About the day » Thursday December 31, 1959Calender converter

• Johannes Maria Catharina Lippold, Emmen, Drenthe, Nederland († 1997)
• Ellen Victoria Leff († 2002)
• Cornelia Maria Adriana Derksen, Noordwijk († 2014)
• Mathias Gerardus Johannes Anna Maria Muurmans, Geleen († 1960)
• Naamloos Batteram, Noordwijkerhout († 1959)
• JOSEFA MARIA MAAT, Overschie, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Hendrik Jan van der Sluijs, Delft, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1999)
• Conceição Aparecida Pereira da Silva, Salto de Pirapora, São Paulo, Brasil († 2020)
• Marie Elizabeth Montgomery, Radford, Virginia († 2007)
• Patrick Anthony Crosby († 2011)

• Andreas Jacobus van der Vosse (77), Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Antonia Christina Johanna Kemp (82), 's-Gravenhage
• Catharina Gille (91), Zwolle, Overijssel, Nederland
• Antonia Christina Johanna Kemp (82), 's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Bonaventure Jan Karel Verbruggen (79), Mol, Belgium
• Albert Dürrheim (85), Zimbane, Umtata, Transkei, Cape Province, Union of South Africa
• Andreas Jacobus van der Vosse (77), Haarlem
• Cornelis Steenbrink (85), Maarssen
• Bernard Jan Benjamin Arnold van Delden (86), 's-Gravenhage
• Bernardus Hilferink (59), Loenen

• 1958 » Bebe Neuwirth, American actress and dancer
• 1958 » Geoff Marsh, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1959 » Baron Waqa, Nauruan composer and politician, 14th President of Nauru
• 1959 » Liveris Andritsos, Greek basketball player
• 1959 » Paul Westerberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1959 » Phill Kline, American lawyer and politician, Kansas Attorney General
• 1959 » Val Kilmer, American actor
• 1960 » Steve Bruce, English footballer and manager
• 1961 » Jeremy Heywood, English economist and civil servant († 2018)
• 1961 » Rick Aguilera, American baseball player and coach

• 1948 » Malcolm Campbell, English racing driver and journalist (b. 1885)
• 1949 » Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı, Turkish philosopher, poet, and politician (b. 1869)
• 1949 » Raimond Valgre, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1913)
• 1950 » Charles Koechlin, French composer and educator (b. 1867)
• 1951 » Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri, Indian Muslim scholar (b. 1868)
• 1953 » Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)
• 1964 » Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
• 1964 » Bobby Byrne, American baseball and soccer player (b. 1884)
• 1964 » Henry Maitland Wilson, English field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1968 » George Lewis, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)

1. Johannes
2. Jan
3. Cornelis
4. Peter
5. Hendrik
6. Willem
7. Robert
8. Gerrit
9. Pieter
10. Petrus
11. Ronald
12. Paul
13. David
14. Dirk
15. Adrianus
16. John

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Elisabeth
4. Anna
5. Cornelia
6. Wilhelmina
7. Catharina
8. Yvonne
9. Adriana
10. Hendrika
11. Ingrid
12. Margaretha
13. Petronella
14. Linda
15. Karin
16. Jacoba

• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from December 22, 1957 to May 19, 1959 the cabinet Beel II, with Dr. L.J.M. Beel (KVP) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from May 19, 1959 to July 24, 1964 the cabinet De Quay, with Prof. dr. J.E. de Quay (KVP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 11.3 million citizens.
• February 3 » Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
• June 8 » USSBarbero and the United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
• June 23 » Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
• July 1 » Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the US, the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.
• August 7 » Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• November 21 » American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal.

The temperature on December 31, 1959 was between 4.4 °C and 9.0 °C and averaged 7.9 °C. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the south.