Today in History for August 1959

Months in 1959: January February March April May June July September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 36 of 36

1st - New Continental baseball league formed
1st - Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Sacerdotii nostri primordia
1st - WAAY TV channel 31 in Huntsville, AL (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
2nd - 41st PGA Championship: Bob Rosburg shoots a 277 at Minneapolis GC
2nd - Milwaukee Brave Bill Bruton hits 2 bases loaded triples
2nd - SF Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits 1st of his 521 HRs
3rd - 27th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Memorial Coliseum, LA
3rd - 50 killed in uprising in Guinea-Bissau
3rd - AL beats NL 5-3 in 27th All Star Game (Dodger Stadium)
4th - "Billy Barnes Revue" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 87 perfs
5th - 42.4 cm rainfall in Decatur Co, Iowa (state record)
5th - Chic Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 55-26 in Toronto
7th - Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space
7th - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design
12th - 1st ship firing of a Polaris missile, Observation Island
12th - Progressive Party under John Steytler forms in South Africa
13th - Milt satellite Discoverer 5 launched (into polar orbit)
14th - 26th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Baltimore 29, All-Stars 0 (70,000)
14th - AFL organized with NY, Dallas, LA, Minneapolis, Denver & Houston
16th - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Seattle Golf Open
16th - USSR introduces installment buying
17th - 7.1 quake strikes Yellowstone National Park
17th - USSR & Iraq signs contract for building Iraqi nuclear reactor
18th - Branch Rickey resigns as Pirates' CEO to be pres of Continental League
19th - Doctor X beats Wilber Snyder in Omaha, to become NWA wrestling champ
19th - Honolulu seeks a franchise in Continental League
19th - Satellite Discoverer 6 launched into polar orbit
20th - Belgium shortens conscription to 12 months
21st - Hawaii becomes 50th US state
22nd - Cin Red Frank Robinson hits 3 consecutive HRs
23rd - Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Spokane Golf Open
24th - England complete 5-0 series drubbing of India
24th - Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American Rep (Both from Hawaii)
31st - 48th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (3-2)
31st - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open
31st - Sandy Koufax breaks Dizzy Dean's NL mark of 18 strikeouts in a game

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 66 of 66

1st - Joe Elliott, Sheffield, England, heavy metal vocalist (Def Leppard-Hysteria, Rock of Ages)
1st - Otomo Yoshihide, Japanese musician
2nd - Britt Helfer, Clearfield Utah, actress (Lily-Loving, Alley Cat)
3rd - Martin Atkins, rocker
3rd - Victoria Jackson, Miami Fla, actress (Casual Sex, Saturday Night Live, UHF)
3rd - Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, Nobel laureate
4th - Deedee Lasker, LPGA golfer
4th - John Gormley, Irish politician
5th - Pete Burns, rocker (Dead or Alive-Spin Me Round)
6th - Grant Aleksander, Balt Md, actor (Guiding Light, All My Children)
6th - Joyce Sims, rocker (All & All)
7th - Ali Shah, cricketer (Zimbabwe all-rounder in two Tests 1992)
8th - Rikki Rockett, rocker (Poison-Every Rose Has a Thorn)
8th - Ronald Weigel, German DR speed walker (5 km indoor)
9th - Diane Williams, Hahn AFB Ger, singer (Girls Next Door-Don't Be Cruel)
9th - Kurtis Blow, NYC, rapper (Krushgroove-The Breaks)
10th - Mark Price, bass/vocals (All About Eve, Tin Huey-Contents Dislodged)
10th - Rosanna Arquette, NYC, actress (Desperately Seeking Susan, After Hour)
10th - Florent Vollant, Innu-Canadian musician (Kashtin)
Actress Rosanna Arquette (10th) 11th - Linda Rhys Vaughn, Grossmont Ca, playmate (Apr, 1982)
11th - Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor
11th - Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian musician (Soda Stereo)
12th - Lynette Woodard, Wichita Ks, (Olympic-gold-1984, Harlem Globetrotter)
13th - Bruce French, cricketer (England wicketkeeper in 16 Tests 1986-88)
13th - Danny Bonaduce, actor (Danny-Partridge Family)/Chicago DJ (WLUP)
13th - Mark Nevin, rocker (Fairground Attraction-Find My Love)
13th - Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player
14th - Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Mich, NBA Forward (LA Lakers/Olympic-gold-92)
14th - Frank Brickowski, NBA forward/center (Seattle Supersonics)
14th - Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
15th - Scott D Altman, Lincoln Ill, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (sk: STS 90)
16th - Laura Innes, American actress
16th - Marc Sergeant, Belgian cyclist
17th - David Koresh, American cult leader (d. 1993)
17th - Jonathan Franzen, American author
18th - Tom Prichard, American wrestler
19th - Ricky Pierce, NBA guard/forward (Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks)
19th - Steve Grimmett, heavy metal rocker
19th - Susan Cummings, Monegasque-born American heiress and convicted murderer
20th - Missie McGeorge, Pueblo CO, LPGA golfer (1994 PING-Cellular One)
20th - Richard DeStasio, horse trainer
21st - Anne Hobbs, England, tennis star
21st - Bud Schultz, Meriden Conn, tennis star
21st - Jim McMahon, NFL QB (Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles)
21st - Richard Zokol, Kitimat BC, Canadian Tour golfer (1982 BC Open)
22nd - Denise Curry, Daivs California, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1984)
22nd - Juan Croucier, heavy metal rocker (Ratt-Round & Round)
22nd - Pia Gjellerup, Danish politician
23rd - George Kalovelonis, Greek tennis player
24th - Adrian Kuiper, cricketer (South African all-rounder)
24th - Michel Valke, Dutch soccer player (Sparta, Dordrecht '90)
26th - Jim Rutledge, Victoria, Canadian Tour golfer (1995 Indian Open)
26th - Joanne Gail Abbott, executive (MTV)
26th - Kathryn P Hire, Mobile Alabama, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (sk: STS 90)
27th - Gerhard Berger, formula-1 racer (Italian Grand Prix-1988)
27th - Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
28th - Mary Murphy, Birmingham MI, LPGA golfer (1990 US Women's Open-5th)
29th - Chris Hadfield, Sarnia Ontario Canada, RCAF/astronaut (STS 74, sk: 99)
29th - Eddi Reader, rocker (Fairground Attraction-Find My Love)
29th - Ernesto Rodrigues, Portuguese composer
29th - Akkineni Nagarjuna, Indian Telugu actor
29th - Timothy Perry Shriver, member of the Kennedy Family
29th - Rebecca De Mornay, Santa Rose Cal, actress (Hand that Rocks Cradle)
30th - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, Australian rules footballer and actor
31st - Rachel Dennison, Knoxville Tn, actress (Doralee Rhodes-9 to 5)
31st - Tony DeFranco, rocker (DeFranco Family)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 15 of 15

2nd - Prospero Bisquertt, composer, dies at 78
5th - Edgar Guest, US poet/newspaperman, dies at 77
6th - Preston Sturges, [Edmund Biden], US director/screenwriter, dies at 60
7th - Armas Emmanuel Launis, composer, dies at 75
9th - Emil Frantisek Burian, composer, dies at 55
12th - Mike O'Neill, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1877)
13th - Henry Garat, actor (Congress Dances), dies at 57
15th - Blind Willie McTell, American ragtime singer and guitarist (b. 1901)
16th - Pedro Humberto Allende Saron, Chilean composer (Tonados), dies at 74
16th - William "Bull" F Halsey, US vice-admiral (WW II Pacific), dies
16th - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
19th - Jacob Epstein, US/English sculptor/painter, dies at 78
20th - Alfred Kubin, writer, dies at 82
28th - Bohuslav Jan Martinu, Czech composer (Hry o Marti), dies at 68
31st - Charles Delaney, dies at 67