September 13, 1956

1956Alain Ducasse, French-Monégasque chef^[†]

Alain Ducasse is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants, including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, which holds three stars in the Michelin Guide.

1956Anne Geddes, Australian-New Zealand photographer and fashion designer^[†]

Anne Elizabeth Geddes is an Australian-born, New York City-based portrait photographer known primarily for her elaborately staged photographs of infants.

1956Martin Hurson, Irish Republican, hunger striker (died 1981)^[†]

Edward Martin Hurson was an Irish Republican hunger striker and a Volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was the sixth to die during the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.

1956Joni Sledge, American singer and songwriter (died 2017)^[†]

Joan Elise Sledge was an American singer best known as a founding member of the family vocal group Sister Sledge. The group was known for their hits during the mid-1970s, mid-1980s and 1990s; most notably 1979's "We Are Family" and "He's the Greatest Dancer".

1956The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.^[†]

The IBM 305 RAMAC was the first commercial computer that used a moving-head hard disk drive for secondary storage. The system was publicly announced on September 14, 1956, with test units already installed at the U.S. Navy and at private corporations. RAMAC stood for "Random Access Method of Accounting and Control", as its design was motivated by the need for real-time accounting in business.

1956The dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.^[†]

A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural or artificial, alongside the banks of a river, often intended to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines.