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President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 on June 29
officially authorizing the Interstate Highway Program.
1956 was also the year that:
- The North Carolina Museum of Art opens to the public in Raleigh;
- Wake Forest College moves to a new campus in Winston-Salem, and is later
renamed Wake Forest University. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
takes over the school's old campus in Wake Forest;
- Luther H. Hodges was governor of North Carolina;
- Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak
Hotel," and appears on The Ed Sullivan Show;
- Mel Gibson, Bill Maher, Joe Montana, Tom Hanks, and Larry Bird were born;
- The New York Yankees win the World Series;
- The New York Giants win the National Football League championship;
- The Price is Right game show premieres;
- The first transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation;
- Dr. Albert Sabin develops oral polio vaccine;
- The Summer Olympics are held in Melbourne, Australia;
- The average cost of a new automobile is $2,100;
- The average income in the United States is $4,454;
- The average cost of a new home is $22,000; and
- "Around the World in 80 Days," produced by Michael Todd, won Best Picture at
the Academy Awards.
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