dirty

1956

What was happening in the U.S. when this penny was made?

President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Richard M. Nixon
Population: 168,903,031
Life expectancy: 69.7 years
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.6

US GDP (1998 dollars): $438 billion
Federal spending: $70.64 billion
Federal debt: $272.7 billion
Consumer Price Index: 27.2
Unemployment: 4.4%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.03

  • Autherine Lucy, the first black student at the University of Alabama, is suspended after riots (March 1).
  • U.S. tests the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll with the force of 10 million tons TNT (May 21). Background: nuclear weapons