August 8, 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 — August 8, 1959
NY Times Headlines — Week of August 8, 1959
Navy Missile Monitor Detects Firing Anywhere In The World; Radio 'Sees' Shots From Sites In U. S. It Has Spotted Soviet Test Launchings Navy Monitor Set-Up Detects Firings Of Missiles And Satellites Anywhere In World Provides A Check On Soviet Tests Method Is Able To Determine Performance Of A Rocket And Where It Was Shot
U.S. Puts Paddle-Wheel Satellite In Orbit; New Space Probe Vehicle Is In Ellipse Reaching 25,000 Miles Outward Paddle-Wheel Satellite Is Put In Orbit Explorer Vi Uses Energy From Sun 142-Pound Vehicle Testing Signaling From Space In Elliptical Track
President Flying To London Aug. 28 To Start Visits; Will Talk With British, French And West German Chiefs Before Khrushchev Trip Paris Meeting Crucial De Gaulle And Eisenhower Due To Discuss Algeria And Nato Problems President Off To London Aug. 28 For Talks With Western Allies
16 Democrats Bid U. S. Act To Halt Algeria Conflict; Congressmen Send Message To De Gaulle And To The African States Parley
World Events — August 1959
Time Person of the Year — 1959
On the radio
Billboard Charts — August 8, 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 — August 8, 1959
On the field
Sports Champions — August 8, 1959
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