makes his television debut on Ed Sullivan's Toast Of The Town show for the CBS-TV network in the United States. November 23 – The Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are transferred from British to Australian control. November 26 – The British Governor of Cyprus declares a state of emergency on the island. November 27 – The Westboro Baptist Church holds its first service in Topeka, Kansas. December December 1 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger, and is arrested, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott. December 4 – The International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations is founded in Luxembourg. December 5 The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge, to become the AFL–CIO. The Montgomery Improvement Association is formed in Montgomery, Alabama, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other Black ministers to coordinate the Montgomery bus boycott by Black people. December 9 – Adnan Menderes of DP forms the new government of Turkey (22nd government). December 10 – 1955 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a substantially increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt. This election comes in the immediate aftermath of the devastating split in the Labor Party, which leads to the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. The DLP will preference against Labor, and keep the Coalition in office until 1972. December 14 The Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, in New York State, opens to traffic. Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations simultaneously, after several years of moratorium on admitting new members that began during the Korean War. December 20 – Cardiff is declared by the British Government as the capital of Wales. December 22 – American cytogeneticist Joe Hin Tjio discovers the correct number of human chromosomes, forty-six. December 31 General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make a profit of over 1 billion dollars in 1 year. Austria becomes independent, under terms of the May 15 Austrian State Treaty. World population World population: 2,755,823,000 Africa: 246,746,000 Asia: 1,541,947,000 Europe: 575,184,000 South America: 190,797,000 North America: 186,884,000 Oceania: 14,265,000 Births January January 1 Mario Andreacchio, Australian film director Bonnie Arnold, American film