At A Glance

22 October 1959 at a glance

Day of the week
22 October 1959 was a Thursday.
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 22 October is Libra.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 22 October 1959 fell in the Year of the Pig.
Birthstone
The birthstone for October is Opal.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 22 October 1959 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 22 October

  • 1946 Over twenty-two hundred engineers and technicians from eastern Germany are forced to relocate to the Soviet Union, along with their families and equipment.
  • 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the Communist nation.
  • 1964 Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he does not accept the prize.
  • 1975 The Soviet uncrewed space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus.
  • 1981 The US Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August.

Famous people born on October 22

  • Bob Odenkirk, American actor and comedian (born 1962)
  • Jeff Goldblum, American actor and producer (born 1952)
  • Christopher Lloyd, American actor, comedian and producer (born 1938)
  • Javier Milei, Argentine politician and economist, President of Argentina (born 1970)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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

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 →