Flashback to 1959 - A Timeline of Life in America

[Music] by 1959 jobs were coming back and unemployment dropped to five percent times were changing and the year that closed out the 1950s offered some insights into what the 1960s might bring a movie ticket in 1959 would have cost you one dollar and if you wanted to make your own movie you could buy a kodak brownie movie camera for just 75 dollars [Music] january 5th introduced the television world to bozo the clown the live children's show premiered in los angeles and starred vance colvick jr as bozo the clown on january 7th the united states formally recognized the new cuban government of fidel castro this occurred just six days after the fall of the batista dictatorship and the united states believed that despite communist leanings they could work with the new regime to protect us interests in cuba [Music] on february 3rd buddy holly richie valens and the big bopper boarded a chartered plane leaving clear lake iowa the weather conditions were bad and the plane crashed shortly after takeoff killing all four on board the tragedy is later termed the day the music died the very first daytona 500 was held on february 22nd at daytona international speedway lee petty and johnny beauchamp crossed the finish line side by side and beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner three days later the win was overturned and lee petty was named the official winner after photos from the race showed petty winning by inches [Music] on march 9th barbie made her debut at the american toy fair in new york ruth handler created the barbie doll whose full name is barbara millicent roberts and she came with a full array of accessories march 29th brought us the premiere of the movie some like it hot directed by billy wilder the movie starred marilyn monroe tony curtis and jack lemmon and was released amidst some controversy for playing with the idea of homosexuality and features cross-dressing men [Music] on april 7th the dry state of oklahoma ended prohibition after 51 years oklahomans voted to repeal prohibition which created the alcohol control board to govern the sales of alcohol [Music] the first grammy awards ceremony was held on may 4th the ceremony was held simultaneously in los angeles and new york with 28 awards presented bobby darin perry como and ella fitzgerald all walked away with grammys that first year the disneyland monorail system was opened on june 14th as a sightseeing attraction in tomorrowland this was the first daily operating monorail system in the western hemisphere on july 15th the u.s steel strike of 1959 began leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in united states history the strike lasted 116 days and workers received a 7 cent raise once negotiations were worked out [Music] on august 21st hawaii became the 50th u.s state the united states had annexed hawaii for strategic reasons during the spanish-american war and during world war ii oahu served as the command post for the u.s operations in the pacific after the war two-thirds of the residents favored statehood and after a certified vote president eisenhower signed the proclamation the nbc western series bonanza premiered on september 12th initially bonanza aired on saturday evenings opposite perry mason but the ratings were low and the show was soon targeted for cancellation but nbc kept it because bonanza was one of the first series to be filmed and broadcast in color on october 21st the guggenheim art museum designed by frank lloyd wright opened in new york city wright gained the commission to design a building to house solomon r guggenheim's art collection in 1943 and over the next 15 years the design was built into a reality and is considered one of the most unique buildings ever constructed on november 15th the basis for truman capote's book in cold blood took place in holcomb kansas two men who recently were released from prison murdered four members of the clutter family at their farm in search of a safe full of money the two were eventually caught tried and executed for their crimes truman capote would eventually publish in cold blood in 1966 [Music] to end 1959 chuck berry was in the news on december 22nd he was arrested in st louis shortly after midnight after completing a performance at his club bandstand nightclub he was charged with violating the man act which prohibited the transport of women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution barry was convicted and served 20 months in federal prison in berry's case the man act charges stemmed from what barry contended was his offer of employment in his st louis nightclub to a girl he had met in mexico three weeks after being fired from barry's nightclub the 14 year old girl took a different story to the st louis police and barry was arrested two days [Music] later you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 203,412

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, 1959, timeline, daytona 500, buddy holly, big bopper, ritchie valens, day the music died, in cold blood, bonanza, guggenheim, frank lloyd wright, barbie, fidel castro, chuck berry

Id: LwkVKiX_WrI

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 06 2021