1959
1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January-February
January 1 - Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin.
January 1 - Cuba : Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance
January 2 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife Our Gal Sunday , Road of Life , and This is Nora Drake .
January 2 - Castro's troops enter Havana
January 3 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state .
January 4 - In Léopoldville 42 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the Abako party.
January 7 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
January 22 - Knox Mine Disaster - water breaches River Slope mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania - 12 miners dead
February 1 - A referendum in Switzerland turns down female suffrage
February 3 - The plane (called the American Pie ) transporting Buddy Holly , Richie Valens , and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing everyone on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean 's song, American Pie .
February 6 - At Cape Canaveral , Florida , the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished
February 16 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba
February 18 - Jesus Sosa Blanco , murderer of 108 people, executed in Cuba
February 18 - Women in Nepal vote for the first time
February 19 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence
February 22 - Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500
March-May
June-September
October-December
unknown date
Year in topic
Births
January
February
March
March 6 - Tom Arnold , actor, comedian
March 8 - Aidan Quinn , actor
March 9 Rodney A. Grant , Native American actor
March 15 - Harold Baines , former Major League Baseball player
March 16 - Flavor Flav , rap musician
March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg , Prime Minister of Norway
March 17 - Danny Ainge , basketball player, coach, baseball player
March 18 - Luc Besson , producer, writer, director
March 22 - Matthew Modine , actor (Full Metal Jacket , Memphis Belle , Any Given Sunday )
March 29 - Perry Farrell , musician ("Jane's Addiction ", "Porno for Pyros ")
April-September
April 3 - David Hyde Pierce , actor (Frasier )
April 21 - Robert Smith , vocalist for British rock band The Cure
April 22 - Ryan Stiles , actor (The Drew Carey Show , Whose Line is it Anyway? )
May 3 - Ben Elton , British comedian (co-writer, Blackadder ) and author (Popcorn )
May 3 - Uma Bharati , first woman chief minister of Madhya Pradesh
May 15 - Andrew Eldritch , British rock artist of The Sisters of Mercy
May 20 - Bronson Pinchot , actor
May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole , Hawaiian singer
May 22 - Steven Morrissey , singera
May 27 - D.A. Johnson writer illustrator childrens books
May 29 - Adrian Paul , actor best known for his role in the television series Highlander
June 26 - Mark McKinney , actor (The Saddest Music in the World ), comedian (The Kids in the Hall , Saturday Night Live )
June 27 - Clint Boon , musician best known for playing keyboards in the band Inspiral Carpets
June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio , actor (Full Metal Jacket , Ed Wood , Law & Order: Criminal Intent )
July 3 - Julie Burchill , UK journalist
July 7 - Ben Linder , American engineer murdered in Nicaragua (d. 1987 )
July 11 - Suzanne Vega , singer (Bad Wisdom )
July 16 - Gary Anderson , American football player
July 26 - Kevin Spacey , actor
July 29 - Ruud Janssen , artist
July 29 - Sanjay Dutt , actor
August 10 - Rosanna Arquette , actress
August 14 - Magic Johnson , basketball legend
August 21 - Jim McMahon , American football quarterback
August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson , Australian footballer and actor
September 11 - Bert Anciaux , Belgian politician
September 21 - Dave Coulier , actor
October-December
October 3 - Fred Couples , American golfer
October 3 - Greg Proops , comedian
October 15 - Sarah Ferguson , Duchess of York
October 23 - Weird Al Yankovic , singer and parodist
October 25 - Nancy Cartwright , voice actress
October 27 - Rick Carlisle , basketball coach
November 10 - Linda Cohn , sports anchor
November 14 - Paul McGann , British actor
November 23 - Dominique Dunne , actress (d. 1982 )
November 25 - Charles Kennedy , British politician
December 27 - Gerina Dunwich , author
Deaths
January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille , American film director
January 22 - Mike Hawthorn , racing champion
February 3 - Buddy Holly , Richie Valens , and The Big Bopper , singers (plane crash)
February 3 - Vincent Astor , American philanthropist
February 11 - Marshall Teague , race car driver (b. 1922 )
February 14 - Baby Dodds , American jazz musician (b. 1898 )
February 28 - Maxwell Anderson , playwright and film writer
March 3 - Lou Costello , American actor, comedian
March 4 - Maxey Long , American athlete
March 26 - Raymond Chandler , American novelist
March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda , first President of the Central African Republic
April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright , American architect (b. 1867 )
May 14 - Sidney Bechet , American jazz musician (b. 1897 )
May 24 - John Foster Dulles , United States Secretary of State (b. 1888 )
July 11 - Charlie Parker , English cricketer (b. 1882 )
July 15 - Ernest Bloch , Swiss composer (b. 1880 )
July 15 - Billie Holiday , American singer
August 6 - Preston Sturges , American film director and writer
August 11 - Mario Lanza , American tenor (b. 1921 )
August 15 - Blind Willie McTell , American singer
August 28 - Bohuslav Martinu , Romanian composer
September 13 - Gilbert Adrian , Hollywood fashion designer
October 14 - Errol Flynn , American actor
October 16 - George C. Marshall , American general, United States Secretary of State , United States Secretary of Defense , Nobel Peace Prize recipiant, and director of the American Red Cross (b.1880 )
October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi , Algerian athlete
November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos , Brazilian composer
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