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1959
1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January-February
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January 1 - Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin.
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January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance
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January 2 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife Our Gal Sunday , Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake .
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January 2 - Castro's troops enter Havana
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January 3 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
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January 4 - In Léopoldville 42 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the Abako party.
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January 7 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
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January 22 - Knox Mine Disaster - water breaches River Slope mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania - 12 miners dead
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February 1 - A referendum in Switzerland turns down female suffrage
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February 3 - The plane (called the American Pie) transporting Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing everyone on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean's song, American Pie.
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February 6 - At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished
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February 16 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba
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February 18 - Jesus Sosa Blanco, murderer of 108 people, executed in Cuba
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February 18 - Women in Nepal vote for the first time
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February 19 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence
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February 22 - Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500
March-May
June-September
October-December
unknown date
Year in topic
Births
January
February
March
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March 6 - Tom Arnold, actor, comedian
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March 8 - Aidan Quinn, actor
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March 9 Rodney A. Grant, Native American actor
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March 15 - Harold Baines, former Major League Baseball player
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March 16 - Flavor Flav, rap musician
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March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
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March 17 - Danny Ainge, basketball player, coach, baseball player
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March 18 - Luc Besson, producer, writer, director
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March 22 - Matthew Modine, actor (Full Metal Jacket, Memphis Belle, Any Given Sunday)
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March 29 - Perry Farrell, musician ("Jane's Addiction", "Porno for Pyros")
April-September
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April 3 - David Hyde Pierce, actor (Frasier)
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April 21 - Robert Smith, vocalist for British rock band The Cure
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April 22 - Ryan Stiles, actor (The Drew Carey Show, Whose Line is it Anyway?)
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May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian (co-writer, Blackadder) and author (Popcorn)
- May 3 - Uma Bharati, first woman chief minister of Madhya Pradesh
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May 15 - Andrew Eldritch, British rock artist of The Sisters of Mercy
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May 20 - Bronson Pinchot, actor
- May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer
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May 22 - Steven Morrissey, singera
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May 27 - D.A. Johnson writer illustrator childrens books
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May 29 - Adrian Paul, actor best known for his role in the television series Highlander
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June 26 - Mark McKinney, actor (The Saddest Music in the World ), comedian (The Kids in the Hall, Saturday Night Live)
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June 27 - Clint Boon, musician best known for playing keyboards in the band Inspiral Carpets
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June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, actor (Full Metal Jacket, Ed Wood, Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
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July 3 - Julie Burchill, UK journalist
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July 7 - Ben Linder, American engineer murdered in Nicaragua (d. 1987)
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July 11 - Suzanne Vega, singer (Bad Wisdom )
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July 16 - Gary Anderson, American football player
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July 26 - Kevin Spacey, actor
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July 29 - Ruud Janssen, artist
- July 29 - Sanjay Dutt, actor
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August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, actress
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August 14 - Magic Johnson, basketball legend
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August 21 - Jim McMahon, American football quarterback
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August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, Australian footballer and actor
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September 11 - Bert Anciaux , Belgian politician
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September 21 - Dave Coulier, actor
October-December
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October 3 - Fred Couples, American golfer
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October 3 - Greg Proops, comedian
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October 15 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
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October 23 - Weird Al Yankovic, singer and parodist
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October 25 - Nancy Cartwright, voice actress
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October 27 - Rick Carlisle, basketball coach
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November 10 - Linda Cohn, sports anchor
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November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
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November 23 - Dominique Dunne, actress (d. 1982)
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November 25 - Charles Kennedy, British politician
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December 27 - Gerina Dunwich, author
Deaths
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January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, American film director
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January 22 - Mike Hawthorn, racing champion
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February 3 - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper, singers (plane crash)
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February 3 - Vincent Astor, American philanthropist
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February 11 - Marshall Teague, race car driver (b. 1922)
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February 14 - Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
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February 28 - Maxwell Anderson, playwright and film writer
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March 3 - Lou Costello, American actor, comedian
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March 4 - Maxey Long, American athlete
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March 26 - Raymond Chandler, American novelist
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March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic
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April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
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May 14 - Sidney Bechet, American jazz musician (b. 1897)
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May 24 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
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July 11 - Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)
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July 15 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (b. 1880)
- July 15 - Billie Holiday, American singer
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August 6 - Preston Sturges, American film director and writer
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August 11 - Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
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August 15 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer
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August 28 - Bohuslav Martinu, Romanian composer
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September 13 - Gilbert Adrian , Hollywood fashion designer
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October 14 - Errol Flynn, American actor
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October 16 - George C. Marshall, American general, United States Secretary of State, United States Secretary of Defense, Nobel Peace Prize recipiant, and director of the American Red Cross (b.1880)
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October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete
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November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer
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