The world in
What happened in 1958?
22 events across 8 world regions, each with its sources.
North America
- Peak Phase of the African American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)
Between 1954 and 1968, the African American civil rights movement peaked, using nonviolent means to challenge racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. Originating in the Reconstruction era and influenced by Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy, it involved mass protests and civil disobedience. This led to new federal protections, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami
On July 9, 1958, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, triggered a rockslide of about 30 million cubic meters into the narrow inlet, generating a megatsunami with a run-up of 524 meters—the highest ever recorded. This event revolutionized oceanography and seismology, forcing a re-evaluation of large-wave generation.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Signing of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty
On September 8, 1951, the United States and Japan signed the Security Treaty in San Francisco, alongside the Treaty of San Francisco that ended World War II in Asia. Imposed by the U.S. as a condition for ending the Occupation and restoring Japan's sovereignty, it established a long-lasting military alliance and allowed the U.S. to maintain forces in the Far East.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Completion of the Seagram Building
The Seagram Building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson among others, was completed in Midtown Manhattan, New York. A landmark of the International Style, it is recognized as a classic of functionalist and modernist aesthetics.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex opened
In the late 1950s, the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex was opened at Fort Irwin, California. Operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, its main purpose is to track and communicate with interplanetary space missions. It is named after the nearby Goldstone ghost town.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Founding of Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments, originally known as Geophysical Service Incorporated (GSI), was formally renamed Texas Instruments in 1958. Headquartered in Dallas, the company later evolved into a leading global semiconductor manufacturer. The renaming marked a shift in focus from geophysical exploration to electronics and semiconductors.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Central & South America
- Battle of Santa Clara
In late December 1958, rebel forces under Che Guevara captured the city of Santa Clara during the Cuban Revolution, achieving a decisive victory. The battle prompted dictator Fulgencio Batista to flee Cuba within 12 hours, paving the way for Fidel Castro's overall triumph.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Founding of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais
Around the mid-20th century, the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais was founded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This private, non-profit Catholic university is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte and was later repeatedly voted the best private university in Brazil.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Completion and Inauguration of the Palácio da Alvorada
The Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the Brazilian president, was inaugurated on June 30, 1958, as the first completed building in the new capital, Brasília. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the modernist style, it sits on a peninsula on the shores of Paranoá Lake and has been the residence of every Brazilian president since.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
East Asia
- Founding of Yoido Full Gospel Church
In 1958, David Yonggi Cho and Choi Ja-shil founded the Yoido Full Gospel Church on Yeouido in Seoul, South Korea, a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God. As the largest Pentecostal congregation in South Korea, its establishment marked a significant development in Korean evangelical Christianity, later growing into a globally known megachurch.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Establishment of the University of Science and Technology of China
The University of Science and Technology of China was founded in Beijing in the late 1950s and later moved to Hefei. Affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is a key research university in China.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Sir Robert Ho Tung Library Established in St. Augustine's Square, Macau
The Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, part of the Macao Public Library system, is located in a mansion of historical, cultural and architectural value in St. Augustine's Square. The building was later included in the Historic Centre of Macau UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
Europe
- Cold War
After World War II, the Western Bloc led by the United States and the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union engaged in a nearly half-century-long political, economic, and military confrontation. Although the two superpowers never fought directly, they competed globally through proxy wars, an arms race, and the Space Race. The Cold War began in the late 1940s and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Signing of the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR
On December 30, 1922, the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR was signed at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, officially establishing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Plenipotentiary delegates from the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian Soviet republics signed the treaty, along with a declaration serving as its preamble. The treaty legally formalized the political union of the Soviet republics that had existed since 1919, creating a new federal government with centralized functions in Moscow. Legislative power was vested in the Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee, while executive power lay with the Council of People's Commissars.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Euromast Completed
Euromast is an observation tower in Rotterdam, Netherlands, designed by architect Hugh Maaskant. Constructed between 1958 and 1960, it was built for the 1960 Floriade. Originally 101 metres tall, it was the tallest building in Rotterdam at the time.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
South Asia
- Outbreak of the Vietnam War
In 1955, armed conflict erupted between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), marking the start of the Vietnam War. This war was simultaneously a civil war, a Cold War proxy war, and a postcolonial independence conflict, with North Vietnam backed by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The fighting later spread to Laos and Cambodia, ending with all three countries under communist rule in 1975.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Malayan Emergency
In 1948, the British colonial government declared an emergency due to an armed struggle by the Malayan Communist Party. The guerrilla war against the independence-seeking Malayan National Liberation Army, with the involvement of Commonwealth forces, lasted until the lifting of the emergency in 1960.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
West Asia
- 14 July Revolution in Iraq (1958)
On 14 July 1958, the Free Officers led by Abd al-Karim Qasim staged a coup, overthrowing King Faisal II, ending Hashemite rule, and establishing the Iraqi Republic. The Arab Federation with Jordan, formed just six months earlier, collapsed.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- University of Aleppo
The University of Aleppo is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria, and is the second largest university in the country.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
North Africa
- Ifni War
The Ifni War was a series of armed conflicts between Moroccan insurgents and Spanish colonial forces in Spanish West Africa from 1957 to 1958, forming part of the African decolonization movements. It began with Moroccan armed incursions in November 1957 and culminated in the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
- Algerian War
The Algerian War was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front from 1954 to 1962, leading to Algeria's independence. Considered a major decolonization war, it involved guerrilla warfare and war crimes by both sides.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
Oceania
- Establishment of Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is located in the south of Australia's Northern Territory. It was established to protect natural landmarks like Uluru and Kata Tjuta as well as Aboriginal sacred sites, and was later inscribed as a World Heritage Site.
Around 1958
These are known only to the century, not to the year. They are listed separately so a rough date is never mistaken for an exact one.
- Emergence of the Green Revolution
- Beginning of the Digital Revolution
- Establishment of Women's Suffrage Worldwide
- Establishment of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park
- Construction of Grimeton Longwave Radio Station
- Construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway begins
- Construction of the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright Begins
- Construction of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in 'The Centre of Heaven and Earth'