At A Glance

22 December 1959 at a glance

Day of the week
22 December 1959 was a Tuesday.
Top Film of 1959
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1959 was Ben-Hur.
Star sign
The star sign for 22 December is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 22 December 1959 fell in the Year of the Pig.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 22 December 1959 was Last Quarter.

On this day: 22 December

  • 1948 Sjafruddin Prawiranegara established the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Darurat Republik Indonesia, PDRI) in West Sumatra.
  • 1963 The cruise ship Lakonia burns 290 kilometres (180 mi) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives.
  • 1964 The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) takes place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, United States.
  • 1965 In the United Kingdom, a 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time.
  • 1968 Cultural Revolution: People's Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty."

Famous people born on 22 December

  • Ralph Fiennes, English actor (born 1962)
  • Ted Cruz, Canadian-American lawyer and politician (born 1970)
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and poet (1960–1988)
  • Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (1887–1920)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

Events of 1959 in Ireland

A selection from Wikipedia's '1959 in Ireland'. Not a complete list.

  • 7 January – Dáil Éireann debated a motion that Éamon de Valera's position as controlling director of the Irish Press newspaper could be regarded as incompatible with his duties as Taoiseach.
  • 23 January – The government was considering the introduction of a pay-as-you-earn system of income tax.
  • 8 April – James Dillon of the Fine Gael party wanted to abolish compulsory Irish language studies at school as he felt they were counter-productive.
More events of 1959 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in Ireland in 1959

Taoiseach

Seán Lemass

Petrol (per litre)

2s 4d/gal

Loaf of Bread

7½d

Average House

£2,100

Weekly Wage

£5 5s

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.

Pierce Brosnan16 May 1953ActorView their day →Brendan Gleeson29 March 1955ActorView their day →Fiona Shaw10 July 1958ActressView their day →Gabriel Byrne12 May 1950ActorView their day →Colm Meaney30 May 1953ActorView their day →Bob Geldof5 October 1951Singer-songwriter & political activistView their day →Catherine Connolly5 November 1955President of IrelandView their day →Shane MacGowan25 December 1957Singer-songwriterView their day →

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

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