 13 · turns 68 this year
- Javier AguirreBorn December 1 · turns 68 this year
- Tatsunori HaraBorn July 22 · turns 68 this year
- Annette BeningBorn May 29 · turns 68 this year
- Tim RobbinsBorn October 16 · turns 68 this year
- Dave SilkBorn January 1 · turns 68 this year
- Grandmaster FlashBorn January 1 · turns 68 this year
- Julian SandsBorn January 4 · turns 68 this year
- Matt FrewerBorn January 4 · turns 68 this year
- Jiří HrdinaBorn January 5 · turns 68 this year
- Ron KittleBorn January 5 · turns 68 this year
- Shlomo GlicksteinBorn January 6 · turns 68 this year
- Betsy DeVosBorn January 8 · turns 68 this year
- Rey MisterioBorn January 8 · turns 68 this year
- Mehmet Ali AğcaBorn January 9 · turns 68 this year
- Rob McClanahanBorn January 9 · turns 68 this year
- Vicki PetersonBorn January 11 · turns 68 this year
- Christiane AmanpourBorn January 12 · turns 68 this year
- Curt FraserBorn January 12 · turns 68 this year
- Francisco BuyoBorn January 13 · turns 68 this year
- Juan Pedro de MiguelBorn January 13 · turns 68 this year
- Boris TadićBorn January 15 · turns 68 this year
- Ken JudgeBorn January 15 · turns 68 this year
- Anatoli BoukreevBorn January 16 · turns 68 this year
- Andris ŠķēleBorn January 16 · turns 68 this year
- Lena EkBorn January 16 · turns 68 this year
- Tony KouzaridesBorn January 17 · turns 68 this year
Events of 1958 (timeline · 91)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.
The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
Willie O'Ree, the first Black Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez leaves Venezuela.
The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
Cold War: Space Race: The Explorer 1, the first successful American satellite, detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.
The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
Following a plebiscite in both countries the previous day, Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
Five-time Argentine Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by rebels involved in the Cuban Revolution, on the eve of the Cuban Grand Prix. He was released the following day after the race.
A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.
Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit.
Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada, is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
Capital Airlines Flight 67 crashes in Tittabawassee Township, Michigan, near Freeland Tri-City Airport, killing 47.
The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
May 1958 crisis: A group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.
During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, the US Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
Capital Airlines Flight 300 collides in mid-air with a United States Air Force Lockheed T-33 over Brunswick, Maryland, killing 12.
The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths are estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.
Aeronaves de México Flight 111 crashes on approach to Guadalajara International Airport, killing 45.
Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others.
Benjamin Britten's one-act opera Noye's Fludde premieres at the Aldeburgh Festival.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave.
A 7.8 Mw strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.
In the 14 July Revolution in Iraq, the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces led by Abd al-Karim Qasim, who becomes the nation's new leader.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, becomes the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.
Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, outlawing the Communist Party of Chile and banning 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed in Chile.
Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition as the first Bengali and the first Asian to do so, placing first among the 39 competitors.
Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
The world's first publicly marketed instant noodles, Chikin Ramen, are introduced by Taiwanese-Japanese businessman Momofuku Ando.
A USAF RC-130 is shot down by fighters over Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed.
Jack Kilby demonstrates the first working integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments.
The first two German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere.
A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.
Fernando Rios, a Mexican tour guide in New Orleans, dies of injuries sustained in an incident of gay bashing.
NASA launches Pioneer 1, its first space probe, although it fails to achieve a stable orbit.
Canada's Springhill mining disaster kills seventy-five miners, while ninety-nine others are rescued.
Belgian artist Peyo's comic characters, the Smurfs, make their debut in Spirou magazine.
Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris.
Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, is deposed by General Ayub Khan, who had been appointed the enforcer of martial law by Mirza 20 days earlier.
The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston.
A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
First successful flight of SM-65 Atlas; the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family.
Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
The Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago kills 92 children and three nuns.
The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)
Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community.
The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility.
"Greatest Game Ever Played": The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium to win the NFL Championship.
The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing three and sparking international tension.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1958 in the Japanese calendar?
1958 was Showa 33 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1958?
1958 is the Year of the Dog.
How old is someone born in 1958?
They turn 68 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1958?
In 1958, the Kanmon Tunnel between Honshu and Kyushu opened, and Chicken Ramen, the world's first instant ramen, went on sale. Abroad, the European Economic Community was established, and France's Fifth Republic began under a new constitution.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.