1959 - What happened in 1959 ?
January 1959
Thursday 01:
Fulgencio Batista, President of the Republic of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
Saturday 03:
Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
Sunday 04:
Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
Wednesday 07:
The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
Thursday 29:
Sleeping Beauty, the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney to be based upon a fairy tale, was first released.
February 1959
Tuesday 03:
The Day The Music Died: A plane crash kills rock-and-roll performers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
Tuesday 17:
The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2, was launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
Thursday 19:
The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence, which is then on formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
Friday 20:
The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
Sunday 22:
Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
March 1959
Tuesday 03:
The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park.
Monday 09:
The Barbie doll debuts.
Wednesday 11:
In Cannes, France, Teddy Scholten wins the fourth Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands singing "Een beetje" (A little bit).
Tuesday 24:
The Party of the African Federation (PFA) is launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keita.
Tuesday 31:
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
April 1959
Thursday 09:
Mercury program: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts which the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".
Saturday 25:
David Carr, a 25-year-old Briton, enters Royal Manchester Infirmary in England. His death later that year was in 1990 attributed to AIDS by a director at the infirmary, Gerald Corbitt; a 1995 by Corbitt cowrote an update noting that the virus was from 1990.
May 1959
Monday 04:
The first Grammy Awards are announced.
Monday 18:
Launching of the National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire in Conakry, Guinea.
June 1959
Friday 05:
The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in.
Monday 08:
The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
Tuesday 23:
A fire in a resort hotel in Stalheim, Norway kills 34 people.
Thursday 25:
Eamon de Valera is elected the third President of Ireland.
Friday 26:
The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships.
July 1959
Wednesday 01:
The Party of the African Federation (PFA) holds its constitutive conference.
Saturday 04:
With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tuesday 07:
14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event was used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
Monday 20:
Elias Tsirimokos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
Friday 24:
At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, US vice-president Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have a "kitchen debate."
August 1959
Friday 07:
Explorer program: The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Friday 21:
President Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union.
September 1959
Saturday 12:
Bonanza premiers. First regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.
Monday 14:
The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
Saturday 19:
Nikita Khrushchev is barred from visiting Disneyland.
Friday 25:
Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister of Sri Lanka is assassinated by a Buddhist monk, Talduwe Somarama, and dies the next day.
Sunday 27:
Nearly 5000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshu as the result of a typhoon.
October 1959
Friday 02:
The Twilight Zone pilot premieres.
Wednesday 07:
Far side of the Moon seen for first time, compliments of U.S.S.R.'s Luna 3.
Wednesday 21:
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
November 1959
Monday 02:
Ice Hockey: After being struck in the face with a puck, goalkeeper Jacques Plante returns to play wearing a protective mask for the first time in professional play.
Sunday 15:
Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.
Wednesday 18:
William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loew's Theater in New York City.
Thursday 19:
Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
December 1959
Tuesday 01:
Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent.
Sunday 13:
Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus
Monday 14:
Motown record label is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
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