360What happened in 1958?
7 moments from 1958 on 360n60, each told in 60 words or fewer.
- On this day · 31 January 1958
Explorer 1, America's first satellite, is launched
On 31 January 1958, the United States launched Explorer 1, its first satellite. An instrument designed by James Van Allen detected belts of radiation trapped around the Earth by its magnetic field. They are now known as the Van Allen belts.
- On this day · 29 July 1958
NASA is created
On 29 July 1958, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the law creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, in response to the Soviet Sputnik. NASA put astronauts on the Moon and has since sent robotic explorers to every planet in the solar system.
- On this day · 3 August 1958
A submarine reaches the North Pole under the ice
On 3 August 1958, the American nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to reach the North Pole, travelling under the Arctic ice. Its crew of 116 crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic beneath the ice cap, proving there was no land under the Pole.
- On this day · 4 August 1958
The Billboard Hot 100 chart begins
On 4 August 1958, the American magazine Billboard published its first Hot 100 chart, ranking songs by sales and radio play. Ricky Nelson's 'Poor Little Fool' was the first number one. The Hot 100 remains the best-known measure of a hit song in the United States.
- January 1958 · from Sputnik, the first satellite, starts the space age
Explorer 1 launched
- July 1958 · from Sputnik, the first satellite, starts the space age
NASA created
- 1958 · from Bell Labs scientists build the first transistor
The first integrated circuit