1959 in sports
See also: 1958 in sports, other events of 1959, 1960 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
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Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500
- NASCAR Championship — Lee Petty
- Indianapolis 500 — Rodger Ward
- USAC Racing — Rodger Ward
- Formula One Champion — Jack Brabham of Australia
- 24 hours of Le Mans: Carroll Shelby / Roy Salvadori won driving an Aston Martin DBR1
- Rally racing — Paul Coltelloni / P Alexandre won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Citroën ID
- Drag racing:
- Chris the "Greek" Karamesines won the AHRA "Top Fuel"
- Rodney Singer won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals
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Baseball
- March 3 — The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park.
- World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 2 over the Chicago White Sox. The Series MVP is Larry Sherry, Los Angeles
- The Winnipeg Goldeyes win the Northern League championship.
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Basketball
- FIBA World Championship
- Brazil World Champion
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- California wins 71-70 over West Virginia
- NBA Finals:
- Boston Celtics win 4 games to 0 over the Minneapolis Lakers
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Boxing
- June 26 — in New York City, Ingemar Johansson scored a 3rd round TKO over Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship
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Football (American)
- NFL Championship: Baltimore Colts won 31-16 over the New York Giants
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Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 21-7 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
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Football (Soccer)
- England — FA Cup: Nottingham Forest won 2-1 over Luton Town
- May 28 - Billy Wright makes his 70th consecutive England appearance, a record that still stands
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Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May — The Masters golf tournament — Art Wall, Jr.
- June — US Open — Billy Casper
- July — British Open — Gary Player
- August — PGA Championship — Bob Rosburg
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Art Wall, Jr. — $53,168
- Ryder Cup: United States 8½ to 3½ over Britain in world team golf
- US Women's Open — Mickey Wright
- LPGA Championship — Betsy Rawls
- Betsy Rawls: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $26,774.
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Thoroughbred Horse Racing
- Australia — Melbourne Cup — Macdougal
- Canada — Queen's Plate — New Providence
- France — Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe — Saint Crespin
- Ireland — Irish Derby Stakes — Fidalgo
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Ice Hockey
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Dickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Belleville McFarlands from Canada
- On November 1, Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jacques Plante was injured when struck in the face by a flying puck. He offers to return to play on the condition that he wears his goalie mask. His example soons leads to the mask becoming standard equipment for goalies and a symbol of the game itself.
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Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.
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General sporting events
- Third Pan American Games held in Chicago, United States
- Third Mediterranean Games held in Beirut, Lebanon
- First Summer Universiade held in Turin, Italy
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Births
- January 2 — Bettina Blumenberg, German field hockey player
- January 4 — Kim Gordon, British field hockey player
- January 31 — Santos Laciar, Argentinian boxer
- January 31 — Arto Härkönen, Finnish javelin thrower
- February 4 — Lawrence Taylor, American football player
- February 11 — David López-Zubero, Spanish swimmer
- February 11 — Corinne Shigemoto, US judo coach
- February 16 — John McEnroe, US tennis player
- February 17 — Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer
- March 12 — Robyn Blackman, New Zealand field hockey player
- March 15 — Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
- March 17 — Danny Ainge, basketball player, coach, baseball player
- March 21 — Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
- March 27 — Aleksandr Goncharov, Soviet field hockey player
- April 2 — Gelindo Bordin, Italian athlete
- April 4 — Shamil Sabirov, Soviet boxer
- April 9 — Grant McLeod, New Zealand field hockey player
- April 13 — Stephen Martin, British field hockey player
- May 8 — Aleksandr Miasnikov, Soviet field hockey player
- June 12 — Steve Bauer, Canadian cyclist
- June 28 — Ed van Es, Dutch water polo player
- July 4 — Jan Brittin, English women's cricketer
- July 6 — Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
- July 7 — Oleg Zagorodnev, Soviet field hockey player
- July 9 — Juan Coghen, Spanish field hockey player
- July 18 — Mel Purcell, American tennis player
- August 3 — Janusz Zarenkiewicz, Polish heavyweight boxer
- August 4 — Mark Kerry, Australian backstroke swimmer
- August 13 — Thomas Ravelli, Swedish soccer goalkeeper
- August 14 — Magic Johnson, basketball legend
- August 21 — Jim McMahon, American football player
- September 12 — Sos Airapetian, Armenian field hockey player
- September 15 — Catherine Suire, French tennis player
- October 10 — Kevin Barry, New Zealand boxer
- October 10 — Aleksandr Sychyov, Soviet field hockey player
- October 11 — Michiel Schapers, Dutch tennis player and coach
- November 21 — Jan Martin, New Zealand field hockey player
- November 24 — Juan Laporte, Puerto Rican boxer
- November 24 — Sandra Mackie, New Zealand field hockey player
- November 30 — Sylvia Hanika, German tennis player
- December 4 — Christa Rothenburger, East German speed skater
- December 16 — Colleen Jones, world's most successful female curler
- December 24 — Harrie van Heumen, Dutch ice hockey forward
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Deaths
- War Admiral — thoroughbred race horse
- January 22 — Michael Hawthorn, F1 race driver
- February 24 — Stanley Shoveller, British field hockey player (b. 1881)
- September 28 — Rudolf Caracciola, F1 race driverfr:1959 en sport