TOTAL US DEAD 1

 TOTAL RI DEAD 0

1957        The Edsel is unveiled by Ford Motor Company. . .  . . Jack Kerouac's "beat generation" book On the Road is published. . .  . . Leave it to Beaver debuts in October. . . 

1957     President Eisenhower orders troops to Little Rock, AK to enforce desegregation in the public schools . . .  . .    The Soviet Union launches Sputnik , the first artificial satellite in October.  . . .  . . Dennis Roberts defeats Christopher DelSesto for RI governor by 711 votes. . . 

 1957   Communist guerrillas attack new South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem . . . . .  . . Diem, with American military aid, counterattacks. . .  . . 13 Americans wounded in terrorist bombings in Saigon. . . 

 TOTAL US DEAD 0

 TOTAL RI DEAD 0

 1958    Hula hoop craze swings the nation.   . .  . . 77 Sunset Strip premieres on TV.  . .  . .   First transatlantic passenger jet service goes into operation between London and New York. The carrier is BOAC. . . 

 1958     The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is created   . . .  . .    Nikita Khrushchev ascends to power in the Soviet Union   . . .  . . East Providence becomes Rhode Island's eighth city. . . 

 1958    North Vietnam pursues policy of political struggle to attempt overthrow in South. . .  

 TOTAL US DEAD 2

 TOTAL RI DEAD 0

 1959 Barbie doll is introduced by Mattel. . .  . . Ben Hur wins Oscar for best picture.  . .  . .    Lady Chatterley's Lover is banned from mails by the postmaster general.    . .  . .   American Football League is formed with eight teams.  . .  . .  Bobby Darin wins the Grammy for Mack the Knife. . . 

 1959     Fidel Castro ousts Batista regime in Cuba.    . .  . .    Hawaii becomes the 50th state.    . . .  . . Vice President Nixon and Premier Khrushchev face off in the "kitchen debate." . . .  . . U.S. satellite, Explorer VI, sends back first pictures of earth from space. . . 

 1959    North changes strategy to "armed struggle" . .  . .  North enlarges supply lines toward South  . .  . .  First two Americans killed in Vietnam  . .  . .  Diem orders crackdown on suspected Communists . . 

 TOTAL US DEAD 2

 TOTAL RI DEAD 0

 1960 . . Chubby Checker's The Twist becomes national dance fad.  . .    Psycho opens, scaring millions of showering Americans   .  . .  . .     Birth control pills approved for sale in US    . .  . . Teflon-coated cookware is introduced. . .  . . My Three Sons premieres.

 1960     U-2 reconnaissance plane is shot down over USSR and pilot, Gary Powers, is captured.   . . .  . . 12,000 riot outside Freebody Park at Newport Jazz Festival . . .  . . World's first fully-mechanized post office, called Project Turnkey, opens in Providence . . .  . . The laser is invented.  . . 

 1960    North Vietnam imposes universal conscription . .  . .  Diem survives coup attempt  . .  . .  Formation of National Liberation Front announced . . 

 TOTAL US DEAD 15

 TOTAL RI DEAD 0

 1961     The Peace Corps is established.     . . Ballet star Rudolf Nureyev defects to the west.  . .  . .  Ernest Hemingway commits suicide. . .  . . Roger Maris hits 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record. . . . . Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is published, adding a new phrase to the language. . . 

 1961     John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as first Roman Catholic and youngest man to become president   . . .  . .   Yuri Gagarin becomes  first person in space. Alan Shepard later becomes first American in space.. . .  . . Newly formed RI Family Court holds first session . . .  . . Catholic Diocese of Providence seeks state aid to buy text books for parochial schools. . . .  . .  Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba ends in a fiasco, with all invaders captured or killed.  . . 

 1961    Vice President Johnson tours Saigon to assure Diem of US support . .  . .  Diem asks for more US troops for training purposes  . .  . .  President Kennedy's advisers urge more aid to South Vietnam . . 

 TOTAL US DEAD 52

 TOTAL RI DEAD 1

 1962    Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor meet during filming of Cleopatra.    . .   . .  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf opens on Broadway.   . .  . .     Marilyn Monroe commits suicide.   . .  . . Johnny Carson succeeds Jack Paar as the permanent host of NBC's Tonight Show . . . .    Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in basketball game.    . . 

 1962  Riots erupt in Mississippi when James Meredith attempts to enroll at University of Mississippi.. . .  . . John Chafee ekes into Governor's office on basis of absentee ballots. . . .  . . RI Supreme Court upholds granting of night racing dates to Narragansett and Lincoln Downs. . . .  

 1962    US/Saigon launch Strategic Hamlet program to combat NLF . .  . .  Diem palace bombed in coup attempt  . .  . .  Air Force deploys Second Air Division to Vietnam; 11,300 US personnel in Vietnam . . 

 TOTAL US DEAD 122

 TOTAL RI DEAD 1

 1963    Weight Watchers is formed.    . .   . . Instant replay is born during Army-Navy football game.  . .  . .     Touch-Tone phone is introduced by AT&T     . .  . .    Peter, Paul and Mary have a hit with Puff the Magic Dragon.   . . 

 1963  The Thresher is lost with all 129 hands in the U.S.'s worst submarine disaster. . .  . . Block Island voters switch counties from Newport to Washington. . .  . . President John F. Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald arrested shortly thereafter and later killed by Jack Ruby on national television. . .     Martin Luther King delivers "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington.   

 1963  Buddhists stage self-immolations to protest Diem attacks of pagodas . .  . .  US-supported military coup topples Diem  . .  . .  Diem, brother assassinated . .