Long Beach, California, to host 1957 Miss Universe.Thirty-two entries from thirty-two countries and dependencies participate in the universal tournament, among them Ecuador, Iceland, and Paraguay.
2. Among the judges are Alberto Joaquin Vargas y Chavez from Peru, one of the most talent painters and chroniclers of 20 th Century American female beauty.
3. A Peruvian prodigy wins MU! When Gladys Zender takes the worldwide title, Latin America finally came into its own as one of the world’s top leaders. Few observers will forget Peru’s victory. The 17-year-old athlete Zender is crowned by Carol Morris, thrilling a country and becoming one of the most popular individuals in Peru up to the early 1970s, as well as ending the reign of America and Western Europe in the annual pageant. She , a volleyball player-turned-beauty queen, won the event with a win over top-ranked Miss Brazil Terezinha Goncalves Morango. Her victory has been epic in the Spanish-speaking world, heralding a new future for Latin America (twenty-one more women have won the universal trophy since then).
4. Despite Gladys Zender’s young age, she becomes the first Latino (and Peruvian) to be elected Miss Universe. She (who is of Swiss background) hails from Contamana, Loreto,Peru.
5. The first all-Latin American MU final! Miss Brazil nearly captures the title, after losing to Peru’s Gladys Zender in the finals and matched their best finish with the second-place position also won in July 1955. Some years back it would have been impossible to imagine a final between two Latino entries. The Republic of Brazil will be a heavy contender for MU.
6. Gladys Zender from Peru (Miss Universe 1957) has got many firsts: first MU in the Spanish-speaking world (Latin America and South America as well) and the youngest on Earth.
7. Martha Lehman makes the Top 15 , becoming the first Miss Alaska in history to accomplish that feat.
8. Ed Sullivan becomes the first American journalist to interview Miss Universe 1957.
9. Gladys Zender is the muse of Alicia Maguina’s most memorable song “The Most Beautiful”. Alicia is one of Peru’s top singers.
10. Miss Jacqueline Doreilla Bonilla of the Kingdom of Morrocco becomes the first woman from an Arab country (Africa’s third) to classify for the semis. She is so far the most beautiful delegate of Africa in Long Beach’57.
11. West Germany becomes the first country/dependency to win back-to-back Miss Photogenic title.
12. Despite being one of the biggest favorites, alongside such unforgettable delegates as Lygia Karavia (Greece), Sonia Hamilton (England), Gerti Daub (West Germany), Valeria Fabrizzi (Italy), Gloria Noakes (Canada), and Monica Lamas of Argentina, Ginette Cidalise-Montaise from the Caribbean island of Martinique, famous for being birthplace of Napoleon’s Empress Josephine, is knocked out in the preliminaries.