July 31, 1959
The federal minimum wage stood at $1.00/hr that summer of 1959, and the Dow Jones sat at 679 — while the Soviet Union's First Deputy Premier Frol Kozlov warned Western nations that Moscow would sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany if no agreement was reached on Berlin, signaling that Cold War tensions remained a steady backdrop to daily American life. On screen and on the radio, audiences were turning out for "The Nun's Story" starring Audrey Hepburn, which led the box office that summer, while Frank Sinatra's Grammy Album of the Year "Come Dance with Me" kept the mood light on living room hi-fi sets across the country. On July 17, anthropologist Louis Leakey and his wife Mary made a landmark discovery at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, unearthing the first skull of Australopithecus, a find that pushed the known record of human ancestors back nearly two million years and reshaped scientific understanding of human origins.
On the cover
Magazine Covers — July 31, 1959
NY Times Headlines — Week of July 31, 1959
Conferees Trim Defense Budget To 39.2 Billions; White House Request Cut 19.9 Million -- Congress Due To Act Next Week Missile Fund Is Higher 400,000-Man Guard Also Provided In Compromise Between 2 Measures Conferees Trim Defense Budget; Approve 39.2 Billion Outlay
Army Dispatched To Bering Sea To Dry Out A Tight Little Island; Platoon Assigned To Destroy 7,000 Cases Of Beer Left By Military In 1957 Army Dispatched To Dry Out Isle
Eisenhower Will Go To Soviet In Autumn After Separate Trip To Western Europe; Peace Aim Is Cited President Gives Hint Summit Parley May Follow Exchanges Khrushchev Coming To U. S. Next Month; President Will Visit Soviet In Autumn Eisenhower Plans Europe Trip Also Top-Level Western Meeting To Be Held In August Before His Journey To Moscow
President Weighs Nato Conference During Paris Visit; Several Nations Seek Parley To Stress Western Unity Before Khrushchev Trip U.S. Scans Tour Route Soviet Premier Expected To See Major Cities, Farms And Industrial Areas Eisenhower Trip Spurs Nato Plans
World Events — July 1959
Time Person of the Year — 1959
On the radio
Billboard Charts — July 31, 1959
Grammy Awards
On the bookshelf
On the television
Nielsen Top 10 — 1958–59 Season
Emmy Winners — 1959
At the movies
Box Office & Oscar Winners — July 31, 1959
On the field
Sports Champions — July 31, 1959
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