Date in year · 1959 · The 1950s
September 26, 1959
On September 26, 1959, typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless. The year's #1 song was "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. John Middendorf, Susan Faludi, Perry Haddock would arrive in the same year.
Featured · September 26, 1959
Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.
Typhoon Vera, also known as the Isewan Typhoon , was an exceptionally intense tropical cyclone that struck Japan in September 1959, becoming the strongest and deadliest typhoon on record to make landfall on the country, as well as the only one to do so as a Category 5 equivalent storm. The storm's intensity resulted in catastrophic damage of unparalleled severity and extent, and was a major setback to the Japanese economy, which was still recovering from World War II. In the aftermath of Vera, Japan's disaster management and relief systems were significantly reformed, and the typhoon's effects would set a benchmark for future storms striking the country.
Browse all of September 26 →
Around 1959
The year in brief
1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1959th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 959th year of the 2nd millennium, the 59th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1950s decade.
Read the full year of 1959 →
What happened
On September 26, 1959
- 1959 — Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall, killing 4,580 people and leaving nearly 1.6 million others homeless.
Elsewhere that year
Other moments from 1959
The class of 1959
Others born in 1959
JM John Middendorf 1959– American mountain climber (died 2024)
SF Susan Faludi 1959– American journalist, author and feminist
PH Perry Haddock 1959– Australian rugby league player
TJ Tim Jacobus 1959– American illustrator and painter
RS Robert Smith 1959– English singer-songwriter and guitarist
TF Terry Francona 1959– American baseball player and manager
Keep going
More to explore