WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MARCH 1959
Find out what all happened January to March 1959

The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard. (20. January 1959)

Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution. (1. January 1959)

Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched. It failed to achieve orbit. (28. February 1959)

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India. (17. March 1959)

Deaths of rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. (3. February 1959)

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum. (31. March 1959)

Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon. (4. January 1959)

Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit. (6. February 1959)

The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet. (28. March 1959)

Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution. (17. February 1959)

The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR. (9. February 1959)

MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and "unsinkable" like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard. (30. January 1959)

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1. (16. February 1959)

Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state. (3. January 1959)

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21. (18. March 1959)

Separatists in the Maldives declare the establishment of the United Suvadive Republic. (3. January 1959)

The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960. (19. February 1959)

Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500. (22. February 1959)

The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate. (20. February 1959)

At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished. (6. February 1959)