January 1959 - January 5, 1959 (Monday)

January 5, 1959 (Monday)

• New York Herald-Tribune columnist Marie Torre went to jail for a 10-day sentence for contempt of court, rather than to reveal her source for a 1957 story about Judy Garland. Torre was imprisoned on the seventh floor of the Hudson County Jail in Jersey City. She was released on her tenth day on January 14, without disclosing her information. Torre, who later became a television anchorperson in Pittsburgh, died in 1997, and was recalled as "the first reporter to gain national attention for going to jail for refusing to identify a news source."
• Four British balloonists were rescued at sea, 19 days after contact was lost during their attempt to sail across the Atlantic. The Small World had set off from the Canary Islands on December 12, bound for Barbados. A fishing vessel located the floating gondola and brought the three men and one woman the rest of the way.
• Born: Clancy Brown, American actor (Carnivàle); in Urbana, Ohio