Editing 1959

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Events by month|1959}}
{{About year|1959}}
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| image1 = Fidel Castro - MATS Terminal Washington 1959.jpg 
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| image5 = Plaque marking the discovery of Australopithecus in Tanzania.jpg 
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|footer=From top left, clockwise: [[Fidel Castro]] takes over Cuba; Tsarong Dazang Dramdul and several Tibetan monks captured by the PLA during the [[1959 Tibetan uprising]]; The [[MOSFET]] (MOS transistor) is invented by [[Mohamed Atalla]] and [[Dawon Kahng]] at [[Bell Labs]].; Site of [[Australopithecus boisei]] discovery in [[Tanzania]].; Surface weather analysis of [[Typhoon Vera]]; [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] at the American National Exhibition; [[The Day the Music Died]]: The wreckage of the Bonanza at the crash site that killed [[Buddy Holly]], [[Ritchie Valens]], and [[The Big Bopper]]; Damage to the Congolese Public Market in Léopoldville from the [[Léopoldville riots]]. }}

{{Year nav|1959}}
{{C20 year in topic}}
{{Year article header|1959}}
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==Events==
[[File:World affairs map, 1959.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Map of the world in 1959, highlighting the main world affairs of the year]]

===January===
[[File:Luis Korda 02.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[January 8]]: [[Fidel Castro]] arrives in [[Havana]]]]
{{Main|January 1959}}
* [[January 1]] – [[Cuba]]: [[Fulgencio Batista]] flees [[Havana]] when the forces of [[Fidel Castro]] advance.<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook on the Cuban Armed Forces|publisher=DIA|year=1979|page=1}}</ref>
* [[January 2]] – Soviet lunar probe [[Luna 1]] is the first human-made object to attain [[escape velocity]] from Earth. It reaches the vicinity of Earth's [[Moon]], where it was intended to crash-land, but instead becomes the first [[spacecraft]] to go into [[heliocentric orbit]].
* [[January 3]]
** [[Alaska]] is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
** The southernmost island of the [[Maldives]] [[archipelago]], [[Addu Atoll]], declares its independence from the Kingdom of the Maldives, initiating the [[United Suvadive Republic]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Suvadive Revolt – Addu 1959|url=http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/suvadive/maldives_suvadive_OShea.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040812181513/http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/suvadive/maldives_suvadive_OShea.shtml|archive-date=2004-08-12|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[January 4]]
** In [[Cuba]], rebel troops led by [[Che Guevara]] and [[Camilo Cienfuegos]] enter the city of [[Havana]].
** [[Léopoldville riots]]: At least 49 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the [[ABAKO]] Party in [[Kinshasa|Léopoldville]] in the [[Belgian Congo]].
* [[January 6]] – The [[International Maritime Organization]] is inaugurated.
* [[January 7]] – The United States recognizes the new [[Cuba]]n government of [[Fidel Castro]].
* [[January 8]] – [[Charles de Gaulle]] is inaugurated as the first president of the [[French Fifth Republic]].
* [[January 9]] – The [[Vega de Tera disaster]] in Spain, a flood caused by a dam collapse, nearly destroys the town of [[Ribadelago]] and kills 144 residents.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1999/01/10/espana/915922818_850215.html |title=40 años de la tragedia de Ribadelago, en la que murieron 144 personas |language=es |first=José |last=Lera |date=10 January 1999 |location=Zamora |access-date=12 September 2018 |newspaper=[[El País]] |publisher=[[PRISA]]}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] – The [[Soviet government]] recognizes the new Castro government of Cuba.
* [[January 11]] – The [[Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques]] is founded in [[Monaco]].
* [[January 12]] – The [[Motown]] record label is founded as Tamla by [[Berry Gordy]] in [[Detroit]].
* [[January 15]] – The [[Soviet Union]] conducts its [[Soviet Census (1959)|first census]] after [[World War II]].
* [[January 21]] – The [[European Court of Human Rights]] is established.
* [[January 22]] – [[Knox Mine disaster]]: Water breaches the River Slope Mine in [[Port Griffith, Pennsylvania|Port Griffith]], near [[Pittston, Pennsylvania]], United States; 12 miners are killed.
* [[January 25]]
** [[American Airlines]] begins the first U.S. domestic jet service with a [[Boeing 707]] [[airliner]] flight between [[New York City|New York]] and [[Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Today in History|newspaper=Washington Post Express|date=25 January 2012|page=26}}</ref>
** [[Pope John XXIII]] announces that the [[Second Vatican Council]] will be convened in Rome.
* [[January 30]] – Danish passenger/cargo ship {{MS|Hans Hedtoft}}, returning to [[Copenhagen]] after its maiden voyage to [[Greenland]], strikes an iceberg and sinks off the Greenland coast with the loss of all 95 on board.<ref>{{cite news|title=Three Rescue Vessels Reach Ship-Iceberg Collision Scene|location=Oakland|newspaper=Tribune|date=1959-01-31|page=1}}</ref>

===February===
{{Main|February 1959}}
[[file:Vanguard 2 satellite sketch.png|170px|right|thumb|[[February 17]]: Technical drawing of [[Vanguard 2]]]]
* [[February 2]] – Nine ski hikers mysteriously perish in the northern [[Ural Mountains]] in the [[Dyatlov Pass incident]] and are all found dead a few weeks later.
* [[February 3]]
** A chartered plane transporting musicians [[Buddy Holly]], [[Ritchie Valens]] and [[The Big Bopper]] with pilot [[Roger Peterson (pilot)|Roger Peterson]] goes down in foggy conditions near [[Clear Lake, Iowa]], killing all four on board. The tragedy is later termed "[[The Day the Music Died]]", popularized in [[Don McLean]]'s [[1971]] song "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]".
** [[American Airlines Flight 320]], a [[Lockheed L-188 Electra]] from Chicago crashes into the [[East River]] on approach to New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.
* [[February 6]] – At [[Cape Canaveral, Florida]], the first successful test firing of a [[Titan intercontinental ballistic missile]] is accomplished.
* [[February 9]] – [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] set trade relations (not diplomatic ones).
* [[February 13]] – [[TAT-2]], [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]]'s second [[transatlantic telephone cable]] goes into operation between [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] and France.
* [[February 16]] – [[Fidel Castro]] becomes Premier of [[Cuba]].
* [[February 17]] – [[Vanguard 2]], the first [[weather satellite]], is launched to measure [[cloud cover]] for the [[United States Navy]].
* [[February 18]]
** [[Jesús Sosa Blanco]], a colonel in the Cuban army of [[Fulgencio Batista]], is executed in [[Cuba]] after being convicted of committing 108 murders for Batista.
** Women in [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]] vote for the first time.
* [[February 19]] – First of the [[London and Zürich Agreements]] under which the United Kingdom agrees to grant independence to [[Cyprus]].
* [[February 20]] – The [[Politics of Canada|Canadian Government]] cancels the [[Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow]] [[interceptor aircraft]] project.

===March===
{{Main|March 1959}}
* [[March 1]]
** The {{USS|Tuscaloosa|CA-37|6}}, {{USS|New Orleans|CA-32|6}}, {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|6}} and {{USS|West Virginia|BB-48|6}} are stricken from the United States [[Naval Vessel Register]].
** [[Archbishop#Eastern Christianity|Archbishop]] [[Makarios III|Makarios]] returns to [[Cyprus]] from exile.
* [[March 3]] – Lunar probe [[Pioneer 4]] becomes the first American object to escape dominance by Earth's gravity.
* [[March 9]] – [[Mattel]]'s [[Barbie]] doll debuts in the United States.
* [[March 10]] – The [[1959 Tibetan uprising|Tibetan uprising]] erupts in [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]] when Chinese officials attempt to arrest the [[Dalai Lama]].
* [[March 11]] – The [[Eurovision Song Contest 1959]], staged in [[Cannes]], is won for the [[Netherlands]] by "[['n Beetje]]" sung by [[Teddy Scholten]] (music by Dick Schallies, lyrics by Willy van Hemert).
* [[March 17]] – [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama]] escapes [[Tibet]] and arrives in [[India]].
* [[March 18]] – U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] signs the [[Hawaii Admission Act]], granting statehood to [[Hawaii]].
* [[March 19]] – The other two southern islands of the [[Maldives]], [[Huvadhu Atoll]] and [[Fuvahmulah]], join [[Addu Atoll]] in forming the [[United Suvadive Republic]] (abolished September [[1963]]).
* [[March 28]] – The [[Kashag]], the government of [[Tibet]], is abolished by an order signed by Chinese premier [[Zhou Enlai]]. The [[Dalai Lama]] is replaced in China by the Panchen Lama.
* [[March 31]] – The [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] is granted asylum in [[India]].

===April===
{{Main|April 1959}}
* [[April 6]] – The [[31st Academy Awards]] ceremony is held in Hollywood. Musical film ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]'' receives a record 9 Oscars.
* [[April 8]] – The [[Inter-American Development Bank]] (IADB) is established.
* [[April 9]] – [[NASA]] announces its selection of seven [[Aviator#Military|military pilots]] to become the first U.S. [[astronaut]]s, later known as the '[[Mercury Seven]]'.
* [[April 10]] – Crown Prince [[Akihito]] of Japan marries [[Empress Michiko|Shōda Michiko]], the first commoner to marry into the [[Imperial House of Japan]].
* [[April 25]] – The [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] linking the [[Great Lakes]] and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.
* [[April 27]] – [[National People's Congress]] elects [[Liu Shaoqi]] as [[President of the People's Republic of China|Chairman of the People's Republic of China]], as a successor of [[Mao Zedong]].

===May===
[[File:Miss Baker in her bio-pack.jpg|170px|thumb|[[May 28]]: [[Miss Baker]] awaits launch.]]
{{Main|May 1959}}
* May – In the United Kingdom:
** [[Tariff|Import tariffs]] are lifted.
** The first [[Ten Tors]] event is held on [[Dartmoor]].
* [[May 2]] – [[1959 FA Cup Final]]: Nottingham Forest defeat Luton Town 2–1 at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]].
* [[May 18]] – The [[National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire]] is launched in [[Conakry, Guinea]].
* [[May 21]] – ''[[Gypsy: A Musical Fable]]'', starring [[Ethel Merman]] in her last new musical, opens on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and runs for 702 performances. 
* [[May 23]] – In [[Laos]] the [[Laotian Civil War]] begins between the [[Kingdom of Laos]] and communist rebels, the [[Pathet Lao]].
* [[May 24]] – British Empire Day is renamed [[Commonwealth Day]].
* [[May 28]] – [[PGM-19 Jupiter#Biological flights|Jupiter AM-18]] rocket launches two primates, [[Miss Baker]] and Miss Able, into space from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]] in the United States along with living microorganisms and plant seeds. Successful recovery makes them the first living beings to return safely to Earth after space flight.

===June===
{{Main|June 1959}}
* [[June 3]] 
** [[Singapore]] becomes a self-governing crown colony of Britain with [[Lee Kuan Yew]] as Prime Minister.
** [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] beat [[Stade Reims]] 2–0 at [[Neckarstadion]], [[Stuttgart]] and win the [[1958–59 European Cup]] (Association football).
* [[June 5]] – A new government of the [[Singapore|State of Singapore]] is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former ministers are re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
* [[June 8]] – The [[USS Barbero (SS-317)|USS ''Barbero'']] and [[United States Postal Service]] attempt the delivery of mail via [[Missile Mail]].
* [[June 9]] – The [[USS George Washington (SSBN-598)|USS ''George Washington'']] is launched as the first submarine to carry [[ballistic missile]]s.
* [[June 14]] – A 3-front invasion of the [[Dominican Republic]] by exile forces backed by [[Fidel Castro]] and [[Venezuela]] attempts to overthrow [[Rafael Trujillo]].
* [[June 18]] – The film ''[[The Nun's Story (film)|The Nun's Story]]'', based on the best-selling novel, is released. [[Audrey Hepburn]] stars as the title character; she later says that this is her favorite film role. The film is a [[box-office]] hit, and is nominated for several [[Academy Awards|Oscars]].
* [[June 23]]
** [[Seán Lemass]] becomes the third [[Taoiseach]] of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].
** Convicted [[Manhattan Project]] spy [[Klaus Fuchs]] is released after nine years in a British prison and allowed to emigrate to [[Dresden]], [[East Germany]] where he resumes a scientific career.
* [[June 26]] – [[Elizabeth II]] (as [[Monarchy of Canada|monarch of Canada]]) and United States President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] open the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].
* [[June 30]] – [[1959 Okinawa F-100 crash]]: Twenty-one students are killed and more than a hundred injured when a U.S. Air Force North American [[F-100 Super Sabre]] jet crashes into Miamori Elementary School on the Japanese island of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. The pilot ejected before the plane struck the school.<ref>"21 Die as Jet Hits School on Okinawa", ''Oakland Tribune'', June 30, 1959, p1</ref>

===July===
[[File:Kitchen debate.jpg|upright=1.35|170px|thumb|[[July 24]]: Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and USA Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] engage in the [[Kitchen Debate]]]]
{{Main|July 1959}}
* [[July 2]] – [[Albert II of Belgium|Prince Albert of Belgium]] marries Italian [[Don (honorific)|Donna]] [[Queen Paola of Belgium|Paola Ruffo di Calabria]].
* [[July 4]] – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th [[U.S. state]] earlier in the year, the 49-star [[flag of the United States]] debuts in [[Philadelphia]].
* [[July 7]] – At 14:28 UT [[Venus]] [[occultation|occults]] the star [[Regulus]]. The rare event (which will next occur on October 1, 2044) is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
* [[July 9]] – Wing Commander [[Michael Beetham]] flying a British [[Royal Air Force]] [[Vickers Valiant]] sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop [[London]]-[[Cape Town]] flight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Records.htm|title=Records set by the RAF|publisher=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation|access-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812152044/http://www.rafweb.org/Records.htm|archive-date=August 12, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[July 14]] – Groups of [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] and [[Communism|communist]] militias rebel in [[Kirkuk|Kirkuk, Iraq]] against the central government.<ref>{{cite news|title=Iraq revolt is Still Reported Raging|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|location=St. Petersburg, FL|date=July 21, 1959|page=A1|access-date=June 27, 2012|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N9MNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FncDAAAAIBAJ|archive-date=January 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128195352/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N9MNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FncDAAAAIBAJ|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[July 17]] – The first skull of ''[[Australopithecus]]'' is discovered by [[Louis Leakey]] and his wife [[Mary Leakey|Mary]] in the [[Olduvai Gorge]] of [[Tanzania]].
* [[July 22]] – A [[Kumamoto University]] medical research group studying [[Minamata disease]] concludes that it is caused by [[mercury (element)|mercury]].
* [[July 24]] – At the opening of the [[American National Exhibition]] in Moscow, [[United States Vice President]] [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Premier of the Soviet Union|USSR Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] engage in the "[[Kitchen Debate]]".
* [[July 25]] – The British [[SR.N1]] [[hovercraft]] crosses the [[English Channel]] from [[Calais]] to [[Dover]] in just over 2 hours, on the 50th anniversary of [[Louis Blériot]]'s first crossing by [[heavier-than-air]] craft.

===August===
[[File:Thor-Able III Explorer 6.jpg|170px|thumb|right|upright|[[August 7]]: Launch of [[Explorer 6]]]]
{{Main|August 1959}}
* [[August 4]] – [[Martial law]] is declared in [[Laos]].
* [[August 7]]
** [[Explorer program]]: The United States launches [[Explorer 6]] from the Atlantic Missile Range in [[Cape Canaveral]], [[Florida]].
** The [[Roseburg, Oregon#Roseburg Blast|Roseburg Blast]] in Oregon, caused when a truck carrying explosives catches fire, kills 14 and causes $12&nbsp;million worth of damage.
* [[August 8]] – A flood in [[Taiwan]] kills 2,000.
* [[August 14]] – [[Explorer 6]] sends the first picture of Earth from orbit.
* [[August 15]] – [[Cyprus]] gains independence.
* [[August 17]] – In the United States:
** The [[1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake]] in southwest Montana kills 28.
** [[Miles Davis]]' influential [[jazz]] album ''[[Kind of Blue]]'' is released.
* [[August 19]] – The [[Central Treaty Organization]] (CENTO) is established.
* [[August 21]] – [[Hawaii]] is admitted as the 50th and last [[U.S. state]].
* [[August 26]] – The original [[Mini]] car, designed by Sir [[Alec Issigonis]], is launched in England.
* [[August 30]] – [[1959 South Vietnamese legislative election]]: South Vietnamese opposition figure [[Phan Quang Dan]] is elected to the National Assembly despite [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|soldiers]] being bussed in to vote for President [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]'s candidate.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Last Confucian: Vietnam, South-East Asia, and the West | first=Denis |last=Warner| year=1964 |location=Sydney |publisher=Angus and Robertson |pages=112–114}}</ref>
* [[August 31]] – The [[Workers' Stadium]] sports venue in [[Beijing]] ([[China]]) is officially opened.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stadiumguide.com/beijing-workers-stadium/|title=Beijing Workers Stadium|website=The Stadium Guide|access-date=August 17, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theatrebeijing.com/pop_concert_venues/workers_stadium/|title=Beijing Workers Stadium|website=Theatre Beijing|access-date=August 17, 2018}}</ref>

===September===
{{Storm path|Vera 1959 track.png|170px|right|caption=[[September 26]]: [[Typhoon Vera]] storm path|alt=Track of a tropical cyclone as represented by colored dots; each dot represents the storm's position and intensity at 6-hour intervals.}}
{{Main|September 1959}}
* [[September 14]] – Soviet spacecraft ''[[Luna 2]]'' becomes the first human-made object to crash on the [[Moon]].
* [[September 15]]–[[September 28|28]] – [[Premier of the Soviet Union|USSR Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and his wife tour the United States, at the invitation of U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].
* [[September 16]] – The [[Xerox 914]], the first plain paper copier, is introduced to the public.
* [[September 17]] – The [[hypersonic]] [[North American X-15]] research aircraft, piloted by [[Scott Crossfield]], makes its first powered flight at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], California.
* [[September 23]] – The {{MS|Princess of Tasmania}}, Australia's first passenger [[roll-on/roll-off]] [[Diesel engine|diesel]] ferry, makes her maiden voyage across the [[Bass Strait]].
* [[September 26]]
**[[Typhoon Vera]] hits central [[Honshū]], Japan, as a {{convert|160|mph|kph}} Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the [[Nagoya]] area.
** First large unit action of the [[Vietnam War]] takes place, when two companies of the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|ARVN]]'s [[23rd Division (South Vietnam)|23rd Division]] are ambushed by a well-organized [[Viet Cong]] force of several hundred, identified as the "2nd Liberation Battalion".
* [[September 30]] – [[Soviet Union]] leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] meets [[Mao Zedong]] in Beijing.

===October===
[[File:Solomon-R-Guggenheim-Museum-Levels.jpg|170px|right|thumb|[[October 21]]: Atrium of the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]] designed by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]].]]
{{Main|October 1959}}
* [[October 1]] – The [[10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China]] is celebrated with pomp across the country.
* [[October 7]] – The Soviet probe [[Luna 3]] sends back the first ever images of the [[far side of the Moon]].
* [[October 12]] – At the national [[Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana]] Congress in [[Peru]], a group of leftist radicals is expelled from the party; they later form [[APRA Rebelde]].
* [[October 13]] – The United States launches research satellite [[Explorer 7]].
* [[October 21]] – The [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]] of modern art (designed by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], who died on April 9) opens to the public in New York City.
* [[October 29]] – First appearance of [[Astérix]] the Gaul, in a French comic magazine.<ref>{{cite web|work=BDoubliées|title=Les BD oubliées D'Astérix|url=http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/series1/asterix.htm|language=fr|access-date=2013-10-03}}</ref>
* [[October 31]] – Riots break out in the [[Belgian Congo]].

===November===
{{Main|November 1959}}
* [[November 1]] – In [[Rwanda]], [[Hutu]] politician [[Dominique Mbonyumutwa]] is beaten up by [[Tutsi]] forces, leading to a period of violence known as the [[wind of destruction]].
* [[November 2]] – At a ceremony near [[Toddington, Bedfordshire|Toddington]], British [[Secretary of State for Transport|Minister of Transport]] [[Ernest Marples]] opens the first section of the [[M1 motorway|M1 Motorway]], between [[Watford]] and [[Crick, Northamptonshire|Crick]], along with two [[Spur route|spur]] motorways, the [[M45 motorway|M45]] and [[M10 motorway (Great Britain)|M10]]. Three decades of large scale motorway construction follow, leading to the rapid expansion of the UK [[List of motorways in the United Kingdom|motorway network]].
* [[November 15]] – The brutal [[Clutter family murders]] are committed in [[Holcomb, Kansas]], inspiring [[Truman Capote]]'s ''[[In Cold Blood]]'' (1966).
* [[November 18]] – Religious epic film ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]'', starring [[Charlton Heston]], which will be by far the highest-grossing film of the year and will go on to win a record 12 Academy Awards, premieres at New York City's Loews Theater in [[Ultra Panavision 70]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ben-Hur (1959)|work=[[The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures]]|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52827-BEN-HUR|access-date=2024-12-25}}</ref>
* [[November 20]] – The [[Declaration of the Rights of the Child]] is adopted by the [[United Nations]].
* November – The [[MOSFET]] (metal–oxide–semiconductor [[field-effect transistor]]), also known as the MOS [[transistor]], is invented by [[Mohamed Atalla]] and [[Dawon Kahng]] at [[Bell Labs]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/metal-oxide-semiconductor-mos-transistor-demonstrated/|title=1960 – Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) Transistor Demonstrated|journal=The Silicon Engine|publisher=[[Computer History Museum]]}}</ref><ref name="Bassett22">{{cite book |last=Bassett |first=Ross Knox |title=To the Digital Age: Research Labs, Start-up Companies and the Rise of MOS Technology |date=2007 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=9780801886393 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUbB3d2UnaAC&pg=PA22}}</ref> It revolutionizes the [[electronics industry]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chan |first1=Yi-Jen |title=Studies of InAIAs/InGaAs and GaInP/GaAs heterostructure FET's for high speed applications |date=1992 |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sV4eAQAAMAAJ |page=1 |quote=The Si MOSFET has revolutionized the electronics industry and as a result impacts our daily lives in almost every conceivable way.}}</ref> becomes the fundamental building block of the [[Information Age]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Wong |first=Kit Po |title=Electrical Engineering|volume=II |date=2009 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems|EOLSS Publications]] |isbn=9781905839780 |page=7}}</ref> and goes on to become the most widely manufactured device in history.<ref>{{cite web |title=13 Sextillion & Counting: The Long & Winding Road to the Most Frequently Manufactured Human Artifact in History |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/13-sextillion-counting-the-long-winding-road-to-the-most-frequently-manufactured-human-artifact-in-history/ |date=2018-03-02|publisher=Computer History Museum|access-date=2019-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Baker |first=R. Jacob |title=CMOS: Circuit Design, Layout and Simulation |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1118038239 |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kxYhNrOKuJQC&pg=PA7}}</ref>

===December===
{{Main|December 1959}}
* [[December 1]] – [[Cold War]]: [[Antarctic Treaty System|Antarctic Treaty]] – 12 countries, including the United States and the [[Soviet Union]], sign a landmark treaty that sets aside [[Antarctica]] as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the [[continent]] (the first [[arms control]] agreement established during the Cold War).
* [[December 2]] – [[Malpasset Dam]] in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of [[Fréjus]], killing 412.
* [[December 8]] – The life-boat ''[[RNLB Mona (ON 775)|Mona]]'', based at [[Broughty Ferry]] in Scotland, capsizes during a rescue attempt with the loss of 8 lives.
* [[December 11]] – [[Charles Robberts Swart]] is appointed the 11th [[Governor-General of the Union of South Africa]].
* [[December 14]] – [[Makarios III]] is selected as the first [[president of Cyprus]].

===Date unknown===
* [[The Supremes]] girl group is founded as The Primettes in [[Detroit]].
* Nylon [[pantyhose]], or sheer tights, are first sold on the open market as 'Panti-Legs' by [[Glen Raven, Inc.|Glen Raven Knitting Mills]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last= Gant|first=Margaret Elizabeth|title=The Raven's Story|publisher=Glen Raven, Inc.|year=1979|location=Glen Raven, NC|isbn=0-9603138-0-X}}</ref>
* The first known human with [[HIV]] dies in the [[Belgian Congo|Congo]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=An African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic|pages=594–597|doi=10.1038/35400|pmid=9468138|first1=T.|last2=Zhu|first2=Tuofu|last3=Korber|first3=Bette T.|last4=Nahmias|first4=Andre J.|last5= Hooper|first5=Edward|last6=Sharp|first6=Paul M.|journal=Nature|volume=391|issue=6667|year=1998|last1=Zhu|bibcode=1998Natur.391..594Z|s2cid=4416837|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* The current (as of 2024) design of the Japanese [[10 yen coin]] is put into circulation.
* The [[Caspian tiger]] becomes extinct in [[Iran]].
* The [[Henney Kilowatt]] goes on sale in the United States, becoming the first production [[electric car]] in almost three decades, but only 47 models will be sold in its 2-year production run.
* [[Car tailfin]] design reaches its apex in the United States with such as the [[Cadillac Eldorado]], [[Chevrolet Impala#Second generation (1959–1960)|Chevrolet Impala second generation model]], [[Dodge Coronet#1959 Dodge Silver Challenger|Dodge Silver Challenger]] and [[Imperial (automobile)#Second generation (1957–1966)|Imperial Crown Sedan]].
{{Clear}}

==Births==
{{BDToC|births}}
[[File:Rigoberta Menchu.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Rigoberta Menchú]]]]
[[File:Linda Blair 2018 cropped.jpeg|thumb|100px|[[Linda Blair]]]]
[[File:Retrato oficial del Presidente Mauricio Macri.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Mauricio Macri]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W1220-0015, Joachim Kunz.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Joachim Kunz]]]]
[[File:John McEnroe Roland Garros 2012.JPG|thumb|100px|[[John McEnroe]]]]
[[File:Վազգեն Սարգսյան.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Vazgen Sargsyan]]]]
[[File:Fumio Kishida met with Jens Stoltenberg at the sidelines of 2022 Madrid Summit (1) (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Jens Stoltenberg]]]]
[[File:Laura 4.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Laura Chinchilla]]]]
[[File:Mensaje_de_fin_de_a%C3%B1o_del_Presidente_Alberto_Fern%C3%A1ndez_(cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Alberto Fernández]]]]
[[File:David Hyde Pierce VF Shankbone 2010.jpg|thumb|100px|[[David Hyde Pierce]]]]
[[File:Emma Thompson 2022.jpg|thumb|100px|Dame [[Emma Thompson]]]]
[[File:AV0A6306 Sean Bean.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Sean Bean]]]]
<!--[[File:Robert Smith (musician) crop.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]]]]-->
[[File:Pedro R. Pierluisi.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Pedro Pierluisi]]]]
[[File:Stephen Harper by Remy Steinegger Infobox.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Stephen Harper]]]]
[[File:Hugh Laurie, from a bit of Fry & Laurie, http---en.wikipedia.org-wiki-Hugh laurie (9450843901) (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Hugh Laurie]]]]
[[File:Клаус Йоханнис (52539721210).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Klaus Iohannis]]]]
[[File:Christian Wulff crop.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Christian Wulff]]]]
[[File:Suzanne Vega 13. Inselleuchten 03 (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Suzanne Vega]]]]
[[File:Dinner for His Majesty King Tupou VI of the Kingdom of Tonga and Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u 04.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Tupou VI]]]]
[[File:Governor NewMexico.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Susana Martinez]]]]                                                      
[[File:Governor Tours the House of Cards Set (8769358329) (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Kevin Spacey]]]]
[[File:Sanjay Dutt at Mumbai Airport, 2018 (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Sanjay Dutt]]]]
[[File:Rosanna Arquette - Monte-Carlo Television Festival.JPG|thumb|100px|[[Rosanna Arquette]]]]
[[File:Gustavo Cerati.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Gustavo Cerati]]]]
[[File:Magic Johnson at SXSW 2022 (51958828669) (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Magic Johnson]]]]
[[File:Morten Harket FFM13 001.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Morten Harket]]]]
[[File:Actress, Elizabeth Pena at the 2009 East Classic Theater Fundraiser.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Elizabeth Peña]]]]
<!--[[File:Simon Cowell in December 2011.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Simon Cowell]]]]-->
<!--[[File:Sarah, Duchess of York, Gahanga Cricket Stadium 1 (October 2017) (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Sarah, Duchess of York]]]]-->
[[File:Mauricio Funes (Brasilia, May 2008).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Mauricio Funes]]]]
[[File:Ken Watanabe 2007 (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Ken Watanabe]]]]
[[File:Evo Morales Ayma (cropped 3).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Evo Morales]]]]
[[File:John Magufuli 2015.png|thumb|100px|[[John Magufuli]]]]
[[File:20130710-ByanAdamsLucca-0019 (9273168286).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Bryan Adams]]]]
[[File:Sean Young LF.JPG|thumb|100px|[[Sean Young]]]]
<!--[[File:Satoru Iwata - Game Developers Conference 2011 - Day 2 (3) (cropped 2).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Satoru Iwata]]]]-->
[[File:Florence Griffith Joyner2.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Florence Griffith Joyner]]]]
<!--[[File:Tracy Ullman by John Mathew Smith.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Tracey Ullman]]]]-->

===January===
* [[January 1]] – [[Azali Assoumani]], [[President of the Comoros]]
* [[January 4]] – [[Vanity (singer)|Vanity]], Canadian singer and actress (d. [[2016]])<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLYDAAAAMBAJ|title=Vanity 6 Lives Out Daring Fantasies on Stage|publisher=[[Johnson Publishing Company]]|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date=January 24, 1983|access-date=February 18, 2016}}</ref>
* [[January 9]] – [[Rigoberta Menchú]], Guatemalan recipient of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/|title= UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020|work= [[United Press International]] | date= 9 January 2020|access-date=15 January 2020 |archive-date= 15 January 2020|archive-url= https://archive.today/20200115192229/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] – [[Chris Van Hollen]], US Senator 
* [[January 16]] – [[Sade (singer)|Sade]], Nigerian-English singer<ref>{{cite book|editor=Graham Betts|title=Complete UK Hit Albums 1956-2005|publisher=Collins|year=2005|isbn=9780007205325|page=352}}</ref>
* [[January 17]]
** [[Susanna Hoffs]], American rock vocalist<ref>{{cite book|author=Joel Whitburn|title=Joel Whitburn presents Billboard top adult songs, 1961-2006: chart data compiled from Billboard's adult contemporary charts, 1961-2006, and adult top 40 charts, 1996-2006.|publisher=Record Research Incorporated|year=2007|isbn=9780898201697|page=20}}</ref>
** [[Momoe Yamaguchi]], Japanese singer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mobile2.itanzi.com/api2/a/1284532?for=rss&rss=|title = 60岁了，她依然是这世界最让人怀念的少女}}</ref>
* [[January 22]] – [[Linda Blair]], American actress<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul T Hellmann|title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2006|isbn=9781135948597|page=642}}</ref>
* [[January 24]] – [[Kevin Magee (basketball)|Kevin Magee]], American basketball player (d. [[2003]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/players/kevin-magee-1.html|title=Kevin Magee International Stats|website=Basketball-Reference.com}}</ref>
* [[January 27]] – 
**[[Cris Collinsworth]], American professional football player and sports broadcaster
**[[Keith Olbermann]], American news anchor and sportscaster<ref>{{cite journal|title=Current Biography Yearbook|author=H.W. Wilson Company|journal=Current Biography Yearbook: Annual Cumulation|year=2009|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|issn=0084-9499|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vwZAAAAYAAJ|access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref> 
* [[January 30]] 
** [[Steve Augeri]], American singer
** [[Jody Watley]], African-American singer<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibMzAQAAIAAJ&q=jody+watley+birthdate |title=Soul Music A-Z |first=Hugh |last=Gregory |date=July 2, 2010 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306806438 |access-date=September 10, 2016}}</ref>

===February===
* [[February 5]] – [[Jennifer Granholm]], Canadian-American politician, 47th [[Governor of Michigan]] (2003–2011)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-29 |title=Jennifer Granholm (2021-2025) {{!}} Miller Center |url=https://millercenter.org/jennifer-granholm-2021-2025 |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=millercenter.org |language=en}}</ref>
* [[February 8]] 
** [[Andrew Hoy]], Australian equestrian
** [[Mauricio Macri]], [[President of Argentina]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Biografía del Presidente Mauricio Macri |url=https://www.casarosada.gob.ar/el-presidente/biografia |website=Casa Rosada |language=es-es |access-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720135843/https://www.casarosada.gob.ar/el-presidente/biografia |archive-date=20 July 2018   }}</ref>
* [[February 9]] – [[Joachim Kunz]], East German Olympic weightlifter
* [[February 13]] [[Benur Pashayan]], Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler (d. [[2019]])
* [[February 14]] – [[Renée Fleming]], American soprano<ref>{{cite book|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|publisher=Bernan Press|year=2019|isbn=9781641433167|page=130}}</ref>
* [[February 16]] – [[John McEnroe]], American tennis player<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/john-mcenroe/m047/overview |title=John McEnroe |work=ATP World Tour |access-date=February 26, 2023}}</ref>
* [[February 18]] – [[Jayne Atkinson]], English-born American film, theatre and television actress
* [[February 22]] – [[Kyle MacLachlan]], American actor
* [[February 23]] – [[Clayton Anderson]], American astronaut<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clayton Anderson |url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Esperia/Clayton_Anderson |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=www.esa.int |language=en}}</ref>
* [[February 26]] – [[Rolando Blackman]], [[Panamanian Americans|Panamanian-American]] basketball player<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rolando Blackman Biography |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/player/bio/_/id/3640/rolando-blackman |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=ESPN |language=en}}</ref>

===March===
* [[March 4]] – [[Irina Strakhova]], Russian race walker
* [[March 5]] – [[Vazgen Sargsyan]], 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. [[1999]])
* [[March 6]] – [[Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold]], American actor and comedian
* [[March 7]] – [[Donna Murphy]], American actress and singer
* [[March 8]] – [[Aidan Quinn]], Irish-American actor
* [[March 9]] – [[Takaaki Kajita]], Japanese nuclear physicist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2015/kajita-facts.html | title=Takaaki Kajita – Facts | publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]] | date=6 October 2015 | access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref>
* [[March 11]] – [[Dejan Stojanović]], Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist and businessman
* [[March 13]] – [[Kathy Hilton]], American socialite and philanthropist<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pd84XvouoQC&dq=Jerry,+Oppenheimer.+House+Hilton.+%22On+March+13,+1959%22&pg=PT73 |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Jerry|title=House of Hilton|publisher=[[Crown Publishing]] |date=2006 |isbn=9780307351951}}</ref>
* [[March 14]] – [[Tamara Tunie]], American actress
* [[March 15]] – [[Eliot Teltscher]], American tennis player<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atptour.com/en/players/eliot-teltscher/t012/overview|title=Eliot Teltscher &#124; Overview &#124; ATP Tour &#124; Tennis|website=ATP Tour}}</ref>
* [[March 16]] – [[Jens Stoltenberg]], 27th [[Prime Minister of Norway]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/who_is_who_49999.htm |title=NATO Biography for Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General |date=18 May 2017 |publisher=NATO Publications |access-date=18 May 2017 |archive-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606072958/http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/who_is_who_49999.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[March 18]] 
** [[Luc Besson]], French film producer, writer and director<ref>{{cite book|title=Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=9780415189743|page=58}}</ref>
** [[Irene Cara]], American singer and actress (d. [[2022]])<ref>{{cite news |last1=Staff {{!}} Obituaries |title=Irene Cara, Oscar-winning singer and actress who sang the feel-good theme songs to Fame and Flashdance – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/11/29/irene-cara-oscar-winning-singer-actress-who-sang-theme-songs/ |access-date=12 December 2022 |work=The Telegraph |date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129160751/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/11/29/irene-cara-oscar-winning-singer-actress-who-sang-theme-songs/ |archive-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>
* [[March 21]] – [[Nobuo Uematsu]], Japanese composer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/profile/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517055159/http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/profile/index.html |archive-date=May 17, 2008 |title=N's profile |publisher=Square Enix USA |access-date=June 1, 2008}}</ref>
* [[March 22]] – [[Matthew Modine]], American actor
* [[March 28]] – [[Laura Chinchilla]], 49th [[president of Costa Rica]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cidob.org/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_central_y_caribe/costa_rica/laura_chinchilla_miranda|title=Biography|website=CIDOB Foundation|language=es|access-date=February 26, 2023}}</ref>
* [[March 30]] – [[Andrew Bailey (banker)|Andrew Bailey]], [[executive director]] [[banking]] and chief cashier at the [[Bank of England]]

===April===
* [[April 2]] 
** [[Alberto Fernández]], President of Argentina
** [[Badou Ezzaki]], Moroccan football player and manager
* [[April 3]] – [[David Hyde Pierce]], American actor<ref>{{cite book|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|publisher=Bernan Press|year=2019|isbn=9781641433167|page=207}}</ref>
* [[April 7]] – [[Rejoice Timire]], Zimbabwean activist and politician (d. 2021)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-11 |title=Senator Rejoice Timire Dies |url=https://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/senator-rejoice-timire-dies/ |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=[[The Zimbabwe Mail]]}}</ref>
* [[April 15]]
** [[Adriano Ruchini]], Italian businessman<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.convegnonazionaleinnovazione.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Premiati_motivazioni_2011.pdf |title=Industry and services |editor=convegnonazionaleinnovazione.it |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131171140/http://www.convegnonazionaleinnovazione.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Premiati_motivazioni_2011.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2012 }}</ref>
** [[Emma Thompson]], English actress<ref>{{cite news |title=Emma Thompson |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/70692/Emma-Thompson/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016063025/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/70692/Emma-Thompson/biography |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 October 2013 |author=Rebecca Flint Marx |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2013 |access-date=12 October 2013}}</ref>
** [[Debra Livingston]], American Lawyer 
* [[April 16]] – [[Alison Ramsay]], Scottish field hockey player<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=2583 |title=Alison Ramsay MBE at the British Olympic Committee |access-date=16 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830160740/http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=2583 |archive-date=30 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[April 17]] – [[Sean Bean]], British actor<ref>{{cite book|title=Film Review: Special|publisher=Visual Imagination Limited|year=2005|page=96}}</ref>
* [[April 21]] – [[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]], lead vocalist of [[The Cure]]<ref>Apter, Jeff, ''Never Enough: The Story of The Cure'', (2009) Omnibus Press, pp. 3–4; {{ISBN|978-1-84772-739-8}}</ref>
* [[April 22]] – [[Ryan Stiles]], American-Canadian comedian<ref>{{cite book|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2023: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|publisher=Bernan Press|year=2022|isbn=9781636710693|page=235}}</ref>
* [[April 24]] – [[Paula Yates]], British television presenter (d. [[2000]])<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1355814/Paula-Yates.html "Paula Yates"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227150927/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1355814/Paula-Yates.html |date=27 February 2016 }}. ''The Telegraph'' (18 September 2000). Retrieved 3 October 2020.</ref>
* [[April 26]] – [[Pedro Pierluisi]], Governor of Puerto Rico 
* [[April 27]] – [[Sheena Easton]], Scottish singer<ref>{{cite book|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|publisher=Bernan Press|year=2019|isbn=9781641433167|page=245}}</ref>
* [[April 30]] – [[Stephen Harper]], 22nd [[Prime Minister of Canada]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Prime Ministers of Canada Gr. 4-8.|publisher=On The Mark Press|year=2006|isbn=1-55035-721-2|page=67}}</ref>

===May===
* [[May 1]] – [[Yasmina Reza]], French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb120662778|title=Notice de personne|language=fr|website=BNF|access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[May 3]]
** [[Uma Bharti]], Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh<ref>{{cite book|author=Rajamani, R. C|title=Portraits of India's Parliamentarians for the New Millennium: Lok Sabha|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|year=2000|isbn=9788121206921|page=307}}</ref>
** [[Ben Elton]], British comedian and writer<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Elton|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/ben_elton/|access-date=2020-11-13|website=British Comedy Guide}}</ref>
* [[May 9]] 
** [[Christian Bach]], Argentine-Mexican actress and producer of [[telenovela]]s (d. [[2019]])
** [[János Áder]], [[President of Hungary]]<ref>{{cite book|editor=B. Turner|title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2014: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=2017|isbn=9781349596430|page=587}}</ref>
* [[May 10]]
** [[Victoria Rowell]], American actress
** [[Cindy Hyde-Smith]], US Senator
* [[May 12]] – [[Ving Rhames]], African-American actor
* [[May 14]] – [[Patrick Bruel]], French singer
* [[May 17]] – [[Marcelo Loffreda]], Argentine rugby player and coach
* [[May 20]] – [[Israel Kamakawiwoʻole]], Hawaiian singer (d. [[1997]])<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kekoa Enomoto |first1=Catherine |first2=Gregg K. |last2=Kakesako |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/1997/06/26/news/story1.html |title= 'IZ' Will Always Be |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |date=June 26, 1997}}</ref>
* [[May 21]] – [[Loretta Lynch]], American politician, 83rd [[United States Attorney General]]
* [[May 22]] – [[Morrissey]], British singer<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Mark |title=Saint Morrissey |location=London |publisher=SAF Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=0-946719-65-9|page=32}}</ref>
* [[May 24]] – [[Pelle Lindbergh]], Swedish-born hockey player (d. [[1985]])
* [[May 27]] – [[Donna Strickland]], Canadian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics<ref>{{cite web |date=6 October 2018 |title=Donna Strickland – Facts – 2018 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2018/strickland/facts/ |publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>
* [[May 29]] 
** [[Rupert Everett]], British actor<ref>{{cite web | title= Everett, Rupert (1959-) Biography | website=BFI Screenonline | date=29 May 1959 | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/865655/index.html | access-date=17 September 2022| author=Brian McFarlane }}</ref>
** [[Gretchen (singer)|Gretchen]], Brazilian singer and media personality<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferreira |first=Caroline |title=Gretchen faz 65 anos e compartilha reflexão: "Cheia de energia" |url=https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/entretenimento/gretchen-faz-65-anos-e-compartilha-reflexao-cheia-de-energia/#:~:text=Gretchen,%20tamb%C3%A9m%20conhecida%20como%20a,quarta-feira%20(29). |access-date=2024-10-10 |publisher=CNN Brasil |language=pt-BR}}</ref>

===June===
* [[June 7]] – [[Mike Pence]], American politician and former [[Vice President of the United States]].
* [[June 9]] – [[Paul Graham (television producer)|Paul Graham]], Canadian television producer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2025/wm/static/67662/paul_graham|title=Paul Graham: IIHF Media Award|date= May 25, 2025|website=[[International Ice Hockey Federation]]|access-date=May 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[June 10]]
** [[Carlo Ancelotti]], Italian football player and manager
** [[Eliot Spitzer]], American politician and [[List of Governors of New York|governor of New York]]
* [[June 11]] – [[Hugh Laurie]], British actor, comedian and musician<ref>{{cite book|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|publisher=Bernan Press|year=2019|isbn=9781641433167|page=318}}</ref>
* [[June 13]] – [[Klaus Iohannis]], [[President of Romania]]<ref>{{cite book|editor=B. Turner|title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2014: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=2017|isbn=9781349596430|page=997}}</ref> 
* [[June 13]] - [[Jim Irsay]], American businessman and former owner of the [[Indianapolis Colts]] (d. [[2025]]
* [[June 17]] – [[Ulrike Richter]], German swimmer
* [[June 19]] 
** [[Anne Hidalgo]], French politician, Mayor of [[Paris]] (2014–present)
** [[Christian Wulff]], [[Federal President of Germany]]<ref>{{cite book|editor=B. Turner|title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2014: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=2017|isbn=9781349596430|page=516}}</ref>  
* [[June 21]] 
** [[Guerrinha]], Brazilian basketball coach and basketball player
** [[Marcella Detroit]], American soprano vocalist, guitarist and songwriter
** [[Louis Febre]], Mexican composer
* [[June 22]] – [[Wayne Federman]], American comedian, actor and author
* [[June 27]]
** [[Khadja Nin]], Burundian singer and musician
** [[Pétur Pétursson]], Icelandic footballer
* [[June 29]] – [[Gina Alajar]], Filipino film and television actress and television director
* [[June 30]] – [[Vincent D'Onofrio]], American actor

===July===
* [[July 1]] 
** [[Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig]], Mauritanian academic and political figure
** [[Giovanni D'Aleo]], Italian long-distance runner
* [[July 4]] – [[Victoria Abril]], Spanish actress and singer
* [[July 5]] 
** [[María Concepción Navarrete]], Mexican politician
** [[Marc Cohn]], American singer-songwriter
* [[July 6]] &ndash; [[Richard Dacoury]], French basketball player
* [[July 7]] &ndash; [[Barbara Krause]], German swimmer
* [[July 8]] 
** [[Pauline Quirke]], English actress 
** [[Mikhail Zingarevich]], Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist
* [[July 9]]
** [[Jim Kerr]], Scottish rock singer ([[Simple Minds]])
** [[Kevin Nash]], American professional wrestler<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTfWE28MKsAC&q=kevin+nash+July+9,+1959+wrestling|title=Wrestling's Greatest Heroes and Villains|access-date=January 14, 2022|isbn=9780823934928|last1=Hofstede|first1=David|date=1999|publisher=ECW Press }}</ref>
* [[July 11]]
** [[Richie Sambora]], American musician
** [[Suzanne Vega]], American singer
* [[July 12]] 
** King [[Tupou VI]] of Tonga<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Monarch |url=https://www.consulatekot.eu/the-monarch |access-date=1 March 2023 |website=Consulate of the Kingdom of Tonga |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206101826/https://www.consulatekot.eu/the-monarch |url-status=dead }}</ref>
** [[Charlie Murphy (actor)|Charlie Murphy]], African-American actor and comedian (d. [[2017]])
* [[July 14]]
** [[Susana Martinez]], American politician, Governor of New Mexico
** [[Lynn Bertholet]], Swiss bank executive
* [[July 15]] – [[Vincent Lindon]], French actor and filmmaker
* [[July 19]] – [[Juan J. Campanella]], Argentinian filmmaker
* [[July 20]] – [[Giovanna Amati]], Italian racing driver
* [[July 24]] – [[Markus Graf]], Swiss ice hockey player, coach, and executive<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2024/wm/static/60902/markus_graf_(sui)|title=Markus Graf (SUI)|date=25 May 2024|website=International Ice Hockey Federation|access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>
* [[July 25]] – [[Fyodor Cherenkov]], Russian footballer and manager (d. [[2014]])
* [[July 26]] – [[Kevin Spacey]], American actor
* [[July 29]]
** [[Sanjay Dutt]], Indian actor
** [[Ruud Janssen]], Dutch artist
* [[July 30]] − [[Abdullah of Pahang]], sixteenth [[Yang di-Pertuan Agong]] of Malaysia

===August===
* [[August 3]]
** [[John C. McGinley]], American actor
** [[Koichi Tanaka]], Japanese scientist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041210202653/http://www1.shimadzu.com/about/nobel/index.html Nobel Prize Announcement] (Shimadzu Corporation)</ref>
*[[August 5]] - [[Pete Burns]], English singer, songwriter and television personality (d. [[2016]])
* [[August 6]] – [[Rajendra Singh (environmentalist)|Rajendra Singh]], Indian [[water conservationist]], [[Magsaysay Award]] (2001)
* [[August 7]] – [[Koenraad Elst]], Belgian Indologist
* [[August 10]] – [[Rosanna Arquette]], American actress
* [[August 11]] – [[Gustavo Cerati]], Argentinian singer (d. [[2014]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/arts/international/gustavo-cerati-a-star-of-south-americas-pop-scene-dies-at-55.html|title=Gustavo Cerati, a Star of South America's Pop Scene, Dies at 55|date=September 8, 2014|website=The New York Times|access-date=February 28, 2023}}</ref>
* [[August 14]]
** [[Marcia Gay Harden]], American actress
** [[Magic Johnson]], African-American basketball player
** [[Bill Hagerty]], US Senator 
* [[August 15]] – [[Scott Altman]], American astronaut
* [[August 17]]
** [[Jonathan Franzen]], American author
** [[David Koresh]], American spiritualist, leader of the [[Branch Davidian]] religious cult (d. [[1993]])
* [[August 25]]
** [[Guglielmo Trinci]], retired Italian professional baseball player{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
** [[Sönke Wortmann]], German film director
* [[August 26]] – [[Stan Van Gundy]], American basketball coach and TV commentator<ref name="bbr">{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/vangust99c.html |title=Stan Van Gundy |work=basketball-reference.com |access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref>
* [[August 27]] 
** [[Juan Fernando Cobo]], Colombian artist
**[[Daniela Romo]], Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess<ref>{{cite web|website=Historia-Biografia.com|access-date=August 24, 2019|title=Daniela Romo|author=Camila Diaz|date=December 18, 2018|url=https://historia-biografia.com/daniela-romo/}}</ref>
* [[August 28]] – [[Arthur Holden]], Canadian actor and writer
* [[August 29]]
** [[Rebecca De Mornay]], American actress
** [[Chris Hadfield]], Canadian retired astronaut
* [[August 30]] – [[Mark Jackson (Australian footballer)|Mark Jackson]], [[Australian rules football]]er and actor
* [[August 31]] – [[Tony DeFranco]], Canadian singer

===September===
* [[September 2]] – [[Guy Laliberté]], Canadian [[Cirque du Soleil]] founder
* [[September 4]]
** [[Kevin Harrington (actor)|Kevin Harrington]], Australian actor
** [[Armin Kogler]], Austrian ski jumper
* [[September 6]] – [[Gaetano Varcasia]], Italian voice actor and theatre director (d. [[2014]])
* [[September 7]]
** [[Pierre Nanterme]], French business executive (d. [[2019]])
** [[Drew Weissman]], American biochemist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]<ref>{{cite news|first=James|last=Gallagher|title=Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66983060|date=2023-10-02|accessdate=2023-10-02}}</ref>
* [[September 8]] – [[Daler Nazarov]], Tajik composer, singer and actor
* [[September 11]] – [[John Hawkes (actor)|John Hawkes]], American actor
* [[September 12]] – [[Sigmar Gabriel]], German politician
* [[September 13]]
** [[Kathy Johnson]], American artistic gymnast
** [[Chris Hansen]], American journalist<ref>{{Citation|title=Chris Hansen Social Blade|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/channel/UCgKTJAN-IrVyX-jIJ5INEhA|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>
* [[September 14]] – [[Morten Harket]], Norwegian rock singer ([[A-ha]])
* [[September 16]] – [[Peter Keleghan]], Canadian actor
* [[September 17]] – [[Olivia Lozano]], Venezuelan politician<ref>{{Cite web |title=Olivia Lozano |url=https://poderopediave.org/persona/olivia-lozano/ |access-date=10 April 2021 |website=Poderopedia}}</ref>
* [[September 18]]
** [[Ian Bridge]], Canadian soccer player
** [[Sérgio Britto]], Brazilian singer and keyboardist
* [[September 21]] – [[Dave Coulier]], American comedian
* [[September 23]]
** [[Jason Alexander]], American actor and comedian
** [[Elizabeth Peña]], American actress (d. [[2014]])
* [[September 28]] – [[Dantes Tsitsi]], Nauruan politician
* [[September 29]] – [[Jon Fosse]], Norwegian Nynorsk novelist, dramatist and poet, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in literature]]<ref>{{cite news|first=Paul|last=Glynn|title=Jon Fosse: 'Innovative' Norwegian author and playwright wins Nobel Literature Prize|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67016421|publisher=BBC News|date=2023-10-05|accessdate=2023-10-06}}</ref>
* [[September 30]]
**[[Ana Denicola]], Uruguayan scientist<ref>{{cite web|title=Ana Denicola|url=http://www.ianas.org/index.php/members/78-ianas/491-ana-denicola|website=ianas.org|publisher=Inter-American Network of Academics of Sciences|access-date=17 November 2017|archive-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117123016/http://www.ianas.org/index.php/members/78-ianas/491-ana-denicola|url-status=dead}}</ref>
** [[Ettore Messina]], Italian basketball coach

===October===
* [[October 1]] –  [[Youssou N'Dour]], Senegalese singer
* [[October 2]] – [[Lena Hades]], Russian artist
* [[October 3]] – [[Fred Couples]], American golfer
* [[October 4]] – [[Chris Lowe]], British musician<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/history/195910 |title=Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section |publisher=Petshopboys.co.uk |access-date=28 October 2010 |archive-date=May 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517230408/http://petshopboys.co.uk/history/195910 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[October 7]] – [[Simon Cowell]], English music producer and television talent show judge
* [[October 8]]
** [[Erik Gundersen]], Danish motorcycle racer
** [[Carlos I. Noriega]], Peruvian-American colonel and astronaut
* [[October 9]] – [[Boris Nemtsov]], Russian politician (murdered [[2015]])
* [[October 10]]
** [[Kirsty MacColl]], British singer-songwriter (d. [[2000]])
** [[Julia Sweeney]], American actress and comedian<ref name=FamilySearch-USPR-2007>{{cite web|title=Julia Trust Sweeney United States Public Records|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QJJ1-WQK2|website=[[FamilySearch]]|access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref>
* [[October 13]] – [[Marie Osmond]], American singer
* [[October 15]]
** [[Emeril Lagasse]], American chef and restaurant owner<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542380 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007131813/http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542380 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-10-07 |title=Emeril Lagasse Biography |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=2007-07-05}}</ref>
** [[Sarah, Duchess of York]], British royal spouse
* [[October 17]] – [[Francisco Flores Pérez]], President of El Salvador (d. [[2016]])
* [[October 18]] – [[Mauricio Funes]], 44th [[President of El Salvador]] (d. [[2025]])
* [[October 21]] – [[Ken Watanabe]], Japanese actor
* [[October 22]] – [[Arto Salminen]], Finnish writer (d. [[2005]])
* [[October 23]]
** [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], American singer and parodist
** [[Sam Raimi]], American producer, writer and director
* [[October 24]] – [[Michelle Lujan Grisham]], American politician, governor and representative from [[New Mexico]]
* [[October 25]] – [[Chrissy Amphlett]], Australian rock singer (d. [[2013]])
* [[October 26]]
** [[Evo Morales]], [[President of Bolivia]]
** [[Dimitris Tsiodras]], Greek politician
* [[October 27]] – [[Rick Carlisle]], American basketball coach
* [[October 29]] – [[John Magufuli]], 5th [[President of Tanzania]] (d. [[2021]])
* [[October 31]] – [[Neal Stephenson]], American writer

===November===
* [[November 2]] – [[Saïd Aouita]], Moroccan athlete
* [[November 5]] – [[Bryan Adams]], Canadian singer and photographer
* [[November 10]]
** [[Mackenzie Phillips]], American actress
** [[Mike McCarthy]], American football coach
* [[November 11]] 
** [[Parithi Ilamvazhuthi]], Indian politician (d. [[2018]])
** [[Christian Schwarzenegger]], Swiss legal scientist and professor
* [[November 14]]
** [[Deta Hedman]], Jamaican-born English darts player
** [[Paul McGann]], British actor
* [[November 19]] – [[Allison Janney]], American actress
* [[November 20]] – [[Sean Young]], American actress
* [[November 23]] 
** [[Dominique Dunne]], American actress (d. [[1982]])
** [[Maxwell Caulfield]], British actor
* [[November 25]] – [[Charles Kennedy]], British politician (d. [[2015]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Kennedy obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/02/charles-kennedy |website=The Guardian |access-date=31 May 2021|date=2015-06-02}}</ref>
*[[November 26]] – [[Sergey Golovkin]], Russian serial killer and rapist (d. 1996)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.serial-killers.ru/karts/golovkin.htm |title=Slaughter-House. Серийные убийцы. Биография Сергея Головкина |access-date=April 20, 2024 |archive-date=March 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306221149/http://www.serial-killers.ru/karts/golovkin.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[November 27]] – [[Viktoria Mullova]], Russian violinist
* [[November 28]] – [[Judd Nelson]], American actor
* [[November 29]]
** [[Rahm Emanuel]], American politician
** [[Platon Lebedev]], Russian executive
** [[Neal Broten]], American professional ice hockey player<ref>{{Ice hockey stats|legends=10170}}</ref>
* [[November 30]]
** [[Cherie Currie]], singer, musician, actress, and artist
** [[Marie Currie]], singer, songwriter, actress, and artist
** [[Sylvia Hanika]], German tennis player<ref>{{cite web |title=Sylvia Hanika |url=https://www.wtatennis.com/players/80012/name |publisher=Women's Tennis Association}}</ref>

===December===
* [[December 1]] – [[Wally Lewis]], Australian rugby league player
* [[December 3]] – [[Kathy Jordan]], American tennis player<ref>{{cite web |title=Kathy Jordan |url=https://www.wtatennis.com/players/100019/name |publisher=Women's Tennis Association}}</ref>
* [[December 4]] – [[Christa Luding-Rothenburger]], German speed skater
* [[December 5]] – [[Yoshitomo Nara]], Japanese artist
* [[December 6]] – [[Satoru Iwata]], Japanese president of Nintendo (d. [[2015]])
* [[December 11]] – [[Li Gui-min]], Taiwanese politician
* [[December 13]] – [[Johnny Whitaker]], American actor
* [[December 14]] – [[Evan Ziporyn]], American composer
* [[December 15]] – [[Betsy Arakawa]], American classical pianist
* [[December 17]] – [[Gregg Araki]], American director
* [[December 19]] – [[Waise Lee]], Hong Kong actor
* [[December 20]] – [[Stephen Chan Chi Wan]], general manager of [[TVB]]
* [[December 21]] – [[Florence Griffith Joyner]], American athlete (d. [[1998]])
* [[December 22]] – [[Bernd Schuster]], German footballer and manager
* [[December 24]] – [[Lee Daniels]], American director and producer<ref name=tvg>{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lee-daniels/281281|title=Lee Daniels biography|publisher=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=March 17, 2014}}</ref>
* [[December 25]] – [[Michael P. Anderson]], American astronaut (d. [[2003]])
* [[December 26]] – [[Glenna Cabello]], Venezuelan political scientist
* [[December 28]] – [[Ana Torroja]], Spanish singer
* [[December 29]] 
** [[Marco Antonio Solís]], Mexican singer
** [[Patricia Clarkson]], American actress
* [[December 30]] – [[Tracey Ullman]], British-American comedian and actress
* [[December 31]]
** [[Val Kilmer]], American actor (d. [[2025]])
** [[Baron Waqa]], Nauruan politician and composer, 14th [[President of Nauru]]

===Full date unknown===
*[[Paul Zgheib]], Lebanese photographer<ref>{{cite web |title=Espace Artistique Polyvalent |url=http://www.espacesd.com/hpaulzgheib.htm |publisher=SD Space Concept & Design |access-date=17 June 2024 |date=13 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113134445/http://www.espacesd.com/hpaulzgheib.htm |archive-date=November 13, 2006 }}</ref>
*[[Bernard Lavigne]], French Judge

==Deaths==

===January===
[[File:Demille - c1920.JPG|thumb|100px|[[Cecil B. DeMille]]]]
* [[January 9]] – [[Giuseppe Bottai]], Italian Fascist journalist and politician (b. [[1895]])
* [[January 10]] – [[Colin Gregory]], Australian tennis player (b. [[1903]])
* [[January 14]] 
** [[Eivind Berggrav]], Norwegian [[Lutheran]] bishop and reverend (b. [[1884]])
** [[G. D. H. Cole]], English political theorist, economist and historian (b. [[1889]])<ref>{{cite news |title=G. D. H. Cole |work=The Times |location=London |date=15 January 1959 }}</ref>
* [[January 21]]
** [[Cecil B. DeMille]], American film director (b. [[1881]])
** [[Frances Gertrude McGill]], Canadian [[forensic pathologist]] (b. [[1882]])
** [[Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer]], American actor (b. [[1927]])
* [[January 22]] 
** [[Elisabeth Moore]], American tennis champion (b. [[1876]])
** [[Mike Hawthorn]], English racing driver (b. [[1929]])

===February===
[[File:The Big Bopper.jpg|thumb|100px|[[The Big Bopper]]]]
[[File:Buddy Holly cropped.JPG|thumb|100px|[[Buddy Holly]]]]
<!--[[File:DFMalanPortret.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Daniel François Malan]]]]-->
[[File:Baby Dodds (Gottlieb 02051).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Baby Dodds]]]]
<!--[[File:Beatrix Jones Farrand cabinet card est 1890s-1910s.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Beatrix Farrand]]]]-->
* [[February 3]] – [[The Day the Music Died|Killed in the crash of a private plane]]:
** [[The Big Bopper]] (J.P. Richardson), American rock singer (b. [[1930]])
** [[Buddy Holly]], American rock singer (b. [[1936]])
** [[Ritchie Valens]], American rock singer (b. [[1941]])
* [[February 4]] – [[Una O'Connor (actress)|Una O'Connor]], Irish actress (b. [[1880]])
* [[February 7]] – [[D. F. Malan]], South African politician, 4th [[Prime Minister of South Africa]] (b. [[1874]])<ref name="hartfordcourantobit">{{cite news|title=D. F. Malan, S. African Racist, Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/370706726/?terms=%22D.%2BF.%2BMalan%22|access-date=18 February 2018|work=Hartford Courant|date=8 February 1959|page=5|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}</ref>
* [[February 11]] – [[Marshall Teague (racing driver)|Marshall Teague]], American race car driver (b. [[1921]])
* [[February 12]] – [[George Antheil]], American composer (b. [[1900]])
* [[February 14]] – [[Baby Dodds]], American jazz musician (b. [[1898]])
* [[February 15]] – [[Owen Willans Richardson|Sir Owen Richardson]], British physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate (b. [[1879]])
* [[February 18]] – [[Gago Coutinho]], Portuguese aviation pioneer (b. 1869)
* [[February 22]] – [[Helen Parrish]], American actress (b. [[1924|1923]])
* [[February 23]] – [[Pierre Frieden]], Luxembourgish politician and writer, 18th [[Prime Minister of Luxembourg]] (b. [[1892]])
* [[February 25]] – [[Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski]], Soviet architect, diplomat and journalist (b. [[1891]])
* [[February 26]]
** [[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife]], eldest grandchild of King [[Edward VII]] (b. [[1891]])
** [[Kōtoku Satō]], Japanese general (b. [[1893]])
* [[February 28]] 
** [[Maxwell Anderson]], American screenwriter (b. [[1888]])
** [[Beatrix Farrand]], American gardener and architect (b. [[1872]])

===March===
[[File:Lou Costello in Africa Screams.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Lou Costello]]]]
[[File:52 HatoyamaI.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Ichirō Hatoyama]]]]
<!--[[File:Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi Seated.png|thumb|100px|[[Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi]]]]-->
* [[March 1]] – [[Mack Gordon]], American composer and lyricist (b. [[1904]])
* [[March 2]] – [[Eric Blore]], English actor (b. [[1887]])
* [[March 3]] – [[Lou Costello]], American actor and comedian (b. [[1906]])
* [[March 4]] – [[Maxie Long]], American athlete (b. [[1878]])
* [[March 6]] 
** [[Guido Brignone]], Italian actor (b. [[1886]])
** [[Fred Stone]], American actor (b. [[1873]])
* [[March 7]] – [[Ichirō Hatoyama]], Japanese politician, 36th [[Prime Minister of Japan]] (b. [[1883]])
* [[March 15]] 
** [[Shalva Dadiani]], Soviet novelist (b. [[1874]])
** [[Lester Young]], American jazz saxophonist (b. [[1909]])
* [[March 17]] – [[Galaktion Tabidze]], Georgian poet (b. [[1891]])<ref>[[Rayfield, Donald]] (2000), ''[[The Literature of Georgia: A History]]'', pp.&nbsp;251–4. [[Routledge]], {{ISBN|0-7007-1163-5}}</ref>
* [[March 19]] – [[Umberto Barbaro]], Italian critic (b. [[1902]])
* [[March 23]] – [[Dominick Trcka]], Czechoslovak [[Roman Catholic]] priest and blessed (b. [[1886]])
* [[March 24]] – [[Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi]], Sudanese political figure and religious leader, Imam of the [[Ansar (Sudan)|Ansar]] and 1st [[Prime Minister of Sudan]] (b. [[1885]])
* [[March 26]] – [[Raymond Chandler]], American-born novelist (b. [[1888]])
* [[March 28]] – [[Lyubov Golanchikova]], Soviet pilot (b. [[1889]])
* [[March 29]] – [[Barthélemy Boganda]], 1st [[Prime Minister of the Central African Republic]] (b. [[1910]])

===April===
[[File:Frank Lloyd Wright portrait.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Frank Lloyd Wright]]]]
* [[April 2]] – [[Nicholas Charnetsky]], Soviet [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] priest, bishop, martyr and blessed (b. [[1884]])
* [[April 8]] – [[Jonathan Zenneck]], German physicist and electrical engineer (b. [[1871]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statues.vanderkrogt.net/object.php?webpage=ST&record=dens364|title=Cuxhaven – Jonathan Zenneck|website=statues.vanderkrogt.net}}</ref> 
* [[April 9]] – [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], American architect (b. [[1867]])
* [[April 18]] – [[Irving Cummings]], American actor (b. [[1888]])
* [[April 28]] – [[María Guggiari Echeverría]], Paraguayan [[Roman Catholic]] religious professed and venerable (b. [[1925]])
* [[April 29]] – [[Kenneth Anderson (British Army officer)|Sir Kenneth Anderson]], British general (b. [[1891]])

===May===
[[File:Senator John Foster Dulles (R-NY).jpg|thumb|100px|[[John Foster Dulles]]]]
* [[May 5]] 
** [[Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente|Georges Grente]], French [[Roman Catholic]] cardinal and eminence (b. [[1872]])
** [[Carlos Saavedra Lamas]], Argentine politician, recipient of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (b. [[1878]])
* [[May 8]] 
** [[Renato Caccioppoli]], Italian mathematician (b. [[1904]])
** [[Ibrahim of Johor]], Malaysian sultan (b. [[1873]])
* [[May 11]] – [[Marcella Albani]], Italian actress (b. [[1899]])
* [[May 14]] – [[Sidney Bechet]], American-born jazz saxophonist (b. [[1897]])
* [[May 17]] – [[George Albert Smith (film pioneer)|George Albert Smith]], English film pioneer (b. [[1864]])
* [[May 18]]
** [[Apsley Cherry-Garrard]], Antarctic explorer (b. [[1886]])
** [[Enrique Guaita]], Argentinian footballer (b. [[1910]])
* [[May 20]] – [[Alfred Schütz]], Austrian sociologist (b. [[1899]])
* [[May 24]] – [[John Foster Dulles]], 52nd [[United States Secretary of State]] (b. [[1888]])
* [[May 29]] – [[Ed Walsh]], American baseball player (b. [[1881]])

===June===
[[File:Windaus.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus]]]]
[[File:Hitoshi Ashida.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Hitoshi Ashida]]]]
<!--[[File:Boris Vian - WIKI retouched.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Boris Vian]]]]-->
<!--[[File:Elias von Parma Postkarte 1910.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Elias, Duke of Parma]]]]-->
* [[June 1]] – [[Sax Rohmer]], English author (b. [[1883]])
* [[June 4]] – [[Charles Vidor]], American director (b. [[1900]])
* [[June 8]] – [[Pietro Canonica]], Italian sculptor (b. [[1869]])
* [[June 9]] – [[Adolf Windaus]], German chemist, [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] laureate (b. [[1876]])
* [[June 13]] – [[Seán Lester]], Irish diplomat (b. [[1888]])<ref>[http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/viewPerson/851 Sean Lester (1888 – 1959): Journalist and international civil servant]</ref>
* [[June 14]] – [[Jerónimo Méndez]], Chilean politician, acting [[Presidents of Chile|President of the Republic]] (b. [[1887]])
* [[June 15]] – [[Kazimierz Bein]], Polish ophthalmologist (b. [[1872]])
* [[June 16]] – [[George Reeves]], American television actor (b. [[1914]])
* [[June 18]]
** [[Ethel Barrymore]], American stage and screen actress (b. [[1879]])
** [[Vincenzo Cardarelli]], Italian poet (b. [[1887]])
* [[June 20]] 
** [[Hitoshi Ashida]], Japanese politician, 34th [[Prime Minister of Japan]] (b. [[1887]])
** [[Ian Clunies Ross|Sir Ian Clunies Ross]], Australian scientist (b. [[1899]])<ref>[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clunies-ross-sir-william-ian-9770 Sir William Ian Clunies Ross (1899–1959)]</ref>
* [[June 22]] – [[Bruce Harlan]], American Olympic diver (b. [[1926]])
* [[June 23]] 
** [[Cesare Maria De Vecchi]], Italian soldier (b. [[1884]])
** [[Boris Vian]], French writer, poet, singer and musician (b. [[1920]])
* [[June 27]] 
** [[Elias, Duke of Parma]] (b. [[1880]])
** [[Giovanni Pastrone]], Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. [[1883]])
* [[June 30]] – [[José Vasconcelos]], Mexican politician, writer and philosopher (b. [[1882]])

===July===
[[File:Billie Holiday 1947 (cropped).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Billie Holiday]]]]
[[File:Fleet Admiral Leahy.tif|thumb|100px|[[William D. Leahy]]]]
* [[July 2]] – [[Sergei Chetverikov]], Russian biologist (b. [[1880]])
* [[July 3]] – [[Johan Bojer]], Norwegian novelist and dramatist (b. [[1872]])
* [[July 6]] – [[George Grosz]], German artist (b. [[1893]])
* [[July 7]] 
** [[Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa]], Spanish painter (b. [[1871]])
** [[Ernest Newman]], English music critic (b. [[1868]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783271900/ernest-newman/|title=Ernest Newman|date=May 14, 2020 }}</ref>
* [[July 14]] – [[Grock]], Swiss clown (b. [[1880]])
* [[July 15]]
** [[Ernest Bloch]], Swiss-born American composer (b. [[1880]])
** [[Agostino Gemelli]], Italian [[Franciscan]] friar and reverend (b. [[1878]])
* [[July 17]] – [[Billie Holiday]], American singer (b. [[1915]])<ref>{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Times'', July 18,|1959|p=15}} |last1=''New York Times'' (''The'') |author-link1=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1959 |title=Billie Holiday Dies Here at 44 – Jazz Singer Had Wide Influence |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/07/18/80594441.html |url-access=subscription |edition=Late City |volume=108 |issue=37065 |page=15 |access-date=November 25, 2013 |via=[[TimesMachine]]}}</ref>
* [[July 20]] – [[William D. Leahy]], American admiral (b. [[1875]])
* [[July 25]]
** [[Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog]], Polish-born Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and later of [[Israel]] (b. [[1888]])
** King [[Mutara III of Rwanda]] (b. [[1911]])
* [[July 27]] – [[Aleksandar Tsankov]], 21st [[Prime Minister of Bulgaria]] (b. [[1879]])
* [[July 30]] – [[María Natividad Venegas de la Torre]], Mexican [[Roman Catholic]] nun and saint (b. [[1868]])

===August===
[[File:W Halsey.jpg|thumb|100px|[[William Halsey Jr.]]]]
* [[August 4]] – [[Ioan Bălan]], Romanian [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] prelate (b. [[1880]])
* [[August 6]] – [[Preston Sturges]], American film director and writer (b. [[1898]])
* [[August 8]] 
** [[Albert Namatjira]], Australian Aboriginal artist (b. [[1902]])
** [[Luigi Sturzo]], Italian [[Roman Catholic]] priest and politician (b. [[1871]])
* [[August 9]] – [[Emil František Burian]], Czechoslovak poet (b. [[1904]])
* [[August 16]]
** [[William Halsey Jr.]], American US Navy Fleet admiral (b. [[1882]])<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c9cjAAAAIBAJ&pg=7080%2C3200658 |work=Milwaukee Journal |agency=Associated Press |title=Admiral Halsey dies; beat Japanese fleet |date=August 17, 1959 |page=4, part 1 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
** [[Wanda Landowska]], Polish harpsichordist (b. [[1879]])
* [[August 19]] – [[Blind Willie McTell]], American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist (b. [[1901]])
* [[August 21]] – [[Jacob Epstein|Sir Jacob Epstein]], American-born British sculptor (b. [[1880]])
* [[August 28]]
** [[Raphael Lemkin]], Polish lawyer (b. [[1900]])
** [[Bohuslav Martinů]], Czech composer (b. [[1890]])

===September===
[[File:Edmund Gwenn 1953.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Edmund Gwenn]]]]
[[File:Official_Photographic_Portrait_of_S.W.R.D.Bandaranayaka_(1899-1959).jpg|thumb|100px|[[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]]]]
* [[September 6]]
** [[Edmund Gwenn]], English actor (b. [[1877]])
** [[Kay Kendall]], English actress (b. [[1927]])
* [[September 7]] – [[Maurice Duplessis]], [[Premier of Quebec]] (b. [[1890]])
* [[September 9]] – [[Ramón Fonst]], Cuban fencer (b. 1883)
* [[September 11]] – [[Paul Douglas (actor)|Paul Douglas]], American actor (b. [[1907]])
* [[September 14]] – [[Wayne Morris (American actor)|Wayne Morris]], American actor (b. [[1914]])
* [[September 18]] – [[Adolf Ziegler]], German painter (b. [[1892]])
* [[September 20]] – [[Nikandr Chibisov]], Russian commander (b. [[1892]])
* [[September 22]]
** [[Josef Matthias Hauer]], Austrian composer and music theorist (b. [[1883]])
** [[Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside]], British field marshal (b. [[1880]])
* [[September 24]] – [[Wolfgang Paalen]], German-Austrian-Mexican painter, sculptor and art philosopher (b. [[1905]])
* [[September 25]] – [[Helen Broderick]], American actress (b. [[1891]])
* [[September 26]] – [[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]], 4th [[Prime Minister of Ceylon]] (b. [[1899]])
* [[September 28]]
** [[Rudolf Caracciola]], German racing driver (b. [[1901]])
** [[Vinnie Richards]], American tennis player (b. [[1903]])
* [[September 30]] – [[Taylor Holmes]], American actor (b. [[1878]])

===October===
<!--[[File:Enrico De Nicola.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Enrico De Nicola]]]]-->
[[File:Errol Flynn1.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Errol Flynn]]]]
[[File:George C. Marshall, U.S. Secretary of State.jpg|thumb|100px|[[George Marshall]]]]
<!--[[File:Camilo Cienfuegos.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Camilo Cienfuegos]]]]-->
* [[October 1]] – [[Enrico De Nicola]], Italian jurist, politician and journalist, 1st [[President of Italy]] (b. [[1877]])
* [[October 3]] – [[Sakiko Kanase]], Japanese hostess, model, and teacher (b. [[1935]])
* [[October 6]] – [[Bernard Berenson]], American art historian (b. [[1865]])
* [[October 7]] – [[Mario Lanza]], American tenor (b. [[1921]])
* [[October 9]] – [[Shirō Ishii]], Japanese microbiologist and lieutenant general of [[Unit 731]] (b. [[1892]])
* [[October 14]] – [[Errol Flynn]], Australian actor (b. [[1909]])
* [[October 15]] – [[Stepan Bandera]], Ukrainian nationalist leader (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]], 29th [[Prime Minister of Iran]] (b. [[1869]])
* [[October 20]] – [[Werner Krauss]], German actor (b. [[1884]])
* [[October 22]] – [[Joseph Cahill]], Australian politician (b. [[1891]])
* [[October 28]] – [[Camilo Cienfuegos]], Cuban revolutionary (b. [[1932]])
* [[October 29]] – King [[Sisavang Vong]] of [[Laos]] (b. [[1885]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.info/on-this-day/1959-sisavang-vong-king-of-laos-who-had-around-15-wives-and-50-children/|title=1959: Sisavang Vong: King of Laos who had around 15 Wives and 50 Children|date=October 28, 2019}}</ref>

===November===
[[File:Jose P. Laurel.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Jose P. Laurel]]]]
[[File:CTR Wilson.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Charles Thomson Rees Wilson]]]]
<!--[[File:Alfonso López Pumarejo.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Alfonso López Pumarejo]]]]-->
* [[November 1]] – [[Zhang Jinghui]], Chinese general and politician, [[Prime Minister of Manchukuo]] (b. [[1871]])
* [[November 2]] – [[Federico Tedeschini]], Italian [[Roman Catholic]] cardinal and eminence (b. [[1873]])
* [[November 4]] 
** [[George of Drama]], Greek [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] priest, elder and saint (b. [[1901]])<ref>[https://www.monastiriaka.gr/en/blog/saint-george-karslides-of-drama Saint George Karslides of Drama]</ref>
** [[Friedrich Waismann]], Austrian mathematician, physicist and philosopher (b. [[1896]])
* [[November 6]] 
** [[José P. Laurel]], Filipino politician and judge, 3rd [[President of the Philippines]] (b. [[1891]])
** [[Ivan Leonidov]], Russian architect (b. [[1902]])
* [[November 7]] – [[Victor McLaglen]], English actor and boxer (b. [[1886]]) 
* [[November 10]] – [[Lupino Lane]], British actor (b. [[1892]])
* [[November 15]] – [[Charles Thomson Rees Wilson]], Scottish physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate (b. [[1869]])
* [[November 17]] – [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]], Brazilian composer (b. [[1887]])
* [[November 20]] – [[Alfonso López Pumarejo]], 2-time [[President of Colombia]] (b. [[1886]])
* [[November 21]] – [[Max Baer (boxer)|Max Baer]], American boxer and actor (b. [[1909]])
* [[November 22]] – [[Molla Mallory]], American tennis champion (b. [[1884]])
* [[November 24]] 
** [[Stepan Erzia]], Russian sculptor (b. [[1876]])
** [[Ion Gigurtu]], 42nd Prime Minister of Romania (b. [[1886]])
* [[November 25]] – [[Gérard Philipe]], French actor (b. [[1922]])

===December===
<!--[[File:HIH Kuni Asaakira.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Prince Kuni Asaakira]]]]-->
[[File:Ante Pavelić StAF W 134 Nr. 026020 Bild 1 (5-92156-1).jpg|thumb|100px|[[Ante Pavelić]]]]
* [[December 3]] – [[Juozapas Skvireckas]], Soviet [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] archbishop and reverend (b. [[1873]])
* [[December 4]] – [[Hubert Marischka]], Austrian film director (b. [[1882]])
* [[December 7]] 
** [[Charlie Hall (actor, born 1899)|Charlie Hall]], English actor (b. [[1899]])
** [[Prince Kuni Asaakira]] (b. [[1901]])
* [[December 11]] – [[Jim Bottomley]], American baseball player (b. [[1900]])
* [[December 14]] – [[Stanley Spencer]], British painter (b. [[1891]])
* [[December 19]] – [[Andrés Martínez Trueba]], 31st [[President of Uruguay]] (b. [[1884]])
* [[December 22]] – [[Gilda Gray]], Polish-born dancer and actress (b. [[1901]])
* [[December 23]] – [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax]], British politician (b. [[1881]])
* [[December 28]] – [[Ante Pavelić|Ante Pavelic]], Croatian fascist leader and WWII war criminal (b. [[1889]])

===Unknown===
* [[Al-Abbas ibn Ibrahim as-Samlali]], Moroccan historian (b. [[1877]])
* [[Elena Săcălici]], Romanian artistic gymnast (b. [[1935]])

==Nobel Prizes==
[[File:Nobel medal.png|right|100px]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Emilio Gino Segrè]], [[Owen Chamberlain]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Jaroslav Heyrovský]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine]] – [[Severo Ochoa]], [[Arthur Kornberg]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]] – [[Salvatore Quasimodo]]
* [[Nobel Peace Prize|Peace]] – [[Philip Noel-Baker]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Portal|1950s}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Events by month links}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1959}}
[[Category:1959| ]]