1959

1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1959th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 959th year of the 2nd millennium, the 59th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1950s decade.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1920s  1930s  1940s  – 1950s –  1960s  1970s  1980s
Years:	1956 1957 1958 – 1959 – 1960 1961 1962

Events

• Fidel Castro becomes the President of Cuba.
• Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states of the United States.
• February 3- American musicians, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper are killed in a plane crash on their way to a concert, an event that would be known as The Day the Music Died.
• March 9 – the first Barbie dolls are issued.
• October-The 1959 Mexico hurricane hits western Mexico. Storm kills over 1,800 people.

Births

• January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor
• January 22 – Linda Blair, actress
• January 30 – Irina Pudova, Yakut ballerina
• March 6 – Tom Arnold, American comedian
• April 15 – Emma Thompson, British actor
• April 20 – Clint Howard, American actor
• May 3 – Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
• June 19 – Christian Wulff, German politician
• June 20 – Chris Williams, African-American actor
• June 29 - Gary Rydstrom, American sound designer
• July 22 - Lon Bender, American sound editor
• July 29 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
• October 10 – Maya Lin, American architect
• October 31 – Neal Stephenson – science fiction writer
• November 14 – Paul McGann, British actor
• December 31 – Val Kilmer, American actor
• R. A. Salvatore, science-fiction and fantasy writer

Deaths

• February 3 — Buddy Holly, singer and guitarist, Ritchie Valens, singer and guitarist, Jiles Perry “The Big Bopper” Richardson Jr. disc jockey and singer

• February 4 – Una O'Connor, actress
• February 5 – Gwili Andre, actress
• February 28 – Maxwell Anderson, playwright, movie writer
• March 3 – Lou Costello, comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team
• March 26 – Raymond Chandler, American novelist.
• June 16 – George Reeves, actor
• June 18 – Ethel Barrymore, actress
• June 23 – Boris Vian, French novelist
• September 18 - Harvey Glatman, American serial killer (executed by gas chamber; b. 1927)
• October 14 – Errol Flynn, actor
• November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, European actress
• November 25 – Gérard Philipe, French actor

Movies released

• Anatomy of a Murder
• Auntie Mame
• Ben-Hur
• Darby O'Gill and the Little People
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Imitation of Life
• North by Northwest
• The Nun's Story
• Pillow Talk
• Rio Bravo
• The Shaggy Dog
• Some Like It Hot
• Sleeping Beauty

Series

• The Gumby Show – Gumby is premiered The Zoops, Even Stevens, The Glob, Chicken Feed, Hidden Valley, The Groobee, The Witty Witch and Hot Rod Granny.

New books

• Advertisement for Myself – Norman Mailer
• Advise and Consent – Allen Drury
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Mordecai Richler
• The Children of Gebelaawi – Naguib Mahfouz
• Children of the Wolf – Alfred Duggan
• Dear and Glorious Physician – Taylor Caldwell
• The Defeat of the Spanish Armada – Garett Mattingly
• The Elements of Style – William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
• Exodus – Leon Uris
• Goldfinger – Ian Fleming
• Goodbye, Columbus – Philip Roth
• The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
• Hawaii – James A. Michener
• Henderson the Rain King – Saul Bellow
• The Magic Christian – Terry Southern
• Mountolive – Lawrence Durrell
• Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris – Paul Gallico
• Naked Lunch – William S. Burroughs
• Poor No More – Robert Ruark
• Psycho – Robert Bloch
• Rape of the Fair Country – Alexander Cordell
• Sink the Bismarck! aka The Last Nine Days of the Bismark – C.S. Forester
• The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut
• Starship Troopers – Robert Heinlein
• The Tin Drum – Günter Grass
• The Ugly American – William J. Lederer and Eugene L. Burdick

Hit songs

• "A Fool Such As I" – Elvis Presley
• "All For The Love Of A Girl" – Johnny Horton
• "(All of A Sudden) My Heart Sings" – Paul Anka
• "Among My Souvenirs" – Connie Francis
• "Apron Strings" – Cliff Richard
• "The Battle Of New Orleans" – Johnny Horton
• "Beyond The Sea" – Bobby Darin
• "The Big Hurt" – Toni Fisher
• "Billy Bayou" – Jim Reeves
• "Ciao, Ciao Bambina" – Dalida
• "Come Softly To Me" – The Fleetwoods
• "Crackin' Up" – Bo Diddley
• "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" – Buddy Holly
• "Dream Lover" – Bobby Darin
• "El Paso" – Marty Robbins
• "First Name Initial" – Annette
• "Forty Miles Of Bad Road" – Duane Eddy
• "Heartaches By The Number" – Guy Mitchell
• "He'll Have To Go" – Jim Reeves
• "High Hopes" – Frank Sinatra
• "I'm Blue Again" – Patsy Cline
• "I'm Sorry" – Bo Diddley
• "I Only Have Eyes For You" – The Flamingos
• "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" – Buddy Holly
• "It's All In The Game" – Tommy Edwards
• "It's Just A Matter Of Time" – Brook Benton
• "It's Only The Good Times" – Tommy Edwards
• "Kansas City" – Wilbert Harrison
• "Kissin' Time" – Bobby Rydell
• "La Bamba" – Ritchie Valens
• "Lipstick On Your Collar" – Connie Francis
• "Lonely Boy" – Paul Anka
• "Lonesome Town" – Ricky Nelson
• "Love Potion Number Nine" – The Clovers
• "M.T.A" – The Kingston Trio
• "Mack The Knife" – Bobby Darin
• "Mr. Blue" – The Fleetwoods
• "Misty" – Johnny Mathis
• "My Heart Is An Open Book" – Carl Dobkins, Jr.
• "Non Dimenticar" – Nat King Cole
• "Peggy Sue Got Married" – Buddy Holly
• "Personality" – Lloyd Price
• "Pillow Talk" – Doris Day
• "Poison Ivy" – The Coasters
• "Poor Jenny" – The Everly Brothers
• "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" – Paul Anka
• "Raining In My Heart" – Buddy Holly
• "Roberta" – Frankie Ford
• "Rockin' Mother" – Frankie Laine
• "Rocks And Gravel" – Frankie Laine
• "Rummy Polka" – Matys Brothers
• "Running Bear" – Johnny Preston
• "Say Man" – Bo Diddley
• "Say Man, Back Again" – Bo Diddley
• "Sea Cruise" – Frankie Ford
• "Since I Don't Have You" – The Skyliners
• "Sleepwalk" – Santo & Johnny
• "Small World" – Johnny Mathis
• "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" – The Platters
• "Stagger Lee" – Lloyd Price
• "Sweet Nothin's" – Brenda Lee
• "Take A Message To Mary" – The Everly Brothers
• "Tall Oak Tree" – Dorsey Burnette
• "A Teenager In Love" – Dion & the Belmonts
• "There Goes My Baby" – The Drifters
• "'Til I Kissed Youe" – The Everly Brothers
• "Till There Was You" – Anita Bryant
• "True Love, True Love" / "Dance With Me" – The Drifters
• "The Twist" – Hank Ballard
• "Venus" – Frankie Avalon
• "What A Difference A Day Makes" – Dinah Washington
• "What'd I Say" – Ray Charles
• "Where the Boys Are" – Connie Francis
• "Why" – Frankie Avalon
• "A Worried Man" – The Kingston Trio