1959 in sports

See also: 1958 in sports, other events of 1959, 1960 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

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

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.

Basketball

* FIBA World Championship
** Brazil World Champion
*NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
**California wins 71-70 over West Virginia
* :
**Boston Celtics win 4 games to 0 over the Minneapolis Lakers

Boxing

*June 26 — in New York City, Ingemar Johansson scored a 3rd round TKO over Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Football (American)

*NFL Championship: Baltimore Colts won 31-16 over the New York Giants

Football (Canadian)

* Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 21-7 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Football (Soccer)

*England â€" 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

Golf

Men's 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

Women's Golf
*US Women's Open — Mickey Wright
*LPGA Championship — Betsy Rawls
*Betsy Rawls: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $26,774.

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
*English Triple Crown Races:
*#Two Thousand Guineas Stakes — Taboun
*#Epsom Derby — Parthia
*#St. Leger Stakes — Cantelo
*United States Triple Crown Races:
*#Kentucky Derby — Tomy Lee
*#Preakness Stakes — Royal Orbit
*#Belmont Stakes — Sword Dancer

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
*NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux defeat Michigan State University Spartans 4-3 in overtime in Troy, NY
*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.

Tennis

*Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
*#Australian Open — Alex Olmedo
*#French Open — Nicola Pietrangeli
*#Wimbledon championships — Alex Olmedo
*#US Open — Neale Fraser
*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open — Mary Carter-Reitano
*#French Open — Christine Truman
*#Wimbledon championships — Maria Bueno
*#US Open — Maria Bueno
*Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

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

Births

January

* January 2 — Bettina Blumenberg, German field hockey player
* January 4 — Kim Gordon, British field hockey player
* January 10 — Chandra Cheeseborough, American athlete
* January 31 — Santos Laciar, Argentinian boxer
* January 31 — Arto Härkönen, Finnish javelin thrower

February

* February 4 — Lawrence Taylor, American football player
* February 9 — Joachim Kunz, German weightlifter
* 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

* March 12 — Robyn Blackman, New Zealand field hockey player
* March 15 — Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
* March 17 — Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach and baseball player
* March 18 — Yvonne Buter, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
* March 21 — Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
* March 21 — Eric Pierik, Dutch field hockey player
* March 27 — Aleksandr Goncharov, Soviet field hockey player

April

* 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
* April 23 — Marcella Place, American field hockey player

May

* May 3 — Carlos De Leon, Puerto Rican boxer
* May 8 — Aleksandr Miasnikov, Soviet field hockey player
* May 25 — Greet Hellemans, Dutch rower

June

* June 3 — Becky Smith, Canadian medley and butterfly swimmer
* June 7 — Randy Ragan, Canadian football (soccer) player
* June 12 — Steve Bauer, Canadian cyclist
* June 12 — Desai Williams, St. Kitts and Nevis-born Canadian athlete
* June 28 — Ed van Es, Dutch water polo player

July

* 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 10 — Davis Phinney, American road bicycle racer
* July 18 — Mel Purcell, American tennis player
* July 26 — Gary Honey, Australian long jumper
* July 26 — Anne Jardin, Canadian freestyle swimmer
* July 28 — Cheryl Gibson, Canadian swimmer

August

* August 3 — Janusz Zarenkiewicz, Polish heavyweight boxer
* August 4 — Mark Kerry, Australian backstroke swimmer
* August 8 — Ronald Weigel, German track and field athlete
* August 13 — Thomas Ravelli, Swedish football (soccer) goalkeeper
* August 14 — Magic Johnson, US basketball legend
* August 15 — Han Kulker, Dutch middle distance runner
* August 21 — Jim McMahon, American football player
* August 28 — Sjaak Troost, Dutch football (soccer) defender

September

* September 12 — Sos Airapetian, Armenian field hockey player
* September 13 — Kathy Johnson, American artistic gymnast
* September 15 — Catherine Suire, French tennis player
* September 30 — Elsemiek Hillen, Dutch field hockey forward

October

* October 10 — Kevin Barry, New Zealand boxer
* October 10 — Aleksandr Sychyov, Soviet field hockey player
* October 11 — Michiel Schapers, Dutch tennis player and coach
* October 20 — Sandra Le Poole, Dutch field hockey forward

November

* November 12 — Regina Buggy, American field hockey player
* November 14 — Dave Steen, Canadian decathlon athlete
* November 15 — Dhawee Umponmaha, Thai boxer
* 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

* December 4 — Paul McGrath, Irish football (soccer) defender
* 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

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 driver