istoryworld
Events relating to europe
In his first book of Structures, for two pianos, Pierre Boulez provides a classic of serial music
Kwame Nkrumah, recently released from gaol, becomes prime minister of the British colony of the Gold Coast
A group of officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser depose Egypt's king, Farouk, and send him into exile
Ahmed Ben Bella forms the Front de Libération National (FLN) to fight for Algerian independence
British scholar Michael Ventris deciphers Linear B, the script of Mycenae, proving it to be an early form of Greek
Evelyn Waugh publishes Men at Arms, the first novel in the Sword of Honour trilogy based on his wartime experiences
An outbreak of terrorism in Kenya is orchestrated by a secret Kikuyu organization, the Mau Mau
Le Corbusier's completes his most massive modernist development, the Unité d'Habitation at Marseilles
Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot ('En attendant Godot') is first performed in French in Paris
British choreographer Kenneth MacMillan creates his first ballet, Somnambulism, to music by Stan Kenton
Joseph Stalin dies, four days after suffering a stroke
English author L.P. Hartley sets his novel The Go-Between in the summer of 1900
Jomo Kenyatta, charged with having organized the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, is sentenced to seven years in prison
James Bond, agent 007, has a licence to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale
Imre Nagy becomes prime minister of Hungary, but is driven out of office two years later by hard-line Communists because of his relative liberalism
English composer William Walton writes Orb and Sceptre for the coronation of Elizabeth II
Dmitry Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony has its first performance in Leningrad nine months after the death of Stalin
French composer Olivier Messiaen uses birdsong with piano and orchestra in his Waking of the Birds
Anglican vicar Chad Varah, using the crypt of a London church, sets up the first branch of what becomes the Samaritans
French actor Jacques Tati directs and stars in the zany comedy Mr Hulot's Holiday
Swedish economist Dag Hammarskjöld becomes secretary-general of the United Nations
The two Rhodesias and Nyasaland are merged in the self-governing Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The first Soviet hydrogen bomb is successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan
Improved methods of testing prove conclusively that Piltdown Man was constructed by Charles Dawson from a human skull and the jaw of an ape
Secret-police chief Lavrenti Beria is executed by the new Soviet regime
