1959 Explained
For other uses see 1959 (disambiguation).
The year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.__TOC__
Events of 1959
January
See also January 1959
February
See also February 1959
March
See also March 1959
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Undated
Ongoing
Fictional
- The events of the movie Grease take place.
Births
January-February
- January 1 - Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros
- January 5 - Clancy Brown, American actor
- January 6 - Andrew Johnson, English artist.
- January 9 - Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 9 - Mark Martin, American NASCAR driver
- January 12 - Per Gessle, Swedish singer-songwriter & Roxette guitarist
- January 16 - Sade, Nigerian-born singer (Paradise)
- January 17 - Susanna Hoffs, American rock lead singer (The Bangles)
- January 17 - Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer
- January 21 - Paulo Miklos, Brazilian singer and actor
- January 21 - Alex McLeish, Birmingham City and ex-Scotland manager
- January 27 - Keith Olbermann, American news correspondent and sportscaster (Countdown)
- January 31 - Kelly Moore, American race car driver
- February 2 - Jari Tervo, Finnish author
- February 3 - Lol Tolhurst, British rock drummer/keyboardist (The Cure)
- February 3 - UliUli Fifita, Professional Wrestler aka(Haku/Meng)
- February 4 - Lawrence Taylor, American football player
- February 4 - Pamelyn Ferdin, former child actress & animal activist
- February 6 - Ken Nelson, English record producer
- February 10 - Dennis Gentry, American football player
- February 14 - Renée Fleming, American soprano
- February 16 - John McEnroe, American tennis player
- February 22 - Kazi Uzair, Pakistani pediatrician, student leader (d. 1989)
- February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- February 26 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player
March-April
- March 4 - Rick Ardon, Australian news presenter
- March 4 - Irina Strakhova, Russian race walker
- March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
- March 8 - Aidan Quinn, Irish/American actor
- March 9 - Giovanni di Lorenzo, German-Italian journalist and talk show host
- March 10 - Mike Wallace, American race car driver
- March 15 - Harold Baines, American baseball player
- March 16 - Flavor Flav, American rapper
- March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
- March 17 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach, and baseball player
- March 17 - Paul Black, American rock singer
- March 18 - Luc Besson, French film producer, writer, and director
- March 18 - Irene Cara, American singer
- March 20 - Steve Borden, American wrestler
- March 20 - Steve McFadden, British actor
- March 21 - Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
- March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
- March 23 - Catherine Keener, American actress
- March 29 - Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
- March 29 - Perry Farrell, American musician
- April 2 - Badou Zaki, Morrocan football player and manager
- April 3 - David Hyde Pierce, American actor
- April 10 - Brian Setzer, American rock guitarist (Stray Cats)
- April 11 - Ana María Polo, Cuban-born judge and television personality
- April 15 - Fruit Chan, Hong Kong film director
- April 16 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
- April 20 - Clint Howard, American actor and producer
- April 21 - Robert Smith, British rock musician (The Cure)
- April 21 - Jerry Only, American rock bassist (The Misfits)
- April 22 - Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- April 22 - Ryan Stiles, American actor
- April 22 - Terry Francona, American baseball player and manager
- April 25 - Tony Phillips, American baseball player
- April 27 - Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
- April 30 - Stephen Harper, Canadian politician and present Prime Minister (2006- )
May-June
- May 2 - Alan Best, Canadian animation director and producer
- May 3 - Uma Bharati, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
- May 5 - Ian McCulloch, English rock singer (Echo & the Bunnymen)
- May 5 - Steve Stevens, American guitarist
- May 5 - Peter Molyneux, British game programmer
- May 5 - Brian Williams, American news anchor
- May 10 - Victoria Rowell, American actress
- May 14 - Patrick Bruel, French singer
- May 15 - Andrew Eldritch, British rock musician (The Sisters of Mercy)
- May 17 - Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
- May 17 - Jim Nantz, American sports announcer
- May 19 - Nicole Brown Simpson, American ex-wife of O.J. Simpson and murder victim (d. 1994)
- May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer (d. 1997)
- May 20 - Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- May 21 - Brian Lenihan, Jnr, Irish politician
- May 22 - Steven Morrissey, British singer
- May 24 - Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-born hockey player (d. 1985)
- May 27 - Katherine Lanpher, American journalist
- May 29 - Adrian Paul, British actor
- June 8 - Bernard White, Sri Lankan-born American actor, screenwriter and film director
- June 8 - Scott W. Roberts, American popularizer of astronomy
- June 9 - Miles O'Brien, American television news anchor, pilot
- June 10 - Eliot Spitzer, American politician and former governor of New York
- June 11 - Hugh Laurie, British actor and comedian
- June 11 - Magnum T.A., American professional wrestler
- June 12 - John Linnell, American rock musician (They Might Be Giants)
- June 14 - Marcus Miller, American bassist
- June 22 - Wayne Federman, American comedian, actor, and author
- June 22 - Ed Viesturs, American mountaineer
- June 26 - Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and comedian
- June 27 - Clint Boon, British rock musician (Inspiral Carpets)
- June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
July-August
- July 3 - Julie Burchill, British journalist
- July 6 - Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
- July 7 - Ben Linder, American engineer (d. 1987)
- July 9 - Jim Kerr, Scottish rock singer (Simple Minds)
- July 9 - Kevin Nash, American professional wrestler
- July 11 - Richie Sambora, American musician
- July 11 - Suzanne Vega, American singer
- July 13 - Richard Leman, British field hockey player
- July 16 - Gary Anderson, American football player
- July 18 - Mel Purcell, American tennis player
- July 26 - Rick Bragg, American writer
- July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
- July 27 - Hugh Green, American football player
- July 29 - Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
- July 29 - Ruud Janssen, Dutch artist
- August 1 - Joe Elliott, British rock singer (Def Leppard)
- August 2 - Apollonia Kotero, American actress and singer
- August 3 - Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- August 4 - Robbin Crosby, American rock guitarist (Ratt) (d. 2002)
- August 8 - Christoph Theinert, German cellist and composer
- August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
- August 11 - Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian singer
- August 11 -Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor
- August 13 - Danny Bonaduce, American actor and disc jockey
- August 14 - Magic Johnson, American basketball player
- August 15 - Scott Altman, American astronaut
- August 17 - Jonathan Franzen, American author
- August 17 - Brad Wellman, American baseball player
- August 18 - June Angela, Asian-American actress, singer, and dancer
- August 21 - Jim McMahon, American football player
- August 25 - Sönke Wortmann, German film director
- August 27 - Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
- August 29 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
- August 29 - Stephen Wolfram, British scientist
- August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, Australian footballer and actor
- August 31 - Tony DeFranco, Canadian singer
September-October
- September 1 - Kenny Mayne, American sportscaster
- September 2 - Guy Laliberté, Canadian Cirque du soleil founder
- September 4 - Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
- September 8 - Daler Nazarov, Tajik composer, singer, and actor
- September 14 - Morten Harket, Norwegian rock singer (a-ha)
- September 17 - Charles Lawson, Irish actor
- September 18 - Sérgio Britto, Brazilian singer and keyboardist
- September 21 - Dave Coulier, American actor
- September 21 - Stan Van Gundy, American basketball coach
- September 28 - Dantes Tsitsi, Nauruan politician
- September 29 - Benjamin Sehene, Rwandan writer
- September 30 - Ettore Messina, Italian basketball coach
- October 1 - Youssou N'Dour, Senegalese singer
- October 1 - Brian P. Cleary, American humorist, author, poet
- October 3 - Fred Couples, American golfer
- October 3 - Greg Proops, American comedian
- October 3 - Jack Wagner, American actor
- October 4 - Chris Lowe, British musician
- October 7 - Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
- October 7 - Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
- October 9 - Michael Pare, American actor
- October 10 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (d. 2000)
- October 13 - Marie Osmond, American pop singer
- October 15 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
- October 15 - Emeril Lagasse, American chef and restaurant owner
- October 17 - Ron Drummond, American writer, editor, and music historian
- October 17 - Richard Roeper, American film critic
- October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
- October 21 - Tony Ganios, American actor
- October 23 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodist
- October 25 - Christina Amphlett, Australian rock singer (Divinyls)
- October 26 - Evo Morales, President of Bolivia
- October 27 - Rick Carlisle, American basketball coach
- October 31 - Neal Stephenson, American writer
November-December
- November 2 - Said Aouita, Moroccan athlete
- November 5 - Bryan Adams, Canadian singer and photographer
- November 7 - Billy Gillispie, American basketball coach
- November 8 - Selçuk Yula, Turkish football player and top scorer
- November 9 - Tony Slattery, British comedian and actor
- November 10 - Linda Cohn, American sports reporter
- November 10 - Mackenzie Phillips, American actress
- November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
- November 17 - William R. Moses, American actor
- November 18 - Jimmy Quinn, Irish footballer and football manager
- November 19 - Allison Janney, American actress
- November 23 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
- November 25 - Charles Kennedy, British politician
- November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
- November 29 - Kim Delaney, American actress
- November 29 - Platon Lebedev, Russian executive
- November 30 - Lorraine Kelly, British presenter and journalist
- December 1 - Billy Childish, English painter, writer and musician
- December 1 - Wally Lewis, Australian sport identity
- December 6 - Satoru Iwata, Japanese president of Nintendo
- December 13 - Johnny Whitaker, American actor
- December 20 - Sandra Cisneros, Mexican-born author
- December 21 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American athlete (d. 1998)
- December 21 - Martin Meenan, Irish schoolteacher and playwrite
- December 22 - Bernd Schuster, German footballer and manager
- December 24 - Keith Deller, English darts player
- December 27 - Gerina Dunwich, American author
- December 31 - Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (d. 1981)
- December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor
- December 31 - Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician and composer
Date unknown
Deaths
January-March
- January 2 - William D. Francis, Australian botanist (b. 1889)
- January 3 - Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
- January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
- January 21 - Carl Switzer, American actor ("Alfalfa" in Our Gang) (b. 1927)
- January 22 - Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (b. 1929)
- January 28 - Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- February 1 - Frank Shannon, American actor (b. 1874)
- February 3 - Killed in the crash of a private plane:
- February 3 - Vincent Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1891)
- February 4 - Una O'Connor, Irish actress (b. 1880)
- February 11 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)
- February 14 - Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
- February 15 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- February 23 - Luis Palés Matos, Puerto Rican poet (b. 1898)
- February 26 - Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, eldest grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1891)
- February 28 - Maxwell Anderson, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
- March 3 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- March 4 - Maxey Long, American athlete (b. 1878)
- March 26 - Raymond Chandler, American-born novelist (b. 1888)
- March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
April-June
- April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
- May 5 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
- May 14 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
- May 16 - Elisha Scott, Irish footballer (b. 1894)
- May 18 - Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer (b. 1886)
- May 18 - Enrique Guaita, Argentinian footballer (b. 1910)
- May 24 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- May 30 - Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz, Argentinian journalist (b. 1898)
- June 9 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- June 16 - George Reeves, American TV actor (b. 1914)
- June 18 - Ethel Barrymore, American stage & screen actress (b. 1879)
- June 23 - Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician (b. 1920)
July - September
- July 11 - Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)
- July 15 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (b. 1880)
- July 17 - Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
- July 25 - King Mutara III of Rwanda (b. c. 1912)
- August 5 - Edgar Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
- August 6 - Preston Sturges, American film director and writer (b. 1898)
- August 15 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (b. 1901)
- August 16 - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
- August 19 - Claude Grahame White, British aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
- August 19 - Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (b. 1880)
- August 28 - Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)
- September 7 - Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Québec (b. 1890)
- September 25 - Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister of Ceylon (b. 1899)
- September 28 - Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901)
October-December
- October 6 - Bernard Berenson, American art historian (b. 1865)
- October 7 - Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
- October 14 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (b. 1909)
- October 16 - George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1880)
- October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
- October 19 - Ebrahim Hakimi, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1871)
- October 22 - Joseph Cahill, Australian politician (b. 1891)
- October 28 - Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1932)
- November 2 - Michael Considine, Australian politician (b. 1885)
- November 15 - Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
- November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
- November 21 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (b. 1909)
- November 24 - Dally Messenger, Australian rugby league player (b. 1883)
- December 4 - Hubert Marischka, Austrian film director (b. 1882)
- December 22 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born dancer and actress (b. 1901)
Nobel prizes
Academy Awards