At A Glance

1 December 1959 at a glance

Day of the week
1 December 1959 was a Tuesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin.
Top Film of 1959
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1959 was Ben-Hur.
Bestselling Novel of 1959
“Exodus” by Leon Uris was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1959.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Gunsmoke” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1959–60 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 1 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 1 December 1959 fell in the Year of the Pig.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 1 December 1959 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 1 December

  • 1955 American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to that city's bus boycott.
  • 1958 The Central African Republic attains self-rule within the French Union.
  • 1959 Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
  • 1960 Patrice Lumumba is arrested by Mobutu Sese Seko's men on the banks of the Sankuru River, for inciting the army to rebellion.
  • 1963 Nagaland, became the 16th state of India.

Famous people born on December 1

  • Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer, and model (born 1988)
  • Riz Ahmed, English actor and rapper (born 1982)
  • Richard Pryor, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (1940–2005)
  • Robert Irwin, Australian conservationist and television personality (born 2003)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1959 in the United States

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

  • January 3 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state (see History of Alaska).
  • January 12 – The Motown record label is founded as Tamla by Berry Gordy in Detroit.
  • May 8 – The first Little Caesars pizza restaurant is opened by Mike Ilitch and his wife Marian in Garden City, Michigan.

Life in the US in 1959

President

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Gas (per gallon)

$0.31

Loaf of Bread

$0.20

Average House

$11,500

Weekly Wage

$83

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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