1959 - The Year I was Born


Around the World

Here are some of the things that happened in 1959, the year I was born:

Demographics

§  World population was 2.997 billion
§  US Population was 177,829,628
§  Life expectancy was 69.9 years
§  Homicide rate was 4.6 (per 100,000)

Economically Speaking

§  US GDP was $507.2 billion (1998 dollars)
§  Federal spending was $92.1 billion
§  Federal debt was 287.5 billion
§  Unemployment in the US was 5.5%
§  Cost of a first-class stamp was 4 cents
§  Average cost of a new house - $12,400
§  Average cost of a new car - $2200
§  Average yearly wages - $5,010
§  Cost of a gallon of gasoline – 25 cents
§  Cost of a loaf of bread – 20 cents
§  Cost of a movie ticket - $1
4 cent lincoln postage stamp | Michele Grant | Flickr

Others born in 1959

§  John McEnroe
§  Magic Johnson
§  Fred Couples
§  Brian Williams
§  Val Kilmer
§  Ving Rhames
§  Dave Coulier
§  Jason Alexander
§  Marie Osmond
§  Babyface
§  Simon Cowell
§  Hugh Laurie
§  Weird Al Yankovic

The Drugs, Sex, and Swagger of the 1980s Lakers--Plus How ...

Politics

§  Dwight D. Eisenhower was President, Richard Nixon was Vice President
§  Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union
§  Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba

Richard Milhous Nixon

Popular Culture

§  Barbie dolls hit the market
§  The Etch A Sketch was invented
§  The US Grammy Music Awards started
§  The last musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway
§  Mary Ann Mobley was crowned Miss America
§  The chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper went down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board.
Barbie Doll Values: How Much is Your Barbie Doll Worth? - InfoBarrel

Popular Films

§  Ben-Hur
§  Some Like It Hot
§  Anatomy of a Murder
§  North by Northwest
§  Sleeping Beauty

Popular Singers

§  Doris Day
§  Frank Sinatra
§  Connie Francis
§  Jim Reeves
§  Ella Fitzgerald

752 best images about Doris Day on Pinterest | Terry o'quinn, Days in and Howard keel

Popular Television Programs

§  Bonanza premiered on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color
§  The Huckleberry Hound Show

Bonanza Cast | List of All Bonanza Actors and Actresses

Sports

§  LA Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-2 to win the World Series
§  Boston Celtics defeated the Minneapolis Lakers 4-0 to win NBA
§  California defeated West Virginia to win the NCAA Basketball Championship
§  Syracuse was ranked #1 in NCAA football

Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball 1959 World Series by BobbleheadCity

Technology

§  Boeing 707 Jet Airliner came into service cutting 8 hours from transatlantic Flight
§  USSR Luna 2 crashed onto the Moon as the first man-made object and Luna 3 sends back first photos of the far side of Earth's Moon
§  First pictures of Earth from space were taken by Explorer 6
§  IBM shipped the transistor-based IBM 1401 mainframe.
§  Xerox launched the first commercial copier
§  US launched 1st weather station in space
§  QANTAS introduced the Boeing 707 on its Sydney-San Francisco route, the first transpacific service flown by jet.
§  The microchip was invented

Xerox 914 - Wikipedia

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