by Anthony and Vinny

1950   1951   1952   1953   1954   1955   1956   1957   1958   1959

The United States grows in 1959. Alaska and Hawaii are admitted to the Union as the 49th and 50th states. The Barbie doll is introduced across the world and the first microchip is created by Texas Instruments. Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash and Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister. These are only a few of the numerous important events that occurred in 1959.

• New York Giants lose to the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship. The score was Baltimore 31, New York 16.
• The Boston Celtics beat the now Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Championship.
• The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs
• The Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series by defeating the Chicago White Sox 4 games to 2 after the White Sox have taken their first pennant since the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919.
• The ten most popular movies were Auntie Mame, Shaggy Dog, Some Like it Hot, Immitation of Life, The Nun's Story, Anatomy of a Murder, North by Northwest, Rio Bravo, Sleeping Beauty, and Some Came Running.
• On January 1 Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro captures Santiago. Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, family and others flee Cuba. Castro becomes prime minister on February 16.
• Rock ’n’ roll barnstormer Buddy Holly flies into a snowstorm February 2 after a concert at Clear Lake, Iowa, and dies in a crash. In his 18-month career he has written songs that include "Peggy Sue," "True Love Ways," and "That’ll Be the Day." 
• The Nikon F 35-mm. single-lens reflex camera is introduced by Nippon Kogaku K.K. whose rangefinder cameras enabled Life magazine photographers to provide sharp coverage of the Korean conflict
• March 6, Texas Instruments announces the invention of the microchip by engineer Jack Kilby. It will open the way to electronic wristwatches and a host of miniature products.
• The Barbie doll was introduced by California entrepreneur Ruth Handler and her artist husband Eliot. The doll with her endless wardrobe enriches the Handlers’ toy firm Mattel, Inc.
• Pantyhose nylon hose requiring no garters, garter-belts, or corsets—are introduced by Glen Raven Mills of Altamahaw, N.C.
• P. Lorillard introduces spring filter-tipped cigarettes.
• Guggenheim museum opens on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th streets to house the collection of the late copper magnate Solomon R. Guggenheim whose mentor Hilla Rebay induced him to buy dozens of canvases by the late abstractionist Wassily Kandinsky.
• The Elements of Style by E.B. White adapted a manual by the late William Strunk, Jr., who was White’s teacher at Cornell in 1919 and died in 1946.

Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Comedy Series: Art Carney Show
Outstanding Drama Series: Playhouse 90

2nd Annual Grammy Awards:
Record of the Year: Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin
Song of the Year: Battle of New Orleans by Jimmy Driftwood
Album of the Year: Come Dance with Me by Frank Sinatra
Male Vocalist: Frank Sinatra
Female Vocalist: Ella Fitzgerald

1950   1951   1952   1953   1954   1955   1956   1957   1958   1959

The 1950's