| 1957 Rome Treaty, Common Market Established On March 25, the Rome Treaty was signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The treaty established the European Economic Community, otherwise known as the Common Market. |
| 1957 Sputnick Launched by Russians On October 4, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space. The satellite, with a diameter of 22 inches, marked the beginning of the Space Age. |
| 1957 Moa Says: " Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom...." The Chairman of China's Communist Party, Mao Tse-Tung, delivered a speech in which he stated: "Let a thousand flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend." To many observers, these statements seemed to indicate a relaxing of totalitarian rule. Criticism directed against the government soon developed. The government reacted, warning that the critics were "rightists." |
| 1957 Federal Troops Integrated Schools in Little Rock After local authorities refused to implement court-ordered desegregation, President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to do the job. He stated: "The Federal Constitution will be upheld by me, by every means at my command." |
| 1957 Military Dictatorship in Venezuela A nine year military dictatorship in Venezuela was ousted in 1957. Large scale rioting led to its fall. |
| 1957 Francois Duvalier Becomes Dictator in Haiti Francois Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. This began a 14-year dictatorship and reign of terror. |
| 1957 USSR and US Launch ICBMs In late 1957, both the United States and the USSR successfully launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. |
| 1958 Imry Nagy Executed in Hungary The Hungarian Communist regime executed Imry Nagy, the leader of the Hungarian revolution of 1956. |
| 1958 Quemoy and Matsu Quemoy and Matsu are two islands located off the Chinese coast. They were held by the Nationalist Chinese of Taiwan, and claimed by the Communist Chinese on the Mainland. The Communists began bombarding Quemoy and Matsu with long range guns, attempting to cut off supply lines to the islands. President Eisenhower announced that the United States considered defense of the islands essential to the defense of Taiwan. The US escorted a convoy of Nationalist ships aimed at resupplying Quemoy. The Communists briefly held their fire but later continued to fire intermittently at the islands. |
| 1958 Egypt and Syria Join United Arab Republic Nasser was the leading Arab proponent of Pan-Arab Nationalism. He proposed the merging of individual Arab states into one Arab entity. He successfully negotiated the merger of Egypt and Syria into the United Arab Republic. The merger lasted until 1961, when Syrian troops revolted, creating a Syrian Revolutionary Command that declared independence from Egypt. |
| 1958 US Troops Land in Lebanon President Eisenhower ordered 5,000 Marines to Lebanon to help maintain order after a revolt in Iraq resulted in the ouster of the pro-Western Lebanese government. This followed the imposition of a pro-Soviet regime in Iraq. |
| 1958 Explorer I Launched On January 31, the US put its first satellite, "Explorer I," into orbit around the earth. The launch came after the Soviets had successfully launched a satellite called "Sputnik" one year earlier. For a brief period, it seemed that the Soviets had a major lead in space. This was soon translated into what became known as "the missile gap." |
| 1958 Douglas Introduced DC- 8 On May 30, the first prototype DC-8 made its maiden flight. The plane, powered by 4 Pratt & Whitney Turbojets, flew for 2 hours and 7 minutes. The DC-8 entered commercial service on September 18, 1959, one year later than the 707 went into commercial service. Sales of the DC-8 lagged considerably behind the sales of the 707, due mainly to the fact that it was sold in one size (until the mid 1960's), while Boeing offered a number of variations of the 707. Douglas produced 556 DC-8 planes. |
| 1958 F-4 Phantom Unveiled By Mcdonell- Douglas The F-4 was first unveiled by McDonnell-Douglas in 1958. It soon became the backbone of the US Airforce, serving in twin roles, as both an interceptor as well as a ground support bomber. It served as the frontline American aircraft in the Vietnam War. The Phantom was also used by the Navy as the premier carrier-based fighter. The F-4 is also famous for the role it played as the major Israeli aircraft during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The US Airforce still uses the Phantom II today, mostly in its "Wild Weasel Configuration" (a missile suppressor). Israel has an extensive modernization program called "Phantom 2000," designed to extend the Phantom's life cycle into the 21st century. |
| 1958 Pan Am introduced 707 Service Across Atlantic Pan Am introduced 707 trans-Atlantic jet service on October 27, when its first 707, named "Clipper America", set off for Paris from Idlewild, New York. |
