- January 29
- Buena Vista premieres Disney's animated feature film Sleeping Beauty at the Fox Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles, California. The film is based on Charles Perrault's version of the story of Sleeping Beauty. [5] [6]
- January 30
- The ABC TV network airs the Walt Disney Presents TV show, entitled The Peter Tchaikovsky Story. The show is the first stereophonic broadcast of a television program. In some cities, one channel is transmitted on an AM radio station, the other channel on an FM station. [6]
- February 3
- American Airlines' Electra crashes in New York's East River, killing 65. [1]
- Buddy Holly, rocker ("That'll be the Day"), dies in a plane crash in Iowa at age 22. [1]
- Richie Valens, rock vocalist ("Donna", "La Bamba"), killed in plane crash in Iowa at age 17. [1]
- The Big Bopper [Jiles Perry Richardson], rocker ("Chantilly Lace"), dies in a plane crash in Iowa at age 28. [1]
- February 6
- US first successful Titan intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). [1]
- February 10
- Tornado in Saint Louis kills 19 and injures 265. [1]
- February 12
- The US Mint releases the 1959 Lincoln Memorial cent to circulation. (The design is retired in 2008, after 430 billion are struck.) [512.44]
- February 14
- US$3.6 million heroin seizure in New York City, New York. [1]
- February 17
- First weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8kg. [1]
- February 19
- US Air Force rocket-powered rail sled attains Mach 4.1 (4970 kph), New Mexico. [1]
- February 28
- Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-first polar orbit. [1]
- March 3
- Pioneer 4 is launched; becomes first US probe to enter solar orbit. [1]
- March 4
- US Pioneer IV misses Moon and becomes second (US first) artificial planet. [1]
- March 5
- Iran and US sign economic and military treaty. [1]
- March 6
- Farthest radio signal heard (Pioneer IV, 400,000 miles away). [1]
- March 9
- The first Barbie doll, Mattel's "Barbie Millicent Roberts", goes on display at the American Toy Fair in New York City. Eleven inches tall, Barbie is the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult features. [1] [129] [300.C4]
- March 12
- US House joins Senate approving Hawaii statehood. [1]
- March 18
- President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill. [1]
- March 19
- Buena Vista releases Disney's live-action feature film The Shaggy Dog to theaters. This is Disney's first live-action comedy film. The film is based on the novel The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten. [6]
- April 6
- 31st Academy Awards: Gigi, Susan Hayward, and David Niven win. [1]
- April 7
- Oklahoma ends alcohol prohibition, after 51 years. [1]
- Radar first bounced off sun, from Stanford, California. [1]
- April 9
- NASA names first seven astronauts for Project Mercury. [1]
- April 12
- 13th Tony Awards: J B and Redhead win. [1]
- April 13
- US Air Force launches Discoverer II into polar orbit. [1]
- Vanguard SLV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed). [1]
- April 14
- (President Robert) Taft Memorial Bell Tower dedicated in Washington DC. [1]
- April 15
- Fidel Castro begins US goodwill tour. [1]
- US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles resigns. [1]
- April 25
- The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. [1] [5]
- May 4
- First Grammy Awards: Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald win. [1]
- May 6
- In Hollywood, California, the 11th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Raymond Burr.
- Best Comedy Series: The Jack Benny Program
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jack Benny for The Jack Benny Program and Robert Young for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series: Raymond Burr for Perry Mason
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Tom Poston for The Steve Allen Show
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series: Dennis Weaver for Gunsmoke
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jane Wyatt for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series: Loretta Young for Letter to Loretta
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Ann B. Davis for The Bob Cummings Show
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series: Barbara Hale for Perry Mason
- Best Dramatic Series Less Than One Hour: Alcoa Theatre
- Best Dramatic Series One Hour or Longer: Playhouse 90
- Best Musical or Variety Series: The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
- Best News Reporting Series: The Huntley-Brinkley Report
- Best Panel, Quiz or Audience Participation Series: What's My Line?
- Best Public Service Program or Series: Omnibus
- Best Single Performance by an Actor: Fred Astaire for An Evening with Fred Astaire
- Best Single Performance by an Actress: Julie Harris for Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Best Western Series: Maverick.
[1] [174]
- May 20
- Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship. [1]
- May 24
- First house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania). [1]
- May 25
- US Supreme Court rules that Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing is unconstitutional. [1]
- May 28
- US Congressional Committee of Astronautics meets Project 7 astronauts. [1]
- Monkeys Able and Baker zoom 300 miles (500 km) into space on Jupiter missile, became first animals retrieved from a space mission. [1]
- May 30
- Iraq terminates military assistance pact with US due to neutrality. [1]
- June 3
- First US Air Force Academy graduation. [1]
- June 8
- First official "missile mail" lands (Jacksonville, Florida, USA). [1]
- X-15 makes first unpowered flight, from a B-52 at 11,500m. [1]
- June 9
- First ballistic missile submarine launched (George Washington, in Groton, Connecticut, USA). [1]
- June 11
- US Postmaster General bans D.H. Lawrence's book Lady Chatterley's Lover. [1]
- June 14
- The Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System begins operation in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in California. It represents the first urban monorail system in the USA. [6]
- The Matterhorn Mountain with its Matterhorn Bobsleds ride opens in Fantasyland at Disneyland in California. It is the first thrill ride at Disneyland, and the first ride to use cylindrical rails and urethane wheels. The mountain is 147 feet high, 1/100th the height of the real Matterhorn mountain, and uses 2175 steel girders. Final cost of the attraction is US$1.5 million. [6]
- June 18
- First telecast transmitted from England to US. [1]
- June 19
- US Senate rejects President Dwight Eisenhower's appointment of Lewis Strauss for Secretary of Commerce. [1]
- June 22
- Vanguard SLV-6 launched for Earth orbit (failed). [1]
- June 26
- Queen Elizabeth II and US President Dwight Eisenhower open the Saint Lawrence Seaway. [1]
- July 4
- America's new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled. [1]
- July 8
- Dale Buisand and Chester Ovnand are first Americans killed in Vietnam War. [1]
- July 14
- First atomic-powered cruiser, the Long Beach, christened at Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
- July 21
- First atomic-powered merchant ship, Savannah, christened, at Camden, New Jersey, USA. [1]
- July 24
- US Vice President Richard Nixon argues with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, known as "Kitchen Debate". [1]
- July 28
- Hawaii's first US election sends first Asian-Americans to Congress. [1]
- August 7
- Explorer 6 transmits first TV photo of Earth from space. [1]
- August 12
- First ship-firing of a Polaris missile, Observation Island. [1]
- August 14
- American Football League (AFL) is organized with New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Denver, and Houston. [1]
- August 17
- Quake Lake is formed in Yellowstone National Park in Montana by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. [1] [5]
- August 21
- Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the USA. [1] [445.4] [453.4,70] [684.68]
- August 24
- Hiram L Fong sworn in as first Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as first Japanese-American Republican (both from Hawaii). [1]
- September 15
- Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrives in US to begin a 13-day visit. [1]
- September 17
- Transit 1A, first navigational satellite launched; failed to orbit. [1]
- September 18
- Vanguard 3 is launched into orbit to measure local phenomena related to Earth's atmosphere. [1] [5]
- September 19
- Nikita Krushchev is denied access to Disneyland during visit to USA due to security concerns. [1]
- September 28
- Explorer VI reveals an intense radiation belt around the Earth. [1]
- October 13
- In Hamlet, Indiana, USA a building is hit by a falling meteorite. [521]
- October 21
- U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists to NASA. [5]
- In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of contemporary art, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public. [1] [5] [129]
- November 2
- Charles Van Doren confesses, TV quiz show 21 was fixed. [1]
- November 11
- Seals Stadium in San Francisco is demolished. [1]
- November 14
- Kilauea's most spectacular eruption (in Hawaii). [1]
- November 16
- The Sound of Music opens on Broadway. [1]
- November 21
- Jack Benny (violin) and Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet. [1]
- December 1
- Twelve nations sign a treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica. [1]
- December 4
- A monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles high into outer space by the United States space program. [5]
- December 14
- J B Jordan in F-104C sets world altitude record, 31,513 metres. [1]
- December 21
- Citizens of Deerfield, Illinois, block building of interracial housing. [1]
- December 30
- The USS George Washington becomes first ballistic missile submarine commissioned. [1]
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