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