Whoda thunk it, 1956, the year that changed everything:
It was a time ahead of its time.
Misunderstood as a banal moment in an era of happy days and bland conformity, 1956 was a watershed year whose churning events helped form modern America.
Fifty years ago, the era of popular culture as we now know it - with television at its core - was born.
Youth culture based on music and the incorporation of African American ideas and attitudes began to take shape, and quicken the pulse and pace of everyday life.
The interstate highway system was created, literally altering the landscape, hastening white flight, suburbanization, endless sprawl, and the decay of many U.S. cities.
Against a backdrop of exploding hydrogen test bombs, a frigid Cold War, and the nascent civil-rights movement, the year 1956 was not understood as an important precursor to the 1960s and beyond until recently.
