1959 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 Citroen 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

Basketball

• 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

Boxing

• June 26 - in New York City, Ingemar Johansson[?] scored a 3rd round TKO over Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Cycling

• Tour de France - Federico Bahamontes[?] of Spain

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: David Jenkins[?], United States
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss[?], United States
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Wagner[?] & Robert Paul[?], Canada

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Nottingham Forest won 2-1 over Luton Town

Football (American)

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

Canadian Football League

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

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters golf tournament - Art Wall, Jr.[?]
  2. June - US Open - Billy Casper[?]
  3. July - British Open - Gary Player[?]
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bob Rosburg[?]

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Art Wall[?] - $53,168

• Ryder Cup: United States 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 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:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Taboun[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Parthia
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Cantelo[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Tomy Lee[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Royal Orbit[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Sword Dancer[?]

Harness Racing

• Adios Butler is the first to win the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Adios Butler
  2. Little Brown Jug - Adios Butler
  3. Messenger Stakes - Adios Butler

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Diller Hanover[?]
  2. Yonkers Trot - John A Hanover[?]
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Diller Hanover[?]

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Young Pedro[?]

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

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Alex Olmedo[?]
  2. French Open - Nicola Pietrangeli[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Alex Olmedo[?]
  4. US Open - Neale Fraser[?]

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Mary Carter-Reitano[?]
  2. French Open - Christine Truman[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maria Bueno[?]
  4. US Open - Maria Bueno[?]

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

Births

• February 4 - Lawrence Taylor[?], American football star
• February 11 - Corinne Shigemoto[?], US judo coach
• February 16 - John McEnroe[?], tennis player
• March 17 - Danny Ainge[?], basketball player, coach, baseball player

Deaths

• War Admiral - thoroughbred race horse
• January 22 - Michael Hawthorn[?], F1 race driver
• September 28 - Rudolf Caracciola[?], F1 race driver