Events
January
![Minuteman3launch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Minuteman3launch.jpg)
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
–
José Ramón Guizado
José Ramón Guizado Valdés (13 August 1899 – 2 November 1965) was the 17th President of Panama. He belonged to the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP).
Education
Guizado is an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, having earned a Bachelor ...
becomes president of
Panama.
*
January 17 – , the first
nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from
Groton, Connecticut.
*
January 18–
20 –
Battle of Yijiangshan Islands: The Chinese Communist
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
seizes the islands from the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
(Taiwan).
*
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 Vi ...
– In the United States,
The Pentagon announces a plan to develop
intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s (ICBMs), armed with
nuclear weapons.
*
January 23 – The
Sutton Coldfield rail crash
The Sutton Coldfield train crash took place at about 16:13 on 23 January 1955 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire (now within Birmingham), when an express passenger train traveling from York to Bristol, derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp cu ...
kills 17, near Birmingham, England.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– The
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Soviet Union announces the end of the war between the USSR and Germany, which began during World War II in
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
.
*
January 28 – The
United States Congress authorizes President
Dwight D. Eisenhower to use force to protect
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
from the People's Republic of China.
February
*
February 10 – The
United States Seventh Fleet helps the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
evacuate the
Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chin ...
army and residents from the
Tachen Islands to
Taiwan.
*
February 16 – Nearly 100 die in a fire at a home for the elderly in
Yokohama, Japan.
*
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 pagan ...
– The
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established, at a meeting in
Bangkok.
*
February 22 – In Chicago's Democratic primary, Mayor
Martin H. Kennelly
Martin Henry Kennelly (August 11, 1887 – November 29, 1961) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 47th Mayor of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois from April 15, 1947 until April 20, 1955. Kennelly was a member of the Democra ...
loses to the head of the Cook County Democratic Party,
Richard J. Daley, 364,839 to 264,077.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– The
Baghdad Pact
The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...
(CENTO), originally known as
Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), is signed between Iraq and Turkey.
March
*
March 2 –
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up ...
, a 15-year-old
African-American girl, refuses to give up her seat on a bus in
Montgomery, Alabama, to a white woman after the driver demands it. She is carried off the bus backwards, while being kicked, handcuffed and harassed on the way to the police station. She becomes a plaintiff in ''
Browder v. Gayle
''Browder v. Gayle'', 142 F. Supp. 707 (1956),[''Browder v. Gayle''](_blank)
14 ...
'' (1956), which rules bus segregation to be unconstitutional.
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
**
WBBJ-TV signs on the air in
Jackson, Tennessee, with WDXI as its initial call-letters, to expand American commercial television in mostly rural areas.
**
Elvis Presley makes his television debut on "Louisiana Hayride", carried by KSLA-TV Shreveport in the United States.
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– The
Broadway musical version of ''
Peter Pan'', which had opened in
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
starring
Mary Martin, is presented on television for the first time by
NBC-TV, with its original cast, as an installment of ''
Producers' Showcase''. It is also the first time that a stage musical is presented in its entirety on TV, almost exactly as it was performed on stage. This program gains the largest viewership of a TV special up to this time, and it becomes one of the first great TV family musical classics.
*
March 17 –
Richard Riot in
Montreal: 6,000 people protest the
suspension of
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
ice hockey star
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...
of the
Montreal Canadiens by the
National Hockey League, following a violent incident during a match.
*
March 19 –
KXTV signs on the air in
Sacramento, California, as the 100th commercial television station in the United States.
*
March 20 – The movie adaptation of
Evan Hunter
Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film ''Blackbo ...
's novel ''
Blackboard Jungle
''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. I ...
'' premieres in the United States, featuring the famous single "
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...
" by
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to the song.
April
![McDonalds Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/McDonalds_Museum.jpg)
*
April 1 –
EOKA
The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot
Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο ...
starts a terrorist campaign against British rule in the
Crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
of
Cyprus.
*
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 his a ...
**
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
resigns as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, due to ill-health, at the age of 80.
**
Richard J. Daley defeats Robert Merrian to become Mayor of Chicago, by a vote of 708,222 to 581,555.
*
April 6 –
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.
Achieving rapid promo ...
becomes
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
*
April 10 – In the American
National Basketball Association championship, the
Syracuse Nationals defeat the
Fort Wayne Pistons 92–91 in Game 7, to win the title.
*
April 11
** The
Taiwanese
Kuomintang put a bomb on the airplane ''
Kashmir Princess
The ''Kashmir Princess'', or Air India Flight 300, was a chartered Lockheed L-749A Constellation flight owned by Air India. On 11 April 1955, it was damaged in midair by a bomb explosion and crashed into the South China Sea while en route f ...
'', killing 16 but failing to assassinate the People's Republic of China leader,
Zhou Enlai.
**
Taekwondo, a form of
Korean martial arts, is officially recognized in South Korea.
*
April 12 – The
Salk polio vaccine
Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all chil ...
, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the
Food and Drug Administration.
*
April 14 – The
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
win the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in North American ice hockey for the 7th time in franchise history, but will not win again until
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
.
*
April 14 – A
7.1 earthquake shakes the Chinese city of
Kangding leaving 70 dead.
*
April 15 – The first franchised
McDonald's restaurant is opened by
Ray Kroc, in
Des Plaines, Illinois.
*
April 16 – The
Burma-Japan Peace Treaty, signed in
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
on
November 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
* 1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Br ...
,
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
, comes into effect, formally ending a state of war between the two countries.
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
–
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy (; 7 June 1896 – 16 June 1958) was a Hungarian communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (''de facto'' Prime Minister) of the Hungarian People's Republic from 1953 to 1955. In 1956 Nagy became leader ...
, the communist Premier of Hungary, is ousted for being too moderate.
*
April 18–
24 – The
Asian-African Conference
The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference ( id, Konferensi Asia–Afrika)—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–2 ...
is held in
Bandung
Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...
, Indonesia.
May
*
May 5 –
West Germany becomes a sovereign country, recognized by important Western countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
*
May 6 – The
Western European Union Charter becomes effective.
*
May 7 –
Newcastle United F.C. in England win their fourth (and, as of 2022, last)
Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
title.
*
May 9
** West Germany joins the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
** A young
Jim Henson introduces the earliest version of
Kermit the Frog (made in March), in the premiere of his puppet show ''
Sam and Friends'', on
WRC-TV in
Washington, D.C.
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is Assassination of Spencer Perceval, assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson (explorer), William Lawson, Grego ...
–
Japanese National Railways' ferry
''Shiun Maru'' sinks after a collision with sister ship ''Uko Maru'', in thick fog off
Takamatsu, Shikoku, in the
Seto Inland Sea
The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...
of Japan; 166 passengers (many children) and 2 crew members are killed. This event is influential in plans to construct the
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (built 1986–98).
*
May 12 – New York's
Third Avenue Elevated runs its last train between Chatham Square in Manhattan and East 149th Street in the Bronx, thus ending elevated train service in
Manhattan.
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
** Eight Communist Bloc countries, including the
Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty in
Warsaw, Poland, that is called the
Warsaw Pact (it will be dissolved in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
).
**
Warrington win the
British Rugby League Championship title for the third time; they will not win it again within the following 60 years.
*
May 15
** The
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying po ...
, which restores Austria's national sovereignty, is concluded between
the 4 occupying powers following World War II (the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France) and Austria, setting it up as a neutral country.
**
Lionel Terray and
Jean Couzy
Jean Couzy (9 July 1923 – 2 November 1958) was a French mountaineer. He studied aeronautical engineering at the École Polytechnique. At age 27, he was a member of 1950 French Annapurna expedition, Maurice Herzog's 1950 expedition to Annapurna. P ...
become the first people to reach the summit of
Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world, on the
1955 French Makalu expedition
The 1955 French Makalu expedition was the first to successfully climb Makalu, the Himalayan mountain to the southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet. At Makalu is the fifth-highest mountain in the world and an eight-t ...
. The entire team of climbers reaches the summit over the next two days.
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Free movement of residents between
North and
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
ends.
*
May 25 –
Joe Brown and
George Band are the first to reach the summit of
Kangchenjunga in the
Himalayas, as part of the
British Kangchenjunga expedition led by
Charles Evans.
June
*
June 7 – The television
quiz program ''
The $64,000 Question'' premieres on
CBS-TV in the United States, with
Hal March
Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show Master of ceremonies, emcee.
Early career
March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the ...
as the host.
*
June 11 –
Le Mans disaster
The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...
: Eighty-three people are killed and at least 100 are injured, after two race cars collide in the
1955 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 23rd 24 Hours of Le Mans and took place on 11 and 12 June 1955 on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. During the race, Pierre Levegh crashed into a ...
.
*
June 13 –
Mir Mine, the first
diamond mine in the
Soviet Union, is discovered.
*
June 16 – ''
Lady and the Tramp'', the
Walt Disney company's 15th animated film, premieres in
Chicago.
*
June 26 – The
Freedom Charter
The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...
of the anti-
apartheid South African
Congress Alliance is adopted, at a
Congress of the People in
Kliptown.
July
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– Transformation from the
Imperial Bank of India
The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the cen ...
to the
State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 49th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the ''Fortune ...
is given legal recognition through an Act of the
Parliament of India.
*
July 7 – The
New Zealand Special Air Service is formed.
*
July 13 –
Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis ( née Neilson; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a British nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely.
In her t ...
is
hanged for murder in London, becoming the last woman ever to be executed in the United Kingdom.
*
July 17
** The
Disneyland theme park opens in
Anaheim, California, an event broadcast on the
American Broadcasting Company television network.
** The first atomic-generated electrical power is sold commercially, partially powering
Arco, Idaho, from the U.S.
National Reactor Testing Station; on July 18,
Schenectady, New York, receives power from a prototype nuclear submarine reactor at
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) is an American research and development facility based in Niskayuna, New York and dedicated to the support of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. KAPL was instituted in 1946 under a contract between Gener ...
.
["1955". ''Houghton Mifflin Guide to Science & Technology''.]
*
July 18 – Illinois Governor
William Stratton
William Grant Stratton (February 26, 1914 – March 2, 2001), was the 32nd governor of Illinois from 1953 to 1961.
Early life and career
Born February 26, 1914 in Ingleside, Lake County, Illinois, the son of William J. Stratton, an Illinoi ...
signs the Loyalty Oath Act, that mandates all public employees take a loyalty oath to the State of Illinois and the United States or lose their jobs.
*
July 18–
23 –
Geneva Summit between the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.
*
July 22 – In
Long Beach,
California (United States),
Hillevi Rombin of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
is crowned
Miss Universe.
*
July 27 –
El Al Flight 402
El Al Flight 402 was an international passenger flight from London to Tel Aviv via Vienna and Istanbul. On 27 July 1955, the flight, operated by a Lockheed Constellation registered as 4X-AKC, strayed into then-Communist Bulgarian airspace and was ...
from
Vienna (Austria) to
Tel Aviv, via
Istanbul, is shot down over
Bulgaria. All 58 passengers and crewmen aboard the
Lockheed Constellation are killed.
*
July 28 – The first
Interlingua Congress is held in
Tours, France, leading to the foundation of the
Union Mundial pro Interlingua
The Union Mundial pro Interlingua (UMI; World Interlingua Union) is a global organization that promotes Interlingua, an international auxiliary language (IAL) published in 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). UMI was ...
.
August
![Diane 1955 track](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Diane_1955_track.png)
*
August 1 – The prototype
Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
first flies, in Nevada.
*
August 18
** The
First Sudanese Civil War begins.
** The first meeting of the
Organization of Central American States
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
( es, Organización de Estados Centroamericanos, ODECA) is held, in
Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architec ...
.
*
August 19
Events Pre-1600
*295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
*43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...
–
Hurricane Diane hits the northeastern United States, killing over 200 people and causing over $1 billion in damage.
*
August 20 – Hundreds of people are killed in anti-French rioting in
Morocco and
Algeria.
*
August 22 – Eleven schoolchildren are killed when their school bus is hit by a freight train in
Spring City, Tennessee
Spring City is a town in Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,949 at the 2020 census and 1,981 at the 2010 census. The town is located along Watts Bar Lake, and Watts Bar Dam and the Watts Bar Nuclea ...
.
*
August 25 – The last
Soviet Army forces leave Austria.
*
August 26 –
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
's film ''
Pather Panchali'' is released in
India.
*
August 27 – The first edition of the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' is published, in London.
*
August 28 – Black 14-year-old
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
is
lynched and shot in the head for allegedly grabbing and threatening a white woman in
Money, Mississippi; his white murderers, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, are acquitted by an all-white jury.
September
![Rockall Union flag hoisted 1955](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Rockall_Union_flag_hoisted_1955.jpg)
*
September 2
Events
Pre-1600
*44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
* 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his ''Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them ...
– Under the guidance of Dr.
Humphry Osmond,
Christopher Mayhew ingests 400 mg of
mescaline hydrochloride and allows himself to be filmed as part of a ''
Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
'' special for BBC TV in the U.K. that is never broadcast.
*
September 3
Events Pre-1600
*36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
* 301 – San Marino, one of the s ...
–
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
records "
Tutti Frutti" in New Orleans; it is released in October.
*
September 6 –
Istanbul pogrom:
Istanbul's Greek minority is the target of a government-sponsored
pogrom.
*
September 10 – The long-running
Western television series ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' debuts, on the
CBS network in the United States.
*
September 14 – Pope Pius XII elevates many of the
Apostolic vicariates in Africa to
Metropolitan Archdioceses.
*
September 15
Events Pre-1600
* 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
*1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...
–
Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel ''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
'' is published in Paris, by
Olympia Press.
*
September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
* 1620 – A determined band of 35 relig ...
** The military coup to unseat President
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
of Argentina is launched at midnight.
** A Soviet Navy Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a
ballistic missile.
*
September 18 – The United Kingdom formally annexes the uninhabited Atlantic island of
Rockall
Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...
.
*
September 19–
21 –
President of Argentina
The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Ar ...
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
is ousted in a military coup.
*
September 19 –
Hurricane Hilda
Hurricane Hilda was an intense tropical cyclone that ravaged areas of the United States Gulf Coast, particularly Louisiana. In addition to its damage inland, the hurricane greatly disrupted offshore oil production, and at its time was the costlie ...
kills about 200 people in Mexico.
*
September 21–
30 –
Hurricane Janet
Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest North Atlantic tropical cyclone, Atlantic hurricanes on record. Janet was also the first named storm to have 1,000 deaths and th ...
, one of the strongest North Atlantic
tropical cyclones on record, sweeps the
Lesser Antilles and Mexico, causing more than 1,020 deaths.
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
–
Commercial television starts in the United Kingdom with the
Independent Television Authority's first
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
franchises beginning broadcasting in London, ending the
BBC monopoly.
*
September 23
Events Pre-1600
* 38 – Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified.
* 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat ...
: A
6.8 earthquake shakes the Chinese county of
Huili, leaving 728 dead and 1,547 injured.
*
September 24 –
Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, suffers a
coronary thrombosis while on vacation in
Denver, Colorado. Vice President
Nixon serves as Acting President while Eisenhower recovers.
*
September 24 – the body of
Glycine Watch SA founder Eugène Meylan, age 64, found stoned to death
*
September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
– Actor
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
is killed when his automobile collides with another car at a highway junction, near
Cholame, California
Cholame (; Salinan: ''Tco'alam'') is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It sits within a mile of the San Andreas Fault at an elevation of above sea level and is located at . Cholame is reached via ...
.
October
*
October 2
Events Pre-1600
* 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
* 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and ot ...
– ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
'' debuts on the
CBS TV network in the United States.
*
October 3 – ''
The Mickey Mouse Club'' debuts on the
ABC-TV network in the United States.
*
October 4 – The Reverend
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...
is released from prison in
Seoul, South Korea.
*
October 5 –
Disneyland Hotel opens to the public in
Anaheim, California.
*
October 11 – 70-mm film for projection is introduced, with the theatrical release of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical film, ''
Oklahoma!''.
*
October 14
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's i ...
– The
Organization of Central American States
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
secretariat is inaugurated.
*
October 20 –
Disc jockey Bill Randle of
WERE (
Cleveland) is the key presenter of a concert at
Brooklyn High School (Ohio)
Brooklyn High School is a public high school located in Brooklyn, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Brooklyn City School District.
The school colors are royal blue and gold. The sports teams are named the Hurricanes or the 'Canes (Hurcs wa ...
, featuring
Pat Boone and
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
, and opening with
Elvis Presley (Elvis's first filmed performance), for a documentary on Randle titled ''
The Pied Piper of Cleveland
''The Pied Piper of Cleveland: A Day in the Life of a Famous Disc Jockey'' is an American musical documentary film produced in the fall of 1955 documenting the career of disc jockey Bill Randle. Arthur Cohen directed the film, which was produce ...
''.
*
October 26
** After the last
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
troops have left
Austria, and following the provisions of the
Austrian Independence Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying po ...
, the country declares its
permanent neutrality.
**
Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...
proclaims
Vietnam to be a republic, with himself as its President (following the
State of Vietnam referendum on
October 23), and forms the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
.
*
October 27 – The film ''
Rebel Without a Cause'', starring
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
, is released in the United States.
*
October 29 –
Soviet battleship ''Novorossiysk'' explodes at moorings in
Sevastopol Bay, killing 608 (the
Soviet Union's worst naval disaster to date).
November
![LocationAustria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/LocationAustria.svg)
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
** Official start date of the
Vietnam War between the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam and
Republic of Vietnam; the north is allied with the
Viet Cong.
** A time bomb explodes in the cargo hold of
United Airlines Flight 629, a
Douglas DC-6B, over
Longmont, Colorado
The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
Longmont ...
, killing all 39 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
*
November 3 – The
Rimutaka Tunnel opens on the
New Zealand Railways, at 5.46 mi (8.79 km), the longest in the
Southern Hemisphere at this time.
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
* 1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Br ...
-
Emmett "Doc" Brown invents time travel
*
November 15
Events Pre-1600
* 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
*1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morg ...
– The
Democratic Party of Japan and
Japan Liberal Party merge to form the
Japan Liberal Democratic Party, beginning the "
1955 System
The , also known as the one-and-a-half party system, is the dominant-party system in Japan that has existed since 1955, in which the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has successively held a majority government with major opposition par ...
".
*
November 19
Events Pre-1600
* 461 – Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the ''magister militum'' Ricimer.
* 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle o ...
–
C. Northcote Parkinson
Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller ''Parkinson's Law'' (1957), in which Parkinson advanced Parkinson's law, stating t ...
first propounds '
Parkinson's law', in ''
The Economist''.
*
November 20
Events Pre-1600
* 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.
* 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels.
*1194 – Palermo is conquered by Henry ...
–
Bo Diddley makes his television debut on
Ed Sullivan's ''Toast Of The Town'' show for the
CBS-TV
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
network in the United States.
*
November 23 – The
Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are transferred from British to Australian control.
*
November 26
Events Pre-1600
* 783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her king from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
*1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ...
– The British Governor of
Cyprus declares a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
on the island.
*
November 27
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
* 176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of " Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the ...
– The
Westboro Baptist Church holds its first service in
Topeka, Kansas.
December
![Tappan Zee Bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Tappan_Zee_Bridge.JPG)
*
December 1 – In
Montgomery, Alabama,
Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger, and is arrested, leading to the
Montgomery bus boycott.
*
December 4 – The
International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations is founded in
Luxembourg.
*
December 5
** The
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
and the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
merge, to become the
AFL–CIO.
** The
Montgomery Improvement Association is formed in
Montgomery, Alabama, by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., and other Black ministers to coordinate the
Montgomery bus boycott by Black people.
*
December 9 –
Adnan Menderes
Adnan Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He ...
of
DP forms the new government of
Turkey (22nd government).
*
December 10 –
1955 Australian federal election
The 1955 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. An early election was called to bring the House and Senate e ...
:
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
'
Liberal/
Country Coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
Government is re-elected with a substantially increased majority, defeating the
Labor Party led by
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
. This election comes in the immediate aftermath of the devastating
split in the Labor Party, which leads to the formation of the
Democratic Labor Party. The DLP will preference against Labor, and keep the Coalition in office until
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
.
*
December 14
** The
Tappan Zee Bridge over the
Hudson River, in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
State, opens to traffic.
**
Albania,
Austria,
Bulgaria,
Cambodia,
Finland,
Hungary,
Ireland,
Italy,
Jordan,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Libya,
Nepal,
Portugal,
Romania,
Spain, and
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 ...
join the
United Nations simultaneously, after several years of moratorium on admitting new members that began during the
Korean War.
*
December 20 –
Cardiff is declared by the British Government as the capital of
Wales.
*
December 22 – American cytogeneticist
Joe Hin Tjio discovers the correct number of human
chromosomes, forty-six.
*
December 31
**
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
becomes the first American corporation to make a profit of over 1 billion dollars in 1 year.
**
Austria becomes independent, under terms of the May 15
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying po ...
.
World population
* World population: 2,755,823,000
** Africa: 246,746,000
** Asia: 1,541,947,000
** Europe: 575,184,000
** South America: 190,797,000
** North America: 186,884,000
** Oceania: 14,265,000
Births
January
![Nicolas Sarkozy (2015-10-29) 03 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Nicolas_Sarkozy_%282015-10-29%29_03_%28cropped%29.jpg)
* January 1
** Mario Andreacchio, Australian film director
** Bonnie Arnold, American film producer
** Mary Beard (classicist), Mary Beard, English classicist
** Akissi Kouamé, Ivorian army general (d. 2022)
** Simon Schaffer, English academic and historian of science and philosophy
** Mulatu Teshome, Ethiopian politician and 8th President of Ethiopia
* January 4 – Mark Hollis (musician), Mark Hollis, English musician (d. 2019)
* January 5 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
* January 6 – Rowan Atkinson, English comic actor
* January 7 – Belinda Meuldijk, Dutch actress
* January 8 – Mike Reno, Canadian musician
* January 9
** Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic
** J. K. Simmons, American actor
* January 10
** Michael Schenker, German guitarist (Scorpions (band), Scorpions, UFO (band), UFO, Michael Schenker Group)
** Jimmy Vivino, American guitarist
* January 12 – Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Canadian politician
* January 13
** Paul Kelly (Australian musician), Paul Kelly, Australian musician
** Jay McInerney, American writer
* January 15
** Andreas Gursky, German photographer
** Enrico Mentana, Italian journalist
* January 16
** Mary Karr, American poet
** J. S. G. Boggs, American artist
*
January 17 – Steve Earle, American musician
*
January 18
** Kevin Costner, American actor, producer and director
** Frankie Knuckles, American disk jockey and record producer (d. 2014)
** Marilyn Mazur, Danish percussionist
* January 19
** Sir Simon Rattle, English orchestral conductor
** Paul Rodriguez (actor), Paul Rodriguez, Mexican American actor and comedian
* January 20 – Wyatt Knight, American actor (d. 2011)
* January 21 – Jeff Koons, American artist
*
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 Vi ...
– Sonja Morgenstern, German figure skater
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– Olivier Assayas, French film director
* January 26
** Björn Andrésen, Swedish actor
** Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American rock musician (Van Halen) (d. 2020)
** Lucía Méndez, Mexican film actress
* January 27
** John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States
** Ratnottama Sengupta, Indian journalist
*
January 28
** Vinod Khosla, Indian-born American venture capitalist
** Nicolas Sarkozy, 23rd President of France
* January 29
** Rachid Mouffouk, Algerian sculptor
** Femi Pedro, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria
* January 30 – Mychal Thompson, Bahamian basketball player
February
![Festival automobile international 2012 - Photocall - Alain Prost - 013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Festival_automobile_international_2012_-_Photocall_-_Alain_Prost_-_013.jpg)
* February 1 – Hans Werner Olm, German television and film comedian
* February 2 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet, writer and translator (d. 2022)
* February 3
** Kirsty Wark, Scottish television presenter
* February 4 – Joseph D. Kernan, American military officer, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
* February 6
** Michael Pollan, American journalist
** Irinej Dobrijević, American-born Serbian Bishop of Australia and New Zealand
* February 7 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (d. 2017)
* February 8
** Janusz Cisek, Polish historian (d. 2020)
** Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler (d. 2018)
** John Grisham, American novelist
** Ethan Phillips, American actor
** Xu Bing, Chinese artist
* February 9 – Charles Shaughnessy, English actor
*
February 10
** Chris Adams (wrestler), Chris Adams, English wrestler and judoka (d. 2001)
** Pablo Borges Delgado, Cuban artist
** Jim Cramer, American television personality
** Greg Norman, Australian golfer
* February 12
** David Owen Brooks, American convicted murderer (d. 2020)
** Bill Laswell, American bass guitarist
* February 13 – Hank Risan, American scientist
* February 14
** Guillermo Francella, Argentine actor
** Mitsuhisa Taguchi, Japanese footballer (d. 2019)
* February 15
** Janice Dickinson, American model, photographer, author and talent agent
** Christopher McDonald, American actor
*
February 16 – Bradley Byrne, American business attorney and politician, Alabama
* February 17 – Mo Yan, Chinese writer
* February 18 – Cheetah Chrome, American musician
*
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 pagan ...
** Jeff Daniels, American actor
** Siri Hustvedt, American novelist
* February 20 – Mack Wilberg, American composer
* February 21 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor and comedian
*
February 22 – David Axelrod (political consultant), David Axelrod, American political analyst
* February 23 – Flip Saunders, American basketball coach (d. 2015)
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
** Deborah Coyne, Canadian constitutional lawyer
** Steve Jobs, American businessman and founder of Apple Computer (d. 2011)
** Alain Prost, French four-time Formula 1 world champion
* February 25 – Leann Hunley, American television actress
* February 27 – Grady Booch, American software engineer
March
![AngusYoung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/AngusYoung.JPG)
* March 1
** Sir Timothy Laurence, English vice admiral and second husband of Anne, Princess Royal
** Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
*
March 2 – Shoko Asahara, Japanese cult leader (Aum Shinrikyo) (d. 2018)
* March 3 – Kent Derricott, Canadian TV personality in Japan
* March 4 – Dominique Pinon, French actor
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
** Julien Dray, French politician
** Penn Jillette, American magician and comedian (Penn & Teller)
** Deddy Mizwar, Indonesian politician, actor, movie Director
* March 6
** Wendy Boglioli, American Olympic gold medallist swimmer (1976)
** Jay Ilagan, Filipino actor (d. 1992)
** Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (d. 1994)
** Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (d. 2015)
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
** Michael Jan Friedman, American novelist and comic book writer
** Tommy Kramer, American football player
* March 8 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1981)
* March 9
** Ornella Muti, Italian actress
** Franco Uncini, Italian motorcycle racer
* March 10
** Yousra, Egyptian actress and singer
** Marianne Rosenberg, German singer
* March 11 – Nina Hagen, German pop singer
* March 12 – Richard Martini (director), Richard Martini, American film director
* March 13
** Bruno Conti, Italian football player
** Gail Grandchamp, American female boxer
** Glenne Headly, American actress of film, stage and television (d. 2017)
* March 14 – Stephen R. Bissette, American comics artist
* March 15
** Robert Kabbas, Egyptian-born Australian Olympic silver medallist weightlifter
** Dee Snider, American rock singer (Twisted Sister)
* March 16
** Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
** Jiro Watanabe, Japanese former world super flyweight champion boxer
*
March 17
** Cynthia McKinney, American politician, activist
** Gary Sinise, American actor, producer and director
* March 18
** Carlos Enrique Trinidad Gómez, Guatemalan Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2018)
** Guillermo Dávila, Venezuelan actor and singer
** Dwayne Murphy, American baseball player
*
March 19
** Pino Daniele, Italian music artist (d. 2015)
** Bruce Willis, American actor
** Simon Yam, Hong Kong actor
*
March 20
** Eric Schiller, American chess player and author (d. 2018)
** Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
* March 21
** Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian congressman and politician, 38th President of Brazil
** Philippe Troussier, French football coach
** Bärbel Wöckel, East German sprinter
* March 22
** Lena Olin, Swedish actress
** Pete Sessions, American politician
** Valdis Zatlers, 7th President of Latvia
* March 23
** Moses Malone, American basketball player (d. 2015)
** Susan Schwab, American politician, who served under President George W. Bush as United States Trade Representative
* March 24
** Celâl Şengör, Turkish geologist
** Kim Johnston Ulrich, American actress
* March 25 – Wendy Larry, American head coach of the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs women's basketball team
* March 26 – Danny Arndt, Canadian ice hockey player
* March 27 – Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain
* March 28 – Reba McEntire, American country singer and actress
* March 29
** Earl Campbell, American football player
** Margaret I. Cuomo, American radiologist
** Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
** Christopher Lawford, American author, actor and activist (d. 2018)
** Marina Sirtis, English actress
* March 30
** Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Filipina film director (d. 2012)
** Randy VanWarmer, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
** Humberto Vélez, Mexican voice actor
* March 31
** Philip Dimitrov, Bulgarian politician
** Angus Young, lead guitarist of Australian rock group AC/DC
April
![Eddie Jobson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Eddie_Jobson.jpg)
*
April 1 – Ockie Oosthuizen, South African rugby union player (d. 2019)
* April 2
** Sirindhorn, Princess Royal of Thailand
** Chellie Pingree, Democratic politician, Maine's 1st congressional district
* April 3 – Mick Mars, American rock guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
*
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 his a ...
– Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist
*
April 6 – Michael Rooker, American actor
* April 7
** Bruno Zaremba, French footballer (d. 2018)
** Grace Hightower, American philanthropist, actress and singer
** Gregg Jarrett, American lawyer turned journalist
** Akira Nishino (footballer), Akira Nishino, Japanese soccer player and manager
** Werner Stocker (actor), Werner Stocker, German actor (d. 1993)
* April 8
** Kane Hodder, American actor
** Barbara Kingsolver, American fiction writer
* April 9 – Kate Heyhoe, American food writer
*
April 10 – Philip J. Hanlon, American mathematician and computer science, List of presidents of Dartmouth College, 18th President of Dartmouth College
*
April 11 – Kevin Brady, American politician, Texas's 8th congressional district
*
April 12 – Fred Ryan, chief executive officer of The Washington Post
* April 13
** Steve Camp, American Christian musician
** Hideki Saijo, Japanese singer and actor (d. 2018)
*
April 14 – Don Roos, American screenwriter
*
April 15
** Tommy Castro, American blues guitarist
** Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d.
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
)
** Jeff Golub, American jazz guitarist (d. 2015)
*
April 16
** Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
** DJ Kool Herc, Jamaican American DJ
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
** Bolland & Bolland, Rob Bolland, Dutch musician, songwriter and music producer (Bolland & Bolland)
** Pete Shelley, English punk rock singer-songwriter, musician (Buzzcocks) (d. 2018)
** Dave VanDam, American voice actor and impressionist (d. 2018)
*
April 18 – Bobby Castillo, American baseball player (d. 2014)
* April 20
** Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Nigerian-born British photographer (d. 1989)
** Svante Pääbo, Swedish evolutionary geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* April 21
** Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer and songwriter
** Toninho Cerezo, Brazilian footballer and coach
* April 23
** Judy Davis, Australian actress
** Ludovikus Simanullang, Indonesian Roman Catholic bishop (d. 2018)
** Fumi Hirano, Japanese voice actress and essayist
** Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
* April 24 – John de Mol, Dutch media tycoon
* April 25
** Karon O. Bowdre, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
** John Nunn, English chess player and mathematician
** Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor
* April 26 – Chen Daoming, Chinese actor
* April 27
** James Risen, American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author
** Eric Schmidt, American software engineer and businessman, CEO of Google (2001-2011)
** Jing Yidan, Chinese former television host
* April 28
** Saeb Erekat, Palestinian diplomat (d. 2020)
** Eddie Jobson, English musician
* April 29
** Richard Epcar, American voice actor
** Kate Mulgrew, American actress
** Yūko Tanaka, Japanese actress
* April 30 – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter
May
![Susie Essman at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Susie_Essman_at_the_2009_Tribeca_Film_Festival.jpg)
* May 2
** Willie Miller, Scottish footballer
** Donatella Versace, Italian designer
** Dave Winer, American software pioneer
* May 4
** Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
** Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer
*
May 6 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
*
May 7 – Peter Reckell, American actor
* May 8
** Betsy Baker, American actress
** Meles Zenawi, 10th Prime Minister of Ethiopia and 3rd President of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
*
May 9
** Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d.
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
)
** Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
* May 10
** Chris Berman, American sports broadcaster
** Mark David Chapman, American murderer of musician John Lennon
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
** Big Van Vader, American professional wrestler and football player (d. 2018)
** Dave Hoover, American comic book artist and animator (d. 2011)
** Robert Tapert, American television producer
*
May 15
** Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (assassinated 2013)
** Lee Horsley, American film, television and theater actor
** Hege Skjeie, Norwegian political scientist and feminist (d. 2018)
* May 16
** Olga Korbut, Soviet gymnast
** Olli Kortekangas, Finnish composer
** Jack Morris, American baseball player
** Richard Phillips (merchant mariner), Richard Phillips, American merchant mariner and captain of the ''MV Maersk Alabama''
** Debra Winger, American actress
* May 17 – Bill Paxton, American actor (d. 2017)
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor
* May 19
** Mark Staff Brandl, American and Swiss artist and art historian
** James Gosling, Canadian software engineer
** Th. Emil Homerin, American theologian
* May 20
** Diego Abatantuono, Italian actor
** Steve George (keyboardist), Steve George, American keyboardist and singer
** Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
* May 21 – Sergei Shoigu, Russian politician, (Russian Defence Minister)
* May 22
** Chalmers "Spanky" Alford, American jazz guitarist (d. 2008)
** Iva Davies, Australian singer and musician; lead singer of Icehouse (band), Icehouse
** Dale Winton, English radio DJ and television presenter (d. 2018)
* May 24 – Rosanne Cash, American entertainer
*
May 25 – Connie Sellecca, American actress
* May 26 – Doris Dörrie, German actress and screenplay writer
* May 27 – Richard Schiff, American actor and comedian
* May 29
** John Hinckley Jr., attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan
** Mike Porcaro, American bass guitarist (Toto (band), Toto) (d. 2015)
* May 30
** Brian Kobilka, American physiologist
** Paresh Rawal, Indian actor
** Colm Tóibín, Irish novelist
* May 31
** Tommy Emmanuel, Australian guitarist
** Susie Essman, American actress
** Lynne Truss, English writer
June
![Sir Tim Berners-Lee (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Sir_Tim_Berners-Lee_%28cropped%29.jpg)
* June 1
**Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (58th Yokozuna grand champion) (d. 2016)
**David Schultz (professional wrestler), David Schultz,"Dr. D" American professional wrestler
* June 2 – Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
* June 3 – Daniel Filmus, Argentine politician, member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina
* June 4
** Precious (wrestling), Precious, Canadian professional wrestling valet
** Mary Testa, American film actress
* June 5 – Fernando Borrego Linares, Cuban singer and songwriter (aka Polo Montañez)
* June 6
** Sandra Bernhard, American comedian, actress, author and singer
** Chris Nyman, American baseball player
** Sam Simon, American filmmaker (d. 2015)
*
June 7
** Jo Gilbert, English film producer and casting director (d. 2018)
** Bob Beatty, American football coach
** Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
* June 8
** Duke Aiona, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
** Tim Berners-Lee, English computer scientist and World Wide Web inventor
** Griffin Dunne, American actor and director
* June 10
** Floyd Bannister, American baseball player
** Andrew Stevens, American actor, producer and director
*
June 11 – Yuriy Sedykh, Ukrainian hammer thrower (d. 2021)
* June 12- Jagadish Kumar, Indian Malayalam film actor
* June 12 – William Langewiesche, American author
*
June 13 – John E. Jones III, American justice
* June 14
** Tito Rojas, Puerto Rican salsa singer and songwriter (d. 2020)
** Kim Lankford, American actress, businesswoman and horse wrangler
** Paul O'Grady (also known as "Lily Savage"), English talk show host and comedian
* June 15
** István Levente Garai, Hungarian physician and politician (d. 2018)
** Polly Draper, American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director
** David A. Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1984)
*
June 16 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
* June 18 – Sandy Allen, American, world's tallest woman (d. 2008)
* June 20 – Tor Nørretranders, Danish author
* June 21
** Aloysius Amwano, Nauruan politician
** Tim Bray, Canadian computer programmer
** Jean-Pierre Mader, French singer-songwriter
** Leigh McCloskey, American actor
** Michel Platini, French retired football player and President of UEFA
* June 22 – Choi Kyoung-hwan, South Korean politician; Prime Minister of South Korea
* June 23
** Jean Tigana, Malian-French international footballer
** Glenn Danzig, American rock singer (Misfits (band), The Misfits, Samhain, Danzig (band), Danzig)
* June 24 – Nobuhiro Kiyotaki, Japanese economist and professor
* June 25 – Víctor Manuel Vucetich, Mexican footballer and manager
*
June 26
** Gedde Watanabe, American actor and comedian
** Yoko Gushiken, Japanese former WBA light flyweight champion boxer
* June 27 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
* June 30 – Egils Levits, President of Latvia
July
![Asif Ali Zardari with Obamas (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Asif_Ali_Zardari_with_Obamas_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
** Sanma Akashiya, Japanese comedian and actor
** Nikolai Demidenko, Russian born British classical pianist
** Christian Estrosi, French sportsman and politician
** Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China
** Lisa Scottoline, American novelist
* July 2
** Andrew Divoff, Venezuelan actor
** Stephen Walt, American political scientist
** Sylvie Le Noach, French swimmer
** Randy Burchell, Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender
** Chau Giang, Vietnamese-born American professional poker player
** Proceso Alcala, Filipino politician
* July 3
** Bruce Altman, American actor
** John Cramer (announcer), John Cramer, American game show announcer
** Matt Keough, American baseball player
* July 4
** Eero Heinäluoma, Finnish politician
** Víctor Reymundo Nájera, Mexican politician
* July 5
** Sebastian Barry, Irish playwright, novelist and poet
** Shannon Bell, Canadian performance philosopher
** Mia Couto, Mozambican writer
** Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani, Pakistani politician
** Henry Lee Summer, American singer
*
July 7
** Paul Bahoken, Cameroonian footballer
** Rolf Saxon, American actor
** Ludo Vika, Dominican actress
* July 8
** Vladislava Milosavljević, Serbian actress
** Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress
* July 9
** Lindsey Graham, American politician, lawyer, United States Army, U.S. Army soldier, United States Senate, U.S. Senator (Republican Party (United States), R-South Carolina, Sc.) and unsuccessful 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 presidential candidate
** Fred Norris, American radio personality
** Jimmy Smits, American actor
* July 10
** Andrea Bruce, Jamaican athlete
** Vinnie Curto, American professional boxer
** Ray Goff, American football player and coach
** Dan Newhouse, American politician
* July 11
** Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean politician and neurosurgeon
** Søren Sætter-Lassen, Danish actor
* July 12
** Timothy Garton Ash, English modern historian
** Nina Gunke, Swedish actress
** Tadashi Miyazawa, Japanese voice actor
*
July 13 – Yoshitaka Tamba, Japanese actor
* July 14 – Ramon Jimenez Jr., Filipino attorney (d. 2020)
* July 15
** Željko Burić, Croatian politician and doctor
** Didier Etumba, Congolese Army general
** Pooran Prakash, Indian politician
* July 16
** Zohar Argov, Israeli singer (d. 1987)
** Patrick Bernasconi, French business executive
** Ritva Elomaa, Finnish professional female bodybuilding champion, pop singer and politician
** Janet Huckabee, American politician
** Saw Swee Leong, Malaysian badminton player
*
July 17
** Janina Buzūnaitė-Žukaitienė, Lithuanian painter, poet, creator of accessories and metal sculptures
** Fei Yu-ching, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
** Sylvie Léonard, French-Canadian actress
** Alvin Slaughter, American gospel singer-songwriter and worship leader
*
July 18
** Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
** György Matolcsy, Hungarian politician and economist
** Sergey Zimov, Russian geophysicist and creator of Pleistocene Park
* July 19 – Karen Cheryl, French singer, actress, radio and television presenter
* July 20 – Edgar Zambrano, Venezuelan lawyer and politician
* July 21
** Adrienne King, American actress
** Dannel Malloy, American politician
** Howie Epstein, American musician and producer (d. 2003)
** Béla Tarr, Hungarian film director
*
July 22
** Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa, Nigerian politician
** Willem Dafoe, American actor
* July 25 – Iman (model), Iman, Somalian model
* July 26
** Michele Pillar, American Christian musician
** Asif Ali Zardari, 11th President of Pakistan
*
July 27 – Allan Border, Australian cricketer
* July 31 – Jakie Quartz, French singer
August
![Sergey Khlebnikov (URS)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Sergey_Khlebnikov_%28URS%29.jpg)
*
August 1 – Paul Shrubb, English professional footballer, coach and scout (d. 2020)
* August 2
** John Battaglia, American convicted murderer (d. 2018)
** Caleb Carr, American writer
* August 3
** Corey Burton, American voice actor
** Roger Gifford, Lord Mayor of London 2013
* August 4
** Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer, 1983-1984 World Boxing Association, WBA heavyweight champion.
** Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director and screenwriter
* August 6
** Gordon J. Brand, English golfer (d. 2020)
** Ron Davis (pitcher), Ron Davis, American baseball player
** Earl "Chinna" Smith, Earl Smith, Jamaican Reggae guitarist
* August 7
** Wayne Knight, American actor and comedian
** Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer
* August 8 – Diddú (Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir), Icelandic soprano and songwriter
* August 9 – Doug Williams (quarterback), Doug Williams, American football quarterback
* August 10 – Mel Tiangco, Filipina television anchor, journalist and humanitarian
* August 12
** Heintje Simons, Dutch singer and actor
** Gish Jen, American fiction writer
* August 13 – Daryl (magician), Daryl, American magician (d. 2017)
* August 17 – Richard Hilton, American businessman
*
August 19
Events Pre-1600
*295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
*43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...
** Peter Gallagher, American actor
** Terry Harper (baseball), Terry Harper, American baseball player
** Apisai Ielemia, 10th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
*
August 20 – Agnes Chan, Hong Kong-born TV personality in Japan
*
August 22
** Chiranjeevi, Indian actor
** Gordon Liu, Chinese actor
* August 24 – Mike Huckabee, American politician, Governor and 2008 Presidential candidate
*
August 25 – John McGeoch, Scottish musician (d. 2004)
*
August 27
** Laura Fygi, Dutch singer
** Diana Scarwid, American actress
** Sergey Khlebnikov, Soviet speed skater (d. 1999)
* August 30
** Mayumi Muroyama, Japanese manga artist
** Andy Pask, English bass player and composer (Landscape (band), Landscape)
** Helge Schneider, comedian, jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist, author, film and theatre director
* August 31 – Edwin Moses, American athlete
September
![Zucchero 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Zucchero_03.JPG)
* September 1
** Billy Blanks, American martial artist; inventor of the Tae Bo exercise program
** Bruce Foxton, English musician
*
September 2
Events
Pre-1600
*44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
* 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his ''Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them ...
** Robert C. Duncan (astrophysicist), Robert Duncan, American astrophysicist
** Claus Kleber, German television journalist
** Natalya Petrusyova, Soviet speed skater
** Michelle Yim, Hong Kong actress
* September 4
** David Broza, Israeli singer-songwriter and activist
** Teodor Frunzeti, Romanian general
** Hiroshi Izawa, Japanese actor
*
September 6 – Raymond Benson, American author
* September 7 – Efim Zelmanov, Russian mathematician
* September 9
** Edward Hibbert, English-American actor and literary agent
** John Kricfalusi, Canadian cartoonist
** Ivan Smirnov (guitar player), Ivan Smirnov, Russian composer and guitar player (d. 2018)
* September 12 – Peter Scolari, American actor and comedian
* September 13 – Dan Ghica-Radu, Romanian general
*
September 14 – Daniella Levine Cava, American lawyer and politician
*
September 15
Events Pre-1600
* 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
*1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...
** Željka Antunović, Croatian politician
** Brendan O'Carroll, Irish actor and comedian
** Bruce Reitherman, American filmmaker and voice actor
** Renzo Rosso, Italian clothing designer
*
September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
* 1620 – A determined band of 35 relig ...
– Robin Yount, American baseball player
* September 17
** Marina Lima, Brazilian singer and songwriter
** Charles Martinet, American voice-actor
*
September 18 – Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (d. 2006)
*
September 19 – Richard Burmer, American composer, sound designer and musician (d. 2006)
*
September 21
** Richard Hieb, American astronaut
** Israel Katz, Israeli politician
*
September 24 – Shinbo Nomura, Japanese manga artist
* September 25
** Zucchero Fornaciari, Italian singer-songwriter
** Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, German football player
* September 27, Joice Erna, Indonesian Actress
* September 28 – Stéphane Dion, Canadian politician
* September 29
** Joe Donnelly, American politician
** Gwen Ifill, American journalist (d. 2016)
*
September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
** Janet Arceo, Mexican actress, TV presenter, announcer, director and businesswoman (Doña Eduviges in ''El Chavo del Ocho'')
** Andy Bechtolsheim, German electrical engineer and Co-founder of Sun Microsystems.
October
![IndraNooyiDavos2010ver2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/IndraNooyiDavos2010ver2.jpg)
* October 1 – P. B. Abdul Razak, Indian politician (d. 2018)
*
October 2
Events Pre-1600
* 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
* 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and ot ...
– Philip Oakey, English synth-pop singer-songwriter (The Human League)
*
October 3 – Tommy Wiseau, American film director and actor, known for the 2003 "dark comedy" ''The Room''
*
October 4 – Dane Sorensen, New Zealand rugby league player
*
October 5
** Bart D. Ehrman, American religious studies scholar and writer, specialist in textual criticism
** Jean-Jacques Lafon, French singer-songwriter
** Caroline Loeb, French singer and actress
* October 6 – Wang Huning, Chinese politician
* October 7 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-born Chinese American cellist
* October 8
** Bill Elliott, American racing driver
** Darrell Hammond, Comedian (''Saturday Night Live'')
* October 12 – Pat DiNizio, American singer-songwriter (The Smithereens) (d. 2017)
* October 13 – Sergei Shepelev, Russian ice hockey player
* October 15
** James B. Aguayo-Martel, Mexican-born physician, surgeon, scientist and inventor
** Kulbir Bhaura, Indian-born British field hockey player
** Emily Yoffe, American journalist and advice columnist
* October 17 – Tyrone Mitchell, American murderer (d. 1984)
* October 18
** Hiromi Go, Japanese singer
** Timmy Mallett, English television presenter
* October 19
** Lonnie Shelton, American basketball player (d. 2018)
** LaSalle Ishii, Japanese television personality
** Roland Dyens, French classical guitarist and composer (d. 2016)
** Dan Gutman, American writer
*
October 20
** Tony Hanson, American basketball player (d. 2018)
** Thomas Newman, American composer
* October 21
** Yasukazu Hamada, Japanese politician
** Rich Mullins, American Christian musician (d.
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
)
* October 24
** Karen Austin, American actress
** Katherine Knight, Australian mariticide
* October 25
** Glynis Barber, South African-born British actress
** Gale Anne Hurd, American film and television producer
* October 28
** Bill Gates, American businessman and co-founder of Microsoft
** Indra Nooyi, Indian business executive
*
October 29
** Kevin DuBrow, American rock singer (d. 2007)
** Roger O'Donnell, English rock keyboardist
** Etsuko Shihomi, Japanese actress
November
![Bill Nye 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Bill_Nye_2017.jpg)
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
– Joe Arroyo, Colombian salsa and tropical music singer (d. 2011)
*
November 3
** Howard Michaels, American businessman (d. 2018)
** Teresa De Sio, Italian singer-songwriter
** Phil Simms, American football player
** Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Japanese film director
* November 4
** Rita Bhaduri, Indian actress (d. 2018)
** Alhaj Moulana Ghousavi Shah, Moulana Ghousavi Shah, Sufi teacher and author, Secretary General of The Conference of World Religions
** Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
* 1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Br ...
** Pedro Brieger, Argentine journalist and sociologist.
** Kris Jenner, American television personality
** Karan Thapar, Indian journalist, political analyst and commentator
* November 6 – Maria Shriver, American television journalist, host; First Lady of California
* November 7
** Al Attles, American basketball player and coach
** Norbert Eder, German footballer (d. 2019)
** Paul Romer, American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate
** Detlef Ultsch, German judo athlete
* November 9 – Karen Dotrice, Guernsey-born child actress
* November 10 – Roland Emmerich, German film director
* November 11 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan
* November 13 – Whoopi Goldberg, African-American actress and comedian
* November 14
** Koichi Nakano, Japanese bicycle racer
** Jack Sikma, American basketball player
*
November 15
Events Pre-1600
* 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
*1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morg ...
– Idris Jusoh, Malaysian politician ; Former Chief Minister Of Terengganu
* November 16 – Guillermo Lasso, President of Ecuador, President-elect of Ecuador
* November 17
** Bill Macatee, American sports broadcaster
** Yolanda King, African-American actress and activist (d. 2007)
*
November 19
Events Pre-1600
* 461 – Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the ''magister militum'' Ricimer.
* 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle o ...
– Dianne de Leeuw, Dutch figure skater
*
November 20
Events Pre-1600
* 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.
* 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels.
*1194 – Palermo is conquered by Henry ...
– Ray Ozzie, American computer programmer
* November 21
** Kyle Gann, American composer and music critic
** Cedric Maxwell, American basketball player
*
November 23
** Steven Brust, American fantasy author
** Peter Douglas, American television and film producer
** Ludovico Einaudi, Italian pianist and composer
** Mary Landrieu, American politician, U.S. Senator from Louisiana
* November 24
** Sir Ian Botham, English cricketer
** Najib Mikati, Lebanese politician, 2-Time Prime Minister of Lebanon
* November 25 – Bruno Tonioli, film, music video and theater choreographer
*
November 26
Events Pre-1600
* 783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her king from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
*1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ...
–
**Tracy Hickman, American author
**Jelko Kacin, Slovenian politician, Member of the European Parliament
*
November 27
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
* 176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of " Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the ...
– Bill Nye, American science presenter and public television host
* November 28 – Alessandro Altobelli, Italian football player
* November 29 – Howie Mandel, Canadian actor and game show host
* November 30
** Michael Beschloss, American historian
** Billy Idol, born William Broad, British rock musician
December
![Ana Gabriel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Ana_Gabriel.jpg)
* December 3
** Melody Anderson, Canadian actress and social worker
** Steven Culp, American actor
** Warren Jeffs, American criminal
** Andrea Romano (voice director), Andrea Romano, American casting director, voice director, and voice actress
*
December 4 – Maurizio Bianchi, Italian musician
*
December 9 – Janusz Kupcewicz, Polish footballer (d. 2022)
*
December 10 – Ana Gabriel, Mexican singer and songwriter
* December 12 – Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek politician and businesswoman
* December 13 – Manohar Parrikar, Indian politician (d. 2019)
*
December 14 – Hervé Guibert, French writer and photographer (d.
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
)
* December 16 – Xander Berkeley, American actor
* December 17 – Brad Davis (basketball), Brad Davis, American basketball player
* December 21 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
* December 23
** Keith Comstock, American baseball player
** Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet
** Stefan Arngrim, Canadian actor
* December 24
** Mizuho Fukushima, Japanese politician
** Clarence Gilyard, American actor and college professor
* December 27 – Barbara Olson, American television commentator (d. 2001)
* December 28 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic and human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 2017)
*
December 31 – Jim Tracy (baseball), Jim Tracy, American baseball player and manager
Deaths
January
* January 1 – Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Indian scientist (b. 1894)
* January 2 – José Antonio Remón Cantera, 19th President of Panama (assassinated) (b. 1908)
* January 6 – Yevgeny Tarle, Soviet historian (b. 1874)
* January 11 – Rodolfo Graziani, Italian general (b. 1882)
* January 15
** Johannes Baader, German artist (b. 1875)
** Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
* January 21 – Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
*
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 Vi ...
– Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American athlete (b. 1892)
* January 24 – Ira Hayes, U.S. Marine flag raiser on Iwo Jima (b. 1923)
* January 29 – Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1903)
* January 31 – John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
February
![Argeto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Argeto.jpg)
* February 3 - Vasily Blokhin, Soviet executioner (b. 1895)
* February 6 – Constantin Argetoianu, 41st Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1871)
*
February 10 – Mokichi Okada, Japanese religious leader (b. 1882)
* February 11 – Ona Munson, American actress (b. 1903)
* February 12
** Tom Moore (actor), Tom Moore, Irish-American film actor (b. 1883)
** S. Z. Sakall, Hungarian actor (b. 1883)
* February 20 – Oswald Avery, American physician and medical researcher (b. 1877)
* February 23 – Paul Claudel, French poet, dramatist, and diplomat (b. 1868)
* February 27 – Trixie Friganza, American actress (b. 1870)
March
![Synthetic Production of Penicillin TR1468](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Synthetic_Production_of_Penicillin_TR1468.jpg)
* March 3 – Katharine Drexel, American Roman Catholic foundress and saint (b. 1858)
* March 8 – William C. deMille, American screenwriter and director (b. 1878)
* March 9
** Miroslava Stern, Czechoslovakian-Mexican actress (b. 1926)
** Matthew Henson, American explorer (b. 1866)
* March 11 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1881)
* March 12 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist (b. 1920)
* March 16 – Nicolas de Staël, Russian painter (b. 1914)
*
March 19 – Mihály Károlyi, 1st President of Hungary and 20th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1875)
* March 23 – Arthur Bernardes, 12th President of Brazil (b. 1875)
* March 24 – John W. Davis, American politician, diplomat, and lawyer (b. 1873)
April
![Einstein 1933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Einstein_1933.jpg)
*
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 his a ...
– Tibor Szele, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1918)
* April 7 – Theda Bara, American film actress (b. 1885)
*
April 10 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French Jesuit priest, philosopher, paleontologist and geologist (b. 1881)
* April 13 – Peyton C. March, United States Army general (b. 1864)
*
April 18 – Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
* April 19 – Jim Corbett, Anglo-Indian hunter, conservationist and author (b. 1875)
* April 24 – Alfred Polgar, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1873)
* April 25 – Constance Collier, English actress and acting coach (b. 1878)
* April 30 – John Henry Towers, American admiral and naval aviation pioneer (b. 1885)
May
![Mary McLeod Bethune (1949)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Mary_McLeod_Bethune_%281949%29.jpg)
* May 2 – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, 10th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1872)
* May 4
** Louis Charles Breguet, French aircraft designer and builder and early aviation pioneer (b. 1880)
** George Enescu, Romanian composer (b. 1881)
* May 10
** Tommy Burns (Canadian boxer), Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
** John Radecki, Australian stained-glass artist (b. 1865)
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is Assassination of Spencer Perceval, assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson (explorer), William Lawson, Grego ...
– Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
– Charles Pelot Summerall, American general (b. 1867)
* May 16 – James Agee, American writer (b. 1909)
* May 17 – Owen Roberts, American jurist (b. 1875)
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator (b. 1875)
* May 19 – Concha Espina, Spanish writer (b. 1869)
* May 26 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race-car driver (accident) (b. 1918)
* May 29 – Rudolf Klein-Rogge, German actor (b. 1885)
* May 30 – Bill Vukovich, American race-car driver (accident) (b. 1918)
June
![Walter Hampden 1951](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Walter_Hampden_1951.jpg)
* June 3 – Barbara Graham, American criminal (executed) (b. 1923)
* June 10 – Margaret Abbott, American golfer (b. 1878)
*
June 11 – Walter Hampden, American actor (b. 1879)
* June 12 – Redcliffe N. Salaman, British botanist (b. 1874)
*
June 13 - Walter Braemer, German Nazi war criminal (b. 1883)
* June 17 – Carlyle Blackwell, American actor (b. 1884)
*
June 26 – Engelbert Zaschka, German helicopter pioneer (b. 1895)
* June 29 – Max Pechstein, German painter (b. 1881)
July
![Adolfo de la Huerta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Adolfo_de_la_Huerta.jpg)
* July 9 – Adolfo de la Huerta, 38th President of Mexico (b. 1881)
*
July 13
**
Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis ( née Neilson; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a British nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely.
In her t ...
, British-born murderer, last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom (b. 1926)
** Stanley Price, American film and television actor (b. 1892)
* July 20 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
* July 23 – Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1871)
* July 25 – Isaak Dunayevsky, Soviet film composer and conductor (b. 1900)
* July 31 – Robert Francis (actor), Robert Francis, American actor (b. 1930)
August
![Carmen Miranda 1941](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Carmen_Miranda_1941.JPG)
*
August 1 – William Hamilton (athlete), William Hamilton, American Olympic athlete (b. 1883)
* August 2
** Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Bavarian military leader and last Bavarian crown prince (b. 1869)
** Wallace Stevens, American poet (b. 1879)
* August 5 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress (b. 1909)
* August 11 – Frank Seiberling, American inventor, co-founder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (b. 1859)
* August 12
** Thomas Mann, German novelist, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
** James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
* August 13 – Florence Easton, English opera soprano (b. 1882)
* August 17 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
*
August 28 –
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
, American murder victim (b.
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
)
September
![James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/James_Dean_in_Rebel_Without_a_Cause.jpg)
* September 20 – Robert Riskin, American screenwriter (b. 1897)
*
September 23
Events Pre-1600
* 38 – Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified.
* 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat ...
– Martha Norelius, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1908)
*
September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
** Michael Chekhov, Russian actor, theatre director, and writer (b. 1891)
**
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
, American actor (b. 1931)
October
![JoseOrtegayGasset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/JoseOrtegayGasset.jpg)
*
October 4 – Alexander Papagos, Greek Field Marshal (b. 1883)
* October 7 – Rodolphe Seeldrayers, German journalist and administrator, 4th President of FIFA (b. 1876)
* October 9
** Theodor Innitzer, Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna (b. 1875)
** Alice Joyce, American actress (b. 1890)
* October 13
** Manuel Ávila Camacho, 45th President of Mexico (b. 1897)
** Alexandrina Maria da Costa, Portuguese Roman Catholic mystic, victim soul and blessed (b. 1904)
* October 17 – Dimitrios Maximos, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1873)
* October 18 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (b. 1883)
* October 19 – John Hodiak, American actor (b. 1914)
* October 25 – Sadako Sasaki, Japanese leukemia, atomic bomb sickness victim (b. 1943)
*
October 27 – Juan de Dios Martínez, 23rd President of Ecuador (b. 1875)
November
![Shemp Howard in Brideless Groom 1947](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Shemp_Howard_in_Brideless_Groom_1947.png)
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
* 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...
– Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer (b. 1888)
* November 4
** David Julius, American physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b.1903)
** Cy Young, American baseball player (Cleveland Spiders) and member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1867)
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
* 1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Br ...
– Maurice Utrillo, French artist (b. 1883)
* November 6 – Edwin Barclay, 18th president of Liberia (b. 1882)
* November 7 – Tom Powers, American actor (b. 1890)
* November 12 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect (b. 1878)
* November 14 – Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright (b. 1896)
*
November 15
Events Pre-1600
* 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
*1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morg ...
– Lloyd Bacon, American actor and director (b. 1889)
* November 17
** James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (b. 1894)
** Helmuth Weidling, German general (b. 1891)
* November 22 – Shemp Howard, American actor and comedian (The Three Stooges) (b. 1895)
*
November 27
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
* 176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of " Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the ...
– Arthur Honegger, French-born Swiss composer (b. 1892)
December
![Honus Wagner (crop)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Honus_Wagner_%28crop%29.JPG)
*
December 5 – Jirō Minami, Japanese general and Governor-General of Korea (1936-1942) (b. 1874)
* December 6 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1874)
* December 8 – Hermann Weyl, German mathematician, theoretical physicist and philosopher (b. 1885)
* December 13 – António Egas Moniz, Portuguese neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)
* December 15 – Otto Braun, German politician, former Minister President of the Free State of Prussia (b. 1872)
* December 18 – Anna Murray Vail, American botanist (b. 1863)
* December 21 – Garegin Nzhdeh, Armenian statesman (b. 1886)
* December 24 – Nana Bryant, American actress (b. 1888)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Willis Eugene Lamb and Polykarp Kusch
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Vincent du Vigneaud
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Halldór Laxness, Halldór Kiljan Laxness
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – not awarded
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1955
1955,