On this day

October 23, 1959

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from October 23, 1959

PRESIDENT TO ASK FUND RISE TO SPUR SPACE PROJECTS; Says Agency Has Positive Program' for Exploration -- To Press Missile Work President to Ask Rise in Funds For Space and Missile Work

By Special to The New York Times

Eisenhower indicates he will ask funds rise for development programs, news conf; says all Army projects except Saturn will be retained by Army Ordnance Missile Command; hails von Braun team; recalls '55 order giving missile and space programs top priority

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Notable Births

"Weird Al" Yankovic

1959"Weird Al" Yankovic, American comedy musician, writer, and actor[†]

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing comedy songs that often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion.

Sam Raimi

1959Sam Raimi, American director, screenwriter and producer[†]

Samuel M. Raimi is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present) and the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the superhero movie Darkman (1990), the revisionist western The Quick and the Dead (1995), the neo-noir crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998), the supernatural thriller The Gift (2000), the supernatural horror Drag Me to Hell (2009), the Disney fantasy Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and the Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

Notable Deaths

George Bouzianis

1959George Bouzianis, Greek painter (born 1885)[†]

George Bouzianis was a major Greek expressionist painter.

Gerda Lundequist

1959Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (born 1871)[†]

Gerda Carola Cecilia Lundequist was a Swedish stage actress, an Ibsen and Strindberg-thespian that in her time was known throughout Scandinavia as "The Swedish Sarah Bernhardt".

Historical Events

Aeroflot Flight 200

1959Aeroflot Flight 200 crashes while attempting to land at Vnukovo International Airport, killing 28.[†]

On October 23, 1959, an Ilyushin Il-14 operating as Aeroflot Flight 200 crashed while attempting to land at Vnukovo Airport near Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR. After being delayed due to bad weather, the aircraft attempted to touch down around 22:00 but crashed approximately 1,400 meters short of the runway after striking trees. Bad weather and pilot error contributed to the crash.

Historical Context for October 23, 1959

In 1959, the world population was approximately 2,965,950,351 people[†]