WHAT ALL HAPPENED SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 1959
Find out what all happened September to December 1959

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA. (21. October 1959)

Vanguard 3 is launched into Earth orbit. (18. September 1959)

The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it. (14. September 1959)

The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway. (2. November 1959)

At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde. (12. October 1959)

The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia's first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait. (23. September 1959)

Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology. (29. December 1959)

The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon. (12. September 1959)

The murders of the Clutter Family in Holcomb, Kansas, which inspired Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood. (15. November 1959)

Nikita Khrushchev is barred from visiting Disneyland due to security concerns. (19. September 1959)

Premiere of Bonanza, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color. (12. September 1959)

In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction. (1. November 1959)

Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless. (26. September 1959)

Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus. (13. December 1959)

Iowa farmer and corn breeder Roswell Garst hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. (23. September 1959)

Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance. (2. November 1959)

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game. (1. November 1959)

The Lisbon Metro begins operation. (29. December 1959)

Nearly 5000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshū as the result of a typhoon. (27. September 1959)

The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television. (2. October 1959)