The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ended, with Sudan becoming an independent nation after nearly 136 years of union with Egypt and 56 years of British occupation.
Carl Perkins' record "Blue Suede Shoes" was released in the United States and would rise to the top of the charts within weeks.[1]
Liberian-registered tankerSS Melody ran aground at Vlissingen in the Netherlands.[8]
In the United States, the 1956 Rose Bowl college football game was won by the Michigan State Spartans, who defeated the UCLA Bruins by 17–14, with Walt Kowalczyk being given the award for best player.[9]
A Piasecki YH-16A Turbo Transporter helicopter prototype, 50-1270, broke up and crashed near Swedesboro, New Jersey, near the Delaware River, United States, during a test flight. The cause of the crash was later determined to be the aft slip ring, which led to a failure of the rotor shaft. The two test pilots, Harold Peterson and George Callaghan, were killed, and the YH-16 was later cancelled.[11]
The Dutch coasterSS Hartel collided with French ship SS Penhir in the River Thames at Gravesend, Kent, England. All nine people on board were rescued.[12]
The British cargo ship SS Gem collided with Norwegian ship SS Kallgeir at Poortershaven in the Netherlands and was beached.[13]
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, Supreme General in Chief of Colombia, issued "Decree 133 of 1956", transforming the General Secretariat into the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic.[40]
Died:Erich Kleiber, 65, Austrian conductor and composer, died of a heart attack.
West German cargo ship MV Gertrud sank in the North Sea 150 nautical miles (280 km) east of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. All nine crew were rescued by the local trawlers Junella and York City.[42]
^"112 JAPANESE DIE IN PANIC AT SHRINE; 30,000 New Year's Faithful Stampede in Rite--Wall's Collapse Adds to Toll 112 JAPANESE DIE IN A SHRINE PANIC". The New York Times. 1 January 1956. Page 1, column 5. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^"124 Sjinto-pelgrims in gedrang verpletterd" [124 Shinto pilgrims crushed in crowd]. De Maasbode (in Dutch). 2 January 1956. Page 2, column 1. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via Delpher.
^Goodchild, Sophie. "Half a Century Since Heroin Banned". Society Today. ESRC. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
^Shields, James (2007). The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen. Routledge. ISBN 9781134861118 – via Google Books.
^"British Collier Sunk". The Times. No. 53417. London. 2 January 1956. col C, p. 8.
^"Lifeboat Driven Onto Ship Saves Crew". The Times. No. 53418. London. 3 January 1956. col D, p. 6.
^"Tanker Aground Off Dutch Coast". The Times. No. 53418. London. 3 January 1956. col B, p. 5.
^"Salem Maritime". Auke Visser. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^"NFL Draft Locations". footballgeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
^Castile, Misty (February 18, 2021). "Pioneering Christian musician Carman dies at 65". News. Fort Smith Times Record. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^"Konrad Adenauer addressing the first volunteers of the FRG army". CVCE.EU. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
^Harte, Michael; Ring, Rachel; Woodward, Heather (2006). The Day Wadhurst Changed Friday 20th January 1956. Wadhurst: Wadhurst History Society. pp. 19–21, 61. ISBN 978-0-9545802-2-3.
^"Snow And Ice Over Wide Areas". The Times. No. 53436. London. 24 January 1956. col D, p. 8.
^"The Santa Fe Train Wreck Introduced the Public to Live TV Coverage". Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
^"1956 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^"Telegrams in Brief". The Times. No. 53439. London. 27 January 1956. col G, p. 6.
^"1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
^"Reseña Histórica" [Historical Review]. Nuestra Entidad (in Spanish). Departamento Administrativo de la Presidencia de la República. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
^"Nine Saved After Ship Sinks". The Times. No. 53441. London. 30 January 1956. col E, p. 3.
^"Buenos Aires - 1000 km Circuit (1954, 1956, 1958 & 1960)". Motor Racing Circuits Database. 18 September 2005. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
^Australian Open official website Archived 2010-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
^D'Costa, Ian (May 12, 2015). "The Ghost Bomber of the Monongahela River". tacairnet.com. The Tactical Air Network. Retrieved September 12, 2015.