Timeline October 1958

Events in October 1958 12

• 1876 – 1958 Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) Died 9 October 1958, aged 82 Born Eugenio Pacelli, he served as pope from 1939 through the Second World War and the early Cold War. His wartime conduct, particularly regarding the Holocaust, remains a subject of historical debate.
• 1880 – 1958 Marie Stopes (1880-1958) Died 2 October 1958, aged 77 Stopes was a British author and campaigner who opened Britain's first birth-control clinic in 1921 and wrote the influential "Married Love." Her work reshaped public attitudes toward contraception, though her later advocacy of eugenics remains controversial.
• 1958 Expo 58 opens in Brussels First major postwar World's Fair Brussels hosted the first major World's Fair since the Second World War, drawing over 40 million visitors. The Atomium, built for the exposition as a model of an iron crystal, became a lasting landmark of the city.
• 1958 Buddy Holly splits from the Crickets New York Leaves the band and producer Norman Petty.
• 1958 Muddy Waters tours England Too loud for British purists His electric blues shocks audiences and inspires a generation of British bands.
• 1958 Guinea gains independence First French sub-Saharan colony to break away Guinea became the first French colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence, after voters rejected membership in the new French Community under a referendum led by Sekou Toure. France withdrew aid abruptly in response, and Toure became the country's first president.
• 1958 Fifth French Republic established New constitution ends the Fourth Republic A new constitution drafted under Charles de Gaulle was promulgated, ending the unstable Fourth Republic and creating the Fifth French Republic with a strengthened presidency. De Gaulle was elected the Republic's first president later that year.
• 1958 First transatlantic jet passenger service BOAC Comet 4 flies London to New York British Overseas Airways Corporation began the first scheduled transatlantic jet passenger service, flying a de Havilland Comet 4 between London and New York. It narrowly beat Pan Am's Boeing 707 service, which began three weeks later, ushering in the jet age for commercial aviation.
• 1958 First IKEA store opens in Älmhult IKEA opens its first full retail store in Älmhult on 18 October 1958 — at 6,700 square metres, the largest furniture store in Scandinavia. The store introduces the concept that will define all subsequent IKEA stores: a walk-through layout where customers follow a set path through a series of fully decorated room settings, ending at a self-service warehouse where they collect flat-packed items. The restaurant (serving Swedish food) and supervised children's area are present from the start. The store attracts customers from across Sweden, some travelling hundreds of kilometres.
• 1958 Pasternak forced to decline Nobel Prize Soviet pressure follows Doctor Zhivago award Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel "Doctor Zhivago," but Soviet authorities pressured him into declining it under threat of expulsion from the country. His son accepted the prize on his behalf in 1989.
• 1958 Pope John XXIII elected Succeeds Pius XII after conclave Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected pope following the death of Pius XII, taking the name John XXIII. He would go on to convene the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
• 1958 – present Jeannie Longo The Longevity Queen Competed at an elite level for over 30 years; 13-time World Champion.