What happened in 1957

38 events　World 5, Japan 1, North America 10, Europe 7, USSR / Russia 4, Asia 4, Middle East 1, Africa 5, Oceania 1

Highlights of 1957

Feb 10Middle EastThe Confederation of African Football is founded, at a meeting in Khartoum.
Mar 25EuropeThe Treaty of Rome (Patto di Roma) establishes the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Apr 5AsiaThe Communist Party of India wins the elections in Kerala, making E. M. S. Namboodiripad its first chief minister.
AprNorth AmericaIBM sells the first compiler for the Fortran scientific programming language.
OctUSSR / RussiaSputnik 1On October 4, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite. A 58 cm sphere orbited the Earth and sent out radio signals. The United States, beaten to it, was deeply shaken (the Sputnik crisis).
WorldThree new neo-grotesque sans-serif typefaces are released: Folio (designed by Konrad Bauer and Walter Baum), Neue Haas Grotesk (designed by Max Miedinger) and Univers (designed by Adrian Frutiger); all will be influential in the International Typographic Style of graphic design.

Apr 15The Distant Early Warning Line is handed over by contractors to the U.S. and Canadian military.
Apr 30The solar eclipse of April 30, 1957, a non-central annular solar eclipse that does not have a northern path limit, takes place. This is the last of 57 umbral solar eclipses of Solar Saros 118.
Jul 11His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV becomes the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims at age 20. His grandfather Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan III appoints Prince Karim in his will.
Dec 6The first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite fails, when the Vanguard rocket blows up on the launch pad.
Three new neo-grotesque sans-serif typefaces are released: Folio (designed by Konrad Bauer and Walter Baum), Neue Haas Grotesk (designed by Max Miedinger) and Univers (designed by Adrian Frutiger); all will be influential in the International Typographic Style of graphic design.

Mar 27The 29th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in Hollywood. Around the World in 80 Days wins Best Picture.
Apr 15White Rock secedes from Surrey, British Columbia, following a referendum.
AprIBM sells the first compiler for the Fortran scientific programming language.
Jul 1The University of Waterloo is founded in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Jul 16United 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.
Sep 9The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is enacted, establishing the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Sep 26West Side Story, a new musical by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, opens on Broadway in New York City.
Oct 4The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow delta wing interceptor aircraft is unveiled.
Nov 1The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at this time, opens in the United States, to connect Michigan's two peninsulas.
Dec 20The Boeing 707 airliner flies for the first time.

Feb 16Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal opens at cinemas in Sweden.
Mar 1Sud Aviation forms, from a merger between SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest).
Mar 3Net als toen, sung by Corry Brokken (music by Guus Jansen, lyrics by Willy van Hemert), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 (held at Frankfurt), for the Netherlands.
Mar 25The Treaty of Rome (Patto di Roma) establishes the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Jul 29The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
Sep 21Olav V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father Haakon VII.
Oct 10Windscale fire: Fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor on the north-west coast of England releases radioactive material into the surrounding environment, including iodine-131.

Jul 28The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students, a high point of the Khrushchev Thaw, opens in Moscow.
Sep 29The Kyshtym disaster occurs at the Mayak nuclear reprocessing plant in Russia.
OctSputnik 1On October 4, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite. A 58 cm sphere orbited the Earth and sent out radio signals. The United States, beaten to it, was deeply shaken (the Sputnik crisis).
Nov 3Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2, with the first animal to orbit the Earth, a dog named Laika, on board. There is no technology available to return her to Earth.

Mar 171957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash: Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others are killed in a plane crash.
Apr 5The Communist Party of India wins the elections in Kerala, making E. M. S. Namboodiripad its first chief minister.
Aug 31The Federation of Malaya gains independence from the United Kingdom, subsequently celebrated as Malaysia's National Day. Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya. The country's new Constitution had come into force on August 27. The Alliance Party and its successor are the ruling coalition until 2018.
Nov 30Indonesian president Sukarno survives a grenade attack at the Cikini School in Jakarta, but several children are killed.

Feb 10The Confederation of African Football is founded, at a meeting in Khartoum.

Jan 11The African Convention is founded in Dakar.
Feb 18Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
Mar 6United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent nation of Ghana.
May 2"Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", written by Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven, becomes the South African national anthem, replacing "God Save the Queen", which is retained as a royal anthem.
Jul 25Tunisia becomes a republic, with Habib Bourguiba as its first president.

May 15Operation Grapple: At Malden Island in the Pacific, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb, which fails to detonate properly.