1959
1959 (MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar . It is also a song by The Sisters of Mercy on the album Floodland .
Events
|- |valign=top align=center| |colspan=2| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |- | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |- | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |- | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |- | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |} |valign=top align=center| |colspan=5| | 1 | 2 |- | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |- | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |- | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |- | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |- | 31 |} |- |valign=top align=center| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |- | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |- | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |- | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |- | 28 | 29 | 30 |} |valign=top align=center| |colspan=3| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |- | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |- | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |- | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |- | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |} |- |valign=top align=center| |colspan=6| | 1 |- | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |- | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |- | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |- | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |- | 30 |} |valign=top align=center| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |- | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |- | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |- | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |- | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |} |} January February March-May May-July August-December August 4 - Martial law declared in Laos August 7 - Explorer program : The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral , Florida . August 8 - Flood in Formosa – 2000 dead August 14 - Explorer VI sends the first picture of Earth from space August 15 - Cyprus gains Independence . August 16 - Explorer VI sends back the first picture of Earth from space. August 21 - Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state . August 24 - Cyprus joins United Nations September 13 - Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon as the first man-made object. September 14 - Luna II reaches Moon as the first man-made object September 15 - Russian probe Luna 2 sends back first photos of the far side of Earth 's Moon . September 25 - Ceylon 's prime minister SWRD Bandaranaike assassinated. October 12 - Large scale diamond robbery in London October 13 - USA launches Explorer VII October 21 - Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri , Kenya . October 21 - In New York City , the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright . October 31 - Riots in the Belgian Congo . October 31 - Lee Harvey Oswald announces in Moscow he won't ever return to US . November 1 - Ice hockey : After being struck in the face with a Hockey puck , Montreal Canadiens goalie , Jacques Plante offered to return to play on the condition that he can wear his protective face mask. It was the first time such equipment was used in a regular NHL game. November 2 - Quiz show scandals : "Twenty-One" Game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance. November 15 - Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas . November 19 - The Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel automobile, which had been introduced to the American public on "E Day" only two years earlier -- September 4, 1957 . November 28 - Anti-USA demonstrations in Panama December 1 - Cold War : Antarctic Treaty signed - 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union , sign a landmark Treaty , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that Continent (this was the first Arms control agreement established during the Cold War). December 2 - Malpasset Dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Frejus - 412 dead December 14 - Makarios selected first president of Cyprus Unknown date Births Unknown date January-February January 6 - Kathy Sledge , American singer January 9 - Rigoberta Menchú , Guatemalan writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize January 16 - Sade , Nigerian-born singer January 17 - Susanna Hoffs , American singer (The Bangles ) January 24 - Nastassja Kinski , German actress January 27 - Keith Olbermann , American news correspondent and sportscaster February 4 - Lawrence Taylor , American football player February 14 - Renee Fleming , American soprano February 16 - John McEnroe , American tennis player February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan , American actor February 23 - Richard Dodds , British field hockey player February 26 - Rolando Blackman , Panamanian basketball player March-April March 6 - Tom Arnold , American actor and comedian March 8 - Aidan Quinn , American actor March 9 Rodney A. Grant , American actor March 15 - Harold Baines , baseball player March 16 - Flavor Flav , American rapper March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg , Prime Minister of Norway March 17 - Danny Ainge , American basketball player, coach, and baseball player March 18 - Luc Besson , French film producer, writer, and director March 21 - Nobuo Uematsu , Japanese composer March 22 - Matthew Modine , American actor March 29 - Perry Farrell , American musician April 3 - David Hyde Pierce , American actor April 10 - Brian Setzer , American guitarist (Stray Cats ) April 16 - Alison Ramsay , Scottish field hockey player April 21 - Robert Smith , British musician (The Cure ) April 22 - Catherine Mary Stewart , Canadian actress April 22 - Ryan Stiles , American actor April 27 - Sheena Easton , Scottish Singer April 30 - Stephen Harper , Canadian politician May-June May 3 - Uma Bharati , Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh May 3 - Ben Elton , British comedian and writer May 5 - Steve Stevens , American guitarist May 15 - Andrew Eldritch , British musician (The Sisters of Mercy ) May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole , American singer (d. 1997 ) May 20 - Bronson Pinchot , American actor May 22 - Steven Morrissey , English singer May 29 - Adrian Paul , English actor June 12 - John Linnell , American musician (They Might Be Giants ) June 26 - Mark McKinney , Canadian actor and comedian June 27 - Clint Boon , English musician (Inspiral Carpets ) June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio , American actor July-September July 3 - Julie Burchill , British journalist July 6 - Richard Dacoury , French basketball player July 7 - Ben Linder , American engineer (d. 1987 ) July 10 - Janet Julian , American actress July 11 - Richie Sambora , American musician July 11 - Suzanne Vega , American singer July 13 - Richard Leman , British field hockey player July 16 - Gary Anderson , American football player July 26 - Kevin Spacey , American actor July 29 - Sanjay Dutt , Indian actor July 29 - Ruud Janssen , Dutch artist August 1 - Joe Elliott , lead singer for band Def Leppard . August 2 - Apollonia Kotero , American actress and singer August 3 - Koichi Tanaka , Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry August 10 - Rosanna Arquette , American actress August 14 - Magic Johnson , American basketball player August 21 - Jim McMahon , American football player August 29 - Stephen Wolfram , English scientist August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson , Australian footballer and actor September 4 - Kevin Harrington , Australian actor September 14 - Morten Harket , Norwegian singer (A-ha ) September 21 - Dave Coulier , American actor October-December October 3 - Fred Couples , American golfer October 3 - Greg Proops , American comedian October 9 - Michael Pare , American actor October 15 - Sarah Ferguson , Duchess of York October 23 - 'Weird Al' Yankovic, American singer and parodist October 25 - Nancy Cartwright , American voice actress October 27 - Rick Carlisle , American basketball coach November 10 - Linda Cohn , American sports reporter November 14 - Paul McGann , British actor November 23 - Dominique Dunne , American actress (d. 1982 ) November 25 - Charles Kennedy , Scottish politician December 13 - Nadia Russ , Ukrainian-born artist December 21 - Florence Griffith Joyner , American athelete (d. 1998 ) December 27 - Gerina Dunwich , American author Deaths January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille , American film director (b. 1881 ) January 22 - Mike Hawthorn , English race car driver (b. 1929 ) February 3 - Killed in a private plane crash: February 3 - Vincent Astor , American philanthropist (b. 1891 ) February 11 - Marshall Teague , American race car driver (b. 1922 ) February 14 - Baby Dodds , American jazz musician (b. 1898 ) February 15 - Owen Willans Richardson , British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879 ) February 28 - Maxwell Anderson , American screenwriter (b. 1888 ) March 3 - Lou Costello , American actor and comedian (b. 1906 ) March 4 - Maxey Long , American athlete (b. 1878 ) March 26 - Raymond Chandler , American novelist (b. 1888 ) March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda , first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910 ) April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright , American architect (b. 1867 ) May 5 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas , Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878 ) May 14 - Sidney Bechet , American musician (b. 1897 ) May 24 - John Foster Dulles , United States Secretary of State (b. 1888 ) June 9 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876 ) July 11 - Charlie Parker , English cricketer (b. 1882 ) July 15 - Ernest Bloch , Swiss composer (b. 1880 ) July 15 - Billie Holiday , American singer (b. 1915 ) August 5 - Edgar Guest , English poet (b. 1881 ) August 6 - Preston Sturges , American film director and writer (b. 1898 ) August 15 - Blind Willie McTell , American singer (b. 1901 ) August 16 - Wanda Landowska , Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879 ) August 19 - Jacob Epstein , American-born sculptor (b. 1880 ) August 28 - Bohuslav Martinů , Czech composer (b. 1890 ) October 7 - Mario Lanza , American tenor (b. 1921 ) October 14 - Errol Flynn , American actor (b. 1909 ) October 16 - George C. Marshall , United States Secretary of State , recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b.1880 ) October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi , Algerian athlete (b. 1898 ) November 15 - Charles Thomson Rees Wilson , Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869 ) November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos , Brazilian composer (b. 1887 ) November 17 - Nichijun Horigome, Japanese priest (b. 1898 ) Nobel Prizes
