1959 Jan 1, Fidel Castro took over Cuba.
1959 Jan 9, "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood premiered on CBS TV.
1959 Jan 25, American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707 from LA to NY for $301.
1959 Feb 1, Texas Instruments requested a patent for the IC (Integrated Circuit).
1959 Feb 3, A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, claimed the lives of rock- and-roll stars Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson (28).
1959 Feb 6, The United States successfully test-fired for the first time a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile from Cape Canaveral.
1959 Mar 3, Lou Costello (b.1906), American film comedian, died.
1959 Mar 7, Hinsdale Smith (88), developer of roll-down auto windows, died.
1959 Mar 8, Groucho, Chico and Harpo made their final TV appearance together.
1959 Mar 9, The Barbie doll was unveiled at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
1959 Mar 16, John Sailling (111), last documented Civil War vet, died.
1959 Mar 29, "Some Like it Hot" with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon premiered.
1959 Apr 3, "Charlie Brown" by The Coasters was banned by the BBC because it contained the word "spitball."
1959 Apr 7, Oklahoma ended prohibition after 51 years.
1959 Apr 13, A Vatican edict forbade Italian Roman Catholics from for voting for communists.
1959 Apr 25, St. Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic, Great Lakes opened to shipping.
1959 May 10, Soviet forces arrived in Afghanistan
1959 Jun 9, The first ballistic missile carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, was launched at Groton, Ct.
1959 Jun 18, A Federal Court annulled the Arkansas law allowing school closings to prevent integration.
1959 Jul 21, The 1st atomic powered merchant ship, NS Savannah, was christened at Camden, NJ.
1959 Jul 26, There was a nuclear reactor meltdown at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
1959 Aug 16, William F. Halsey (Bull Halsey), US vice-admiral (WW II Pacific), died.
1959 Aug 21, President Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union.
1959 Sep 11, The US Congress passed a bill authorizing food stamps for poor Americans.
1959 Oct 7, Mario Lanza (b.1921), undisciplined opera singer and temperamental movie star died.
1959 Oct 10, Pan American became the first to offer regular flights around world.
1959 Oct 14, Errol Flynn, US actor (Captain Blood), died of heart attack at 50.
1959 Oct 16, George C. Marshall (b.1880), US army general and Nobel Prize winner (1953), died in Virginia.
1959 Oct 31, A former U.S. Marine from Fort Worth, Texas, announced in Moscow that he would never return to the United States. His name: Lee Harvey Oswald.
1959 Nov 2, Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he had the questions and answers in advance of his appearances on the NBC-TV game show "Twenty-One."
1959 Nov 18, "Ben-Hur," the Biblical-era movie spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.
1959 Sep 22, The first telephone cable linking Europe and the United States was inaugurated
1959 Nov, Chubby Checker introduced "The Twist" on the "Dick Clark Saturday Night Show."
1959 It was learned that most TV quiz shows were fixed
1959 Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno, Nv.
1959 Ray Charles made a hit with "What'd I Say." His moaning and wailing suggested sexual play and was banned on radio stations across America.
1959 College kids in the US stuffed themselves into telephone booths.
1959 Americans bought 100 million Hula Hoops.
1959 In boxing American Floyd Patterson was knocked out by Sweden's Ingemar Johansson.
1959 The first American advisors were killed in Vietnam during a communist attack near Bien Hoa Air Base.
1959 The FAA established its age-60 rule that called for commercial airline pilots to retire at age 60 to promote safety
1959 Honda began to sell motorcycles in the US.
1959 Pantyhose first came out.