Baby Boomers - What Happened in 1959?
If you are a baby boomer born in 1959, you will find this information extremely interesting. Hope you enjoy learning more about the year you were born! If you have a friend or a family member born in 1959, send them a link to this page. They will appreciate it!
Major Events
- Dwight Eisenhower is president and Richard Nixon is vice president of the United States
- Alaska is admitted as the 49th state
- Hawaii admitted as the 50th state
- The new Labor Reform Act passed to control union powers and racketeering
- NASA introduces America's first astronauts to the world including John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr.
- An international agreement is signed to preserve Antarctica
- Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
- U.S. and Canada complete St. Lawrence Seaway
- Vice President Richard Nixon engages Soviet leader Khrushchev in an informal "kitchen debate" at a Moscow trade show where U.S. kitchen appliances are on exhibit
- President Eisenhower intervenes to halt protracted steel and longshoremen's strikes
- Tibet's Dalai Lama escapes to India
- Soviet premiere Khrushchev begins unprecedented visit to United States
Business and Economy
- U.S. GDP (1998 dollars): $507.2 billion
- Federal spending: $92.10 billion
- Federal debt: $287.5 billion
- Consumer Price Index: 29.1
- Unemployment: 6.8%
Science and Technology
- Jack S. Kilby of Texas Instruments supervises the development of the first integrated circuit
- U.S. Navy launches the Vanguard satellite
- The Lunik II probe (USSR) photographs the far side of the moon
- Lunik III photographs the dark side of the moon for the first time
- Boeing 707 Jet Airliner comes into service
- IBM shipped the transistor-based IBM 1401 mainframe
- Xerox launches the first commercial copier
- U.S. launches first weather station in space
- De Beers manufactures a synthetic diamond
Sports
- Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500 stock car race
- Los Angeles Dodgers defeats Chicago White Sox to win the World Series (4-2)
- Boston defeats Minneapolis Lakers to win the NBA Championship (4-0)
- Baltimore Colts win the NFL championship
- Giants Stadium is renamed Candlestick Park
- Jack Nicklaus wins USGA Amateur golf championship
Famous Baby Boomers Born in 1959
- Fabio
- John McEnroe
- Kevin Spacey
- Linda Blair
- MacKenzie Phillips
- Magic Johnson
- Marie Osmond
- Randy Travis
- Rosanna Arquette
- Sarah, Duchess of York
- Sheena Easton
- Simon Cowell
- Tom Arnold
- Tracey Ullman
- Val Kilmer
Arts and Entertainment
- Books: Exodus, Doctor Zhivago, Hawaii, Advise and Consent, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Ugly American, Dear and Glorious Physician, Lolita, Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, Poor No More
- Movies: Some Like It Hot, North by Northwest, Ben-Hur, Anatomy of a Murder, Room at the Top, Sleeping Beauty, Diary of Anne Frank, Pillow Talk, Rio Bravo
- Songs: What'd I Say, I Only Have Eyes For You, Mack The Knife, There Goes My Baby, Shout, Kansas City, Poison Ivy, Money, Love Potion No. 9, You're So Fine
- Popular Musicians: Ray Charles, Flamingos, Bobby Darin, Drifters, Isley Brothers, Wilbert Harrison, Coasters, Barrett Strong, Clovers, Falcons
- TV Shows: Bonanza premieres on NBC - the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, The Danny Thomas Show, The Red Skelton Show, Father Knows Best, 77 Sunset Strip, The Price Is Right, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Perry Mason
- A plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper - becomes known as "The Day The Music Died"
- The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences sponsors the first Grammy Award ceremony for music recorded in 1958
- Rumors of cheating on quiz shows erupt into a national scandal
- Scandal strikes the popular TV quiz show $64,000 Question when a contestant admits his winning performances were rigged
- Sound of Music opens on Broadway
- U.S. Post Office bans D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover from the mails on obscenity grounds
Everyday Life
- U.S. Population: 177,829,628
- Life expectancy: 69.9 years
- Average yearly income: $5,417
- Cost of a new home: $12,400
- Cost of a new car: $2,200
- Federal hourly minimum wage: $1.00
- Cost of a first-class stamp: $.04
Popular Culture
- Barbie doll debuts
- First known human with HIV dies in Congo
- Sony introduces the first transistorized TV set
- Tang was first marketed in powdered form in 1959
- Studebaker introduces its new compact car, the Lark
- Ford introduces the Falcon
- American Motors introduces the Rambler
- The Wheatback penny is replaced by a new penny displaying the Lincoln Memorial
- Danny's Coffee Shops are renamed Dennys
- New York City considers lobbying for statehood
- Pantyhose, which give women the look of stockings without garters, garter-belts, or corsets, are introduced
- Groucho, Chico & Harpo Marx's final TV appearance together - on G.E. Theater with host Ronald Reagan
- The Guggenheim opens in New York City
- Maxwell House inaugurates the "Good to the last drop" ad campaign
- The BIC ballpoint pen is introduced in America
- Presbyterian church accepts women preachers
- One billionth can of Spam sold
- Studies determine that more Americans have died in auto accidents than in all U.S. wars combined
- The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White is published
- Aluminum beer can introduced by Coors of Golden, Colorado
- Playboy magazine debuts, featuring Marilyn Monroe as its first centerfold
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