19561960

The period from 1956 to 1960 was a significant five-year span characterized by notable geopolitical, social, and technological developments. In international affairs, the Suez Crisis of 1956 marked a turning point in the decline of British and French influence, while the Hungarian Revolution highlighted the tensions of the Cold War. The United States experienced a period of relative prosperity, though civil rights movements gained increasing momentum. The space race between the US and the Soviet Union intensified with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, spurring American efforts in space exploration.

Technologically, the latter half of the 1950s saw advancements in computing and the early stages of the transistor revolution. Television became a dominant form of mass media, shaping popular culture. In the arts, abstract expressionism continued to flourish, and rock and roll music began its rise to widespread popularity, with artists like Elvis Presley becoming cultural icons. This era laid the groundwork for many of the social and technological shifts that would define the following decades, reflecting a world undergoing rapid transformation and grappling with new global dynamics.