1955 Newspapers

Find out about the 1955 headlines that captured the interest of the public. The 1950’s was a decade of technological advancement, and was particularly characterised by the introduction of television into the family home. By the middle of the 1950’s, it was impossible to predict which direction society was going in.

Women had taken a step backwards, and were expected to stay at home and raise the family while men went out to work. Industrialisation meant that Britain was the most polluted country in the world. Britain retained its conservative attitude towards sex and marriage, and the press was dominated by autocratic press barons, and restrictive print unions.

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1955 Original Newspapers

1955 Newspaper Headlines

Our 1955 newspaper articles tell the history of 1955 through the words and pictures of those who lived the experiences. Which 1955 events stood out this year? It was a year of rock and roll, where the genre took over mainstream music. Physicist and genius Albert Einstein sadly passed away, Ruth Ellis is the last known woman to be executed in Britain, and ITV began it’s popular broadcasting network.

1955 newspapers cover all kinds of events, from natural disasters, to public scandals, to political dramas. Learn about this important year in history with an authentic newspaper, the perfect gift for a history fan, or someone with a connection to this year.

25th January 1955
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union announces the end of the war between the USSR and Germany. This conflict had begun during the Second World War in 1941.

20th March 1955
“Blackboard Jungle” opens in movie theatres featuring the song “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and his Comets. The impact of the song is massive, propelling Rock and Roll music as a mainstream genre.

6th April 1955
Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister following the resignation of Sir Winston Churchill.

12th April 1955
The Salk Polio Vaccine is introduced, consisting of an injected dose of the dead poliovirus. Following the subsequent development of an oral vaccine, polio is eradicated in most countries.

15th April 1955
Ray Kroc opens the ninth McDonald’s fast food restaurant since the company was founded in 1940. Kroc later takes over the business and oversees its worldwide expansion.

18th April 1955
Albert Einstein, German-born physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879) dies from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Hospital pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey removes Einstein’s brain for preservation, without the permission of his family, hoping that neuroscience of the future will discover the source of Einstein’s exceptional intelligence.

9th May 1955
West Germany joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

11th June 1955
A Mercedes-Benz collides with an Austin-Healey at the famous sports car race in Le Mans. The high-speed impact causes the Mercedes-Benz to fly into the crowd. Eighty-three people are killed and at least one hundred others are injured, but incredibly, the race continues. The official reason given for this continuation is a fear that departing spectators would block the roads and slow down approaching ambulances.

13th July 1955
Ruth Ellis (b. 1926) is hanged for murder in London. She is the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom.

17th July 1955
‘Disneyland’ opens in Anaheim, California.

27th August 1955
The first edition of the “Guinness Book of World Records” is published in London.

22nd September 1955
Independent Commercial Television (ITV) begins broadcasting in the United Kingdom.

30th September 1955
Actor James Dean is killed when his Porsche 550 Spyder collides with another car near Cholame in California.

20th October 1955
Cardiff is proclaimed as the capital city of Wales.

26th October 1955
After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares its permanent neutrality.

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