KXEL@80–1959

The Year Was 1959–in the news, Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, Hawaii became the 50th state, Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 in a photo finish over Iowa native Johnny Beauchamp (who was originally declared the winner), and Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson died with their pilot in a plane crash near Mason City, Iowa…on the big screen, “Some Like It Hot” and “Ben-Hur” premiered…topping the pop charts were Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” “Personality” by Lloyd Price, and Wilbur Harrison’s “Kansas City”…and new television shows premiering included “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza” and “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.”