14 – Explorer 6 sends the first picture of Earth from orbit. August 15 – Cyprus gains independence. August 17 – The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in southwest Montana kills 28. August 19 – The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is established. August 21 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state. August 26 – The original Mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis is launched. August 30 – South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Dan was elected to the National Assembly despite soldiers being bussed in to vote for President Ngo Dinh Diem's candidate. August 31 – Beijing Workers' Stadium, known well for sports venues in China, officially opened. September September 14 – Luna 2 becomes the first man-made object to crash on the Moon. September 15 – September 28 – USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his wife tour the United States, at the invitation of U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower. September 16 – The Xerox 914, the first plain paper copier, is introduced to the public. September 17 – The hypersonic North American X-15 research vehicle, piloted by Scott Crossfield, makes its first powered flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California. September 23 – The MS Princess of Tasmania, (Australia's first passenger RO/RO diesel ferry), makes its maiden voyage across the Bass Strait. September 26 Typhoon Vera hits central Honshū, Japan, as a 160 mph Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the Nagoya area. First large unit action of the Vietnam War takes place, when two companies of the ARVN's 23rd Division are ambushed by a well-organized Viet Cong force of several hundred, identified as the "2nd Liberation Battalion". September 30 – Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev meets Mao Zedong in Beijing. October October 1 – The 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China is celebrated with pomp across the country. October 7 – The U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 sends back the first ever photos of the far side of the Moon. October 12 – At the national APRA Congress in Peru, a group of leftist radicals is expelled from the party; they later form APRA Rebelde. October 13 – The United States launches Explorer 7. October 21 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) opens to the public. October 29 – First