In 1956, the first new contract to build a section of the U.S. Interstate Highway system, awarded after the signing of the Highway-Aid Act of 1956, was for U.S. Route 66 in Laclede County, Missouri, which became Interstate 44. The Highway-Aid Act of 1956 established 90% federal funding for a System of Interstate and Defense Highways across the U.S., making it possible for States to afford construction of the important network of national limited-access highways. Other notable firsts related to the U.S. Interstate highways are claimed by the States of Pennsylvania (which has the oldest section of Interstate Highway, built 1 Oct 1940, years before the Highway Aid Act of 1956, but later part of the Interstate system) and Kansas, which began the first concrete paving under the Act, on 26 Sep 1956.

The trimline telephone was made available to all customers throughout the service area of Michigan Bell Telephone for an optional $1 monthly extra charge. The company had placed the first trimline telephone in service in the U.S. on 21 Oct 1963. The dial and a hang-up button were no longer on a remote base, but instead integrated into the handpiece, midway between the microphone and speaker. A call could thus be dialled from the handpiece alone. A call could thus be dialled from the handpiece alone, which was more convenient in the kitchen or while in bed. It was dramatically different in style from earlier telephones, developed with the industrial design firm Henry Dreyfuss Associates. In 1977, Fortune magazine selected it as one of the country's 25 best-designed products.