In the year 1959, the United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro (Jan 7), the Boeing 707 airliner begins service (Jan 25), Mattel’s Barbie doll debuts in the U.S. (Mar 9), Busch Gardens opens in Tampa, Florida and the Dalai Lama is granted asylum in India (Mar 31), two monkeys sent to space from Cape Canaveral become the first living beings to return safely to Earth (May 28), the first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by the Leakeys in Tanzania (Jul 17), Bonanza premiers, first regularly scheduled TV program in color (Sep 12), the first plain paper copier, Xerox 914, is introduced to the public (Sep 19) - and all these fine people were born:

1959-xxxx Linda Jakobson* Finnish academic/ political analyst /daughter of Max Jakobson - Islington, London, England 1959-0103 Alessandro Andrei* athlete (shot put) - Florence, Italy 1959-0105 Clancy Brown* actor/voice actor - Urbana, OH USA 1959-0110 Bob Enyart* conservative talk radio host/pastor of Denver Bible Church - Paterson, NJ USA (2021/62) 1959-0110 Fran Walsh* screenwriter/film producer/lyricist - Wellington, New Zealand 1959-0111 1959-0112 Per Gessle* singer/songwriter/guitarist (Roxette) - Halmstad, Sweden 1959-0112 Simon Tolkien* barrister/novelist/ grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien - Oxford, England 1959-0113 Winnie Byanyima* aeronautical engineer/politician - Mbarara, Uganda 1959-0116 Sade* singer - Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria 1959-0117 Tom Cain* (b David Thomas) journalist/author - Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union 1959-0118 Bjarne Henriksen* actor - Såderup, Fyn, Denmark 1959-0118 Hans Persson* cross-country skier (Vasaloppet) - Blomstermåla, Sweden 1959-0119 1959-0120 R. A. Salvatore* writer (fantasy & video games) - Leominster, MA USA 1959-0121 Alex McLeish* football player/manager - Glasgow, Scotland 1959-0122 Linda Blair* actress - St.Louis, MO USA 1959-0122 Juliana Rimane* politician - Kourou, French Guiana 1959-0122 Meiju Suvas* singer - Helsinki, Finland 1959-0124 Kevin Magee* basketball player - Gary, IN USA 1959-0126 Bob Lazar* reverse engineer - Coral Cables, FL USA 1959-0126 Jan Mybrand* actor - Kolsva, Västmanland, Sweden 1959-0128 Frank Darabont* Hungarian-American film director/ screenwriter/ producer - Montbéliard, France 1959-0131 Arto Härkönen* athlete (javelin/OG) - Helsinki, Finland 1959-0131 Anthony LaPaglia* actor - Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 1959-0131 Kelly Lynch* actress - Golden Valley, MN USA 1959-0201 1959-0202 Jari Tervo* author/television personality - Rovaniemi, Finland 1959-0204 Jonathan Cavendish* British film producer - Nairobi, Kenya 1959-0208 Mauricio Macri* businessman/ politician/P - Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina 1959-0209 Ali Bongo Ondimba* politician/P of Gabon - Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa 1959-0215 Elizabeth Knox* writer - Wellington, New Zealand 1959-0216 John McEnroe* American tennis player - Wiesbaden, Germany 1959-0220 Scott Brayton* race car driver - Coldwater, MI USA (1996/37) 1959-0222 Kyle MacLachlan* actor - Yakima, WA USA 1959-0223 Linda Nolan* singer/ actress/television personality - Dublin, Ireland (2025/65) 1959-0224 Beth Broderick* actress - Falmouth, KY USA 1959-0228 1959-0301 Nick Griffin* controversial politician - Barnet, England 1959-0306 Tom Arnold* actor - Ottumwa, IA USA 1959-0307 Donna Murphy* actress/singer - Queens, NY USA 1959-0307 Nick Searcy* actor - Cullowhee, C USA 1959-0308 Barbara Eve Harris* (b Reid-Hibbert) Tobagonian-Canadian actress - Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago 1959-0308 Lester Holt* journalist/television news anchor - San Francisco, CA USA 1959-0308 Aidan Quinn* actor - Rockford, IL USA 1959-0309 1959-0310 Marcia A. Karrow* politician/ mayor - Hunterdon, NJ  USA 1959-0310 Taneli Mäkelä* actor/writer - Espoo, Finland 1959-0312 1959-0314 Laila Robins* actress - St. Paul, MN USA 1959-0314 Tamara Tunie* actress/ director/producer - McKeesport, PA USA 1959-0315 Peter Ablinger* composer/ academic teacher - Schwanenstadt, Austria (2025/66) 1959-0315 Fabio Lanzoni* fashion model/spokesman - Milan, Italy 1959-0315 Renny Harlin* (b Harjola) film director - Riihimäki, Finland 1959-0316 Deke Anderson* body builder/actor - Reno, NV USA 1959-0316 Jens Stoltenberg* politician/PM/Nato leader - Oslo, Norway 1959-0317 1959-0318 Luc Besson* film director - Paris, France 1959-0318 Irene Cara* (b Escalera) actress/singer (Fame) - The Bronx, NY USA (2022/63) 1959-0320 1959-0322 Matthew Modine* actor - Loma Linda, CA USA 1959-0323 Margarita Forés* Filipino chef/restaurateur - (2025/65) 1959-0323 Jill Zimmerman* computer scientist - Naperville, IL USA 1959-0324 Emmit King* sprinter /WG (relay) - Bessemer, AL USA (2021/62) 1959-0331 1959-0401 Taru Mäkelä* film director/screenwriter - Tampere, Finland 1959-0402 Juha Kankkunen* rally driver - Laukaa, Finland 1959-0403 David Hyde Pierce* actor/director - Saratoga Springs, NY USA 1959-0403 Amy Morton* actress/ director - Oak Park, IL USA 1959-0404 Phil Morris* actor - Iowa City, IA USA 1959-0408 Nell Newman* biologist/ environmentalist/daughter of Paul Newman - New York, NY USA 1959-0408 Tarja Pöntinen* (b Peräsalo) baseball player/tax collector - Lapua, Finland 1959-0409 Scott Rouse* actor - Coral Cables, FL USA - IMDb 1959-0410 1959-0415 Emma Thompson* actress - Paddington, London, England 1959-0417 Sean Bean* actor - Sheffield South, Yorkshire, England 1959-0420 Clint Howard* brother of Ron Howard -  Burbank, CA USA 1959-0422 1959-0424 Glenn Morshower* actor - Dallas, TX USA 1959-0424 Eric Wagner* heavy metal singer (Trouble) - Las Vegas, NV USA (2021/62) 1959-0424 Paula Yates* television presenter/writer/ex-wife of Bob Geldof - Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, Wales (2000/41) 1959-0427 Sheena Easton* singer - Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland 1959-0428 Dainis Kula* javelin thrower/ OG - Tukums, Latvia, Soviet Union 1959-0430 1959-0501 1959-0504 Inger Nilsson* actress/ singer/secretary - Kisa, Sweden 1959-0505 Brian Williams* journalist/television news anchor - Ridgewood, NJ USA 1959-0511 Didier Guillaume* politician - Bourg-de-Péage, France (2025/65) 1959-0512 Ving Rhames* actor - New York, NY USA 1959-0515 Martti Syrjä* singer (Eppu Normaali)/actor/son of Kirsi Kunnas - Ylöjärvi, Finland 1959-0516 Mare Winningham* actress/singer-songwriter - Phoenix, AZ USA 1959-0519 Nicole Brown Simpson* wife of O.J. Simpson - Frankfurt, West Germany (1994/35) 1959-0521 Nick Cassavetes* actor/ director - New York, NY USA 1959-0522 Linda Emond* actress - New Brunswick, NJ USA 1959-0526 Kevin Gage* (b Gaede) actor - WI USA 1959-0527 Eugene Melnyk* businessman/ philanthropist/owner of the Ottawa Senators - Toronto, ON Canada (2022/62) 1959-0527 Donna Strickland* laser scientist/N - Guelph, ON Canada 1959-0528 Eric Verdonk* rower/OB - Taipahe, New Zealand (2020/60) 1959-0530 Elyssa Davalos* actress/mother of Alexa Davalos - Canoga Park, CA USA 1959-0530 Owen Roe* actor - Dublin, Ireland 1959-0601 1959-0605 Levon Brooks* exonerated prison mate - MS USA (2018/58) 1959-0606 Colin Quinn* stand-up comedian/actor/writer - Brooklyn, NY USA 1959-0607 Mike Pence* lawyer/ politician - Columbus, IN USA 1959-0609 Maria Persson* child actress/nurse - Stockholm, Sweden 1959-0610 1959-0611 Hugh Laurie* actor/director/ musician - Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire, England 1959-0613 Klaus Iohannis* politician/P - Sibiu, Romania 1959-0619 Risto-Pekka Alhainen* opera singer/vicor - Lappeenranta, Finland 1959-0619 Juha Hurme* writer/ playwright - Paimio, Finland 1959-0621 Nimr al-Nimr* Shia sheikh/political activist - Al-Awamiyah, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia (2016/56) 1959-0628 Meralda Warren* artist/poet - Pitcairn Islands 1959-0630 Vincent D’Onofrio* actor - Brooklyn, NY USA 1959-0703 José Baselga* oncologist/researcher - Barcelona, Spain (2021/61) 1959-0708 Robert Knepper* actor - Fremont, OH USA 1959-0721 Terry Long* football player - Columbia, SC USA (2005/45) 1959-0726 Kevin Spacey* actor - South Orange, NJ USA 1959-0729 John Sykes* guitarist - Reading, Berkshire, England (2024/65) 1959-0730 Petra Felke* athlete (javelin/OG)/the old world record holder - Saalfeld, East Germany 1959-0803 John C. McGinley* actor - New York City, NY USA 1959-0805 Anton Šťastný* hockey player - Bratislava, Czechoslovakia 1959-0810 Rosanna Arquette* actress - New York, NY USA 1959-0814 Marcia Gay Harden* actress - La Jolla, CA USA 1959-0814 Filep Karma* civil servant/West Papua independence activist - Jayapura, Dutch New Guinea (2022/63) 1959-0817 David Koresh* religious sect leader - Houston, TX USA (1993/33) 1959-0819 Anthony Sowell* marine/convicted serial killer - East Cleveland, OH USA (2021/61) 1959-0820 1959-0822 Peter Gerhardsson* football player/coach - Uppsala, Sweden 1959-0822 Mark Williams* actor (Father Brown)/ screenwriter/presenter - Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England 1959-0829 Rebecca De Mornay* actress - Santa Rosa, CA USA 1959-0829 Juha Veijonen* actor - Helsinki, Finland 1959-0830 Saida Gunba* athlete (javelin/OS) - Sukhumi, Georgia, Soviet Union (2018/59) 1959-0831 Ralph Krueger* hockey player/coach - Winnipeg, MB Canada 1959-0901 1959-0902 Giuseppe Lucchese* member of the Sicilian Mafia - Palermo, Italy 1959-0904 Kevin Harrington* actor - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1959-0907 Pierre Nanterme* business executive - Lyon, France (2019/59) 1959-0909 Matti Rönkä* television journalist/novelist - Kuusjärvi, Finland 1959-0909 Phil Valentine* conservative talk radio host/author/actor - Nashville, NC USA (2021/61) 1959-0911 John Hawkes* actor - Alexandria, MN USA 1959-0913 Nick Vallelonga* actor/screenwriter/ director - The Bronx, NY USA 1959-0914 Mary Crosby* actress - Los Angeles, CA USA 1959-0914 Morten Harket* singer (A-Ha) - Kongsberg, Norway 1959-0919 Giancarlo Siani* crime reporter - Naples, Italy (1985/26) 1959-0920 1959-0922 David Bawden* real estate agent/furniture maker/a conclavist claimant to the papacy - Oklahoma City, OK USA (2022/62) 1959-0923 Jason Alexander* actor - Newark, NJ USA 1959-0924 Steve Whitmire* puppeteer/ voice of Kermit - Atlanta, GA USA 1959-0927 Miroslav Fryčer* hockey player/coach - Opava, Czechoslovakia (2021/61) 1959-1003 Jack Wagner* actor/singer - Washington, MO USA 1959-1004 Chris Lowe* musician/ singer-songwriter (Pet Shop Boys) - Blackpool, Lancashire, England 1959-1007 Dylan Baker* actor/ narrator - Syracuse, NY USA 1959-1007 Simon Cowell* television personality/entrepreneur - Brighton, East Sussex England 1959-1009 Boris Nemtsov* physicist /liberal politician - Sochi, Russia, Soviet Union (2015/55) 1959-1010 Jarmo Nieminen* officer/naturalist/non-fiction writer - Ruokolahti, Finland 1959-1010 Bradley Whitford* actor - Madison, WI USA 1959-1013 Robert Jarczyk* actor/ director/author - Munich, West Germany 1959-1013 Marie Osmond* singer - Ogden, UT USA 1959-1015 1959-1016 Pamela C. Rasmussen* American ornithologist - USA 1959-1018 Mauricio Funes* journalist/ politician - San Salvador, El Salvador (2025/65) 1959-1019 1959-1020 Niamh Cusack* actress - Dulkey, County Dublin, Ireland 1959-1020 Shuping Wang*  Chinese-American medical researcher/public health whisteblower - Fugou County, Henan, China (2019/59) 1959-1021 Heidi Boothe* (b Dowell) genealogist/involved in animal resque - Alexandria, VA USA (2004/44) Find a Grave 1959-1023 Sam Raimi* film director/actor/producer - Royal Oak, MI USA 1959-1025 1959-1026 Paul Farmer* physician/ medical anthropologist - North Adams, MA USA (2022/62) 1959-1026 Evo Morales* politician/first indigenous president of Bolivia - Isallavi, Bolivia 1959-1028 1959-1029 Peter Blauner* author/ journalist/television producer - New York City, NY USA 1959-1029 Mike Gartner* hockey player (NHL 100) - Ottawa, ON Canada 1959-1031 Mats Näslund* hockey player/3GC - Timrå, Sweden 1959-1102 Peter Mullan* actor - Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland 1959-1105 Bryan Adams* singer/guitarist/philanthropist - Kingston, ON Canada 1959-1114 Paul McGann* actor - Liverpool, England 1959-1119 Allison Janney* actress - Boston, MA USA 1959-1120 Sean Young* actress - Louisville, KY USA 1959-1125 1959-1126 Jamie Rose* actress/ acting coach - New York City, NY USA 1959-1128 Judd Nelson* actor - Portland, ME USA 1959-1201 Billy Childish* painter/film maker/singer - Chatham, Kent, England 1959-1206 Satoru Iwata* video game programmer/ businessman - Japan (2015/55) 1959-1208 Timo Kivinen* army general/the Chief of Defence - Lappeenranta, Finland 1959-1209 Denise Phua* politician/disability rights activist - Singapore 1959-1210 1959-1218 Robert Enckell* actor - Helsinki, Finland 1959-1220 1959-1224 Stefano Sannino* diplomat/European civil servant - Portici, Italy 1959-1229 Patricia Clarkson* actress - New Orleans, LA USA 1959-1230 Tracey Ullman* actress/ singer/director - Slough, Buckinghamshire, England 1959-1231 Al Giordano* journalist/political commentator/activist - The Bronx, NY USA (2023/63) 1959-1231 Val Kilmer* actor - Los Angeles, CA USA (2025/65) 1959-0 1959-0 1959-0 Updated 2025-0424 Helsinki-Stockholm Search for another year here