Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of USSR Communist Party, denounces Stalin's excesses (Feb. 24).

First aerial H-bomb tested over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll - 10 million tons TNT equivalent (May 21).

Workers' uprising against Communist rule in Poznan, Poland, is crushed (June 28–30); rebellion inspires Hungarian students to stage a protest against Communism in Budapest (Oct. 23).

Egypt takes control of Suez Canal (July 26).

Hungarian rebellion forces Soviet troops to withdraw from Budapest (Oct.).

Israel launches attack on Egypt's Sinai peninsula and drives toward Suez Canal (Oct. 29).

Imre Nagy announces Hungary's withdrawal from Warsaw Pact (Nov. 1);

Soviet troops enter and reclaim Budapest (Nov. 4).

British and French invade Port Said on the Suez Canal (Nov. 5). Cease-fire forced by U.S. pressure stops British, French, and Israeli advance (Nov. 6).

Morocco gains independence.

Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

Woody Guthrie composes "This Land is Your Land."

Allen Ginsberg's Howl.