On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Repubs unhappy over program but likely to accept it; Rockefeller seeks to bar Repub revolt; confs with labor leaders
Commerce Oil confirms buying over 112,000 bbls of residual from Rumania; shipment seen as 1st USSR--bloc foothald in US mkt
17 Negroes regis at 6 formerly all-white hss, Norfolk; illus; no disorders; regis drops 46%; officials comment; Almond approves peaceful integration there and at Arlington
Comr Murphy expects withholding system to reveal thousands of evaders; notes statute of limitations does not apply
FPC, 3-2, rules Tuscarora may not be compelled under Fed law to give up part of reservation for project; case revd; decision attacked by Comr Moses, hailed by tribe; Tuscarora reject Auth's $3-million offer
1959Thomas Calabro, American actor[†]
Thomas Calabro is an American actor and director.
1959Lol Tolhurst, English musician and songwriter[†]
Laurence Andrew Tolhurst is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until 1989; he later formed the bands Presence and Levinhurst. He has also published two books and developed the Curious Creatures podcast. His most recent studio release is the album Los Angeles (2023), in collaboration with Budgie and Jacknife Lee.
1959Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance[†]
Óscar Iván Zuluaga Escobar is a Colombian politician and economist who was the Democratic Center's nominee for President of Colombia in the 2014 election. He won the most votes in the first round of the election and but went on to lose to the incumbent Juan Manuel Santos Calderon in the second round.
1959The Day the Music Died[†]
Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., better known by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace," "Running Bear", and "White Lightning", the last of which became George Jones's first number-one hit in 1959.
1959The Day the Music Died[†]
Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his two siblings.
1959The Day the Music Died[†]
Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough.
1959Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa, an event later known as The Day the Music Died.[†]
Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his two siblings.
1959Sixty-five people are killed when American Airlines Flight 320 crashes into the East River on approach to LaGuardia Airport in New York City.[†]
American Airlines Flight 320 was a scheduled flight between Chicago Midway Airport and New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On February 3, 1959, the Lockheed L-188 Electra performing the flight crashed into the East River during its approach to LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board. Weather conditions in the area were poor, and the aircraft descended through dense clouds and fog. As it approached the runway, it flew lower than the intended path and crashed into the icy river 4,900 feet (1,500 m) short of the runway. At the time of the crash, American Airlines had been flying the newly-developed Lockheed Electra in commercial service for only about two weeks, and the accident was the first involving the aircraft type.
In 1959, the world population was approximately 2,965,950,351 people[†]