* Brett Austin ( 1959 – 1990 ), New Zealand swimmer

British Medical Journal, Jan. 3, 1959, 1 ( 5113 ): 1 – 6.

* 1959 – Gail Shea, Canadian politician

* 1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian footballer ( d. 1959 )

* 1959 – Paul Gross, Canadian actor, director, and writer

* 1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

* 1959 – W. Thomas Smith, Jr, American author and columnist

* 1909 – Lester Young, American saxophonist ( d. 1959 )

* 1959 – Gerhard Berger, Austrian race car driver

* 1959 – Downtown Julie Brown, English television host and actress

* 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian painter and sculptor

* 1959 – András Petöcz, Hungarian author

* 1959 – Jeanette Winterson, English novelist

* 1959 – Rajendra Singh Indian water conservationist

* 1875 – Albert Ketèlbey, English conductor, composer, and pianist ( d. 1959 )

* 1959 – Kurtis Blow, American rapper and producer

* 1959 – Stuart Hughes, Canadian actor

* 1959 – Michael Kors, American fashion designer

* 1959 – Toni Servillo, Italian actor and director

* 1959 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor

* 1959 – Michael Bradley, Irish bass player and radio host ( The Undertones )

* 1959 – Bruce French, English cricketer

* 1959 – Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player

* 1959 – Victoria Jackson, American comedian, actress, and singer

To the extent that our sampling of the orientations of American college students in the years 1950 and 1952 may be representative of our culture -- and still valid in 1959 -- we are disposed to question the summary characterization of the current generation as silent, beat, apathetic, or as a mass of other-directed conformists who are guided solely by social radar without benefit of inner gyroscopes.

Mantle, the bull-necked blond switch-hitter, had one sensational triple-crown season, 1959, when he batted and also led the American League in home runs, 52, and rbi's, 130.

`` Much of the navy's future depends upon her '', an American naval announcement said on the Skipjack's first arrival in British waters in August, 1959, for exhibition to selected high officers at Portland underwater research station.

* 1959 – John C. McGinley, American actor

* 1959 – Mike Gminski, American basketball player

* 1927 – Carl Switzer, American actor ( d. 1959 )

* 1959 – Scott McKinsey, American director

* 1959 – Robert Casilla, American artist and illustrator

* 1959 – Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League.

* 1959 – Frank Brickowski, American basketball player

* 1959 – Marcia Gay Harden, American actress

* 1959 – Magic Johnson, American basketball player

* 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress ( d. 1959 )

* 1959 – Scott Altman, American astronaut

* 1959 – Laura Innes, American actress

* 1881 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director ( d. 1959 )

* 1873 – Fred Stone, American actor ( d. 1959 )