Biggest Events of the Year 1959

The Top Ten

1 Cuban revolution. Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister of Cuba

2 Soviet Union's Luna 2 is first spacecraft to impact moon

3 Uprising in Tibet

4 Xerox manufactures the Xerox 914, the first plain paper copier

5 Singapore becomes independent

6 Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, visits USA

7 First flight of the X-15

8 First Barbie Doll produced

9 The Wrongful Murder Conviction of Steven Truscott

Truscott was only 14 years old when he was convicted of murdering his classmate, Lynne Harper. He was initially sentenced to hang, but, was reduced to life imprisonment. Paroled 10 years later, he married & raised a family under an anonymous name.

He was finally acquitted of the crime in 2007.

He was only 14 years old, when he was sentenced to be executed for a crime he did not commit. Reduced to life imprisonment, he would not be acquitted until almost 50 years later.

10 The first running of the Daytona 500

The Contenders

11 Alaska and Hawaii admitted to the Union as US states

12 The Deaths Of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, And The Big Bopper

The Day the Music Died.

13 Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot premier

14 Ben-Hur is released

One of the biggest movies of all time.

15 Remy Van Lierde's encounter with a giant snake

16 The Dodgers won their first World Series in Los Angeles

17 First Grammy Awards ceremony

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