1947

Events

January

• January – February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in the 20th century, it causes extensive disruption of travel. Given the low ratio of private vehicle ownership at the time, this is mainly remembered in terms of the effects on the railway networks.
• January 1
• * British coal mines are nationalised.
• * Nigeria gains limited autonomy, before gaining independence in 1960.
• * The Canadian Citizenship Act comes into effect.
• January 3 – Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time.
• January 4 - The first issued weekly magazine, Der Spiegel published in Hamburg, Germany.
• January 10 – The United Nations takes control of the free city of Trieste.
• January 15 – Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia", is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles.
• January 16 – Vincent Auriol is inaugurated as president of France.
• January 19 – A shipwreck near Athens, Greece kills 392.
• January 24 – Dimitrios Maximos founds a monarchist government in Athens.
• January 25 – A Philippine plane crashes in Hong Kong, with $5 million worth of gold and money.
• January 26 – A KLM Douglas DC-3 aircraft crashes soon after taking off from Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen, killing all on board, including Prince Gustaf Adolf, second in line to the Swedish throne, and American singer Grace Moore.
• January 30 – February 8 – A heavy blizzard in Canada buries towns, from Winnipeg to Calgary.
• January 31 – The Communists take power in Poland.

  February

• February 3
• * The lowest air temperature in North America is recorded in Snag, in the Yukon Territory.
• * Percival Prattis becomes the first African-American news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives, and Senate press galleries.
• February 5
• * Bolesław Bierut becomes the President of Poland.
• * The Government of the United Kingdom announces the £25 million Tanganyika groundnut scheme, for cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory.
• February 7 – The South Pacific Commission is founded.
• February 8 – The Karlslust dance hall fire in Berlin, Germany, kills over 80 people.
• February 10 – In Paris, France, peace treaties are signed between the World War II Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland. Italy cedes most of Istria to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• February 12
• * A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
• * Christian Dior introduces The "New Look" in women's fashion, in Paris.
• * In Burma, the Panglong Agreement is reached between the Burmese government under its leader, General Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin ethnic peoples at the Panglong Conference. U Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung and Myoma U Than Kywe are among the negotiators.
• February 17 – Cold War: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
• February 20
• * An explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company in Los Angeles leaves 17 dead, 100 buildings damaged, and a crater in the ground.
• * The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hermes program V-2 rocket Blossom I is launched into space, carrying plant material and fruitflies, the first animals to enter space.
• February 21 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", his Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
• February 22 – The Tom and Jerry cartoon Cat Fishin', is released.
• February 23 – The International Organization for Standardization is founded.
• February 25
• * The German state of Prussia is officially abolished, by the Allied Control Council.
• * The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.
• * John C. Hennessy, Jr. brings the first Volkswagen Beetle to the United States. He purchased the 1946 automobile from the U.S. Army Post Exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army. The Beetle is shipped from Bremerhaven, arriving in New York this day.
• February 28
• * The United States grants France a military base in Casablanca.
• * In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down, with large loss of civilian lives.

  March

• March 1
• * The International Monetary Fund begins to operate.
• * German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun marries his first cousin, 18-year-old Maria von Quirstorp.
• March 4 – The Treaty of Dunkirk is signed between the United Kingdom and France, providing for mutual assistance in the event of attack.
• March 12 – The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed, to help stem the spread of Communism.
• March 14 – The Thames flood and other widespread flooding occurs, as the exceptionally harsh British winter of 1946–1947 ends in a thaw.
• March 15 – Hindus and Muslims clash in Punjab.
• March 19 – The 19th Academy Awards Ceremony is held. The movie The Best Years of Our Lives wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with several other Academy Awards.
• March 25 – A coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois; 111 miners are killed.
• March 28 – A World War II Japanese booby trap explodes on Corregidor Island, killing 28 people.
• March 29 – A rebellion against French rule erupts in Madagascar.
• March 31 – The leaders of the Kurdish People's Republic of Mahabad, the second Kurdish state in the history of Iran, are hanged at Chuwarchira Square in Mahabad, after that country had been overrun by the Iranian army.

  April

• April – The previous discovery of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' in the Qumran Caves by Bedouin shepherds, becomes known.
• April 1
• * Jackie Robinson, the first African American in Major League Baseball since the 1880s, signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
• * King George II of Greece is succeeded by his brother Paul.
• * The 1947 Royal New Zealand Navy mutinies begin.
• April 4 – The International Civil Aviation Organization begins operations.
• April 7
• * The Arab Ba'ath Party is established by merger in Damascus.
• * Edaville Railroad opens in Massachusetts, as the first railway theme park.
• *The largest recorded sunspot group appears on the solar surface.
• April 9
• * Multiple tornadoes strike Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 184 and injuring 970.
• * The Journey of Reconciliation begins, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality.
• April 15 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play Major League Baseball since the 1880s.
• April 16
• * Texas City disaster: The ammonium nitrate cargo of French-registered Liberty ship explodes in Texas City, Texas, killing at least 581, including all but one member of the city fire department, injuring at least 5,000 and destroying 20 city blocks. Of the dead, remains of 113 are never found, and 62 are unidentifiable.
• * American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch describes the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "Cold War".
• April 18
• * The British Royal Navy detonates 6,800 tons of explosives, in an attempt to demolish the fortified island of Heligoland, Germany, thus creating one of the largest man-made non-nuclear explosions in history.
• * Mrs. Ples is discovered in the Sterkfontein area in Transvaal, South Africa.
• April 20 – King Frederik IX of Denmark succeeds his father King Christian X, on the throne of Kingdom of Denmark.
• April 26 – Academy-Award-winning Tom and Jerry cartoon, The Cat Concerto, is released to theatres.

  May

• May 1 – Portella della Ginestra massacre: The Salvatore Giuliano gang of Sicilian separatists opens fire on a Labour Day parade at Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 27.
• May 2 – The movie Miracle on 34th Street, a Christmastime classic, is first shown in theaters.
• May 3 – The new post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
• May 11 – The Ferrari 125 S, the first car to bear the Ferrari name, debuts.
• May 12 – The animated cartoon film Rabbit Transit, directed by Friz Freleng, is released.
• May 22
• * The Cold War begins: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine. This Act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece. The Cold War ends in 1991.
• * David Lean's film Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, opens in the United States. Critics call it the finest film ever made from a Charles Dickens novel.
• May 25 – Hyundai Togun, the initial name of the Hyundai Group, is founded by Chung Ju-young.
• May 29 – A Flugfelag Íslands airliner crashes into a mountainside, killing 25 people.
• May 30 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 605: A Douglas C-54 Skymaster crashes near Bainbridge, Maryland, killing all 53 aboard, in the worst commercial aviation disaster to that date.
• May 31 –
• * Ferenc Nagy, the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Hungary, is forced into resign and go exile under pressure from the Soviet-backed Hungarian Communist Party led by Mátyás Rákosi. The fellow traveler Lajos Dinnyés replaces him, which grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
• * Alcide de Gasperi forms a new government in Italy, the first postwar Italian government to not include members of the Italian Communist Party.

  June

• June – The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is introduced.
• June 5 – U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the Marshall Plan for American reconstruction and relief aid to Europe, in a speech at Harvard University.
• June 7 – The Romanian Army founds the association football club CCA , which will become the most successful Romanian football team during its time as CSA Steaua București.
• June 10 – SAAB in Sweden produces its first automobile.
• June 11 – 15 – The first Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is held in Wales.
• June 15 – The Portuguese government orders 11 military officers and 19 university professors, who are accused of revolutionary activity, to resign.
• June 21
• * Seaman Harold Dahl claims to have seen six unidentified flying objects near Maury Island in Puget Sound, Washington. The next morning, Dahl reports the first modern so-called "Men in Black" encounter.
• * The Parliament of Canada votes unanimously to pass several laws regarding displaced foreign refugees.
• June 23 – The United States Senate follows the House of Representatives, in overriding President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.
• June 24 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.
• June 25 – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is published for the first time as Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 14 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944 in Amsterdam, two years after the writer's death in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

  July

• July 1 – The United States begins the National Malaria Eradication Program, successfully eradicating malaria in 1951.
• July 6
• * Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.
• *The first prototype AK-47s are built, soon becoming the most produced assault rifle in history.
• July 8 – Roswell UFO incident: A supposedly downed extraterrestrial spacecraft is reportedly found near Roswell, New Mexico.
• July 9 – In the UK, King George VI announces the engagement of his daughter Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten.
• July 11 – The ship Exodus leaves France for Palestine, with 4,500 Jewish Holocaust survivor refugees on board.
• July 17
• * Indian passenger ship is capsized by a cyclone at Mumbai, India, with 625 people killed.
• * This is the alleged date when Raoul Wallenberg dies in a Soviet prison. It is not announced until February 6, 1957. There will be reported sightings of him until 1987.
• July 18
• * Following wide media and UNSCOP coverage, the Exodus is captured by British troops, and refused entry into Palestine at the port of Haifa.
• * President Harry S. Truman signs the Presidential Succession Act into law, which places the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate next in the line of succession, after the Vice President.
• July 19 – Burmese nationalist Aung San, and six members of his newly formed cabinet, are assassinated during a cabinet meeting.
• July 26 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.
• July 27 – 28 – English endurance swimmer Tom Blower becomes the first person to swim the North Channel, from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland to Portpatrick in Scotland.
• July 29 – After being shut down on November 9, 1946, for a refurbishment, ENIAC is turned back on again, and remains in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.

  August

• August 1 - Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia is established.
• August 2 – A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile.
• August 5 – The Netherlands ends Operation Product, the first of its major politionele acties in Indonesia.
• August 7
• * Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands, after a 101-day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, demonstrating that prehistoric peoples could have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America.
• * The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport.
• August 14
• * The Muslim majority regions formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire as the Dominion of Pakistan. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.
• * Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first Governor-General of Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan takes office as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• August 15
• * The greater Indian subcontinent, with a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews and others formed by the Partition of India, gains independence from the British Empire, as the Dominion of India.
• * Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India, taking his oath from Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, Governor-General of India.
• * Democratic Republic of Congo, South Korea, North Korea, Bahrain and Liechtenstein also got independence.
• August 16 – In Greece, General Markos Vafiadis takes over the government until 1949.
• August 23 – The Prime Minister of Greece, Dimitrios Maximos, resigns.
• August 27 – The French government lowers the daily bread ration to 200 grams, causing riots in Verdun and Le Mans.
• August 30 – A fire at a movie theater in Rueil, a suburb of Paris, France, kills 83 people.
• August 31 – In Hungary, communists fail to gain a majority in parliamentary elections and turn to direct action as part of the country's transition to Communism.

  September

• September 9 – A moth lodged in a relay is found to be the cause of a malfunction in the Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer, logged as the "First actual case of bug being found."
• September 13 – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru suggests the exchange of four million Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan.
• September 15 – 16 – Typhoon Kathleen strikes the Bōsō Peninsula and the entire Kantō region in Japan. Heavy rains cause the Arakawa and Tone Rivers to overflow and embankment collapse. The resulting floods and debris flow kill between 1,077 and 1,920 people, injuring 1,547 and leaving 853 missing.
• September 17 – 21 – The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane in southeastern Florida, and also in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana causes widespread damage, and kills 50 people.
• September 18
• * The National Security Act of 1947 becomes effective on this day, creating the United States Air Force, National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.
• * The War Department becomes the Department of the Army, a branch of the new Department of Defense.
• September 22 – The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties is founded.
• September 30 – Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations.

  October

• October – First recorded use of the word computer in its modern sense, referring to an electronic digital machine.
• October 1 – The North American F-86 Sabre makes its first flight.
• October 5 – President Harry S. Truman delivers the first televised White House address, speaking on the world food crises.
• October 7 – The princely state of Bahawalpur was acceded to Pakistan.
• October 14 – United States Air Force test pilot, Captain Chuck Yeager, flies a Bell X-1 rocket plane faster than the speed of sound, the first time it has been accomplished.
• October 20 – A war begins in Kashmir, along the border between India and Pakistan, leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 in the following year. Also, Pakistan establishes diplomatic relations with the United States of America.
• October 24 – The first Azad Kashmir Government is established within Pakistan, headed by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as its first President supported by the government of Pakistan.
• October 30 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the foundation of the World Trade Organization, is established.

  November

• November 2 – In Long Beach, California, designer and airplane pilot Howard Hughes carries out the one and only flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built and flown. This flight only lasts 8 minutes.
• November 6 – The television program Meet the Press makes its debut, on the NBC-TV network in the United States.
• November 9 – Junagadh is invaded by the Indian army.
• November 10 – The arrest of four steel workers in Marseille begins a French communist riot, that also spreads to Paris.
• November 13
• * Wataru Misaka made the roster of the New York Knicks to become the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, just months after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Misaka had led the Utah Utes to the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships.
• * The Soviet Union completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.
• November 15
• * The International Telecommunication Union becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• * The Universal Postal Union becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• November 16
• * In Brussels, 15,000 people demonstrate against the relatively short prison sentences of Belgian Nazi criminals.
• * Great Britain begins withdrawing its troops from Palestine.
• November 17
• * The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
• * American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
• November 18 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 people.
• November 20
• * Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of George VI, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom.
• * Paul Ramadier resigns as Prime Minister of France. He is succeeded by Robert Schuman, who calls 80,000 army reservists to quell rioting miners in France.
• November 21 – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment begins in Havana, Cuba. This conference ends in 1948, when its members finish the Havana Charter.
• November 24 – McCarthyism: The United States House of Representatives votes 346–17 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten", after the screenwriters and directors refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of communist influences in the movie business. The ten men are blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios on the following day.
• November 25
• * The New Zealand Parliament ratifies the Statute of Westminster, and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
• * The new Pakistan Army and Pashtun mercenaries overrun Mirpur in Kashmir, resulting in the death of 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs.
• November 27 – In Paris, France, police occupy the editorial offices of the communist newspapers.
• November 29 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arab and Jewish regions, which results in the creation of the State of Israel.

  December

• December 3
• * French communist strikers derail the Paris-Tourcoing express train, because of false rumors that it was transporting soldiers; 21 people are killed.
• * The Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Marlon Brando in his first great role, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Jessica Tandy also stars as Blanche Du Bois.
• December 4 – French Interior Minister Jules S. Moch takes emergency measures against his country's rioters, after six days of violent arguments in the National Assembly.
• December 6
• * Arturo Toscanini conducts a concert performance of the first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello, for a broadcast on NBC Radio in the United States. The second half of the opera is broadcast a week later.
• * Women are admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge in England. following a vote in September.
• December 9 – French labor unions call off the general strike, and re-commence negotiations with the French government.
• December 12 – The Iranian Royal Army takes back power, in the Azerbaijan province.
• December 14 – Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is officially inaugurated in Madrid, and hosts its first match.
• December 21 – During the mass migration of Hindus and Muslims between the new states of India and Pakistan, 400,000 are slaughtered.
• December 22
• * The Italian Constituent Assembly votes to accept the new Constitution of Italy.
• * The first practical electronic transistor is demonstrated by Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley of the United States.
• December 30
• * The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 makes its first flight
• * King Michael I of Romania abdicates.

  Date unknown

• The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigations into communism in Hollywood.
• Mikhail Kalashnikov's prototype AK-47s enter testing. The assault rifle will be adopted by the Soviet Army in 1949.
• Raytheon produces the first commercial microwave oven.
• Women's suffrage is granted in Argentina.
• A casual fashion brand on worldwide, H&M was founded, and a first outlet store open in Västmanland, Sweden.

  Births

January

• January 1
• * F. R. David, Tunisian-born French singer
• * Leon Patillo, American Christian musician
• * Vladimir Titov, Russian cosmonaut
• * Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer
• January 4 – Chris Cutler, English percussionist
• January 5 – Mike DeWine, American politician, U.S. Senator, 70th Governor of Ohio
• January 6
• * Sandy Denny, British singer
• * Ian Millar, Canadian dressage rider
• January 8
• * William Bonin, American serial killer
• * David Bowie, English singer, songwriter, and actor
• * Petrus Iilonga, Namibian politician
• * Igor Ivanov, Russian-born Canadian grandmaster
• * Samuel Schmid, Swiss Federal Councilor
• * Terry Sylvester, English singer, musician
• * Laurie Walters, American actress
• January 10
• * George Alec Effinger, American science fiction author
• * Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman
• * Peer Steinbrück, German politician
• January 13 – Carles Rexach, Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach
• January 15 – Andrea Martin, Canadian-American actress
• January 16
• * Juliet Berto, French actress, director and screenwriter
• * Apasra Hongsakula, Thai model, Miss Universe 1965
• * Harvey Proctor, British Conservative politician
• * Laura Schlessinger, American radio, TV talk show host
• January 17 – Jane Elliot, American actress
• January 18 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese film director, actor
• January 19 – Paula Deen, American Food Channel television personality
• January 20 – Cyrille Guimard, French road racing cyclist
• January 21 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
• January 23
• * Tom Carper, American politician
• * Megawati Sukarnoputri, 5th President of Indonesia
• January 24
• * Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer
• * Michio Kaku, American theoretical physicist
• * Warren Zevon, American rock musician
• January 25 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer
• January 26 – Michel Sardou, French singer and actor
• January 27 – Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist
• January 29
• * Linda B. Buck, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Ernie Lively, American actor
• January 30 – Steve Marriott, British rock musician
• January 31
• * Jonathan Banks, American actor
• * Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
• * Glynn Turman, African-American actor

  February

• February 1 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist
• February 2 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress
• February 3
• * Paul Auster, American novelist
• * Dave Davies, English musician
• * Melanie Safka, American rock singer
• February 4
• * Halina Aszkiełowicz-Wojno, Polish volleyball player
• * Dennis C. Blair, American admiral, Director of National Intelligence
• * Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States
• * John Campbell Brown, Scottish astronomer
• February 5
• * Regina Duarte, Brazilian actress; former Special Secretary of Culture of Brazil
• * Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver, broadcaster
• February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor
• February 9 – Erik Olin Wright, American sociologist
• February 10
• * Louise Arbour, Canadian jurist
• * Nicholas Owen, English newsreader
• February 11
• * Yukio Hatoyama, 60th Prime Minister of Japan
• * Roy Moore, American politician
• * Derek Shulman, Scottish musician
• February 13 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach
• February 15
• * John Adams, American composer
• * Wenche Myhre, Norwegian actress, singer
• * Ádám Nádasdy, Hungarian linguist, poet
• * Rusty Hamer, American actor
• February 16 – Veríssimo Correia Seabra, Bissau-Guinean military commander
• February 18
• * Princess Christina of the Netherlands
• * Dennis DeYoung, American rock musician
• * José Luis Cuerda, Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and producer
• February 19 – Gustavo Rodríguez, Venezuelan actor
• February 20
• * Peter Osgood, English footballer
• * Peter Strauss, American actor
• February 21
• * Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident journalist and priest
• * Renata Sorrah, Brazilian actress
• February 24
• * Rupert Holmes, British-born American singer-songwriter
• * Edward James Olmos, Hispanic-American actor, director, producer and activist
• February 25
• * Lee Evans, American Olympic athlete
• * Doug Yule, American rock singer
• February 26 – Sandie Shaw, British singer
• February 27 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist
• February 28 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress

  March

• March 1 – Alan Thicke, Canadian actor, television host
• March 2 – Yuri Bogatyryov, Soviet actor
• March 4
• * David Franzoni, American screenwriter
• * Jan Garbarek, Norwegian musician
• * Gunnar Hansen, Icelandic actor
• March 6
• * Kiki Dee, English pop singer
• * Dick Fosbury, American athlete
• * Teru Miyamoto, Japanese author
• * Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, producer, director and activist
• March 7 – Walter Röhrl, German race car driver
• March 8
• * Carole Bayer Sager, American singer, songwriter
• * Michael S. Hart, American author, inventor
• March 9 – Ryszard Peryt, Polish conductor, librettist
• March 10
• * Kim Campbell, 19th Prime Minister of Canada
• * Tom Scholz, American musician, songwriter and inventor
• March 11
• * David Ferguson, American music producer, activist
• * Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player
• March 12
• * Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist
• * Mitt Romney, American businessman, politician, Governor of Massachusetts, 2012 presidential candidate, and US Senator
• March 13 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician, cellist
• March 14
• * Pam Ayres, English comic verse writer and performer
• * Peter Skellern, English singer-songwriter
• March 15 – Ry Cooder, American guitarist
• March 16
• * Baek Yoon-sik, South Korean actor
• * Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
• March 17 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer, producer
• March 18
• * Tamara Griesser Pečar, Slovenian historian
• * Susan Sheridan, English actress
• March 19 – Glenn Close, American actress
• March 20
• * John Boswell, American historian
• * Chip Zien, American actor
• March 21 – Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of Yemen
• March 22
• * Babz Chula, American-born Canadian actress
• * James Patterson, American author
• * Florence Warner, American singer, voice actress
• March 24
• * Mike Kellie, English rock musician
• * Louise Lanctôt, Canadian terrorist, writer
• * Alan Sugar, English entrepreneur
• March 25 – Elton John, English rock musician
• March 26 – Subhash Kak, Indian-American author
• March 27 – Walt Mossberg, American newspaper columnist
• March 31
• * Wong Choon Wah, Malaysian footballer
• * César Gaviria, Colombian economist, politician and 28th President of Colombia

  April

• April 1
• * Alain Connes, French mathematician
• * Ingrid Steeger, German actress, comedian
• * Tzipi Shavit, actress
• April 2
• * Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer, actress
• * Emmylou Harris, American singer, songwriter
• * Camille Paglia, American literary critic
• April 4 – Eliseo Soriano, Philippine preacher
• April 5 – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines, daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal
• April 6 – John Ratzenberger, American actor
• April 7 – Florian Schneider, German musician
• April 8 – Robert Kiyosaki, American investor, businessman and self-help author
• April 9 – Ken Lewis, American former CEO, president, and chairman of Bank of America
• April 10 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican reggae musician
• April 11
• * Meshach Taylor, African-American actor
• * Lucian Truscott IV, American writer, journalist
• April 12
• * Tom Clancy, American author
• * David Letterman, American talk show host
• April 13 – Mike Chapman, Australian-born songwriter, record producer
• April 15
• * Lois Chiles, American actress
• * Roy Raymond, American entrepreneur
• April 16
• * Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, African-American pro basketball player, actor
• * Frank Hamblen, American basketball coach
• * Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer, songwriter
• April 18
• * Kathy Acker, American author
• * Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director
• * James Woods, American actor
• April 19 – Murray Perahia, American pianist
• April 20
• * Daud Ibrahim, Malaysian cyclist
• * Hector, Finnish rock musician
• April 21 – Iggy Pop, American rock musician
• April 24 – Josep Borrell, Spanish minister, MEP and EU High Representative
• April 25
• * Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer, coach
• * Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
• April 27 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist
• April 28 – Ken St. Andre, American game designer, author
• April 29
• * Olavo de Carvalho, Brazilian journalist, essayist and professor of philosophy
• * Tommy James, American rock singer, producer
• April 30 – Leslie Grantham, English actor

  May

• May 1 – Jacob Bekenstein, Mexico-born Israeli-American theoretical physicist
• May 2 – Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, Indian politician
• May 3 – Richard Jenkins, American actor
• May 4 – Theda Skocpol, American sociologist
• May 5 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician
• May 6
• * Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist
• * Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
• May 8
• * H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Jamie Donnelly, American film, stage actress
• May 9
• * Yukiya Amano, Japanese international civil servant
• * Andy Sutcliffe, British racing driver
• May 10 - Caroline B. Cooney, American author
• May 11
• * Walter Selke, German physicist
• * Butch Trucks, American drummer
• May 12 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician, philosopher and historian
• May 13 – Stephen R. Donaldson, American novelist
• May 14
• * José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, Colombian drug lord
• * Tamara Dobson, African-American actress, fashion model
• *Ana Martín, Mexican actress, singer producer and former model
• May 15
• * Graeham Goble, Australian musician
• * Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia
• May 16 – Bill Smitrovich, American actor
• May 18 – John Bruton, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland
• May 19 – Paul Brady, Northern Irish singer, songwriter
• May 21 – Lolit Solis, Filipina talent manager
• May 23 – Ken Westerfield, American disc sports pioneer, athlete, showman and promoter
• May 24 – Maude Barlow, Canadian author, activist and National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians
• May 26 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricket captain
• May 27
• * Peter DeFazio, American politician
• * Branko Oblak, Slovenian football player and coach
• May 28 – Pedro Giachino, Argentine Navy officer
• May 29 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio broadcaster

  June

• June 1
• * Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor
• * Ronnie Wood, English rock musician
• June 2 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Punjabi saint, Sikh theologian, military leader
• June 3 – Dave Alexander, American musician
• June 4 – Viktor Klima, Chancellor of Austria
• June 5
• * Laurie Anderson, American experimental performance artist, composer and musician
• * Tom Evans, English musician, songwriter
• * Jojon, Indonesian comedian, actor
• June 6
• * David Blunkett, British politician
• * Robert Englund, American actor
• * Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer
• June 7 – Thurman Munson, American baseball catcher
• June 8 – Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• June 9
• * Françoise Demulder, French war photographer
• * Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter, sculptor
• June 10 – Ken Singleton, American baseball player
• June 14 – Barry Melton, American rock musician
• June 15 – John Hoagland, American war photographer
• June 16 – -minu, Swiss columnist, writer
• June 17 – Paul Young, English singer, songwriter
• June 19
• * Paula Koivuniemi, Finnish singer
• * Salman Rushdie, Indian-born British author
• June 20 – Candy Clark, American actress
• June 21
• * Meredith Baxter, American actress
• * Rachel Adato, Israeli gynaecologist, lawyer and politician
• * Jim Benzelock, American professional ice hockey right winger
• * Shirin Ebadi, Iranian activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
• * Michael Gross, American actor
• * Duane Thomas, American football running back
• * Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher, author
• June 22
• * Bobby Douglass, American football quarterback
• * Natalya Varley, Soviet, Russian film, theater actress
• * Murray Webb, New Zealand caricature artist, test cricketer
• * David Jones, Northern Irish European Tour golfer
• * Octavia E. Butler, American author
• * David Lander, American actor
• * Trevor Blades, English cricketer
• * Pete Maravich, American basketball player
• * Jerry John Rawlings, 2-time President of Ghana
• June 23
• * Zvi Rosen, Israeli international footballer
• * Bryan Brown, Australian actor
• * Thor Hansen, Norwegian-born professional poker player
• * Ed Werenich, Canadian curler
• June 24
• * Mick Fleetwood, British musician and actor
• * Helena Vondráčková, Czech singer
• * Peter Weller, American actor, director
• June 25
• * Jimmie Walker, African-American actor
• * Robert Percy, Australian rules footballer
• * John Powell, American track and field athlete
• June 26 – Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan politician
• June 27
• * Hans Ooft, Dutch football player, manager
• * Abdel Djaadaoui, Algerian footballer
• June 29
• * David Chiang, Hong Kong actor
• * Brian Herbert, American author
• * Richard Lewis, American comedian, actor
• June 30 – Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister

  July

• July 1
• * Marc Benno, American singer, songwriter and guitarist
• * Arantxa Urretabizkaia, Basque writer, screenwriter and actress
• * Sharad Yadav, Indian politician
• July 2 – Larry David, American actor, writer, producer and director
• July 3
• * Dave Barry, American writer
• * Betty Buckley, American actress, singer
• * Mike Burton, American swimmer
• * Rob Rensenbrink, Dutch football player
• * Jana Švandová, Czech actress
• July 4
• * Francisco Fernández de Cevallos, Mexican politician
• * Eva Goës, Swedish politician
• * Carla Panerai, Italian sprinter
• July 5
• * Toos Beumer, Dutch swimmer
• * Joe Brown, African-American television judge
• * Dan Hewitt Owens, American actor
• July 6
• * Shelley Hack, American model, actress, producer, political and media advisor
• * Larnelle Harris, African-American Christian musician
• July 7
• * Richard Beckinsale, English actor
• * Randy Goodrum, American songwriter, pianist and producer
• * King Gyanendra of Nepal
• * David Hodo, American singer
• * Carl Mauck, American football player
• * Felix Standaert, Belgian diplomat
• July 8 – Bobby Sowell, American pianist, composer
• July 9
• * Haruomi Hosono, Japanese musician
• * Mitch Mitchell, English rock drummer
• * O. J. Simpson, African-American football player, actor
• July 10
• * Michel Étiévent, French journalist, historian and writer
• * Allen Fong, Hong Kong film director
• * Arlo Guthrie, American folk singer
• July 11 – Riad Ismat, Syrian writer, critic and theatre director
• July 12
• * Loren Coleman, American cryptozoologist, author
• * Gareth Edwards, Welsh rugby union player
• * Lenka Termerová, Czech actress
• July 14
• * John Blackman, Australian radio, television presenter
• * Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius
• July 15
• * Bertus Borgers, Dutch saxophone player
• * Roky Erickson, American singer-songwriter
• July 16
• * Don Burke, Australian television presenter, television producer, author and horticulturalist
• * Alexis Herman, American politician
• * Roelf Meyer, South African politician, businessman
• * Valnice Milhomens, Brazilian pastor, apostle, author and televangelist
• * Assata Shakur, American convicted murder
• July 17 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, British Princess, second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales
• July 18 – Steven W. Mahoney, Canadian politician
• July 19
• * Bernie Leadon, American musician, songwriter
• * Brian May, English rock guitarist ''
• July 20
• * Gerd Binnig, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Carlos Santana, Mexican-born rock guitarist
• July 21 – Co Adriaanse, Dutch football manager
• July 22
• * Albert Brooks, American actor, comedian, director and novelist
• * Erica Gavin, American actress
• * Don Henley, American singer, songwriter and musician
• July 23 – Spencer Christian, American television personality
• July 24 – Peter Serkin, American classical pianist
• July 27
• * Bob Klein, American football player
• * Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman
• July 28 – Su Tseng-chang, Taiwanese politician, 41st and 50th Premier of the Republic of China
• July 30
• * William Atherton, American actor
• * Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist
• * Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American actor, bodybuilder and 38th Governor of California
• July 31
• * Richard Griffiths, English actor
• * Joe Wilson, American politician

  August

• August 1
• * Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet
• * Leoluca Orlando, Italian politician
• August 3 – Colleen Corby, American fashion model
• August 4 – Hubert Ingraham, Bahamian politician
• August 5
• * Angry Anderson, Australian singer & actor
• * Graham Lovett, English footballer
• August 7 – Franciscus Henri, Dutch-born Australian children's entertainer, composer and artist
• August 8
• * Terangi Adam, Nauruan politician
• * George Costigan, British actor, screenwriter
• * Ken Dryden, Canadian NHL goaltender, author and politician
• August 9 – John Varley, American science-fiction author
• August 10
• * Ian Anderson, British rock musician
• * Drupi, Italian singer
• * Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian politician
• August 11 – Diether Krebs, German actor, cabaret artist and comedian
• August 12 – William Hartston, British chess player
• August 13 – John Stocker, Canadian voice actor
• August 14
• * Maddy Prior, English folk singer
• * Danielle Steel, American romance novelist
• August 15
• * Sonny Carter, American astronaut
• * Raakhee, Indian actress
• August 16
• * Carol Moseley Braun, African-American politician
• * Marc Messier, Canadian actor
• August 17 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, Sahrawi politician
• August 19
• * Terry Hoeppner, American football coach
• * Gerard Schwarz, American conductor
• * Gerald McRaney, American television, movie actor
• August 20 – José Wilker, Brazilian actor
• August 22
• * Cindy Williams, American actress
• * Peter Irniq, Canadian Commissioner of Nunavut
• August 23 – Willy Russell, British playwright
• August 24 – Roger De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist
• August 26 – Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer
• August 27
• * Harry Reems, American pornographic actor
• * Barbara Bach, American actress
• August 28
• * Emlyn Hughes, English footballer
• * Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress
• * Alice Playten, American actress
• August 29
• * James Hunt, British 1976 Formula 1 world champion
• * Temple Grandin, American animal welfare, autism expert
• * Jah Lloyd, Jamaican reggae singer, deejay and producer
• August 30 – Allan Rock, Canadian politician, diplomat
• August 31
• * Ramón Castellano de Torres, Spanish painter
• * Somchai Wongsawat, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand

  September

• September 1 – Al Green, American politician
• September 3 – Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway
• September 5
• * Danny Florencio, Filipino basketball player
• * Buddy Miles, African-American drummer, singer and composer
• * Kiyoshi Takayama, Japanese yakuza boss
• September 6
• * Jane Curtin, American actress, comedian
• * Bruce Rioch, Scottish footballer, coach
• * Jacob Rubinovitz, Israeli scientist
• * Keone Young, American actor and voice actor
• September 8
• * Amos Biwott, Kenyan Olympic athlete
• * Benjamin Orr, American singer, songwriter
• September 9 – Freddy Weller, American singer, songwriter
• September 13 – Ajib Ahmad, Malaysian politician
• September 14
• * Sam Neill, British-born New Zealand actor
• * Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish Roman Catholic priest and blessed
• September 16 – Russ Abbot, British comedian, actor
• September 17 – Dame Tessa Jowell, British politician
• September 19
• * Steve Bartlett, American businessman, lobbyist and politician
• * Tanith Lee, British author
• September 21
• * Don Felder, American musician, songwriter
• * Rupert Hine, English musician, songwriter, and record producer
• * Stephen King, American writer and novelist, specializing in the horror genre
• September 22
• * Vanusa, Brazilian singer
• * Jo Beverley, Anglo-Canadian writer
• * Norma McCorvey, American abortion plaintiff
• September 23
• * Jerry Corbetta, American singer, songwriter and keyboardist
• * Mary Kay Place, American actress
• September 25
• * Cheryl Tiegs, American model, actress
• * Cecil Womack, African-American singer, songwriter
• September 26 – Lynn Anderson, American country music singer
• September 27
• * Dick Advocaat, Dutch football manager
• * Meat Loaf, American rock singer, actor
• * Denis Lawson, Scottish actor and director
• September 28
• * Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesian politician and former military officer
• * Marcelo Guinle, Argentine politician
• * Sheikh Hasina, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• September 30
• * Marc Bolan, English rock musician
• * Rula Lenska, English actress

  October

• October 1
• * Aaron Ciechanover, Israeli biologist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
• * Stephen Collins, American actor
• * Mariska Veres, Dutch singer
• October 2 – Ward Churchill, American author, activist
• October 3
• * Alain Mucchielli, French physician
• * Fred DeLuca, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Subway
• * John Perry Barlow, American internet activist, writer, and lyricist
• October 4 – Ann Widdecombe, British politician
• October 5 – Brian Johnson, English rock singer
• October 6 – Gail Farrell, American singer
• October 7 – Pip Williams, British record producer
• October 8 – Stephen Shore, American photographer
• October 9 – France Gall, French singer
• October 10 – Larry Lamb, British actor
• October 12 – George Lam, Hong Kong singer. actor
• October 13 – Sammy Hagar, American rock musician
• October 14 – Nikolai Volkoff, Croatian-Russian professional wrestler
• October 16
• * Nicholas Day, British actor
• * Bob Weir, American rock guitarist
• October 17
• * Simi Garewal, Indian actress, producer, director, and talk show host
• * Gene Green, American politician
• * Michael McKean, American actor, comedian
• October 18
• * James H. Fallon, American neuroscientist
• * Job Cohen, Dutch politician
• October 19
• * Giorgio Cavazzano, Italian comics artist, illustrator
• * Gunnar Staalesen, Norwegian author
• October 22 – Ed Welch, English TV music composer
• October 24 – Kevin Kline, American actor
• October 25 – Glenn Tipton, English rock guitarist
• October 26
• * Hillary Clinton, American politician, First Lady, US Senator, Secretary of State, and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate
• * Ene Järvis, Estonian actress
• * Trevor Joyce, Irish poet
• October 28 – Henri Michel, French football player and coach
• October 29 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor
• October 30 – Timothy B. Schmit, American musician
• October 31
• * Carmen Alborch, Spanish feminist, writer and politician
• * Herman Van Rompuy, Belgian politician, 66th Prime Minister of Belgium

  November

• November 1
• * Taizo Ichinose, Japanese war photographer
• * Bob Weston, British musician
• * Salleh Ibrahim, Malaysian footballer
• November 2
• *Dave Pegg, British folk musician, bass player
• November 5 – Rubén Juárez, Argentine bandoneonist, singer and songwriter of tango
• November 6
• * Jim Rosenthal, English ITV sport presenter
• * E. Lee Spence, German-born American pioneer underwater archaeologist, treasure hunter
• November 7
• * Yutaka Fukumoto, Japanese professional baseball player
• * Bernhard Goetz, American shooter in 1984 subway shooting
• * Usha Uthup, Indian singer
• * Sondhi Limthongkul, Thai journalist, writer and founder of Manager Daily
• * Sefi Rivlin, Israeli actor, footballer and comedian
• November 8
• * Minnie Riperton, African-American singer
• * Lewis Yocum, American orthopedic surgeon
• November 9 – Phil Driscoll, American Christian musician, trumpet player
• November 10
• * Glen Buxton, American rock guitarist
• * Greg Lake, English musician, producer
• November 12 – Carlos Ezquerra, Spanish comics artist
• November 13 – Joe Mantegna, American actor
• November 14
• * Buckwheat Zydeco, American accordionist
• * P. J. O'Rourke, American journalist, satirist
• November 15 – Steven G. Kellman, American author, critic
• November 17
• * Will Vinton, American animator, filmmaker
• * Inky Mark, Canadian politician
• November 18 - Ali Bakar, Malaysian football player
• November 19
• * Bob Boone, American baseball player, manager
• * Anfinn Kallsberg, Faroese Prime Minister
• * Lamar S. Smith, American politician
• * Ira David Wood III, American actor
• November 20
• * Joe Walsh, American rock singer, songwriter and guitarist
• * Nurlan Balgimbayev, Kazakh politician
• November 21
• * Alcione, Brazilian singer
• * Nickolas Grace, British actor
• * Chua Ek Kay, Singaporean painter
• November 24 – Dwight Schultz, American actor
• November 25 – John Larroquette, American actor
• November 29 – Mirza Khazar, Azerbaijani author
• November 30
• * Sergio Badilla Castillo, Chilean poet
• * Stuart Baird, English film editor, producer and director
• * Jude Ciccolella, American actor
• * Véronique Le Flaguais, Canadian actress
• * David Mamet, American playwright
• * Moses Nagamootoo, 8th Prime Minister of Guyana

  December

• December 1 – Bob Fulton, English-Australian rugby league player
• December 2 – Isaac Bitton, French rock band drummer
• December 6 – RR Soares, Brazilian televangelist, missionary, author, singer, businessman and composer
• December 7
• * Oliver Dragojević, Croatian singer
• * Johnny Bench, American baseball player
• * Wendy Padbury, British actress
• * Jeff Maxwell, American actor
• December 8
• * Gregg Allman, American singer, songwriter and musician
• * Gérard Blanc, French singer
• * Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• December 9 – Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator
• December 10 – Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player
• December 11 – David E. Stone, American sound editor
• December 12 – Will Alsop, English architect
• December 14
• * Christopher Parkening, American guitarist
• * Dilma Rousseff, 36th President of Brazil
• December 16
• * Ben Cross, English actor
• * Vincent Matthews, American athlete
• December 17 – Marilyn Hassett, American actress
• December 18 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian crime fiction writer
• December 21 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist
• December 22
• * Mitsuo Tsukahara, Japanese gymnast
• * Porfirio Lobo, 54th President of Honduras
• December 25 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician
• December 26 – Carlton Fisk, American baseball player
• December 27 – Bob Conti, American musician
• December 28 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican Major League Baseball player
• December 29
• * Ted Danson, American actor
• * Cozy Powell, English drummer
• December 30 – Jeff Lynne, British musician
• December 31
• * Rita Lee, Brazilian rock singer, composer
• * Burton Cummings, Canadian rock musician
• * Tim Matheson, American actor, film director and producer

  Date Unknown

• Marouf al-Bakhit, twice Prime Minister of Jordan

  Deaths

January

• January 3 – Al Herpin, French-born American insomniac, "The Man Who Never Slept"
• January 8 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general
• January 9
• * Herman Bing, German actor
• * Karl Mannheim, Hungarian sociologist
• January 10
• * Arthur E. Andersen, American accountant
• * Hanns Sachs, Austrian psychoanalyst
• January 11 – Eva Tanguay, Canadian-born vaudeville performer
• January 12
• * Zdenko Blažeković, Yugoslavian politician
• * Júlio Afrânio Peixoto, Brazilian physician, writer, politician and historian
• January 13
• * Sixto María Durán Cárdenas, Ecuadorian pianist, composer and lawyer
• * Ignazio Lupo, Italian-born American gangster
• January 14 – Bill Hewitt, American football player, Pro Football Hall of Fame member
• January 15 – The "Black Dahlia", American murder victim
• January 17 – Hryhoriy Khomyshyn, Ukrainian Roman Catholic bishop, martyr and blessed
• January 18 – Maria Giovanna Fasce, Italian Roman Catholic religious professed, Augustinian nun and blessed
• January 19 – Manuel Machado, Spanish poet
• January 20
• * Josh Gibson, African-American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
• * Andrew Volstead, American politician
• January 22 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, British writer
• January 23
• * Pierre Bonnard, French painter
• * Roy Geiger, American general
• January 24 – August Meyszner, Austrian-born SS officer
• January 25 – Al Capone, American gangster
• January 26
• * Grace Moore, American opera singer, actress
• * Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
• January 27 – Vassily Balabanov, Soviet administrator, Provincial Governor of Imperial Russia
• January 28 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-born French composer
• January 30 – Frederick Blackman, British plant physiologist

  February

• February 3 – Petar Zivkovic, Yugoslavian politician, 11th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
• February 4 – Luigi Russolo, Italian painter, composer
• February 6
• * O. Max Gardner, Governor of North Carolina
• * Luigi Russolo, Italian Futurist painter, composer
• February 11 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler
• February 12
• * Kurt Lewin, German-born American psychologist
• * Sidney Toler, American actor
• February 14 – Celestina Boninsegna, Italian soprano
• February 15 – Mustafa Abdel-Razek, Egyptian Islamic philosopher
• February 16
• * Pedro de Répide Gallegos, Spanish journalist, writer
• * Bertha Schwarz, German soprano
• February 18
• * Valentina Dmitryeva, Soviet writer, teacher and doctor
• * Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt
• February 20 – Henry Herbert, British actor
• February 22 – Willie Franklin Pruit, American poet
• February 23 – Hakim Habibur Rahman, Indian physician, writer, journalist and politician
• February 24
• * Morinosuke Chiwaki, Japanese dentist
• * Pierre Janet, French psychologist
• February 26
• * Antonino D'Agata, Italian politician
• * Ben Webster, British-born American actor
• February 27 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss Federal Councilor

  March

• March 2 – Whately Carington, British parapsychologist
• March 5 – Alfredo Casella, Italian composer
• March 9
• * Carrie Chapman Catt, American suffrage leader
• * Jhaverchand Meghani, Indian poet, writer
• March 10 – Harukichi Hyakutake, Japanese general
• March 11
• *Victor Lustig, Austrian-born con artist
• *Wilhelm Heye, German general
• March 12 – Walter Samuel Goodland, Governor of Wisconsin
• March 15
• * Arthur Machen, British-born author
• * Jean-Richard Bloch, French critic, novelist and playwright
• March 18 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer
• March 19 – Prudence Heward, Canadian painter
• March 20 – Victor Goldschmidt, Swiss geochemist
• March 21 – Homer Lusk Collyer, American hermit brother
• March 23
• * Archduchess Louise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany
• * Ferdinand Zecca, French actor, producer, director and screenwriter
• March 25 – Chen Cheng-po, Taiwanese painter
• March 28
• * Johnny Evers, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
• * Karol Świerczewski, Polish military leader
• March 29 – Manuel de Adalid y Gamero, Honduran composer

  April

• April 1 – King George II of Greece
• April 5 – Petro Trad, Lebanese lawyer, politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lebanon and 5th President of Lebanon
• April 6 - Herbert Backe, German Nazi general
• April 7
• * Henry Ford, American industrialist, automobile manufacturer
• * Savvas the New of Kalymnos, Greek Orthodox priest and saint
• April 8 – Langley Collyer, American hermit brother
• April 9 – William Foden, American composer
• April 10
• * Charles Bally, Swiss linguist
• * John Ince, American actor
• April 12 – Duke Robert of Württemberg
• April 14 – Salvador Toscano, Mexican director, producer and filmmaker
• April 15 – Georg Friederici, German ethnologist
• April 16
• * Guido Donegani, Italian engineer, businessman and politician
• * Rudolf Höss, German commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp
• April 18 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak politician, Roman Catholic priest, 1st Prime Minister of Slovakia and President of Slovakia
• April 20 – King Christian X of Denmark
• April 21 – Heitor da Silva Costa, Brazilian engineer, designer and constructor
• April 23 – Gyula Károlyi, Hungarian politician, 29th Prime Minister of Hungary
• April 24 – Willa Siebert Cather, American novelist
• April 25
• * José María Reina Andrade, acting President of Guatemala
• * Ana Cumpănaș, Austro-Hungarian prostitute
• April 26 – Francesco Paolo Finocchiaro, Italian painter
• April 29
• *Gheorghie Ciuhandu, Romanian Orthodox priest, theologian, historian and advocate
• * Irving Fisher, American economist
• *Karel Čurda, Czech soldier and parachutist
• April 30
• * Francesc Cambó, Andorran politician
• * Sir Almroth Wright, British bacteriologist and immunologist

  May

• May 8 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American department store magnate
• May 13 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet
• May 14 – John R. Sinnock, 8th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint
• May 15 – Miguel Abadía Méndez, Colombian politician, 12th President of Colombia
• May 16
• * Frederick Gowland Hopkins, British biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Michael Joseph Curley, American Roman Catholic bishop and reverend
• * Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army
• May 17
• * George Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand
• * Seabiscuit, thoroughbred racehorse
• May 18 – Lucile Gleason, American actress
• May 20 – Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• May 24 – C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer
• May 28 – August Eigruber, Nazi war criminal
• May 30 – Georg Ludwig von Trapp, Austrian sailor, patriarch of the Von Trapp Family of The Sound of Music fame
• May 31 – Adrienne Ames, American actress

  June

• June 6
• * S. H. Dudley, American urban singer
• * Władysław Raczkiewicz, Polish politician, lawyer, diplomat and 5th President of Poland
• * José Marques da Silva, Portuguese architect
• June 9
• * Augusto Giacometti, Italian painter
• * J. Warren Kerrigan, American actor
• June 11 – Richard Hönigswald, Hungarian-born American philosopher
• June 14 – Albert Marquet, French painter
• June 17 – Maxwell Perkins, American literary editor
• June 18
• *Alfred Allen, American actor
• * Richard Cooper, British actor
• * Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese rear admiral, convicted war criminal
• *John Henry Patteron, Anglo-Irish soldier, hunter and author
• June 19 – Kōsō Abe, Japanese admiral, convicted war criminal
• June 20 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster
• June 22 – Jim Tully, American vagabond, pugilist and writer
• June 24 – Bartolome Pagano, Italian actor
• June 26 – Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada
• June 28 – Franciszek Mączyński, Polish architect

  July

• July 7 - José Luis Tamayo, 20th President of Ecuador
• July 12 – Jimmie Lunceford, American jazz musician
• July 15
• * Brandon Hurst, American stage, screen veteran
• * Walter Donaldson, American songwriter
• July 17 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat, humanitarian
• July 18 – Fumio Hayashi, Japanese physician
• July 19 – Aung San, Burmese nationalist
• July 21 – Patriarch Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas
• July 23
• * Alice Fischer, American actress
• * Ángel Roffo, Argentine doctor
• July 25 - Kathleen Scott, British sculptor and wife of explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott
• July 26 – Archbishop Leontios of Cyprus
• July 27 – Ivan Regen, Slovenian biologist
• July 29
• * Leo Stein, American art collector, critic
• * George Bausewine, American baseball player, umpire
• July 30
• * Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia
• * Fedir Krychevsky, Ukrainian painter

  August

• August – Teresa Magbanua, Filipino general
• August 3
• * José Pardo y Barreda, Peruvian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Peru and 2-time President of Peru
• * Vic Willis, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
• August 8 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian military leader
• August 9 – Carlo Romanelli, Italian sculptor
• August 10 – Antonio Sciortino, Maltese sculptor
• August 11 – Prince Sisowath Youtevong, 4th Prime Minister of Cambodia
• August 15 – Claudio Granzotto, Italian Roman Catholic religious professed and blessed
• August 17 – Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke
• August 20
• *Franz Cumont, Belgian archaeologist, historian
• *James Harbord, American general
• August 23 – Hasmik, Soviet actress
• August 29
• * Manolete, Spanish bullfighter
• * Kōtarō Nakamura, General of the Imperial Japanese Army

  September

• September 1 – Frederick Russell Burnham, American Scout, father of the international Scouting movement
• September 8 – Victor Horta, Belgian Art Nouveau architect
• September 9 – Ananda Coomaraswamy, American philosopher
• September 10 – Hatazō Adachi, Japanese general
• September 11
• *Robert L. Bullard, American general
• *Alice Keppel, mistress of Edward VII
• September 20
• *Fiorello H. La Guardia, Mayor of New York
• *Jantina Tammes, Dutch plant biologist
• September 21
• * Harry Carey, American film actor
• * Vasily Glagolev, Soviet general
• September 26 – Hugh Lofting, British-born writer
• September 27 – Luigi Barlassina, Patriarch of Jerusalem

  October

• October 1
• * Olive Borden, American actress
• * Gregorio Martinez Sierra, Spanish writer, poet, dramatist and director
• October 2 – P. D. Ouspensky, Soviet mathematician
• October 3 – Ernest L. Riebau, American politician
• October 4 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• October 6 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer
• October 10 – Jo Mora, Uruguayan-born American cartoonist
• October 12
• * James Farley, American actor
• * Sir Ian Hamilton, British general
• October 13 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, British economist, social reformer
• October 16 – Anna B. Eckstein, German peace campaigner
• October 17 – John Halliday, American actor
• October 18
• * Harry C. Bradley, American actor
• * Massimo Terzano, Italian cinematographer
• October 20 – Sir Albert Howard, English botanist and organic farming pioneer
• October 23 – Carl Shelton, American gangster
• October 24 – Dudley Digges, Irish actor
• October 27 – María Teresalina Sánchez, Spanish Franciscan religious sister, missionary and martyr
• October 28 – Earl Snell, Governor of Oregon
• October 29 – Frances Cleveland, First Lady of the United States

  November

• November 1 – Man o' War, champion thoroughbred racehorse
• November 3 – Nelson McDowell, American actor
• November 7 – Sándor Garbai, Prime Minister of Hungary
• November 8
• * Mariano Benlliure, Spanish sculptor
• * Constantin Sănătescu, Romanian general, statesman and 44th Prime Minister of Romania
• November 15 – Eduard Ritter von Schleich, German fighter ace, air force general
• November 16 – Giuseppe Volpi, Italian businessman, politician
• November 17 – Josaphat Kotsylovsky, Ukrainian Roman Catholic bishop, martyr and blessed
• November 20 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor
• November 25 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French writer
• November 28
• * W. E. Lawrence, American actor
• * Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general
• November 29 – Ernie Adams, American actor
• November 30 – Ernst Lubitsch, German film director

  December

• December 1
• * Aleister Crowley, British occultist
• * G. H. Hardy, British mathematician
• December 2 – Franz Xaver Schwarz, German Nazi politician
• December 3 – Heinrich Hetsch, German physician, microbiologist
• December 4
• * Margaret Butler, New Zealand sculptor
• * Walter Walker, American actor
• December 7
• * Tristan Bernard, French writer, lawyer
• * Nicholas Murray Butler, American president of Columbia University, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
• * Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft, British politician
• December 9 – John Kelly, American actor
• December 10 – Pierre Petit de Julleville, French Roman Catholic priest, bishop and eminence
• December 13
• * Nicholas Roerich, Russian painter
• * Juan Bautista Vargas Arreola, Mexican general during Mexican Revolution
• December 14
• * Stanley Baldwin, British Conservative politician, 3-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• * Edward Higgins, General of The Salvation Army
• December 15 – Arthur Machen, British writer
• December 17
• * J. N. Brønsted, Danish chemist
• * Christos Tsigiridis, Greek engineer
• December 20
• * Benigno Aquino Sr., Filipino politician
• * Luigi Chiarelli, Italian playwright
• December 23 – Ziauddin Ahmad, Indian educationalist and politician
• December 25 – Gaspar G. Bacon, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
• December 27 – Johannes Winkler, German rocket pioneer
• December 28 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
• December 29 – Han van Meegeren, Dutch painter, forger
• December 30 – Alfred North Whitehead, British mathematician, philosopher

  Date Unknown

• Ayoub Tabet, 6th Prime Minister of Lebanon

  Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Edward Victor Appleton
• Chemistry – Sir Robert Robinson
• Medicine – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Gerty Cori, Bernardo Houssay
• Literature – André Gide
• Peace – The Friends Service Council and The American Friends Service Committee, on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends