Newsmen Howard K. Smith, Richard C. Hottelet, Robert Pierpoint, Eric Sevareid, Winston Burdett, Daniel Schorr, and David Schoenbrun comment on the top news stories of 1956, particularly the Middle East and communism. 

Edward R. Murrow is the moderator.                                      

CBS NEWS: Top News Stories Of 1956

Highlights: PresidentEisenhower health problems, announced candidacy at Democratic Convention, Vice Presidential battle between Senator John F. Kennedy and Senator Estes Kefauver,
Republican Convention, nomination, Presidential campaign topics, 
Eisenhower and Nixon were expected to be nominated by acclamation when a lone delegate voted for a fictitious candidate named "Joe Smith." The sinking of the Andrea Doria,
700 people die in weekend automobile accidents, two airlines collide over Grand Canyon Arizona, 128 die, the problem of overcrowded skies, Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco, racial problems in the South in Clinton, Tennessee, huge school desegregation riots, interviews with negroes and whites, including John Kasper, violent segregationist and member of the Klu Klux Klan, Don Larsen's perfect World Series game, Khruschev denounces Stalin cult, Polish riots, Hungarian revolution, Cyprus revolt against British occupation, Middle East crisis, Anglo-French, Israeli-Eygptian war.

Host: Charles Collingwood.                                                                            

CBS Special: The New Frontiers Of Science.

Highlights include electron computers, new drugs to curtail diseases, new heart surgery techniques, (heart-lung machine),
radioisotopes used in the study of photosynthesis, Dr. Jonas Salk polio vaccine in full production, new live virus vaccine related by Dr. Sabin, drugs for the treatment of mental illness, Dr.Lawrence Snyder President of AAS, speaks on behalf of science. Also commentary from Robert Trout, Ned Calmer, and Douglas Edwards.  

Will Rogers is the host. 

                                   

 
TEX AND JINX Radio & Television BROADCAST HISTORY:

April 22, 1946- February 27, 1959. 

WEAF (WNBC, WRCA), New York weekdays at 8:30 A.M. until 1954; at 1:00pm,1954-1955; then at 6:30 and 10:35pm until July 31, 1958, moving briefly to WOR, broadcasting at 2:15pm.

 In addition to the Kollmars (Dorothy Kilgallen and husband Richard Kollmar) and  the Fitzgeralds (Pegeen and husband Ed Fitzgerald), another well-recognized New York couple, newlyweds Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg, added their own bread-and-bacon banter to the local airwaves between 1946 and 1959. Their gabfest, initially Hi Jinx but later revised to Tex and Jinx, was beamed over WEAF which was subsequently re-lettered WNBC and later WRCA. In limited doses, the flagship outlet of the National Broadcasting Company transmitted Meet Tex and Jinx to the whole country during 1947 and 1948. 

Tex and Jinx devoted most of their airtime to lofty and noble concepts, visitors and sidebars. Tex and Jinx [on WEAF-WNBC-WRCA] were interviewing Bernard Baruch, Margaret Truman, or Ethel Waters…. McCrary built the show on the assumption that the early morning audience was not stupid, as programmers generally assumed; that people in general had fresher minds and were more open to serious topics at the beginning of the day.” 

Their joint radio venture began in April 1946 just 10 months following their nuptials (June 10, 1945). Launched as a breakfast feature, the series later shifted to afternoons and finally into the evening hours before departing the ether a dozen years afterward. They were branded by one journalist “Mr. Brains and Mrs. Beauty.” 

In early 1947 NBC put them on its television network as a portion of a Sunday evening quarter-hour dubbed Bristol-Myers Tele-Varieties. “The McCrarys were naturals for TV,” wrote a reviewer, “with their combination of friendly chatter, interviews, and features.” That summer the web awarded them an exclusive Sunday night half-hour format under the appellation At Home with Tex and Jinx. A decade later, in the 1957-58 season, the duo hosted a daytime NBC-TV showcase, The Tex and Jinx Show. 

When hepatitis sidetracked Falkenburg in 1958 from their broadcast commitments, McCrary carried on solo on their radio show for another couple of years. In the 1980s, however, the couple separated, remaining on genial terms. McCrary died in New York on July 29, 2003 and Falkenburg expired just 29 days later in the same city, on August 27, 2003. 

NOTE::
The scores of TEX AND JINX SHOWS archived by Archival Television Audio, Inc. were originally obtained as original 16" Electronic Discs from Barry Farber, producer of the show (1957-1959), in 1960 after he had begun his own career in front of the mike at WINS Radio. These discs  were subsequently transferred to 1/4" reel to reel tape, and then disposed. These broadcasts are rare and represent  the largest known collection of TEX AND JINX extant broadcasts in the world. 

Today's Headlines: Man-of-The- Year. Hungarian Revolution voices 
include Dag Hammarskjold, William F. Burns, Commander of UN forces in the Middle East, Jawaharial Nehru comments on relations with US, Prince Rainier of Monaco explains the role of Grace Kelly, (Princess Grace). Grace Kelly comments on what she misses in America. Yankee Mickey Mantle comments on conversation with President Eisenhower. Dr. Martin Luther King on Montgomery bus boycott, Adlai Stevenson against H-bomb tests, John Foster Dulles on Middle East peace prospects just before Israeli invasion of Egypt. Report on Richard Nixon's visit to Hungarian frontier. 
Eisenhower on Middle East war, also in a campaign speech. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Highlights: President Eisenhower meeting in the White House, He wants the authority to use military might against communism or "Ike Doctrine," Nixon urges more Hungarian refugees to enter the USA, Hungarian refugees arrive in the United States, a report on the day's Bowl games, a report on the latest segregation issues.                                                    

Highlights: "Eisenhower Doctrine" to curb Middle East aggression, the US to give military aid to countries if so desired, Russians denounce Eisenhower speech and policy, actress Marie McDonald relates kidnapping incident, Elvis Presley gets a pre-induction exam                         

Highlights: Anthony Eden resigns as Prime Minister as a result of the Egyptian fiasco, Eisenhower Middle East doctrine, Pressure applied for Secretary of State Dulles to be fired, he is accused of indecision, Britain no longer considered a first-rate power, slipped to the second rank as the result of Middle East humiliation.            

    
HY GARDNER - Mon-Fri, weekdays, WRCA CH. 4 New York City 11:15-11:25pm, 11:20-11:30pm, 11:15-11:30pm September 10, 1956-January 25, 1957  

Preceding TONITE! Hy Gardner had a ten minute news/gossip series on WNBC TV. On this broadcast the news of the day included:

-Los Angeles police are expected to announce a solution to the Marie McDonald "who done it" case. Hy feels that the actress was kidnapped and that the incident was not a hoax.

-The board of directors for Lowe's Inc. include the former secretary of defense Louis Johnson, former secretary of the army Frank Pace, and former secretary of the navy, John Sullivan. Hy thinks that MGM must be getting ready to launch a new cycle of war movies.

-King Farouk is suing Elsa Maxwell for material she wrote about the former King of Egypt in her new book.

-Ironically, Ed Sullivan, publicity man, is promoting for Steve Allen Ingrid Bergman's next Sunday's appearance on The Steve Allen Show.       

Inauguration speech of President Dwight Eisenhower.                                        

Dwight Eisenhower is sworn in at his presidential inauguration to begin his second term in office. 

Highlights: Admiral Richard Byrd, explorer, dies, Egypt defies the UN on the Gaza Strip, a new aviation speed record by a 707 jet across the United States is set at three hours and 45 minutes, David Beck will appear as a witness in the Senate Labor Rackets Committee, news of the first outdoor phone booth.                         

A review of the 1956 Democratic campaign.            

Highlights: Three Americans join Cuban revolutionaries and want to fight for freedom against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, Vice-President Nixon is ill, the Senate investigation committee claims teamster president David Beck misused union funds, two New York City newspapers The Daily Mirror and The New York Daily News raise their prices to five cents.            

Highlights: President Eisenhower shops for farm supplies, Truman says the United States slips because of blunders and vacillations in this administration.                          

Highlights: The United States investigates teamster union boss David Beck on misappropriation of union funds, Arkansas Senator John McClellan questions a former teamster officer on violent union activity in Scranton, Pa,              

Highlights: Senator Joseph McCarthy dies of liver ailment, David Beck is indicted for income tax evasion, Secretary Dulles says the communist expansion in the Middle East will be restricted, Eisenhower calls the Egyptian ambassador home.           

Five-minute American syndicated radio news bulletin which included a television version seen on NBC-TV and later CBS television. 

Host: Ken Banghart.

Highlights: President Eisenhower and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer wind up their meeting, American scientists plan to launch the first artificial satellite next Spring, The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants baseball clubs are given permission to move to the West Coast, New York City Mayor Robert Wagner says he will try to convince them to stay. 

The newscaster is Mike Wallace.                         

Highlights: Scientists find that heavy cigarette smokers have a higher death rate than non-smokers, investigators find a high relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, doctors renounce H-tests because of fallout, City Hall meeting with New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner on the question of Dodgers move to the West Coast.                       

Highlights: Holiday crowds visit the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, Truman claims the presidency is a "tough and terrible" job, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, opposes the Eisenhower foreign policy. Eric Sevareid interviews former President Truman.                        

Highlights: Racial crisis brewing in Little Rock, Arkansas Central High School, President Eisenhower to confront Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas, the National Guard surrounding Faubus's executive mansion to prevent arrest by US officials called a hoax by Little Rock Mayor, integration problems in other Southern areas, Middle East crisis worsening, open revolt against Cuban dictator Batista in Cuba directed by future leader Fidel Castro, skirmishes in various areas, but the government claims victory, Jimmy Hoffa and David Beck deny union corruption                        

Highlights: The government will legally try to remove National Guardsmen from blocking integration in Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, a new school is dynamited in Nashville, Tennessee, Klu Klux Klan member John Kasper is arrested, racial violence in other areas, minister Fred Shuttlesworth is beaten while leading an integration rally in Birmingham, Alabama, Govenor Nelson Rockefeller will try to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn,                                                                

Highlights: Whites riot against negro students entering a Little Rock, Arkansas high school, rioting also against newsmen, President Eisenhower orders a "cease and desist" or Federal troops will enter Little Rock. Bob Wilson reports.          

Live coverage of national and international news. Report on racial tensions at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas as nine black students attempt to enter the school upon rulings by the United States Supreme Court. 

Ron Cochran reporting. 

A bulletin from NBC News: President Eisenhower signs a proclamation permitting him to send federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to quell interracial rioting.                         

Highlights: President Eisenhower federalizes Arkansas National Guard and orders troops to Little Rock as racial crisis continues, the troops are under the command of General Edwin Walker.            

NBC newsman Frank McGee reports from Little Rock, Arkansas on the racial tensions at Little Rock, Central High School and the removal of nine negro students. President Eisenhower orders troops to Little Rock to ensure the safety of the students. 

Reaction to the speech earlier by President Eisenhower on the crisis at Little Rock, Central High School. 

President Dwight Eisenhower addresses the nation from the White House regarding the crisis at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Nine negro students were removed from the school, defying a ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The president sending troops to Little Rock. 

NBC newsmen Frank McGee, David Brinkley, and Richard Harkness discuss the racial crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas.                        

Highlights: Talk by President Eisenhower regarding Little Rock crisis broadcast live from the White House,              

Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus responds to President Eisenhower's address to the nation regarding the crisis at Little Rock Central High School. Faubus says Federal Government has no right to send troops into Little Rock. 

October 29, 1956 - July 31,1970

News reports include:
Eighth day integration report, Governor Orval Faubus, Jimmy Hoffa teamsters convention today, First game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium with standing room tickets selling for $4.20. 

Commercial: Ronson  

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It succeeded the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. 

The Huntley-Brinkley Report  became television's top-rated news show, almost from the start, and remained in that position for most of its fourteen-year run. Huntley and Brinkley complemented each other almost perfectly, with Huntley's no-nonsense toughness offset by Brinkley's dry and wry wit. Their familiar closing exchange - "Good night,Chet/Good night, David.                             

October 29, 1956 - July 31,1970

News reports include:
Little Rock and President Dwight Eisenhower's news conference, Jimmy Hoffa to be president of teamsters tomorrow, Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees in the World Series by score of 4 to 2. David Brinkley describes. 

Commercial: Ronson electric shaver...Ben Grauer.

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It succeeded the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. 

The Huntley-Brinkley Report  became television's top-rated news show, almost from the start, and remained in that position for most of its fourteen-year run. Huntley and Brinkley complemented each other almost perfectly, with Huntley's no-nonsense toughness offset by Brinkley's dry and wry wit. Their familiar closing exchange - "Good night,Chet/Good night, David.                             

The Soviet Union successfully launches the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik One. It circles the earth once every 90 minutes. The beeps from the satellite are heard. 

October 29, 1956 - July 31,1970

News reports include:
United Nations assembly, Russians launch Sputnik satellite, 180 pounds, 560 miles from Earth, Jimmy Hoffa elected president of the Teamsters, Student protests in the Soviet Union, 

Commercials: NBC's "M Squad," and "The Thin Man."

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It succeeded the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. 

The Huntley-Brinkley Report  became television's top-rated news show, almost from the start, and remained in that position for most of its fourteen-year run. Huntley and Brinkley complemented each other almost perfectly, with Huntley's no-nonsense toughness offset by Brinkley's dry and wry wit. Their familiar closing exchange - "Good night,Chet/Good night, David.                             

     September 30, 1957 - June 27, 1958
Gabe Pressman anchors a five minute local New York City broadcast airing at 6:40pm to 6:45pm preceding the HUNTLEY BRINKLEY REPORT. This is the fifth broadcast. 

Pressman reports from various NYC locations. Topics:
The flu epidemic, parking meters robbed, beginning of Yom Kippur, the weather and a Shell Oil Company commercial.
  
NOTE: A rare example of this very early television broadcast was given to Gabe Pressman by Phil Gries. He called to express his great appreciation and we discussed meeting one another for lunch which unfortunately, for this archivist, never happended.       

     September 30, 1957 - June 27, 1958
Gabe Pressman anchors a five minute local New York City broadcast airing at 6:40pm to 6:45pm preceding the HUNTLEY BRINKLEY REPORT. This is the fifth broadcast. 

Pressman also reports from various NYC locations. Topics:
The flu epidemic, parking meters robbed, beginning of Yom Kippur, the weather and a Shell Oil Company commercial.
        

Highlights: Worldwide reaction to Sputnik 1- Russian satellite, Press Secretary James Hagerty says US is not in the satellite race, US expects to launch satellite next Spring, criticism of US research programs demanded, Secretary of State Dulles meets with Andrei Gromyko on international topics, riots continue in Warsaw, Poland.             

United States Government officials comment on Russia's "Sputnik" satellite, saying they're not surprised and that it's "no laughing matter." The Jubilant Russians give time-table of satellite passes.                          

Highlights: Riots in Warsaw, Poland, Moscow gives a world-wide time-table of it's "Sputnik" satellite, life expectancy is guessed at a few days to a million years, Jimmy Hoffa is opposed to David Beck's "battle fund."             

Scientists comment on Russian feat and other rocketry, US rocket programs assured in view of triumphal Sputnik Russian achievement.
Douglas Edwards hosts this CBS TV NEWS SPECIAL REPORT.                                       

October 29, 1956 - July 31,1970

News reports include:
Russian Satellite Sputnik, described as "man made moon,"  third stage of its orbital flight all over the world to be seen in the United States on Long Island with first sound signals heard, Dick Applegate reports, $100, for two tickets for Milwaukee vs Yankees World Series game, updates from Little Rock, Russians test Hydrogen bomb, San Marino anti communist country ready for attack, teamsters convention in Miami Beach, thugs have 48 hours to out of town. 

Commercial: Ronson.
  

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It succeeded the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. 

The Huntley-Brinkley Report  became television's top-rated news show, almost from the start, and remained in that position for most of its fourteen-year run. Huntley and Brinkley complemented each other almost perfectly, with Huntley's no-nonsense toughness offset by Brinkley's dry and wry wit. Their familiar closing exchange - "Good night,Chet/Good night, David.                             

Highlights: Senators urge congressional investigation on US position in satellite program, Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson calls Red Satellite a "neat scientific trick", Khrushchev says manned planes are obsolete due to the development of missiles, Sputnik radio signals go dead, Soviet spy Jack Sobel sentenced to seven years in prison, Brooklyn Dodgers to move to Los Angeles. 

NOTE:  On August 19, 1957 Horace Stoneham and the Board of Directors voted 9-1 to move the New York Giants to San Francisco.

On October 8, 1957, The Walter O'Malley and Brooklyn Dodgers would follow the lead, moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, California. END OF AN ERA.                                                   

October 29, 1956 - July 31,1970

News reports include:
Russia will launch a second satellite. Roy Neal reports, stock market two year low, Little Rock report, Governor Orval Faubus, 1,800 of 2,000 students in class, things quiet now, San Marino update report, communists vs anti-communists. End segment commenting on Tonight Show orchestra leader for Jack Paar, Jose Melis, who sings a song about the russian satellite..."man made moon."

The Huntley–Brinkley Report (sometimes known as The Texaco Huntley–Brinkley Report for one of its early sponsors) was an American evening news program that aired on NBC from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It succeeded the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. 

The Huntley-Brinkley Report  became television's top-rated news show, almost from the start, and remained in that position for most of its fourteen-year run. Huntley and Brinkley complemented each other almost perfectly, with Huntley's no-nonsense toughness offset by Brinkley's dry and wry wit. Their familiar closing exchange - "Good night,Chet/Good night, David.                             

Highlights: A description of Russian film "Trip To The Moon", details of rocket flight, President Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Macmillan to meet next week in Washington concerning the Middle East crisis, Queen Elizabeth is welcomed in Washington D.C by President Eisenhower, Howard K. Smith comments on Anglo-American relationships                          

Highlights: Marshall Zhukov is criticized, degraded, and stripped of political authority, he is accused of being a "butcher", Khrushchev using supreme power, comment on this Russian crisis by NBC newsmen.           

Highlights: Reports on new Russian "Dog" satellite, Sputnik 11
or "Muttnick", US prepares a sophisticated rocket "Vanguard" to launch its satellite, comments by US scientists on latest Russian feats, dog lovers around the world protest use of a dog in the satellite, Marshall Zhukov degraded in Russia, accused of Russia's World War 11 defeats, Russians put into service the world's largest plane, the TU 114.                          

Highlights: more news about Russian satellites Sputnik 1 and 11,
Russians hope to bring dog safely back to Earth, Russians may send a rocket to the moon, six dogs picket before the UN in protest.             

Highlights: Russian satellite to be visible over the USA, Western observers fear Russians have an overwhelming lead in the space race, speculations that Russians may launch a rocket to the moon, US prestige takes a downward turn especially among Europeans, Middle East congressional investigation opens to find out if waste exists in US programs.