[ '45-'49 | '50-'59 | '60-'69 | '70-'79 | '80-'89 | '90-'99 | '00- ] [ 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 ] 1959

1 Jan	Overthrow of the Batista régime in Cuba by Fidel Castro.
11 June	Opening of Four-Power Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Geneva (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR) on the German question.
19 Aug	The Baghdad Pact signed on 24 February 1955 becomes the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO). Full members: Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and United Kingdom. Associate member: United States. Its headquarters is set up in Ankara. (Dissolved, 26 September 1979).
20 Nov	Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom initial the Stockholm Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (1) .
15-22 Dec	Inauguration of the new NATO Headquarters at the Porte Dauphine in Paris. Additional information: NATO Ministerial Communiqués: Final Communiqué of the North Atlantic Council High resolution photos of the inauguration of the new NATO Headquarters
	1. Finland became an associate member of EFTA in 1961. Iceland joined in 1970. Denmark and the United Kingdom withdrew from EFTA on joining the EEC on 1 January 1973. Portugal withdrew from EFTA on 1 January 1986.