At A Glance

16 January 1959 at a glance

Day of the week
16 January 1959 was a Friday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “It's Only Make Believe” by Conway Twitty.
Top Film of 1959
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1959 was Ben-Hur.
Star sign
The star sign for 16 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 16 January 1959 fell in the Year of the Dog.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 16 January 1959 was First Quarter.

On this day: 16 January

  • 1942 The Holocaust: Nazi Germany begins deporting Jews from the Łódź Ghetto to Chełmno extermination camp.
  • 1945 World War II: Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
  • 1969 Space Race: Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of crewed spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
  • 1979 Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
  • 1984 A radiation detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States, detects radioactivity after a truck carrying rebar accidentally passed through the laboratory's area, revealing a contamination incident that occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the previous month.

Famous people born on 16 January

  • Aaliyah, American singer and actress (1979–2001)
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer (born 1980)
  • Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1959)
  • Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor (born 1985)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1959 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1959 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 7 May – Scientist and novelist C. P. Snow delivers an influential Rede Lecture on The Two Cultures, concerning a perceived breakdown of communication between the sciences and humanities, in the Senate House, University of Cambridge.
  • 28 May – The Mermaid Theatre opens in the City of London.
  • 1 June – The first episode of Juke Box Jury airs on BBC Television, chaired by David Jacobs.

Life in 1959

Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

10p

Loaf of Bread

7p

Average House

£2,530

Weekly Wage

£13.05

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 1950s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →