Editing 1959 (section)

==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]].
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