February 1959 - February 17, 1959 (Tuesday)

February 17, 1959 (Tuesday)

• Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, was launched by the United States, was launched at 10:55 a.m. from Cape Canaveral.
• Adnan Menderes, the Prime Minister of Turkey, was among 20 people on board an airplane en route from Rome to London and crashed on its approach to Gatwick Airport. Menderes was scheduled to meet with Prime Ministers Macmillan of Britain and Karamanlis of Greece for an agreement concerning the island of Cyprus. Menderes survived the crash, but was deposed the following year and executed on September 17, 1961.