1959

Events in 1959 54

• 1867 – 1959 Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) Died 9 April 1959, aged 91 Wright was one of the most influential architects in American history, known for organic designs such as Fallingwater and the spiraling Guggenheim Museum in New York, which opened months after his death. He pioneered concepts of open-plan living and buildings integrated with their natural surroundings. His career spanned more than seven decades.
• 1877 – 1959 Edmund Gwenn (1877-1959) English actor, the Santa Claus of Miracle on 34th Street.
• 1879 – 1959 Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959) Died 18 June 1959, aged 79 Barrymore was a celebrated American stage and film actress and a leading member of the Barrymore theatrical dynasty. Known as "The First Lady of the American Theatre," she won an Academy Award for None but the Lonely Heart in 1944. Her career spanned more than five decades on stage and screen.
• 1879 – 1959 Wanda Landowska (1879-1959) Died 16 August 1959, aged 80 Landowska was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist who almost single-handedly revived the harpsichord and historically informed performance of early music in the twentieth century. Her recordings of Bach's Goldberg Variations were highly influential. She taught and performed across Europe before settling in the United States.
• 1880 – 1959 Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) Died 19 August 1959, aged 78 Epstein was an American-born sculptor who became a leading and often controversial figure in early modernist British sculpture. His bold bronze and stone works, including portrait busts and monumental religious figures, frequently provoked public outrage. He was knighted in 1954 for his contribution to art.
• 1881 – 1959 Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) Died 21 January 1959, aged 77 DeMille was a pioneering Hollywood director and producer whose epics included The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth. He was a co-founder of the studio that became Paramount Pictures. His grand, spectacle-driven style helped define early American cinema.
• 1886 – 1959 Victor McLaglen (1886-1959) English boxer turned actor, a John Ford regular who won an Oscar for The Informer.
• 1888 – 1959 Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) Died 26 March 1959, aged 70 Chandler was a novelist whose hardboiled detective fiction, featuring private investigator Philip Marlowe, shaped the crime genre in American literature. Novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye were adapted into influential films. His terse, atmospheric prose style influenced generations of writers.
• 1898 – 1959 Preston Sturges (1898-1959) Died 6 August 1959, aged 60 Sturges was an American writer-director whose rapid-fire screwball comedies, including Sullivan's Travels and The Lady Eve, made him one of Hollywood's most acclaimed filmmakers of the early 1940s. He was the first Hollywood screenwriter to also direct his own scripts. His career declined sharply in his later years.
• 1906 – 1959 Lou Costello (1906-1959) Died 3 March 1959, aged 52 Costello was one half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello, famous for the routine "Who's on First?" The pair were among the most popular entertainers in American film and radio during the 1940s. Costello died of a heart attack shortly before his 53rd birthday.
• 1909 – 1959 Errol Flynn (1909-1959) Died 14 October 1959, aged 50 Flynn was an Australian-American actor who became one of Hollywood's leading swashbuckling stars, famous for roles in The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood. His off-screen reputation for hard living was as well known as his film career. He died of a heart attack at age 50.
• 1914 – 1959 George Reeves (1914-1959) Died 16 June 1959, aged 45 Reeves was an American actor best known for playing Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman during the 1950s. His death from a gunshot wound at his Los Angeles home was ruled a suicide, though the circumstances remain disputed. The role of Superman had come to overshadow his earlier film career.
• 1915 – 1959 Billie Holiday Jazz singer Lady Day — the American jazz singer whose phrasing changed popular singing, and whose Strange Fruit became a landmark of protest music.
• 1920 – 1959 Boris Vian (1920-1959) Died 23 June 1959, aged 39 Vian was a French novelist, poet, and jazz trumpeter whose surrealist novel Froth on the Daydream and satirical songwriting made him a fixture of postwar Parisian bohemian culture. He also wrote hardboiled crime fiction under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan. He died of a heart attack at a screening of a film adaptation of one of his own novels.
• 1921 – 1959 Mario Lanza (1921-1959) Died 7 October 1959, aged 38 Lanza was an American tenor and film actor whose powerful voice and starring role in The Great Caruso made him one of the most popular singers of his era. His recordings introduced operatic and classical repertoire to a mass audience. He died in Italy from a heart attack.
• 1926 – 1959 Kay Kendall (1926-1959) Died 6 September 1959, aged 32 Kendall was a British actress known for comic roles in films such as Genevieve and Les Girls. She continued acting after being diagnosed with leukemia, reportedly without being told the diagnosis herself. Her death shortly before her 33rd birthday cut short a rapidly rising career.
• 1929 – 1959 Mike Hawthorn The Bow Tie Driver 1958 World Champion and Britain’s first-ever F1 champion.
• 1930 – 1959 J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson (1930-1959) Died 3 February 1959, aged 28 Richardson was a disc jockey and rock and roll singer known for the hit "Chantilly Lace." He died in a chartered plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, alongside Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, an event later remembered as "The Day the Music Died."
• 1936 – 1959 Buddy Holly (1936-1959) Died 3 February 1959, aged 22 Holly was a pioneering rock and roll singer-songwriter whose hits with The Crickets, including "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue," influenced generations of musicians. He died in a chartered plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, alongside Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The crash became known as "The Day the Music Died."
• 1941 – 1959 Ritchie Valens (1941-1959) Died 3 February 1959, aged 17 Valens was an early rock and roll pioneer whose hit "La Bamba," adapted from a Mexican folk song, helped bring Latino music into the American mainstream. He died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, alongside Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, just months into his recording career. He was 17 years old.
• 1959 Barbie doll launched Barbie doll launched Mattel launched Barbie at the New York Toy Fair on 9 March 1959, an adult-figured fashion doll in a market of baby dolls, devised by Ruth Handler after watching her daughter play with paper dolls. Buyers were sceptical and she sold 350,000 in the first year. The doll's proportions have been argued over ever since.
• 1959 – 2022 Irene Cara (1959-2022) Died 25 November 2022, aged 63 American singer and actress who sang Fame and won an Oscar for co-writing Flashdance... What a Feeling.
• 1959 – 2021 Norm Macdonald (1959-2021) Died 14 September 2021, aged 61 Canadian comedian whose Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live and unhurried, deadpan stand-up made him a comedian's comedian.
• 1959 – 2025 Ryne Sandberg (1959-2025) Died 28 July 2025, aged 65 American baseball player, second baseman for the Chicago Cubs from 1982 to 1997 and a Hall of Fame inductee in 2005.
• 1959 – 2025 Val Kilmer -- the intense, transformative actor Val Edward Kilmer (31 December 1959 - 1 April 2025) was an American actor known for his intense, immersive performances and his willingness to disappear completely into roles. The youngest student ever admitted to the Juilliard School drama division, he became a major star through Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone and Batman Forever before his reputation for difficult on-set behaviour and his refusal to compromise artistically led to a gradual retreat from mainstream Hollywood. Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, he lost the ability to speak clearly but continued working, documenting his life in a celebrated 2021 documentary. He died of pneumonia in Los Angeles at 65.
• 1959 – 2026 Abdul Ahad Mohmand (1959-2026) Died 21 June 2026, aged 67 Afghan pilot and cosmonaut, the first Afghan citizen to travel into space.
• 1959 Cuban Revolution triumphs Batista flees, Castro's rebels seize power Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba as Fidel Castro's rebel forces advanced on Havana. Castro's 26th of July Movement took control of the government within days, ending Batista's dictatorship. The revolution set Cuba on a path toward a Marxist-Leninist state allied with the Soviet Union.
• 1959 Alaska becomes a U.S. state Admitted as the 49th state of the Union Alaska was formally admitted to the United States as its 49th state. The territory had been purchased from Russia in 1867 and pursued statehood for decades before Congress approved it. Its admission was followed months later by Hawaii.
• 1959 Charles de Gaulle inaugurated President of France Fifth French Republic begins Charles de Gaulle was sworn in as the first President of France's Fifth Republic, under a new constitution granting the presidency greater power. His inauguration ended years of political instability under the Fourth Republic. De Gaulle would lead France for the next decade.
• 1959 Berry Gordy founds Tamla Records Label that grew into Motown launches in Detroit Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records in Detroit with an $800 loan from his family. The label, soon operating alongside its sister label Motown, became a dominant force in American popular music through the 1960s. It launched the careers of artists including Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.
• 1959 Buddy Holly killed in a plane crash The day the music died Killed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper.
• 1959 – present John McEnroe Superbrat Known for his artistic volleys and fiery temper; won 7 Grand Slam singles titles.
• 1959 John Coltrane records Kind of Blue with Miles Davis Modal jazz The best-selling jazz album of all time.
• 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule Dalai Lama flees to India An uprising in Lhasa against Chinese Communist rule was crushed by the People's Liberation Army amid fears for the Dalai Lama's safety. The 14th Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas and was granted asylum in India. Tens of thousands of Tibetans followed him into exile.
• 1959 The Drifters release There Goes My Baby Strings in R&B Leiber and Stoller put strings on an R&B record.
• 1959 Saint Lawrence Seaway opens New waterway links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic The Saint Lawrence Seaway, a joint project of the United States and Canada, opened to shipping, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It allowed ocean-going vessels to reach ports deep in North America's interior. Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower formally dedicated it that June.
• 1959 First Grammy Awards presented Recording Academy honors 1958's music The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held simultaneously in Beverly Hills and New York City, honoring recordings released in 1958. Domenico Modugno's "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" won Record and Song of the Year. The ceremony has been held annually ever since.
• 1959 Ray Charles releases What'd I Say Call and response An improvised show closer that becomes his first top-ten pop hit.
• 1959 Singapore attains self-government Lee Kuan Yew becomes prime minister Singapore was granted full internal self-government by Britain, ending direct colonial rule. Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the State of Singapore. Full independence would follow later, first through merger with Malaysia and then separation in 1965.
• 1959 Renamed "The Shadows" Six Bells pub, Ruislip After legal threats from the American band of the same name, "The Drifters" needed a new name. Jet Harris coined "The Shadows" during a relaxed afternoon with Hank Marvin at the Six Bells pub in Ruislip in July 1959.
• 1959 First American combat deaths of the Vietnam War Two U.S. advisors killed in guerrilla attack at Bien Hoa Major Dale Buis and Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand were killed when Viet Cong guerrillas attacked a U.S. military advisory compound at Bien Hoa. They are commonly regarded as the first American servicemen killed in the Vietnam War. Their names are the first listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
• 1959 Billie Holiday dies in New York Aged 44 Dies under police guard in hospital.
• 1959 Nixon and Khrushchev hold the "Kitchen Debate" Impromptu Cold War exchange at a Moscow exhibition Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev engaged in an unscripted, televised debate over capitalism and communism while touring a model American kitchen at a U.S. exhibition in Moscow. The exchange became a defining moment of Cold War public diplomacy. It was widely covered in the press on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
• 1959 – present Magic Johnson Magic 5-time champion and leader of the Lakers "Showtime" era; revolutionized the point guard position.
• 1959 Miles Davis releases Kind of Blue Best-selling jazz album Modal jazz with Coltrane and Bill Evans.
• 1959 Hawaii becomes a U.S. state Admitted as the 50th state of the Union Hawaii was formally admitted to the United States as its 50th state, following a territorial referendum in which voters overwhelmingly favored statehood. It was the last state added to the Union. The islands had been a U.S. territory since 1898.
• 1959 Luna 2 becomes first spacecraft to reach the Moon Soviet probe impacts the lunar surface The Soviet Union's Luna 2 probe crash-landed on the Moon, becoming the first human-made object to reach another celestial body. It confirmed the Moon had no significant magnetic field and carried Soviet pennants to the surface. The achievement was a major milestone in the early Space Race.
• 1959 Nikita Khrushchev visits the United States First visit to America by a Soviet leader Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev toured the United States, meeting President Eisenhower at Camp David and visiting cities including New York, Los Angeles, and a farm in Iowa. It was the first visit to the U.S. by a sitting Soviet leader. The trip briefly eased Cold War tensions and drew intense press coverage.
• 1959 Xerox 914 photocopier introduced First automated plain-paper copier reaches the market The Haloid Xerox Company unveiled the Xerox 914, the first automated machine to make copies on ordinary plain paper. It became one of the best-selling industrial products in history and made "Xerox" a generic verb for photocopying. The machine established Xerox as a major American corporation.
• 1959 – 2000 Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000) Died 18 December 2000, aged 41 Kirsty MacColl was an English singer-songwriter known for "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England", and her duet with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York". She was killed by a powerboat while diving with her sons in Mexico. Her family long campaigned over the death.
• 1959 – 2025 Mauricio Funes (1959-2025) Died 21 January 2025, aged 65 Salvadoran television journalist who served as president of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014.
• 1959 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens in New York Frank Lloyd Wright's final major work debuts The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on Fifth Avenue in New York, its spiraling concrete form designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building opened six months after Wright's death and became one of the most recognizable museum buildings in the world. It houses a major collection of modern and contemporary art.
• 1959 Antarctic Treaty signed Twelve nations set Antarctica aside for peaceful science Twelve nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington, D.C., setting the continent aside for peaceful scientific cooperation and banning military activity there. It was one of the first Cold War-era arms control agreements. The treaty took effect in 1961 and remains in force.
• 1959 – 1998 Florence Griffith-Joyner (1959-1998) Died 21 September 1998, aged 38 Florence Griffith-Joyner, known as Flo-Jo, the American sprinter who set world records in the 100m and 200m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics that still stand, died in her sleep from an epileptic seizure on 21 September 1998. She remains widely regarded as the fastest woman in history.