July 12, 1955
The federal minimum wage stood at $0.75/hr that summer of 1955, and the Dow Jones sat at 488 — the United States was in the middle of a stable postwar economic expansion, with full employment and consumer spending both running high. On screen and over the airwaves, audiences were watching the quiz sensation "The $64,000 Question" dominate television ratings, while Bill Haley & His Comets held the top spot on the charts with "Rock Around the Clock," a song that was beginning to signal a genuine shift in popular music taste. On August 27, the first edition of the "Guinness Book of Records" was published in London, creating what would become one of the bestselling reference books in history and giving the world a single authoritative place to measure human and natural achievement.
On the cover
Magazine Covers — July 12, 1955
NY Times Headlines — Week of July 12, 1955
S. E. C. Head Balks At Power Queries Despite Warning; Refuses To Tell Inquiry If White House Intervened In A Dixon-Yates Hearing Contempt Action Seen Senate Unit Summons Others On Commission -- Terms Of Pact Termination Studied S.E.C. Chief Balks At Power Inquiry
White House Talk On Geneva Welds Bipartisan Unity; President Promises To Keep Congress' Leaders Advised On Progress Of Parley Bipartisan Unity On Geneva Is Set
Ridgway Assails U.S. Policy Stress On Air And Atom; Sees Soviet Peril In A Letter To Wilson, He Deplores Slash In Ground Forces Ridgway Assails Military Policy
World Events — July 1955
Time Person of the Year — 1955
On the radio
Billboard Charts — July 12, 1955
On the bookshelf
On the television
Nielsen Top 10 — 1954–55 Season
Emmy Winners — 1955
At the movies
Box Office & Oscar Winners — July 12, 1955
On the field
Sports Champions — July 12, 1955
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