1921

Events

January

• January 1 - In American football, the University of California, Berkeley defeats Ohio State 28–0 in the Rose Bowl.
• January 2
• * The football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as Palestra Italia in Brazil.
• * The first religious radio broadcast is heard over station KDKA AM in Pittsburgh.
• * Spanish liner Santa Isabel sinks off Villa Garcia; 244 die.
• * The De Young Museum opens in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
• January 15 - A general manufacturing electronics on worldwide, Mitsubishi Electronics was separated from Mitsubishi Shipbuildings, present day, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan.
• January 20 - British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
• January 21
• * The Italian Communist Party is founded in Livorno.
• * The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
• * Women's suffrage is attained in Sweden.
• * The full-length silent comedy-drama film The Kid, written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States.
• January 25 - The Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci is righted in Taranto Harbour.

  February

• February 12 - Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Democratic Republic of Georgia is invaded by forces of Bolshevist Russia.
• February 20 - The Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia is founded.
• February 21 - 1921 Persian coup d'état: Rezā Khan and Zia'eddin Tabatabaee stage a coup d'état in Iran.
• February 23 - The moderately conservative public official Oscar von Sydow takes over the Swedish premiership, from Baron Louis De Geer the Younger.
• February 25 - Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Red Army enters the Georgian capital Tbilisi, and installs a Moscow-directed communist government.
• February 27 - The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is formed in Vienna.
• February 28 - The Kronstadt rebellion is initiated by sailors of the Soviet Navy's Baltic Fleet.

  March

• March - The Group Settlement Scheme in Western Australia begins.
• March 1
• * The city of Kiryū, located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, is founded.
• * The Australia national cricket team, led by Warwick Armstrong, becomes the first to complete a whitewash in The Ashes, something that will not be repeated for 86 years.
• March 4 - Warren G. Harding is sworn in, as the 29th President of the United States.
• March 5 - Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin Ambush: The Irish Republican Army kills Brigadier General Cumming.
• March 6 - The Portuguese Communist Party is founded.
• March 8
• * Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato e Iradier is assassinated, while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
• * Allied forces occupy Düsseldorf, Ruhrort and Duisburg.
• March 12 - The İstiklâl Marşı, the Turkish national anthem, is officially adopted.
• March 13 - Occupation of Mongolia: The Russian White Army captures Mongolia from China; Roman von Ungern-Sternberg declares himself ruler.
• March 14 - Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian assassinates Mehmed Talaat, former Interior Minister of Turkey, in Charlottenburg, Berlin.
• March 16 - Six Irish Republican Army men of the Forgotten Ten are hanged in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin.
• March 17
• * The Red Army crushes the Kronstadt rebellion, and a number of sailors flee to Finland.
• * Dr. Marie Stopes opens the first birth control clinic in London, England.
• * The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
• March 18 - The second Peace of Riga ends the Polish–Soviet War. A permanent border is established between the Polish and Soviet states.
• March 20 - Upper Silesia votes for re-annexation to Germany.
• March 21
• * The New Economic Policy starts in Soviet Russia.
• * Irish War of Independence - Headford Ambush: The Irish Republican Army kills at least 9 British Army troops.
• March 24 - The 1921 Women's Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo.
• March 31 - Abkhazia becomes a republic Abkhazian SSR.

  April

• April - The United States Figure Skating Association is formed.
• April 11 - The Emirate of Transjordan is created, with Abdullah I as emir.
• April 14 - In Britain, labour unions for mining, railway and transportation workers call for a strike; the government threatens to call in the army.
• April 20 - Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom is first produced on Broadway, in English.
• April 27 - The Allied reparations commission announces that Germany has to pay 132 billion gold marks, in annual installments of 2.5 billion.

  May

• May 1-7 - Jaffa riots: Riots at Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine result in 47 Jewish and 48 Arab deaths.
• May 2-July 5 - Third Silesian Uprising: Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans.
• May 3 - The province of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom.
• May 5
• * London Schedule of Payments sets out the German Weimar Republic's obligation to pay World War I reparations.
• * Only 13 paying spectators attend the football match between Leicester City and Stockport County F.C. in England, the lowest attendance in The Football League's history.
• May 6 - The German-Russian Provisional Agreement is signed; Germany recognises the Soviet regime in Russia.
• May 14-15 - The major May 1921 geomagnetic storm occurs.
• May 14-17 - Violent anti-European riots occur in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt.
• May 16 - The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia is founded.
• May 19 - The Emergency Quota Act is passed by the United States Congress, establishing national quotas on immigration. Because this drastically limits immigration from Eastern Europe, Jews emigrating from there begin to prefer Palestine as a destination rather than the U.S.
• May 22 - In the first golf international between the two countries, the United States beats the United Kingdom 9 rounds to 3.
• May 23-July 16 - The Leipzig War Crimes Trials are held in Germany.
• May 24 - 1921 Irish elections: In the first Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland, Ulster Unionists win 40 out of 52 seats. The dominant-party system here will last for fifty years.
• May 25 - Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed, and over 80 are captured by the British Army which surrounds the building.
• May 26 - A general strike begins in Norway.
• May 31-June 1 - Tulsa Race Riot : Mobs of white residents attack black residents and businesses in Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The official death toll is 36, but later investigations suggest an actual figure between 100 and 300. 1,250 homes are destroyed and roughly 6,000 African Americans imprisoned in one of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in the United States.

  June

• June 15 - Bessie Coleman gets her pilot's licence and becomes the first African American to earn an international pilot's licence
• June 21 - The International Hydrographic Bureau is established as an agency of the League of Nations; it continues in this form until April 19, 1946.
• June 27 - The first signings of Treaty 11, an agreement between George V, King of Canada, and various Canadian First Nations, are conducted at Fort Providence.
• June 28 - The Constitutional Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes passes the Vidovdan Constitution, despite a boycott of the vote by the communists, and Croat and Slovene parties.
• June 30 - The death penalty is abolished in Sweden.

  July

• July 1
• * The Communist Party of China is founded.
• * A coal strike ends in England.
• July 2 - U.S. President Warren Harding signs a joint congressional resolution, declaring an end to America's state of war with Germany, Austria and Hungary.
• July 4 - A new conservative government is formed in Italy, by Ivanoe Bonomi.
• July 11
• * The Irish War of Independence comes to a halt, after a truce is signed between the belligerents.
• * The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army, and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic.
• July 14 - A Massachusetts jury finds Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti guilty of first degree murder, following a widely publicized trial.
• July 17 - The Republic of Mirdita is proclaimed near the Albanian-Serbian border, with Yugoslav support.
• July 18 - The first BCG vaccination against tuberculosis is given.
• July 21 - Rif War - Battle of Annual: Spanish troops are dealt a crushing defeat, at the hands of Abd el-Krim.
• July 22 - The Anglo-Irish truce, agreed 10 days earlier, is officially declared in London.
• July 23 - The Communist Party of China launches the first founding National Congress.
• July 26 - U.S. President Warren G. Harding receives Princess Fatima of Afghanistan, and Stanley Clifford Weyman.
• July 27 - Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, announce the discovery of the hormone insulin.
• July 29 - Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of the Nazi Party.

  August

• August - The United States formally ends World War I.
• August 5 - The first radio baseball game is broadcast; Harold Arlin announces the Pirates-Phillies game from Forbes Field, over Westinghouse KDKA, in Pittsburgh.
• August 11 - The temperature reaches 39 degrees Celsius in Breslau; the heat wave continues elsewhere in Europe as well.
• August 23 - King Faisal I of Iraq is crowned in Baghdad.
• August 24 - R38-class airship ZR-2 explodes on her fourth test flight near Kingston upon Hull, England, killing 44 of the 49 Anglo-American crew on board.
• August 25
• * Franklin Roosevelt, 39, is diagnosed with poliomyelitis, following a two-week illness characterized by paralysis and fevers; he becomes permanently disabled after this illness.
• * The Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history, begins in Logan County, West Virginia as part of the Coal Wars.
• August 26
• * Rising prices cause major riots in Munich.
• * The assassination of German politician Matthias Erzberger causes the government to declare martial law.

  September

• September 1 - Poplar Rates Rebellion: Nine members of the Poplar borough council are arrested.
• September 7 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant is held.
• September 8 - Margaret Gorman, 16, wins the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dub her the first Miss America.
• September 12 - The Lotta Svärd women's paramilitary auxiliary is founded in Finland.
• September 13 - White Castle hamburger restaurant opens in Wichita, Kansas, the foundation of the world's first fast food chain.
• September 21 - The Oppau explosion occurs at BASF's nitrate factory in Oppau, Germany; 500–600 are killed.

  October

• October 5 - The World Series game is first broadcast on the radio, by Newark, New Jersey station WJZ, Pittsburgh station KDKA, and a group of other commercial and amateur stations throughout the eastern United States.
• October 8 - The first Sweetest Day is staged in Cleveland, Ohio.
• October 10 - Teaching at the University of Szeged begins, in the Kingdom of Hungary.
• October 13
• *The Treaty of Kars is signed between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Soviet Socialist Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, establishing the boundaries between Turkey and the states of the south Caucasus.
• *Swedish Social Democratic party leader Hjalmar Branting becomes yet again Prime Minister, after strong general election gains for his party.
• October 19 - 'Bloody Night' : A massacre in Lisbon claims the lives of Portuguese Prime-Minister António Granjo and other politicians.
• October 21
• * A peace conference between Ireland and the United Kingdom begins in London.
• * George Melford's wildly successful silent film The Sheik, which will propel its leading actor Rudolph Valentino to international stardom, premieres in Los Angeles.
• October 24 - The Spanish Army defeats rifkabyl rebels in Morocco.
• October 29 - In the United States:
• * Construction of the Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Project in Oregon, is completed.
• * Centre College's American football team, led by quarterback Bo McMillin, defeats Harvard University 6–0, to break Harvard's five-year winning streak. For decades afterward, this is called "football's upset of the century."

  November

• November 4
• * After a speech by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, members of the Sturmabteilung physically assault his opposition.
• * Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.
• November 9
• * The National Fascist Party is founded in Italy.
• * Riots in Reykjavík injure most of the small police force.
• November 11 - During an Armistice Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated by Warren G. Harding, President of the United States.
• November 14 - The Spanish Communist Party is founded.
• November 23 - The Sheppard–Towner Act is signed by President Harding, providing federal funding for maternity and child care.
• Undated - Hyperinflation is rampant in Germany, where 263 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar, more than 20 times greater than the 12 marks needed in April 1919.

  December

• December 1 - Rising prices cause riots in Vienna.
• December 6
• * The Anglo-Irish Treaty establishing the Irish Free State, an independent nation incorporating 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, is signed in London.
• * Agnes Macphail becomes the first woman to be elected to the Canadian Parliament.
• December 13 - In the Four-Power Treaty on Insular Possessions, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, and France agree to recognize the status quo in the Pacific.
• December 23 - Visva-Bharati College is founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, Bengal Presidency, British India.
• December 29 - William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes Canada's tenth prime minister.

  Date unknown

• Early spring - Russian famine of 1921–22 begins; roughly 5,000,000 die.
• Edward Harper, the "father of broadcasting" in Ceylon, arrives in Colombo to take up his post as Chief Engineer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department.
• The vibraphone in its original form is invented in the United States.
• E. W. Scripps and William Emerson Ritter found Science Service, later renamed Society for Science and the Public, in the United States, with the goal of keeping the public informed of scientific developments.
• The Sauerländer Heimatbund is founded in Meschede, Germany.
• Luxury brand, Gucci was founded in Florence, Italy.
• Komatsu Ironworks, as predecessor of Komatsu, a construction machinery and forklift brand on worldwide, founded in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

  Births

January

• January 1
• * César Baldaccini, French sculptor
• * Cliff Bourland, American athlete
• * William Pulgram, Austrian-American architect
• * Helen Yate, English swimmer
• January 3
• * John Russell, American actor
• * Jean-Louis Koszul, French mathematician
• * Cecil Souders, American football player
• * Claude Vigée, French poet
• January 4
• * Leo Sarkisian, American musicologist, broadcaster
• * Pedro Richter Prada, 115th Prime Minister of Peru
• January 5
• * Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer
• * Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• January 6 - Cary Middlecoff, American golfer
• January 9
• * Fraser Barron, New Zealand bomber pilot during WWII
• * Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian artistic gymnast
• * Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster, playwright
• January 10 - Rodger Ward, American race car driver
• January 11
• * Gory Guerrero, American wrestler, father of Eddie Guerrero
• * Judith Leiber, Hungarian-American fashion designer, businesswoman
• * Juanita M. Kreps, American government official and businesswoman
• January 14 - Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist
• January 16
• * Henry Sayler, American politician
• * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, British politician, journalist
• January 17
• * Herb Ellis, American actor
• * Asghar Khan, Pakistani politician, military officer
• * Epaminondas Stassinopoulos, Greek astrophysicist
• * Dan Tolkowsky, Israeli Air Force commander
• January 18 - Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American Nobel physicist
• January 19 - Patricia Highsmith, American author
• January 21
• * Jaswant Singh Marwah, Indian journalist and author
• * Howard Unruh, American spree killer
• January 23
• *Hermann Baumann, Swiss Olympic freestyle wrestler
• *Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian archaeologist
• January 24 - Beatrice Mintz, American biologist
• January 25 - Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist
• January 26 - Elisabeth Kirkby, English-Australian actress, writer and politician
• January 27
• * Raymond E. Peet, American admiral
• * Donna Reed, American actress
• January 29
• * A. Hunter Dupree, American historian
• * Mustafa Ben Halim, Former Prime Minister of Libya
• January 31
• * Carol Channing, American actress
• * Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, 2nd President of Bangladesh
• * Mario Lanza, American tenor, actor
• * Anthony Lazzaro, American academic

  February

• February 1 - Peter Sallis, English actor
• February 3
• * George E. Felton, English computer scientist
• * Antonio Natali, Italian politician
• February 4
• * Betty Friedan, American feminist
• * Kocheril R. Narayanan, Indian politician, 10th President of India
• February 5 - Zbigniew Czajkowski, Polish fencer
• February 7
• * Jesse Freitas Sr., American football player
• * Guy Natusch, New Zealand architect
• February 8
• * Hans Albert, German philosopher
• * Nexhmije Hoxha, widow of Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha
• * Lana Turner, American actress
• February 11 - Lloyd Bentsen, American politician
• February 14
• * Hugh Downs, American game show host, journalist
• * Hazel McCallion, Canadian politician and businesswoman
• * John Henry Waddell, American artist
• February 15
• * Jefferson J. DeBlanc, World War II United States Marine Corps fighter ace
• * Martha Farkas Glaser, Hungarian-American civil rights activist, manager of jazz musician Erroll Garner
• * Hugh Downs, American broadcaster, television host, news anchor, TV producer, author, game show host, and music composer
• February 16
• * Hua Guofeng, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, Premier of China
• * Vera-Ellen, American actress, dancer
• February 17
• * Muriel Coben, Canadian professional baseball, curling player
• * Herbert Köfer, German actor
• February 18
• * Ken Casanega, American football player
• * Brian Faulkner, 6th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
• February 20 - "Nature Boy" Rogers, American professional wrestler
• February 21
• * Leroy J. Manor, American Air Force general
• * John Rawls, American liberal moral and political philosopher
• February 22
• * Jean-Bédel Bokassa, 2nd President of the Central African Republic, Emperor of Central Africa
• * Wayne C. Booth, American literary critic
• * Marshall Teague, American race car driver
• * Giulietta Masina, Italian actress
• February 24
• * Dick Van Orden, American admiral
• * Abe Vigoda, American actor
• February 25 - Pierre Laporte, Canadian statesman
• February 26
• * Jacob W. Gruber, American anthropologist, archaeologist, historian and educator
• * Betty Hutton, American actress
• * Louis Roney, American opera singer
• February 27
• * Michael Fox, American actor
• * Eka Tjipta Widjaja, Chinese-Indonesian billionaire and businessman
• February 28 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot

  March

• March 1
• * Jack Clayton, British film director
• * Terence Cardinal Cooke, American Roman Catholic prelate
• * Richard Wilbur, American poet
• March 2 - Cornelius Edward Gallagher, American politician
• March 3
• * Diana Barrymore, American actress
• * Paul Guimard, French writer
• March 4
• * Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-born U.S. composer, performer, ethnomusicologist and educator
• * Robert F. Ruth, American politician
• March 5
• * Elmer Valo, Czechoslovakia-born Major League Baseball player
• * Berkley Bedell, American politician and businessman
• March 7 - Syed Nasir Ismail, Malaysian politician
• March 8
• * Sergio Onofre Jarpa, Chilean politician
• * Alan Hale, Jr., American actor
• March 10 - Cec Linder, Polish-born Canadian actor
• March 11
• * Frank Harary, American mathematician
• * Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player and arranger
• March 12
• * Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive
• * Gordon MacRae, American singer, actor
• March 13 - Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
• March 14 - Lis Hartel, Danish equestrian athlete
• March 16
• * Jens Bjerre, Danish author, filmmaker and explorer
• * King Faud of Saudi Arabia
• * Donald M. Kendall, American businessman
• March 17 - Meir Amit, Israeli politician, general
• March 20
• * Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Senegalese educator
• * Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician
• March 21
• * Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist
• * Xu Zuyao, Chinese expert in materials science
• * Vasily Stalin, Soviet general
• * Abdul Salam Arif, President of Iraq
• March 22 - Jean Bruce, French writer
• March 24
• * Wilson Harris, Guyanese writer
• * Vasily Smyslov, Soviet chess player
• March 25
• * Simone Signoret, French actress
• * Alexandra of Yugoslavia
• March 27 - Hélène Berr, French writer
• March 28 - Dirk Bogarde, English actor
• March 30
• * Clemens Kalischer, American photojournalist, art photographer
• * Elizabeth Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland, Scottish noblewoman

  April

• April 1
• *Beau Jack, American boxer
• * Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, American musician and songwriter
• *Arieh Elias, Israeli actor
• April 3 - Darío Moreno, Turkish singer
• April 6 - Wilbur Thompson, American Olympic champion shot putter
• April 8
• * Franco Corelli, Italian opera singer
• * Phyllis Latour, English-French Legion of Honour recipient
• April 9
• * Roger Bocquet, Swiss footballer
• * William G. Callow, American judge
• * Mary Jackson, African-American mathematician and engineer
• * Yitzhak Navon, Israeli politician
• * Frankie Thomas, American actor
• April 10
• * Chuck Connors, American basketball and baseball player turned actor
• * Sheb Wooley, American actor, singer
• April 11 - Maura McNiel, American feminist
• April 13
• * Dona Ivone Lara, Brazilian singer, composer
• * Leo Mogus, American basketball player
• * Louis Witten, American theoretical physicist
• April 14 - Thomas Schelling, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• April 15 - Georgy Beregovoy, Soviet cosmonaut
• April 16 - Peter Ustinov, English actor, director
• April 17 - Sergio Sollima, Italian director
• April 19
• * Robert Maxwell, American songwriter and harpist
• * Roberto Tucci, Italian cardinal, theologian
• April 20 - Kenneth O. Chilstrom, American Air Force officer
• April 22 - Vivian Dandridge, African-American actress
• April 23
• * Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States
• * Janet Blair, American actress
• * Warren Spahn, American baseball player
• April 25 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter
• April 26
• * Nelson Dalzell, New Zealand rugby union player
• * Jimmy Giuffre, American jazz musician
• April 27
• * Abdelmalek Benhabyles, Algerian politician
• * Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, German television host, entertainer
• April 29
• * Bert Lundin, Swedish union leader
• * Pavel Vranský, Czech brigadier general and RAF radio operator
• April 30
• * Dottie Green, American professional baseball player
• * Tove Maës, Danish actress

  May

• May 2
• * B. B. Lal, Indian archaeologist
• * Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker
• May 3 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer
• May 4 - Harry Daghlian, American physicist
• May 5
• * Jim Conacher, Canadian ice hockey player
• * Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• May 6
• * Erich Fried, Austrian author
• * Elizabeth Sellars, Scottish actress
• May 9 - Sophie Scholl, German student, anti-Nazi resistance fighter
• May 11 - Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician
• May 12
• * Joseph Beuys, German artist
• * Farley Mowat, Canadian writer, naturalist
• May 14 - Richard Deacon, American actor
• May 15 - Baron Vaea, Prime Minister of Tonga
• May 16 - Harry Carey, Jr., American actor
• May 17 - Dennis Brain, English musician
• May 18 - Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic
• May 19
• * Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer
• * Yuri Kochiyama, Japanese-American civil rights activist
• May 20
• * Hal Newhouser, American baseball player
• * Wolfgang Borchert, German writer
• May 21
• * Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist, human rights activist, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• * Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Indian philosopher, author of the socio-economic Progressive Utilization Theory
• May 23
• * James Blish, American science fiction author
• * Laurin L. Henry, American researcher
• * Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz musician, radio personality
• * Georgy Natanson, Russian director, screenwriter and playwright
• May 25
• * Hal David, American songwriter, lyricist
• * Kitty Kallen, American singer
• * James C. Quayle, American newspaper publisher
• * Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• May 26
• * Inge Borkh, German soprano
• * Stan Mortensen, English footballer
• * Anatoly Chernyaev, Russian historian, writer
• May 27
• * Harry G. Haskell Jr., American politician
• * Cyril Tamplin, Welsh cricketer
• May 28
• * Tom Uren, Australian soldier, politician
• * Heinz G. Konsalik, German author
• May 29 - Norman Hetherington, Australian puppeteer, artist
• May 30
• * Branko Mamula, Yugoslav politician
• * Jamie Uys, South African actor, film director

  June

• June 1 - Nelson Riddle, American bandleader
• June 3
• * Forbes Carlile, Australian athlete
• * John Shelton Wilder, American politician, former Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
• June 4 - Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach
• June 6 - Mikheil Tumanishvili, Georgian theater director, teacher
• June 7
• * Myrtle Edwards, Australian cricketer, softball player
• * Bernard Lown, American medical innovator, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
• * Brian Talboys, New Zealand politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
• June 8
• * Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress
• * Suharto, President of Indonesia
• June 9 - Margaret Danhauser, American female professional baseball player
• June 10
• * Oskar Gröning, German SS officer, war criminal
• * Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Elizabeth II
• * Sergio Arellano Stark, Chilean military officer
• June 12
• * Johan Witteveen, Dutch politician, economist and 5th Managing Director of the IMF
• * Luis García Berlanga, Spanish film director and screenwriter
• June 13 - Nancy Warren, American female professional baseball player
• June 17 - Aydın Boysan, Turkish architect
• June 19
• * Doris Sands Johnson, Bahamian teacher, suffragette, and politician
• * Louis Jourdan, French actor
• June 21
• * Gebhard Büchel, Liechtenstein decathlete
• * Fernando Hoyos, Colombian sports shooter
• * Thomas Morrow Reavley, American judge
• * Jane Russell, American actress
• June 22
• * José Agdamag, Filipino sports shooter
• * Ralph K. Hofer, American fighter pilot
• * Barbara Perry, American actress and singer
• June 23
• * Paul Findley, American politician
• * Marius Mora, French cross-country skier
• * Colin Pinch, Australian cricketer
• June 24 - Gerhard Sommer, German soldier
• June 26
• * Robert Everett, American computer scientist
• * Violette Szabo, French World War II heroine
• June 27
• * Muriel Pavlow, English actress
• * Princess Vimolchatra of Thailand
• June 28 - P. V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India
• June 29
• * Bob Kennedy, American football player
• * Jean Kent, English actress
• * Reinhard Mohn, German businessman
• June 30
• * Washington SyCip, Filipino accountant
• * Oswaldo López Arellano, 42nd and 44th President of Honduras
• * Jules Amez-Droz, Swiss fencer
• Unknown - Dennis Wilson, English poet

  July

• July 1 - Seretse Khama, 1st President of Botswana
• July 2
• * Joseph Zhu Baoyu, Chinese Roman Catholic bishop
• * William Proctor Wilson, American businessman, philanthropist
• July 3
• * Flor María Chalbaud, former First Lady of Venezuela
• * Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, American-born Hasidic rebbe
• July 4
• * Gérard Debreu, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist, conductor
• July 5
• * Nanos Valaoritis, Greek writer
• * Vito Ortelli, Italian racing cyclist
• * Al Kozar, American second baseman
• July 6
• * Billy and Bobby Mauch, American actors and
• * Ed Erban, American professional basketball player
• * Nancy Reagan, American actress, First Lady of the United States
• * Allan MacEachen, Canadian politician
• July 7
• * Johnny Van Cuyk, American relief pitcher
• * Dragomir Felba, Serbian actor
• July 8
• * Frank Prihoda, Australian alpine skier
• * Edgar Morin, French philosopher, sociologist
• * Don Ray, American basketball player
• * John Money, New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author
• July 9 - David C. Jones, U.S General
• July 10
• * John K. Singlaub, U.S Army Major General
• * Harvey Ball, American designer
• * Eunice Kennedy Shriver, daughter of American politician Joseph P. Kennedy
• July 11
• * Claude Bonin-Pissarro, French painter, graphic designer
• * Petter Hugsted, Norwegian Olympic ski jumper
• * Ilse Werner, German actress
• July 12 - Brother Blue, African-American educator, storyteller, actor, musician and street performer
• July 13
• * Friedrich Peter, Austrian politician
• * Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer
• July 14
• * Leon Garfield, English writer
• * Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player
• * Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Sixto Durán Ballén, President of Ecuador
• July 15
• * Jordan Cekov, Macedonian journalist
• * Barrie Dexter, Australian senior diplomat
• * Jean Heywood, English actress
• * Madge Meredith, American actress
• * Robert Bruce Merrifield, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Carl Richardson, American football coach
• * Patricia Wright, American actress
• July 16
• * Nilo Floody, Chilean modern pentathlete
• * Bernard W. Rogers, United States Army general
• * Boscoe Holder, Trinidadian artist
• July 17
• * Richard Jeranian, Armenian painter, draftsman and lithographer
• * Acquanetta, American actress
• * Pío Corcuera, Argentine football striker
• * Hannah Szenes, Hungarian World War II heroine
• * František Zvarík, Slovakian actor
• July 18
• * Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist
• * John Glenn, American astronaut, U.S. Senator
• * Heinz Bennent, German actor
• * Gerry Mays, Scottish football player, manager
• * Richard Leacock, British-born documentary filmmaker, pioneer of Cinéma Vérité
• July 19
• * Elizabeth Spencer, American writer
• * Bertil Antonsson, Swedish heavyweight wrestler
• * Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• July 21 – Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, Zulu sangoma and author
• July 22
• * Jim Rivera, American former Major League Baseball outfielder
• * Tandy Little, American politician
• * Al LaMacchia, American professional baseball player, scout
• * William Roth, U.S. Senator
• July 24 - Billy Taylor, American jazz musician
• July 25 - Marv Rackley, American baseball player
• July 26 - Jean Shepherd, American storyteller, radio and television personality
• July 28 - Melba Hernández, Cuban politician, diplomat
• July 29
• * Richard Egan, American actor
• * Gustav Victor Rudolf Born, German-British pharmacologist
• July 30 - Grant Johannesen, American concert pianist
• July 31
• * Whitney Young, American civil rights leader
• * Mel Hirsch, American basketball player

  August

• August 1 - George Büchi, American chemist
• August 2 – Mable Lee, American tap dancer, singer, and entertainer
• August 3
• * Richard Adler, American Broadway composer
• * Edward Tipper, American World War II veteran
• August 4
• * Charles H. Coolidge, American Medal of Honour recipient
• * Maurice Richard, Canadian hockey player
• August 8 - Esther Williams, American swimmer, actress
• August 9
• * Ernest Angley, American evangelist, author and station owner
• * Patricia Marmont, English actress
• August 10
• * Ion Negoițescu, Romanian literary historian, critic, poet, novelist and memoirist
• * Jack B. Weinstein, American federal judge
• August 11
• * Henry Graff, American historian
• * Alex Haley, American author
• August 14
• * Julia Hartwig, Polish author
• * Sidney Rittenberg, American journalist, consultant and author
• August 15
• * K. Kailasanatha Kurukkal, Sri Lankan researcher, writer and professor
• * Vittorio Caprioli, Italian actor, director and screenwriter
• August 17 - Betty Cody, Canadian-born country music singer
• August 18
• * Frédéric Jacques Temple, French poet and writer
• * Zdzisław Żygulski, Jr., Polish art historian
• August 19 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer
• August 21
• * Babbis Friis-Baastad, Norwegian children's writer
• * Lawrence Lindemer, American politician
• * John Osteen, American televangelist
• * Victor Szebehely, Hungarian-American astronomer
• August 22 - Lee Loy Seng, Malaysian businessman
• August 23
• * Franco Ossola, Italian footballer
• * Kenneth Arrow, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• August 24 - George W. Blair, American politician
• August 25
• * Henry Abraham, American academic
• * Monty Hall, Canadian-born American game show host
• * Brian Moore, Northern Irish-born Canadian writer
• August 26
• * Shimshon Amitsur, Israeli mathematician, Israel Prize recipient
• * Benjamin Bradlee, American journalist, executive editor of The Washington Post
• August 27
• * Leo Penn, American actor and director
• * Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• August 28
• * John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist
• * Nancy Kulp, American actress
• * Lidia Gueiler Tejada, President of Bolivia
• August 29
• * Iris Apfel, American interior designer, fashion designer
• * Wendell Scott, American race car driver
• August 31 - Raymond Williams, Welsh academic, novelist and critic

  September

• September 2
• * Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo, 34th President of El Salvador
• * Josephine Lenard, American professional baseball player
• September 3 - Harry Landers, American actor
• September 5 - Queen Consort Farida of Egypt
• September 6 - Andrée Geulen-Herscovici, member of the Comité de Défense des Juifs
• September 7
• * Antonio Gelabert, Spanish road bicycle racer
• * Arthur Ferrante, American pianist
• * Linus Nirmal Gomes, Indian Roman Catholic bishop
• September 8
• * Mosie Lister, American singer
• * Harry Secombe, Welsh entertainer
• * Dinko Šakić, Croatian concentration camp commander
• September 11
• * George Joseph, American businessman
• * Francis Quinn, American Roman Catholic bishop
• September 12
• * Stanisław Lem, Polish science fiction writer
• * Frank McGee, American television personality
• September 13
• * Gunnar Eriksson, Swedish Olympic cross-country skier
• * Cyrille Adoula, Congolese trade unionist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Zaire
• * Odore Joseph Gendron, American Roman Catholic, bishop
• * Sergey Nepobedimy, Soviet rocket weaponry designer
• September 14
• * A. Jean de Grandpré, Canadian lawyer and businessman
• * Dario Vittori, Argentine actor
• September 15
• * Joseph Iléo, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• * Norma MacMillan, Canadian voice actress
• * Nils Rydström, Swedish fencer
• September 16 - Mohamed Talbi, Tunisian historian
• September 17
• * Virgilio Barco Vargas, 27th President of Colombia
• * Roger H. Zion, American politician
• September 18 - Kamal Hassan Aly, Egyptian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Egypt
• September 19
• * Conway Berners-Lee, English mathematician and computer scientist
• * Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator, philosopher
• September 20 - Leon Comber, English author and military officer
• September 24
• * André Lacroix, French pentathlete
• * Jim McKay, American sportscaster
• * Charlene Pryer, American professional baseball player
• September 25 - Robert Muldoon, 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand
• September 27
• * Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian film director
• * John Malcolm Patterson, American politician
• September 29
• * James Cross, Irish-English diplomat
• * Grigory Svirsky, Russian-Canadian writer
• September 30
• * Deborah Kerr, Scottish actress
• * Jorge Loring Miró, Spanish Jesuit priest, public speaker and author

  October

• October 1 - James Whitmore, American actor
• October 2 - Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury
• October 3 - Ray Lindwall, Australian cricketer
• October 4
• * Francisco Morales-Bermúdez, President of Peru
• * Shin Kyuk-ho, South Korean businessman
• October 5 - Bill Willis, American football player
• October 6 - Joseph Lowery, American minister and civil rights activist
• October 7 - Richard L. Duchossois, American businessman
• October 8 - Abraham Sarmiento, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• October 10 - James Clavell, British novelist
• October 12 - Logie Bruce Lockhart, Scottish journalist and rugby player
• October 13
• * Enrico Cocozza, Scottish filmmaker
• * Yves Montand, French singer, actor
• October 14
• * Zizinho, Brazilian football player
• * José Arraño Acevedo, Chilean historian
• * Jeffrey G. Smith, American general
• October 16 - Sita Ram Goel, Indian historian, publisher and author
• October 17 - Maria Gorokhovskaya, Soviet gymnast
• October 18
• * Jerry Cooke, American photographer
• * Jesse Helms, U.S. Senator from North Carolina
• October 19 - Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish footballer
• October 21
• * Pedro Marcos Ribeiro da Costa, Angolan bishop
• * Malcolm Arnold, British music composer
• * Mohammad Mohammadullah, 3rd President of Bangladesh
• * Zorawar Chand Bakhshi, Indian Army General
• * Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer
• October 22 - Georges Brassens, French singer-songwriter
• October 23
• * Archie Lamb, English ambassador and writer
• * André Turcat, French aviator, first pilot of Concorde
• October 24 - Sena Jurinac, Bosnian operatic soprano
• October 25 - King Michael I of Romania
• October 26
• * Frances Scott Fitzgerald, American writer, daughter of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald
• * Joe Fulks, American basketball player
• October 27
• * Eugene Chelyshev, Russian indologist and academician
• * Warren Allen Smith, American gay rights activist, writer and humanities humanist
• October 31 - Wendell Nedderman, American engineering educator

  November

• November 2 - Wanda Półtawska, Polish physician and author
• November 3 - Charles Bronson, American actor
• November 5 - Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt
• November 6 - James Jones, American writer
• November 7 - János Horváth, Hungarian politician
• November 8
• * Walter Mirisch, American film producer
• * Gene Saks, American actor, film director
• * Peter Spoden, German night fighter ace
• November 10 - Owen Bush, American actor
• November 11
• * Molly Dodd, American actress
• * Ron Greenwood, English football manager
• November 12 - Gerson Leiber, American painter, lithographer and sculptor
• November 13 - Joonas Kokkonen, Finnish composer
• November 14 - Brian Keith, American actor
• November 15
• * Jimmy Fitzmorris, American politician
• * Alexander Jefferson, American Air Force officer
• November 17 - Albert Bertelsen, Danish artist
• November 19
• * Michel Bonnevie, French Olympic basketball player
• * Roy Campanella, American baseball player, member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• November 20 - Allen Dines, American politician
• November 21 - Billie Mae Richards, Canadian actress, singer
• November 22
• * Rodney Dangerfield, American actor, comedian
• * Max Ward, Canadian aviator
• November 23 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer, actor
• November 24
• * John Lindsay, American lawyer, politician and Mayor of New York City
• * John P. Yates, American politician
• November 25
• * Stanley Ho, Hong Kong-Macanese businessman and philanthropist
• * Johnny Johnson, English RAF officer
• November 26 - Françoise Gilot, French painter, critic and author
• November 27 - Alexander Dubček, Slovak politician, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
• November 29 - Jackie Stallone, American astrologer, mother of Sylvester Stallone
• November 30 - Herman Ferdinandus Maria Münninghoff, Dutch Roman Catholic prelate

  December

• December 2 - Carlo Furno, Italian cardinal
• December 3
• * Phyllis Curtin, American soprano
• * Madiha Yousri, Egyptian actress
• December 4
• * Deanna Durbin, Canadian singer
• * Sanford K. Moats, American Air Force general
• December 5
• * Alvy Moore, American actor
• * Peter Hansen, American actor
• December 6 - Otto Graham, American football player
• December 7 - Eric Blackwood, Canadian-English aviator
• December 8
• * Carl Corley, American author and illustrator
• * Eddie Platt, American saxophonist
• * Valeria Valeri, Italian actress and voice actress
• December 10
• * James Foort, Canadian inventor and artist
• * John P. Fullam, American judge
• * Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean politician
• December 11
• * Yang Side, Chinese general
• * Liz Smith, English actress
• * Seymour Topping, American writer and professor
• December 12
• * Ira Neimark, American businessman and author
• * John Papworth, English clergyman, writer and activist
• December 14
• * Mike McCormack, American politician
• * Simon Towneley, English author and politician
• * Charley Trippi, American football player
• December 15
• * Alan Freed, American disc jockey, known for introducing rock and roll to mainstream radio
• * Nikolai Lebedev, Soviet-Russian actor
• December 17 - Anne Golon, French writer
• December 18
• * Yuri Nikulin, Soviet/Russian actor, clown
• * Renato Baldini, Italian actor
• December 19 - Blaže Koneski, Macedonian poet, linguist
• December 20
• * Ali Kandil, Egyptian football referee
• * Gayraud Wilmore, American historian, theologian and educator
• December 21 - Luigi Creatore, American songwriter, record producer
• December 22 - Maurice Girardot, French Olympic basketball player
• December 23 - Marge Callaghan, Canadian female professional baseball player
• December 24 - Allan Edwards, Australian cricketer
• December 26
• * Steve Allen, American actor, composer, comedian, and author
• * John Severin, American comics artist
• December 28
• * E. S. Campbell, American marine and author
• * Philippe de Gaulle, French admiral and senator
• December 30 - Rashid Karami, 8-time Prime Minister of Lebanon
• December 31 - Maurice Yaméogo, President of Upper Volta

  Deaths

January–June

• January 1 - Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, 5th Chancellor of Germany
• January 12 - Gervase Elwes, English tenor
• January 13 - Ijuin Gorō, Japanese admiral
• January 18 - Adolf von Hildebrand, German sculptor
• January 23 - Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz, German anatomist
• January 27 - Justiniano Borgoño, 37th Prime Minister of Peru
• January 29 - H. G. Haugan, Norwegian-born American railroad, banking executive
• February 2
• * Andrea Carlo Ferrari, Italian Catholic cardinal and blessed
• * Antonio Jacobsen, American maritime artist
• February 8
• * George Formby Sr, English entertainer
• * Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist
• February 22 - Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• February 26 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist
• February 27 - Schofield Haigh, English cricketer
• March 1 - King Nicholas I of Montenegro
• March 2 -Champ Clark, American politician
• March 3 - Auguste Mercier, French general, politician
• March 8 - Eduardo Dato, Spanish politician, 3-time Prime Minister of Spain
• March 15 - Talaat Pasha, Ottoman Turkish ruler, initiator of the Armenian Genocide
• March 22 - Edward Theodore Compton, English-German painter and mountain climber
• March 29 - John Burroughs, American naturalist, essayist
• April 1 - Sir Edmund Poë, British admiral
• April 2 - Charles Blackader, British general
• April 4 - Warington Baden-Powell, British admiralty lawyer
• April 11 - Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, last German Empress, wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor
• April 17 - Manwel Dimech, Maltese philosopher, social reformer
• April 21 - Tom O'Brien, American Major League Baseball player
• April 27 - Arthur Mold, English cricketer
• May 5 - Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian writer, pacifist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• May 9 - William Henry Chamberlin, American philosopher
• May 12
• * Sir Melville Macnaghten, British police officer
• * Emilia Pardo Bazán, Spanish writer
• * Rudolf Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten, Austro-Hungarian general and politician
• May 19
• * Edward Douglass White, 9th Chief Justice of the United States
• * Michael Llewelyn Davies, one of the 'Lost Boys' for the Peter Pan book
• May 25
• * Émile Combes, French statesman, 69th Prime Minister of France
• * Sir Arthur Wilson, British admiral of the fleet
• May 29 -Euthymios, Greek Orthodox bishop and saint.
• June 5 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright
• June 11 - Patriarch Leonid of Georgia
• June 18 - Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer
• June 26 - Alfred Percy Sinnett, British writer
• June 28 - Gyorche Petrov, Macedonian, Bulgarian revolutionary
• June 29
• *Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill
• *Otto Seeck, German classical historian

  July–December

• July 1 - Maurice Bailloud, French general
• July 3 - Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• July 13 - Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger-French physicist, academic and Nobel Prize laureate
• July 26 - Howard Vernon, Australian actor
• August 2 - Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor
• August 7 - Alexander Blok, Russian poet
• August 8 - Juhani Aho, Finnish author, journalist
• August 16 - Peter I of Serbia, King of Yugoslavia
• August 19 - Georges Darien, French writer
• August 26 - Sándor Wekerle, 3-time Prime Minister of Hungary
• August 31 - Karl von Bülow, German field marshal
• September 2 - Henry Austin Dobson, English poet
• September 7 - Alfred William Rich, English watercolour painter
• September 9
• * William Campbell, British missionary in Taiwan
• * Virginia Rappe, American model, actress
• September 10 - John Tengo Jabavu, editor of South Africa's first newspaper in Xhosa
• September 11
• * Prince Louis of Battenberg, British naval officer, German prince
• * Subramania Bharati, Tamil poet
• September 17 - Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg, German diplomat
• September 27 - Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer
• October 1 - Julius von Hann, Austrian meteorologist
• October 2 - King William II of Wurttemberg
• October 12 - Philander C. Knox, American politician
• October 15 - Haydar Khan Amo-oghli, Iranian revolutionary
• October 17 - Yaa Asantewaa, Asante warrior queen
• October 18 - Ludwig III of Bavaria, last king of Bavaria
• October 21 - William Wallace Wotherspoon, American general
• October 23 - John Boyd Dunlop, British-born Irish inventor, veterinary surgeon
• October 25 - Bat Masterson, American gunfighter
• October 28 - William Speirs Bruce, Scottish marine biologist and antarctic explorer
• October 31 - William Egan, American gangster
• November 4 - Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan
• November 8 - Charles, 6th Prince of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, German nobleman
• November 12 - Fernand Khnopff, Belgian painter
• November 14 - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil
• November 20 - Christina Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano
• November 26
• * Charles W. Whittlesey, United States Army officer, commander of the "Lost Battalion" in World War I
• * Émile Cartailhac, French prehistorian
• November 27 - Sir Douglas Cameron, Canadian politician
• November 28 - `Abdu'l-Bahá, Head of Baha'i Faith
• November 29 - George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, Canadian businessman
• November 30
• * Madeleine Brès, French physician
• * Hermann Schwarz, German mathematician
• December 10 - George Ashlin, Irish architect
• December 12 - Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer
• December 13 - Max Noether, German mathematician
• December 16 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer
• December 20
• *Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general
• *Dmitri Parsky, Russian general
• *Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist
• December 24 - Misu Sōtarō, Japanese admiral
• December 31 - Boies Penrose, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania

  Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Albert Einstein
• Chemistry - Frederick Soddy
• Medicine -
• Literature - Anatole France
• Peace - Karl Hjalmar Branting, Christian Lous Lange