WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO MAY 1959
Find out what all happened February to May 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)

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

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

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham. (30. May 1959)

Iakovos is enthroned as Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America. (1. April 1959)

Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven". (9. April 1959)

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

The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. (25. April 1959)

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

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

Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, marries Michiko. (10. April 1959)

The 1st Grammy Awards are held. (4. May 1959)

The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail. (19. May 1959)

A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL. (8. April 1959)

The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which will later become South Yemen, is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom. (11. February 1959)

The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank. (8. April 1959)

Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal. (10. March 1959)

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