Major Events
- Jan 4 USSR's Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes the 1st spacecraft to leave Earth's gravity
- Feb 16 Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista
- Mar 30 Dalai Lama flees China and is granted political asylum in India
- Aug 21 Hawaii becomes the 50th US state
- Aug 26 British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers
- Sep 12 Luna 2 launched by USSR; 1st spacecraft to impact on the Moon
- More 1959 Events
1959 in Film & TV
- Jan 9 TV western "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS
- Mar 29 "Some Like It Hot", American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, premieres at the Lowe’s Capital Theatre, NYC
- Jul 17 "North by Northwest" directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint premieres in Los Angeles
- Jul 18 "The Nun's Story" based on the novel by Kathryn Hulme, starring Audrey Hepburn premieres in Los Angeles
- Jul 22 Ed Wood's cult classic "Plan 9 From Outer Space", called one of the worse films ever, premieres
1959 in Music
- Feb 3 "The Day the Music Died" plane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), and the pilot. near Clear Lake, Iowa
- May 4 First Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win
- Jul 31 Cliff Richard and the Shadows have their 1st British No. 1 single with "Living' Doll" (biggest British single of 1959)
- Nov 16 "The Sound of Music" musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 1443 performances
1959 in Sport
- Apr 9 13th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics sweep Minnesota Lakers in 4 games, first of Boston Celtics record 8 straight titles
Did You Know?
Far side of Moon seen for the 1st time, courtesy of USSR's Luna 3 space probe
More People Born in 1959
Fun Fact About 1959
Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane
More 1959 Deaths
Articles About 1959
Lunar 1 (Mechta)
Luna 1 as exhibited in the "Kosmos" pavilion of the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy of the USSRJanuary 2Sanctuary of Christ the King
The Sanctuary of Christ the King in Almada, PortugalMay 17The Worst Movie Ever
Poster for Ed Wood's cult film Plan 9 from Outer SpaceJuly 22Kitchen Debate
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (left) and US Vice President Richard Nixon (right) debate each other in MoscowJuly 24Morris Mini-Minor
The 1959 MiniAugust 26Far Side of the Moon Revealed
The first ever photo of the far side of the Moon, taken by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3October 7
Famous Weddings in 1959
- Jan 26 President of Cuba Raúl Castro (27) weds revolutionary Vilma Espín (28) in Santiago de Cuba
- Apr 1 American sci-fi writer "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Philip K Dick marries 3rd wife Anne Williams Rubinstein
- Apr 10 Japan's Crown Prince Akihito marries commoner Michiko Shoda
Famous Divorces in 1959
- Apr 22 Actor Marlon Brando and actress Anna Kashfi divorce
- Jul 2 MLB baseball player Ernie Banks (28) divorces Mollye Louise after 6 years of marriage
- Jul 23 Billy Rose and Joyce Mathews divorce
More 1959 Weddings