June 5 - A new government of the State of Singapore is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former Ministers were re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
June 14 - A three-front revolutionary invasion by air and sea takes place in the Dominican Republic consisting of exiles aided by Fidel Castro whose purpose was to overthrow dictatorRafael Leonidas Trujillo. Within a few days all but four are captured and executed. Trujillo is killed less than two years later by men partly inspired by the deaths of the 1959 martyrs.
June 18 - The film ''The Nun's Story'', based on the best-selling novel, is released. Audrey Hepburn stars as the title character; she will later say that this is her favorite film role. The film is a box-office hit, and is nominated for several Oscars.
''Darby O'Gill and the Little People'', a film based on H.T. Kavanagh's short stories, is released in the U.S. by Walt Disney, after world premiering in Ireland. It will be the only "personally produced by Disney" film in which Sean Connery appears; he also sings.
July
July - The medical research group studying Minamata disease comes to the conclusion that mercury is the cause.
July 7 - 14:28 UT Venus occulted the star Regulus. The rare event which will next occur on October 1, 2044 was used for determining the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
November 18 - MGM's widescreen, multimillion dollar, Technicolor version of ''Ben-Hur'', starring Charlton Heston, is released and becomes MGM's greatest hit up to that time. It is critically acclaimed and eventually wins 11 Academy Awards - a record held until 1997, when ''Titanic'' equals the record.
December 13 - MGM's ''The Wizard of Oz'' is telecast for only the second time, but it gains an even larger viewing audience than the first telecast, spurring CBS to make it an annual tradition on television.