1959

Kerry won the All Ireland Senior Football Championship
Waterford  won the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

BORN THAT YEAR WERE

Ben Elton (Writer/Comedian)
Bryan Comedian (Singer)
Charles Kennedy (Leader Liberal Democrats)
Hugh Laurie (British Comedian)
John McEnroe (Tennis Player)
Kevin Spacey (Actor)
Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)
Val Kilmer (Actor)

INVENTIONS IN 1959 INCLUDED

Pacemaker
Barbie Doll
Microchip

IRISH MOVIES INCLUDED

Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Shake Hands with the Devil

ALSO THAT YEAR

Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba after Revolution with the first communist state in the west
The Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in New York City is completed
Alaska becomes the 49th State of the United States
Hawaii becomes the 50th State of the United States
The new Labor Reform Act passed to control union powers.
The Austin Seven ( Mini ) from the British Motor Corporation goes on sale for £500 August 30th
Hudson and Nash join on January 14th to become AMC (American Motors Association
Archbishop Makarios is elected president of the Independent Cyprus Republic
The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence.
Flood in Taiwan leaves 2,000 dead.
St Lawrence Seaway a joint US / Canadian venture is completed linking the great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean
US Unemployment reaches 1.4 million
NASA introduces America’s first astronauts to the world including John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr.
Direct Dial Payphones Introduced In The UK
An International agreement is signed to preserve Antartica
Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev argue about advantages of communism and capitalism in a Kitchen known as the ( Kitchen Debate ) on July 24th
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama flees Tibet and obtains political asylum in India,
Boeing 707 Jet Airliner comes into service cutting 8 hrs from transatlantic Flight
First Pictures Of Earth From Space Taken By Explorer 6
IBM shipped the transistor-based IBM 1401 mainframe.
US Launches first Weather Station in Space

POPULAR CULTURE

The US Grammy Music Awards Started
The last musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein “The Sound of Music” opens on broad way
The chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an   Iowa   snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board. The tragedy is later termed “The Day the Music Died,” popularized in Don McLean’s song, “American Pie.”
The Film Ben-Hur premieres in New York City
Mattel’s Barbie Doll is Launched

POPULAR FILMS

Ben-Hur
Some Like It Hot
Anatomy of a Murder
North by Northwest
Sleeping Beauty

POPULAR TV PROGRAMMES

Bonanza premieres on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color
Juke Box Jury premieres on BBC Television
Dixon of Dock Green (UK)
The Huckleberry Hound Show