March 8 – The Mosul uprising began in Iraq as Colonel Abd al-Shawaff staged a rebellion against the government of PresidentAbdul Karim Qasim. al-Shawaaf was killed the next day, and after the insurrection was put down, Qasim ordered the execution of officers suspected of complicity.[1]
July 14 – In Kirkuk, a rally to celebrate the first anniversary of the 1958 revolution degenerated into a three-day-long massacre of ethnic Turks by the Kurds. At least 30 people were killed, and over 100 injured. The event was ultimately referred to as the Kirkuk Massacre.[3] On the same day, Iraq became the first Arab nation to appoint a woman to a ministerial post, with Dr. Naziha ad-Dulaimi becoming Minister of Rural Affairs.[4]
May
May 30 – After the calling off of the 1955 Anglo-Iraqi Agreement, the last British troops in Iraq left peacefully.[5]
September 20 – General Nadhim Tabaqchali and 12 other Iraqi officers were executed by a firing squad for their role in the March 1959 Mosul Uprising.[7]
October
October 7 – On Baghdad's al-Rashid Street, President Abd al-Karim Qasim was ambushed on his way to the East German embassy. The five man team, led by future Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, killed Qasim's driver and wounded Qasim. One assassin died and Saddam himself was injured, but escaped to farm.[8]
December
December 18 – Abd al-Karim Qasim declared that the Khūzestān Province of Iran "was part of Iraqi territory". Tensions over the disputed territory finally triggered the Iran–Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.[9]