1959 CE

The Cuban Revolution brings Fidel Castro to power after toppling Fulgencio Batista; construction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail begins, later crucial in the Vietnam War; The Day the Music Died plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson; Miss Baker becomes one of the first animals to survive spaceflight; the Kitchen Debate reflect Cold War tensions between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev; the 1959 Tibetan uprising forces the 14th Dalai Lama into exile; the Léopoldville riots ignite unrest in the Congo; the Malpasset Dam collapse kills hundreds in France; and Typhoon Vera devastates Japan.

In the 1950s, the 20th century.

1959 at a glance

World population: about 2.97 billion Our World in Data
United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower (President) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
United Kingdom: Elizabeth II (Queen); Harold Macmillan (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
Soviet Union: Nikita Khrushchev (General Secretary); Kliment Voroshilov (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Nikita Khrushchev (Chairman of the Council of Ministers) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
People's Republic of China: Mao Zedong (Chairman; Paramount Leader); Mao Zedong (Chairman); Liu Shaoqi (President); Zhou Enlai (Premier) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
France: Charles de Gaulle (President); Michel Debré (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
East Germany: Wilhelm Pieck (President); Otto Grotewohl (Chairman) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
West Germany: Theodor Heuss, then Heinrich Lübke (President); Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
$1 in 1959: $11.56 in September 2026 dollars BLS CPI-U
Most weeks at No. 1 in 1959: “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin, 9 weeks Wikipedia rev. 1338917788

Who led every country in 1959 →Born in 1959? What it cost, who led, what was No. 1 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 2 - As Castro's rebel forces rolled into Havana, the 32-year-old leader named Dr. Manuel Urrutia Lleo as President of Cuba.Cuba source
January 3 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.source
January 3 – The southernmost island of the Maldives archipelago, Addu Atoll, declares its independence from the Kingdom of the Maldives, initiating the United Suvadive Republic.source
January 6 – The International Maritime Organization is inaugurated.source
January 7 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.source
January 8 – Charles de Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.source
January 10 – The Soviet government recognizes the new Castro government of Cuba.source
January 21 – The European Court of Human Rights is established.source
1 February – Elections are held to the Chamber of Deputies. The Christian Social People's Party loses 5 seats, while the Democratic Party gains five.Luxembourg source
February 9 – Yugoslavia and Spain set trade relations (not diplomatic ones).source
February 16 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.source
February 18 – Women in Nepal vote for the first time.source
February 18 - Elections were held in Nepal for the first time its history, as voters chose candidates for 18 of the 109 lower house seats, with the remainder to be chosen on eight other days.Nepal source
February 19 – First of the London and Zürich Agreements under which the United Kingdom agrees to grant independence to Cyprus.source
March 18 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Hawaii Admission Act, granting statehood to Hawaii.source
March 19 – The other two southern islands of the Maldives, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah, join Addu Atoll in forming the United Suvadive Republic (abolished September 1963).source
April 27 – National People's Congress elects Liu Shaoqi as Chairman of the People's Republic of China, as a successor of Mao Zedong.source
May 24 – British Empire Day is renamed Commonwealth Day.source
30 May – The 1959 General Elections was held. Lee Kuan Yew was elected as Prime Minister of Singapore.Singapore source
June 3 – Singapore becomes a self-governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.source
June 23 – Seán Lemass becomes the third Taoiseach of Ireland.source
August 19 – The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is established.source
August 19 – The Baghdad Pact, which had been kicked out of Baghdad after Iraq withdrew from the alliance, changed its name to the CENTO, the Central Treaty Organization, with the United Kingdom, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran.Iraq source
19 August – The 1959 General Elections was held for the first time since independence on 31 August 1957.Malaya source
August 30 – 1959 South Vietnamese legislative election: South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Dan is elected to the National Assembly despite soldiers being bussed in to vote for President Ngo Dinh Diem's candidate.source
September 15–28 – USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his wife tour the United States, at the invitation of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.source
September 30 – Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev meets Mao Zedong in Beijing.source
3 November – Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion wins the fourth Israeli legislative elections, capturing 47 of the 120 seats, but still 13 short of a majority.Israel source
November 20 – The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations.source
December 1 – Cold War: Antarctic Treaty – 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty that sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent (the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).source
December 14 – Makarios III is selected as the first president of Cyprus.source
First step of elections to the Basic Democrat units in both parts of the country.Pakistan source

Conflict & Security

January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.source
January 4 – In Cuba, rebel troops led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos enter the city of Havana.source
January 7 - Cuba's new government announced the first executions of former officials of Fulgencio Batista. Ten officers were executed at Santiago including Col. Arcadio Casillas, who oversaw Santiago. The same day, the United States recognized the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.Cuba source
March 10 – The Tibetan uprising erupts in Lhasa when Chinese officials attempt to arrest the Dalai Lama.source
March 31 - India grants political asylum to the Dalai Lama after he fled Tibet and crossed into Indian territory following 1959 Tibetan uprising.India source
19 April – An attempted coup d'état led by the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB) fails to depose President Siles Zuazo and ends in the suicide of the FSB's leader.Bolivia source
1 May – Opposition leader İsmet İnönü got attacked in UşakTurkey source
May 2 – 1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest defeat Luton Town 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.source
May 18 – The National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire is launched in Conakry, Guinea.source
May 23 – In Laos the Laotian Civil War begins between the Kingdom of Laos and communist rebels, the Pathet Lao.source
June 14 – A 3-front invasion of the Dominican Republic by exile forces backed by Fidel Castro and Venezuela attempts to overthrow Rafael Trujillo.source
July 14 – Groups of Kurdish and communist militias rebel in Kirkuk, Iraq against the central government.source
July 14 – In Kirkuk, a rally to celebrate the first anniversary of the 1958 revolution degenerated into a three-day-long massacre of ethnic Turks by the Kurds. At least 30 people were killed, and over 100 injured. The event was ultimately referred to as the Kirkuk Massacre. On the same day, Iraq became the first Arab nation to appoint a woman to a ministerial post, with Dr. Naziha ad-Dulaimi becoming Minister of Rural Affairs.Iraq source
28-31 July - North Vietnamese invasion of Laos: North Vietnamese Army units attack Laos in support of the Pathet Lao.Laos source
August 4 – Martial law is declared in Laos.source
September 26 – First large unit action of the Vietnam War takes place, when two companies of the ARVN's 23rd Division are ambushed by a well-organized Viet Cong force of several hundred, identified as the "2nd Liberation Battalion".source
October 12 – At the national Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana Congress in Peru, a group of leftist radicals is expelled from the party; they later form APRA Rebelde.source
October 31 – Riots break out in the Belgian Congo.source
November 1 – In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction.source
4 November – Six Israeli jets and four Egyptian MiG-17s clashed in a dogfight near the border between the two nations. All planes reportedly returned safely and the battle did not lead to further action.Israel source
2-4 December: Officials of the Brazilian Air Force and Brazilian Army try to start a military uprising with a seizure of power and carry out the country's first plane hijacking. The revolt would fail and later be known as the Aragarças Revolt.Brazil source
1958–59 Mexican Primera División seasonMexico source

Exploration & Expansion

January 20 – Soviet Foreign Minister Anastas Mikoyan returned to Moscow after a controversial 17-day tour of the United States.Soviet Union source
27 February – Tore Sagvolden, orienteering competitor.Norway source
March 17 – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama escapes Tibet and arrives in India.source
March 31 – The Dalai Lama is granted asylum in India.source
April 25 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.source
10 July – A memorial for Frank Foley (1884–1958) was dedicated in Harel, Israel, in the form of a forest planted in the desert. As a passport control officer at Britain's embassy in Nazi Germany, Foley flouted strict rules in order to help as many as 10,000 German Jews to leave the country.Israel source
August 7 – Explorer program: The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.source
11 December – Georgian-born Australian amateur ocean rower Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko arrives in Dutch New Guinea having paddled a dugout canoe from Queensland for months via the islands of the Torres Strait for supplies. National papers such as The Canberra Times had been following his progress throughout.Australia source
15 December: SUDENE is created by Law nº 3.692, which would seek the development of the Northeast region of Brazil.Brazil source
Papwa Sewgolum, a South African Indian golfer, wins the Dutch Open tournament.South Africa source
Nylon pantyhose, or sheer tights, are first sold on the open market as 'Panti-Legs' by Glen Raven Knitting Mills in the United States.source
Tallinn Bus Station moved to its current location from the Stalin Square (Viru Square).Estonia source
Auckland Trotting Cup – Scottish CommandNew Zealand source

Religion & Belief

January 25 – Pope John XXIII announces that the Second Vatican Council will be convened in Rome.source
20 February – Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah was installed as Sultan of KedahMalaya source
March 1 – Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.source
March 28 – The Kashag, the government of Tibet, is abolished by an order signed by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. The Dalai Lama is replaced in China by the Panchen Lama.source
2 May – Sanna Grønlid, biathlete.Norway source
May 23 – Pope John XXIII creates the dioceses of Tlaxcala and San Andrés Tuxtla.Mexico source
2 July – Marriage of Prince Albert and Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, BrusselsBelgium source
28 October – The Grand National Assembly adopts Decree No 410 which abolishes many monasteries, including Radu Vodă Monastery.Romania source
30 December – Paul Wilwertz is re-appointed to the Council of State, having previously been a member from 1945 to 1954.Luxembourg source
Sigurbjörn Einarsson became the tenth Bishop of Iceland, succeeding Ásmundur Guðmundsson in the position.Iceland source
William Theodore Heard is elevated to cardinal, the first Scot to hold such an office since the Reformation.Scotland source

Economy & Finance

26 January – The Central Bank of Malaya (Bank Negara Tanah Melayu) was founded.Malaya source
17 June: President Juscelino Kubitschek decides to break away with the IMF, due to pressure on meeting loan requirements.Brazil source
20 June – The Ministry of National Development will start a team with seven Assembly members from 22 June, with many departments to be consolidated under MND. The Singapore Improvement Trust will also be brought under the Ministry in future.Singapore source
July 24 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, United States Vice President Richard Nixon and USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev engage in the "Kitchen Debate".source
September 10 – MASA is founded when the state-owned investment bank, SOMEX, acquires the private company, Sheppard Hnos.Mexico source
22 September – At its inaugural conference the Irish Congress of Trade Unions attacks the government of Northern Ireland for not recognising the new organisation.Northern Ireland source
December 1 – Hana Bank, present day of Hana Financial Group was founded.South Korea source
16 December – The establishment of China Airlines.Taiwan source
The Supremes girl group is founded as The Primettes in Detroit.source
Stabilization Plan introduced to liberalize the Spanish economy, leading to the Spanish miracle of the 1960s.Spain source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 15 – The Soviet Union conducts its first census after World War II.source
22 January - Project Hotfoot (Laos) begins.Laos source
January 25 – American Airlines begins the first U.S. domestic jet service with a Boeing 707 airliner flight between New York and Los Angeles.source
January 27 – The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was opened at Sverdlovsky Hall in Moscow as Nikita Khrushchev welcomed 1,500 delegates, including Communist leaders from 70 nations. For the first time, Western reporters were admitted to the conclave, held for the first time since 1956.Soviet Union source
February 13 – TAT-2, AT&T's second transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation between Newfoundland and France.source
June 8 – The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.source
25 June – The Ministry of National Development forms the Primary Production Department to better serve farmers and fishermen.Singapore source
June 26 – Elizabeth II (as monarch of Canada) and United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower open the Saint Lawrence Seaway.source
July 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a British Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.source
August 21 - The Television Corporation of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the second Chilean television channel, currently known as Canal 13, begins its transmissions.Chile source
August 26 – The original Mini car, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, is launched in England.source
September 16 – The Xerox 914, the first plain paper copier, is introduced to the public.source
September 17 – The hypersonic North American X-15 research aircraft, piloted by Scott Crossfield, makes its first powered flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California.source
September 23 – The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia's first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across the Bass Strait.source
6 October – The Carmelit, Haifa's underground funicular railway, is opened.Israel source
31 October – Ulster Television, the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland, goes on air.Northern Ireland source
November 2 – At a ceremony near Toddington, British Minister of Transport Ernest Marples opens the first section of the M1 Motorway, between Watford and Crick, along with two spur motorways, the M45 and M10. Three decades of large scale motorway construction follow, leading to the rapid expansion of the UK motorway network.source
November – The MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor, is invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in the United States. It revolutionizes the electronics industry, becomes the fundamental building block of the Information Age and goes on to become the most widely manufactured device in history.source
December 2 – Malpasset Dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Fréjus, killing 412.source
7 December: The Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco approves the expropriation of Engenho Galiléia (a sugar mill), a project by Deputy Francisco Julião; lawyer for the Peasant League.Brazil source
29 December - Opening of the Lisbon MetroPortugal source
The Henney Kilowatt goes on sale in the United States, becoming the first production electric car in almost three decades, but only 47 models will be sold in its 2-year production run.source
Sprite was created in West Germany by The Coca-Cola Company .source

Science & Discovery

January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the vicinity of Earth's Moon, where it was intended to crash-land, but instead becomes the first spacecraft to go into heliocentric orbit.source
7 January – MS Hans Hedtoft departs from Copenhagen on her maiden journey to Greenland.Denmark source
26 January – Fröken Chic releasedSweden source
February 6 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.source
February 17 – Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, is launched to measure cloud cover for the United States Navy.source
February 20: Avro Arrow project is terminatedCanada source
February 28 – At 1:49 PST, Discoverer 1 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base to serve as a "north–south polar satellite". The launch was actually the first of the Project CORONA reconnaissance satellites used by the CIA to spy on the Soviet Union. The first launch, and the next 11, were failures. A declassified CIA report concluded that "Today, most people believe the DISCOVERER I landed somewhere near the South Pole."Soviet Union source
March 3 – Lunar probe Pioneer 4 becomes the first American object to escape dominance by Earth's gravity.source
April 9 – NASA announces its selection of seven military pilots to become the first U.S. astronauts, later known as the 'Mercury Seven'.source
14 May – Bjørn Ousland, comics writer.Norway source
May 28 – Jupiter AM-18 rocket launches two primates, Miss Baker and Miss Able, into space from Cape Canaveral in the United States along with living microorganisms and plant seeds. Successful recovery makes them the first living beings to return safely to Earth after space flight.source
June 9 – The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.source
July 7 – At 14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. The rare event (which will next occur on October 1, 2044) is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.source
July 17 – The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania.source
July 25 – The British SR.N1 hovercraft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours, on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's first crossing by heavier-than-air craft.source
29 July – Qantas launched its first jet service from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu.Australia source
August 14 – Explorer 6 sends the first picture of Earth from orbit.source
September 14 – Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to crash on the Moon.source
October 7 – The Soviet probe Luna 3 sends back the first ever images of the far side of the Moon.source
October 13 – The United States launches research satellite Explorer 7.source
November 18 — MGM's widescreen, multimillion-dollar, Technicolor version of Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, is released and becomes the studio's greatest hit up to this time. It is critically acclaimed and eventually wins 11 Academy Awards — a record held until 1998 (when 1997's Titanic becomes the first film to equal it).United States source
2 December: Journalist Antônio Callado from Correio da Manhã publishes a series of reports on the Peasant Leagues of the Northeast.Brazil source
The current (as of 2024) design of the Japanese 10 yen coin is put into circulation.source

Health & Medicine

19 January – Interior Minister Enrique Ortuzar resigns on health grounds.Chile source
1 May – The Immigration Ordinance 1959 was enacted.Malaya source
July 22 – A Kumamoto University medical research group studying Minamata disease concludes that it is caused by mercury.source
July 31 - The EMS ministry, an elected communist government in Kerala brought down through President's rule following Vimochana Samaram.India source
21 October – Åslaug Haga, politician and MinisterNorway source
November 1 – Montreal Canadiens Jacques Plante becomes the first ice hockey goalie to wear a protective face mask during a game against the New York Rangers at the Montreal ForumCanada source
November 11 – Werner Heyde, a psychiatrist who had guided the euthanizing of more than 100,000 handicapped persons in Nazi Germany, surrendered to police in Frankfurt after 13 years as a fugitive. As director of the Reich Association of Hospitals, Dr. Heyde had carried out "Action T4". Men, women and children who were mentally or physically handicapped were the victims of Heyde's "mercy killing" from 1939 to 1942, usually by lethal injection. Sentenced in absentia to death, Heyde had been practicing in Flensburg as "Dr. Fritz Sawade". On February 13, 1964, five days before his trial was to start, Dr. Heyde hanged himself at the prison in Butzbach.Germany source
Establishment of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of XMU, in Urumqi, XinjiangChina source
Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,359,700.New Zealand source

Crime & Justice

January 2 – The Foreign Ministry of Guatemala declares that the three Mexican fishermen killed on December 31, 1958, were "pirates".Mexico source
January 12 - In the largest mass execution of former officials since Castro's victory, Cuban communists shot 71 supporters of Fulgencio Batista over a seven-hour period, then buried them in a mass grave.Cuba source
31 January – Sandu Tudor begins a 40-year sentence at Jilava Prison for "conspiracy against the social order" and "intense activity against the working class".Romania source
February 5 – The U.S. State Department released tapes that showed that Soviet jets had shot down an unarmed American Lockheed C-130 transport plane on September 2, 1958. Transmissions between the two fighter planes, identified as "201" and "218", had been intercepted in Turkey. The Soviets denounced the tapes as a "clumsy fake". On the same day, Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev invited U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to visit Moscow, adding that he could bring anyone, and go anywhere, he chose. In his speech, Khrushchev referred to U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and proclaimed, "Mr. Dulles, if you so desire, then for the sake of ending the Cold War, we are even prepared to admit your victory in this war that is unwanted by the peoples. Regard yourselves, gentlemen, as victors in this war, but end it quickly."Soviet Union source
27 April – Two Israeli hikers are shot at close range and killed near Masada.Israel source
June 23 – Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after nine years in a British prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.source
21 September – Nantou shooting in Nantou County.Taiwan source
October 7 – On Baghdad's al-Rashid Street, President Abd al-Karim Qasim was ambushed on his way to the East German embassy. The five man team, led by future Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, killed Qasim's driver and wounded Qasim. One assassin died and Saddam himself was injured, but escaped to farm.Iraq source
October 29 – First appearance of Astérix the Gaul, in a French comic magazine.source
November 15 – The brutal Clutter family murders are committed in Holcomb, Kansas, inspiring Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1966).source
Sultan of Pahang: Sultan Abu BakarMalaya source

Disasters & Accidents

January 9 – The Vega de Tera disaster in Spain, a flood caused by a dam collapse, nearly destroys the town of Ribadelago and kills 144 residents.source
January 30 – Danish passenger/cargo ship MS Hans Hedtoft, returning to Copenhagen after its maiden voyage to Greenland, strikes an iceberg and sinks off the Greenland coast with the loss of all 95 on board.source
30 January – M/S Hans Hedtoft sinks on the way back to Denmark. 95 lives are lost.Denmark source
February 2 – Nine ski hikers mysteriously perish in the northern Ural Mountains in the Dyatlov Pass incident and are all found dead a few weeks later.source
February 3 – A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper with pilot Roger Peterson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".source
February 3 – American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L-188 Electra from Chicago crashes into the East River on approach to New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.source
February 3 – A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper crashes in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four occupants on board, including pilot Roger Peterson. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie". Future country star Waylon Jennings was scheduled to be on the plane, but gave up his seat to The Big Bopper.United States source
16 February – Mass protests against the closing of coal mines in the Borinage regionBelgium source
17 February – Turkish Airlines aircraft SEC crashed in London. Prime minister Adnan Menderes survivedTurkey source
February 20 – The Canadian Government cancels the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft project.source
March 1 – The USS Tuscaloosa, USS New Orleans, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia are stricken from the United States Naval Vessel Register.source
June 20: The Escuminac Disaster results in 35 fishermen drowned or missing and 22 fishing boats sunk.Canada source
August 7 – The Roseburg Blast in Oregon, caused when a truck carrying explosives catches fire, kills 14 and causes $12 million worth of damage.source
24 November – The coastal trader MV Holmglen sinks near Timaru with the loss of 15 lives.New Zealand source
December 8 – The life-boat Mona, based at Broughty Ferry in Scotland, capsizes during a rescue attempt with the loss of 8 lives.source
December 13 – Two apartment houses in a suburb of Dortmund were levelled by an explosion at 3:12 a.m.. Of 34 people in the Aplerbeck buildings, 26 were killed.Germany source
Club San Sebastián de León dissolves.Mexico source

Climate & Environment

February – major floods in QueenslandAustralia source
1 June – During exploratory oil drilling at Kapuni in South Taranaki, drillers appear to strike natural gas.New Zealand source
6 August – Huw T. Edwards leaves the Labour Party for Plaid Cymru in protest at the decision to flood the Tryweryn valley.Wales source
August 8 – A flood in Taiwan kills 2,000.source
15 August – The magnitude 7.1 Hengchun earthquake occurs offshore southern Taiwan.Taiwan source
August 17 – The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in southwest Montana kills 28.source
September 26 – Typhoon Vera hits central Honshū, Japan, as a 160 mph Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the Nagoya area.source
September 26 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, Typhoon Vera with tidal wave hit around Ise Bay, total 5,098 person were lives, 38,921 person were hurt.Japan source
December 11 – Charles Robberts Swart is appointed the 11th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.source
The Caspian tiger becomes extinct in Iran.source
Continuing Great Chinese FamineChina source
Sultan of Perak: Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin ShahMalaya source
Sultan of Terengganu: Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin ShahMalaya source

Culture & Society

January 11 – The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques is founded in Monaco.source
January 12 – The Motown record label is founded as Tamla by Berry Gordy in Detroit.source
1 February – A referendum takes place rejecting suffrage rights for women in Federal elections.Switzerland source
1 February – The establishment of National Science Council.Taiwan source
February 12 – Martín Luis Guzmán is named president of the Comisión Nacional de Libros de Texto Gratuitos (Commission of Free Textbooks, CONALITEG) to provide books for elementary schools.Mexico source
March 9 – Mattel's Barbie doll debuts in the United States.source
March 11 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1959, staged in Cannes, is won for the Netherlands by "'n Beetje" sung by Teddy Scholten (music by Dick Schallies, lyrics by Willy van Hemert).source
11 March – The Malayan Federation Royal Police Memorial Monument at Police Training Academy (now PULAPOL) Kuala Lumpur was officialized.Malaya source
April 6 – The 31st Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood. Musical film Gigi receives a record 9 Oscars.source
7 April – Israel created the first Holocaust Memorial Day by vote of the Knesset in Tel Aviv, to be observed on the 27th day of Nisan, which fell on 5 May in 1959. If the 27th falls on a Friday, the observation is held on the 26th.Israel source
April 8 – The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is established.source
April 10 – Crown Prince Akihito of Japan marries Shōda Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Imperial House of Japan.source
May 21 – Gypsy: A Musical Fable, starring Ethel Merman in her last new musical, opens on Broadway and runs for 702 performances.source
The first Ten Tors event is held on Dartmoor.source
June 3 – Real Madrid beat Stade Reims 2–0 at Neckarstadion, Stuttgart and win the 1958–59 European Cup (Association football).source
7 June – Charly Gaul wins the 1959 Giro d'Italia.Luxembourg source
14 June – Fenerbahçe won the championship of the Turkish football leagueTurkey source
June 18 – The film The Nun's Story, based on the best-selling novel, is released. Audrey Hepburn stars as the title character; she later says that this is her favorite film role. The film is a box-office hit, and is nominated for several Oscars.source
July 2 – Prince Albert of Belgium marries Italian Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria.source
July 4 – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia.source
August 17 – Miles Davis' influential jazz album Kind of Blue is released.source
August 31 – The Workers' Stadium sports venue in Beijing (China) is officially opened.source
October 1 – The 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China is celebrated with pomp across the country.source
11 November- The National Anthem "Majulah Singapura" was selected as the National Anthem of Singapore.Singapore source
November 18 – Religious epic film Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, which will be by far the highest-grossing film of the year and will go on to win a record 12 Academy Awards, premieres at New York City's Loews Theater in Ultra Panavision 70.source
Car tailfin design reaches its apex in the United States with such as the Cadillac Eldorado, Chevrolet Impala second generation model, Dodge Silver Challenger and Imperial Crown Sedan.source

Births

February 8 – Mauricio Macri, President of Argentinasource
March 5 – Vazgen Sargsyan, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (died 1999)source
March 16 – Jens Stoltenberg, 27th Prime Minister of Norwaysource
26 March – K. Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law.Singapore source
April 2 – Alberto Fernández, President of Argentinasource
April 30 – Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canadasource
18 May – Ranga Yogeshwar, scientistLuxembourg source
May 22 – Morrissey, British singersource
May 29: Maria Helena Semedo, economist and politician, former Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)Cape Verde source
5 June – Betty Tejada, president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2014.Bolivia source
June 7 – Mike Pence, American politician and former Vice President of the United Statessource
June 10 – Carlo Ancelotti, Italian football player and managersource
August 14 – Magic Johnson, African-American basketball playersource
October 15 – Sarah Ferguson, British royal spousesource
October 23 – "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodistsource
October 26 – Evo Morales, President of Boliviasource
November 5 – Bryan Adams, Canadian singer and photographersource
December 6 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese president of Nintendo (died 2015)source

Deaths

January 4 – Léopoldville riots: At least 49 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the ABAKO Party in Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo.source
January 21 – Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (born 1881)source
January 22 – Knox Mine disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, near Pittston, Pennsylvania, United States; 12 miners are killed.source
9 February - Luang Pu Sodh CandasaroThailand source
March 8 – The Mosul uprising began in Iraq as Colonel Abd al-Shawaff staged a rebellion against the government of President Abdul Karim Qasim. al-Shawaaf was killed the next day, and after the insurrection was put down, Qasim ordered the execution of officers suspected of complicity.Iraq source
April 9 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (born 1867)source
June 30 – 1959 Okinawa F-100 crash: Twenty-one students are killed and more than a hundred injured when a U.S. Air Force North American F-100 Super Sabre jet crashes into Miamori Elementary School on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The pilot ejected before the plane struck the school.source
July 17 – Billie Holiday, American singer (born 1915)source
July 17 – Busan Municipal Stadium stampede, 67 persons died after heavy rain triggered a rush towards the upper areas of the stadium, according to National Police Agency of South Korea.South Korea source
July 20 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (born 1875)source
September 7 – Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec (born 1890)source
October 14 – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (born 1909)source
14 October - Phetsarath RatanavongsaLaos source
October 15 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (born 1909)source
October 16 – George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1880)source
October 21 – The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of modern art (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who died on April 9) opens to the public in New York City.source
October 28 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (born 1932)source
December 23 – Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British politician (born 1881)source
December 28 – Ante Pavelic, Croatian fascist leader and WWII war criminal (born 1889)source