1959 (MCMLIX) was .

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