1959

**1959** (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday in the Gregorian calendar.

## 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 10 – Santadasji Kathia Baba, Hindu Philosopher
- June 19 – Christian Wulff, German politician
- June 20 – Chris Williams, African-American actor
- June 25 - Paris Themmen, 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 8 - Fher Olvera, Mexican rock musician
- 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