At A Glance

24 May 1959 at a glance

Day of the week
24 May 1959 was a Sunday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “A Fool Such as I / I Need Your Love Tonight” by Elvis Presley.
Top Film of 1959
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1959 was Ben-Hur.
Star sign
The star sign for 24 May is Gemini.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 24 May 1959 fell in the Year of the Pig.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 24 May 1959 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 24 May

  • 1956 The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
  • 1958 United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
  • 1960 Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
  • 1961 American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
  • 1962 Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.

Famous people born on 24 May

  • Queen Victoria (1819–1901)
  • Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate (born 1941)
  • Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman (born 1945)
  • Alfred Molina, English actor (born 1953)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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

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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)

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