Events from the year 1959 in Michigan.
Top stories
The Associated Press and Detroit Free Press ranked the top Michigan news stories of 1959 as follows: Lansing tax debate (AP-1, 435 points; DFP-1) The murder of State Trooper Albert W. Souden near Brighton and the arrest of his accused killer (AP-2, 318 points) The September 22 drowning of 12 members of a family when their small boat was swamped (AP-3, 252 points) The Michigan Supreme Court's October 21 ruling that the state's four cent sales tax was unconstitutional (AP-4) Automobile industry's introduction of new, compact cars (AP-5, 214 points; DFP-2) A University of Michigan student who hid in a church belfry for months (AP-6, 165 points) The negative impact of the 116-day steel strike of 1959 on the automobile industry (AP-7, 149 points) The Detroit Tigers' firing manager Bill Norman and hiring of Jimmy Dykes (AP-8, 109 points) The accidental death in November of former General Motors vice president Harry W. Anderson, shot by former General Motors CEO Harlow Curtice while duck hunting on St. Anne Island in the St. Clair River (AP-9, 107 points; DFP-5) The Michigan 59ers, a group of Michigander who left the state in March in order to homestead and form a farm community in Alaska called New Michigan (AP-10, 87 points; DFP-3) Saint Lawrence Seaway opened, and from June 27 to July 9 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip passed through the seaway aboard on the royal yacht HMY Britannia with stops in Windsor and Sarnia on July 2 and 3 (DFP-4)
Office holders
State office holders
Governor of Michigan: G. Mennen Williams (Democrat) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John Swainson (Democrat) Michigan Attorney General: Paul Adams Michigan Secretary of State: James M. Hare (Democrat) Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Don R. Pears (Republican) Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate: Frank D. Beadle (Republican) Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court:
Mayors of major cities
Mayor of Detroit: Louis Miriani
Mayor of Grand Rapids: Stanley J. Davis
Mayor of Flint: Robert J. Egan
Mayor of Saginaw: R. James Harvey/R. Dewey Stearns
Mayor of Dearborn: Orville L. Hubbard
Mayor of Lansing: Ralph Crego
Mayor of Ann Arbor: Samuel J. Eldersveld/Cecil Creal
Federal office holders
U.S. Senator from Michigan: Patrick V. McNamara (Democrat) U.S. Senator from Michigan: Philip Hart (Democrat) House District 1: Thaddeus M. Machrowicz (Democrat) House District 2: George Meader (Republican) House District 3: August E. Johansen (Republican) House District 4: Clare Hoffman (Republican) House District 5: Gerald Ford (Republican) House District 6: Charles E. Chamberlain (Republican) House District 7: James G. O'Hara (Democrat) House District 8: Alvin Morell Bentley (Republican) House District 9: Robert P. Griffin (Republican) House District 10: Elford Albin Cederberg (Republican) House District 11: Victor A. Knox (Republican) House District 12: John B. Bennett (Republican) House District 13: Charles Diggs (Democrat) House District 14: Louis C. Rabaut (Democrat) House District 15: John Dingell Jr. (Democrat) House District 16: John Lesinski Jr. (Democrat) House District 17: Martha Griffiths (Democrat) House District 18: William Broomfield (Republican)
Population
Sports
Baseball
1959 Detroit Tigers season – Under managers Bill Norman and Jimmy Dykes, the Tigers compiled a 75–79 record and finished in fourth place in the American League. The team's statistical leaders included Harvey Kuenn with a .353 batting average, Charlie Maxwell with 31 home runs and 95 RBIs, and Don Mossi with a 3.36 earned run average. 1959 Michigan Wolverines baseball team - Under head coach Don Lund, the Wolverines compiled a 10–17–2 record. Jim Dickey was the team captain.