What Interesting/Important Happened in 1959?
Are you interested in knowing some important and fun facts about the happenings in the past from various fields of life?
Have you ever wondered what were the highlights of the year of your birth?
Is that 1959?
If you said ’yes’ to all of our questions, you’re in the right place. So, just keep reading and you’ll get your answers!
The First Grammy Awards Ceremony
We all love the Grammy ceremony. Not only does it gather the most popular celebrities from the music industry, but it is also always very exciting to watch if you like the tension of competing. Billie Eilish dominated the stage last time with few trophies won, but what about the first Grammy Awards ceremony ever?
It was held in 1959 on the 4th of May in two different locations –in Beverly Hills California, and New York City. We can bet that from time to time you find yourself humming the winner song of the first Grammies without even realizing that it was pronounced the best song of the faraway 1958. And that is Volare, the most catchy Italian song of all time!
The First Spacecraft on the Moon Surface
The Soviet Union really took the space invasion seriously at the entrance of the second half of the 20th century. After sending the first artificial satellite into orbit in 1957, they launched successfully the first object from the Earth to touch the surface of the Moon – Luna 2, in 1959.
After many attempts that failed, including Luna 1 that flew near the Moon but didn’t manage to land, the mission of sending an object that will touch the ground of the Moon was finally completed. Luna 2 weighed approx 400 kilos, and its diameter was not so wide – less than a meter. Thanks to it, people on Earth could find out that the Moon doesn’t have a magnetic field, and that the solar wind happens there – a stream of plasma coming from the Sun.
The First Image of Earth Taken From Space
The year 1959 clearly was highly significant for space investigation and science in general. NASA was not ready to be any step behind the Soviet Union when it comes to space missions. Therefore, on the 7th of August, they launched a satellite that was supposed to collect important pieces of information from the skies above. Its name was Explorer 6.
By October, the signal from Explorer 6 was already gone. However, in the meantime, the satellite managed to take a picture of Earth, the first one ever from the space perspective. And no, the picture didn’t look like any of Earth images you’ve seen in your life, of course. It was more like a cup of milk spilled all over a black-colored paper. At that moment, the satellite was at 27 000 km above Mexico, and it caught a part of the Pacific Ocean covered in clouds.
The First Barbie Doll
Over a billion Barbie Dolls were sold worldwide since this popular toy was introduced to the public for the first time. If you love Barbie even nowadays, you can only imagine the joy that overwhelmed the children when they got to see the toy of their dreams in the stores. And that happened in 1959.
Have you ever wondered who was the person that invented the most popular doll in the world and what did it look like the very first day it came to light? Well, we bring you the answers.
One day, American businesswoman Ruth Handler was watching her daughter playing and realized something – while doing so, she was always pretending that the dolls are all grown up, although they were represented as infants. Eureka! – she thought, little girls would love to have a doll that will look like an adult woman so that they could imagine their future life.
She suggested that idea to Mattel, Inc toy company, and soon after, the first Barbie doll was waiting for some happy girl to buy it. The doll was wearing a black and white zebra swim-suit and ponytail, and she was coming in two versions – as a blonde or brunette.
The First Commercial Copy Machine
If you thought the list of ’the first’ things in 1959 was over, you thought wrong – that was when the first paper copier was successfully produced and introduced as well. It was named Xerox 914.
Its representation was even broadcasted live on television. Xerox 914 could make even 7 copies per minute, and that was a revolution. It was making copies of the originals up to 9×14 inches, so it is probably clear to you now what the number in its name means. The result – people were stunned, and its inventor Chester Carlson must have felt proud.
Sean Bean and Hugh Laurie Were Born
„The winter is coming“, or „It’s nothing personal, I don’t like anybody“ – which line is more legendary? Ned Stark fans would choose the first one, and Dr. House fans would choose the second one, but they are both cultish today undoubtedly.
No matter which actor of these two you prefer, you should know that they are both your age-mates if you were born in 1959!
As the matter of fact, Sean’s real name is Shaun Mark. Maybe you’ve noticed that his character dies in almost every show he takes part in. Other people have noticed that too, so now he is officially the fourth on the list of actors that die the most often on the movie screen with altogether 25 deaths.
And Hugh, he was very lucky that he got a chance to star in Dr. House because the director of the show was extremely specific and wanted an American actor to play the lead role. Thanks to Hugh’s great talent, he didn’t even realize that he actually betrusted the main character to a British actor. Well, we are so happy about that!
Emma Thompson and Sade Were Born
Speaking of Hugh, did you know that he and amazing Emma Thompson dated for a while? But, that’s not our focus for now. We want to inform you that, if you were born in 1959, Emma is one more age-mate of yours!
This super-talented actress is a true queen of acting – she has over 10 awards from the movie industry field in her hands, as well as many more nominations. She was also honored with the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire title in 2018.
If you enjoy listening to quality and relaxing music as well as watching good movies, Sade is surely one of your favorite musicians, and she was also born in 1959. When it comes to music awards, she is just equally successful as Emma in acting, with even 4 Grammies in her collection. Any more similarities between them? Sade was also appointed with the same title as Emma for great services to music, but only a year earlier.
Summary
As you can see, 1959 was a year of innovations in the first place. But, not less important is the fact that this year brought many talented people to make our lives funnier and more enjoyable.
Still eager to learn new things about the interesting events from the past? If that’s the case, then check out some other articles of ours and satisfy your needs!
