History

Back to the Future: What Else Happened on November 5, 1955?

by Chris Holmes

Back to the Future - November 6, 1955

The date is burned in the brain of legions of Back to the Future fans — November 5, 1955. It’s the day Marty McFly arrived in Hill Valley of the past in Doc Brown’s DeLorean from October 26, 1985. But aside from the events shown in the film, what actually happened on that autumn day when Michael J. Fox went back to the future? Let’s look at the day that was Saturday, November 5, 1955.

Elvis Presley - Louisiana HayrideEntertainment

  • The #1-selling song in the U.S. was “Autumn Leaves” by Roger Williams.
  • The #1 album in the U.S. was Love Me Or Leave Me (soundtrack) by Doris Day.
  • The #1 best-selling books in the U.S. were Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk (fiction) and Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (non-fiction). #3 on the fiction list? The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, baby!
  • The Honeymooners episode “The Sleepwalker” aired. The episode depicted in the Back to the Future dinner scene, “The Man From Space,” did not air until December 31.
  • Other shows airing on TV that evening were The Perry Como Show, Lawrence Welk’s Dodge Dancing Party, and Gunsmoke.
  • The Robert Mitchum western Man With the Gun opened in theaters. Also new that weekend was an adaptation of Guys and Dolls starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, as well as the Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds comedy The Tender Trap.
  • The Vienna State Opera House in Austria formally re-opened, celebrating the end of 17 years of foreign occupation.
  • Elvis Presley made one of his many appearances on the Louisiana Hayride radio program, performing at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport.

Sports

  • NHL — Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame center Jean Béliveau scored the then second-fastest recorded hat trick at 44 seconds.
  • NCAA football — #1 Maryland and #2 Oklahoma both win to remain undefeated for the season. The Sooners reclaimed the #1 spot from the Terrapins in the next poll and eventually won the national championship.

People

  • Kris Jenner (née Houghton), wife of Bruce Jenner and mother of all those Kardashian people, was born in San Diego, California.
  • French cityscape painter Maurice Utrillo died at age 71 in Paris.
  • Character actor Nestor Serrano (The Money Pit, Bad Boys, The Day After Tomorrow, Ugly Betty) was born in the Bronx, New York.

Politics

  • The 84th United States Congress forbids racial segregation on trains and buses in Interstate Commerce.

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