Events from the year 1956 in Michigan.
The major stories of 1956 in Michigan included: (1) tornado outbreaks that struck western Michigan on April 2 and central and eastern Michigan on May 12; (2) the November 6 elections in which Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower won Michigan's 20 electoral votes while Democrat G. Mennen Williams won re-election to a fifth term as Governor of Michigan; and (3) a slowdown in automobile production after reaching record levels in 1955.
Top stories The Associated Press and Detroit Free Press each ranked Michigan's top news stories of 1956 as follows:
The April 2 western Michigan tornado outbreak that killed 19 persons (AP#1) The November 6 elections in which Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower won Michigan's 20 electoral votes while Democrat G. Mennen Williams defeated Detroit Mayor Albert Cobo for a fifth term as Governor of Michigan (AP#2, DFP#5) The October 4 collapse of office building under construction for Consumers Power in Jackson, Michigan, resulting in the deaths of 10 workers (AP#3) The May 12 tornado outbreak in Flint and metropolitan Detroit that killed six persons and destroyed more than 100 homes (AP#4) The July 16 sale of the Detroit Tigers by the Walter Briggs Sr. estate to a group led by Fred Knorr and including John Fetzer (AP#5; DFP#4) A slowdown in automobile production and rise in unemployment to near-record levels (AP#6) The hunting season in which a 14-year-old hunter survived five days in the cold and an African-American hunter killed a farmer in Newaygo County (AP#7) The disappearance of Anna Thorpe with $80,000 in funds embezzled from the State of Michigan (AP#7) A strike by dairy farmers that turned violent (AP#8) The November 19 death of two Michigan State Police officers in a shootout with a retired postal worker near Flint (AP#9) One-man grand juries established to investigate alleged corruption in Ecorse, Warren, and other communities in metropolitan Detroit. (AP#10; DFP#1) The Hermiz murder case and trial that resulted in verdict on July 19 of guilty against Maurice Hamilton and innocent due to insanity as to Victoria Hermiz (DFP#1) The defeat of a diphtheria outbreak (DFP#3)
Office holders State office holders
Governor of Michigan: G. Mennen Williams (Democrat) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Philip Hart (Democrat) Michigan Attorney General: Thomas M. Kavanagh (Democrat) Michigan Secretary of State: James M. Hare (Democrat) Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Wade Van Valkenburg (Republican) Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court: John R. Dethmers
Mayors of major cities
Mayor of Detroit: Albert Cobo (Republican) Mayor of Grand Rapids: George Veldman/Paul G. Goebel Mayor of Flint: George M. Algoe Mayor of Saginaw: Maurice E. Brown Mayor of Dearborn: Orville L. Hubbard Mayor of Lansing: Ralph Crego Mayor of Ann Arbor: William E. Brown Jr.
Federal office holders U.S. Senator from Michigan: Patrick V. McNamara (Democrat) U.S. Senator from Michigan: Charles E. Potter (Republican) House District 1: Thaddeus M. Machrowicz (Democrat) House District 2: George Meader (Republican) House District 3: August E. Johansen (Republican) House District 4: Clare Hoffman (Republican) House District 5: Gerald Ford (Republican) House District 6: Donald Hayworth (Democrat) House District 7: Jesse P. Wolcott (Republican) House District 8: Alvin Morell Bentley (Republican) House District 9: Ruth Thompson (Republican) House District 10: Elford Albin Cederberg (Republican) House District 11: Victor A. Knox (Republican) House District 12: John B. Bennett (Republican) House District 13: Charles Diggs (Democrat) House District 14: Louis C. Rabaut (Democrat) House District 15: John Dingell Jr. (Democrat) House District 16: John Lesinski Jr. (Democrat) House District 17: Martha Griffiths (Democrat) House District 18: George Anthony Dondero (Republican)
Population
Sports
Baseball
1956 Detroit Tigers season – Under manager Bucky Harris, the Tigers compiled an 82–72 record and finished in fifth place in the American League. The team's statistical leaders included Harvey Kuenn with a .332 batting average, Charlie Maxwell with 28 home runs, Al Kaline with 128 RBIs, and Frank Lary with 21 wins and a 3.15 earned run average. Kuenn led the American League with 196 hits and finished fourth in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. 1956 Michigan Wolverines baseball team - Under head coach Ray Fisher, the Wolverines compiled a 17–9 record. Moby Benedict was the team captain.2012 Record Book, p. 13.
American football 1956 Detroit Lions season – After finishing in last place in 1955, the Lions, under head coach Buddy Parker, compiled a 9–3 record and finished in second place in the NFL Western Conference. The team's statistical leaders included Bobby Layne with 1,909 passing yards and 99 points scored (five touchdowns, 33 extra points, and 12 field goals), Gene Gedman with 479 rushing yards, and Dave Middleton with 606 receiving yards. 1956 Michigan Wolverines football team – Under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, the Wolverines compiled a 7-2 record, outscored opponents 233 to 123, finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference, and were ranked No. 7 in the final 1956 AP poll. End Ron Kramer was selected as a consensus All-American. The team's statistical leaders included Bob Ptacek with 245 passing yards, Jim Pace with 498 rushing yards, Kramer with 353 receiving yards, and Terry Barr and John Herrnstein, each with 42 points scored. 1956 Michigan State Spartans football team – Under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 7–2 record and were ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Pat Wilson with 414 passing yards, Dennis Mendyk with 495 rushing yards, and Tony Kolodziej with 221 receiving yards. 1956 Central Michigan Chippewas football team – Under head coach Kenneth "Bill" Kelly, the Chippewas compiled a perfect 9–0 record, won the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) championship for the fifth consecutive year, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 313 to 92. The 1956 season was part of the longest winning streak in school history, 15 games running from October 8, 1955, to November 10, 1956.2015 Media Guide, p. 85. 1956 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team – Under head coach Fred Trosko, the Hurons compiled a 4–4 record. 1956 Western Michigan Broncos football team – Under head coach Jack Petoskey, the Broncos compiled a 2–7 record. 1956 Detroit Titans football team – The Titans compiled a 2–8 record under head coach Wally Fromhart.
Basketball 1955–56 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team – Under head coach Forddy Anderson, the Spartans compiled a 13–9 record. Julius McCoy led the team with an average of 27.3 points per game. 1955–56 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team – Under head coach William Perigo, the Wolverines compiled a 9–13 record. Ron Kramer was the team's leading scorer with 448 points in 22 games for an average of 20.3 points per game. 1955–56 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team – Under head coach Joseph Hoy, the Broncos compiled a 12–10 record. 1955–56 Detroit Titans men's basketball team – The Titans compiled a 13–12 record under head coach Bob Calihan.
Ice hockey
1955–56 Detroit Red Wings season – Under head coach Jimmy Skinner, the Red Wings compiled a 30–24–16 record. Gordie Howe led the team with 38 goals, 41 assists, and 79 points. The team's goaltender was Glenn Hall. Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics - In the Olympic ice hockey tournament held at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from January 26 to February 4, Team USA won the silver medal. Three current or former University of Michigan players were members of Team USA: goaltender Willard Ikola, John Matchefts, and Robert White. In an upset victory over Team Canada, Ikola stopped 47 shots and was called "the individual standout" in the game. 1955–56 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season – Under head coach Vic Heyliger, the Wolverines compiled a 20–2–1 record and won the 1956 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. They then defeated Michigan Tech by a 7–5 score in the championship game. The 1956 championship was Michigan's sixth NCAA hockey championship in nine years. Goalie Lorne Howes was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player and was also named Most Valuable Player in the 1956 NCAA Tournament. Team captain Bill MacFarland was the team's leading scorer with 19 goals, 28 assists, and 47 total points in 23 games. Howes, MacFarland, and defenseman Bob Schiller were all named to the All-American college hockey team. 1955–56 Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey team – Under head coach Al Renfrew, Michigan Tech compiled a 21–7 record and lost to Michigan in the 1956 NCAA championship game. 1955–56 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team – Under head coach Amo Bessone, the Spartans compiled a 5–18 record.
1956 Olympics
A contingent of 18 Michiganders competed for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics. A total 11 athletes with ties to Michigan won medals as follows: Kurt Seiffert from Rochester, Michigan won a gold medal as the coxswain for the winning pair in the coxed pairs rowing competition. Ira Murchison, a Western Michigan College student, won a gold medal in the men's 4 x 100 meters relay. Gary Tobian, a Californian who was born in Detroit, won the silver medal in the men's 10 meter platform diving competition. Jeanne Stunyo of the Detroit Athletic Club won the silver medal in the women's 3 meter springboard diving competition. Stunyo's Detroit Athletic Club teammate Barbara Sue Gilders finished fourth in the same event. Dick Hanley of the University of Michigan received a silver medal for swimming the lead leg in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. Hanley went on in 1957 to set the world record in the 200 metres freestyle event. A Detroit Boat Club team of John Welchli, James McIntosh, Art McKinlay, and John McKinlay won silver medals in the coxless fours. Pat Costello of Birmingham, Michigan, and Jim Gardiner of Detroit won silver medals in the men's double sculls rowing event.
Boat racing Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race – The Gypsy from Milwaukee won in the Class A division on July 16 with a time of 49 hours, 51 minutes, and eight seconds. The sloops Revelry and Glory Bea won Classes B and D. APBA Gold Cup – Bill Muncey, driving Miss Thriftway out of Seattle, won the Gold Cup race on the waters of the Detroit River on September 1. However, race officials disqualified Muncey on grounds that he had hit and damaged a buoy. Officials then awarded the victory to Miss Pepsi, a Detroit boat that finished in second place. The owners of Miss Thriftway protested, doubts arose as the veracity of the official who claimed Muncey had hit a buoy, and no trophy was awarded on the day of the race. After a 55-day dispute, including a legal challenge by Horace Dodge, the Inboard Racing Commission of the American Power Boat Association on October 25 sustained the protest by the owner of Miss Thriftway and reversed the disqualification, giving Muncey the Gold Cup for 1956.
Golf Michigan Open – Pete Cooper won the championship on July 1 at Detroit's Indianwood Country Club. Cooper set a course record with a round of 66. Motor City Open - Bob Rosburg won the tournament at the Western Golf Club after a one-hole playoff with Ed Furgol on September 2.
Chronology of events January January - Ford Motor issued 10,200,000 shares of its stock in the company's first public offering. January 1 - Michigan State defeated UCLA, 17-14, in the 1956 Rose Bowl. Dave Kaiser of Michigan State kicked a game-winning field goal with seven seconds left in the game. January 17 - A newspaper strike that closed The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, and Detroit Times ended after 46 days.
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