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Other events and facts from 1958 start with this post:

* There are approximately 2550 computer systems in the United States.
* Approximately 47.1 million transistors are produced, compared to 397.4 million vacuum tubes.
* Under the U.S. Congressional 'Space Act', NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is formed, taking over the role of the National Advisory Comittee on Aeronautics.
(if you really want to irritate someone who's been involved in astronomy and the space sciences since the 50s, call NASA's precursor NACA [NA-KA] out loud. Drives them crazy. Apparently it was always pronounced En-A-See-A)
* Alaska is brought into America as the 49th state of the union.
* EMI releases the first sterophonic record album.