1946

Events

January

• January 6
• * The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
• * A revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway, at the Ziegfeld Theatre.
• January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones.

• January 10
• * The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London.
• * Project Diana bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age.
• January 11
• * Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister.
• * Porfirio Barba-Jacob's ashes go back to Colombia.
• January 16 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the French provisional government.
• January 17
• * The United Nations Security Council holds its first session, at Church House, Westminster in London.
• * United States Senator Dennis Chávez calls for a vote on a Fair Employment Practice Committee bill, which calls for an end to discrimination in the workplace. A filibuster prevents it from passing.
• January 19
• * The Bell XS-1 is test flown for the first time, with Bell's chief test pilot Jack Woolams at the controls.
• * General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, to try Japanese war criminals.
• January 20 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.
• January 22
• * Iran crisis of 1946: Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad, at the Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president, Haji Baba Sheikh is the prime minister.
• * The National Intelligence Authority, and its operational arm, the Central Intelligence Group, are established in the United States; these become part of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947.

• January 25 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
• January 28 – The Canadian schooner Bluenose founders on a Haitian reef.
• January 31
• * The last session of the Permanent Court of International Justice occurs.
• * Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes 6 constituent republics.

  February

• February 1
• * Trygve Lie of Norway is selected, as the first United Nations Secretary-General.
• * The Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union.
• February 14
• * The Bank of England is nationalized.
• * ENIAC, an early general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania; it weighs 60,000 pounds, and occupies a big room.
• February 15 – Canada indicts 22 communist agents.
• February 20 – An explosion kills more than 400 coal miners in West Germany.
• February 24 – Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.
• February 28 – In Philadelphia, General Electric strikers and police clash.

  March

• March 2
• * British troops withdraw from Iran according to treaty; the Soviets do not.
• * Ho Chi Minh is elected President of North Vietnam.
• March 4 – C. G. E. Mannerheim resigns as president of Finland.
• March 5 – In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about the Iron Curtain.
• March 6 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France, which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
• March 7 – The 18th Academy Awards Ceremony is held. Best Picture goes to The Lost Weekend.
• March 9
• * Juho Kusti Paasikivi becomes the 7th President of Finland.
• * Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England: 33 are killed and hundreds injured.
• March 10 – British troops begin withdrawing from Lebanon.
• March 15 – British Prime Minister Clement Attlee promises independence to India, as soon as they can agree on a constitution. On March 24, the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India arrives in New Delhi for discussions.
• March 19
• * The Soviet Union and Switzerland resume diplomatic relations.
• * French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France.
• March 22 – The United Kingdom grants Transjordan, as it is then known, its independence; 3 years later the country changes its name to Jordan.
• March 29 – The Gold Coast has an African majority in its parliament.

  April

• April 1
• * The 8.6 Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI. A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands, resulting in many deaths, mostly in Hilo. Between 165 and 173 are killed.
• * The Malayan Union is formed.
• * Singapore becomes a Crown colony.
• April 3 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines, for leading the Bataan Death March.
• April 5 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
• April 10 – In Japan, women vote for the first time, during elections for the House of Representatives of the 90th Imperial Diet.
• April 14 – Sh'erit ha-Pletah members of Nakam, the "Jewish Avengers", poison with arsenic bread baked in Nuremberg for SS prisoners of war, held at Stalag XIII-D by the Americans.
• April 17 – Syria's independence from France is officially recognized.
• April 18
• * The inaugural session of the International Court of Justice takes place at The Hague.
• * The League of Nations, in its last meeting, transfers its mission to the United Nations and disbands itself.
• * The United States recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia.
• April 23 – The Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League is founded.
• April 27 – FA Cup in England: Derby County beat Charlton Athletic, in the first FA Cup final since 1939.
• April 28 – Kinderdorf Pestalozzi is established at Trogen, Switzerland to accommodate and educate orphans of World War II, according to Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi's principles.
• April 29 – Trials against war criminals begin in Tokyo; the accused include Hideki Tōjō, Shigenori Tōgō and Hiroshi Ōshima.

  May

• May 1 – At least 800 Indigenous Australian pastoral workers walk off the job in Northwest Western Australia, starting one of the longest industrial strikes in Australia.
• May 2 – Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from Alcatraz Prison; a riot occurs, the "Battle of Alcatraz".
• May 7 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering is founded, with about 20 employees.
• May 9 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Umberto II.
• May 10
• * Jawaharlal Nehru is elected leader of the Congress Party in India.
• * The first V-2 rocket is successfully launched at the White Sands Missile Range.
• May 20 – The British House of Commons decides to nationalize mines.
• May 21 – At the Los Alamos Laboratory, Dr. Louis Slotin saves his coworkers, but receives a fatal dose of ionizing radiation.
• May 22 – The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan is founded.
• May 23 - Dwarf Grill, as predecessor of Chick-fil-A, as known well for fast food chicken restaurant in United States, founded in State of Georgia.
• May 25 – The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.
• May 26 – 1946 Czechoslovak parliamentary election: Communists win with, in the last election before communists take power.
• May 31 – A Greek referendum supports the return of the monarchy.

  June

• June 1
• * Ion Antonescu, prime minister and "Conducator" of Romania during World War II, is executed; he was found guilty of betraying the Romanian people for benefits of Germany and sentenced to death by the Bucharest People's Tribunal.
• * D'Argenlieu, French High Commissioner for Indo-China, recognizes an autonomous "Republic of Cochin-China" in violation of the March 6 Ho–Sainteny agreement, opening the way for conflict between the Viet Minh and France.
• June 2 – In a referendum, Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a republic. Women vote for the first time.
• June 3 – Interpol is re-founded; the telegraphic address "Interpol" is adopted.
• June 6 – The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.
• June 8 – In Indonesia, Sukarno incites his supporters to fight Dutch colonial occupation.
• June 9 – In Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej accedes to the throne after the death of his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol. He will reign until his death on October 13, 2016.
• June 10 – Italy is declared a republic.
• June 13 – Umberto II of Italy leaves the country and goes into exile in Portugal; Alcide De Gasperi becomes head of state.
• June 14 – The Baruch Plan is proposed to the United Nations.
• June 17
• * A tornado on the Detroit River kills 17.
• * Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens in the United States, nearly 2 years after its release in England. It is the first Shakespeare film in color, and critics hail it as the finest film of a Shakespeare play ever made.
• June 23
• * The 7.5 Vancouver Island earthquake affects the island, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII. Two people are killed.
• * 1946 French India municipal election: The National Democratic Front wins a landslide victory.
• June 25 – The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development begins operations.
• June 30 – The War Relocation Authority is abolished.

  July

• July 1 – Nuclear testing: Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in Micronesia, is initiated by the detonation of Able at an altitude of 520 feet.
  : Undersea Atomic Test Baker
• July 4
• * Ankara University is founded in Turkey.
• * After more than 48 years of American dominance, the Philippines attains full independence as the 3rd Republic; Manuel A. Roxas is 5th President of the Philippines.
• * The Kielce Pogrom takes place in Poland.
• July 5 – The bikini is first modeled in Paris.
• July 7
• * Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
• * Howard Hughes nearly dies in a test flight of the Hughes XF-11, which crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood due to a propeller malfunction.
• July 16 – The Bureau of Land Management.
• July 21 – An Irgun bomb explodes in Jerusalem, due to secretive talks between Jews and Britain to consolidate the state of Israel.
• July 22 – King David Hotel bombing: The Irgun bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 90.
• July 25
• * Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, when the United States detonates the Baker device during Operation Crossroads.
• * At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
• * In the last mass lynching in the United States, a mob of white men shoot and kill two African-American couples, near Moore's Ford Bridge in Georgia.

  August

• August 1
• * The United States Atomic Energy Commission is established.
• * The Fulbright Program, a system of U.S. international educational exchange scholarships, is established.
• * The Hungarian forint is introduced in Hungary by the government, ending the world's biggest hyperinflation in the country.
• * The Scandinavian Airlines System is founded as a consortium of the flag carriers of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
• August 3 – Santa Claus Land, opens to the public at Santa Claus, Indiana. It becomes the first themed park, preceding Disneyland by 9 years.
• August 4 – The 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake hits the northern Dominican Republic, killing 100 and leaving 20,000 homeless.
• August 16
• * Direct Action Day: Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta begins "The Week of the Long Knives", which leaves 3,000 dead.
• * The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad, India.
• * The Kurdistan Democratic Party is founded in South Kurdistan.
• August 18 – The Vergarola explosion in Croatia kills 70.
• August 25 – American golfer Ben Hogan wins the PGA Championship.
• August 30 - Bell's chief test pilot, Jack Woolams, dies in a plane crash while flying the P-39 "Cobra I" preparing for an air race that would happen the following day.

  September

• September 1 – 1946 Turin Grand Prix, the first official Formula One Grand Prix, is held in Italy.
• September 2 – The Interim Government of India takes charge, with Jawaharlal Nehru as vice president, as part of the transition from the British Raj to full independence for India and Pakistan.
• September 4 – Street violence between Muslims and Hindus erupts in Bombay.
• September 8 – Bulgaria is declared a People's Republic after a referendum; King Simeon II leaves.
• September 19 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.
• September 24 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, by American Roy Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow.
• September 28
• * 1946 Australian federal election: Ben Chifley's Labor Government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/Country Coalition led by former Prime Minister Robert Menzies. This is the first occasion where a Labor government successfully wins two elections in a row on a federal level, albeit with a swing against them; among the casualties are former Prime Minister Frank Forde. This is also the first election contested by the newly formed Liberal Party, which had replaced the United Australia Party as the main centre-right political party in Australia.
• * George II of Greece returns to Athens.

  October

• October 1 – Mensa, an international organization for people with a high intelligence quotient, is founded by Roland Berrill, an Australian-born lawyer, and Dr Lancelot Ware, an English biochemist and lawyer, in Oxford.
• October 2 – Communists take over in Bulgaria.
• October 6 – Sweden's Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson dies in office of a heart attack.
• October 10 – The Noakhali genocide of Hindus in Bengal begins, at the hands of Muslim mobs.
• October 11 – After a few days of vacancy, the Swedish premiership is taken over by Tage Erlander.
• October 13 – France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
• October 14 – The International Organization for Standardization is founded.
• October 15 – Nuremberg trials: Hermann Göring, founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, poisons himself two hours before his scheduled execution.
• October 16
• * The remaining ten Nazi war criminals sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials are executed by hanging, in a gymnasium in the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.
• * The United Nations' first meeting in Long Island is held.
• October 23 – The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
• October 24 – November 11 – 1946 Bihar riots: Hindu mobs target Muslim families in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in anywhere between 2,000 and 30,000 deaths.

  November

• November 1 – In the first Basketball Association of America game, the New York Knicks defeat the Toronto Huskies 68–66, at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
  
• November 4 – UNESCO is established, as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• November 10
• * At least 1,400 people are killed in an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter magnitude scale, in the Ancash Region and Quiches District in Peru.
• * The Slimbridge Wetland Reserve opens in England.
• November 12
• * A truce is declared between Indonesian nationalist troops and the Dutch army, in Indonesia.
• * In Chicago, a branch of the Exchange National Bank opens the first 10 drive-up teller windows.
• November 15 – The Netherlands recognizes the Republic of Indonesia.
• November 17 – Eight British servicemen are killed in Jerusalem, by Jewish nationalists.
• November 19
• * Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
• * 1946 Romanian general election: The Romanian Communist Party wins 79.86% of the vote, through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud.
• November 22 – Tony Benn is elected as Treasurer of the Oxford Union.
• November 23
• * Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. The French cruiser Suffren opens fire, killing 6,000 Vietnamese.
• * The Workers' Party of South Korea is founded.
• November 27 – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."
• November 29 – The All Indonesia Centre of Labour Organizations is founded in Jakarta.

  December

• December 1 – Miguel Alemán Valdés takes office as President of Mexico.
• December 2 – The International Whaling Commission is signed in Washington, D.C. to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry".
• December 7 – A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, United States kills 119.
• December 11 – UNICEF is founded.
• December 12
• * The United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain, and recommends that member countries sever diplomatic relations.
• * Léon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France.
• * Iran crisis of 1946: Iranian troops recapture the Azerbaijan province.
• December 14
• * The International Labour Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• * Proposed United States purchase of Greenland from Denmark: An offer is made through diplomatic channels.
• December 15
• * The first French India Representative Assembly election is held.
• * Iran crisis of 1946: Iranian troops recapture the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad.
• December 16 – Siam joins the United Nations.
• December 19 – Viet Minh forces begin a war against French occupying forces in Vietnam, succeeding in 1954 with France's surrender at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
• December 20
• * Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York.
• * At least 1,362 people are killed in an earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan.
• December 22 – The Havana Conference begins between U.S. organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba.
• December 24 – France's Fourth Republic is founded.
• December 25 – The first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in Europe is initiated, within the Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
• December 26
• * The Flamingo Hotel opens on the Las Vegas Strip.
• * David Lean's Great Expectations, based on the Charles Dickens novel, and featuring John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, Jean Simmons, and Finlay Currie, is released to great acclaim in the UK.
• December 31 – President Harry S. Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.

  Date unknown

• The cancelled 1946 FIFA World Cup.
• Female suffrage is enacted in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and the Canadian province of Quebec.
• The first female police officers are hired in Korea and Japan.
• The Chinese Civil War intensifies between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China.
• The British government takes emergency powers to deal with the balance-of-payments crisis.
• Eva Perón tours Spain, Italy and France on behalf of Argentina, a circuit called the Rainbow Tour.
• The San Francisco 49ers National Football League team is formed.
• The 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun contract is released.
• The Casio company is founded by engineer Tadao Kashio in Japan.
• The first Tupperware is sold in department and hardware stores in the United States.
• Binghamton University is founded in New York.

  Births

January

• January 1
• * Alfonso Caruana, Italian mobster
• * Roberto Rivelino, Brazilian football player
• * Alain Voss, Brazilian-French comics artist
• January 3
• * John Paul Jones, English rock bassist
• * Cissy King, American dancer, singer
• January 4 – Diana Ewing, American actress
• January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, film director
• January 6 – Syd Barrett, English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter
• January 8
• * Robby Krieger, American rock musician
• * Stanton Peele, American psychologist
• January 9
• * Levon Ter-Petrosyan, President of Armenia
• * Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician
• January 10 – Kalidas Karmakar, Bangladeshi artist
• January 11
• * Naomi Judd, American country singer
• * John Piper, American theologian
• * Ha Yu, Hong Kong actor
• January 12 – George Duke, African-American musician
• January 14
• * Feró Nagy, Hungarian singer
• * Harold Shipman, British serial killer
• January 16
• * Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• * Michael Coats, American astronaut
• * Katia Ricciarelli, Italian singer
• January 18
• * Paul Shmyr, Canadian former National Hockey League player
• * Joseph Deiss, Swiss Federal Councillor
• January 19
• * Julian Barnes, English novelist
• * Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist
• January 20 – David Lynch, American film director
• January 21 – Johnny Oates, American baseball player, manager
• January 22
• * Malcolm McLaren, English singer, songwriter, musician and music manager
• * Serge Savard, Canadian hockey player, executive
• January 23 – Arnoldo Alemán, President of Nicaragua
• January 24 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
• January 25
• * Géza Bereményi, Hungarian writer, screenwriter and film director
• * Pete Price, Merseyside radio disc jockey
• January 26
• * Gene Siskel, American film critic
• * Michel Delpech, French singer, songwriter and actor
• January 27 – Nedra Talley, African-American singer
• January 29 – Bettye LaVette, African-American soul singer, songwriter
• January 31 – Terry Kath, American rock musician

  February

• February 1 – Elisabeth Sladen, English actress
• February 2
• * Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea
• * Blake Clark, American actor, comedian
• February 5 – Charlotte Rampling, British actress
• February 6
• * Kate McGarrigle, Canadian singer, songwriter
• * Jim Turner, American politician
• February 7
• * Sammy Johns, American country music singer, songwriter
• * Pete Postlethwaite, English character actor
• February 9 – Seán Neeson, Northern Irish politician
• February 13
• * Joe Estevez, American actor
• * Colin Matthews, British composer
• February 14
• * Bernard Dowiyogo, 7-time President of Nauru
• * Gregory Hines, African-American dancer, actor
• February 16 – Marvin Sease, American blues, and soul singer-songwriter
• February 19 – Karen Silkwood, American activist
• February 20
• * Brenda Blethyn, British actress
• * Sandy Duncan, American singer, dancer, comedian and actress
• * J. Geils, American guitarist
• February 21
• * Monica Johnson, American screenwriter
• * Tyne Daly, American actress
• * Anthony Daniels, English actor
• * Alan Rickman, English actor, film director
• * Vito Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian mobster
• February 26 – Jiří Bělohlávek, Czech orchestral conductor
• February 25
• * Andrew Ang, judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore
• * Franz Xaver Kroetz, German dramatist
• * Jean Todt, French motorsport manager
• February 26 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• February 27 – Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, British aristocrat
• February 28
• * Don Ciccone, American singer, songwriter
• * Robin Cook, British politician
• * Don Francisco, American Christian musician
• * Syreeta Wright, African-American singer, songwriter

  March

• March 1
• * Jan Kodeš, Czech tennis player
• * Lana Wood, American actress, producer
• March 4
• * Michael Ashcroft, English entrepreneur
• * Haile Gerima, Ethiopian filmmaker
• * Harvey Goldsmith, British impresario
• March 5
• * Murray Head, English singer, actor
• * Lova Moor, French singer, dancer
• March 6
• * Larry Huber, American television producer, animator
• * David Gilmour, English rock musician
• * Martin Kove, American film and television actor
• March 7
• * John Heard, American actor
• * Okko Kamu, Finnish conductor, violinist
• * Leandro Mendoza, Filipino politician
• * Peter Wolf, American rock musician
• March 10 – Mike Hollands, Australian animator
• March 12
• * Frank Welker, American voice actor, singer
• * Liza Minnelli, American singer, actress
• March 13 – Yonatan Netanyahu, American-born Israeli Army officer
• March 14
• * Álvaro Arzú, 32nd President of Guatemala
• * Wes Unseld, American basketball player
• March 15 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player, manager
• March 17
• * Georges J. F. Köhler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• * Larry Langford, American politician
• March 21
• * Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor
• * Steve Halliwell, English actor
• March 25 – Cliff Balsom, English footballer
• March 26
• * Johnny Crawford, American child actor, musician
• * Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, Spanish judge
• March 27
• * Carl Weintraub, American actor
• * Olaf Malolepski, German musician
• * Mike Jackson, American former MLB pitcher
• March 28 – Alejandro Toledo, 63rd President of Peru
• March 29
• * Segun Bucknor, Nigerian musician, journalist
• * Billy Thorpe, English-born Australian singer, songwriter
• March 30 – Carolyn Simpson, judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
• March 31
• * Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
• * F'Murr, French comics artist

  April

• April 1
• * Ronnie Lane, English musician
• * Arrigo Sacchi, Italian footballer and manager
• April 2 – Hamengkubuwono X, Sultan of the historic Yogyakarta Sultanate in Indonesia, the current Governor of Yogyakarta Special Region
• April 3 – Hanna Suchocka, Prime Minister of Poland
• April 4 – Dave Hill, English guitarist
• April 5
• * Jane Asher, English actress
• * János Bródy, Hungarian singer, guitarist, composer and songwriter
• * Björn Granath, Swedish actor
• April 7
• * Colette Besson, French track and field athlete
• * Léon Krier, Luxembourgian architect
• April 8
• * Catfish Hunter, American baseball player
• * Tim Thomerson, American actor, comedian
• April 10 – David Angell, American television producer
• April 11 – Chris Burden, American artist
• April 12 – Ed O'Neill, American actor
• April 13 – Al Green, African-American singer, songwriter and record producer
• April 15 – Marsha Hunt, American actress, singer and novelist
• April 16 – Margot Adler, American journalist
• April 18 – Hayley Mills, English actress
• April 19 – Tim Curry, British actor, singer and composer
• April 20
• * Julien Poulin, Canadian actor
• * Ricardo Maduro, President of Honduras
• April 22
• * John Waters, American film director
• * Paul Davies, English physicist
• April 24 – Phil Robertson, American businessman and reality television personality
• April 25
• * John Fox, British statistician
• * Talia Shire, American actress
• * Strobe Talbott, American journalist
• * Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician
• April 26
• * Jennie Stoller, British actress
• * Richard S. Fuld Jr., American banker
• April 28 – Larissa Grunig, American public relations theorist, feminist
• April 29 – Franc Roddam, English film director, businessman, screenwriter, television producer and publisher
• April 30
• * King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• * Bill Plympton, American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker

  May

• May 1 – Joanna Lumley, English actress, author
• May 2
• * Lesley Gore, American rock singer
• * Ralf Gothóni, Finnish pianist, conductor and composer
• May 3 – Mohammed Ibrahim, businessman and philanthropist
• May 4 – John Watson, Northern Irish racecar driver
• May 5
• * Jim Kelly, African-American actor, martial artist and tennis player
• * Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia
• * Beth Carvalho, Brazilian samba singer, guitarist and composer
• May 6 – Daouda Malam Wanké, 6th President of Niger
• May 7
• * Thelma Houston, African-American singer
• * Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer
• * Michael Rosen, British novelist, poet
• May 9
• * Candice Bergen, American actress
• * Drafi Deutscher, German singer, songwriter
• May 10
• * Donovan, Scottish rock musician
• * Birutė Galdikas, Canadian anthropologist, primatologist, conservationist, ethologist and author
• * Graham Gouldman, English songwriter, musician
• * Dave Mason, English rock musician
• * Murade Isaac Murargy, Mozambican diplomat, politician
• May 11 – Robert Jarvik, American physicist, artificial heart inventor
• May 12 – Richard Bruce Silverman, John Evans Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University
• May 13 – Tim Pigott-Smith, English actor, author
• May 14 – Elmar Brok, German politician
• May 15 – Klaus-Peter Siegloch, German journalist
• May 16 – Robert Fripp, British musician
• May 17 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
• May 18
• * Reggie Jackson, African-American baseball player
• * Andreas Katsulas, American actor
• May 19
• * André the Giant, French professional wrestler and actor
• * Claude Lelièvre, Belgian Commissioner for Children Rights
• * Roger Sloman, English actor
• May 20
• * Craig Patrick, American-Canadian hockey player, coach and manager
• * Cher, American actress, rock singer
• May 22
• * George Best, Northern Irish footballer
• * Howard Kendall, English footballer
• May 23 – Frederik de Groot, Dutch actor
• May 24
• * Irena Szewińska, Polish Olympic sprinter
• * Nicolau dos Reis Lobato, East Timorese politician, acting President of East Timor
• May 26 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist
• May 28
• * Bruce Alexander, English actor
• * K. Satchidanandan, Malayalam poet
• May 29 – Fernando Buesa, Basque politician
• May 30
• * Dragan Džajić, Serbian footballer
• * Candy Lightner, American founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• May 31 – Adriana Bittel, Romanian writer

  June

• June 1 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
• June 2
• * Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer
• * Tomomichi Nishimura, Japanese voice actor
• June 3 – Michael Clarke, American musician
• June 4
• * Suzanne Ciani, American pianist, electronic composer
• * S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Indian singer
• June 5 – Stefania Sandrelli, Italian actress
• June 7
• * Jenny Jones, Palestinian-Canadian comedian, talk show hostess
• * Robert Tilton, American televangelist, author
• June 8 – Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of St. Lucia
• June 10 – Fernando Balzaretti, Mexican actor
• June 13 – Paul L. Modrich, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• June 14 – Donald Trump, American businessman, 45th President of the United States
• June 15
• * Noddy Holder, English rock singer
• * Janet Lennon, American singer
• * Demis Roussos, Greek singer
• June 17 – Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative for the Ninth Congressional District of Ohio
• June 18
• * Bruiser Brody, American professional wrestler
• * Russell Ash, British author
• * Fabio Capello, Italian football player, manager
• June 21
• * Vincenzo Camporini, Italian Chief of the Defence General Staff
• * Kiril Ivkov, Bulgarian football defender
• June 22
• * Kay Redfield Jamison, American psychiatrist
• * Fabio Enzo, Italian football player
• * Józef Oleksy, 7th Prime Minister of Poland
• June 23 – Ted Shackelford, American actor
• June 24
• * Nguyễn Đức Soát, Vietnamese general
• * Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut
• * Robert Reich, 22nd United States Secretary of Labor
• June 25
• * Pete Vanderwaal, Dutch engineer
• * Henk van Kessel, Dutch road racer
• June 26
• * Maria von Welser, German TV journalist, President of UNICEF Germany
• * Anthony John Valentine Obinna, Nigerian priest
• * Leo Rossi, American actor
• * Ricky Jay, American actor, author, and magician
• June 27 – Russ Critchfield, American basketball player
• June 28
• * David Duckham, English rugby union player
• * Gilda Radner, American comedian, actress
• June 29
• * Egon von Fürstenberg, Swiss fashion designer
• * Gitte Hænning, Danish singer
• * Ram Gopal Yadav, Indian politician
• * Ernesto Pérez Balladares, President of Panama
• June 30 – Allan Hunter, Irish footballer, manager

  July

• July 1
• * Alceu Valença, Brazilian composer, writer, performer, actor, and poet
• * Stefan Aust, German journalist, editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel
• * Mireya Moscoso, President of Panama
• July 2 – Richard Axel, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• July 3 – Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
• July 4
• * Sam Hunt, New Zealand poet
• * Michael Milken, American financier
• * Ed O'Ross, American actor
• * Roy Cimatu, Filipino general
• July 5
• * Gerard 't Hooft, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Ram Vilas Paswan, Indian politician
• July 6
• * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, 46th Governor of Texas
• * Sylvester Stallone, American actor, screenwriter and film director
• * Fred Dryer, American football defensive end, actor
• * Tiemen Groen, Dutch cyclist
• July 7 – Tadeusz Nowicki, Polish tennis player
• July 8
• * Massimo Vanni, Italian actor
• * Daniela Beneck, Italian freestyle swimmer
• July 9
• *Mitch Mitchell, English drummer
• * Bon Scott, Australian rock singer
• July 10
• * Oliver Martin, American cyclist
• * Sue Lyon, American actress
• July 11
• * Jean-Pierre Coopman, Belgian boxer
• * Jack Wrangler, American porn star
• July 12 – Ernesto Mahieux, Italian actor
• July 13
• *João Bosco, Brazilian singer, songwriter
• * Cheech Marin, Mexican-American actor, comedian
• July 14
• * Vincent Pastore, American actor
• * John Wood, Australian actor
• July 15
• *Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
• * Linda Ronstadt, American singer, songwriter
• July 16
• * Toshio Furukawa, Japanese voice actor
• * Dave Goelz, American puppeteer
• * Monica Aspelund, Finnish singer
• * Ron Yary, American football player
• July 17
• * Claudia Islas, Mexican actress
• * Alun Armstrong, English actor
• July 18 – Kanat Saudabayev, Kazakhstani politician
• July 19 – Ilie Năstase, Romanian tennis player
• July 20 – Htin Kyaw, 9th President of Myanmar
• July 21 – Domingo Cavallo, Argentine economist, politician
• July 22
• * Danny Glover, African-American actor, film director and political activist
• * Mireille Mathieu, French singer
• * Petre Roman, 53rd Prime Minister of Romania
• * Johnson Toribiong, 8th President of Palau
• July 23 – Sally Flynn, American singer
• July 25 – Rita Marley, Cuban-Jamaican singer
• July 27
• * Gwynne Gilford, American actress
• * Jacques Sylla, 12th Prime Minister of Madagascar
• July 28 – Jonathan Edwards, American singer, songwriter and guitarist
• July 29 – Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
• July 30
• * Neil Bonnett, American race car driver
• * A. Rahman Hassan, Malaysian singer

  August

• August 1
• * Mike Emrick, American sportscaster
• * Sandi Griffiths, American singer
• August 3 – Jack Straw, English politician
• August 5
• * Reinhard Tritscher, Austrian alpine skier
• * Ron Silliman, American poet
• * Loni Anderson, American actress
• * Shirley Ann Jackson, African-American President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
• August 6 – Allan Holdsworth, British musician
• August 8 – Ralph Gonsalves, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• August 9 – Jim Kiick, American football player
• August 11 – Óscar Berger, 34th President of Guatemala
• August 12 – Terry Nutkins, English naturalist
• August 13 – Janet Yellen, American Chair of the Federal Reserve
• August 14 – Dennis Hof, American brothel owner
• August 16
• *Masoud Barzani, Iraqi-Kurdish politician, President of Iraqi Kurdistan
• *Lesley Ann Warren, American actress, singer
• August 17 – Drake Levin, American rock guitarist
• August 19
• * Charles Bolden, African-American astronaut
• * Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas
• * Beat Raaflaub, Swiss conductor
• August 20
• * Connie Chung, Asian-American reporter
• * Ralf Hütter, German techno singer, musician
• * N. R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman
• August 23
• * Keith Moon, English rock drummer
• * Raza Murad, Indian actor
• August 24 – John Grahl, British economist
• August 25
• * Nancy Blomberg, American art curator
• * Rollie Fingers, American baseball player
• * Charles Ghigna, American poet, children's author
• August 26
• * Valerie Simpson, African-American singer
• * Mark Snow, American composer
• * Zhou Ji, education minister of the People's Republic of China
• * Swede Savage, American race car driver
• August 29
• * Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, 2nd President of Burundi
• * Bob Beamon, American athlete
• * Demetris Christofias, 6th President of Cyprus
• * Leona Gom, Canadian novelist and poet
• August 30
• * Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
• * Peggy Lipton, American actress and model
• August 31
• * Ann Coffey, Scottish politician
• * Jerome Corsi, American political commentator and conspiracy theorist
• * Tom Coughlin, American football player, coach, and executive

  September

• September 1
• * Barry Gibb, English-born Australian singer
• * Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea
• September 2
• * Luis Ávalos, Cuban-born American character actor
• * Billy Preston, African-American soul musician
• * Dan White, American politician, murderer
• September 3
• * John N. Abrams, American military officer
• * Francisco Trois, Brazilian chess player
• September 4
• * Gary Duncan, American rock guitarist
• * Greg Elmore, American rock drummer
• September 5
• * Dennis Dugan, American actor, director
• * Freddie Mercury, British-Indian singer, songwriter, pianist, frontman of the rock band Queen
• * Loudon Wainwright III, American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor
• September 7
• * Willie Crawford, American baseball player
• * Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist
• September 8
• * Aziz Sancar, Turkish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• * Wong Kan Seng, Singaporean business executive, former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
• September 9
• * Doug Ingle, American rock vocalist
• * Bruce Palmer, Canadian musician
• September 10
• * Jim Hines, American athlete
• * Don Powell, English rock drummer
• September 12 – Neil Lyndon, British journalist, writer
• September 13 – Henri Kuprashvili, Georgian swimmer
• September 15
• * Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
• * Tetsu Nakamura, Japanese-Afghan physician
• * Oliver Stone, American film director, producer
• September 16 – Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer-songwriter music producer and composer
• September 18
• * Peter Alsop, American musician
• * Akira Kamiya, Japanese voice actor
• September 19 – Connie Kreski, American model
• September 20 – Dorothy Hukill, American politician
• September 21
• * Mikhail Kovalchuk, Russian physicist, official
• * Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councilor
• * Richard St. Clair, American musician, composer
• * Mart Siimann, Prime Minister of Estonia
• September 23 – Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
• September 24
• * Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland
• * María Teresa Ruiz, Chilean astronomer
• September 25
• * Morari Bapu, Hindu Kathakaar
• * Felicity Kendal, British actress
• * Jerry Penrod, American bass player
• September 26
• * Andrea Dworkin, American feminist, writer
• * Topo Igawa, Japanese actor
• * Radha Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician
• * Christine Todd Whitman, American politician
• September 28 – Jeffrey Jones, American actor
• September 29
• * Shafie Salleh, Malaysian politician
• * Celso Pitta, Brazilian economist and politician
• September 30
• * Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican singer
• * Claude Vorilhon, French-born 'messenger' of Raëlism

  October

• October 1 – Tim O'Brien, American author
• October 2
• * General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, President of the Council for National Security, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army
• * Marie-Georges Pascal, French actress
• October 3 – P. P. Arnold, American singer
• October 4
• * Susan Sarandon, American actress
• * Rhie Won-bok, South Korean artist
• * Chuck Hagel, American politician, 24 United States Secretary of Defense
• October 5 - Robin Lane Fox, British historian
• October 6
• * Lloyd Doggett, American politician
• * Renate Holub, German philosopher
• * Vinod Khanna, Indian actor, producer and politician
• October 7
• * Nader Al-Dahabi, Prime Minister of Jordan
• * Catharine MacKinnon, American feminist
• * Xue Jinghua, Chinese ballerina
• October 8
• * Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian scholar, legislator
• * John T. Walton, American son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton
• October 9 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish politician
• October 10
• * Anne Boyd, Australian musician
• * Mildred Grieveson, British writer
• * Naoto Kan, 61st Prime Minister of Japan
• * Charles Dance, English actor, screenwriter and film director
• * John Prine, American country folk singer-songwriter
• * Chris Tarrant, British radio, TV personality
• October 11
• * Daryl Hall, American rock musician
• * Sawao Kato, Japanese gymnast
• October 12 – Drew Edmondson, American politician
• October 13
• * Edwina Currie, English politician
• * Dorothy Moore, American singer
• * Demond Wilson, African-American actor, minister
• October 14
• * Craig Venter, American biotechnologist
• * François Bozizé, President of the Central African Republic
• * Joey de Leon, Filipino actor, host
• * Justin Hayward, English rock singer, songwriter
• October 15
• * Richard Carpenter, American pop musician, composer
• * John Getz, American actor
• October 16
• * Suzanne Somers, American actress, singer
• * Elizabeth Witmer, Dutch-born politician
• October 17
• * Vicki Hodge, English actress, model
• * Bob Seagren, American athlete, actor
• October 18
• * James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
• * Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
• * Andrea Zsadon, Hungarian soprano
• October 19 – Philip Pullman, English author
• October 20
• * Marty Gervais, Canadian writer
• * Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• October 21 – Lyn Allison, Australian politician
• October 22
• * Eileen Gordon, British politician
• * Richard McGonagle, American actor
• October 25 – Edith Leyrer, Austrian actress
• October 26 – Pat Sajak, American game-show host
• October 27
• * Leslie L. Byrne, American politician
• * Steven R. Nagel, American astronaut
• * Ivan Reitman, Slovakian-born film director, producer
• October 28
• * John Hewson, Australian politician, economist
• * Sharon Thesen, Canadian poet
• October 29
• * Peter Green, British musician
• * Kathryn J. Whitmire, Texas politician; Mayor of Houston, Texas
• October 30
• * Lynne Marta, American actress
• * Andrea Mitchell, American journalist
• October 31 – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor

  November

• November 1
• * Ric Grech, British rock bassist
• * Lynne Russell, American newsreader
• November 2
• * Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor, composer
• * Marieta Severo, Brazilian actress
• November 4
• * Laura Bush, former First Lady of the United States
• * Les Lannom, American actor, musician
• * Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer
• November 5
• * Herman Brood, Dutch artist
• * Loleatta Holloway, American singer
• * Gram Parsons, American musician
• November 6 – Sally Field, American actress, singer
• November 7 – Diane Francis, Canadian journalist
• November 8
• * Stefan Weber, Austrian singer
• * Stella Chiweshe, Zimbabwean musician
• * John Farrar, Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter
• * Guus Hiddink, Dutch football player, manager
• November 10
• * Alaina Reed Hall, American actress
• * Jack Ketchum, American author
• November 11 – Corrine Brown, American politician, fraudster
• November 12 – P. P. Arnold, English singer
• November 13 – Ohara Reiko, Japanese actress
• November 14 – Carola Dunn, English writer
• November 15
• * Gwyneth Powell, British actress
• * Sandy Skoglund, American photographer
• November 16
• * Mahasti, Iranian singer
• * Terence McKenna, American writer, philosopher, ethnobotanist and shaman
• * Jo Jo White, American basketball player
• November 17 – Petra Burka, Canadian figure skater
• November 18
• * Andrea Allan, Scottish actress
• * Alan Dean Foster, American novelist
• November 20
• * J. Blackfoot, American singer
• * Greg Cook, American football player
• * Judy Woodruff, American television reporter
• * Duane Allman, American rock guitarist, co-founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band
• November 21
• * Emma Cohen, Spanish actress
• * Chaviva Hošek, Czech-born feminist
• * Ulla Jessen, Danish actress
• * Jacky Lafon, Belgian actress
• * Marina Warner, English writer
• November 22
• * Anne Wheeler, Canadian television, film director
• * Aston Barrett, Jamaican reggae musician
• November 23
• * Diana Quick, English actress
• * Bobby Rush, African-American politician, activist and pastor
• November 24 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer
• November 25 – Marika Lindström, Swedish actress
• November 26 – Ottilia Borbáth, Romanian-born Hungarian actress
• November 27
• * Richard Codey, American politician, 53rd Governor of New Jersey
• * Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, 2nd President of Djibouti
• * Nina Maslova, Russian actress
• November 28 – Regina Braga, Brazilian actress
• November 29
• * Brian Cadd, Australian singer, songwriter
• * Suzy Chaffee, American singer, actress
• November 30
• * Marina Abramović, Yugoslavian performance artist
• * Barbara Cubin, U.S. Congresswoman from Wyoming

  December

• December 1 – Jonathan Katz, American comedian, actor and voice actor
• December 2 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer
• December 3
• * Marjana Lipovšek, Slovenian singer, actress
• * Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist
• December 4
• * Sherry Alberoni, American actress, voice artist
• * Yō Inoue, Japanese voice actress
• * Karina, Spanish singer/actress
• December 5
• * José Carreras, Spanish tenor
• * Eva-Britt Svensson, Swedish politician
• December 6
• * Roger Hoy, English footballer
• * Nancy Brinker, American health activist, diplomat
• December 8
• * Jacques Bourboulon, French photographer
• * John Rubinstein, American actor
• * Sharmila Tagore, Indian actress
• December 9 – Sonia Gandhi, Indian politician
• December 10
• * Chrystos, American poet
• * Thomas Lux, American poet
• December 11
• * Rhoma Irama, Indonesian dangdut musician, actor and politician
• * Susan Kyle, American writer
• * Ellen Meloy, American writer
• December 12
• * Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing car driver
• * Gloria Loring, American singer
• * Don Gummer, American sculptor
• December 13
• * Nicholas Kollerstrom, British writer
• * Heather North, American television, voice actress
• December 14
• * Antony Beevor, English historian
• * Jane Birkin, English actress, singer
• * Patty Duke, American actress
• * Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress
• December 16
• *Benny Andersson, Swedish rock singer, songwriter
• * Alice Aycock, American sculptor
• * Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichordist, conductor
• December 17
• * Eugene Levy, Canadian actor, comedian and director
• * Bel Mooney, English broadcast journalist
• * Jayne Eastwood, Canadian actress, voice actress
• * Suresh Oberoi, Indian actor
• December 18
• * Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist
• * Nina Škottová, Czech politician, member of the European Parliament
• * Steven Spielberg, American film director
• December 19
• * Candace Pert, American neuroscientist
• * Robert Urich, American actor
• December 20
• * Uri Geller, Israeli illusionist
• * Lesley Judd, English television presenter
• * Sonny Perdue, American politician, 81st Governor of Georgia, 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
• * John Spencer, American actor
• * Dick Wolf, American television producer
• December 21
• *Brian Davison, Rhodesian cricketer, Tasmanian politician
• * Carl Wilson, American musician
• December 23
• * Edita Gruberová, Slovakian soprano
• * Susan Lucci, American actress
• * John Sullivan, English television scriptwriter
• December 24
• *Jan Akkerman, Dutch rock guitarist
• * Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, French politician, member of the European Parliament
• * Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist
• * Jeff Sessions, American politician, United States Attorney General
• December 25
• * Jimmy Buffett, American rock singer, songwriter
• * Larry Csonka, American football player
• * Gene Lamont, American baseball player, manager
• December 27
• * Lenny Kaye, American guitarist
• * Janet Street-Porter, English broadcast journalist
• December 28
• * Mike Beebe, American politician, attorney
• * Edgar Winter, American rock musician
• December 29
• * Marianne Faithfull, English singer, actress
• * Ruth Shady, Peruvian archaeologist
• December 30
• * Patti Smith, American poet, singer
• * Berti Vogts, German football player, manager
• December 31 – Diane von Fürstenberg, Belgian-American fashion designer

  Date Unknown

• Ali Abu Al-Ragheb, Prime Minister of Jordan
• Jang Song-thaek, North Korean politician
• Afsaneh Najmabadi, Iranian historian, gender theorist
• Raul Bragança Neto, 8th Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe

  Deaths

January

• January 3 – William Joyce, Irish-born American World War II Nazi propaganda broadcaster known as "Lord Haw-Haw"
• January 4 – George Woolf, Canadian jockey
• January 5 – Kitty Cheatham, American singer
• January 6
• * Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen
• * Slim Summerville, American actor
• January 8 – Dion Fortune, British writer
• January 9
• * Countee Cullen, American poet
• * Sir Nevil Macready, British army general, police commissioner
• January 10
• * László Bárdossy, Hungarian diplomat, politician and 33rd Prime Minister of Hungary
• * Harry Von Tilzer, American songwriter
• January 13 – Wilhelm Souchon, German admiral
• January 15 – Karl Nabersberg, German youth leader
• January 23 – Matteo Bartoli, Italian linguist
• January 25 – Orishatukeh Faduma, American missionary
• January 29
• * Hideo Hatoyama, Japanese jurist
• * Harry Hopkins, American politician
• * Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch–born American astronomer
• January 31
• * Pietro Boetto, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and eminence
• * Luis Orgaz Yoldi, Spanish general

  February

• February 2 – Rondo Hatton, American actor
• February 5 – George Arliss, British actor
• February 6
• * Upendranath Brahmachari, Indian scientist
• * Oswald Kabasta, Austrian conductor
• February 8
• * Felix Hoffmann, German chemist
• * Miles Mander, British actor
• February 11 – Ludovic-Oscar Frossard, French socialist, communist politician
• February 12 – George Dumas, French doctor, psychologist
• February 15
• * Maliq Bushati, Albanian collaborator, 18th Prime Minister of Albania
• * Cornelius Johnson, American field athlete
• February 17
• * Dorothy Gibson, American actress
• * Benjamin I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
• February 19 – Rafael Erich, Finnish politician, professor, diplomat and 6th Prime Minister of Finland
• February 21 – Theodore Stark Wilkinson, American admiral
• February 23 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general
• February 25 – René Le Grèves, French cyclist
• February 26 – Jackie, Nubian-born MGM lion
• February 27 – James Cecil Parke, Irish rugby player, tennis player and golfer
• February 28
• * Béla Imrédy, Hungarian economist, politician and 32nd Prime Minister of Hungary
• * Giuseppe Salvago Raggi, Italian diplomat

  March

• March 2 – George E. Stewart, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
• March 3 – Viktor Axmann, Yugoslav architect
• March 4
• * Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Danish big-game hunter
• * Martyrs of Albania, Catholics
• ** Mark Çuni, seminarian
• ** Daniel Dajani, Jesuit priest
• ** Giovanni Fausti, Italian Jesuit priest
• ** Gjelosh Lulashi
• ** Qerim Sadiku
• ** Kolë Shllaku, friar
• March 6 – Antonio Caso Andrade, Mexican philosopher
• March 9 – Adolfo Ferrata, Italian pathologist, hematologist
• March 12
• * Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian military officer, Fascist politician and 37th Prime Minister of Hungary
• * Leonida Tonelli, Italian mathematician
• March 14 – Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal
• March 16
• * José Júlio da Costa, Portuguese activist
• * Alladiya Khan, Indian singer
• March 17
• * James Berry, British surgeon
• * Joseph de Pesquidoux, French writer
• March 19 – Augusto Nicolás Martínez, Ecuadorian agronomist, economist, geologist, researcher, educator and mountaineer
• March 22 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German Catholic Cardinal, Bishop of Münster
• March 23
• * Francisco Largo Caballero, Spanish politician, trade unionist and 66th Prime Minister of Spain
• * Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist
• March 24
• * Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player
• * Carl Schuhmann, German athlete
• * Barbu Știrbey, 30th Prime Minister of Romania
• March 26 – Ezequiel Fernández, acting President of Panama
• March 29 – László Endre, Hungarian politician
• March 31 – John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, British field marshal

  April

• April 1
• * Noah Beery, Sr., American actor
• * Edward Sheldon, American playwright
• April 2 – Kate Bruce, veteran American silent screen actress, made many films with D. W. Griffith
• April 3
• * Alf Common, English footballer
• * Masaharu Homma, Japanese general
• April 5
• * Ion Boițeanu, Romanian general
• *Vincent Youmans, American composer
• April 7 – Padmanath Gohain Baruah, Indian novelist, poet and dramatist
• April 8
• * Bo Gu, 3rd General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
• * Patriarch Eulogius
• April 14 – Otto Dowling, United States Navy Captain, 25th Governor of American Samoa
• April 15 – Infanta Adelgundes, Duchess of Guimarães
• April 17
• * Guido Calza, Italian archaeologist
• * Juan Bautista Sacasa, 20th President of Nicaragua
• April 20 – Mae Busch, American actress
• April 21 – John Maynard Keynes, British economist
• April 22
• * Lionel Atwill, British actor
• * Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States
• April 28 – Robert Bartlett, American explorer, and navigator
• April 30 – Sava Athanasiu, Romanian geologist, paleontologist

  May

• May 1
• * Bill Johnston, American tennis champion
• * Israfil Mammadov, Soviet WWII heroine
• Martin Bormann, German Nazi leader and private secretary to Adolf Hitler
• May 9 – Léon Guillet, French metallurgist
• May 10 – Emile de Cartier de Marchienne, Belgian diplomat
• May 11 – Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Dominican essayist, philosopher, humanist and philologist
• May 13 – Alexei Nikolaevich Bach, Soviet biochemist, revolutionary leader
• May 16
• * Bruno Tesch, German chemist, Nazi war criminal
• * Karl Weinbacher, German manager, war criminal
• May 19
• * Francesco Camero Medici, Italian diplomat
• * Ángel Ossorio y Gallardo, Spanish lawyer, statesman
• * Booth Tarkington, American novelist
• May 20
• * Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor
• * Enrico Gasparri, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, archbishop
• May 22 – Karl Hermann Frank, German Nazi official, war criminal
• May 23 – Billy Sullivan, American actor
• May 26
• * Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
• * Joseffy, Austrian magician
• May 27
• * Claire Croiza, French soprano
• * Henri Hauser, French historian, geographer and economist
• May 28 - Claus Schilling, German medical researcher and war criminal
• May 29 – Cagnaccio di San Pietro, Italian painter
• May 30
• *Marcela Agoncillo, Filipino who sewed the first Filipino flag
• *Louis Slotin, Canadian physicist, chemist
• May 31 – Picoğlu Osman, Turkish kemenche player

  June

• June 1
• * Ion Antonescu, Romanian soldier, politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Romania and Romanian dictator
• * Leo Slezak, German tenor
• June 3 – Chen Gongbo, 2nd President of Republic of China during Nanjing regime
• June 4 – Sándor Simonyi-Semadam, Hungarian politician, 26th Prime Minister of Hungary
• June 5 – Maud Watson, British tennis player, first female Wimbledon champion
• June 6
• * Isidro Ancheta, Filipino painter
• * Gerhart Hauptmann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• June 7 – Fabijan Abrantovich, Soviet civic, religious leader
• June 9 – Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand, World War II leader
• June 10 – Jack Johnson, American boxer
• June 11 – Juanita Breckenridge Bates, American minister
• June 12 – Hisaichi Terauchi, Marshal of the Imperial Japanese Army
• June 13 – Charles Butterworth, American actor
• June 14
• * Jorge Ubico, Guatemalan army general, 21st President of Guatemala
• * John Logie Baird, British television pioneer
• * Edward Bowes, American radio personality
• June 15 – João Batista Becker, German-born Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, archbishop
• June 18 – Eugen Hirschfield, Australian practitioner
• June 19 – Theodor Wulf, German physicist, Jesuit priest
• June 20 – Empress Wanrong of China
• June 23 – William S. Hart, American stage actor, silent film Western star, film director and writer
• June 24 – Marian Bernaciak, Polish World War II heroine
• June 27
• * Juan Antonio Ríos, Chilean political figure, 24th President of Chile and World War II leader
• * Wanda Gág, American artist, author, translator and illustrator
• June 28 – Antoinette Perry, American actress, director
• June 30 – Jelica Belović-Bernardzikowska, Yugoslav journalist, writer and journalist

  July

• July – Howard Hyde Russell, American temperance advocate, founder of the Anti-Saloon League
• July 1 – Augustyn Józef Czartoryski, Polish nobleman
• July 2
• * Mary Alden, American stage, and screen actress
• * Albert Sechehaye, Swiss linguist
• July 3 – Edoardo Bianchi, Italian entrepreneur, inventor
• * Elisabeth Becker, German Nazi overseer at Stutthof concentration camp
• * Wanda Klaff, German Nazi overseer at Stutthof concentration camp
• * Ewa Paradies, German Nazi overseer at Stutthof concentration camp
• * Gerda Steinhoff, German Nazi overseer at Stutthof concentration camp
• July 7 – Federico Laredo Brú, 8th President of Cuba
• July 8 – Orrick Glenday Johns, American writer
• July 12
• * Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist, author
• * Teresa Janina Kierocińska, Polish Discalced Carmelite nun and venerable
• July 13 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer
• July 15
• * Benjamin W. Alpiner, American businessman and politician
• * Razor Smith, English cricketer
• July 16 – Raffaele Conflenti, Italian engineer, aircraft designer
• July 17
• * Consolata Betrone, Italian Franciscan mystic and servant of God
• * Kosta Mušicki, Yugoslav general
• * Campbell Tait, Governor of Southern Rhodesia
• July 18
• * Ehrhard Schmidt, German admiral
• * Alfons Tracki, Albanian priest
• July 19 – George Mackenzie Brown, Canadian-born British publisher
• July 20 – Shiro Kawase, Japanese admiral
• July 21
• *Shefqet Vërlaci, Albanian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Albania
• * Gualberto Villarroel, 46th President of Bolivia
• *Arthur Greiser, German general
• July 22 – Edward Sperling, Russian-American-Jewish writer, Zionist
• July 26 – Alexander Vvedensky, Soviet Orthodox religious leader and blessed
• July 25 – Harry Davis, Canadian gangster
• July 27
• * Franz Anton Basch, German politician
• * Gertrude Stein, American writer
• July 28 – Saint Anna Muttathupadathu, Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic and Eastern Catholic religious sister and saint
• July 31 – Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, Ceylonese politician, Governor-General of Ceylon

  August

• August 1 – Andrey Vlasov, Soviet general, commander of the Russian Liberation Army
• August 2 – Karl, Prince of Leiningen
• August 5
• * Otto Franke, German sinologist
• * Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer, politician and 17th Chancellor of Germany
• August 6
• * Blanche Bingley Hillyard, English tennis champion
• * Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer
• August 8 – Maria Barrientos, Spanish opera singer
• August 9 – Léon Gaumont, French film pioneer
• August 11 – Giuseppe Pietri, Italian composer
• August 12 – Inayatullah Khan, King of Afghanistan
• August 13
• * H. G. Wells, British science fiction writer, historian
• * Émile Berlia, French politician
• August 16 – Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu
• August 17 – Channing Pollock, American playwright
• August 20 – "Rags" Ragland, American comedian, actor
• August 22 – Döme Sztójay, 35th Prime Minister of Hungary
• August 23 – Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria
• August 26 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress
• August 28
• * Georgios Kafantaris, Prime Minister of Greece
• * Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, British field marshal
• * Florence Turner, American actress
• August 29 – John Steuart Curry, American painter

  September

• September 3 – Paul Lincke, German composer
• September 4 - Nobu Shirase, Japenses army officer and Antarctic explorer
• September 11 – Francesco Bonifacio, Italian Roman Catholic priest and blessed
• September 13 – William Watt, Australian politician, Premier of Victoria
• September 16
• * Henri Gouraud, French general
• * James Hopwood Jeans, English physicist, astronomer and mathematician
• September 17 – Frank Burke, American baseball player
• September 23 – Rosa Lee Tucker, American librarian
• September 24 - Gustav Globočnik Edler von Vojka, Austro-Hungarian nobleman and field marshal
• September 25 – Heinrich George, German actor
• September 29 – Raimu, French actor
• September 30 – Takashi Sakai, Japanese general

  October

• October 1 – Hiroshi Kawabuchi, Japanese politician
• October 2 – Ignacy Mościcki, Polish chemist, politician and 4th President of Poland
• October 4 – Barney Oldfield, American race car driver, automobile pioneer
• October 5
• * István Bethlen, Hungarian aristocrat, statesman and 28th Prime Minister of Hungary
• * Alberto Marvelli, Italian member of the Roman Catholic action and blessed
• October 6
• * Per Albin Hansson, Swedish politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Sweden
• * Joseph Francis Sartori, American banker
• October 8 – Agustín Parrado y García, Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal
• October 12 – Joseph Stilwell, American World War II general
• October 15 – Hermann Göring, German Nazi Reichsmarschall
• October 16
• * Nuremberg executions
• ** Hans Frank, German Nazi Governor General of Poland
• ** Wilhelm Frick, German Nazi Minister of the Interior
• ** Alfred Jodl, German general, World War II Chief of the German armed forces
• ** Ernst Kaltenbrunner, German Nazi police general
• ** Wilhelm Keitel, German field marshal
• ** Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Nazi foreign minister
• ** Alfred Rosenberg, German Nazi ideologist
• ** Fritz Sauckel, German Nazi general plenipotentiary
• ** Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader
• ** Julius Streicher, German Nazi propaganda publisher
• October 20 – Igor Demidov, Soviet politician
• October 23 – Francesco Carandini, Italian poet
• October 24 – Kurt Daluege, German Nazi officer, SS general and police official, war criminal

  November

• November 2 – John Barrett, British clergyman, Roman Catholic bishop and reverend
• November 4 – Rüdiger von der Goltz, German general
• November 5 – Joseph Stella, Italian-American painter
• November 6 – Maria Innocentia Hummel, German Franciscan religious sister and blessed
• November 7 – Henry Lehrman, American actor
• November 10 – Baldassare Forestiere, Italian immigrant to America
• November 11 – Nikolay Burdenko, Soviet surgeon, founder of Soviet neurosurgery
• November 12 – Camillo Caccia Dominioni, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, eminence
• November 14 – Manuel de Falla, Spanish composer
• November 18 – Donald Meek, British actor
• November 24 – László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer
• November 25 – George Gandy, American entrepreneur
• November 26 – Sultana Racho Petrova, Bulgarian memoirist
• November 28 – Maria Izabela Wiłucka-Kowalska, Polish Roman Catholic religious leader, saint

  December

• December 5 – Louis Dewis, Belgian Post-Impressionist painter
• December 6 – Charles Stewart, Canadian politician, Premier of Alberta
• December 7
• * Laurette Taylor, American actress
• * Sada Yacco, Japanese stage actress
• December 10
• * Walter Johnson, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer
• * Damon Runyon, American writer
• December 11 – Francis Xavier Lasance, American Roman Catholic priest and blessed
• December 12
• * Ben Carter, American actor
• * Renée Falconetti, French actress
• December 13 – Curtis Hidden Page, American politician
• December 14 – Tom Dowse, Irish major league baseball player in the 1890s
• December 16 – Salman al-Murshid, Syrian religious leader, political figure
• December 20 – Einosuke Harada, Japanese ophthamologist
• December 22 – Pierre Bénard, French journalist
• December 23 – John A. Sampson, American gynecologist
• December 25
• * W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian
• * Henri Le Fauconnier, French painter
• December 26 – Franjo Bučar, Yugoslav writer
• December 27 – Pedro Mata Dominguez, Spanish novelist, playwright and poet
• December 28
• * Carrie Jacobs-Bond, American singer, songwriter
• * Francis Salabert, French publisher
• December 29 – John Babington Macaulay Baxter, Canadian politician, 19th Premier of New Brunswick

  Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Percy Williams Bridgman
• Chemistry – James B. Sumner, John Howard Northrop, Wendell Meredith Stanley
• Physiology or Medicine – Hermann Joseph Muller
• Literature – Hermann Hesse
• Peace – Emily Greene Balch, John Mott