Year retrospective · 1950s

1958

1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1958th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 958th year of the 2nd millennium, the 58th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1950s decade.

Recorded events

top entries

Notable births

Notable deaths

Decade

1950s

Defining moment · 1958

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.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian SFSR.

See april 14 in detail

Timeline

Defining events of 1958

1958 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.

Country in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian SFSR.
1958 United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.

1958 mid-air collision in Nevada

United Air Lines Flight 736 was a scheduled American transcontinental passenger service flown daily by United Airlines between Los Angeles and New York City. On April 21, 1958, the airliner assigned to the flight, a Douglas DC-7 with 47 on board, was flying over Clark County, Nevada in clear weather when it was involved in a daytime mid-air collision with a United States Air Force fighter jet crewed by two pilots. Both aircraft fell out of control from 21,000 feet (6,400 m) and crashed into unpopulated desert terrain southwest of Las Vegas, leaving no survivors.
1958 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.

Rail system in the United States

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie System. Its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation (CSX).
1958 The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.

British organisation advocating unilateral nuclear disarmament

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It opposes military action that may result in the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, and the building of nuclear power stations in the UK.
1958 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.

Seamount in the Seymour Narrows, British Columbia, Canada; blown up in 1958

Ripple Rock is an underwater mountain located in the Seymour Narrows of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia, Canada. It had two peaks that produced large, dangerous eddies from the strong tidal currents that flowed around them at low tide. Ships transiting the strait preferred to wait until slack tide in order to safely bypass the rock.
1958 Capital Airlines Flight 67 crashes in Tittabawassee Township, Michigan, near Freeland Tri-City Airport, killing 47.

1958 plane crash in Michigan, United States

S. passenger flight operated by Capital Airlines which crashed on final approach to Freeland, Michigan, during a severe snowstorm on April 6, 1958, killing all 47 people on board. The flight was en route from Flint-Bishop Airport to the Freeland-Tri City Airport when it crashed.
1958 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.
1958 Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
1958 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.
1958 Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.