The Year 1955
MAJOR EVENTS:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads the first major event of the U.S. civil rights movement, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama

President Eisenhower suffers heart attack, is hospitalized for three weeks

World War II Allies sign treaty restoring Austria's independence

Interstate Commerce Commission orders all U.S. interstate trains and buses to end segregation practices

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

The AFL and CIO labor unions merge

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

UHF television developed

Artificial diamonds created for the first time

Albert Einstein dies

SPORTS:

World Series: Brooklyn over New York Yankees, 4-3

"Sugar" Ray Robinson wins world boxing championship

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

Movies: Marty, The Seven Year Itch, The Rose Tattoo, Smiles of a Summer Night

Songs: Rock Around the Clock, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Davy Crockett, Love is a Many Splendored Thing

TV Shows: Truth or Consequences, Lawrence Welk Show, The Honeymooners, Gunsmoke, Name that Tune, $64,000 Question, Lassie, You'll Never Get Rich

Books: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Sloan Wilson; Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Witness for the Prosecution, Agatha Christie

EVERYDAY LIFE:

Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California

Rudolph Flesch publishes Why Johnny Can't Read, a stinging criticism of U.S. education

FUN FACTS:

Pink clothes for men become a fashion rage