On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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NASA repts Explorer VI paddle-wheel satellite discovered layer of high-energy protons underlying inner Van Allen belt; layer believed to center around geomagnetic equator 1,200 mi up, 300 mi thick
Jacobsson holds strengthened position should enable ending protectionism, s, Washington
Eisenhower summons indus, USWA to separate White House confs; threatens Govt action; holds deadlock intolerable, news conf; meets with Mitchell, Finnegan; Blough, McDonald accept summons; Cooper charges USWA insists on 'horse-and-buggy' contract, radio s; Inland Steel urges workers send lrs to McDonald for strike end
slain racketeer A Pisano was partner in Ace Lathing Co that worked at Yonkers Raceway, '58
Chmn Liu Shao-chi says Peiping is determined to liberate Taiwan and offshore islands, s, Peiping rally; scores US role
1959Jon Fosse, Norwegian author and dramatist[†]
Jon Olav Fosse is a Norwegian author, translator, and playwright. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable."
1959Marissa Moss, American author[†]
Marissa Moss is an American children's book author.
1959Raf, Italian singer-songwriter[†]
Raffaele Riefoli is an Italian singer-songwriter who is better known as simply Raf. He first became known in the early 1980s as a singer of Italo disco and as original singer and co-author of the hit "Self Control". He has turned to Italian-language music since the late 1980s and had further hits in his home country.
1959Bruce Bairnsfather, British humorist and cartoonist (born 1887)[†]
Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather was a prominent British humorist and cartoonist. His best-known cartoon character is Old Bill. Bill and his pals Bert and Alf featured in Bairnsfather's weekly "Fragments from France" cartoons published weekly in The Bystander magazine during the First World War.
1959A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes in Buffalo, Texas, killing 34 people.[†]
The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. With its fairly high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings, large Fowler flaps which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high altitude airfields. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. Jet airliners soon supplanted turboprops for many purposes, and many Electras were modified as freighters. Some Electras are still being used in various roles into the 21st century. The airframe was also used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
In 1959, the world population was approximately 2,965,950,351 people[†]