January 1959 calendar

Events

• 01 Jan 1959 Highway 91 in Nevada is officially renamed Las Vegas Boulevard.
• 02 Jan 1959 USSR launches Mechta (Luna 1) for 1st lunar fly-by, 1st solar orbit
• 03 Jan 1959 Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State.
• 04 Jan 1959 Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
• 07 Jan 1959 The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
• 08 Jan 1959 Charles De Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.
• 09 Jan 1959 Rawhide with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS TV
• 11 Jan 1959 Hanif Mohammad completes 499 for Karachi, then 1st class world record
• 12 Jan 1959 KOED TV channel 11 in Tulsa, OK (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 13 Jan 1959 De Gaulle grants amnesty to 130 to Algerian death row convicts
• 17 Jan 1959 Say, Darling closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 332 performances
• 18 Jan 1959 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open.
• 20 Jan 1959 The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard.
• 22 Jan 1959 US Air Force concludes less than 1 percent of UFOs are unknown objects.
• 24 Jan 1959 Party with Comden & Green closes at John Golden NYC after 38 performances
• 25 Jan 1959 First transcontinental commercial jet flight (American Airlines) (Los Angeles to New York for US$301).
• 26 Jan 1959 KOKH TV channel 25 in Oklahoma City, OK (IND / PBS) begins broadcasting
• 28 Jan 1959 Soviet Union wins 62-37 for first international basketball loss by US.
• 29 Jan 1959 Buena Vista premieres Disney's animated feature film Sleeping Beauty at the Fox Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles, California. The film is based on Charles Perrault's version of the story of Sleeping Beauty.
• 30 Jan 1959 Australia 1-200 first day fourth Test versus England, Adelaide Oval.
• 31 Jan 1959 Joe Cronin signs seven-year pact to become head of American League.

Famous Birthday

• Sade Adu

  Musician.

• Michel Onfray

  French writer and philosopher who adheres to hedonism and anarchism.

• Didier Bourdon

  French humorist, actor, film director, and producer, ocasionally singer.

• Linda Blair

  American model from age five who had two minor film roles before a remarkable performance at age 12 in "The Exorcist," for which she...

• Tyrone Jr Power
• Anthony Lapaglia
• Vanity (performer)
• Susanna Hoffs

  American singer-songwriter guitarist and actress (The Bangles and Ming Tea).

• Bernard Thibault

  French trade unionist, who was the secretary of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) between 1999 and 2013, a French workers' union.

• Keith Olbermann

  American news anchor & commentator.

• Michael Wincott
• Denise Matthews
• Blixa Bargeld

  German singer and musician (Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds).

• Kelly Lynch

  American model and actress.

• Clancy Brown

  American actor.

• Philippe Courroye

  French jurist, an Examining magistrate.

• Jody Watley

  American singer-songwriter and producer.

• Volker Herold
• Franck Darabont
• Nancy Achin Sullivan
• See more

Famous Deaths

• Mike Hawthorn

  English race car driver and one-time F1 world champion (Born 1929).

• Lamar Stringfield

  Composer, dies at 61.

• Jose Enrique Pedreira

  Composer, dies at 54.

• Paul Malengreau

  Composer, dies at 71.

• Mohammed Zakaria Ghonein

  Discoverer of 6, 000 yr old pyramid.

• A J Else Mauhs

  German / Dutch actress (Hamlet, Nora), dies at 73.

• Viktor Joseph Keldorfer

  Composer, dies at 85.

• Cecil B DeMille

  American director (Born 1881).

• Joseph Sprinzak

  Speaker of Israel Knesset (1949-59), dies at age 73.

• Edwin Muir

  Scottish writer, a metaphysical poet, editor, novelist and critic.

• Carl Switzer

  Illinois, United States -- Actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang).

• Winifred Brunton

  English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959).

• Walter Beall

  American baseball player (Born 1899).

• Chris van Abkoude

  Dutch-American author and educator (d. 1959).

• Cecil B[lount] de Mille

  Producer (10 Commandments), dies at 77.

• Carl Switzer

  Actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang), shot to death at 31.

• See more

Top #5 songs in the USA

1. The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song
2. The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
3. Connie Francis - My Happiness
4. The Teddy Bears - To Know Him, Is To Love Him
5. Ritchie Valens - Donna

Top #5 songs in the UK

1. Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe
2. Lord Rockingham's XI - Hoots Mon
3. Jane Morgan - The Day The Rains Came
4. Lonnie Donegan - Tom Dooley
5. Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington - Tea For Two Cha Cha