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What Happened In History Year 1959

Historical Events for the Year 1959

  • 2nd January » 'Luna 1', the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
  • 3rd January » Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
  • 3rd January » Separatists in the Maldives declare the establishment of the United Suvadive Republic.
  • 4th January » 'Luna 1' becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
  • 7th January » The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
  • 12th January » The Caves of Nerja are rediscovered in Spain.
  • 20th January » The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard.
  • 22nd January » Knox Mine disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine near Pittston, Pennsylvania in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania known as Port Griffith; 12 miners are killed.
  • 30th January » ship MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and "unsinkable" like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
  • 2nd February » Dyatlov Pass incident
  • 3rd February » Deaths of rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper or J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, in a The Day the Music Died called plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
  • 6th February » Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
  • 6th February » At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
  • 9th February » The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, Soviet Union or USSR.
  • 11th February » The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which will later become South Yemen, is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
  • 16th February » Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
  • 17th February » Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
  • 19th February » The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
  • 20th February » The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic fighter aircraft or jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the John George Diefenbaker e.g Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
  • 22nd February » Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
  • 28th February » 'Discoverer 1', an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched. It failed to achieve orbit.
  • 9th March » The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
  • 17th March » 14th Dalai Lama known as Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
  • 18th March » President of the United States or President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
  • 24th March » The Party of the African Federation is launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keïta.
  • 31st March » The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
  • 1st April » Archbishop Iakovos of America known as Iakovos is enthroned as Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America e.g Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America.
  • 8th April » A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
  • 8th April » The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
  • 10th April » Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, marries Empress Michiko of Japan named Michiko.
  • 25th April » The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes (North America) named Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
  • 4th May » The 1st Grammy Awards are held.
  • 30th May » The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General of New Zealand or Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.
  • 3rd June » Singapore was declared a self-governing state even though it was still a part of the British Empire.
  • 5th June » The first government of the Singapore named State of Singapore is sworn in.
  • 8th June » The USS Barbero SS-317 6 and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
  • 9th June » The USS George Washington SSBN-598 6 is launched. It is the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
  • 14th June » Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
  • 14th June » A group of Dominican exiles depart from Cuba and land in the Dominican Republic with the intent of overthrowing the totalitarian government of Rafael Trujillo. All but four are killed or executed.
  • 23rd June » Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
  • 23rd June » A fire in a resort hotel in Stalheim (Norway) kills 34 people.
  • 1st July » The Party of the African Federation holds its constitutive conference.
  • 1st July » Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth of Nations e.g Commonwealth countries.
  • 7th July » Venus Occultation named occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
  • 15th July » The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
  • 21st July » Pumpsie Green or Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first list of African-American firsts e.g African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1
  • 24th July » At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Vice President of the United States named U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev have a "Kitchen Debate".
  • 25th July » SR.N1 hovercraft crosses the English Channel from Calais known as Calais, France to Dover, England in just over two hours.
  • 29th July » First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the United States known as Union.
  • 7th August » The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. Penny (United States coin) named penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design, and was minted until 2008.
  • 7th August » Explorer program: 'Explorer 6' launches from the Eastern Range called Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  • 11th August » Sheremetyevo International Airport, the second-largest airport in Russia, opens.
  • 14th August » Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League.
  • 17th August » Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
  • 17th August » 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
  • 8th September » The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is established.
  • 12th September » Premiere of 'Bonanza', the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color.
  • 12th September » The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon.
  • 14th September » The Soviet probe 'Luna 2' crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
  • 15th September » Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet Union named Soviet leader to visit the United States.
  • 16th September » The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
  • 18th September » Vanguard 3 is launched into Earth orbit.
  • 19th September » Nikita Khrushchev is barred from visiting Disneyland due to security concerns.
  • 23rd September » Iowa farmer and corn breeder Roswell Garst hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
  • 25th September » Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is mortally wounded by a Buddhist monk, Talduwe Somarama, and dies the next day.
  • 26th September » Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.
  • 27th September » Nearly 5,000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshū as the result of a typhoon.
  • 2nd October » The anthology series 'The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) called The Twilight Zone' premieres on CBS television.
  • 7th October » Soviet Union e.g U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits the first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
  • 12th October » At the national congress of Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana or APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
  • 21st October » In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public.
  • 21st October » U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an Executive order (United States) e.g executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other Germany called German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
  • 1st November » Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game.
  • 1st November » In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction.
  • 2nd November » Quiz show scandals: 'Twenty One (game show) e.g Twenty One' game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congress of the United States named Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
  • 2nd November » The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway (Great Britain) named M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
  • 19th November » The Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
  • 21st November » American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC (AM) named WABC-AM radio for refusing to deny allegations that he had participated in the payola scandal.
  • 23rd November » President of France called French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "European integration named Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals".
  • 1st December » Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
  • 3rd December » The current flag of Singapore is adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
  • 13th December » List of archbishops of Cyprus known as Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.
  • 20th December » Unknown attackers Walker family murders called murder the Walker family in Osprey, Florida.
  • 29th December » The Lisbon Metro begins operation.

Historical events for the year 1959 by month