JANUARY 2, 1956

MONDAY
1956 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1956
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $4,480,150 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$0.90
Median Home Price$10,100.00
Gas Price Avg$0.29
Bread Price Avg$0.19
Movie Ticket Avg$0.60
First Class Stamp$0.04
Milk Price Avg$0.93
Top Movies From 1956
Show screen release and event cards
1 The Ten Commandments
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The Ten Commandments
2 Around the World in 80 Days
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Around the World in 80 Days
3 Giant
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Giant
4 The King and I
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The King and I
5 Trapeze
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Trapeze
6 High Society
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High Society
7 War and Peace
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War and Peace
8 The Teahouse of the August Moon
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The Teahouse of the August Moon
9 The Searchers
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The Searchers
10 Anastasia
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Anastasia
The Court Jester
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The Court Jester
The Indian Fighter
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The Indian Fighter
Rebel Without a Cause
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Rebel Without a Cause
Picnic
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Picnic
Guys and Dolls
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Guys and Dolls
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
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The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
The Man with the Golden Arm
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The Man with the Golden Arm
I'll Cry Tomorrow
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I'll Cry Tomorrow
The Rose Tattoo
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The Rose Tattoo

January 2, 1956 Trivia

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Television On January 2, 1956
Lassie poster
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Lassie
Broken Arrow poster
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Broken Arrow
Hey, Jeannie! poster
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Hey, Jeannie!
Playhouse 90 poster
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Playhouse 90
State Trooper poster
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State Trooper
Telephone Time poster
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Telephone Time
The Edge of Night poster
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The Edge of Night

Exact-date daily brief

January 2, 1956

On January 2, 1956, the state reported a significant increase in welfare costs, spiking by $15 million, signaling a troubling trend in public assistance expenses. This surge in welfare costs occurred in the broader context of Amer...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of January 1956

Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.

1 Hard Disk Drive (IBM 305 RAMAC)
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Hard Disk Drive (IBM 305 RAMAC)
2 Artificial Intelligence Program
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Artificial Intelligence Program
3 Microwave Oven (Home Model)
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Microwave Oven (Home Model)
4 Digital Clock
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Digital Clock
5 Underwater SCUBA Regulator
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Underwater SCUBA Regulator
6 Automatic Transmission Refinement
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Automatic Transmission Refinement
7 Medical Heart-Lung Machine
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Medical Heart-Lung Machine
8 Weather Satellite Blueprint
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Weather Satellite Blueprint
9 Computer Programming Language (FORTRAN)
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Computer Programming Language (FORTRAN)
10 Electric Can Opener Refinement
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Electric Can Opener Refinement

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From January 2, 1956

Full News Archive

  • Headline: Soaring Welfare Costs in 1956. Impact: As welfare costs rose, state budgets strained, leading to the invention of budgetary gymnastics – a sport where politicians flip-flop their way through fiscal responsibility, creating a demand for accountants with yoga training. Fact: Welfare costs are like a teenager’s shopping spree – they only go up and leave everyone wondering where the money went.
  • Headline: Presidential Visit Boosts Key West Economy. Impact: The President's visit created a tourism boom that led to Key West becoming the go-to spot for every retiree with a Hawaiian shirt, resulting in an unprecedented renaissance for flip-flop manufacturers. Fact: Key West: where the sun shines, the drinks are cold, and the locals will gladly tell you the story of the last time a tourist asked for directions.
  • Headline: About New York; Experts Who Prepare Civil Service Exams Toil in Anonymity and Strict Secrecy Monica Lewis is Married. Impact: The anonymity of civil service examiners led to a secret society forming, where they gather in basements to discuss the best ways to confuse future government employees with tricky multiple-choice questions. Fact: Preparing for civil service exams is basically the adult version of cramming for the SAT – except with less pizza and more existential dread.
  • Headline: OISTRAKH HEARD HERE; Soloist With the Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall Concert. Impact: D. Oistrakh's concert at Carnegie Hall sent shockwaves through the music world, leading to a chain reaction of violinists trying to outdo each other, eventually resulting in a reality show – 'The Violinist's Got Talent'. Fact: Carnegie Hall: where aspiring musicians go to practice their craft and simultaneously question every life choice that led them to play the violin.
  • Headline: DEMOCRATS PLAN DINNER; Jan. 28 Function to Seek Funds for Congressional Drive. Impact: The Democrats' fundraising dinner caused a ripple effect of gluttony among politicians, resulting in the invention of the 'politician’s plate' – a 12-course meal designed to fuel endless debates about nothing. Fact: Political dinners are like fancy potlucks, only instead of sharing dishes, they just share the blame for the national debt.
  • Headline: V.A. PENSIONERS WARNED; Income Forms Must Be Filed or Checks Will Stop Msgr. Driscoll to Be Invested Harriman Greets 600 Pope Blesses Pilgrims. Impact: The warning to V.A. pensioners about income forms morphed into a nationwide panic about paperwork that has led to the creation of a new reality show: 'Survivor: IRS Edition'. Fact: Filing income forms is like being stuck in a time loop – you keep doing it every year and somehow it never gets easier.
  • Headline: JOBLESS PAY DROPS 34%; Business Gains Cut '55 Total to $1,340,000,000. Impact: The drop in jobless pay coincided with businesses discovering that cutting costs could lead to increased profits, birthing the corporate mantra: 'Why hire when you can just increase productivity expectations?'. Fact: Jobless pay dropping is like a magician's disappearing act – one moment you have it, and the next, poof! It's gone!.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #1
PFE
Pfizer
Price in 1956
$0.15
Stored value
$168,691

Pfizer - If you invested $1,000 in 1956, it would be worth $168,691 today (168.7x return)

Rank #2
JNJ
Johnson & Johnson
Price in 1956
$0.06
Stored value
$3,433,939

Johnson & Johnson - If you invested $1,000 in 1956, it would be worth $3,433,939 today (3433.9x return)

Rank #3
PG
Procter & Gamble
Price in 1956
$0.25
Stored value
$586,657

Procter & Gamble - If you invested $1,000 in 1956, it would be worth $586,657 today (586.7x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #86
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #86
$10.00
Showcase #4
Showcase #4
$95,000
Action Comics #220
Action Comics #220
$10,200
Uncle Scrooge #10
Uncle Scrooge #10
$200
Batman #100
Batman #100
$100
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head
$250.00
Play-Doh
Play-Doh
$150.00
Hula Hoop
Hula Hoop
$150.00
Matchbox Cars
Matchbox Cars
$100.00
Pogo Stick
Pogo Stick
$20.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
1956 Topps Mickey Mantle
1956 Topps Mickey Mantle
$120,000
1956 Topps Al Kaline
1956 Topps Al Kaline
$350,000
1956 Topps Willie Mays
1956 Topps Willie Mays
$250,000
1956 Parkhurst Doug Harvey
1956 Parkhurst Doug Harvey
$0
1956 Spic and Span Milwaukee Braves Hank Aaron
1956 Spic and Span Milwaukee Braves Hank Aaron
$2,000