Events in the year 1958 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

– Baudouin *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

–

Achille Van Acker Achille Van Acker (8 April 1898 – 10 July 1975) was a Belgian politician who served three terms as the prime minister of Belgium between 1946 and 1958. A moderate from Flanders, Van Acker was a member of the Belgian Socialist Party (PSB–BSP) ...

(to 26 June);

Gaston Eyskens Gaston François Marie, viscount Eyskens (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a Christian democratic politician and prime minister of Belgium. He was also an economist and member of the Belgian Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC). He served thr ...

(from 26 June)

Events

January

* 1 January – Treaty of Rome establishing European Economic Community comes into force.Alain de Gueldre et al., ''Kroniek van België'' (Antwerp and Zaventem, 1987). * 10 January –

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...

and Robert Schuman received

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s from the Catholic University of Leuven.

February

* 3 February – Treaty creating Benelux Economic Union signed, to come into force 1 November 1960, providing for free movement of workers, capital, services, and goods between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

March

* 11 March – Prince Albert takes his seat in the Senate. * 12 March –

Fud Leclerc Ferdinand Urbain Dominic Leclerc (, 1924 – 20 September 2010) was a Belgian singer, who was also the pianist of Juliette Gréco. Leclerc had a career as a pianist, accordionist, songwriter and singer before retiring to travel the world. On hi ...

comes sixth in the Eurovision Song Contest, singing " Ma petite chatte". * 18 March –

Atomium The Atomium ( , , ) is a landmark building in Brussels, Belgium, originally constructed for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo '58). It is located on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Laeken (northern part of the City of Brussels), where the ex ...

completed.

April

* 4 April – Tourist information office opens on the

Place de Brouckère The () or (Dutch) is a major square in central Brussels, Belgium. It was created following the covering of the river Senne (1867–1871), replacing the Temple of the Augustinians, which was demolished in 1893. It is named in honour of Char ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

.Gonzague Pluvinage, ''Expo 58: Between Utopia and Reality'' (Racine, 2008) * 12 April –

Bokrijk The Bokrijk Provincial Domain ( nl, Provinciaal Domein Bokrijk) is a park and museum complex near Genk, Province of Limburg in Belgium. It is known for its open-air museum which displays a large collection of historical buildings from across Flan ...

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

opens. * 17 April –

King Baudouin Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his dea ...

opens Expo 58, the first major World's Fair since the Second World War. John Carl Studder of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, had queued for 48 hours to be the first visitor admitted.

May

* 18 May ** Demonstration of about 200,000 marches through Brussels to protest the Socialist government's education policy. ** A

Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earl ...

on a

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

flight to

Léopoldville Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of ...

crashes in Casablanca, with 65 fatalities and 4 survivors. * 28 May – Real Madrid wins the European Cup Final against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in the

Heysel Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in ...

, Brussels

June

* 1 June – General election held:

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

become the largest group in parliament. * 15 June ** Tony Brooks wins the 19th Belgian Grand Prix at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

. ** Brussels Film Festival opens, with

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

chairing the jury. * 22 June –

Olivier Gendebien Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time". Rally racer Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...

, partnered with Phil Hill in the Scuderia Ferrari team, comes first in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

. * 26 June ** 45th Tour de France starts in Brussels. **

( Christian Social Party) replaces

(

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

) as Prime Minister.

July

* 20–23 July –

World Archery Championships The World Archery Championships are a series of competitions in Archery organised by the World Archery Federation (WA). The first competition held under that title took place in 1931. Competition archery takes a wide variety of formats, but the ...

held in Brussels.

September

* 9 September – USS Skate (SSN-578) ceremonially welcomed in

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

after its Arctic mission. * 25 September – Belgian government intervenes to reduce the price of Belgian coal, with 7,855,000 tonnes stockpiled but uncompetitively expensive on international markets.

October

* 4 October –

breaks Brussels–Paris air speed record with an S58 helicopter. * 10 October –

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...

founds

Mouvement National Congolais The Congolese National Movement (french: Mouvement national Congolais, or MNC) is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. History Foundation The MNC was founded in 1958 as an African nationalist party within the Belgian Cong ...

. * 12 October – Municipal elections; Christian Social Party makes gains. * 19 October – Expo 58 closes.

November

* 6 November – Political agreement reached on post-war reforms to educational policy, ending a period of contention known as the " Second School War". * 28 November – Patrice Lumumba declares in Léopoldville that "Independence is not a gift of Belgium but a fundamental right of the Congolese people."

December

* 1 December – Francis Walder awarded the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

for his ''Saint-Germain ou la négociation''. * 11 December – Dominique Pire receives the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

Full date unknown

*'' En 50 ans'', documentary film is released.

Publications

* Léon Kochnitzky, ''Negro Art in the Belgian Congo'' (New York, Belgian Government Information Center)

Performances

;May * 2 May –

Annie Fischer Annie Fischer (July 5, 1914April 10, 1995) was a Hungarian classical pianist. Biography Fischer was born into a Jewish family in Budapest and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Ernő Dohnányi and Arnold Szekely. She began he ...

performs at Expo58. ;June * 22 June –

Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, ; 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Biography Ulanova was born ...

performs at Expo58. * 24 June –

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese '' fadista'' (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen ...

performs at Expo58. ;August * 20 August – First performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's ''

Maria Golovin ''Maria Golovin'' is an English language opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti. It is through-composed and centers on a romantic encounter between a blind recluse named Donato and the title character, a married woman living in a European count ...

'' at Expo58.

Film

Nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of t ...

''Les Seigneurs de la forêt'' – English version with narration by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

distributed internationally by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

as ''Lords of the Forest'' (UK) or ''Masters of the Congo Jungle'' (US)

Births

* 16 July –

Sabine de Bethune Baroness Sabine de Bethune (born 16 July 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party. Since June 2021 she has been appointed as a judge on the Constitutional Court. The daughter of former Kortrijk ma ...

, politician * 14 December – Jan Fabre, artist

Deaths

* 6 January –

Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium nl, Josephine Caroline Maria Albertina , title = Princess Karl Anton of Hohenzollern , image = JosephineBelgHohenz.jpg , image_size = , caption = , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , ...

* 11 April – Alfred De Taeye (born 1905), politician

References

{{Year in Europe, 1958 1950s in Belgium

Years of the 20th century in Belgium