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December 1959

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December 14, 1959: First manned flight above 100,000 feet
December 4, 1959: U.S. rhesus monkey Sam launched into mesosphere
December 15, 1959: First manned flight of more than 1,500 mph
December 21, 1959: The last royal wedding in Iran takes place

The following events occurred in December 1959:

December 1, 1959 (Tuesday)

December 2, 1959 (Wednesday)

  • Kurt Franz, who had been a deputy commander of the Treblinka concentration camp, was arrested in Düsseldorf after 14 years working as a cook.[4] He was released from prison in 1993.
  • The collapse of a dam at Malpasset released the waters of the Reyran River and killed 433 people in the French city of Fréjus. At 9:14 pm, 48 million cubic metres of water were released 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Fréjus.[5][6]
  • Behind the Great Wall, presented by Walter Reade, Jr. in "AromaRama", made its debut at the DeMille Theater in New York. The Italian film was edited by Reade to include various scents circulated by the theater air conditioning system. The release preceded, by three weeks, the debut of Scent of Mystery, in Smell-O-Vision.[7]

December 3, 1959 (Thursday)

  • U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower departed the United States for a "mission of peace and goodwill" that would last nearly three weeks, taking him 22,000 miles (35,000 km) and bringing him to eleven nations on three continents. The American president visited Italy, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, India, Greece, Tunisia, France, Spain and Morocco.[8]

December 4, 1959 (Friday)

December 5, 1959 (Saturday)

  • The Syracuse University Orangemen defeated the UCLA Bruins 36–8 to finish as college football's only unbeaten and untied (10–0–0) team.[14] The following Monday, Syracuse became the national champion, finishing No. 1 in both the AP and UPI polls.[15]

December 6, 1959 (Sunday)

December 7, 1959 (Monday)

  • Olongapo, a U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay, was turned over to Philippine control, along with its infrastructure. Its 60,000 Filipino residents became citizens of the Philippines, and the area became the municipality of Olongapo City.[18]
  • Tenney Engineering Corporation was chosen by the Space Task Group to construct the Mercury altitude test chamber in Hanger S at Cape Canaveral. When completed, altitude pressure would simulate 225,000 feet (69,000 m). The chamber, a vertical cylinder with domed ends, was 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter and 14 feet (4.3 m) high. The chamber was designed to allow a partial spacecraft functional check in a near-vacuum environment.[11]

December 8, 1959 (Tuesday)

December 9, 1959 (Wednesday)

  • U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower continued his foreign trip, being greeted by more than a million people in New Delhi before meeting the King of Afghanistan in Kabul.[24] No American President visited Afghanistan again until 2006.[25]
  • The Norwegian freighter Oslo Motorship Buffalo was turned over by high winds, on the fifth day of a storm that claimed more than 100 lives across Europe. All 20 persons on board were killed.[26]
  • Born: Mario Cantone, American actor and comedian; in Stoneham, Massachusetts

December 10, 1959 (Thursday)

  • The People's Republic of China began a campaign urging Chinese people worldwide to "come back to the arms of the Motherland", and sent four ships to foreign ports for that purpose. Approximately 100,000 people took advantage of the offer.[27]
  • The United States withdrew its last military personnel from Iceland, where it had 5,200 people at Keflavik.[28]
  • The "Old Location Massacre" took place in Windhoek, the capital of the colony of South West Africa (now Namibia). Police killed eleven black Africans who were protesting their forced relocation to the new "township" of Katutura.[29]
  • In college basketball, Bowling Green State hit only 35.4% of its shots in a 74–68 loss to DePaul.[30] Two days later, Bowling Green lost to Bradley, 99–72. Falcons' player Billy Reed later testified that he and other players had been point shaving after being paid by Jack Molinas.[31]

December 11, 1959 (Friday)

Governor Freeman
  • The city of Albert Lea, Minnesota, was placed under martial law by order of Governor Orville Freeman, as 80 National Guardsmen occupied the town to intervene in a strike at the Wilson Packing Company. A federal court ruled twelve days later that Governor Freeman had overstepped his authority, holding that "military rule cannot be imposed upon a community simply because it may seem to be more expedient than to enforce the law by using the National Guard to aid the local civil authorities".[32]
  • U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Allen Dulles received a top secret memo from J.C. King, Director of the agency's Western Hemisphere Division, recommending that "thorough consideration be given the elimination of Fidel Castro". The first of many CIA-sponsored assassination attempts, none of them successful, took place the next July.[33]
  • Born: Lisa Gastineau, American socialite and reality show star, as Lisa D'Amico in Rockland County, New York

December 12, 1959 (Saturday)

  • The first elections in Nigeria took place in advance of the West African nation's independence from Britain. Nigeria became independent on October 1, 1960.[34]
  • ASECNA, which regulates air traffic control in Africa, was created by a treaty signed in Saint-Louis, Senegal. The acronym stands for Agence pour la SECurité de la NAvigation aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar.[35]
  • UNCOPUOS, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, was established.[36]
  • The test launch of an uncrewed Titan rocket from Cape Canaveral failed four seconds after ignition, with the rocket collapsing on the launch pad and exploding. Nobody was injured, but the film clip of the launch remains a feature in documentaries about the American space program.[37]
  • Paraguayan forces drove off an attempted invasion by rebels, who crossed over from Argentina to attack at Pilar and Encarnacion.[38]

December 13, 1959 (Sunday)

December 14, 1959 (Monday)

  • The Heritage Range, southern portion of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, was seen for the first time, on a reconnaissance flight originating from Byrd Station.[42]
  • Test pilot Joe Jordan became the first human being to reach an altitude of more than 100,000 feet (30,000 m), flying an F-104 Starfighter to an altitude of 103,395 feet (31,515 m).[43][44]
    General Secretary Hall in 1954 mugshot
  • The Strategic Rocket Forces was created in the Soviet Union as a separate branch of the military, with responsibility over all Soviet ballistic missiles. The SRF is now administered by the Russian Federation.[45]
  • Gus Hall was elected the new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the United States, at the CPUSA's 17th National Convention, held in Harlem.[46] Hall led the CPUSA until his death in 2000.

December 15, 1959 (Tuesday)

  • Major Joseph W. Rogers became the first person to travel faster than 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 km/h), and almost reached 2,500 kilometres per hour (1,600 mph), breaking the world speed record at 1,525.96 mph (2,455.79 km/h), in an F-106 Delta Dart jet fighter.[47][48]
Lewis

December 16, 1959 (Wednesday)

December 17, 1959 (Thursday)

Sammartino

December 18, 1959 (Friday)

December 19, 1959 (Saturday)

USS Scorpion (lost 1968) and USS Scorpion (lost 1944)
  • The nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was launched from Groton. Elizabeth Morrison, whose father had died in the 1944 loss, with all hands, of the previous submarine USS Scorpion (SS-278), christened the sub. The new USS Scorpion was lost with all hands on May 22, 1968.[60]
  • Walker family murders: In Osprey, Florida, Christine Walker, her husband Cliff, and her two children were murdered. The case has never been solved.[61][62]
  • Born: Waise Lee, Chinese action film star; in Hong Kong
  • Died: Walter Williams, 105, who claimed to have been the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War, died in Houston, and was eulogized nationwide.[63] However, not everyone believed that Williams was 117 or that he had served in the Confederate army. In September 1960, researcher Lowell K. Bridwell would concluded that there was no evidence to prove Williams's claimed service or his 1842 birthdate. In 1991, researcher William Marvel, writing for the magazine Blue and Gray, would determine from census records that Williams had been born in 1854 and was only ten years old when the war ended.[64]

December 20, 1959 (Sunday)

  • Nine people were killed and 21 injured when a cattle truck struck a Greyhound Scenicruiser bus near Tucson, Arizona. The force of the impact was severe enough that calves were hurled into the bus.[65]

December 21, 1959 (Monday)

December 22, 1959 (Tuesday)

December 23, 1959 (Wednesday)

  • At Stanford University, heart surgeon Dr. Richard Lower, with the assistance of Dr. Norman Shumway, performed a successful heart transplant of one dog's heart into the heart of another dog. Previously, the longest that a host animal had survived with a transplanted heart had been 7+1⁄2 hours. The mongrel survived for eight days before being painlessly put to sleep on December 31 because of an infection. One of the breakthroughs made by Dr. Lower was the prevention of venous clots by leaving part of the original heart auricles in the host.[70]
  • Died: Lord Halifax (Edward Wood), 78, Viceroy of India 1926–1929 and British Foreign Secretary 1938–1940

December 24, 1959 (Thursday)

December 25, 1959 (Friday)

December 26, 1959 (Saturday)

  • Twelve days after it was first seen by humans, the Heritage Range in Antarctica was visited for the first time, by a team led by Campbell Craddock, Edward C. Thiel, and Edwin S. Robinson, who landed near Pipe Peak.[75]
  • Nelson Rockefeller announced that he would not seek the Republican Party nomination for 1960.[76]

December 27, 1959 (Sunday)

December 28, 1959 (Monday)

  • In Jersey City, New Jersey, 69-year-old Matthew Jaksch was robbed by two men as he was going to the bank. Taken in the robbery were two relics from the Crucifixion, which had been given to Jaksch's Austrian ancestors by Pope Benedict XIV: a piece of a thorn from the Crown of Thorns ($40,000) and a splinter from the Cross ($30,000).[78]
  • Tom Landry, defensive coach for the Giants, was signed as the new coach of the Dallas Rangers, which were seeking admission as the NFL's 13th team. Landry coached the renamed Dallas Cowboys for 29 seasons.[79]
  • The city of Lawndale, California, was incorporated, following a December 1 referendum where the vote in favor of becoming a city was 1,892 to 572. Chester Brown was sworn in as the first mayor at a ceremony at Will Rogers School.[80]
  • Died:

December 29, 1959 (Tuesday)

Professor Feynman

December 30, 1959 (Wednesday)

The first nuclear missile sub
Senator Humphrey

December 31, 1959 (Thursday)

References

  1. ^ Jeff Rubin, Antarctica (Lonely Planet, 2008), p339
  2. ^ "Humble Pie", by Joseph Nocera, in Texas Monthly (January 1986), pp 68, 104
  3. ^ [1]; "Plane Hits Mountain in Snowstorm", Oakland Tribune, December 1, 1959, p1
  4. ^ Mildt, Dick de (1996). In the Name of the People: Perpetrators of Genocide in the Reflection of their Post-war Prosecution in West Germany. Martinus Nijhoff. p. 256.
  5. ^ "The Valley of Death". TIME. December 14, 1959. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008.
  6. ^ Hervouet, Jean-Michel (2007). Hydrodynamics of Free Surface Flows: Modelling With the Finite Element Method. Wiley. pp. 281–282.
  7. ^ Gilbert, Avery N. (2008). What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life. Crown Publishers. pp. 159–162.
  8. ^ "Chronology". The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1961. pp. 150–151.
  9. ^ Puyi, Aisin-Gioro; Wenda, Li (1989) [First published 1965]. From Emperor to Citizen. Translated by Jenner, W.J.F. Foreign Languages Press. pp. 466–472. ISBN 7-119-00772-6.
  10. ^ "Sam Got Down". TIME. December 14, 1959. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Grimwood, James M. "PART II (A) Research and Development Phase of Project Mercury October 3, 1958 through December 1959". Project Mercury - A Chronology. NASA Special Publication-4001. NASA. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  12. ^ Burgess, Colin; Dubbs, Chris (2007). Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. Springer. pp. 172–176.
  13. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Christa Luding-Rothenburger Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  14. ^ "SYRACUSE DRUBS UCLA, 36–8" The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.), December 6, 1959, p1
  15. ^ "Nation Votes Syracuse University Best On Gridiron", Syracuse Herald Journal, December 8, 1959, p.33
  16. ^ "FIFA.com - Classic club". 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-31. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  17. ^ "The Pro Football Hall of Fame – The Beginning" Archived 2010-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, by Chris Willis, The Coffin Corner (October 1994)
  18. ^ Davis, Charles W. (2007). Subic Bay Travel & Diving Guide. Encyclea Publications. pp. 32–33.
  19. ^ Evangelista, Matthew (2002). Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War. Cornell University Press. pp. 100–101.
  20. ^ "CBS-TV Chief Resigns in Quiz Row". Oakland Tribune. December 8, 1959. p. 1.
  21. ^ Edgerton, Gary R. (2007). The Columbia History of American Television. Columbia University Press. p. 201.
  22. ^ Accident Database, planecrashinfo.com
  23. ^ "Suriname - Colonial Flags". CWR flags. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Ike Mobbed by Million In New Delhi Greeting". Oakland Tribune. December 9, 1959. p. 1.
  25. ^ Ma'aroof, Mohammad Khalid (1987). Afghanistan in World Politics: A Study of Afghan-U.S. Relations. Advent Books. pp. 59–60.
  26. ^ "Gale Turns Ship Over; Toll Grows". Oakland Tribune. December 9, 1959. p. 1.
  27. ^ Lynn Pan, Sons of the Yellow Emperor: A History of the Chinese Diaspora (Kodansha International, 1994), pp216–217
  28. ^ "Iceland", in An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945–1996 (Greenwood Press, 1998), p299; "Iceland: Pulling Out", Time, December 21, 1959
  29. ^ Hennig Melber, "Namibia, land of the brave", in Rethinking Resistance: Revolt and Violence in African History (Brill, 2003), p318
  30. ^ "DePaul Tops B.G. Five; Princes Win", Marysville (Ohio) Journal-Tribune, December 11, 1959, p16
  31. ^ Charles Rosen, The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball (Seven Stories Press, 2001), p274
  32. ^ "Martial Law Ordered in Meat Strike", Oakland Tribune, December 11, 1959, p1; "Court Ends Wilson Closure", December 23, 1959, p4
  33. ^ Lars Schoultz, That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution (University of North Carolina Press, 2009), p192
  34. ^ Ezera, Kalu (1964). Constitutional Developments in Nigeria. Cambridge University Press.
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  37. ^ Gruntman, Mike (2004). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. pp. 247–48.
  38. ^ "Invasion of Paraguay Repulsed". Oakland Tribune. December 12, 1959. p. 1.
  39. ^ The Post-Standard (Syracuse), December 14, 1959, p1
  40. ^ Mirbagheri, Farid (1998). Cyprus and International Peacemaking. Routledge. p. 17.
  41. ^ Sragow, Michael (2008). Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master. Pantheon Books. p. 312.
  42. ^ Webers, Gerald F.; et al. (1992). Geology and Paleontology of the Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica. Geological Society of America. p. xi.
  43. ^ "Pilot Tells of Setting New Altitude Mark". Oakland Tribune. December 14, 1959. p. 1.
  44. ^ Harrison, James P. (2000). Mastering the Sky: A History of Aviation From Ancient Times to the Present. Greenhill. p. 98.
  45. ^ Polmar, Norman; Moore, Kenneth J. (2004). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. Brassey's. p. 167.
  46. ^ "U.S. Communists Elect A Leader". Reno Evening Gazette. December 14, 1959. p. 1.
  47. ^ "U.S. Jet Sets 1,520.9-M.P.H. Speed Record". Oakland Tribune. December 16, 1959. p. 1.
  48. ^ Donald, David (2003). Convair F-106 Delta Dart: The Ultimate Interceptor. Airtime Publishing Inc. p. 232.
  49. ^ Dubofsky, Melvyn; Van Tine, Warren (1986). John L. Lewis: A Biography. University of Illinois Press. p. 368.
  50. ^ Herzog, Peter J. (1993). Japan's Pseudo-democracy. Routledge. p. 236.
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  52. ^ "Second City Theatre". Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  53. ^ "Touhy Is Killed In Ambush". Reno Gazette. December 17, 1959. p. 1.
  54. ^ "Death on the Steps". TIME. December 28, 1959. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  55. ^ Johnson, Curt (1998). The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone. Da Capo Press. p. 352.
  56. ^ Gary Fishgall, Gregory Peck: A Biography (Simon & Schuster, 2002), p211
  57. ^ Ross Davies, Bruno Sammartino (Rosen, 2001), p23
  58. ^ Farhang Rajaee, The Iran–Iraq War (University Press of Florida, 1993), pp. 111–112
  59. ^ "Making a Killing - Psycho's Shower Scene". Film Essential. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  60. ^ Offley, Edward (2007). Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion. Basic Books. pp. 55–56.
  61. ^ "Osprey Family Wiped Out". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. December 21, 1959. p. 1 – via Google News.
  62. ^ Doig, Matthew (18 December 2005). "The Walker Murders Unsolved". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  63. ^ "Death Takes Last Civil War Veteran". Oakland Tribune. December 20, 1959. p. 1.
  64. ^ "Fake War Stories Exposed". The Weekly Standard. November 13, 2005.
  65. ^ Carlton Jackson, Hounds of the Road: A History of the Greyhound Bus Company (Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1984), p120
  66. ^ "Shah Weds Farah In Moslem Rites", Oakland Tribune, December 21, 1959, p1
  67. ^ Pegg, Bruce (2002). Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry. Routledge. p. 117.
  68. ^ "Ike Pledges U.S. Troop Pullout for Morocco". Oakland Tribune. December 22, 1959. p. 1.
  69. ^ "President, King Mohammed To Discuss Morocco Bases". Stars and Stripes (Pacific ed.). December 22, 1959. p. 4.
  70. ^ "Dog With Heart Transplant Still Alive At Stanford", Tucson Daily Citizen, December 31, 1959, p2; "Dog With Transplanted Heart Killed", Citizen, January 1, 1960, p7
  71. ^ George Weigel, Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (Harper Perennial, 2005), pp151–152
  72. ^ Tshilemalema Mukenge, Culture and Customs of the Congo (Greenwood Press, 2002), p49
  73. ^ Michael E. Staub, Torn at the Roots: The Crisis of Jewish liberalism in Postwar America (Columbia University Press, 2002), pp62–63
  74. ^ "General Warns on Korea A-Cannon". Oakland Tribune. December 25, 1959. p. 1.
  75. ^ Webers, at p. xi
  76. ^ "Rockefeller Quits Presidential Race", Oakland Tribune, December 26, 1959, p1
  77. ^ "Colts Trounce Giants in Title Game, 31–16", The Post-Standard (Syracuse), December 28, 1959, p12
  78. ^ "Relics of Christ's Crucifixion Valued at $90,000 Stolen", Oakland Tribune, December 29, 1959, p1
  79. ^ "Landry Signed By Dallas Club", Bridgeport (Ct.) Telegram, December 29, 1959, p24
  80. ^ James Osborne, Images of America: Lawndale (Arcadia Publishing, 2006) p99
  81. ^ "Feynman's Talk". www.zyvex.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
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  84. ^ Eury, Michael (2005). The Justice League Companion. TwoMorrows. p. 12.
  85. ^ "Poundstone, Paula 1959- | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  86. ^ "Polaris-Firing Nuclear Sub Washington Commissioned", Oakland Tribune, December 30, 1959, p1
  87. ^ "Humphrey in Race for Presidency", Oakland Tribune, December 30, 1959, p1
  88. ^ Amos J. Peaslee and Dorothy Peaslee Xydis, International Governmental Organizations: Constitutional Documents (Nijhoff, 1974), p815
  89. ^ Rauwendaal, Chris (2001). Polymer Extrusion. Hanser Gardner Publications. p. 478.
  90. ^ Derycke, Fr. Hugues (2007). "Catholic Schooling in France: Understanding the 'La Guerre Scolaire'". International Handbook of Catholic Education. Springer. pp. 331–332.
  91. ^ "Irish man Tom McGinty key to Scotland Yard's oldest missing person case". TheJournal.ie. Dublin. June 1, 2013.
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