1972

Events

January

• January 1 – Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• January 2 – Pierre Hotel Robbery: Six men rob the safe deposit boxes of The Pierre hotel in New York City of at least $4 million.
• January 3 – MGM's 1951 Show Boat is presented on television by NBC for the first time. This marks the first complete network telecast of any version of Show Boat.
• January 4
• * The first scientific hand-held calculator is introduced.
• * Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge at the Old Bailey in London.
• January 5 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
• January 7
• * Iberia Airlines Flight 602 crashes into a 462-meter peak on the island of Ibiza; 104 are killed.
• * Howard Hughes speaks to the press by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's hoax biography of him.
• January 9 – The RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.
• January 10 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to Bangladesh after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.
• January 11 – East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
• January 13 – Prime Minister of Ghana Kofi Abrefa Busia is overthrown in a military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
• January 14 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark succeeds her father, King Frederick IX, on the throne of Denmark, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
• January 16 - Super Bowl VI: the Dallas Cowboys win their first National Football League championship, defeating the Miami Dolphins 24–3 in New Orleans.
• January 19 – The Libertarian enclave Minerva on a platform in the South Pacific, sponsored by the Phoenix Foundation, declares independence. Soon neighboring Tonga annexes the area and dismantles the platform.
• January 20
• * President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announces that Pakistan will immediately begin a nuclear weapons program.
• * Fears are growing about the economy of the United Kingdom, where unemployment is now exceeding 1 million for the first time since World War II.
• January 21
• * A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party; 100 die.
• * Tripura, part of the former independent Twipra Kingdom, becomes a full state of India.
• January 24 – Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi is discovered in Guam; he had spent 28 years in the jungle.
• January 25 – Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman, announces her candidacy for president.
• January 26
• * Yugoslavian air stewardess Vesna Vulović is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling 10,160 meters in the tail section of the aircraft.
• * The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is set up on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.
• January 27 – Two New York City Police Department officers, Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie, are assassinated by members of the Black Liberation Army while on foot patrol in New York's East Village area.
• January 30
• * Bloody Sunday: The British Army kills 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.
• * Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
• January 31 – King Birendra succeeds his father as King of Nepal.

  February

• February 2
• * A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin, killing Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder.
• * The German militant group 2 June Movement announces its support of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
• * Anti-British riots take place throughout Ireland. The British Embassy in Dublin is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses.
• * The last draft lottery is held, a watershed event in the wind-down of military conscription in the United States during the Vietnam era. These draft candidates are never called to duty.
• February 3-13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
• February 4 - Mariner 9 sends pictures as it orbits Mars.
• February 5
• *Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• February 9 - The British government declares a state of emergency over a miners' strike.
• February 15
• * President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.
• * Phonorecords are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
• February 17 - Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.
• February 18 - The California Supreme Court voids the state's death penalty, commuting all death sentences to life in prison.
• February 19 - Asama-Sansō incident: Five United Red Army members break into a lodge below Mount Asama, taking the wife of the lodge keeper hostage.
• February 21 - The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
• February 21 - February 28 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
• February 22
• * Aldershot Bombing: An Official IRA bomb kills seven in Aldershot, England.
• * Lufthansa Flight 649 is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released the following day after a ransom of 5 million US dollars is agreed.
• February 23 - Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
• February 24 - North Vietnamese negotiators walk out of the Paris Peace Talks to protest U.S. air raids.
• February 26
• * A coal sludge spill kills 125 people in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia.
• * Luna 20 comes back to Earth with 55 grams of lunar soil.
• February 28 - The Asama-Sanso incident ends in a standoff between 5 members of the Japanese United Red Army and the authorities, in which two policemen are killed and 12 injured.

  March

• March 1
• * The Thai province Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
• * The Club of Rome publishes its report The Limits to Growth.
• * Juan María Bordaberry is sworn in as President of Uruguay amid accusations of election fraud.
• March 2
• * The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
• * Jean-Bédel Bokassa becomes President of the Central African Republic.
• March 3
• * Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain in the U.S. state of Georgia.
• * Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashed into a house on Edgewood Avenue in Albany, New York, killing 16 of the 47 persons on board, and one person in an upstairs apartment. The impact happened at 8:48 pm after the commuter plane lost power during a snowstorm.
• * Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull is released, a concept album supposedly written by an 8-year-old boy, Gerald Bostock.
• March 4
• * Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.
• * The Organisation of the Islamic Conference Charter is signed.
• March 5 - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves the Greek Communist Party.
• March 13
• * The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China elevate diplomatic exchanges to the ambassadorial level after 22 years.
• * Clifford Irving admits to a New York court that he had fabricated Howard Hughes' "autobiography".
• March 15 - The Godfather has its premiere at the Loew's State Theatre in New York City.
• March 16 - The first building of the Pruitt–Igoe housing development in St. Louis is destroyed.
• March 19 - India and Bangladesh sign the Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace.
• March 22 - The 92nd U.S. Congress votes to send the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
• March 24 - The British government announces the prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the introduction of 'Direct Rule' of Northern Ireland, after the Unionist government refuses to cede security powers.
• March 25 - Après toi sung by Vicky Leandros wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 for Luxembourg.
• March 26
• * An avalanche on Mount Fuji kills 19 climbers.
• * The last trolleybus system in the United Kingdom closes in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire after over 60 years of operation.
• * After 14 years, the last of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts is telecast by CBS. This last concert is devoted to Gustav Holst's The Planets.
• March 27 - The First Sudanese Civil War ends.
• March 30
• * Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone of South Vietnam
• * The Parliament of Northern Ireland is suspended.

  April

• April 7 – Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy Jr. hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000; he is later captured.
• April 10
• * The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to ban biological warfare.
• * Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
• * The 6.7 Qir earthquake shook southern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX, killing 5,374 people in the province of Fars.
• * The 44th Annual Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
• April 12 – The X-rated animated movie Fritz the Cat is released.
• April 13 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
• April 16
• * Apollo 16 is launched. During the mission, the astronauts, driving the Lunar Roving Vehicle, achieve a lunar rover speed record of 18 km/h.
• * Vietnam War – Nguyen Hue Offensive: Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• April 17 – The first Boston Marathon in which women are officially allowed to compete.
• April 22 – Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
• April 26 – The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar enters service with Eastern Airlines.
• April 27
• * The Burundian Genocide against the Hutu begins; more than 500,000 Hutus die.
• * A no-confidence vote against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.
• April 29 – The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and for using marijuana.

  May

• May 2 - Fire at the Sunshine Mine, a silver mine in Idaho, kills 91.
• May 5 - An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily; 115 die.
• May 7 - General elections are held in Italy.
• May 8 - U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam.
• May 10 - Operation Linebacker and Operation Custom Tailor begin with large-scale bombing operations against North Vietnam by tactical fighter aircraft.
• May 11 - The Boston Bruins defeat the New York Rangers four games to two to win the Stanley Cup.
• May 13 - A fire in a nightclub atop the Sennichi department store in Osaka, Japan, kills 115.
• May 15
• * Okinawa is returned to Japan after 27 years of United States occupation.
• * Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot and paralyzed by Arthur Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland, political rally.
• May 16 - The first financial derivatives exchange, the International Monetary Market, opens on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
• May 18 - Four troopers of the British Special Air Service and Special Boat Service are parachuted onto the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 across the Atlantic after a bomb threat and ransom demand which turn out to be bogus.
• May 19 - Three out of six bombs explode in the Axel Springer AG media company offices in Hamburg, Germany, injuring 17; the Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
• May 21 - In St. Peter's Basilica, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's Pietà statue with a geologist's hammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
• May 22
• * The Dominion of Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when its new constitution is ratified.
• * Ferit Melen forms the new government of Turkey
• May 23 - The Tamil United Front, a pro-Tamil organization, is founded in Sri Lanka.
• May 24
• * Scottish Association football club Rangers F.C. win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating FC Dynamo Moscow 3–2 in the final at Camp Nou in Barcelona. A pitch invasion by their supporters leads to the team being banned from defending the trophy the following season.
• * A Red Army Faction bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany; three U.S. soldiers are killed.
• * The Magnavox Odyssey video game system is first demoed, marking the dawn of the video game age; it goes on sale to the public in August.
• May 26
• * Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.
• * Wernher von Braun retires from NASA, frustrated by the agency's unwillingness to pursue a manned trans-orbital space program.
• * Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
• May 27 - Mark Donohue wins the Indianapolis 500 in the Penske Racing McLaren–Offenhauser.
• May 30
• * The Angry Brigade goes on trial in the United Kingdom.
• * Three Japanese Red Army members kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.

  June

• June - Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company.
• June 2 - Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe, Holger Meins and some other members of the Red Army Faction are arrested in Frankfurt am Main after a shootout.
• June 3 - Sally Priesand becomes the first female U.S. rabbi.
• June 4 - Angela Davis is found not guilty of murder.
• June 5-16 – The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is held in Stockholm, Sweden
• June 8
• * Seven men and three women hijack a plane from Czechoslovakia to West Germany.
• * Vietnam War: Associated Press photographer Nick Ut takes his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc running down a road after being burned by napalm.
• June 9 - The Black Hills flood kills 238 in South Dakota.
• June 11 - Henri Pescarolo and co-driver former World Drivers' Champion Graham Hill win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Equipe Matra MS670.
• June 14-23 - Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. East Coast.
• June 14
• *Japan Airlines Flight 471 crashes outside of New Delhi airport, killing 82 of 87 occupants.
• *The first Popeyes fried chicken restaurant opens in the New Orleans suburb of Arabi, Louisiana.
• June 15 - Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller of the Red Army Faction are arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany.
• June 15-18 - The first U.S. Libertarian Party National Convention is held in Denver, Colorado.
• June 16 - 108 die as two passenger trains hit the debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons, France.
• June 17
• * Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
• * The United States returns Okinawa, occupied and governed since the World War II Battle of Okinawa, to Japan.
• * Chilean president Salvador Allende forms a new government.
• June 18
• * Staines air disaster: 118 die when a Trident 1 jet airliner crashes two minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport.
• * West Germany beats the Soviet Union 3–0 to win Euro 72.
• * Hong Kong's worst flooding and landslides in recorded history with of rainfall in the previous three days. 67 people die due to building collapses in Mid-levels districts landslide and building collapses, with a further 83 due to flooding-related fatalities. It is the second worst fatality due to building collapses, and the worst flooding in Hong Kong's recorded history.
• June 23 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
• June 26 - Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-found Atari, Inc.
• June 28 - U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
• June 29 - Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that capital punishment is unconstitutional.
• June 30 - The International Time Bureau adds the first leap second to Coordinated Universal Time at the end of the month.

  July

• July - U.S. actress Jane Fonda tours North Vietnam, during which she is photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.
• July 1
• * The Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters, to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.
• * The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from the IRS.
• July 2 - Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes bilaterally.
• July 4 - The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.
• July 8 - The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
• July 10 - India's news agency reports that at least 24 people have been killed in separate incidents, in the Chandka Forest in India, by elephants crazed by heat and drought.
• July 11
• * The long anticipated chess match between world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, and United States champion Bobby Fischer, began in Iceland at Reykjavík.
• * Curtis Mayfield releases the soundtrack to the 1972 film, Super Fly.
• July 10-14 - The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for president. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.
• July 15 - The Pruitt–Igoe housing development is demolished in St. Louis, Missouri.
• July 18 - Anwar Sadat expels 20,000 Soviet advisors from Egypt.
• July 21
• * Bloody Friday: 22 bombs planted by the Provisional IRA explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland; nine people are killed and 130 seriously injured.
• * Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee police for public obscenity, for reciting his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" at Summerfest.
• * A collision between two trains near Seville, Spain kills 76 people.
• July 23 - The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
• July 24 - King Jigme Singye Wangchuck succeeds his father Jigme Dorji Wangchuck as king of Bhutan.
• July 25 - U.S. health officials admit that African-Americans were used as guinea pigs in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.
• July 27 - The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle makes its first flight.
• July 28 - A national dock strike begins in Britain.
• July 31 - The Troubles, Northern Ireland:
• * Operation Motorman 4:00 AM: The British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry and Newry.
• * Claudy bombing, 10:00 AM: Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his role was covered up by the authorities.

  August

• August 1 – U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, withdraws from the race after revealing he was once treated for mental illness.
• August 4
• * Arthur Bremer is jailed for 63 years for shooting George Wallace.
• * Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within 3 months.
• * A huge solar flare knocks out cable lines in U.S. It begins with the appearance of sunspots on August 2; an August 4 flare kicks off high levels of activity until August 10.
• August 10 – A brilliant, daytime meteor skips off the Earth's atmosphere due to an Apollo asteroid streaking over the western US into Canada.
• August 12 - Oil tankers Oswego-Guardian and Texanita collide near Stilbaai, South Africa.
• August 14 – An East German Ilyushin airliner crashes near East Berlin; all 156 on board perish.
• August 16 – As part of a coup attempt, members of the Royal Moroccan Air Force fire upon, but fail to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
• August 19 – The first daytime episode of the second incarnation of American game show The Price Is Right is taped at CBS Television City, to be aired on September 4.
• August 21 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.
• August 22
• * Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.
• * John Wojtowicz, 27, and Sal Naturile, 18, hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Gravesend, Brooklyn, N.Y..
• * In the Almirante Zar Naval Base, Argentina, 16 detainees are executed by firing squad in the Trelew massacre.
• August 26 – September 10 – The 1972 Summer Olympics are held in Munich, West Germany.

  September

• September 1
• * Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match in Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American world chess champion.
• * The Second Cod War begins between the United Kingdom and Iceland.
• September 4 - The first daytime episode of the second incarnation of American game show The Price Is Right, hosted by Bob Barker, is aired on CBS. Gambit and The Joker's Wild also premiere.
• September 5-6 - Munich massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; five guerillas and one policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.
• September 10 - The Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and becomes the youngest Formula One World Champion.
• September 14 - West Germany and Poland renew diplomatic relations.
• September 17
• * Uganda announces that there are Tanzanian troops in its territory.
• * The television series M*A*S*H begins its run on CBS.
• September 18 - São Paulo Metro is inaugurated in Brazil.
• September 19 - A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.
• September 23 - Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos announces on national television the issuance of Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.: Martial law in the Philippines.
• September 24 - An F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport fails to become airborne and crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, killing 12 children and 11 adults.
• September 25 - 1972 Norwegian EC referendum: Norway rejects membership in the European Economic Community.
• September 28 - The Canadian national men's hockey team defeats the Soviet national ice hockey team in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series, 6–5, to win the series 4–3–1.
• September 29 - Sino-Japanese relations: The Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China is signed in Beijing, which normalizes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.
• September 30 - Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente collects his 3,000 career base hit against the New York Mets. It was to be his final hit of his career due to his tragic death in a plane crash three months later.

  October

• October - The government of former President of Somalia Mohamed Siad Barre formally introduces the Somali alphabet as Somalia's official writing script.
• October 1
• * The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.
• * Alex Comfort's bestselling manual The Joy of Sex is published.
• October 2 - Denmark joins the European Community; the Faroe Islands stay out.
• October 5 - The United Reformed Church is founded out of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.
• October 6 - A train crash in Saltillo, Mexico kills 208 people.
• October 8
• *A major breakthrough occurs in the Paris peace talks between Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ.
• * R. Sargent Shriver is chosen to replace Thomas Eagleton as the U.S. vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
• October 12 - En route to the Gulf of Tonkin, an anti-war protest, the USS Kitty Hawk riot led by African-Americans and interpreted by some as a race riot involving more than 200 sailors, breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk; nearly 50 sailors are injured.
• October 13 - Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A Fairchild FH-227D passenger aircraft transporting a rugby union team crashes at about in the Andes mountain range, near the Argentina/Chile border. Sixteen of the survivors are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive.
• October 16
• * Emmerdale, a British soap opera, debuts.
• * A plane carrying U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana and three other men vanishes in Alaska. The wreckage has never been found, despite a massive search at the time.
• * Rioting Maze Prison inmates cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
• October 17 - Elizabeth II visits Yugoslavia.
• October 22 - The Oakland Athletics defeat the Cincinnati Reds four games to three to capture Major League Baseball's World Series. It is the Athletics' first championship since 1930, when the franchise was in Philadelphia.
• October 24 - Jackie Robinson, the first black player in modern Major League Baseball history, dies at his home in Stamford, Connecticut at the age of 53.
• October 25
• * The first female FBI agents are hired.
• * Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record in cycling in Mexico City.
• October 26 - Following a visit to South Vietnam, U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger suggests that "peace is at hand."
• October 28 - The Airbus A300 flies for the first time.
• October 29 - Lufthansa Flight 615 is hijacked and threats are made to be blown up if the three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre are not released from prison in West Germany. The demands are accepted, leading to fierce condemnation by Israel.
• October 30
• * U.S. President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
• * A commuter train collision in Chicago kills 45, injures hundreds.

  November

• November
• * At a scientific meeting in Honolulu, Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen conceive the concept of recombinant DNA. They publish their results in November 1973 in PNAS. Separately in 1972, Paul Berg also recombines DNA in a test tube. Recombinant DNA technology has dramatically changed the field of biological sciences, especially biotechnology, and opened the door to genetically modified organisms.
• * The Nishitetsu Lions baseball club, part of the NPB's Pacific League, is sold to the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation, a subsidiary of Nishi-Nippon Railroad. The team is renamed the Taiheiyo Club Lions.
• November 5 - A group of Amerindians occupies the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• November 7 - 1972 U.S. presidential election: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide.
• November 11 - Vietnam War - Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
• November 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 for the first time.
• November 16 - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
• November 19 - Seán Mac Stíofáin, a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is arrested in Dublin after giving an interview to RTÉ.
• November 22 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
• November 28 - The last executions in Paris, France. Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet – the Clairvaux Mutineers – are guillotined at La Santé Prison by chief executioner André Obrecht. Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice is condemned to death anyway. President Georges Pompidou, in private an abolitionist, upholds both death sentences in deference to French public opinion.
• November 29
• * Atari, Inc. kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of Pong, the first game to achieve commercial success.'' is released.
• * The "tea house" Mellow Yellow opens on the Amstel River in Amsterdam, pioneering the legal sale of cannabis in the Netherlands.
• November 30
• * Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States troop withdrawals from Vietnam, due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
• * Cod War: British Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home says that Royal Navy ships will be stationed to protect British trawlers off Iceland.

  December

• December 2 - 1972 Australian federal election: The Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam defeats the Liberal/Country Coalition Government led by Prime Minister William McMahon. Consequently, Whitlam becomes the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia since the defeat of Ben Chifley in 1949. Whitlam would be sworn in on December 5th; his first action using executive power was to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War. McMahon resigned from the Liberal leadership almost immediately; he would be replaced by outgoing Treasurer Billy Snedden.
• December 7
• * Apollo 17, the last manned Moon mission to date, is launched and The Blue Marble photograph of the Earth is taken. The mission also includes five mice.
• * The Provisional Irish Republican Army kidnaps Jean McConville in Belfast.
• * Imelda Marcos is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot him.
• December 8
• * United Airlines Flight 553 crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 passengers and two people on the ground.
• * Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
• * International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.
• December 11 - Apollo 17 lands on the Moon.
• December 14 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity of Apollo 17. This is currently the last manned mission to the Moon.
• December 15
• * The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.
• * The United Nations Environment Programme is established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• December 16
• * The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.
• * The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.
• December 19 - Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.
• December 21
• * East Germany and West Germany recognize each other.
• * ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.
• December 22
• * Australia establishes diplomatic relations with China and East Germany.
• * A peace delegation that includes singer-activist Joan Baez and human rights attorney Telford Taylor visit Hanoi to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war.
• December 23
• * The 6.2 Nicaragua earthquake kills 5,000–11,000 people in the capital Managua. President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is later accused of not distributing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid.
• * The Pittsburgh Steelers win their first ever post-season NFL game, defeating the Oakland Raiders 13–7, on a last second play that becomes known as The Immaculate Reception.
• * Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
• * Braathens SAFE Flight 239, also known as the Asker Accident: Aircraft crashed during approach to Oslo Airport, Fornebu, Norway. Forty people on board were killed.
• December 25 - The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam causes widespread criticism of the U.S. and President Richard Nixon.
• December 26 - Former United States President Harry S. Truman dies in Kansas City, Missouri.
• December 28 - The bones of Martin Bormann are identified in Berlin.
• December 29 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 176 on board. It is the first hull-loss of a wide-body aircraft.
• December 31
• * Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
• * For the first and last time, a 2nd leap second is added to a year, making 1972 366 days and two seconds long, the longest year ever within the context of UTC.
• * The US ban on the pesticide DDT takes effect.

  Date unknown

• The International Year of the Book is designated by UNESCO.
• The last major epidemic of smallpox in Europe breaks out in Yugoslavia.
• The United Kingdom begin to train Special Air Service for anti-terrorist duties in response to the Munich massacre
• The first women are admitted to Dartmouth College in the United States.
• Colombian looters find Ciudad Perdida but keep it a secret until the government reveals it in 1975.
• The Yellow River dries up for the first time in known history.
• Worship of Norse gods is officially approved in Iceland.
• The Climatic Research Unit is founded by climatologist Hubert Lamb at the University of East Anglia.
• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bans the cultural organization Matica hrvatska, founded in 1842.
• The German company SAP AG is founded.
• Kadir Nurman introduces a sandwich made with döner kebab meat as a fast-food item in Berlin.
• Burt Reynolds poses nude for the centerfold of the April edition of Cosmopolitan.
• Film director Stanley Kubrick asks Warner Bros. to withdraw A Clockwork Orange from exhibition in the UK following death threats made against his family. The film does not receive a public viewing in the country for another 27 years.
• Motown moves all of its operations from Detroit to Los Angeles in June.

  Births

January

• January 1
• * Sharon Blynn, American actress and cancer activist
• * Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• * Jennifer Hale, American voice actress
• * Barron Miles, Canadian defensive back for the BC Lions in the CFL
• * Lilian Thuram, French football player
• January 2
• * Eduardo Pereira, Timorese footballer
• * Shiraz Minwalla, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
• January 4 – Brad Zavisha, Canadian ice hockey player
• January 5
• * Jang Seo-hee, South Korean actress
• * Sakis Rouvas, Greek recording, film and television artist; model; businessman and former pole vaulter
• January 9 – Mat Hoffman, American BMX rider
• January 10 – Thomas Alsgaard, Norwegian cross-country skier
• January 11 – Amanda Peet, American actress
• January 12
• * Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
• *Toto Wolff, Austrian former race car driver, team principal
• January 13
• * Nicole Eggert, American actress
• * Yukiko Iwai, Japanese voice actress
• * Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
• January 15
• * Il Mi Chung, South Korean golfer
• * Claudia Winkleman, British television presenter
• * Yang Yong-eun, South Korean golfer
• January 16
• * Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• * Ang Christou, Australian rules footballer
• * Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor and voice actor
• * Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer
• * Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
• * Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
• * Joe Horn, American football player
• * Greg Page, Australian musician and actor
• * Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
• January 17 – Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
• January 17 - Kang Hui, Chinese anchor
• January 18 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
• January 19 – Angham, Egyptian singer, record producer and actress
• January 20 – Nikki Haley, Indian-American politician, Governor of South Carolina and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• January 21
• * Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer
• * Brett Mullins, Australian rugby league player
• January 22
• * Gabriel Macht, American actor
• * Romi Park, Japanese voice actress
• January 23
• * Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
• * Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
• January 25 – Chantal Andere, Mexican actress
• January 27
• * Wynne Evans, Welsh operatic tenor
• *Bibi Gaytán, Mexican singer and actress
• * Mark Owen, British pop singer
• * Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
• January 29 – Matt Brandstein, American writer

  February

• February 1 – Tego Calderón, Puerto Rican hip hop musician and actor
• February 2
• * Dana International, Israeli transsexual singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1998 winner
• * Klára Dobrev, wife of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
• *Naheed Nenshi, Canadian politician, Mayor of Calgary
• * Hendrick Ramaala, South African long-distance runner
• * Hisashi Tonomura, Japanese musician
• February 3 – Jesper Kyd, Danish video game composer
• February 4
• * Paul Anthony McDermott, Irish lawyer and academic
• * Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
• February 5
• * Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
• * Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
• * Kristopher Carter, American composer
• * Brad Fittler, Australian rugby league player and coach
• February 6 – Maurice Clemmons, American felon
• February 7
• * Robyn Lively, American actress
• * Jamie Shannon, Canadian actor and director
• February 8 – Big Show, American professional wrestler
• February 9
• * Crispin Freeman, American voice actor
• * Norbert Rózsa, Hungarian swimmer
• February 11
• * Craig Jones, American musician
• * Steve McManaman, British footballer
• * Kelly Slater, American professional surfer
• February 13 – Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower
• February 14
• * Drew Bledsoe, American football player
• * Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter
• February 15 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player
• February 16
• * Jerome Bettis, American football player
• *Vicki Butler-Henderson, British motoring journalist,, TV presenter and racing driver
• February 17
• * Billie Joe Armstrong, American rock musician and lead singer/guitarist
• * Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
• * Yuki Isoya, Japanese singer
• * Ralphie May, American stand-up comedian and actor
• * Valeria Mazza, Argentinean model and businesswoman
• February 18 – Olexandra Timoshenko, Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast
• February 19 – Malky Mackay, Scottish footballer
• February 20 - Todd Graves, American entrepreneur & founder of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
• February 21 – Seo Taiji, Korean musician
• February 22
• * Michael Chang, American tennis player
• * Claudia Pechstein, German speed-skater
• February 24
• * Pooja Bhatt, Indian actress
• * Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete
• * James Bachman, English comedian, actor and writer
• February 25 – Jaak Mae, Estonian cross-country skier
• February 26
• * Keith Ferguson, American voice actor
• * Maz Jobrani, Iranian-American actor, comedian, and director
• February 29
• * Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian actor
• * Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl
• * Dave Williams, American musician and singer of Drowning Pool
• * Saul Williams, American singer, poet and actor
• * Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain

  March

• March 3
• * Darren Anderton, English footballer
• March 4
• * Nocturno Culto, Norwegian musician
• * Pae Gil-su, North Korean gymnast
• * Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican-American actress, singer-songwriter and record producer
• * Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
• March 6
• * Shaquille O'Neal, African-American basketball player
• * Jaret Reddick, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• March 9
• * Ronald Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actor
• * Spencer Howson, Australian radio announcer
• * Travis Lane Stork, American emergency room physician and television personality
• * Kerr Smith, American actor
• * Jean Louisa Kelly, American actress
• March 10
• * Takashi Fujii, Japanese television performer
• * Matt Kenseth, American race car driver
• * Michael Lucas, Russian gay pornographic actor and director
• * Timbaland, American record producer, songwriter and rapper
• March 13
• * Leigh-Allyn Baker, American actress
• * Common, African-American rapper and actor
• * Trent Dilfer, American football player
• * Reshef Levi, Israeli comedian
• March 15
• * Mark Hoppus, American musician and bassist
• * Erik S. Kristensen, American U.S. Navy SEAL
• March 17
• * Mia Hamm, American soccer player
• * Paige Hemmis, American television personality
• * Sean Price, American rapper
• March 18 – Dane Cook, American comedian
• March 21
• * Chris Candido, American professional wrestler
• * Balázs Kiss, Hungarian Olympic athlete
• * Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• March 22
• * Shawn Bradley, American basketball player
• * Cory Lidle, American baseball player
• * Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
• March 23
• * Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
• * Judith Godrèche, French actress
• March 26 – Leslie Mann, American actress and comedian
• March 27
• * Kieran Modra, Australian swimmer and cyclist
• * Ignacio Garrido, Spanish golfer
• * Charlie Haas, American professional wrestler
• * Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
• * Ben Richards, British actor, better known for his role in The Bill
• March 28
• * Nick Frost, English actor, comedian and screenwriter
• * Eby J. Jose, Indian journalist and human rights activist
• March 29
• * Hera Björk, Icelandic singer
• *Priti Patel, British Indian politician, Secretary of State for the Home Department
• * Junichi Suwabe, Japanese voice actor
• March 30 – Karel Poborský, Czech Republic football player

  April

• April 3 – Jennie Garth, American actress
• April 4
• * Tag Adams, American pornographic film actor
• * Bastian Pastewka, German comedian and actor
• * Lisa Ray, Canadian model and actress
• April 5 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese voice actress
• April 6 – Jason Hervey, American actor
• April 8
• * Ariel Hernandez, Cuban boxer
• * Sung Kang, Korean actor
• April 7 – Tim Peake, British astronaut
• April 9 – Bernard Ackah, Ivorian mixed martial artist and comedian
• April 10 – Vincent Zhao, Chinese actor and martial artist
• April 11
• * Balls Mahoney, American professional wrestler
• * Jason Varitek, American baseball player
• April 12 – Şebnem Ferah, Turkish singer and songwriter
• April 13 – Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
• April 14 – Dean Potter, American free climber
• April 15
• * Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
• * Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer
• April 16 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish tennis player
• April 17
• * Tony Boselli, American football player
• * Jennifer Garner, American actress
• * Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
• * Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
• April 19 – Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
• April 20
• * Lê Huỳnh Đức, Vietnamese footballer
• * Carmen Electra, American actress and singer
• * Željko Joksimović, Serbian singer, composer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer
• * Marko Kon, Serbian composer, producer and singer
• * Stephen Marley, Jamaican-American musician
• April 23
• * Amira Medunjanin, singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
• * Choky Ice, Hungarian porn actor
• April 24
• * Chad I Ginsburg, American musician and record producer
• * Chipper Jones, American baseball player
• April 26 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer
• April 27 – David Lascher, American actor
• April 29 – Fredrik Kempe, Swedish songwriter and opera and pop singer
• April 30 – Takako Tokiwa, Japanese actress

  May

• May 1 – Julie Benz, American actress
• May 2
• * Paul Adcock, English footballer
• * Dwayne Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor
• May 3
• * Katya Adler, British-born international broadcast journalist
• * Vyacheslav Kozlov, Russian hockey player
• May 4 – Mike Dirnt, American rock musician and bassist
• May 5
• *Devin Townsend, Canadian musician
• *James Cracknell, British Olympic winning rower
• May 6
• * Janne Blomqvist, Finnish swimmer
• * Martin Brodeur, Canadian hockey goaltender
• * Naoko Takahashi, Japanese long-distance runner
• May 7 – Asghar Farhadi, Iranian film director
• May 8
• * Darren Hayes, Australian musician
• * Ray Whitney, Canadian ice hockey player
• May 9
• * Lisa Ann, American pornographic actress
• * Daniela Silivaș, Romanian gymnast
• May 10
• * Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
• * Katja Seizinger, German alpine skier
• May 12 – Rhea Seehorn, American actress
• May 14 – Amma Asante, Dutch politician
• May 15 – Richard Blackwood, English comedian, actor and rapper
• May 16
• * Derek Mears, American actor/stuntman
• * Khary Payton, American actor
• May 17
• * Tyson Cane, American gay pornographic actor
• * Roman Genn, Russian artist
• May 19
• * Jenny Berggren, Swedish rock singer
• * Claudia Karvan, Australian actress
• May 20
• * Andreas Lundstedt, Swedish singer and actor
• * Busta Rhymes, African-American rapper and actor
• May 21
• * The Notorious B.I.G., African-American rapper
• * Kaoru Fujino, Japanese voice actress
• May 22
• * Max Brooks, American horror author and screenwriter
• * Alison Eastwood, American actress
• May 23 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
• May 24 – Maia Sandu, Prime Minister of Moldova
• May 25
• * Karan Johar, Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter
• * Jules Jordan, American pornographic movie director, actor and producer
• * Octavia Spencer, African-American actress, author and producer
• May 26 – Ahmad Dhani, Indonesian rock musician, songwriter, arranger, producer and politician
• May 27 – Ivete Sangalo, Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress and television show host
• May 28 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
• May 29
• *Laverne Cox, American actress and LGBT advocat
• *Stanislas Renoult, French singer
• May 30 – Manny Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
• May 31
• * Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
• * Sarah Murdoch, Australian model, actress and television presenter
• * Dave Roberts, American baseball player

  June

• June 1
• * Daniel Casey, English actor
• * Rick Gomez, American actor and voice actor
• June 2
• * Wayne Brady, African-American comedian
• * Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter
• June 4
• * Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey player
• * Debra Stephenson, English actress
• * Stoja, Serbian pop-folk singer
• June 5
• * Mike Bucci, American professional wrestler
• * Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor
• * Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
• June 6
• * Noriaki Kasai, Japanese ski jumper
• * Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
• June 7 – Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
• June 8 – Chapman To, Hong Kong actor
• June 10 – Steven Fischer, American film producer and director
• June 11 – Stephen Kearney, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
• June 12 – Kyle Lake, American pastor
• June 14 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist
• June 15
• * Marcus Hahnemann, American retired soccer player
• * Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
• June 16 – John Cho, Korean-American actor and musician
• June 17
• * Rikrok, British-Jamaican singer
• * Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
• * C. H. Greenblatt, American animator
• June 18 – Michal Yannai, Israeli actress
• June 19
• * Jean Dujardin, French actor, comedian, and film director
• * Rayveness, American porn actress
• June 20 – Shane Hamman, American Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter
• June 21
• * Benjamin Byron Davis, American actor, writer, director and acting coach
• * Irene van Dyk, South African and New Zealand netball player
• June 22 – Miguel del Toro, Mexican baseball player
• June 23 – Zinedine Zidane, French-Algerian footballer and manager
• June 24
• * Robbie McEwen, Australian professional road bicycle racer
• * Denis Žvegelj, Slovenian rower
• * Kim Yeo-jin, South Korean actress and activist
• June 25
• * Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
• * Chokoleit, Filipino actor and comedian
• June 27 – Christian Kane, American actor and singer-songwriter
• June 28
• * Geeta Tripathee, Nepali poet, lyricist and literary critic
• * Maria Butyrskaya, Russian figure skater
• * Jon Heidenreich, American professional wrestler
• June 29
• * Samantha Smith, American peace activist
• * Nawal Al Zoghbi, Lebanese singer
• June 30
• * Molly Parker, Canadian actress
• * Fabiano Scherner, German-Brazilian mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt

  July

• July 1
• * Christopher Smiyh, British film director and screenwriter
• * Steve Little, American actor and comedian
• July 2
• * Darren Shan, British author
• * Coster Balakasi, Zimbabwean sculptor
• July 3
• * Henrik Fritzon, Swedish politician
• * Aleksei Kulashko, New Zealand chess player
• July 4
• * Nina Badrić, Croatian pop singer
• * Alexei Shirov, Spanish chess Grandmaster
• * Craig Spearman, New Zealand cricketer
• * Shira Arad, Israeli film editor and musical supervisor
• July 5
• * Ted Price, American businessman and video game designer
• * Robert Esmie, American Olympic athlete
• * Gilles Lellouche, French actor
• July 6
• * Isabelle Boulay, French Canadian singer
• * Mark Gasser, British concert pianist
• * Levent Üzümcü, Turkish actor
• July 7
• * Lisa Leslie, American basketball player
• * Stoney Case, American football player
• * Kirsten Vangsness, American actress and writer
• July 8
• * Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
• * Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
• * Victor Mikhalevski, Israeli chess grandmaster
• July 10
• * Rosnah Shirlin, Malaysian politician
• * Sofía Vergara, Colombian actress and model
• * Peter Serafinowicz, English actor, voice actor, comedian, and writer
• * Tilo Wolff, German musician
• * John Viener, American actor, voice actor, writer, and comedian
• * Julián Legaspi, Uruguayan-Peruvian actor
• * Christoph Hochhäusler, German film director and screenwriter
• July 11 – Michael Rosenbaum, American actor, producer and comedian
• July 12
• * Gabriel Garko, Italian actor and fashion model
• * Travis Best, American basketball player
• * Nenad Jezdić, Serbian actor
• * Jake Wood, English actor
• July 13 – Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
• July 14
• * Deborah Mailman, Australian actress and singer
• * Masami Suzuki, Japanese voice actress
• July 15
• * Scott Foley, American actor, director and screenwriter
• * Chitalu Chilufya, Zambian doctor and politician
• July 18 – Fredrik Åkesson, Swedish guitarist
• July 19
• * Naohito Fujiki, Japanese actor and singer
• * Daedalus Howell, American writer and filmmaker
• July 20 – Jozef Stümpel, Slovak professional ice hockey
• July 21
• * Justin Edwards, English actor and writer
• * Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan long-distance runner
• * Josué Guébo, Ivorian academic
• July 22
• * Andrew Holness, 9th Prime Minister of Jamaica
• * Keyshawn Johnson, American football player
• July 23 – Marlon Wayans, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
• July 26 – Nathan Buckley, Australian rules footballer
• July 27
• * Takako Fuji, Japanese actress
• * Clint Robinson, Australian kayaker
• * Maya Rudolph, American actress, comedian
• * Takashi Shimizu, Japanese director
• * Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and the first commercial astronaut
• July 28
• * Elizabeth Berkley, American actress
• * Evan Farmer, American television host, actor, and musician
• * Yum Jung-ah, South Korean actress
• July 29 – Wil Wheaton, American actor
• July 31 – Tami Stronach, Iranian-born dancer and former actress

  August

• August 1
• * Marc Costanzo, Canadian musician
• * Devon Hughes, American professional wrestler
• August 2
• * Chris Bender, American R&B singer
• * Kelly Richardson, Canadian contemporary artist
• August 3
• * Patrik Isaksson, Swedish singer and songwriter
• * Atsunori Inaba, Japanese baseball manager and player
• August 6 – Geri Halliwell, British pop singer
• August 7
• * Sarah Cawood, British television presenter
• * Karen Disher, American film director
• August 9 – A-mei, Taiwanese singer
• August 10 – Angie Harmon, American actress
• August 11 – Jonathon Prandi, American model and actor
• August 12
• * Demir Demirkan, Turkish rock musician and songwriter
• * Jonathan Coachman, American World Wrestling Entertainment announcer
• August 13
• * Kevin Plank, American entrepreneur
• * Michael Sinterniklaas, French-born American voice actor
• August 14
• * Takako Honda, Japanese voice actress
• * Yoo Jae-suk, South Korean comedian and television comedy show host
• * Ed O'Bannon, American basketball player
• August 15
• * Ben Affleck, American actor and film director
• * Mikey Graham, Irish singer
• * Jonathan Slinger, British actor
• August 16
• * Frankie Boyle, Scottish comedian
• * Emily Robison, American country music performer
• August 18 – Leo Ku, Hong Kong actor and singer
• August 19 – Sammi Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actress
• August 20 – Chaney Kley, American actor
• August 23 – Anthony Calvillo, Canadian Football League quarterback
• August 25 – Marvin Harrison, American football player
• August 26 – Samar Kokash, Syrian actress and voice actress
• August 27
• * Denise Lewis, English track and field athlete,
• * Jimmy Pop, American musician
• * Mike Smith, Canadian actor
• * The Great Khali, Indian promoter, actor, powerlifter and professional wrestler
• August 29 – Bae Yong-joon, South Korean actor
• August 30
• * Cameron Diaz, American actress
• * Pavel Nedvěd, Czech footballer

  September

• September 2 – Sergejs Žoltoks, Latvian hockey player
• September 4 – Françoise Yip, Chinese-Canadian actress
• September 6
• * Idris Elba, English actor
• * Martin Gooch, English filmmaker
• * Anika Noni Rose, American actress
• September 7 – Sean Daley, American hip-hop musician
• September 8
• * Giovanni Frezza, Italian actor
• * Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, American disc jockey and political satirist
• * Os du Randt, South African rugby player
• * Tomokazu Seki, Japanese voice actor
• September 9 – Natasha Kaplinsky, English newsreader
• September 10
• * Sara Groves, American Christian musician
• * Bledar Sejko, Albanian guitarist, composer, and singer
• * Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
• * Rio Tahara, Japanese snowboarder
• September 12
• * Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi-American online activist, writer and blogger
• * Gideon Emery, English actor
• * Budi Putra, Indonesian journalist, writer and blogger
• September 13 – Kelly Chen, Hong Kong actress and singer
• September 15
• * Queen Letizia of Spain
• * Jimmy Carr, British comedian
• September 16
• * Sprent Dabwido, Nauruan politician
• * Alessandro "Lord Vampyr" Nunziati, Italian singer, record producer and writer
• * Vebjørn Rodal, Norwegian Olympic athlete
• September 17 – Bobby Lee, Asian-American comedian
• September 19
• * Jim Druckenmiller, National Football League quarterback
• * Ashot Nadanian, Armenian chess player, theoretician and coach
• September 20
• * Victor Ponta, 3-Time Prime Minister of Romania
• * Sergio Di Zio, Canadian actor
• September 21
• * Jon Kitna, American football player
• * Liam Gallagher, British singer
• * Erin Fitzgerald, Canadian-American voice actress
• September 22
• * Dana Vespoli, American porn actress and director
• * Matthew Rush, American gay pornographic actor
• September 23
• *Ana Marie Cox, American author and blogger
• * Karl Pilkington, English radio producer
• * Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese politician
• *Galit Gutman, Israeli female model
• September 24
• * Karyn Bosnak, American author
• * Kate Fleetwood, English actress
• * Finty Williams, English actress
• September 26
• * Beto O’Rourke, American politician, representative of Texas 16th congressional district
• * Shawn Stockman, American singer and musician
• September 27
• * Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
• * Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
• September 28
• * Casper Andreas, American actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer
• * Guta Stresser, Brazilian actress
• * Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist, model, and businesswoman
• September 29 – Robert Webb, comedian and actor
• September 30
• * Ari Behn, Norwegian author
• * José Lima, Dominican baseball player
• * Shaan, Indian singer

  October

• October 1 – Jean Paulo Fernandes, Brazilian footballer
• October 2 – Konstantinos Papadakis, Greek pianist
• October 3
• * Kim Joo-hyuk, South Korean actor
• * Guy Oseary, Israeli-American businessman
• October 5
• * Thomas Roberts, American television journalist
• * Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
• * Grant Hill, African-American basketball player
• October 6
• * Anders Iwers, Swedish musician
• * Ko So-young, South Korean actress
• * J. J. Stokes, American football player
• October 8 – Kim Myung-min, South Korean actor
• October 9 – Etan Patz, missing American schoolboy
• October 10 – Jun Lana, Filipino playwright and screenwriter
• October 11
• * Claudia Black, Australian actress
• * Tamara Gee, American vocalist, songwriter, producer, dancer and model
• October 13 – Danny Lloyd, American actor
• October 12 – Mechele Linehan, American murderer
• October 15 – Sandra Kim, Belgian singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1986 winner
• October 17
• * Eminem, American rapper and actor
• * Sharon Leal, American actress and director
• * Tarkan, Turkish singer
• October 19 – Sayaka Aoki, Japanese voice actress
• October 21
• * Evgeny Afineevsky, Russian-born American film director and producer
• * Masakazu Morita, Japanese voice actor
• * Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
• * Ilaria Latini, Italian voice actress
• October 22 – Saffron Burrows, British actress
• October 24
• * Van Darkholme, Vietnamese-American dungeon master, performance artist and film director
• * T. J. Cunningham, American football player
• * Kim Ji-soo, South Korean actress
• * Scott Peterson, American convicted murderer
• * Pat Williams, American football player
• October 25 – Esther Duflo, French American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
• October 24 – Van Darkholme, Vietnamese-American gay pornographic actor, director and photographer
• October 27
• * Lee Clark, English footballer
• * Elissa, Lebanese singer
• * Marika Krook, Finnish singer
• * Maria de Lurdes Mutola, Mozambican athlete
• * Brad Radke, American baseball player
• October 28
• * Terrell Davis, American football player
• * Brad Paisley, American country music singer-songwriter
• October 29
• * Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
• * Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress
• * Gabrielle Union, American actress
• October 31 –
• * Matt Dawson, English rugby player and TV personality.
• * Pharoahe Monch, American Rapper

  November

• November 1
• * Mario Barth, German comedian
• * Toni Collette, Australian actress, singer, and musician
• * Jenny McCarthy, American actress and model
• * Naoki Yanagi, Japanese voice actor
• November 2
• * Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player
• * Samantha Womack, British actress
• November 4
• * Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
• * Julissa Gomez, American gymnast
• November 5 – Krassimir Avramov, Bulgarian singer and songwriter
• November 6
• * Adonis Georgiades, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister of Health
• * Thandie Newton, British actress
• * Rebecca Romijn, American actress and model
• November 7
• * Danny Grewcock, British rugby player
• * Christopher Daniel Barnes, American actor and voice actor
• * Jason London, American actor
• November 8
• * Gretchen Mol, American actress
• * Maja Marijana, Serbian pop-folk singer
• November 9
• * Eric Dane, American actor
• * Naomi Shindō, Japanese voice actor
• November 10
• * Lou Brutus, American radio host, musician and photographer
• * Shawn Green, American baseball player
• * Trevor Devall, Canadian actor and voice actor
• November 11 – Adam Beach, Canadian actor
• November 13 – Takuya Kimura, Japanese actor
• November 14
• * Matt Bloom, American wrestler
• * Josh Duhamel, American actor and model
• November 15 – Jonny Lee Miller, English-American actor
• November 16
• * Aurelia Dobre, Romanian artistic gymnast
• * Missi Pyle, American actress and singer
• November 18 – Zubeen Garg, Indian Singer
• November 21 – Rain Phoenix, American actress
• November 22
• * Cyril Pedrosa, French comic book artist, colorist and writer
• * Gabe Khouth, Canadian actor and voice actor
• November 23
• * Veronica Avluv, American porn actress
• * Alf-Inge Håland, Norwegian footballer
• November 26 – Arjun Rampal, Indian actor
• November 28 – Jesper Strömblad, Swedish musician
• November 29
• * Brian Baumgartner, American actor and director
• * Andreas Goldberger, Austrian ski jumper
• November 30 – Christopher Fitzgerald, American actor

  December

• December 1 – Stanton Barrett, American stock car racing driver
• December 4
• * Marc Bator, German journalist and television presenter
• * Yūko Miyamura, Japanese voice actress, actress and singer
• December 5 – Stéphane Barthe, French racing cyclist
• December 6 – Mónica Santa María, Peruvian model and TV host
• December 7
• * Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
• * Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestling manager and personality
• * Jason Winer, American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
• December 9 – Tré Cool, American rock musician and drummer
• December 10
• * Puff Johnson, American singer
• * Brian Molko, American musician
• December 11
• * Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish-Canadian former ice hockey player
• * LaMont Smith, American Olympic athlete
• December 12
• * Wilson Kipketer, Kenyan-Danish athlete
• * Brandon Teena, American murder victim
• * Quan Yeomans, Australian musician; leader singer of Regurgitator
• December 13
• * Chris Grant, Australian footballer
• * Mauricio Solís, Costa Rican footballer
• December 14 – Miranda Hart, British Comedian and Actress
• December 15
• * Rodney Harrison, American football player
• * Lee Jung-jae, South Korean actor
• * Stuart Townsend, Irish actor
• December 16
• * Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress
• * Zeljko Kalac, Australian footballer
• December 17 – John Abraham, Indian actor
• December 18
• * Julian Arahanga, New Zealand actor
• * Eimear Quinn, Irish Celtic singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1996 winner
• December 19
• * Alyssa Milano, American actress
• * Rosa Blasi, American actress
• * Warren Sapp, American football player
• December 20 – Gen Urobuchi, Japanese writer
• December 22 – Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress
• December 23
• * Morgan, Italian singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and X Factor judge
• * Christian Potenza, Canadian actor and voice actor
• December 24
• * Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer
• * Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
• December 25
• * Josh Freese, American musician and drummer
• * Qu Yunxia, Chinese middle-distance runner
• December 26
• * Ricardo Tejedo, Mexican actor, voice actor, ADR director, script writer and translator
• * Shane Meadows, English director
• December 27 – Colin Charvis, Welsh rugby player
• December 28
• * Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
• * Adam Vinatieri, American football player
• December 29
• * Jude Law, British actor
• * Barry Atsma, Dutch actor
• December 30 – Kerry Collins, American football player
• December 31 – Joey McIntyre, American actor and singer

  Date unknown

• Artur Żurawski, Polish cinematographer and director
• Imaani, English singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1998 runner-up
• Kathy Vivas, Venezuelan astrophysicist
• Marente de Moor, Dutch writer

  Deaths

January

• January 1
• * Maurice Chevalier, French singer and actor
• * Patriarch Maximus V of Constantinople, Turkish Orthodox Christian bishop
• * Jane Morgan, British-born American actor and singer
• January 3 – Frans Masereel, Belgian painter and graphic artist
• January 7 – Emma P. Carr, American spectroscopist
• January 8
• * Edwin Hugh Lundie, American architect
• * Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter
• * Wesley Ruggles, American film director
• January 9 – Ted Shawn, American dancer
• January 16 – Ross Bagdasarian Sr., American record producer
• January 17
• * Rochelle Hudson, American actress
• * Betty Smith, American writer
• January 18 – Clarence Earl Gideon, American defendant in civil rights court case
• January 19 – Mohammad Al-Abbasi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and 45th Prime Minister of Jordan
• January 24 – Jerome Cowan, American actor
• January 25 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal and Luftwaffe officer
• January 27 – Mahalia Jackson, American gospel singer
• January 29 – Hugh McDermott, British actor and golfer
• January 30 – Prince Sisowath Watchayavong, 5th Prime Minister of Cambodia
• January 31 – King Mahendra of Nepal

  February

• February 2 – Jessie Royce Landis, American actress
• February 3 – John Litel, American actor
• February 4 – Orlando Ward, American general
• February 5 – Marianne Moore, American poet
• February 7
• * Walter Lang, American film director
• * Bob Woodward, American actor
• February 11
• * Jan Wils, Dutch architect
• * Colin Munro MacLeod, Canadian-American geneticist
• February 17 – Gavriil Popov, Soviet Russian composer
• February 19
• * John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker
• * Lee Morgan, American jazz trumpeter and composer
• February 20
• * Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Walter Winchell, American journalist
• February 21 – Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician
• February 22
• * Tedd Pierce, American animator
• * Dan Katchongva, Native American traditional leader
• February 25
• *S. O. Davies, Welsh miner, trade union official and politician
• *Gottfried Fuchs, German -Canadian Olympic football player
• February 27 – Pat Brady, American actor
• February 29 – Pietro Ubaldi, Italian author, teacher, philosopher

  March

• March 4 – Sir Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand general, lawyer and chief justice
• March 8 - Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German Nazi politician and SS functionary
• March 11
• * Fredric Brown, American science fiction and mystery writer.
• * Zack Wheat, American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• March 13
• * Len Ford, American football player and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• * Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer
• March 16 – Pie Traynor, American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• March 18 – George Scott Register, American judge
• March 20 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress
• March 21 – David McCallum, Sr., British violinist and father of actor David McCallum
• March 23
• * Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier
• * Margaret Dale, American actress
• March 27
• * Sharkey Bonano, American jazz musician
• * M. C. Escher, Dutch artist
• March 28 – Joseph Paul-Boncour, 71st Prime Minister of France
• March 29 – J. Arthur Rank, British industrialist and film producer
• March 31
• * Meena Kumari, Indian actress, singer and poet
• * Ramon Iglesias i Navarri, Co-Prince of Andorra

  April

• April 2
• * Franz Halder, German general
• * Gil Hodges, American baseball player
• April 3 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer
• April 4
• * Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., American politician
• * Elsa Ratassepp, Estonian actress
• * Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer
• April 5 – Isabel Jewell, American actress
• April 6
• * Ralph D. Cornell, American architect
• * Brian Donlevy, American actor
• * Heinrich Lübke, 2nd President of the Federal Republic of Germany
• April 7
• * Abeid Karume, 1st President of Zanzibar
• * August Zaleski, 6th President of Poland
• * Victor Wong, American actor
• April 9 – James F. Byrnes, United States Secretary of State and Justice of the Supreme Court
• April 13 – Dorothy Dalton, American actress
• April 15 – José Luis de Oriol y Urigüen, Spanish businessman, architect and politician
• April 20 – Jorge Mistral, Spanish actor
• April 21 – Elizabeth Clark, British author
• April 25 - George Sanders, Russian-born British actor
• April 26 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter
• April 27 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana
• April 29 – King Ntare V of Burundi
• April 30
• * Gia Scala, British actress
• * Clara Campoamor, Spanish politician and suffragist

  May

• May 2 – J. Edgar Hoover, American civil servant, 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• May 3 – Bruce Cabot, American actor
• May 4
• * Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Josep Samitier, Spanish footballer
• May 5
• * Reverend Gary Davis, American blues and gospel singer
• * Frank Tashlin, American animation director
• May 6 – Deniz Gezmiş, Turkish Marxist revolutionary
• May 10 – Rhys Gemmell, Australian tennis champion
• May 11 – Lee Beom-seok, Korean activist, 1st Prime Minister of South Korea
• May 12 – Steve Ihnat, American actor
• May 13 – Dan Blocker, American actor
• May 15 – Nigel Green, South African-English actor
• May 17 – Gordon Lowe, Australian tennis champion
• May 18 – Sidney Franklin, American film director
• May 22
• * Cecil Day-Lewis, British poet
• * Dame Margaret Rutherford, English actress
• May 23 – Richard Day, Canadian art director
• May 25 – José Sebastião e Silva, Portuguese mathematician
• May 28
• * The Duke of Windsor, former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
• * Violette Leduc, French writer
• May 29 – Prithviraj Kapoor, Indian actor and director
• May 31 – Walter Freeman, American physician

  June

• June 10 – Edward Milford, Australian general
• June 12
• * Saul Alinsky, American political activist
• * Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Austrian biologist
• * Edmund Wilson, American writer and critic
• June 13
• * Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German World War II spy
• * Clyde McPhatter, American singer
• * Felix Stump, American admiral
• June 17 – Jóhannes Gunnarsson, Icelandic Roman Catholic prelate and venerable
• June 18 – Milton Humason, American astronomer
• June 22
• * Elton Britt, American country music singer, songwriter and musician
• * Vladimir Durković, Serbian footballer
• June 25
• * Nicholas Hannen, British actor
• * Jan Matulka, American painter
• * Charles Sullivan, American actor
• June 30 – Joe Deakin, British Olympic athlete

  July

• July 2 – Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• July 4 – Enrique Telémaco Susini, Argentine entrepreneur
• July 5 – Raúl Leoni, 55th President of Venezuela
• July 6 – Brandon deWilde, American actor
• July 7
• * Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople
• * King Talal of Jordan
• July 11 – Celina Guimarães Viana, Brazilian professor and suffragist
• July 15 – Miklós Dudás, Hungarian Roman Catholic bishop and servant of God
• July 20 – Geeta Dutt, Indian singer
• July 21
• * Ralph Craig, American Olympic athlete
• * King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
• July 24 − Lance Reventlow, English playboy, entrepreneur and race car driver
• July 27 – Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Austrian-Japanese politician, geopolitician and philosopher
• July 28 – Helen Traubel, American soprano
• July 31
• * Alfons Gorbach, Austrian politician, 15th Chancellor of Austria
• * Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician and statesman, 31st Prime Minister of Belgium and 2nd Secretary General of NATO

  August

• August 7
• * Joi Lansing, American actress
• * Tom Neal, American actor
• August 8 – Andrea Feldman, American actress
• August 9 – Ernst von Salomon, German writer
• August 11
• * Teresa Franchini, Italian actress
• * Max Theiler, South African-born American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• August 14
• * Oscar Levant, American pianist and actor
• * Jules Romains, French poet and writer
• August 16
• * Pierre Brasseur, French actor
• * Mohamed Oufkir, Moroccan general
• August 19
• * Rudolf Belling, German sculptor
• * James Patterson, American actor
• August 20
• * Juan Manuel Gálvez, 39th President of Honduras
• * Harold Rainsford Stark, American admiral
• August 21 – Heinz Ziegler, German general
• August 23 – Salvatore Naturale, American criminal
• August 24 – Jinichi Kusaka, Japanese admiral
• August 25 – Juan Carlos Paz, Argentine composer and music theorist
• August 26 – Francis Chichester, British sailor and aviator
• August 27 – Yung Fung-shee, Hong Kong philanthropist
• August 28 – Prince William of Gloucester
• August 29 – René Leibowitz, French composer
• August 30 – Augusto Bertazzoni, Italian Roman Catholic archbishop and servant of God

  September

• September 5 :
• * Yossef Romano, Israeli weightlifter
• * Moshe Weinberg, Israeli wrestling coach
• September 6 :
• * David Mark Berger, Israeli weightlifter
• * Ze'ev Friedman, Israeli weightlifter
• * Yossef Gutfreund, Israeli wrestling referee
• * Eliezer Halfin, Israeli wrestler
• * Amitzur Shapira, Israeli athletics coach
• * Kehat Shorr, Israeli shooting coach
• * Mark Slavin, Israeli wrestler
• * Andre Spitzer, Israeli fencing coach
• * Yakov Springer, Israeli weightlifting judge
• September 8 – Warren Kealoha, American Olympic swimmer
• September 11 – Max Fleischer, American animator
• September 12 – William Boyd, American actor
• September 14 – Lane Chandler, American actor
• September 15
• * Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, 2nd President of Iceland
• * Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury
• * Henry Kent Hewitt, American admiral
• September 17
• * Peter Stephens, British actor
• * Thomas L. Sprague, American admiral
• * Akim Tamiroff, Soviet actor
• September 19 – Robert Casadesus, French pianist
• September 21 – Henry de Montherlant, French writer
• September 26
• * Charles Correll, American radio actor
• * Robert E. Dolan, American composer

  October

• October 1 – Louis Leakey, British paleontologist
• October 4 – Taro Shoji, Japanese singer
• October 5 – Ivan Yefremov, Soviet paleontologist and science fiction author
• October 6 – Cléo de Verberena, Brazilian actress and film director
• October 8
• * Prescott Bush, American banker and politician
• * José María Cuenco, Filipino Roman Catholic archbishop and servant of God
• October 9
• * Dave Bancroft, American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• * Miriam Hopkins, American actress
• October 13 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish army officer, economist and astronomer
• October 13 – Jose Villa Panganiban, Filipino lexicographer
• October 16 – Leo G. Carroll, English actor
• October 17 – George, Crown Prince of Serbia
• October 18
• * Esma Cannon, British actress
• * Edward Cook, American Olympic athlete
• October 19 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer
• October 20 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer
• October 21 – Marcelino Olaechea, Spanish Roman Catholic religious professed and servant of God
• October 24
• * Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• * Claire Windsor, American actress
• October 26 – Igor Sikorsky, Soviet aviation engineer
• October 28 – Mitchell Leisen, American film director
• October 29 – Victor Milner, American cinematographer

  November

• November 1 – Ezra Pound, American poet
• November 3 – Harry Richman, American entertainer
• November 5 – Reginald Owen, English actor
• November 11 – Berry Oakley, American musician
• November 12 – Rudolf Friml, Czech composer
• November 13
• * Arnold Jackson, British Olympic athlete
• * Margaret Webster, American actress
• November 14 – Martin Dies, Jr., American politician
• November 17
• * Thomas C. Kinkaid, American admiral
• * Eugène Minkowski, French psychiatrist
• November 18 – Danny Whitten, American musician
• November 23 – Marie Wilson, American actress
• November 25
• * Henri Coandă, Romanian aerodynamics pioneer
• * Mary M. Crawford, American surgeon
• November 28
• * Havergal Brian, English composer
• * Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• November 29 – Carl W. Stalling, American composer
• November 30 – Hans Erich Apostel, Austrian composer

  December

• December 1 – Antonio Segni, Italian politician, 34th Prime Minister of Italy, 4th President of the Italian Republic
• December 3 – Bill Johnson, American musician
• December 6 – Janet Munro, British actress
• December 9
• * William Dieterle, German film director
• * Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist
• December 12 – Thomas H. Robbins, Jr., American admiral
• December 13 – René Mayer, French politician, 91st Prime Minister of France
• December 15 – Edward Earle, Canadian actor
• December 16 - Ferdinand Čatloš, Slovak military officer and politician
• December 20
• * Gabby Hartnett, American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame
• * Günter Eich, German lyricist, dramatist, and author
• December 21 – Paul Hausser, German Waffen SS general and commander
• December 22 – Jimmy Wallington, American radio personality
• December 23 – Andrei Tupolev, Soviet aircraft designer
• December 24
• * Charles Atlas, Italian-born American strongman and sideshow performer
• * Gisela Richter, English art historian
• * Daniel McVey, Australian public servant
• * Ernst Kreuder, German author
• December 25 – C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. Last Governor-General of India
• December 26 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
• December 27 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian scholar, statesman, soldier and politician, 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly and 14th Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• December 28 – Link Lyman, American football player and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• December 31 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player 4-time NL batting champion, 1966 NL MVP, 1971 World Series MVP and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame

  Nobel Prizes

• Physics – John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper, John Robert Schrieffer
• Chemistry – Christian B. Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, William H. Stein
• Physiology or Medicine – Gerald M. Edelman, Rodney R. Porter
• Literature – Heinrich Böll
• Peace – not awarded
• Economics – John Hicks, Kenneth Arrow

  Other academic awards

• Turing Award – Edsger W. Dijkstra