* Austin Osman Spare ( 1886 – 1956 ), English artist and magician

* 1956 – Sebastian Spreng, Argentinean artist and journalist

* 1956 – Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer and administrator

* 1956 – Andy García, Cuban actor

* 1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer

* 1956 – Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.

* 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director

* 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.

* 1956 – Stepfanie Kramer, American actress

* 1878 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author ( d. 1956 )

* 1956 – Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist, astrophysicist, and author

* 1956 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler

* 1956 – Isabel Pantoja, Spanish singer

* 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer ( b. 1956 )

* 1956 – Tom Leykis, American radio host

* 1956 – Kirk Brandon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist ( Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny and Dead Men Walking )

* 1956 – Balwinder Sandhu, Indian cricketer

* 1956 –, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.

Prominent leaders include co-founders Lucien Febvre ( 1878 – 1956 ) and Marc Bloch ( 1886 – 1944 ).

* 1867 – Emil Nolde, German painter ( d. 1956 )

* 1956 – Chris Foreman, English guitarist and songwriter ( Madness )

* 1956 – David Grant, English singer ( Linx )

* 1956 – Branscombe Richmond, American actor

* 1956 – Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress

A successful musical comedy adaptation of the strip opened on Broadway at the St. James Theater on November 15, 1956 and had a long run of 693 performances, followed by a nationwide tour.

She starred in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense film, The Man Who Knew Too Much ( 1956 ) with James Stewart.

He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause ( 1955 ) and Giant ( 1956 ).

James Thurber used the ancient fable style in his books Fables for Our Time ( 1940 ) and Further Fables for Our Time ( 1956 ), and in his stories " The Princess and the Tin Box " in The Beast in Me and Other Animals ( 1948 ) and " The Last Clock: A Fable for the Time, Such As It Is, of Man " in Lanterns and Lances ( 1961 ).

* Fables for Our Time ( 1940 ) and Further Fables for Our Time ( 1956 ) by James Thurber

* 1956 – James Lofton, American football player and coach

* 1956 – James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist ( The Pretenders ) ( d. 1982 )

In 1956 the British scientist James Fisher referred to the island as " the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world.

In 1956 the dead ends at St. James and Wynyard were joined and Circular Quay was opened.

* James Halliday ( 1956 – 1960 )

* James Wilfred Estey ( October 6, 1944 – January 22, 1956 )

* James Alexander Allan, Australian poet ( d. 1956 )

* James Cousins, Irish writer ( d. 1956 )

* September 17 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician ( d. 1956 )

* James H. Stock ( b. 1956 ), American economist

* The Man Who Knew Too Much ( 1956 ) remake of the 1934 Hitchcock film by Hitchcock himself starring James Stewart and Doris Day.

At the recommendation of Governor James Byrnes, Thurmond campaigned on the pledge that if he won, he would resign in 1956 to force a primary election which could be contested.

After returning from his nature trip, in June 1956, Fleming became involved in a project with Henry Morgenthau, III to collaborate on a television series Commander Jamaica, centred in the Caribbean with the main character of James Gunn.

Historian David Harris Willson, in his 1956 biography of James, delivered this damning verdict: " Anne had little influence over her husband.

* Edward James Salisbury ( 1886 – 1978 ), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew from 1943 to 1956 ; cousin of Frank O. Salisbury

Segregation had been struck down as unconstitutional in 1956, yet in 1968, 70 % of black children still attended segregated schools .< ref > Jonathan Karl reviewing James Rosen's < u > The Strong Man </ u >: http :// online. wsj. com / article / SB121158799673718969. html </ ref > By 1972, this percentage had decreased to 8 %.

* The Singing Sands: broadcast in 1956 ( Bertram Parnaby ); televised in 1969 ( James MacTaggart )

Conway was long the home of the late Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice James D. Johnson ( d. 2010 ), who ran unsuccessful races for governor in 1956 against then fellow Democrat Orval Eugene Faubus and in 1966 against the Republican Winthrop Rockefeller.

Maynard is also home to local Randolph County celebrity, James ( Jimmy ) Pritchett ( B. December 17, 1956 ).