Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. ...
** The
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its ...
(GATT) is inaugurated.
** The
Constitution of New Jersey
The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the st ...
(later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form
British Railways.
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
*1649 – E ...
– Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the ''Union of Burma'', with
Sao Shwe Thaik
Sao Shwe Thaik ( shn, ၸဝ်ႈၶမ်းသိူၵ်ႈ, ''Tsaw³ Kham⁴soek³''; my, စဝ်ရွှေသိုက်, ; 16 October 1895 – 21 November 1962) was a Burmese politician who served as the first president of the Un ...
as its first President, and
U Nu
Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pro ...
its first Prime Minister.
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army ...
**
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
shows the first color
newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...
(''
Tournament of Roses Parade
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
'' and the ''
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Ro ...
'').
** The first
Kinsey Report
The Kinsey Reports are two scholarly books on human sexual behavior, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953), written by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and (for ''Sexual Beh ...
, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', is published in the United States.
*
January 7 –
Mantell UFO incident
On January 7, 1948, 25-year-old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died in the crash of his P-51 Mustang fighter plane near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying obj ...
:
Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of an
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
.
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reig ...
–
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
begins his fast-unto-death in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
, to stop communal violence during the
Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
.
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
*38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
*1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people o ...
– A truce is declared between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
.
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor ('' Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw ...
– British foreign secretary
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...
proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France, and the
Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...
countries, to stand up against the Soviet Union. The
Treaty of Brussels
The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (alliance), Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the foundin ...
is signed
March 17
Events Pre-1600
*45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...
as a consequence, a predecessor to
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – The Council of Trent ...
– Teigin poison case: a man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 of 16 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist
Sadamichi Hirasawa
was a Japanese tempera painter. He was convicted of mass poisoning and sentenced to death. Due to strong suspicions that he was innocent, no justice minister ever signed his death warrant.
Teigin case
On January 26, 1948, a man calling himsel ...
is later sentenced to death for the crime, but is never executed.
*
January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ru ...
–
A DC-3 aircraft crash at Los Gatos Creek, near
Coalinga, California
Coalinga ( or ) is a city in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas.
It was formerly known as ''Coaling Station A'', ''Coalingo'', and ''Coalinga Station''.
The ...
, kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a protest song (''
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)'') by
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, American socialism and anti-fascism. He ...
.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
**
Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at age 78 in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in central New Delhi. His assassin was Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Chitpavan Brahmin from Pune, Maharasht ...
: Indian pacifist and leader
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
is shot by
Nathuram Godse
Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu nationalist from Maharashtra who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in ...
in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...
.
** The
1948 Winter Olympics
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...
open in
St Moritz
St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality ...
, Switzerland.
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– The British
crown colony of the
Malayan Union
The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. ...
,
Penang
Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Ma ...
and
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site s ...
form the
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See'' ...
.
February
*
February 1
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
begins to jam
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
broadcasts.
** The
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See'' ...
is proclaimed.
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling ...
– Ceylon (later known as
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) becomes an independent kingdom, within the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...
.
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– General
Douglas Gracey becomes
Commander-in-chief of
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
*1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
*1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse. ...
–
Miranda, innermost of the large
moons of Uranus
Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, has 27 known moons, most of which are named after characters that appear in, or are mentioned in, the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Uranus's moons are divided into three grou ...
, is discovered by
Gerard Kuiper
Gerard Peter Kuiper (; ; born Gerrit Pieter Kuiper; 7 December 1905 – 23 December 1973) was a Dutch astronomer, planetary scientist, selenographer, author and professor. He is the eponymous namesake of the Kuiper belt.
Kuiper i ...
.
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
*1268 &nd ...
–
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...
, Irish head of government from 1918 to 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition.
John A. Costello
John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 – 5 January 1976) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959, and Attorney General of ...
is appointed
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...
by President
Seán T. O'Kelly, until
1960
It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* J ...
.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...
– The
convenes in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
.
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
*452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
*1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
– The United States
stock car racing organization
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
is founded by
Bill France, Sr.
William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992), also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American businessman and racing driver. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock ...
with other drivers.
*
February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
*1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdi ...
– The first of the
Ben Yehuda Street bombings
A series of attacks were perpetrated or ordered by Palestinian Arabs, some of them acting as suicide bombers, on Jewish targets in Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street from February 1948 onwards. The attacks took place before the declaration of the St ...
in Jerusalem kills between 49 and 58 civilians, and injures between 140 and 200.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
–
1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état
In late February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia. It marked the onset of four decades of the party's rule in the country., sk, Február 1948) or ...
:
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...
,
President of Czechoslovakia, cedes control of the country to the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, a day celebrated by that regime as "
Victorious February" ( cz, Vítězný únor, links=no; sk, Víťazný Február) until
November 1989.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
* 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
* 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is execut ...
**
Accra Riots: Riots take place in
Accra, capital of the British colony of
Gold Coast, when a peaceful protest march by ex-servicemen is broken up by police, leaving several members of the group dead, among them Sergeant Adjetey, one of the leaders.
**The
2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India
The 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India was held in Calcutta, West Bengal from 28 February to 6 March 1948. At the Second Party Congress, the party line shifted dramatically under the new General Secretary B.T. Ranadive and subsequent ...
convenes in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
.
March
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
*1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
* 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
*1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bo ...
– ''
McCollum v. Board of Education
''McCollum v. Board of Education'', 333 U.S. 203 (1948), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case related to the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system to aid religious instruction. The case was a test of the separat ...
'': The
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the
U.S. Constitution.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
*1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the C ...
– The
Costa Rican Civil War begins.
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
*45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...
** The
Treaty of Brussels
The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (alliance), Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the foundin ...
is signed by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, providing for economic, social and cultural collaboration and collective self-defence.
** The
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...
motorcycle gang is founded in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
*1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...
– The Round Table Conference convenes in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
, Netherlands, to prepare the decolonization process for the Caribbean island of
Aruba and the other Dutch Colonies. Aruba presents the mandate of the Aruban People for Aruba to become an independent country, under the sovereignty of the House of Orange, based on Aruba's first state constitution presented officially since August 1947, and a (4th) member state of the future Dutch Commonwealth.
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
*1600 – The Link ...
**
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
holds its first elections.
** Renowned Italian conductor
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
makes his television debut, conducting the
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...
in an all-
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
program in the United States.
** The
20th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. ''
Gentleman's Agreement
A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or t ...
'' wins the
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categor ...
.
April
*
April
April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days.
April is commonly associated with ...
– Children's Supermart, as predecessor of
toys
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...
and children relative
retailer brand Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loca ...
, is founded in
Washington D.C., United States.
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
* 1081 – Alexios ...
– Physicists
Ralph Asher Alpher and
George Gamow
George Gamow (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968), born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov ( uk, Георгій Антонович Гамов, russian: Георгий Антонович Гамов), was a Russian-born Soviet and American polymath, theore ...
publish the
Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper, about the
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...
.
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
...
** United States President
Harry S. Truman signs the
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
, which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
**
Jeju Uprising: Residents revolt on
Jeju island, South Korea, eventually leading to the deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000.
**
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a series of concerts featuring
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
conducting the
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...
in the United States. The chorus is conducted by
Robert Shaw.
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of hi ...
–
1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Haganah launches
Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon ( he, מבצע נחשון, ''Mivtza Nahshon'') was a Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–16 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem roa ...
, provoking the
1948 Palestinian exodus
In 1948 more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Palestine's Arab population – were expelled or fled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. The exodus was a central component of the fracturing, dispossession ...
.
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First '' Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emp ...
– The
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
is established by the United Nations.
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
**
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala (23 January 1903 – 9 April 1948) was a left-wing Colombian politician and charismatic leader of the Liberal Party. He served as the mayor of Bogotá from 1936–37, the national Education Minister from 19 ...
's assassination provokes a violent riot in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
(the ''
Bogotazo
El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the ''-azo'' suffix of violent augmentation) refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 19 ...
''), and a further 10 years of violence (''
La Violencia
''La Violencia'' (, The Violence) was a ten-year civil war in Colombia from 1948 to 1958, between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party, fought mainly in the countryside.
''La Violencia'' is considered to have beg ...
'') across Colombia.
** The Deir Yassin massacre takes place, in British Mandatory Palestine.
* April 13 – The Hadassah medical convoy massacre takes place, in British Mandatory Palestine.
* April 16 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is founded, as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC).
* April 18 – Italian general election, 1948: The first democratic general election with universal suffrage is held in Italy. The Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy party achieves a majority over the Popular Democratic Front (Italy), Popular Democratic Front Communist-Socialist coalition.
* April 19
** Burma joins the United Nations.
** The American Broadcasting Company (otherwise known as ABC) begins television services, on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (later WPVI-TV).
* April 22
** Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Battle of Haifa (1948), Battle of Haifa – Jewish paramilitary group Haganah captures Haifa from the Arab Liberation Army.
** WTVR-TV, WTVR begins television services. WTVR is the first TV station south of Washington D.C., giving it the nickname "The South's First Television station".
* April 23 – First National Games of Pakistan held in Karachi.
* April 24 – The
Costa Rican Civil War ends.
* April 30
** The Organization of American States (OAS) is founded.
** The English-built Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
May
* May – The RAND Corporation is established, as an independent nonprofit policy research and analysis institution, in the United States.
* May 9 – Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948: An annular solar eclipse is visible in Japan and South Korea, and is the 32nd solar eclipse of Solar Saros 137. This eclipse is very short, lasting just 0.3 seconds. The path width is just about 200 meters wide (approximately 218 yards).
* May 11 – Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.
* May 14 – The Israeli Declaration of Independence is made. David Ben-Gurion becomes the first prime minister, a provisional position that will become formalized on February 14, 1949.
* May 15
** 1948 Arab–Israeli War: The Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated; expeditionary forces from Egypt, Jordan, Transjordan, Syria and Iraq invade Israel, and clash with Israeli forces.
** The murder of a 3-year-old girl in Blackburn, England, leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city, in an attempt to find the murderer.
** Australian cricket team in England in 1948: The touring Australia national cricket team, Australians set an all-time First-class cricket, first-class record, by scoring 721 runs in a day against Essex County Cricket Club, Essex.
* May 16 – Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel. New York City Fire Department Rescue 5 is founded for Staten Island.
* May 18 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
* May 22 – The Soviets launch Operation Vesna, the largest Lithuanian deportation to Siberia.
* May 25 – The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) is founded at Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila.
* May 26 – The United States Congress passes ''Public Law 557'', which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
* May 28 – Daniel François Malan defeats Jan Smuts and becomes Prime Minister of South Africa, which starts in the era of apartheid (which is finally dismantled by F. W. de Klerk in 1994).
* May 29 – The Casimir effect is predicted by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.
* May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon, within minutes; 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
June
* June 1 – Puma (brand), Puma, a global sports goods brand, is founded in Bavaria, West Germany, by Rudolf Dassler, having split from his brother "Adolf Dassler, Adi".
* June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.
* June 10 – Hasan Saka forms the new government of Turkey. (17th government; Hasan Saka had served twice as a prime minister)
* June 11 – The first monkeys in space, monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.
* June 15 – Chinese newspaper ''Renmin Ribao'' (''People's Daily'') is first published in Beijing, China.
* June 16 – Three armed men hijack the Cathay Pacific passenger plane ''Miss Macao'' and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes, killing 26 of 27 people on board.
* June 17 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing 43 and injuring 84 people on board.
* June 18
** Malayan Emergency: A state of emergency is declared in the
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See'' ...
, due to a communist insurgency.
** LP record – Columbia Records introduces its long playing rpm phonograph format.
* June 20 – The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).
* June 21
** The Deutsche Mark becomes the official currency of the future West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany.
** The Manchester Baby becomes the first stored-program computer to successfully execute a program.
* June 22
**The ship brings a large group of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury near London, the start of a large wave of immigration to Britain.
**David Lean's ''Oliver Twist (1948 film), Oliver Twist'', based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S., because of alleged antisemitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.
* June 24
** Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.
** The first World Health Assembly of the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
is held in Geneva.
* June 26
** William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
** The Berlin Blockade, Berlin Airlift begins.
* June 28
** The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet–Yugoslav split, Soviet/Yugoslav split.
** The 6.8 1948 Fukui earthquake, Fukui earthquake strikes Fukui, Fukui, Fukui, Japan; 3,769 are killed, 22,203 injured.
** Lotte Holdings, Lotte Group, a global Conglomerate (company), conglomerate in Northeast Asia (South Korea and Japan), is founded.
July
* July 5 – The National Health Service in the United Kingdom begins functioning, giving the right to universal healthcare, free at point of use.
* July 6 – The world's first Air Car-ferry service is flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways, from Lympne to Le Touquet across the English Channel.
* July 13 – The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches reach an agreement, leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.
* July 14 – The attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, results in numerous strikes all over the country.
* July 15 – The first London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous is founded.
* July 20 – Cold War:
** President
Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
(the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt)
** Eugene Dennis, William Z. Foster, and ten other CPUSA leaders are arrested, and charged under the Alien Registration Act.
* July 22 – The Dominion of Newfoundland votes to join Canada, after a Newfoundland referendums, 1948, referendum.
* July 26 – U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
* July 28 – Around 200 die in explosion at a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
* July 29 – The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
* July 31
** At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
** Elizabeth Bentley appears under subpoena before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of the United States House of Representatives regarding Communist espionage; she implicates Whittaker Chambers.
*Claude Shannon publishe
"A mathematical theory of communication"- the paper that laid the foundations for the field of "Information Theory" and all modern digital communications.
August
* August 3 – Whittaker Chambers appears under subpoena before the HUAC, and alleges that several former U.S. Federal officials were communists, including Harry Dexter White and Alger Hiss.
* August 5 – Alger Hiss appears before the HUAC, to deny the allegations of Whittaker Chambers.
* August 10–August 23, 23 – The Herrenchiemsee convention prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.
* August 12 – Babrra massacre: About 600 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are shot dead on the orders of the Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province (1901–2010), North-West Frontier Province, Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri, on Babrra ground in the Hashtnagar region of Charsadda District, Pakistan, Charsadda District, North-West Frontier Province (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan.
* August 13 – Harry Dexter White and Donald Hiss refute allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers, before the HUAC.
* August 14 – 1948 Ashes series: Australian batsman Don Bradman, playing his last Test cricket match, against England at The Oval, is bowled by Eric Hollies for a Duck (cricket), duck; however, Australian cricket team in England in 1948, "The Invincibles" win the match by an innings and 149 runs, and The Ashes 4–0.
* August 15 – The southern half of Korea is established as the Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea).
* August 17 – The HUAC holds a private session between Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers.
* August 18 – The Danube Commission is created by the Belgrade Convention (enters into force 11 May 1949).
* August 20 – Lee Pressman, Nathan Witt, and John Abt, represented by Harold I. Cammer, plead the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fifth Amendment, in response to allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers before the HUAC.
* August 23 – The World Council of Churches is established in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
* August 24 – The first meeting of the charter members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) is held.
* August 25 – The HUAC holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
* August 27 – Whittaker Chambers states that Alger Hiss was a communist on ''Meet the Press'' radio.
September
* September 4 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
* September 5 – Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.
* September 6 – Juliana of the Netherlands, Juliana is formally Inauguration of the Dutch monarch, inaugurated to succeed her mother, as queen regnant of the Netherlands.
* September 9 – The northern half of Korea is formally declared the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.
* September 11 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder and first Governor-General of Pakistan, dies. Pakistan is in a state of shock as it mourns the departure of the father of the nation. The day is a Quaid-i-Azam Day, public holiday nationwide.
* September 13–September 18, 18 – Indian annexation of Hyderabad ("Operation Polo"): The princely state of State of Hyderabad, Hyderabad is invaded by the Indian Armed Forces in a "police action", in the aftermath of Pakistani leader Jinnah's death. The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his state, which is amalgamated into the newly independent Dominion of India; thousands are killed as a result of this event.
* September 13 – Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States Senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House Of Representatives and the United States Senate.
* September 17 – Lehi (group), Lehi members, also known as the Stern Gang, assassinate Swedish count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator in Palestine, in Jerusalem.
* September 18 – An inaugural motor race is held at Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex, England.
* September 20 – The city of Rabwah is established in Pakistan.
* September 27 – Alger Hiss files a slander suit against Whittaker Chambers, for his August 27 radio statement in the United States.
* September 29 – Laurence Olivier's film of ''Hamlet (1948 film), Hamlet'' opens in the U.S.
October
* October 5 – The International Union for the Protection of Nature (later known as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN) is established in Fontainebleau, France.
* October 6 – 1948 Ashgabat earthquake: A 7.3 earthquake near Ashgabat, Soviet Turkmenistan kills 10,000–110,000.
* October 10 – The R-1 (missile), R-1 missile on test becomes the first Soviet Union, Soviet launch to enter space.
* October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.
* October 20 – Brandeis University is formally founded in Massachusetts.
* October 26 – Donora Smog of 1948: A killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.
* October 29 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War: Massacres of Palestinian Arab villagers by the Israel Defense Forces:
** Al-Dawayima massacre: Between 30 and 145 are killed.
** Safsaf massacre: At least 52 are killed.
* October 30 – A ''luzzu'' fishing boat overloaded with passengers 1948 Gozo luzzu disaster, capsizes and sinks in the Gozo Channel off Qala, Malta, Qala, Gozo, Crown Colony of Malta, Malta, killing 23 of the 27 people on board.
November
* November 1
** The Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other CPUSA leaders begins, in New York City.
** Athenagoras I of Constantinople, Athenagoras I is elected the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
** A boiler and ammunition explosion aboard a merchant ship evacuating troops of the Republic of China Army from Yingkou, China for Taiwan causes thousands of deaths.
* November 2 – 1948 United States presidential election: Democratic incumbent
Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey, "Dixiecrat" Strom Thurmond, and Progressive party candidate Henry A. Wallace.
* November 12 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.
* November 15 – Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's 12th Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister.
* November 16
** ''Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen), Operation Magic Carpet'' to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.
** The University of the Andes, Colombia, University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes) is founded in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
, Colombia.
* November 17
** Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, Fawzia of Egypt.
** Whittaker Chambers produces secret government papers, handwritten and typewritten by Alger Hiss, during pretrial examination.
* November 20 – Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.
* November 24 – In Venezuela, president Rómulo Gallegos is ousted by a military junta.
* November 27 – The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before 20,013 fans at Toronto's Varsity Stadium, to win their first Grey Cup, and complete the only perfect season to date in Canadian Football.
December
* December 1 – José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do so.
* December 2 – The United States House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenas and retrieves the "Pumpkin Papers" from the farm of Whittaker Chambers.
* December 6 – Richard Nixon displays microfilm from the "Pumpkin Papers" to the press.
* December 9 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Genocide Convention.
* December 10 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
* December 11–December 12, 12 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Scots Guards shoot 24 Chinese people, Chinese villagers in Federation of Malaya, Malaya.
* December 15 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss, on two counts of perjury.
* December 17 – The Finnish Security Intelligence Service, Finnish Security Police is established to remove Communist Party of Finland, communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police (Finland), State Police.
* December 19 – In the American National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7–0, to win the championship.
* December 20
** Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.
** American economist and former State Department official Laurence Duggan falls to his death, from the 16th story window of his Manhattan office.
* December 23 – Seven Japanese military and political leaders, convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, are executed by Allied occupation authorities, at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan.
* December 26
** The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.
** Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary, and accused of treason and conspiracy.
* December 28 – A Muslim Brotherhood member assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha, Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi.
* December 30 – The musical ''Kiss Me, Kate'' opens for the first of 1,077 performances in New York City.
* December 31 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive Egyptians from the Negev.
Date unknown
* The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens on Staten Island, New York.
* The Slovak city Gúta is renamed Kolárovo.
* The Vielha Tunnel is opened, giving access to the Val d'Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees; at this time it is the longest road tunnel in the world.
* The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.
* The last recorded sighting is made of the Caspian tiger, in Kazakhstan.
* A pack of wolves kills about 40 children in Darovskoy District, in Russia.
* The last edition of the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' is published in the Holy See, Vatican.
* Charles Warrell creates the first I-Spy (Michelin), I-Spy books in the United Kingdom.
* Wilbert Awdry, Rev. W. Awdry's third book, ''James the Red Engine'', is published in the United Kingdom.
* Inspired by World War II fighter planes, Cadillac introduces the first automobile to sport car tailfin, tailfins.
* The inaugural 6 Hours of Watkins Glen sports car endurance race is held in the United States.
Births
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. ...
– Allan Alcorn, American engineer
* January 2
** Judith Miller, American journalist
** Joyce Wadler, American writer, memoirist
** Deborah Watling, English actress (d. 2017)
* January 3 – Wanda Seux, Paraguayan vedette, dancer, and actress (d. 2020)
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army ...
** Wally Foreman, Australian media icon (d. 2006)
** Ted Lange, African-American actor, director (''The Love Boat'')
* January 6
** Guy Gardner (astronaut), Guy Gardener, American astronaut
** Bob Wise, Former Governor of West Virginia
*
January 7
** Kenny Loggins, American rock singer (''Footloose (song), Footloose'')
** Ichirou Mizuki, Japanese voice actor
* January 10
** Remu Aaltonen, Finnish musician
** Donald Fagen, American rock keyboardist (''Steely Dan'')
** Teresa Graves, African-American actress and comedian (''Get Christie Love'') (d. 2002)
** Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
* January 11
** Hiroshi Wajima, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2018)
** Terry Goodkind, American writer (d. 2020)
** Danne Larsson, Swedish musician
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reig ...
** Kenny Allen (footballer), Kenny Allen, English footballer
** Anthony Andrews, English actor
* January 13
** V. Krishnasamy, Malaysian footballer (d. 2020)
** Françoise David, Canadian spokesperson
* January 14
** T Bone Burnett, American record producer, musician
** Muhriz of Negeri Sembilan, Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan
** Carl Weathers, African-American actor, football player (''Rocky IV'', ''Action Jackson (1988 film), Action Jackson'')
* January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (''Lynyrd Skynyrd'') (d. 1977)
* January 16
** John Carpenter, American film director, producer, screenwriter and composer
** Gregor Gysi, German politician
** Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
** Tsuneo Horiuchi, Japanese baseball pitcher, manager
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
*38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
*1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people o ...
** Billy T. James, New Zealand comedian, musician and actor (d. 1991)
** Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
* January 18 – M. C. Gainey, American actor
* January 20
** Nancy Kress, American science fiction writer
** Jerry L. Ross, American air engineer
* January 23
** Katharine Holabird, American writer
** Mitoji Yabunaka, Japanese politician
* January 27 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer
* January 28
** Ilkka Kanerva, Finnish politician (d. 2022)
** Charles Taylor (Liberian politician), Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
*
January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ru ...
– Marc Singer, Canadian actor (''V (1983 miniseries), V'')
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
** Akira Yoshino, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate
** Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
** Paul Jabara, American actor, singer and songwriter (d. 1992)
** Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
February
*
February 1 – Rick James, African-American urban singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer (d. 2004)
* February 2
** Ina Garten, American cooking author
** Roger Williamson, British race car driver (d. 1973)
* February 3
** Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
** Henning Mankell, Swedish crime novelist (d. 2015)
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling ...
** Alice Cooper, American hard rock singer and musician (''School's Out (song), School's Out'')
** Ram Baran Yadav, President of Nepal
* February 5
** Jim Dornan, Northern Irish obstetrician and gynecologist (d. 2021)
** Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager
** Christopher Guest, American actor, screenwriter, director and composer (''National Lampoon (magazine), National Lampoon'', ''Saturday Night Live'')
** Barbara Hershey, American actress (''Beaches (1988 film), Beaches'')
** Tom Wilkinson, English actor
* February 7 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American keyboardist, composer (''Three Dog Night'') (d. 2015)
* February 8 – Dan Seals, American musician (d. 2009)
* February 9
** David Hayman, Scottish film, television and stage actor, director
** Greg Stafford, American game designer, publisher (d. 2018)
* February 10
** Ûssarĸak K'ujaukitsoĸ, Greenlandic Inuit politician, human rights activist (d. 2018)
** John Magnier, Irish businessman, thoroughbred racehorse breeder
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian
* February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor, author
* February 13 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American film actress
* February 14
** Jackie Martling, American comedian, radio personality
** Wally Tax, Dutch musician (d. 2005)
** Teller (magician), Raymond Teller, American illusionist and magician, one half of the duo Penn & Teller
** Yehuda Shoenfeld, Israeli physician, autoimmunity researcher
* February 15 – Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (d. 2019)
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
*1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
*1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse. ...
– Eckhart Tolle, German-Canadian spiritual author
* February 17
** György Cserhalmi, Hungarian actor
** José José, Mexican singer, actor (d. 2019)
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
*1268 &nd ...
– Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...
** Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician, author (d. 2002)
** Tony Iommi, English heavy metal guitarist
** Elizabeth Sackler, American activist
* February 20 – Jennifer O'Neill, American model, actress
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
*452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
*1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
– Christian Vander (musician), French drummer, founder of progressive rock/Zeuhl group Magma
*
February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
*1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdi ...
** John Ashton (actor), John Ashton, American actor
** Leslie H. Sabo Jr., American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1970)
* February 24
** Jayalalithaa, Indian politician, film actress (d. 2016)
** Walter Smith, Scottish football manager (d. 2021)
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
– Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
* 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
* 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is execut ...
** Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate
** Mike Figgis, American director, screenwriter and composer
** Kjell Isaksson, Swedish pole vaulter
** Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer
** Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
** Alfred Sant, Leader of Malta Labour Party (1992–), Prime Minister of Malta (1996–1998)
* February 29
** Khalid Salleh, Malaysian actor, poet (d. 2018)
** Ken Foree, American actor
** Henry Small (singer), Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer
March
* March 1 – Gopanarayan Das, Indian politician (d. 2022)
* March 2
** R. T. Crowley, American pioneer of electronic commerce
** Rory Gallagher, Irish musician (d. 1995)
** Jeff Kennett, Australian politician
* March 3
** Steve Wilhite, American computer scientist, developer of the GIF image format at CompuServe in 1987 (d. 2022)
* March 4
** Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, Australian author (''A Cry in the Dark'')
** James Ellroy, American writer
** Tom Grieve, American baseball player
** Leron Lee, American baseball player
** Chris Squire, English bassist (Yes (band), Yes) (d. 2015)
** Shakin' Stevens, Welsh singer
** Brian Cummings, American voice actor
* March 5
** Eddy Grant, Guyanese British singer, musician ("Electric Avenue (song), Electric Avenue")
** Elaine Paige, English singer, actress
* March 6 – Anna Maria Horsford, African-American actress (''Amen (TV series), Amen'')
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
*1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
* 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
*1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bo ...
** Sinta Nuriyah, 4th First Lady of Indonesia, wife of Abdurrahman Wahid
** Jonathan Sacks, British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author and politician (d. 2020)
* March 9
** László Lovász, Hungarian mathematician
** Jeffrey Osborne, American singer ("On the Wings of Love (song), On the Wings of Love")
* March 10 – Doug Clark (serial killer), Doug Clark, American serial killer
* March 11
** Dominique Sanda, French actress
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
*1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the C ...
– James Taylor, American singer, songwriter ("Fire and Rain (song), Fire and Rain")
* March 13 – Maurice A. de Gosson, Austrian mathematician
* March 14 – Billy Crystal, American actor, comedian
* March 15 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
* March 16 – Margaret Weis, American science fiction writer
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
*45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...
– William Gibson, American/Canadian writer
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
*1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...
** Jessica B. Harris, American historian and journalist
** Bobby Whitlock, American singer and songwriter
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
*1600 – The Link ...
** John de Lancie, American actor
** Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player
** Helene Vannari, Estonian actress (d. 2022)
* March 22
** Inri Cristo, Brazilian educator who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated
** Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist (CNN)
** Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer (''Jesus Christ Superstar'')
* March 25 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
* March 26
** Nash the Slash (b. James Jeffrey Plewman), Canadian musician (d. 2014)
** Steven Tyler, American rock singer, songwriter (Aerosmith)
* March 28
**Jayne Ann Krentz, American novelist
**Dianne Wiest, American actress
* March 29
** Mike Heideman, American basketball coach (d. 2018)
** Bud Cort, American actor (''Harold and Maude'')
* March 30 – Eddie Jordan, Irish founder of Jordan Grand Prix
* March 31
** Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States, 2000 United States presidential election, 2000 Democratic nominee for president, environmentalist
** Rhea Perlman, American actress (''Cheers'')
April
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
* 1081 – Alexios ...
– Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican singer, actor
* April 2
** Bob Lienhard, American basketball player (d. 2018)
** Roald Als, Danish cartoonist
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
...
– Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist, politician and 53rd President of Mexico (1988-1994)
* April 4
** Squire Parsons, American gospel singer, songwriter
** Dan Simmons, American fantasy, science fiction author
** Berry Oakley, American musician (d. 1972)
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of hi ...
– Neil Portnow, American President of The Recording Academy (NARAS)
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First '' Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emp ...
** Arnie Robinson, American Olympic Long jump champion (d. 2020)
** John Oates, American rock singer, guitarist (''Hall & Oates'')
** Pietro Anastasi, Italian football player (d. 2020)
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
– Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician
* April 10 – Fauzi Bowo, Indonesian politician, diplomat and former governor of Jakarta
* April 12
** Jeremy Beadle, English TV presenter (d. 2008)
** Don Fernando, American pornographic film actor, director
**Joschka Fischer, German politician
** Marcello Lippi, Italian football player, manager
* April 13
** Nam Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy
** Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet, Russian singer, actor and TV presenter
* April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
* April 16
** Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian music icon, celebrity (d. 2012)
** Kazuyuki Sogabe, Japanese voice actor (d. 2006)
* April 17
** Jan Hammer, Czechoslovakian composer, pianist and keyboardist
** Peter Jenni, Swiss experimental particle physicist
* April 18 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American film producer
* April 20 – Paul Milgrom, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
* April 21
** Paul Davis (singer), Paul Davis, American singer, songwriter (''Cool Night'') (d. 2008)
** Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist (after whom Flammer syndrome is named)
* April 24 – István Szívós (water polo, born 1948), István Szívós, Hungarian water polo player (d. 2019)
* April 27
** Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician
** Frank Abagnale, American con man, imposter
** Si Robertson, American reality star, preacher, hunter, outdoorsman, and U.S. Army veteran
* April 28
** Terry Pratchett, English comic fantasy, science fiction author (d. 2015)
** Marcia Strassman, American actress, singer (''Welcome Back, Kotter'') (d. 2014)
* April 29 – Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)
* April 30 – Jocelyne Saab, Lebanese journalist, film director (d. 2019)
May
* May 2
** Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer
** Larry Gatlin, American singer, songwriter
* May 3
** William H. Miller (writer), William H. Miller, American maritime historian
** Chris Mulkey, American actor
* May 4
** Jan Kantůrek, Czech translator (d. 2018)
** Tanya Falan Welk, Tanya Falan, American singer
** King George Tupou V of Tongo (d. 2012)
* May 5
** Joe Esposito (singer), Joe Esposito, American singer, songwriter
** Richard Pacheco, American pornographic actor
** Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, English rock drummer
* May 7 – Susan Atkins, convicted murderer and ex-follower of Charles Manson (d. 2009)
* May 8
** Dame Felicity Lott, English soprano
** Stephen Stohn, Canadian television producer
* May 9
** Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist, author
** Calvin Murphy, American basketball player, analyst
* May 10 – Meg Foster, American actress
* May 11
** Pam Ferris, Welsh actress
** Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician
* May 12
** Steve Winwood, English rock singer ("Higher Love")
** Lindsay Crouse, American actress
* May 13 – Hawk Wolinski, American keyboardist
* May 14 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-born English cricket coach (d. 2007)
* May 15
** Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese professional baseball pitcher
** Brian Eno, English musician, record producer
* May 16 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor
* May 17 – Penny DeHaven, American country singer (d. 2014)
* May 18
** Olivia Harrison, American author and film producer
** Mikko Heiniö, Finnish composer
* May 19 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer, actress
* May 20 – Tesshō Genda, Japanese voice actor
* May 21
** D'Jamin Bartlett, American musical theatre actress
** Elizabeth Buchan, English writer
** Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born English actor
** Carol Potter (actress), Carol Potter, American actress
** Leo Sayer, English rock musician ("When I Need You")
* May 23 – Gary McCord, American professional golfer
* May 25 – Klaus Meine, German singer (Scorpions (band), Scorpions)
* May 26
** Dayle Haddon, Canadian model, actress
** Stevie Nicks, American rock singer, songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
* May 27 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant
* May 29 – Michael Berkeley, English composer
* May 30 – Paul L. Schechter, American astronomer and cosmologist
* May 31
** Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian writer of literary reportage, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate
** Lynda Bellingham, English actress, broadcaster and author (d. 2014)
** John Bonham, English rock drummer (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
June
* June 1
** Powers Boothe, American actor (''Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones'') (d. 2017)
** Tom Sneva, American race car driver, Indianapolis 500 winner
* June 2 – Jerry Mathers, American actor (''Leave It to Beaver'')
* June 3 – Carlos Franzetti, Argentine composer and arranger
* June 4
** Bob Champion, English jump jockey
** David Haskell, American actor (d. 2000)
* June 6 – Richard Sinclair, English musician (''Caravan (band), Caravan'')
* June 7 – Jim C. Walton, American business person, (′′Walmart′′)
* June 8
** Jürgen von der Lippe, German television presenter, actor and comedian
** Jad Azkoul, Lebanese-American classical guitarist
* June 9
** Gudrun Schyman, Swedish politician
** Gary Thorne, American play-by-play announcer
* June 10 – Subrata Roy, Indian businessman
* June 11 – Dave Cash (baseball), Dave Cash, American baseball player
* June 12 – Sadegh Zibakalam, Iranian academic reformist
* June 13 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player, scout (d. 2001)
* June 14 – Laurence Yep, American author
* June 15 – Paul Michiels, Belgian singer, songwriter
* June 16 – Terry Schofield, American basketball player
* June 17 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player
* June 18 – Sherry Turkle, American science/social studies professor
** Eliezer Halfin, Israeli wrestler (d. 1972)
* June 19
** Nick Drake, English musician (d. 1974)
** Lea Laven, Finnish singer
** Phylicia Rashad, African-American actress (''The Cosby Show'')
* June 20
** Diana Mara Henry, American freelance photojournalist
** Alan Longmuir, Scottish musician (d. 2018)
** Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
** Tina Sinatra, American former singer, actress, film producer, and memoirist
* June 21
** Lionel Rose, Australian boxer (d. 2011)
** Jovan Aćimović, Serbian football player
** Raffaello Martinelli, Italian prelate
** Philippe Sarde, French film composer
** Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
** Wolfgang Seel, German football player
** Greg Hyder, American professional basketball player
* June 22
** Madeleine Meilleur, Canadian politician
** Takashi Sasano, Japanese actor
** Shōhaku Okumura, Japanese Soto Zen
** Peter Prijdekker, Dutch swimmer
** Sue Roberts, American professional golfer
** Todd Rundgren, American rock singer, record producer (''Hello It's Me'')
** Curtis Johnson (cornerback), Curtis Johnson, American football cornerback
** Franciszek Smuda, Polish football coach
** Panagiotis Xanthakos, Greek sports shoote
** Colin Waldron, English football defender
* June 23
** Larry Coker, American football player, coach
** Jim Heacock, American defensive coordinator
** Luther Kent, American blues singer
* June 24
** Stephen Martin (Australian politician), Stephen Martin, Australian politician, senior academic and rugby league referee
** Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player
** Janet Museveni, First Lady of Uganda
** Dave Orchard, South African cricketer
** Eigil Sørensen, Danish cyclist
** Jürgen Stars, German footballer
** Jenny Wood, Zimbabwean swimmer
* June 25
** Kenn George, American businessman
** Michael Lembeck, American actor, television and film director
** Tom Rideout, Canadian politician
* June 26
** David Vaughan (golfer), David Vaughan, Welsh professional golfer
** John Pratt (footballer), John Pratt, English professional footballer
** Pablo Anaya Rivera, Mexican politician
* June 27
** Vennira Aadai Nirmala, Tamil actress
** Michael J. Barrett, Guamanian politician
** Camile Baudoin, American rock guitarist
* June 28
** Deborah Moggach, English writer
** Kathy Bates, American actress (''Misery (film), Misery'')
** Jimmy Thomson (footballer, born 1948), Jimmy Thomson, Scottish professional footballer
** Brian Rowan, Scottish professional footballer
* June 29
** Danny Adcock, Australian actor
** Vic Brooks, English cricketer
** Leo Burke, Canadian professional wrestler
** Fred Grandy, American actor, politician (''The Love Boat'')
** Helge Karlsen, Norwegian football player
** Ian Paice, English musician (''Deep Purple'')
** Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar, crossbench member of the House of Lords
* June 30
** Alice Wong, Canadian politician
** Dag Fornæss, Norwegian speed skater
** Peter Rossborough, English rugby union international
** Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Australian Indigenous community leader
** Vladimir Yakunin, Russian official, head of state-run Russian Railways Company
** Raymond Leo Burke, American cardinal, prelate
July
* July 1
** Ever Hugo Almeida, Paraguayan footballer
** John Ford (musician), John Ford, English-born rock musician (''Strawbs''), writer of ''Part of the Union''
** Michael McGimpsey, Northern Ireland politician
* July 2
** Mario Villanueva, Mexican politician
** Saul Rubinek, German-Canadian character actor, director, producer and playwright
* July 3 – Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist
* July 4
** René Arnoux, French racing driver
** Louis Raphaël I Sako, Head of the Chaldean Catholic Church
** Ed Armbrister, Bahamian Major League Baseball outfielder
** Nazmul Hussain, Indian first-class cricketer
** Jeremy Spencer, British musician
* July 5
** Tony DeMeo, American football coach, player
** Dave Lemonds, American baseball player
** Salomon Juan Marcos Issa, Mexican politician
** Lojze Peterle, Slovenian politician
** William Hootkins, American actor (d. 2005)
* July 6
** Nathalie Baye, French actress
** Jeff Webb (basketball), Jeff Webb, American professional basketball player
** Arnaldo Baptista, Brazilian rock musician, composer
** Brad Park, Canadian NHL Defenseman
** Sid Smith (American football), Sid Smith, American football offensive lineman
** Eiko Segawa, Japanese female enka singer, actress
** Jan van der Veen, Dutch professional association football player
* July 7
** Jerry Sherk, American football defensive tackle
** Jean LeClerc (actor), Jean LeClerc, Québécois actor
** Jean-Marie Colombani, French journalist
** Tan Lee Meng, Singaporean jurist
** Stuart Varney, British-American economic consultant
** Luis Estrada (footballer), Luis Estrada, Mexican football league forward, Olympic athlete
* July 8 – Raffi (musician), Raffi, Egyptian-born children's entertainer
* July 10
** Theo Bücker, German football manager, player
** Mick Coop, English professional football right back
** Rich Hand, American professional baseball player
* July 12
** Richard Simmons, American television personality, fitness expert
** Jay Thomas, American actor (d. 2017)
* July 13
** Alf Hansen, Norwegian rower
** Daphne Maxwell Reid, African-American actress
** Don Sweet, Canadian star football kicker
** Robert A. Underwood, Guamanian politician, educator
* July 14 – Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, Zulu king (d. 2021)
* July 15
** Enriqueta Basilio, Mexican track and field athlete (d.2019)
** Richard Franklin (director), Richard Franklin, Australian film director (d. 2007)
** Twinkle (singer), Twinkle, English singer, songwriter (d. 2015)
* July 16
** Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer, actor and musician
** Rita Barberá, Spanish politician, Mayor of Valencia (d. 2016)
** Lars Lagerbäck, Swedish football manager, player
** Jeff Van Wagenen, American professional golfer
** Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
* July 17
** Doug Berry (Canadian football), Doug Berry, American Canadian football coach
** Alan Sieler, Australian cricketer
* July 18 – Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate
* July 20
** Muse Watson, American actor
** Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis
* July 21
** Beppe Grillo, Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor
** Ed Hinton (sportswriter), Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
** Cat Stevens (b. Steven Georgiou, later known as Yusuf Islam), British singer, musician
** Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist (''Doonesbury'')
** Teruzane Utada, Japanese music executive producer, attendant
** Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov, Mikhail Zadornov, Russian stand-up comedian, writer
** Snooty, male Florida manatee (d. 2017)
* July 22
** Susan Eloise Hinton, American author
** Otto Waalkes, German comedian, actor
* July 23 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
* July 25
** Steve Goodman, American Grammy Award-winning folk music singer, songwriter (d. 1984)
** Tony Cline, American football player (d. 2018)
* July 27 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
* July 28
** Gerald Casale, American director, singer (''Devo'')\
** Georgia Engel, American actress (d. 2019)
** Sally Struthers, American actress, spokeswoman (''All in the Family'')
* July 30
** Jean Reno, French actor
** Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian composer, musician (d. 2010)
* July 31 – Jonathan Dollimore, English academic sociologist, cultural theorist
August
* August 2
** Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host, author
** Bob Rae, Canadian politician
* August 3 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France
* August 4 – Giorgio Parisi, Italian theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
* August 7 – James P. Allison, American immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* August 12 – Mizengo Pinda, 9th Prime Minister of Tanzania
* August 13 – Kathleen Battle, African-American soprano
* August 14 – Joseph Marcell, English actor
* August 15
** Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Iranian cleric, politician (d. 2018)
** George Ryton, Singapore-born English Formula One engineer
* August 18 – Sean Scanlan, Scottish actor (d. 2017)
** Robert Hughes (actor), Robert Hughes, Australian actor
** Tipper Gore, Second Lady of the United States
** Deana Martin, American singer and actress
* August 20
** John Noble, Australian actor
** Robert Plant, English singer (''Led Zeppelin'')
** Barbara Allen Rainey (b. Barbara Ann Allen), American aviator, first female pilot in the U.S. armed forces (d. 1982)
* August 21
** Sharon M. Draper, American children's book author (''Out of My Mind (Draper novel)'')
** Peter Starkie, Australian rock guitarist (Skyhooks (band), Skyhooks, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons)
* August 22 – David Marks, American guitarist (''The Beach Boys'')
* August 23 – Lev Zeleny, Soviet, Russian physicist
* August 24
** Jean-Michel Jarre, French electronic musician
** Sauli Niinistö, Finnish politician, 12th President of Finland
** Kim Sung-il (general), Kim Sung-il, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force
** Tito Sotto, Vicente Sotto III, Filipino actor, host and politician
* August 25 – Tony Ramos, Brazilian actor
* August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
* August 30
** Lewis Black, American comedian
** Fred Hampton, American activist (d. 1969)
** Victor Skumin, Russian scientist, professor
* August 31
** Cyril Jordan, American musician
** Holger Osieck, German football manager
September
* September 1 – James Rebhorn, American actor (d. 2014)
* September 2
** Nate Archibald, American basketball player
** Terry Bradshaw, American football player, sportscaster
** Christa McAuliffe, American teacher and astronaut (d. in Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster 1986)
* September 3
** Don Brewer, American drummer (''Grand Funk Railroad'')
** Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian president (d. 2008)
* September 4 – Michael Berryman, American actor
* September 5 – Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat, politician
* September 6 – Sam Hui, Hong Kong singer
* September 7
** Susan Blakely, American actress
** Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi (d. 2022)
* September 8 – The Great Kabuki, Japanese professional wrestler
* September 10
** Judy Geeson, English actress
** Bob Lanier, American basketball player (d. 2022)
** Margaret Trudeau (b. Margaret Sinclair), wife and mother of Prime Ministers of Canada
** Charlie Waters, American football player
* September 11 – John Martyn (b. Iain McGeachy), British folk-rock guitarist (d. 2009)
* September 13
** Nell Carter, African-American singer, actress (''Gimme a Break!'') (d. 2003)
** Sitiveni Rabuka, 3rd Prime Minister of Fiji
** Kathleen Lloyd, American actress
* September 16 – Ron Blair, American rock bassist (''Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers'')
* September 17
** Aidan Nichols, English Dominican priest and academic
** John Ritter, American actor (''Three's Company'') (d. 2003)
* September 19
** Jeremy Irons, English actor
** Nadiya Tkachenko, Soviet pentathlete
* September 20
** Rey Langit, Filipino journalist, radio host
** George R. R. Martin, American speculative fiction author
* September 22
** Denis Burke (Australian politician), Denis Burke, Australian politician
** Jim Byrnes (actor), Jim Byrnes, American voice actor, blues musician and actor
** Mark Phillips, British army captain, equestrian and first husband of Anne, Princess Royal
* September 23 – José Lavat, Mexican voice actor (d. 2018)
* September 24 – Phil Hartman, Canadian actor, comedian (''Saturday Night Live'') (d. 1998)
* September 25
** Cäcilia Rentmeister, German art historian, gender researcher
** Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Russian Business oligarch, oligarch
* September 26
** Maurizio Gucci, Italian businessman, murder victim (d. 1995)
** Olivia Newton-John, English-born Australian singer, actress (d. 2022)
** Vladimír Remek, Czech politician and cosmonaut
* September 27
** Michele Dotrice, English actress
** A Martinez, American actor, singer
* September 29
** Mark Farner, American rock guitarist, singer (''Grand Funk Railroad'')
** Bryant Gumbel, African-American television broadcaster (''The Today Show'')
** Theo Jörgensmann, German jazz clarinetist
** Burton Richardson, American game show announcer
October
* October 1
** Mark Landon, American actor (d. 2009)
** Sir Peter Blake (sailor), Peter Blake, New Zealand yachtsman (k. 2001)
* October 2
** Avery Brooks, American actor, musician
** Persis Khambatta, Indian actress, model (''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'') (d. 1998)
** Chris LeDoux, American singer, rodeo star (d. 2005)
** Donna Karan, American fashion designer
* October 4
** Meg Bennett, American soap opera writer
** Iain Hewitson, New Zealand-Australian chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality
*October 6
** Wendell Ladner, American basketball player (d. 1975)
** Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician
* October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist
* October 8
** Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (Ramones) (d. 2004)
** Baldwin Spencer (politician), Baldwin Spencer, 3rd Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
* October 9
** Jackson Browne, American rock musician ("Running on Empty (song), Running on Empty")
** Ciarán Carson, Northern Irish poet, novelist
** Oliver Hart (economist), Oliver Hart, English-born economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate
* October 11
** Margie Alexander, American gospel, soul singer (d. 2013)
** Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer
* October 12 – Rick Parfitt, English musician (Status Quo (band), Status Quo) (d. 2016)
* October 13
** John Ford Coley, American rock musician ("I'd Really Love to See You Tonight")
** Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician (d. 1997)
* October 14
** Engin Arık, Turkey, Turkish Nuclear physics, nuclear physicist (d. 2007)
** David Ruprecht, American actor, writer (''Supermarket Sweep'')
* October 15
** Renato Corona, Filipino jurist, lawyer (d. 2016)
** Chris de Burgh, born Christopher Davison, Argentine-born Anglo-Irish singer, songwriter
* October 16
** Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
** Hema Malini, Indian actress, writer, director, producer, dancer and politician
* October 17
** Robert Jordan, American novelist (d. 2007)
** Margot Kidder, Canadian actress (''Superman (1978 film), Superman'') (d. 2018)
** Akira Kushida, Japanese singer
** Ng Jui Ping, Singaporean entrepreneur and former army general (d. 2020)
** George Wendt, American actor (''Cheers'')
* October 18
** Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
** Ntozake Shange, African-American playwright and poet (d. 2018)
* October 19 – Patrick Simmons, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)
* October 21
** Tom Everett, American actor
** Allen Vigneron, Archdiocese of Detroit, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit
* October 22
** Lynette Fromme, American attempted assassin of Gerald Ford
** Debbie Macomber, American author
* October 23 – Sir Gerry Robinson, Irish-born British businessman (d. 2021)
* October 25
** Dave Cowens, American basketball player, coach
** Dan Gable, American wrestler, coach
** Dan Issel, American basketball player and coach
* October 26 – Toby Harrah, American baseball player
* October 28 – Telma Hopkins, African-American actress, singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
* October 29
** Giuseppe Chirichiello, Italian economist and university professor
** Kate Jackson, American actress (''Charlie's Angels'')
* October 30 – Garry McDonald, Australian actor, satirist, and comedian
November
* November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress
* November 3 – Lulu (singer), Lulu (b. Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie), Scottish singer, actress (''To Sir, with Love'')
* November 4
** Delia Casanova, Mexican actress
** Amadou Toumani Touré, 3rd President of Mali (d. 2020)
* November 5
** Charles Bradley (singer), Charles Bradley, African-American singer (d. 2017)
** Bob Barr, American politician
** Dallas Holm, American Christian musician
** Zacharias Jimenez, Filipino Roman Catholic bishop (d. 2018)
** Khalid Ibrahim Khan, Pakistani politician (d. 2018)
** William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate
* November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist, singer (''Eagles (band), Eagles'') (d. 2016)
* November 7 – Jim Houghton, American actor, director
* November 9
** Viktor Matviyenko, Ukrainian footballer, coach (d. 2018)
** Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazilian football player, manager
** Kelly Harmon, American actress and model
* November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American character actor and food writer (d. 2005)
* November 12
** Skip Campbell, American politician (d. 2018)
** Hassan Rouhani, 7th President of Iran
** Richard Roberts (evangelist), Richard Roberts, American evangelist, son of Oral Roberts
* November 13
** Humayun Ahmed, Bengali language, Bengali-language writer
** Lockwood Smith, New Zealand politician
* November 14
** King Charles III of the United Kingdom
** Robert Ginty, American actor, producer, screenwriter and director (d. 2009)
** Dee Wallace, American actress
* November 15 – James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist, actor (d. 2007)
* November 16
** Chi Coltrane, American musician (''Thunder and Lightning (Chi Coltrane song), Thunder and Lightning'')
** Ken James (Australian actor), Ken James, Australian actor
** Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer
** Mate Parlov, Yugoslav Olympic boxer (d. 2008)
* November 18 – Dom Irrera, American actor and stand-up comedian
* November 19 – Rance Allen, African-American gospel singer, preacher
* November 20
** Harlee McBride, American actress
** John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., National Security Advisor
** Barbara Hendricks, American singer
** Richard Masur, American actor, director and president of the Screen Actors Guild
* November 21
** Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz drummer (d. 2016)
** Michel Suleiman, President of Lebanon
* November 22 – Saroj Khan, Indian dance choreographer (d. 2020)
* November 23
** Dominique-France Picard (aka Princess Fadila of Egypt), wife of King Fuad II of Egypt and the Sudan
** Ron Bouchard, American NASCAR driver (d. 2015)
** Gabriele Seyfert, East German figure skater
**Bonfoh Abass, Togolese politician and List of presidents of Togo, President of Togo (d. 2021)
* November 24 – Joe Howard (actor), Joe Howard, American actor
* November 25 – Antoine Sfeir, Franco-Lebanese journalist, professor (d. 2018)
* November 26
** Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
** Gayle McCormick, American singer (''Smith (band), Smith'') (d. 2016)
** Marianne Muellerleile, American actress
* November 28 – Agnieszka Holland, Polish film, television director and screenwriter
December
* December 2
** T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer
** Rajat Gupta, Indian-American businessman
** Patricia Hewitt, British Labour Party politician
** Toninho Horta, Brazilian singer, musician
** Christine Westermann, German television, radio host, journalist and author
* December 3
** Rick Cua, American singer, evangelist
** Ozzy Osbourne, English singer (''Black Sabbath'')
* December 5,
** Saburō Shinoda, Japanese actor (Ultraman Taro)
* December 6
** Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One champion
** Marius Müller-Westernhagen, German actor, musician
** JoBeth Williams, American actress, director
** Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan
* December 7
** Gary Morris, American country singer, actor
** Tony Thomas (producer), Tony Thomas, American television and film producer
** Mads Vinding, Danish bassist
* December 10 – Abu Abbas, Palestine Liberation Front founder (d. 2004)
* December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock drummer
* December 12 – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, 20th President of Portugal
* December 13
** Lillian Board, South African-born English Olympic athlete (d. 1970)
** Ted Nugent, American rock guitarist, singer, conservative political commentator (''Cat Scratch Fever'')
** David O'List, English rock guitarist
* December 14
** Lester Bangs, American music journalist (d. 1982)
** Dee Wallace, American actress
* December 15
**Melanie Chartoff, American actress and singer (''Rugrats'')
**Charlie Scott (basketball), Charlie Scott, American basketball player
* December 18 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
* December 19 – Ken Brown (ice hockey), Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
* December 20
** Abdulrazak Gurnah, Zanzibar-born novelist, Nobel Prize laureate
** Alan Parsons, English songwriter, musician and record producer
* December 21
** Samuel L. Jackson, American actor, film producer
** Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician, cabaret artist
* December 22
** Noel Edmonds, English TV presenter, DJ
** Steve Garvey, American baseball player
** Flip Mark, American child actor
** Lynne Thigpen, American actress (''Godspell'') (d. 2003)
* December 23 – Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, composer, educator, author and music journalist
* December 25
** Alia Al-Hussein, queen consort of Jordan (d. 1977)
** Barbara Mandrell, American country singer, musician and actress
* December 27
**Ronnie Caldwell, American soul music, rhythm and blues musician (d. 1967)
**Gérard Depardieu, French actor
* December 28 – Mary Weiss, American singer (''The Shangri-Las'')
* December 29 – Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician), Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland First Minister
* December 31
** Stephen Cleobury, English choral conductor (d. 2019)
** Joe Dallesandro, American model, actor
** Sandy Jardine, Scottish professional footballer, playing for Rangers and Hearts and representing Scotland (d. 2014)
** Donna Summer, African-American singer, actress (''Love to Love You Baby (song), Love to Love You Baby'') (d. 2012)
Deaths
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. ...
– Edna May, American actress (b. 1878)
* January 2 – Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet (b. 1893)
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
*1649 – E ...
– Anna Kallina, Austrian actress (b. 1874)
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army ...
– Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison (b. 1858)
*
January 7
** Charles C. Wilson (actor), Charles C. Wilson, American actor (b. 1894)
** Maria de Maeztu Whitney, Spanish educator, feminist (b. 1882)
* January 8
** Charles Magnusson, Swedish producer, screenwriter (b. 1878)
** Kurt Schwitters, German artist (b. 1887)
** Edward Stanley Kellogg, 16th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1870)
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reig ...
– Herbert Allen Farmer, American criminal (b. 1891)
* January 19 – Tony Garnier (architect), Tony Garnier, French architect (b. 1869)
* January 21
** Eliza Moore, last person born into slavery in the United States (b. 1843)
**Naomasa Sakonju, Japanese admiral and war criminal (executed) (b. 1890)
** Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
* January 24
** Bill Cody (actor), Bill Cody, American actor (b. 1891)
** Maria Mandl, Austrian concentration camp guard and war criminal (executed) (b. 1912)
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – The Council of Trent ...
– Georg Bruchmüller, German artillery officer (b. 1863)
* January 28
** Therese Brandl, German concentration camp guard and war criminal (executed) (b. 1902)
** Anna Maria Gove, American physician (b. 1867)
*
January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ru ...
– King Tomislav II of Croatia (b. 1900)
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
** Arthur Coningham (RAF officer), Sir Arthur Coningham, British air force air marshal (disappeared) (b. 1895)
**
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
, Leader of Indian independence movement, (assassinated) (b. 1869)
** Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b. 1871)
February
* February 2
** Thomas W. Lamont, American banker (b. 1870)
** Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling ...
– Otto Praeger, American postal official, implemented U.S. Airmail (b. 1871)
* February 5 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883)
* February 8 – Samuel P. Bush, American businessman, industrialist (b. 1863)
* February 9 – Karl Valentin, German actor (b. 1882)
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
** Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film director (b. 1898)
** Isaac Isaacs, Sir Isaac Isaacs, 9th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1855)
* February 15 – Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Indian poet (b. 1904)
* February 23 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b. 1867)
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
** Alfredo Baldomir, Uruguayan politician, soldier, architect, 27th President of Uruguay and World War II leader (b. 1884)
** Alexander du Toit, South African geologist (b. 1878)
** Juan Esteban Montero, Chilean political figure, 20th President of Chile (b. 1879)
* February 27 – Patriarch Nicodim of Romania (b. 1864).
March
* March 4 – Antonin Artaud, French playwright, actor and director (b. 1896)
* March 10
** Zelda Fitzgerald, American wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900)
** Jan Masaryk, Czechoslovakian Foreign Minister (b. 1886)
* March 16 – León S. Morra, Argentine physician and university professor (b. 1882)
* March 23 – George Milne, 1st Baron Milne, British field marshal (b. 1866)
* March 24
** Nikolai Berdyaev, Soviet religious leader, political philosopher (b. 1874)
** Paolo Thaon di Revel, former admiral of the Royal Italian Navy (b. 1859)
* March 31 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist, author (b. 1885)
April
* April 2
** Biagio Biagetti, Italian painter (b. 1877)
** Baba Sawan Singh, Indian saint known as "The Great Master" (b. 1858)
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of hi ...
– Angelo Joseph Rossi, American political figure, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1878)
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First '' Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emp ...
– Isabel Andreu de Aguilar, Puerto Rican writer, educator, philanthropist and activist (b. 1887)
* April 8 – Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, Palestinian Arab nationalist (b. 1907)
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
–
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala (23 January 1903 – 9 April 1948) was a left-wing Colombian politician and charismatic leader of the Liberal Party. He served as the mayor of Bogotá from 1936–37, the national Education Minister from 19 ...
, Colombian politician (assassinated) (b. 1903)
* April 12 – Masaomi Yasuoka, Japanese general (executed) (b. 1886)
* April 14 – W. H. Ellis, American attorney and politician (b. 1867)
* April 15 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino statesman, 5th President of the Philippines (b. 1892)
* April 17 – Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)
* April 19 – Mikhail Rostovtsev (actor), Mikhail Rostovtsev, Soviet actor (b. 1872)
* April 20 – Mitsumasa Yonai, Japanese admiral and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1880)
* April 21 – Carlos López Buchardo, Argentine composer (b. 1881)
* April 22 – Prosper Montagné, French chef and author (b. 1865)
* April 24 – Manuel Ponce, Mexican composer (b. 1882)
* April 25 – Gerardo Matos Rodriguez, Uruguayan composer, journalist and pianist (b. 1897)
* April 30 – Alfredo Miguel Aguayo Sánchez, Puerto Rican educator, writer (b. 1866)
May
* May 9 – Viola Allen, American actress (b. 1867)
* May 13
** Milan Begović, Yugoslavian writer (b. 1876)
** Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (b. 1920)
* May 15
** André Dauchez, French painter (b. 1870)
** Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born American Roman Catholic priest, founder of Boys Town and monsignor (b. 1886)
** Toyoaki Horiuchi, Japanese general, Class B war criminal suspect (executed) (b. 1900)
* May 16 – Muhammad Habibullah, Indian politician (b. 1869)
* May 18 – Francisco Alonso, Spanish composer (b. 1887)
* May 19 – Maximilian Lenz, Austrian painter and sculptor (b. 1860)
* May 21 – Jacques Feyder, French filmmaker (b. 1885)
* May 22 – Claude McKay, Jamaican-born American writer and poet (b. 1889)
* May 25 – Witold Pilecki, Polish resistance leader (executed) (b. 1901)
* May 26 – Émile Gaston Chassinat, French egyptologist (b. 1868)
* May 28 – Unity Mitford, British socialite; friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1914)
* May 29 – Dame May Whitty, British actress (b. 1865)
* May 30 – József Klekl (politician), József Klekl, Slovenes, Slovene politician in Hungary (b. 1874)
June
* June 1 – José Vianna da Motta, Portuguese pianist, teacher and composer (b. 1868)
* June 2
** Viktor Brack, German doctor (executed) (b. 1904)
** Karl Brandt, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1904)
** Rudolf Brandt, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1909)
** Karl Gebhardt, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1897)
** Waldemar Hoven, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1903)
** Joachim Mrugowsky, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1905)
** Wolfram Sievers, German S.S. officer (executed) (b. 1905)
* June 6 – Auguste and Louis Lumière, Louis Lumière, French film pioneer (b. 1864)
* June 8 – Giacomo Albanese, Italian mathematician (b. 1890)
* June 13 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese writer (b. 1909)
* June 16 – Eugênia Álvaro Moreyra, Brazilian journalist, actress and director (b. 1898)
* June 25 – Bento de Jesus Caraça, Portuguese mathematician, economist and statistician (b. 1901)
* June 26
** Nasib al-Bitar, Palestine jurist (b. 1890)
** Lilian Velez, Filipino actress (murdered) (b. 1924)
* June 30 – Prince Sabahaddin (b. 1879)
July
* July 1 – Assunta Marchetti, Italian Roman Catholic religious professed and blessed
* July 4
** Albert Bates (criminal), Albert Bates, American criminal (b. 1893)
** Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian writer (b. 1882)
* July 5
** Georges Bernanos, French writer (b. 1888)
** Charles Fillmore (Unity Church), Charles Fillmore, American Protestant mystic (b. 1854)
** Carole Landis, American actress (b. 1919)
* July 9 – Alcibiades Diamandi, Greek political figure (b. 1893)
* July 11
** King Baggot, American actor (b. 1879)
** Franz Weidenreich, German anatomist, physical anthropologist (b. 1873)
* July 14
** Harry Brearley, British inventor of stainless steel (b. 1871)
** Marguerite Moreno, French actress (b. 1871)
* July 15 – John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)
* July 17 – Ildebrando Zacchini, Maltese painter, inventor and traveller (b. 1868)
* July 18 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director, screenwriter (b. 1877)
* July 21 – Arshile Gorky, Soviet-born painter (b. 1904)
* July 22 – Sud Mennucci, Brazilian journalist, educator (b. 1882)
* July 23 – D. W. Griffith, American film director (''The Birth of a Nation'') (b. 1875)
* July 24 – Pencho Zlatev, Bulgarian general, 25th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1881)
* July 26 – Antonin Sertillanges, French Catholic philosopher, spiritual writer (b. 1863)
* July 27 – Joe Tinker, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1880)
* July 28 – Susan Glaspell, American playwright (b. 1876)
* July 31 – Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, mistress of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (b. 1891)
August
* August 3 – Tommy Ryan, American boxing champion (b. 1870)
* August 4 – Mileva Marić, Serbian physicist and mathematician, wife of Albert Einstein (b. 1875)
* August 7 – Charles Bryant (actor), Charles Bryant, American actor (b. 1879)
* August 10 – Andrew Brown (soccer), Andrew Brown, Scottish soccer coach (b. 1870)
* August 11 – Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (b. 1873)
* August 13 – Edwin Maxwell (actor), Edwin Maxwell, Irish actor (b. 1886)
* August 16 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (New York Yankees), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1895)
* August 26 – George Anderson (actor), George Anderson, American actor (b. 1886)
* August 27
** Cissie Cahalan, Irish trade union, feminist and suffragette (b. 1876)
** Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of the United States, 1916 Republican presidential candidate (b. 1862)
September
* September 1
** Feng Yuxiang, Chinese warlord and general (b. 1882)
Feng Yuxiang Chinese warlord
/ref>
** Moncef Bey, ruler of Tunisia (1942–43) (b. 1881)
* September 2 – Sylvanus Morley, American scholar, World War I spy (b. 1883)
* September 3 – Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...
, Czechoslovakian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and 2-time President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1884)
* September 5 – Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (b. 1881)
* September 7 – André Suarès, French poet, critic (b. 1868)
* September 10 – Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (b. 1861)
* September 11 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder, first Governor General of Pakistan (b. 1876)
* September 12
** Rupert D'Oyly Carte, British hotelier, theatre owner and impresario (b. 1876)
** Carlo Servolini, Italian artist (b. 1876)
* September 13 – Paul Wegener, German actor, film director, and screenwriter; one of the pioneers of German Expressionism (b. 1874)
* September 17
** Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist, folklorist (b. 1887)
** Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (assassinated) (b. 1895)
** Emil Ludwig, German-born Swiss historian, biographer (b. 1881)
** Raffaele Rossi, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, eminence and servant of God (b. 1876)
* September 20 – Husain Salaahuddin, Maldivian writer (b. 1881)
* September 22 – Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884–1948), Prince Adalbert of Prussia (b. 1884)
* September 24 – Warren William, American actor (b. 1894)
* September 26 – Gregg Toland, American cinematographer (b. 1904)
* September 27 – Frank Cellier (actor), Frank Cellier, British actor (b. 1884)
* September 30
** Vasily Kachalov, Soviet actor (b. 1875)
** Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (b. 1861)
October
* October 1
** Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz, Portuguese priest (b. 1859)
** Phraya Manopakorn Nititada, 1st Prime Minister of Siam (b. 1884)
* October 13 – Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (b. 1875)
* October 14 – Dale Fuller (actress), Dale Fuller, American actress (b. 1885)
* October 15 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
* October 18 – Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (b. 1881)
* October 21 – Elissa Landi, Italian actress (b. 1904)
* October 24 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b. 1870)
* October 31 – Mary Nolan, American actress (b. 1905)
November
* November 4
** Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, British-born American businessman (b. 1874)
** Filippo Perlo, Italian Roman Catholic prelate and missionary (b. 1873)
* November 7 – David Leland (actor), David Leland, American actor (b. 1932)
* November 8 – Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria (b. 1874)
* November 9 – Edgar Kennedy, American actor (b. 1890)
* November 10
** Julius Curtius, German politician, diplomat (b. 1877)
** Jack Nelson (actor), Jack Nelson, American actor, director (b. 1882)
* November 11 – Fred Niblo, American film director (b. 1874)
* November 12 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (b. 1867)
* November 17 – Oerip Soemohardjo, Indonesian general (b. 1893)
* November 21 – Béla Miklós, Hungarian military officer, politician and 38th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1890)
* November 23 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1900)
* November 28 – D. D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b. 1873)
* November 29
** Maria Koppenhöfer, German actress (b. 1901)
** Roberto Omegna, Italian cinematographer, director (b. 1876)
* November 30 – Franco Vittadini, Italian composer (b. 1884)
December
* December 3
** Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894–1948), Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, South African politician (b. 1894)
** Luis Orrego Luco, Chilean politician, lawyer, novelist and diplomat (b. 1866)
** Chano Pozo, Cuban percussionist (b. 1915)
* December 8 – Matthew Charlton, Australian politician (b. 1866)
* December 15 – João Tamagnini Barbosa, Portuguese military officer, politician and 69th Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1883)
* December 20 – C. Aubrey Smith, British actor (b. 1863)
* December 21 – Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (b. 1878)
* December 23 – Japanese war leaders (hanged):
** Kenji Doihara, general (b. 1883)
** Kōki Hirota, diplomat and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
** Seishirō Itagaki, military officer (b. 1885)
** Heitarō Kimura, general (b. 1888)
** Iwane Matsui, general (b. 1878)
** Akira Mutō, general (b. 1892)
** Hideki Tojo, general, 40th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1884)
* December 26 – John Westley (actor), John Westley, American actor (b. 1878)
* December 28
** Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, Indian civil servant, politician (b. 1894)
** Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha, Egyptian political figure, 27th Prime Minister of Egypt (assassinated) (b. 1888)
* December 30 – George Ault, American painter (b. 1891)
* December 31 – Malcolm Campbell, Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land, water racer (b. 1885)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Arne Tiselius
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Paul Hermann Müller
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – T. S. Eliot
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – not awarded
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1948
1948,
Leap years in the Gregorian calendar