JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC
◄  JUNE  ►
◄  1959  ►
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President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
Vice-President: Richard M. Nixon (R)
House: 281 (D) 153 (R) 1 (Other) 1 (Vacant)
Southern states: 100 (D) 6 (R)
Senate: 64 (D) 34 (R)
Southern states: 22 (D)
GDP growth: 6.6 % (Annual)
-0.2 % (Quarterly)
Fed discount rate: 3½ %
Inflation: 0.7 %
Unemployment: 5.0 %

Jun 3: The U.S. Air Force Academy graduates its first class, with 207 commissioned officers.

Jun 4: The last Three Stooges short, Sappy Bull Fighters, is released to theaters.

Jun 7: Johnny Horton’s single “The Battle of New Orleans” begins its six week run at the top of the charts.

Jun 8: An experimental “missile mail” delivery is conducted when a missile containing 3,000 letters is launched from the deck of a World War II-era submarine 100 miles offshore from Norfolk. The missile successfully deploys its parachute and lands at Mayport, Florida, twenty-two minutes later. Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield declares the experiment a success and predicts that delivering mail via missiles will become a routine practice.

Jun 9: The first ballistic missile submarine, the nuclear-powered U.S.S. George Washington, is launched in Groton, CT. It will be fitted with two Polaris nuclear missiles a year later.

Jun 11: Postmaster Genearl Arthur E. Summerfield declares D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover “obscene and un-mailable.” Grove Press had announced the publication of an unexpurgated edition in April.

Jun 14: The Disneyland monorail begins operation at the Anaheim theme park.

Jun 17: Liberace wins his libel case against the Daily Mirror. In 1956, a Daily Mirror columnist under the pen name Cassandra (real name: William Connor) wrote a scathing article the day after Liberace’s arrival in London for two live ITV broadcasts and a concert tour of the British Isles. Connor wrote that Liberace was a “deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavored, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love.” Liberace sues. A London jury finds Connor and the Daily Mirror guilty of libel and awards damages of  $22,400 ($192,000 today).

Jun 18: Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Newfoundland to begin a 45-day tour of Canada. This is the longest stay a Canadian monarch.

Jun 26: Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally open the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

◄  1959  ►
◄  JUNE  ►
JAN   FEB   MAR   APR   MAY   JUN   JUL   AUG   SEP   OCT   NOV   DEC