1959

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 - Gerard 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 - Gunter 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