February: an extraordinary wave of cold and snow, the second for intensity in the Twentieth century, strikes the whole Italy.
February 2: in Partinico the activist Danilo Dolci and 19 laborers are arrested for a “reverse strike” (they cleared an uncultivated land in protest). In the year, there are in Southern Italy several clashes between laborers and police, with 4 dead.
February 26-March 14: Giovanni Gronchi is the first Italian head of state to visit USA and Canada.
April 21: first issue of the tabloid Il giorno, directed by Gaetano Baldacci. The new daily newspaper, politically of center-left, is covertly financed by ENI.
April 22: the PCI deputy Francesco Moranino, escaped in Prague, is sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for crimes committed during the Resistance; he's the first MP condemned by a tribunal in the history of Italian Republic.
April 23: first session and first sentence of the Constitutional Court, presided by Enrico De Nicola; it abrogates an illiberal article of the Penal code.[1]
October 10: In Terrazzano two lunatics, the brothers Santato, take hostage for a day, in a primary school, 97 children and three schoolmistresses; the children are saved by the sacrifice of a volunteer, the worker Sante Zennaro, killed by the police's friendly fire.
Economy
The Vanoni plan for the development of Italian economy, Keynesian in nature, is abandoned after the death of his promoter. Yet, the Prime minister Antonio Segni and the DC secretary Amintore Fanfani support a policy of public intervention, breaking with the liberalism of the former cabinets.
February 28: the three employers’ organization, Confindustria, Confcommercio and Confagricoltura constitute a coordination committee, Confintesa.
December 22: the State Holding Ministry is instituted.
I tromboni (The windbags) – satirical review by Federico Zardi, with Vittorio Gassman.
Cinema
In 1956, Italian cinema was in a phase of transition. Auteur and socially engaged cinema is almost limited to only two titles: The roof, by Vittorio De Sica, considered the last neorealist film, and The railroad man, a family drama directed and interpreted by Pietro Germi.
Most of the Italian production belongs the popular genres.
