the metastasizing of his abdominal cancer. Choking back tears, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced the news at a press conference in Augusta, Georgia. Ground-instrumentation requirements for firing Little Joe test vehicles at Wallops Island were drafted. These requirements involved pulse radars, camera, Doppler radar, wind-monitoring instruments, telemetry equipment, and a ground destruct system. Hundreds turned out in Oklahoma City to see whether Otis T. Carr would launch a flying saucer to fly off the ground. Carr rescheduled the launch several times, but it never took place. Born: Emma Thompson, English actress, in Paddington, London April 16, 1959 (Thursday) At an altitude of , an Air France flight from Paris to Dijon lost power from its destination. The crew glided the plane the rest of the way. The United States deployed the first Thor missiles in Great Britain, under the command of Royal Air Force crews. The nuclear warheads on the missiles remained under American control. NASA and the military services held a meeting to discuss the search and recovery aspects of Project Mercury. Admiral Gannon, the service spokesman, stated that the meeting was exploratory but that the Navy and other services would support the project. Space Task Group, Langley Research Center, and Lewis Research Center personnel met to discuss development plans regarding construction and instrumentation of Big Joe Number I reentry spacecraft test vehicle. During the course of this meeting, milestone objectives of the work to be accomplished were drafted. NASA requested that the Air Force furnish two TF-102B and two T-33 aircraft to be used by the Project Mercury astronauts. One of the requirements in the astronaut training program was to maintain proficiency in high performance aircraft. Voters in Harlem Heights, a neighborhood near Chicago, elected in a referendum to incorporate as the city of Palos Heights, Illinois. Rioters at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge took 16 guards and 7 other people hostage. The disturbance broke out at 4:30. Two hostages were released the next day. "Judgment at Nuremberg" was telecast as a live television broadcast on Playhouse 90 and was then adapted to a 1961 film. April 17, 1959 (Friday) Twenty-six people died in the crash of a Mexican C-46 airplane, en route from Mexicali to Guayama. The Tigres Voladores Airlines plane exploded in midair as it made its approach. Born: Sean Bean, English actor; in Handsworth, South Yorkshire April 18, 1959 (Saturday) The Corvette Stingray