Saturday 3rd of January 1959

Alaska is admitted as 49th U.S. state in Juneau, Alaska, United States.

Sunday 11th of January 1959

Carroll Jackson, his wife Mildred and their daughters 18-month-old Janet and 4-year-old Susan are killed by 26-year-old Serial killer Melvin Davis Rees aka The Sex Beast in Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States.

On 4 March two men gathering brush discovered the decomposing body of Jackson in a ditch. He had been shot in the back of the head. His hands were also tied behind his back. Upon recovering the body, police discovered that Carroll had been dumped over that of eighteen-month-old Janet; it was later determined that the child had been dumped alive in the ditch before her father, and had suffocated under the weight of his body. On 21 March the bodies of Mildred and Susan were discovered in a forest near Annapolis showing signs of torture and pre-mortem sexual assault.

Tuesday 20th of January 1959

Serial killer Joel David Rifkin aka The Long Island Ripper is born in New York, Bronx, New York, United States.

Wednesday 21st of January 1959

Film director Cecil Blount DeMille dies of heart failure at the age of 78 in Hollywood, California, United States.

On the evening before DeMille's doctor paid him a visit at home and seeing how weak the director was advised that he go to the hospital at once. DeMille merely replied "No, I think I'll go to the morgue instead."

Monday 26th of January 1959

Heilstrom mystic Bruno Gröning dies of stomach cancer at the age of 53 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Thursday 29th of January 1959

34-year-old Patricia Vinico Berkman aka Pnina is stabbed to death by serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke aka The Australian Nightmare aka The Nedlands Monster in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Sunday 1st of February 1959

28-year-old August Norry is shot dead by murderess Penny Bjorkland in San Bruno Mountains, San Francisco, California, United States.

"Just to see if I could do it and not worry about it and I've felt better since I killed him."

Monday 2nd of February 1959

Jack Larber dies of Spontaneous Human Combustion at the age of 72 in Laguna Honda Home, 375 Laguna Honda Blvd, San Francisco, California, United States.

Three days before Larber had his clothing mysteriously catch fire a few minutes after being fed while his attendent was out of the room. Said attendent put out the fire with blankets immediatly but Larber died of third-degree burns.

Tuesday 3rd of February 1959

Rock and roll musicians 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 17-year-old Ritchie Valens, and 28-year-old J. P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson together with 21-year-old pilot Roger Peterson are killed in a plane crash in Juhl's property, Clear Lake, Iowa, United States.

The Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that the accident was due to "the pilot's unwise decision to embark on a flight" that required instrument flying skills he had not proved to have.

Thursday 5th of February 1959

Model and actress Gwili Andre aka Gurlie commits suicide by self-immolation at the age of 51 in 2109 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, California, United States.

Andre surrounded herself in her flat with numerous articles and photographs about the career she expected and set it all alight. Another resident of the building, 83-year-old George Katzenberger, was pulled to safety by two neighbors after he broke a bathroom window.

Monday 16th of February 1959

21-year-old Serial killer Ian Brady aka The Moors Murderers (with Myra Hindley) starts working as a stock clerk in Millwards Merchandising, Levenshulme Road, Manchester, Gorton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

Later on Brady would meet Myra Hindley there.

Wednesday 25th of February 1959

Murderer Ricky Lee Sanderson is born in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States.

Thursday 26th of February 1959

Peter Paul Rubens’ 'Der Höllensturz der Verdammten' is attacked with acid by 53-year-old Art vandal Walter Menzl in Alte Pinakothek, München, Bayern, Germany.

Tuesday 3rd of March 1959

Victim of Peter Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper Elena Rytka is born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 3rd of March 1959

Actor and comedian Lou Costello known from Abbott and Costello dies of a heart attack at the age of 53 in Beverly Hills, California, United States.

Saturday 7th of March 1959

72-year-old Gertrude Robinson is raped and strangled by serial killer Wendell Lightbourne aka The Cannibalist Golf Caddy in Southlands Beach, Bermuda, United Kingdom.

Saturday 7th of March 1959

Murderer Lonnie Craft is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 42 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Monday 16th of March 1959

Multiple murderer and cannibal Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikolayev aka The Novocheboksarsk Cannibal aka The Ogre is born in Novocheboksarsk, Chuvashia, Russia.

Tuesday 17th of March 1959

Rapist and murderer John William Rook is born in Wake County, North Carolina, United States.

Monday 23rd of March 1959

Victim of John Wayne Gacy aka The Killer Clown Gregory Godzik is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Tuesday 24th of March 1959

23-year-old Erika is attacked by serial killer Joachim Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale in Moerser Straße, Duisburg, Rheinhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Thursday 26th of March 1959

18-year-old Karin Walde is raped and beaten to death by serial killer Heinrich Pommerenke aka The Beast of the Black Forest in Hornberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Thursday 26th of March 1959

Writer Raymond Thornton Chandler dies of pneumonial peripheral vascular shock and prerenal uremia at the age of 71 in Scripps Memorial Hospital, 9888 Genesee Avenue, La Jolla, California, United States.

Sunday 29th of March 1959

Murderer Charles Laverne Singleton is born in Hamburg, Arkansas, United States.

Thursday 9th of April 1959

Architect Frank Lloyd Lincoln Wright dies shortly after undergoing surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction at the age of 92 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

Friday 10th of April 1959

Murderer Leonard Melvin Shockley is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 17 in Maryland State Penitentiary, East Madison Street, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Shockley was the last instance of a juvenile being executed in America. His 23-year-old brother Harold Edward received life in prison.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1959

Murderer David Brewer is born in Butler County, Ohio, United States.

Sunday 26th of April 1959

Mass murderer Dirk De Winne is born in Scheldewindeke, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Friday 8th of May 1959

Cop killer Ronald Henry Marwood is executed by hanging by Harry Allen at the age of 25 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, London, Islington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Saturday 9th of May 1959

59-year-old Dorothy Pearce is raped and beaten to death by serial killer Wendell Lightbourne aka The Cannibalist Golf Caddy in Southlands Beach, Bermuda, United Kingdom.

Monday 11th of May 1959

55-year-old Actor Peter Lorre suffers a heart attack while directing a film in Granada, Andalucía, Spain.

Thursday 14th of May 1959

Musician Sidney Bechet dies of lung cancer at the age of 62 in Garches, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 22nd of May 1959

Murderer Edward F Eckwerth is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 31 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Saturday 23rd of May 1959

55-year-old Johann Huber is shot dead by serial killer Peter Hößl aka Der Wochenendmörder in München, Bayern, Germany.

Hößl was released from a youth prison on 13 February 1959 after serving two years for the murder of Franz Stöbich in 1956.

Tuesday 26th of May 1959

'The Outsider' by 28-year-old Angry Young Writer Colin Henry Wilson is first published by Victor Gollancz in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Thursday 28th of May 1959

92 die in train derailment in Tasikmalaja, West Java, Indonesia.

Monday 1st of June 1959

Murderer John Frazier is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Florida State Prison, 23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford, Florida, United States.

Tuesday 2nd of June 1959

21-year-old Dagmar Klimek is thrown out of a train and then raped and stabbed to death by serial killer Heinrich Pommerenke aka The Beast of the Black Forest in Ebringen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Pommerenke risked his own life by jumping after Klimek out of the riding train.

Tuesday 2nd of June 1959

Musician Lydia Lunch is born as Lydia Anne Koch in Rochester, New York, United States.

Saturday 6th of June 1959

Rapist and murderer John Albert Taylor is born in Ogden, Utah, United States.

Monday 8th of June 1959

18-year-old Rita Walterspacher is raped and strangled by serial killer Heinrich Pommerenke aka The Beast of the Black Forest in Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Tuesday 16th of June 1959

Actor George Reeves known from Adventures of Superman commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 45 in 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive, Benedict Canyon, California, United States.

Wednesday 17th of June 1959

21-year-old Elisabeth Figg aka Ann Philips is strangled by unidentified serial killer Jack the Stripper in Dukes Meadow, Chiswick, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 17th of June 1959

25-year-old Klara Frieda Tesmer is sexually assaulted and strangled by serial killer Joachim Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale in Graf-Spee-Brücke, Duisburg, Rheinhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Friday 19th of June 1959

22-year-old Serial killer Heinrich Max Pommerenke aka The Beast of the Black Forest is arrested in Bahnhofsvorplatz, Hornberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Pommerenke was recognised in a tailorshop where he left behind a suitcase full of pornography and a sawn-off shotgun.

Tuesday 23rd of June 1959

Writer, poet, musician, actor and engineer Boris Vian aka Vernon Sullivan aka Bison Ravi aka Baron Visi aka Brisavion dies of cardiac arrest at the age of 39 in Cinema Marbeuf, 34 Rue Marbeuf, Paris, VIIIe, Île-de-France, France.

Minutes after the film version of 'J'Irai Cracher sur Vos Tombes' began Vian reportedly blurted out: "These guys are supposed to be American? My ass!" He then collapsed into his seat and died en route to the hospital.

Thursday 25th of June 1959

Spree killer Charles Raymond Starkweather aka Little Red is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 21 in Nebraska State Penitentiary, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States.

Sunday 28th of June 1959

Police discover the bodies of 53-year-old Raymond Cook, his 37-year-old wife Daisy Mae shot in the head and their children 9-year-old Gerald, 8-year-old Patrick, 7-year-old Christopher, 5-year-old Kathy, and 3-year-old Linda Mae bludgeoned to death in the grease pit of their garage by 22-year-old Mass murderer Robert Raymond Cook in 52 Street, Stettler, Alberta, Canada.

Cook had been arrested in Stettler a day earlier after he had traded the family's 1958 Chevrolet station wagon for a 1959 Impala convertible.

Wednesday 1st of July 1959

34-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey marries his second wife Joan in Saint Helier, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Saturday 11th of July 1959

Drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumental musician John Russell Murphy aka Krank is born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Wednesday 15th of July 1959

53-year-old Art vandal Walter Menzl is sentenced to three years imprisonment and a 800.000,- DM fine for the acid attack on Peter Paul Rubens’ 'Der Höllensturz der Verdammten' on 26 February 1959 in Alte Pinakothek, München, Bayern, Germany.

Friday 17th of July 1959

Singer-songwriter Billie Holiday aka Lady Day dies of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 44 in Metropolitan Hospital, New York, Harlem, New York, United States.

On 31 May Holiday was taken to hospital with liver and heart disease. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying and her hospital room was raided. Holiday stayed under police guard until she died.

Thursday 23rd of July 1959

17-year-old Serial killer Myra Hindley aka The Moors Murderers (with Ian Brady) is engaged to Ronnie Sinclair in Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

Sinclair bought her a ring with three diamonds. Their engagement lasted only six months.

Saturday 25th of July 1959

Serial killer Anatoly Yuriyovych Onoprienko aka The Terminator aka Citizen O is born in Lasky, Zhytomyr Oblast, Russia.

Sunday 26th of July 1959

16-year-old Manuela Knodt is strangled and mutilated by serial killer Joachim Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale in Stadtwald, Essen, Bredeney, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Sunday 26th of July 1959

Serial killer Michael Bruce Ross aka The Roadside Strangler is born in Putnam, Connecticut, United States.

Saturday 1st of August 1959

Serial killer Ángel Maturino Reséndiz aka The Railroad Killer is born as Ángel Leoncio Reyes Recendis in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico.

Friday 21st of August 1959

Hawaii is admitted as 50th of the United States in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.

Hawaii is the only U.S. state located outside North America.

Wednesday 26th of August 1959

Victim of Jeffrey Dahmer aka The Milwaukee Cannibal Anthony Hughes is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Thursday 27th of August 1959

German right-wing extremist Gundolf Köhler is born in Schwenningen am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Saturday 29th of August 1959

34-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey rapes an unidentified girl in Grouville, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 9th of September 1959

Serial killer Harrison 'Marty' Graham is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Monday 14th of September 1959

Victim of Dean Corll aka The Candyman James Stanton Dreymala is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

Thursday 17th of September 1959

Leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect David Koresh is born as Vernon Wayne Howell in Houston, Texas, United States.

Friday 18th of September 1959

Serial killer Harvey Murray Glatman aka The Pin-Up Killer is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 32 in San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV is born in Parkstraat 17, Vilvoorde, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

44-year-old Singer Édith Piaf aka La Môme Piaf breaks down on stage with stomach bleedings due to alcohol and drug abuse in Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, New York City, New York, United States.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

20-year-old Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald starts a journey to Russia when boarding the SS Marion Lykes in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

He first arrived in Le Havre, from there to London, then Helsinki where he got a 6-day-visa for the Soviet Union.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

43-year-old Artist, writer and sound poet Brion John Clifford Gysin aka The Father of Cut-up introduces his friend William Burroughs to the Cut-up technique in Beat Hotel Room #15, 9 Rue Gît-le-Cœur, Paris, VIe, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 23rd of September 1959

Murderer John E. Day is executed by hanging at the age of 30 in United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, United States.

Day had been under the death sentence since 1951 and was hanged for the murder of Lee Mak Chun in Seoul on 30 December 1950. Serving in Korea, Day had made sexual advances to Chun's wife. When Chun came to her defense Day shot him dead.

Sunday 27th of September 1959

Spree killer Eliseo Hernandez Moreno is born in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States.

Monday 28th of September 1959

29-year-old Dorothy Rawlinson is raped and strangled by serial killer Wendell Lightbourne aka The Cannibalist Golf Caddy in Southlands Beach, Bermuda, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 7th of October 1959

Tenor and actor Mario Lanza dies of pulmonary embolism at the age of 38 in Clinica Valle Giulia, Via Giuseppe de Notaris 2, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

On 25 September 1959 Lanza entered the clinic for the purpose of losing weight for an upcoming film. While in the clinic he underwent a controversial weight loss program colloquially known as 'the twilight sleep treatment' which required its patients to be kept immobile and sedated for prolonged periods.

Friday 9th of October 1959

Victim of Paul John Knowles aka Killing Time Amanda Beth Carr is born in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States.

Wednesday 14th of October 1959

Actor Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn dies of a heart attack at the age of 50 in Apartment No. 201, 1310 Burnaby Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Thursday 15th of October 1959

20-year-old Foot fetishist and serial killer Jerry Jerome Henry Brudos aka The Lust Killer is discharged from the US Army because of his bizarre obsessions in Fort Gordon, Georgia, United States.

Friday 16th of October 1959

20-year-old Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald arrives in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Monday 19th of October 1959

34-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified 28-year-old woman in Saint Martin, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Thursday 5th of November 1959

48-year-old Herbert 'Herb' Clutter, 45-year-old Bonnie Mae Fox, 16-year-old Nancy Mae and 15-year-old Kenyon Neal are shot in the head during a robbery by 31-year-old Mass murderer Perry Edward Smith aka In Cold Blood and Richard Hickock in 611 W Oak Ave, Holcomb, Kansas, United States.

Hickock and Smith left the crime scene with a small portable radio, a pair of binoculars and less than $50 in cash.

Thursday 5th of November 1959

Cop killer Günther Fritz Erwin Podola aka Mike Colato is executed by hanging by Harry Allen at the age of 30 in Wandsworth Prison, London, Wandsworth, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Podola shot Detective Sergeant Raymond Purdy through the heart with a Radom 9mm semi-automatic pistol when he tried to arrest him on 12 July 1959 in Kensington.

Sunday 8th of November 1959

Murderer Anthony Charles Williams is born in Leon County, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 18th of November 1959

Double murderess Karla Faye Tucker aka The Pick Axe Murderess is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

Friday 20th of November 1959

30-year-old Serial killer Charles Ray Hatcher aka Evil Incarnate is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for abduction in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States.

Sunday 13th of December 1959

Billy Peterson dies of Spontaneous Human Combustion in Pontiac, Michigan, United States.

Peterson was found dead in the front seat of his car. The exhaust pipe had been bent to lead into the car's front seat in what appeared to be a suicide, but Peterson's body displayed third-degree burns on the back legs and arms, and while his flesh was burned, neither his clothing nor the front seat of the car were damaged in any way. In fact, hairs on the charred portions of the body were not even singed. 

Monday 14th of December 1959

Ethel Little is tortured to death by an unidentified sexual deviate at the age of 53 in 1220 NW Thirty-first Street, Miami, Florida, United States.

Little was confronted in her own home and savagely attacked and died of shock and blood loss. One of her breasts had been cut off and stuck onto a bedroom dresser mirror. Over 4000 palm prints were taken but a suspect was never found.

Saturday 19th of December 1959

22-year-old Jillian Macpherson Brewer is stabbed and hacked to death with a tomahawk and a pair of scissors by serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke aka The Australian Nightmare aka The Nedlands Monster in Cottesloe, Western Australia, Australia.

18-year old Darryl Beamish provided four confessions, two through a sign language interpreter, one a written statement and another in notes scrawled on the exercise yard at the Perth lock-up. Beamish said the confessions were obtained through intimidation and threats, and were untrue. Nevertheless Beamish was convicted of wilful murder in 1961 and sentenced to death by hanging. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he served 15 years. After six appeals his conviction was finally overturned in 2005.

Saturday 26th of December 1959

19-year-old Irmgard Feder is attacked by serial killer Manfred Wittmann aka The Beast of Oberfranken in Freiberg, Sachsen, Germany.

Monday 28th of December 1959

Murderer Johnny Ray Anderson is born in Beaumont, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 30th of December 1959

Actress and comedian Tracey Ullman is born as Trace in Slough, Berkshire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 31st of December 1959

Actor Val Edward Kilmer is born in Los Angeles, California, United States.