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* April 2 – The first episodes of '' As the World Turns'' and '' The Edge of Night'' are broadcast on the CBS Television Network in the United States.
* April 7 – Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
* April 9 –
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends inSudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
.
* January 8
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Emperor Hui of Jin, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
* 871 – Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Æthel ...
– Operation Auca
Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring Christianity to the Waodani or Huaorani people of the rain forest of Ecuador. The Huaorani, also known pejoratively as Aucas (a modificatio ...
: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Huaorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them.
* January 16
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
* 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spear ...
– Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
vows to reconquer Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
* 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 ...
– 26 – Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala, after Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
.
* January 26 – The 1956 Winter Olympics
The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from ...
open in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...
, Italy.
February
*February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years.
* February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– 25 – The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship ...
is held in Moscow.
* February 16 – The 1956 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion.
The 1956 competitions for men, ladies, pair skating, a ...
open in Garmisch, West Germany.
* February 22 – Elvis Presley enters the United States music charts for the first time, with " Heartbreak Hotel".
* February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to Marilyn Monroe.
* 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 ...
– Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
records her most famous song, " Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"; it is from Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'', in which Day co-stars with James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
.
* February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
– Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin, in a speech " On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", at a secret session concluding the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This is not officially made public in the Soviet Union at this time but becomes known in the West in June.
March
* March 1 – TheInternational Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
finalizes a draft of the radiotelephony spelling alphabet, for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
* March 2 – Morocco declares its independence from France.
* March 9
** The British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus to the Seychelles.
** The Soviet Armed Forces suppress mass demonstrations in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
policy.
* March 10 – The Fairey Delta 2 breaks the World Air Speed Record, raising it to or Mach 1.73, an increase of some over the previous record, and thus becoming the first aircraft to exceed in level flight.
* March 11 – After having opened in London the previous year, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
's film, ''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
'', adapted from Shakespeare's play, has its U.S. premiere in theatres and on NBC-TV on the same day. On television it is not shown in prime time, but as an afternoon matinée, in a slightly cut version, one of the first such experiments. Olivier is later nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
* March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– 96 U.S. Congressmen sign the Southern Manifesto
The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
, a protest against the 1954 Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ruling ('' Brown v. Board of Education'') that desegregated public education.
* March 13 – Elvis Presley releases his first gold album titled '' Elvis Presley'' in the United States.
* March 15 – The Broadway musical '' My Fair Lady'' opens in New York City.
* March 19 – At age 48, Dutch boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
Bep van Klaveren contests his last match in Rotterdam.
* March 20 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
* March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– The 28th Academy Awards
The 28th Academy Awards were held on March 21, 1956 to honor the films of 1955, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
At just 90 minutes, '' Marty'' became the shortest film to win Best Picture, as well as the second to have ...
Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. '' Marty'' is awarded Best Picture.
* March 23 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a theoretical form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been u ...
, and a national holiday National holiday may refer to:
* National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment
*Public holiday, a holiday established by law, usually a day off for at least a portion of the workforce, ...
is observed in the country, including the state of East Pakistan.
April
* April 2 – The first episodes of '' As the World Turns'' and '' The Edge of Night'' are broadcast on the CBS Television Network in the United States.
* April 7 – Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
* April 9 – Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...
is elected President of the National Constituent Assembly of the Kingdom of Tunisia; on April 15 he becomes Prime Minister.
* April 14 – Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB (modern-day NAB) convention in Chicago by Ampex. It is the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex
2-inch quadruplex videotape (also called 2″ quad video tape or quadraplex) was the first practical and commercially successful analog recording video tape format. It was developed and released for the broadcast television industry in 1956 by ...
.
* April 17 – Queen Elizabeth II inaugurates the 4.9 km2 Chew Valley Lake
Chew Valley Lake () is a reservoir in Chew Stoke, Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom, with an area of . The lake, created in the early 1950s, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. ...
in Somerset, England, as a reservoir for the Bristol area.
* April 18 – Maria Desylla-Kapodistria is elected mayor of Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
, becoming the first female mayor in Greece.
* April 19
** British diver Lionel (Buster) Crabb (working for MI6) dives into Portsmouth Harbour, to investigate a visiting Soviet cruiser, and vanishes.
** American actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.
* April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Former U.S. First Daughter Margaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel.
* April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
boxing champion Rocky Marciano retires, without losing a professional boxing match.
May
* May 1 – Minamata disease is discovered in Japan. * May 2 ** The United Methodist Church in America decides, at its General Conference, to grant women full ordained clergy status. It also calls for an end to racial segregation in the denomination. ** Violet Gibson, who attempted to assassinate Mussolini in 1926, dies in a mental hospital in England, after a lifetime of imprisonment. *May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
** Austria and Israel establish diplomatic relations
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
*International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
*Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
*Public ...
.
** The constitutional union between Indonesia and the Netherlands is dissolved.
** John Osborne
John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...
's '' Look Back in Anger'' opens at the Royal Court Theatre, London, changing the scope of theatrical and other forms of drama in the UK: the theatre's press release describes the dramatist as among the angry young men of the time.
* May 9 – Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world (in the Nepalese Himalayas) is first ascended, by a Japanese team.
* May 18 – Lhotse main summit, the fourth highest mountain (on the Nepalese–Tibetan border) is first ascended, by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss.
* May 22 – The NBC Peacock logo debuts on television in the United States.
* May 23 – French minister Pierre Mendès France resigns, due to his government's policy on Algeria.
* May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
– The first Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
is broadcast from Lugano, Switzerland. The winning song is the host country's ''Refrain'' by Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, lyrics by Émile Gardaz).
* May 25 – India announces the institution of diplomatic relations
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
*International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
*Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
*Public ...
with Francoist Spain.
June
* June 1 – Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as foreign minister of the Soviet Union; he later becomesambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to Mongolia.
* June 3 – British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
rename 'Third Class' passenger facilities 'Second Class'.
* June 4 – Montgomery bus boycott: The related civil suit is heard in federal district court; the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the ruling in November.
* June 5
Events Pre-1600
*1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
*1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles II of Naples, Charles ...
** The text of Nikita Khrushchev's February attack on Stalin's reputation, " On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", is first published in the West, in '' The New York Times''.
** Elvis Presley performs " Hound Dog" on '' The Milton Berle Show'', scandalizing the American television audience with his suggestive hip movements.
* June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
– In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall resigns, after the breakdown of talks about internal self-government in London.
* June 8 – General Electric/Telechron introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", the first snooze alarm clock
An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...
ever.
* June 10 – 1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...
: Equestrian events open in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, 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 ...
(all other events are held in November in Melbourne, Australia).
* June 13
** The International Criminal Police Organization adopts Interpol as its official name.
** Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
beats Stade Reims 4–3 at Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
, Paris and wins the 1955–56 European Cup
The 1955–56 European Cup was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The tournament was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Stade de Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956.
The ...
(football).
* June 14 – The Flag of the United States Army is formally dedicated.
* June 15 – Eindhoven University of Technology is founded in Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,June 18 – The last British troops leave Egypt.
*
* January 1
** Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
** Kōji Yakusho, Japanese actor
** Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician, IMF Managing Director and European Central Bank, ECB president
** Dzulkefly Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (d. 2015)
** Andy Gill, English musician (d. 2020)
* January 3
** Mel Gibson, American actor and director
** Tomiko Suzuki, Japanese voice actress (d. 2003)
* January 4 – Bernard Sumner, British musician
* January 5
** Ana Pessoa Pinto, East Timorese politician and jurist
** Celso Blues Boy, Brazilian singer and guitarist (d. 2012)
** Chen Kenichi, Japan-born Chinese chef
** Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German politician
* January 7
** David Caruso, American actor
** Uwe Ochsenknecht, German actor
** Johnny Owen, Welsh boxer (d. 1980)
** Miladin Šobić, Montenegro, Montenegrin singer
* January 9
** Kimberly Beck, American actress
** Imelda Staunton, English actress
* January 12 – Nikolai Noskov, Soviet and Russian rock singer and songwriter
* January 13 – Janet Hubert, African-American actress
* January 14 – Ronan Bennett, Northern Irish writer
* January 15 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian convicted murderer, architect deputy minister of construction of North Ossetia-Alania
*
* February 1 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* February 2
** Philip Franks, English actor and director
** Alireza Soleimani, Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler (d. 2014)
* February 3
** Nathan Lane, American actor
** Lee Ranaldo, American musician
* February 6 – Jon Walmsley, British actor
* February 7
** John Posey (actor), John Posey, American actor and writer
** Heather Jones, Australian writer
** Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
* February 10 – Enele Sopoaga, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
*
* March 1
** Tim Daly, American actor and producer
** Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
* March 2 – Eduardo Rodríguez (politician), Eduardo Rodríguez, President of Bolivia
* March 3 – Frank Giroud, French comics writer (d. 2018)
* March 5
** Teena Marie, American singer (d. 2010)
** Marco Paolini, Italian stage actor, dramaturge and author
* March 7
** Andrea Levy, English novelist (d. 2019)
** Bryan Cranston, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* March 8 – John Kapelos, Canadian actor
* March 9
** Kadyrzhan Batyrov, Kyrgyz businessman and politician (d. 2018)
** Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician
* March 11 – Rob Paulsen, American voice actor and singer
*
* April 3
** Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
** Miguel Bosé, Panamanian-born musician and actor
** Boris Miljković, Serbian TV & theatre director and video artist
* April 4
** Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician
** David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
* April 5
** Diamond Dallas Page, American professional wrestler
** El Risitas, Spanish comedian and actor (d. 2021)
* April 6
** Sebastian Spreng, American-Argentinean visual artist
** Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer
* April 7 – Christopher Darden, African-American attorney, author, actor and lecturer
* April 9 – Edmund Chong Ket Wah, Malaysian politician (d. 2010)
* April 12
** Andy García, Cuban-American actor
** Herbert Grönemeyer, German musician and actor
** Yasuo Tanaka (politician), Yasuo Tanaka, Japanese politician, novelist
* April 13 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand rally car driver (d. 2003)
* April 14 – Barbara Bonney, American soprano
* April 16
** David M. Brown, American astronaut (d. 2003)
** Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
* April 18
** John James (actor), John James, American actor
** Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
** Karim Abdul Razak, Ghanaian footballer
** Eric Roberts, American actor
* April 19 – Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter
*
* May 1
** Alexander Ivanov (chess player), Alexander Ivanov, Russian-born American chess grandmaster
** Danilo De Girolamo, Italian voice actor (d. 2012)
* May 4
** David Guterson, American writer
** Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
* May 5 – Lisa Eilbacher, American actress
* May 6
** Vladimir Lisin, Russian business oligarch
** Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
* May 7
** S. Scott Bullock, American actor and voice actor
** Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002–2010)
** Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host (d. 2016)
* May 9
** Cesare Alpini, Italian art historian
** Frank Andersson, Swedish wrestler (d. 2018)
** Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
* May 10
** Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (d. 1995)
** Paige O'Hara, American actress, voice actress, singer and painter
** Bikenibeu Paeniu, 2-Time Prime Minister of Tuvalu
* May 12
** Jānis Bojārs, Latvian shot putter (d. 2018)
** Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricket player and umpire (d. 2022)
* May 13
** Kenneth Eriksson, Swedish rally driver
** Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru
** Mirek Topolánek, 7th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
** Kirk Thornton, American voice actor
* May 15 – Dan Patrick (sportscaster), Dan Patrick, American sports commentator
* May 17
** Cheenu Mohan, Indian actor (d. 2018)
** Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer, motivational speaker and actor
* May 19 – Steven Ford, American actor
* May 20
** Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
** Dean Butler (actor), Dean Butler, American actor and producer
* May 23
** Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
** Buck Showalter, American baseball player and manager
*
* June 1
** Chintaman Vanaga, Indian politician (d. 2018)
** Peter Tomka, Judge, International Court of Justice
** Amanda Miguel, Argentinian singer
* June 2 – Mani Ratnam, Indian film director, screenwriter and producer
* June 3 – George Burley, Scottish football manager
* June 4 – Keith David, African-American actor and voice actor
*
* July 1
** Alan Ruck, American actor
** Gregg L. Semenza, American cellular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* July 2
** Jerry Hall, American model and actress
** Cynthia Kadohata, Japanese-American children's writer
* July 3
**Dorota Pomykała, Polish actress
**Min Aung Hlaing, Burmese Army General
* July 4 – :pt:Bárbara Bruno, Bárbara Bruno, Brazilian actress, director and producer
* July 5
** Sapawi Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay
** Louis Herthum, American actor and producer
** Sheila Walsh (author/singer), Sheila Walsh, Scottish Christian artist and talk-show hostess
* July 7
** Janet Cruz, American politician
** Mullah Krekar, Iraqi Kurdish scholar and militant
** Ryuho Okawa, Japanese religious leader
** Giam Swiegers, South African-Australian business executive
*
* August 2 – Robert Khuzami, Deputy Attorney for the Southern District of New York
* August 4
** Gerry Cooney, American boxer
** Randall Wright, Canadian economist
* August 5
** Bolland & Bolland, Ferdi Bolland, Dutch musician, songwriter and music producer (Bolland & Bolland)
** Maureen McCormick, American actress
*
* September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast, American editor and broadcaster
* September 2
** Nandamuri Harikrishna, Indian actor and politician (d. 2018)
** Angelo Fusco, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
* September 3 – Pat McGeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member (d. 1996)
* September 6 – Bill Ritter, American politician, 41st Governor of Colorado
* September 7 – Michael Feinstein, American singer and pianist
* September 8 – Maurice Cheeks, American basketball player and coach
* September 11 – Phillip D. Bissett, American politician
* September 12
** Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor (d. 2003)
** Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
** Walter Woon, law professor, Nominated Member of Parliament and Attorney-General of Singapore
* September 13 – Ilie Balaci, Romanian football player (d. 2018)
* September 14
** Kostas Karamanlis, Greek politician
** Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach (d. 2018)
* September 15 – George Howard (jazz), George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
* September 16
** Sergei Beloglazov, Russian free-style wrestler
** David Copperfield (illusionist), David Copperfield, American illusionist
** Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)
** Kazuharu Sonoda, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1987)
* September 17
** Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
** Almazbek Atambayev, 3-Time Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and 4th President of Kyrgyzstan
**Susie Silvey, English actress, dancer and model
* September 18 – Tim McInnerny, English actor
* September 20
** Gary Cole, American television, film and voice actor
** Debbi Morgan, African-American actress
* September 21 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
* September 23
** Mait Riisman, Estonian water polo player (d. 2018)
** Peter David, comic book writer and novelist
** Paolo Rossi, Italian soccer player (d. 2020)
* September 24 – Greg Panos, American futurist, writer, inventor
* September 25 – Jamie Hyneman, American television co-host
* September 26 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
* September 29 – Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe, British athlete; co-ordinator of the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Games
* September 30 – Gordon Elliott (journalist), Gordon Elliott, British-Australian television personality and talk show host
* October 1
** Tara Buckman, American actress
** Andrus Ansip, Estonian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
** Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* October 2 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor and director
* October 3 – Ralph Morgenstern, German actor
* October 4 – Christoph Waltz, German-Austrian actor
* October 8
** Danny Jacob, American composer, songwriter and guitarist
** Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
* October 10 – Amanda Burton, Irish actress
* October 11 – Nicanor Duarte, 47th President of Paraguay
* October 12 – Trần Đại Quang, President of Vietnam (d. 2018)
* October 16 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1991)
* October 17
** Mae Jemison, African-American astronaut
** Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author
** Ken Morrow, American ice hockey player
* October 18
** Craig Bartlett, American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director and voice actor
** Martina Navratilova, Czech-American multiple Grand Slam title winning tennis player
* October 19
** Sunny Deol, Indian actor, director, producer and politician
** Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
* October 20
** Shafie Apdal, Malaysian politician
** Danny Boyle, English film director
* October 21 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and novelist (d. 2016)
* October 22 – Marvin Bush, American businessman
* October 23
** Darrell Pace, American archer
** Dwight Yoakam, American country singer, musician and actor
* October 26 – Rita Wilson, American actress and producer
* October 28 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th President of Iran
* October 29 – Wilfredo Gómez, Puerto Rican boxer
* November 4 – Igor Talkov, Russian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1991)
* November 5 – Rob Fisher (British musician), Rob Fisher, British keyboardist and songwriter (Climie Fisher) (d. 1999)
* November 7
** Mikhail Alperin, Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist (d. 2018)
** Judy Tenuta, American comedian and musician (d. 2022)
* November 8
** Richard Curtis, English film director, producer and screenwriter
** Kurt Sorensen, New Zealand rugby league player
* November 10
** Sinbad (comedian), Sinbad, African-American stand-up, comedian and actor
** Mohsen Badawi, Egyptian entrepreneur, political activist and writer
** Peter Rangmar, Swedish actor, comedian and baritone (d. 1997)
* November 11 – Talat Aziz, ghazal singer
* November 13 – Charlie Baker, American politician, 72nd Governor of Massachusetts
* November 14
** Avi Cohen, Israeli football player (d. 2010)
** Greg Pence, American businessman and politician
** Peter R. de Vries, crime reporter (d. 2021)
* November 16 – Terry Labonte, American Race Car Driver
* November 17
** Angelika Machinek, German glider pilot (d. 2006)
** Kelly Ward, American actor
* November 18
** Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (d. 1995)
** Warren Moon, American football player
* November 20
** Jan Maxwell, American actress (d. 2018)
** Bo Derek, American actress and model
** Olli Dittrich, German actor, comedian, television personality and musician
* November 21 – Terri Welles, American actress and adult model
* November 22 – Richard Kind, American actor
* November 23
** Cal Dodd, Irish-Canadian voice actor and singer
** Shane Gould, Australian Olympic triple gold medallist swimmer (1972)
** Nikolay Sidorov, Soviet athlete
* November 24 – Jouni Kaipainen, Finnish composer
* November 26 – Dale Jarrett, American Race Car Driver
* November 27
** Nazrin Shah of Perak, 35th Sultan of Perak
** William Fichtner, American actor
* November 28
** Kristine Arnold, American singer (Sweethearts of the Rodeo)
** Lucy Gutteridge, English actress
* November 29
** Eric Laakso, American football player
** Leo Laporte, American author and television host
** Bill Baker (ice hockey, born 1956), Bill Baker, American ice hockey player
* December 1
** Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emirati politician and royal (d. 2019)
** Markos Kounalakis, American journalist, author and scholar, Second Gentleman of California
* December 4 – Bernard King, American basketball player and commentator
* December 5
** Klaus Allofs, German football player
** Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
* December 6
** Peter Buck, American guitarist
** Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
* December 7
** Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American actor and entertainer (d. 2019)
** Larry Bird, American basketball player
** Iveta Radičová, Prime Minister of Slovakia
* December 9
** Antony Alda, American actor (d. 2009)
** Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French writer
** Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician and mass murderer (d. 1994)
* December 10 – Rod Blagojevich, American politician and convicted felon, Governor of Illinois (2003–2009)
* December 11 – Lani Brockman, American playwright
* December 12
** Ana Alicia, Mexican actress
** Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
* December 13 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese singer
* December 14 – Béla Réthy, German sports journalist
* December 16 – Duncan Faure, South African musician
* December 18 – Ron White, American comedian
* December 19
** Masami Akita, Japanese noise music, noise musician (also known as Merzbow)
** Jimmy Cauty, British musician (The KLF, The Timelords)
* December 21 – Anna Erlandsson, Swedish filmmaker and animator
* December 23
** Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (d. 2001)
** Dave Murray (musician), Dave Murray, British musician (Iron Maiden)
* December 24
** Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
** Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic
* December 26
** Kashif (musician), Michael Jones (aka Kashif), musician, singer-songwriter (B.T. Express) (d. 2016)
** David Sedaris, American essayist
* December 28
** Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
** Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born footballer
** Phil Verchota, American ice hockey player
* December 29 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
* December 30
** Patricia Kalember, American actress
** Sheryl Lee Ralph, African American-actress
* December 31
** Shelagh Rogers, Canadian radio host
** Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djiboutian marathon runner
* January 3
** Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
** Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
* January 5 – Mistinguett, French singer and actress (b. 1875)
* January 9 – Marion Leonard, American actress (b. 1881)
* January 10
**Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (b. 1862)
**Karl Ludwig Schmidt, German theologian (b. 1891)
* January 12
** Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
** Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
* January 13 – Lyonel Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)
* January 14 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (b. 1887)
* January 18 – Konstantin Päts, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
* January 23 – Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)
* January 27 – Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
* January 29 – H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
* January 31 – A. A. Milne, English author (''Winnie The Pooh'') (b. 1882)
* February 2
** Bob Burns (comedian), Bob Burns, American comedian (b. 1890)
** Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
* February 3 – Robert Yerkes, American psychologist and ethologist (b. 1876)
* February 8 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive and manager (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1862)
* February 10 – Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, British marshal of the Royal Air Force (b. 1873)
* February 13 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish logician and philosopher (b. 1878)
*
* March 9 – Arthur Leopold Busch, English-born American submarine pioneer (b. 1866)
*
* April 6 – Pío Valenzuela, Filipino physician and one of the leaders of the Katipunan (b. 1869)
* April 13 – Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter (b. 1867)
* April 15 – Kathleen Howard, Canadian-born American actress and opera singer (b. 1884)
* April 19 – Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886)
*
* June 2
** Richard S. Edwards, American admiral (b. 1885)
** Jean Hersholt, Danish actor (b. 1886)
* June 4 – Katherine MacDonald, American silent film actress (b. 1891)
*
* August 2 – Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
*
* September 6
** Lee Jung-seob, Korean oil painter (b. 1872)
** Felix Borowski, British-American composer and teacher (b. 1872)
* September 7 – C. B. Fry, English sportsman and writer (b. 1872)
* September 11
** Billy Bishop, Canadian World War I flying ace (b. 1894)
** Lucien Febvre, French historian (b. 1878)
* September 20 – Flora Eldershaw, Australian novelist, critic, and historian (b. 1897)
* September 22 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
* September 27
** Milburn G. Apt, American test pilot (b. 1924)
** Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer (b. 1911)
* September 28 – William E. Boeing, American engineer and airplane manufacturer (b. 1881)
* September 29 – Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (assassinated) (b. 1896)
* October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer, American songwriter (b. 1878)
* October 2 – George Bancroft (actor), George Bancroft, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 9 – Marie Doro, American stage & silent film actress (b. 1882)
* October 12 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
* October 14 – Jules Richard (mathematician), Jules Richard, French mathematician (b. 1862)
* October 16
** Jules Rimet, French football administrator, 3rd president of FIFA (b. 1873)
** Jack Southworth, English footballer (b. 1866)
* October 17 – Anne Crawford, British actress (b. 1920)
* October 19 – Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
* October 22 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist and suffragette (b. 1872)
* October 25 – Risto Ryti, 23rd Prime Minister of Finland and 5th President of Finland (b. 1889)
* October 26 – Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)
* October 27 – Charles S. Johnson, American sociologist (b. 1893)
* October 30 – Pío Baroja, Spanish novelist (b. 1872)
* November 1
** Pietro Badoglio, Italian field marshal and 28th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1871)
** Tommy Johnson (musician), Tommy Johnson, American musician (b. 1896)
* November 2 – Leo Baeck, German rabbi, scholar and theologian (b. 1873)
* November 3 – Jean Metzinger, French painter, theorist and critic (b. 1883)
* November 5 – Art Tatum, American jazz pianist (b. 1909)
* November 6 – Paul Kelly (actor), Paul Kelly, American stage and film actor (b. 1899)
* November 10
** Harry F. Sinclair, American entrepreneur (b. 1876)
** Victor Young, American composer (b. 1900)
* November 12 – Juan Negrín, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1892)
* November 13 – Werner Haas, German motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
* November 19 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (b. 1903)
* November 22 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and actor (b. 1882)
* November 24
** Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)
** Lionel Whitby, Sir Lionel Whitby, British haematologist and academic administrator (b. 1895)
* November 26 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
* November 27 – Hugo Ballin, American artist, film production designer, and director (b. 1879)
* December 2 – Dell Henderson, Canadian actor (b. 1877)
* December 3 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist (b. 1891)
* December 6 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist and politician (b. 1891)
* December 7
** Henry Fillmore, American composer and bandleader (b. 1881)
** Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
* December 9 – Charles Joughin, English-born baker on RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1878)
* December 10 – David Shimoni, Israeli poet and writer (b. 1891)
* December 12 – Ewald André Dupont, German film director (b. 1891)
* December 14 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, twice Prime Minister of Finland and 7th President of Finland (b. 1870)
* December 16
** René Couzinet, French aeronautics engineer and aircraft manufacturer (suicide) (b. 1904)
** Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
* December 17
** Eddie Acuff, American actor (b. 1903)
** Whitford Kane, Irish-born American actor (b. 1881)
* December 21 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist (b. 1877)
* December 23 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Spanish architect (b. 1867)
* December 25 – William Addison Dwiggins, American book designer, type designer, illustrator, author, marionette artist (b. 1880)
* December 26 – Holmes Herbert, English actor (b. 1882)
* December 30 – Ruth Draper, American actress (b. 1884)
full text online
comprehensive reference book covering 1956 in diplomacy, international affairs and politics for major nations and regions
{{Authority control 1956, Leap years in the Gregorian calendar
June 21
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).
* 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mo ...
– Playwright Arthur Miller appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
in Washington, D.C.
* June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
becomes the 2nd president of Egypt, a post he holds until his death in 1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
.
* June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
** Poznań 1956 protests: Labour riots in Poznań, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life. Soviet troops fire at a crowd protesting high prices, killing 53 people.
** The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's '' The King and I'', starring Deborah Kerr
Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...
and Yul Brynner, is released only a few months after the film version of R&H's ''Carousel''. It becomes the most financially successful film version of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical up to this time, and the only one to win an acting Oscar (Yul Brynner wins Best Actor for his performance as the King of Siam). It is also one of two Rodgers and Hammerstein films to be nominated for Best Picture (which it does not win).
* June 29
** Actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller, in White Plains, New York.
** President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System in the United States.
* June 30 – 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
The Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred in the Western United States, western United States on Saturday, June 30, 1956, when a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 struck a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over Grand Canyon ...
: A TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
in Arizona, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft, in the deadliest civil aviation disaster to date; the accident leads to sweeping changes in the regulation of cross-country flight and air traffic control over the United States.
July
* July 2 – A laboratory experiment involving scrap thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in Bayside, New York, results in anexplosion
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...
.
* July 4 – An American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the Soviet Union.
* July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
– The mountain Gasherbrum II, on the border of Pakistan and China, is first ascended, by an Austrian expedition.
* July 9
Events Pre-1600
*118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome.
* 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodos ...
– The 7.7 Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The shaking and the subsequent tsunami leave 53 people dead.
* July 10 – The British House of Lords defeats the abolition of the death penalty.
* July 13 – John McCarthy (Dartmouth), Marvin Minsky (MIT), Claude Shannon (Bell Labs) and Nathaniel Rochester (IBM) assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of artificial intelligence, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States.
* July 16 – With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows", due to changing economics.
* July 24 – At New York City's Copacabana nightclub, Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
and Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
perform their last comedy show together (their act started on July 25, 1946).
* July 25 – The Italian ocean liner sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship SS ''Stockholm'' in heavy fog south of Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
island, killing 51.
* July 26 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
nationalizes the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, sparking international condemnation.
* July 30 – A joint resolution
In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires passage by the Senate and the House of Representatives and is presented to the President for their approval or disapproval. Generally, there is no legal differ ...
of Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God we trust
"In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the United States national motto, official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing ("Out of many, one"), whic ...
" as the U.S. national motto.
* July 31
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
* 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...
** Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
: Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
in the fourth Test between England and Australia, taking 19 wickets in a first class match (the previous best was 17).
** Luzhniki Stadium, well known sports venue of Russia and the Soviet Union, officially opens in Moscow.
August
*August 6
Events Pre-1600
*1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
* 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...
– After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
airs its final broadcast, an episode of its sports series '' Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena''.
* August 7 – Seven ammunition trucks loaded with 1,053 boxes of dynamite explode in Cali, Colombia. Death estimates range from 1,300 to 10,000, in a city that at this time has 120,000 inhabitants.
* August 8 – 262 miners (chiefly Italian nationals) die in a fire at the Bois du Cazier coal mine, in Marcinelle, Belgium.
* August 9 – Art exhibition '' This Is Tomorrow'' opens at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
* August 12 – Around 5,000 members of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic ( la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae; ro, Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the ...
hold a mass outside Cluj-Napoca Piarists' Church to demonstrate that their church, proscribed by the government in 1948, has not ceased to exist as the regime claims.
* August 17 – West Germany bans the Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
.
September
* September 9 – Elvis Presley appears on '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' in the United States for the first time. * September 13 ** The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team, led byReynold B. Johnson
Reynold B. Johnson (July 16, 1906September 15, 1998) was an American inventor and computer pioneer. A long-time employee of IBM, Johnson is said to be the "father" of the hard disk drive. Other inventions include automatic test scoring equipment ...
.
** The Levee, dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.
* September 16 – Television broadcasting in Australia commences.
* September 21 – Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García is assassinated.
* September 25 – The submarine transatlantic telephone cable opens.
* September 27 – The Bell X-2 becomes the first crewed aircraft to reach Mach number, Mach 3.
October
* October 5 – Cecil B. DeMille's epic film ''The Ten Commandments (1956 film), The Ten Commandments'', starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is released in the United States. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation. * October 8 – Baseball pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the only Perfect game (baseball), perfect game in World Series history, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yogi Berra catches the game. Dale Mitchell (baseball), Dale Mitchell is the final out. The New York Yankees win the series in seven games. Larsen is named series Most valuable player, MVP. * October 10 ** Finland joins UNESCO. ** The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the final Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight. * October 14 – In India: ** Indira Kala Sangeet University, Khairagarh, is inaugurated by Indira Gandhi. ** Dalit Buddhist movement: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Dalit leader, converts to Buddhism, along with 385,000 followers. * October 15 – The British Royal Air Force retires its last Avro Lancaster bomber. * October 17 ** The world's first industrial-scale commercial nuclear power plant is opened at Sellafield, Calder Hall in England. ** The Game of the Century (chess): 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster Donald Byrne, in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City. * October 22 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom, France, and Israel secretly meet in Sèvres and make plans to invade Egypt. * October 23 – The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Revolution breaks out against the pro-Soviet government, originating as a student demonstration in Budapest. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact. * October 26 – Soviet Red Army troops invade Hungary. * October 29 ** Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward theSuez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
.
** Tangier Protocol: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
** The ''Huntley-Brinkley Report'' debuts on NBC-TV in the United States.
* October 31
** Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
.
** A United States Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole (arriving by air), and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.
November
* November 1 ** The States Reorganisation Act of India reforms the boundaries and names of Indian states. Three new states, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, are formed. ** City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco publishes ''Howl and Other Poems'' by Allen Ginsberg, a key work of the Beat Generation. ** The film ''Oklahoma! (1955 film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), previously released to select cities in Todd-AO, now receives a U.S. national release in CinemaScope, since not all theatres are yet equipped for Todd-AO. To accomplish this, the film has actually been shot twice, rather than printing one version in two different film processes, as is later done. * November 3 ** Khan Yunis massacre (Suez Crisis): Israeli soldiers shoot dead hundreds of Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants in Khan Yunis Camp. ** MGM's film ''The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), The Wizard of Oz'' is the first major Hollywood film running more than 90 minutes The Wizard of Oz on television, to be televised uncut in one evening, in the United States. * November 4 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: More Soviet troops invade Hungary, to crush the revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country. * November 6 – 1956 United States presidential election: Republican Party (United States), Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democratic Party (United States), Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson II, Adlai Stevenson, in a rematch of their contest 1952 United States presidential election, 4 years earlier. * November 7 – Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately. * November 11 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Last insurgents succumb to the invading Soviet army. * November 12 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations. * November 13 – ''Browder v. Gayle'': The United States Supreme Court declares illegal the state and municipal laws requiring segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott. * November 14 – An eight-mile long stretch of highway is opened west of Topeka, Kansas, creating the first portion of the Interstate Highway System in the United States and the first highway to be completed with funds from the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. * November 15 – Middle East Technical University is founded in Ankara, Turkey. * November 18 – At a reception for Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev utters his famous phrase "We will bury you". * November 20 – In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Đilas is arrested after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito. * November 22 – The1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...
begin in Melbourne, Australia.
* November 23 – The Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
* November 25 – Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, en route to Santiago de Cuba aboard the yacht ''Granma (yacht), Granma'', with 82 men.
* November 28 – Roger Vadim's drama film ''And God Created Woman (1956 film), And God Created Woman'', released in France as ''Et Dieu ... créa la femme'', propels Brigitte Bardot into the public spotlight as a "wiktionary:sex kitten, sex kitten".
* November 30 – African-American Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight boxing championship that is vacant after the retirement of Rocky Marciano.
December
* December 2 ** Fidel Castro and his followers land in Cuba, from the yacht ''Granma (yacht), Granma''. ** A pipe bomb planted by George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, injuring 6 people. * December 3 – The 1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn. * December 4 – The Million Dollar Quartet ( Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio, for the first and last time in history. * December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes into Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack, British Columbia. All 62 people aboard, including five Canadian Football League players, are killed. * December 12 – Japan becomes a member of the United Nations. * December 18 – ''To Tell the Truth'' debuts on CBS-TV in the United States. * December 19 – British doctor John Bodkin Adams is arrested for the murder of 2 patients in Eastbourne, England; he will be acquitted. * December 23 – British and French troops leave theSuez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
region.
* December 31 – Bob Barker makes his television debut, as host of the game show ''Truth or Consequences'' in the United States.
Date unknown
* Influenza A virus subtype H2N2#Asian flu, Asian flu Influenza pandemic, pandemic originates in China. * The Alpine Club of Canada, Toronto section, is founded.Births
January
* January 1
** Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
** Kōji Yakusho, Japanese actor
** Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician, IMF Managing Director and European Central Bank, ECB president
** Dzulkefly Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (d. 2015)
** Andy Gill, English musician (d. 2020)
* January 3
** Mel Gibson, American actor and director
** Tomiko Suzuki, Japanese voice actress (d. 2003)
* January 4 – Bernard Sumner, British musician
* January 5
** Ana Pessoa Pinto, East Timorese politician and jurist
** Celso Blues Boy, Brazilian singer and guitarist (d. 2012)
** Chen Kenichi, Japan-born Chinese chef
** Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German politician
* January 7
** David Caruso, American actor
** Uwe Ochsenknecht, German actor
** Johnny Owen, Welsh boxer (d. 1980)
** Miladin Šobić, Montenegro, Montenegrin singer
* January 9
** Kimberly Beck, American actress
** Imelda Staunton, English actress
* January 12 – Nikolai Noskov, Soviet and Russian rock singer and songwriter
* January 13 – Janet Hubert, African-American actress
* January 14 – Ronan Bennett, Northern Irish writer
* January 15 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian convicted murderer, architect deputy minister of construction of North Ossetia-Alania
* January 16
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
* 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spear ...
– Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
* January 17 – Paul Young, English musician
* January 18
** Tom Bailey (musician, born 1956), Tom Bailey, English musician
** Sharon Mitchell, American sexologist
** Jim Mothersbaugh, American rock drummer
* January 19 – Adriana Acosta, Argentine militant and field hockey player (d. 1978)
* January 20 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian and political analyst
* January 21
** Robby Benson, American actor, voice actor, director, singer and educator
** Geena Davis, American actress
* January 24 – Lounès Matoub, Algerian Berber Kabyle singer (d. 1998)
* 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 ...
– Bronwyn Pike, Australian politician
* January 26 – Pat Musick, American voice actress
* January 27
** Susanne Blakeslee, American actress
** Mimi Rogers, American actress
* January 28 – Peter Schilling, German singer
* January 29
** Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish film director
** Irlene Mandrell, American musician, actress
* January 30 – Keiichi Tsuchiya, Japanese race car driver
* January 31
** John Lydon, British punk musician and TV personality
** Trevor Manuel, South African politician
February
* February 1 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* February 2
** Philip Franks, English actor and director
** Alireza Soleimani, Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler (d. 2014)
* February 3
** Nathan Lane, American actor
** Lee Ranaldo, American musician
* February 6 – Jon Walmsley, British actor
* February 7
** John Posey (actor), John Posey, American actor and writer
** Heather Jones, Australian writer
** Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
* February 10 – Enele Sopoaga, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
* February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
** Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist (d. 2018)
** Catherine Hickland, American actress
* February 13
** Peter Hook, British bass player
** Yiannis Kouros, Greek-Australian ultra marathoner
** Jay Nixon, 55th Governor of Missouri
** Paul Stojanovich, American television producer
* February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– Tom Burlinson, Australian actor
* February 15 – Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer
* February 18
** Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer, songwriter and musician (d. 1997)
** Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player
* February 19
** Kathleen Beller, American actress
** Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
** Dave Wakeling, English musician
* February 20 – François Bréda, Romanian essayist, poet, literary critic, literary historian, translator and theatrologist (d. 2018)
* February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
** Reinhold Beckmann, German television presenter
** Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, American composer, record producer (d. 2017)
* 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 ...
** Judith Butler, American philosopher
** Paula Zahn, American television journalist
* February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
** Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 1995)
** Michel Friedman, German lawyer, politician and talk show host
* February 26
** Michel Houellebecq, French author
** Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician
* February 27
**Angela Aames, American actress (d. 1988)
** Tim Brando, American sports broadcaster
* February 28
** Liem Swie King, Indonesian badminton player
** Thomas Remengesau Jr., 7th and 9th President of Palau
* February 29
** Mike Compton (musician), Mike Compton, American mandolinist
** Bob Speller, Canadian politician
** Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
March
* March 1
** Tim Daly, American actor and producer
** Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
* March 2 – Eduardo Rodríguez (politician), Eduardo Rodríguez, President of Bolivia
* March 3 – Frank Giroud, French comics writer (d. 2018)
* March 5
** Teena Marie, American singer (d. 2010)
** Marco Paolini, Italian stage actor, dramaturge and author
* March 7
** Andrea Levy, English novelist (d. 2019)
** Bryan Cranston, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* March 8 – John Kapelos, Canadian actor
* March 9
** Kadyrzhan Batyrov, Kyrgyz businessman and politician (d. 2018)
** Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician
* March 11 – Rob Paulsen, American voice actor and singer
* March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
** Lídice da Mata, Brazilian politician
** Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager and former player (d. 2019)
* March 13 – Dana Delany, American actress
* March 16
** Boaz Arad, Israeli visual artist (d. 2018)
** Vladimír Godár, Slovak composer
* March 18 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish alpine skier
* March 19 – Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician (d. 2009)
* March 20
** Minken Fosheim, Norwegian actress and author (d. 2018)
** Catherine Ashton, British politician
** Sabiamad Abdul Ahad, Malaysian sport shooter (d. 2021)
** Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer and director
* March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
** José Manuel Barroso, Prime Minister of Portugal
** Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
** Win Lyovarin, Thai author
* March 22
** Tyrone Brunson (musician), Tyrone Brunson, American singer (d. 2013)
** Ilana Kloss, South-African born tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World Team Tennis
** Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, consort of Grand Duke Henri
* March 24 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman, CEO of Microsoft (2000–2014), owner of the Los Angeles Clippers
* March 25 – Matthew Garber, English child actor (d. 1977)
* March 28
** Susan Ershler, American mountaineer
** Evelin Jahl, German athlete
* March 29 – Evie (singer), Evie, American Christian musician
* March 30 – Shahla Sherkat, Iranian feminist journalist
April
* April 3
** Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
** Miguel Bosé, Panamanian-born musician and actor
** Boris Miljković, Serbian TV & theatre director and video artist
* April 4
** Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician
** David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
* April 5
** Diamond Dallas Page, American professional wrestler
** El Risitas, Spanish comedian and actor (d. 2021)
* April 6
** Sebastian Spreng, American-Argentinean visual artist
** Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer
* April 7 – Christopher Darden, African-American attorney, author, actor and lecturer
* April 9 – Edmund Chong Ket Wah, Malaysian politician (d. 2010)
* April 12
** Andy García, Cuban-American actor
** Herbert Grönemeyer, German musician and actor
** Yasuo Tanaka (politician), Yasuo Tanaka, Japanese politician, novelist
* April 13 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand rally car driver (d. 2003)
* April 14 – Barbara Bonney, American soprano
* April 16
** David M. Brown, American astronaut (d. 2003)
** Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
* April 18
** John James (actor), John James, American actor
** Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
** Karim Abdul Razak, Ghanaian footballer
** Eric Roberts, American actor
* April 19 – Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter
* April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Phillip Longman, American demographer
* April 22 – Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Finnish conductor
* April 23 – Greg Colson, American artist
* April 26 – Koo Stark, British actress
* April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
– Bryan Harvey (musician), Bryan Harvey, American musician (d. 2006)
* April 28
** Jimmy Barnes, Scottish-Australian singer and songwriter
** Hanka Paldum, Bosnian singer
* April 30 – Lars von Trier, Danish film director and screenwriter
May
* May 1
** Alexander Ivanov (chess player), Alexander Ivanov, Russian-born American chess grandmaster
** Danilo De Girolamo, Italian voice actor (d. 2012)
* May 4
** David Guterson, American writer
** Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
* May 5 – Lisa Eilbacher, American actress
* May 6
** Vladimir Lisin, Russian business oligarch
** Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
* May 7
** S. Scott Bullock, American actor and voice actor
** Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002–2010)
** Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host (d. 2016)
* May 9
** Cesare Alpini, Italian art historian
** Frank Andersson, Swedish wrestler (d. 2018)
** Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
* May 10
** Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (d. 1995)
** Paige O'Hara, American actress, voice actress, singer and painter
** Bikenibeu Paeniu, 2-Time Prime Minister of Tuvalu
* May 12
** Jānis Bojārs, Latvian shot putter (d. 2018)
** Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricket player and umpire (d. 2022)
* May 13
** Kenneth Eriksson, Swedish rally driver
** Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru
** Mirek Topolánek, 7th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
** Kirk Thornton, American voice actor
* May 15 – Dan Patrick (sportscaster), Dan Patrick, American sports commentator
* May 17
** Cheenu Mohan, Indian actor (d. 2018)
** Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer, motivational speaker and actor
* May 19 – Steven Ford, American actor
* May 20
** Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
** Dean Butler (actor), Dean Butler, American actor and producer
* May 23
** Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
** Buck Showalter, American baseball player and manager
* May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
** Michael Jackson (bishop), Michael Jackson, Irish Anglican bishop
** Sean Kelly (cyclist), Sean Kelly, Irish road cyclist
* May 26 – Lisa Niemi, American actress and dancer
* May 27 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian film director
* May 28
** Jerry Douglas, American dobro player
** John O'Donoghue (politician), John O'Donoghue, Irish Fianna Fáil politician
** Sayuri Yamauchi, Japanese voice actress (d. 2012)
** John Wells (filmmaker), John Wells, American television producer and writer
* May 29 – La Toya Jackson, American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and television personality
* May 30 – David Sassoli, 16th President of the European Parliament (d. 2022)
* May 31 – Yoshiko Sakakibara, Japanese voice actress
June
* June 1
** Chintaman Vanaga, Indian politician (d. 2018)
** Peter Tomka, Judge, International Court of Justice
** Amanda Miguel, Argentinian singer
* June 2 – Mani Ratnam, Indian film director, screenwriter and producer
* June 3 – George Burley, Scottish football manager
* June 4 – Keith David, African-American actor and voice actor
* June 5
Events Pre-1600
*1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
*1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles II of Naples, Charles ...
– Kenny G, American saxophonist
* June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
** Yuri Shundrov, Russian-Ukrainian ice hockey goaltender (d. 2018)
** Christopher Adamson (actor), Christopher Adamson, British actor
** Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
* June 7
** Paul Sherwen, English racing cyclist and broadcaster (d. 2018)
** Antonio M. Reid, American record executive
* June 8
** Péter Besenyei, Hungarian pilot
** Udo Bullmann, German politician
** Jonathan Potter, British psychologist
**John Petrizzelli Font, John Petrizzelli, Venezuelan film director
* June 9 – Patricia Cornwell, American novelist
* June 10 – Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg, German head of the House of Mecklenburg
* June 11
** Ashwini Kumar Chopra, Indian journalist, cricketer and politician (d. 2020)
** Joe Montana, American football player
** Arthur Porter (physician), Arthur Porter, Canadian physician (d. 2015)
* June 13 – Yurik Vardanyan, Soviet weightlifter (d. 2018)
* June 14 – King Diamond, Danish heavy metal musician
* June 15 – Robin Curtis, American actress
* June 17 – Kelly Curtis, American actor
* June 20 – Cho Chikun, Korean Go player
* June 21
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).
* 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mo ...
– Thomas James O'Leary, American actor
* June 22
** Abdulbaset Sieda, Kurdish-Syrian academic and politician
** François Hadji-Lazaro, French actor and musician
** Tim Russ, American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician
* June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
** Randy Jackson, African-American musician and talent judge
** Mai Yamani, Saudi Arabian independent scholar, author and anthropologist
* June 24 – Turid Leirvoll, Norwegian-Danish politician
* June 25
** Madeleine Petrovic, Austrian politician
** Isabel de Navarre, German figure skating coach
** Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
** Anthony Bourdain, American chef, writer and television personality (d. 2018)
** Chloe Webb, American actress and singer
** Bob West, American voice actor and graphic designer
* June 26
** Catherine Samba-Panza, President of the Central African Republic
** Chris Isaak, American musician
** Davide Ferrario, Italian film director, screenwriter and author
* June 27
** Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Royal Saudi Air Force pilot
** Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player
* June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
– Noel Mugavin, Australian rules football player
* June 29
** Nick Fry, British motorsport
** Honorato Hernández, Spanish long-distance runner
** Richard Summerbell, Canadian mycologist, author and songwriter
* June 30
** Sun Chanthol, Cambodian politician
** Jessi Lintl, Austrian politician
** David Alan Grier, African-American actor, comedian (''In Living Color'')
** Piero Aiello, Italian politician
July
* July 1
** Alan Ruck, American actor
** Gregg L. Semenza, American cellular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* July 2
** Jerry Hall, American model and actress
** Cynthia Kadohata, Japanese-American children's writer
* July 3
**Dorota Pomykała, Polish actress
**Min Aung Hlaing, Burmese Army General
* July 4 – :pt:Bárbara Bruno, Bárbara Bruno, Brazilian actress, director and producer
* July 5
** Sapawi Ahmad, Malaysian politician
** Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay
** Louis Herthum, American actor and producer
** Sheila Walsh (author/singer), Sheila Walsh, Scottish Christian artist and talk-show hostess
* July 7
** Janet Cruz, American politician
** Mullah Krekar, Iraqi Kurdish scholar and militant
** Ryuho Okawa, Japanese religious leader
** Giam Swiegers, South African-Australian business executive
* July 9
Events Pre-1600
*118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome.
* 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodos ...
– Tom Hanks, American actor and director
* July 10 – K. Rajagopal (footballer), K. Rajagopal, Malaysian football manager and national player
* July 11
** Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American fiction writer
** Sela Ward, American actress
* July 12 – Mel Harris, American actress
* July 13
** Günther Jauch, German television host
** Koffi Olomide, Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer and composer
** Michael Spinks, African-American boxer
* July 14
** Dragan Despot, Croatian actor
** Vladimir Kulich, Czechoslovakian actor
* July 15
** Ian Curtis, English rock musician (Joy Division) (d. 1980)
** Barry Melrose, Canadian hockey player, coach and commentator
** Steve Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
** Toshihiko Seko, Japanese long-distance runner
* July 16
** Jerry Doyle, American talk show host and actor (d. 2016)
** Tony Kushner, American playwright
** Pratibha Singh, Indian politician
* July 17 – Robert Romanus, American actor and musician
* July 18 – Sheila Aldridge, American singer
* July 19
** Peter Barton (actor), Peter Barton, American actor
** Yoshiaki Yatsu, Japanese professional wrestler
* July 20 – Thomas N'Kono, Cameroonian footballer
* July 24
** Charlie Crist, American politician, 44th Governor of Florida
** Pat Finn (game show host), Pat Finn, American game show host and producer
** Carmen Nebel, German television presenter
* July 25 – Frances Arnold, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* July 26
** Andy Goldsworthy, British sculptor and photographer
** Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater, Olympic gold medalist
* July 30
** Delta Burke, American actress
** Anita Hill, African-American lawyer and academic
* July 31
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
* 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...
** Michael Biehn, American actor
** Deval Patrick, American politician, first African-American Governor of Massachusetts
** Laura Zapata, Mexican television actress
August
* August 2 – Robert Khuzami, Deputy Attorney for the Southern District of New York
* August 4
** Gerry Cooney, American boxer
** Randall Wright, Canadian economist
* August 5
** Bolland & Bolland, Ferdi Bolland, Dutch musician, songwriter and music producer (Bolland & Bolland)
** Maureen McCormick, American actress
* August 6
Events Pre-1600
*1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
* 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...
– Stepfanie Kramer, American actress
* August 7
** Ernie Johnson, Jr., American sportscaster
** Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and environmentalist
* August 8 – Chris Foreman, English rock guitarist
* August 10
** Fred Ottman, American professional wrestler
** Charlie Peacock, American Christian producer, singer-songwriter
* August 12 – Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
* August 14
** Jackée Harry, American actress and television personality
** Rusty Wallace, American NASCAR race car driver
* August 17 – Dave Jones (footballer, born 1956), Dave Jones, English football manager
* August 18 – John Debney, American film composer
* August 19 – Adam Arkin, American actor
* August 20
** Joan Allen, American actress
** Jan Henry T. Olsen, Norwegian politician (d. 2018)
* August 21
** Kim Cattrall, English-born Canadian actress
** David Clarke (sheriff), David Clarke, African-American law enforcement official
* August 22
** Leah Cherniak, Canadian playwright and theatre director
**Sid Michaels Kavulich, American politician and sportscaster (d. 2018)
** Paul Molitor, American baseball player
* August 23
** Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
** Cris Morena, Argentine actress and television producer
* August 24
** John Culberson, American politician
** Kevin Dunn, American actor
* August 25 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (d. 1986)
* August 26 – Mark Mangino, American football coach
* August 28
**Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
**Pamela Eells O'Connell, American television producer and writer
* August 29
** GG Allin, American punk singer (d. 1993)
** Mark Morris (choreographer), Mark Morris, American choreographer
* August 31
** Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
** Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
September
* September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast, American editor and broadcaster
* September 2
** Nandamuri Harikrishna, Indian actor and politician (d. 2018)
** Angelo Fusco, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
* September 3 – Pat McGeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member (d. 1996)
* September 6 – Bill Ritter, American politician, 41st Governor of Colorado
* September 7 – Michael Feinstein, American singer and pianist
* September 8 – Maurice Cheeks, American basketball player and coach
* September 11 – Phillip D. Bissett, American politician
* September 12
** Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor (d. 2003)
** Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
** Walter Woon, law professor, Nominated Member of Parliament and Attorney-General of Singapore
* September 13 – Ilie Balaci, Romanian football player (d. 2018)
* September 14
** Kostas Karamanlis, Greek politician
** Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach (d. 2018)
* September 15 – George Howard (jazz), George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
* September 16
** Sergei Beloglazov, Russian free-style wrestler
** David Copperfield (illusionist), David Copperfield, American illusionist
** Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)
** Kazuharu Sonoda, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1987)
* September 17
** Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
** Almazbek Atambayev, 3-Time Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and 4th President of Kyrgyzstan
**Susie Silvey, English actress, dancer and model
* September 18 – Tim McInnerny, English actor
* September 20
** Gary Cole, American television, film and voice actor
** Debbi Morgan, African-American actress
* September 21 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
* September 23
** Mait Riisman, Estonian water polo player (d. 2018)
** Peter David, comic book writer and novelist
** Paolo Rossi, Italian soccer player (d. 2020)
* September 24 – Greg Panos, American futurist, writer, inventor
* September 25 – Jamie Hyneman, American television co-host
* September 26 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
* September 29 – Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe, British athlete; co-ordinator of the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Games
* September 30 – Gordon Elliott (journalist), Gordon Elliott, British-Australian television personality and talk show host
October
* October 1
** Tara Buckman, American actress
** Andrus Ansip, Estonian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
** Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* October 2 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor and director
* October 3 – Ralph Morgenstern, German actor
* October 4 – Christoph Waltz, German-Austrian actor
* October 8
** Danny Jacob, American composer, songwriter and guitarist
** Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
* October 10 – Amanda Burton, Irish actress
* October 11 – Nicanor Duarte, 47th President of Paraguay
* October 12 – Trần Đại Quang, President of Vietnam (d. 2018)
* October 16 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1991)
* October 17
** Mae Jemison, African-American astronaut
** Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author
** Ken Morrow, American ice hockey player
* October 18
** Craig Bartlett, American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director and voice actor
** Martina Navratilova, Czech-American multiple Grand Slam title winning tennis player
* October 19
** Sunny Deol, Indian actor, director, producer and politician
** Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
* October 20
** Shafie Apdal, Malaysian politician
** Danny Boyle, English film director
* October 21 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and novelist (d. 2016)
* October 22 – Marvin Bush, American businessman
* October 23
** Darrell Pace, American archer
** Dwight Yoakam, American country singer, musician and actor
* October 26 – Rita Wilson, American actress and producer
* October 28 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th President of Iran
* October 29 – Wilfredo Gómez, Puerto Rican boxer
November
* November 4 – Igor Talkov, Russian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1991)
* November 5 – Rob Fisher (British musician), Rob Fisher, British keyboardist and songwriter (Climie Fisher) (d. 1999)
* November 7
** Mikhail Alperin, Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist (d. 2018)
** Judy Tenuta, American comedian and musician (d. 2022)
* November 8
** Richard Curtis, English film director, producer and screenwriter
** Kurt Sorensen, New Zealand rugby league player
* November 10
** Sinbad (comedian), Sinbad, African-American stand-up, comedian and actor
** Mohsen Badawi, Egyptian entrepreneur, political activist and writer
** Peter Rangmar, Swedish actor, comedian and baritone (d. 1997)
* November 11 – Talat Aziz, ghazal singer
* November 13 – Charlie Baker, American politician, 72nd Governor of Massachusetts
* November 14
** Avi Cohen, Israeli football player (d. 2010)
** Greg Pence, American businessman and politician
** Peter R. de Vries, crime reporter (d. 2021)
* November 16 – Terry Labonte, American Race Car Driver
* November 17
** Angelika Machinek, German glider pilot (d. 2006)
** Kelly Ward, American actor
* November 18
** Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (d. 1995)
** Warren Moon, American football player
* November 20
** Jan Maxwell, American actress (d. 2018)
** Bo Derek, American actress and model
** Olli Dittrich, German actor, comedian, television personality and musician
* November 21 – Terri Welles, American actress and adult model
* November 22 – Richard Kind, American actor
* November 23
** Cal Dodd, Irish-Canadian voice actor and singer
** Shane Gould, Australian Olympic triple gold medallist swimmer (1972)
** Nikolay Sidorov, Soviet athlete
* November 24 – Jouni Kaipainen, Finnish composer
* November 26 – Dale Jarrett, American Race Car Driver
* November 27
** Nazrin Shah of Perak, 35th Sultan of Perak
** William Fichtner, American actor
* November 28
** Kristine Arnold, American singer (Sweethearts of the Rodeo)
** Lucy Gutteridge, English actress
* November 29
** Eric Laakso, American football player
** Leo Laporte, American author and television host
** Bill Baker (ice hockey, born 1956), Bill Baker, American ice hockey player
December
* December 1
** Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emirati politician and royal (d. 2019)
** Markos Kounalakis, American journalist, author and scholar, Second Gentleman of California
* December 4 – Bernard King, American basketball player and commentator
* December 5
** Klaus Allofs, German football player
** Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
* December 6
** Peter Buck, American guitarist
** Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
* December 7
** Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American actor and entertainer (d. 2019)
** Larry Bird, American basketball player
** Iveta Radičová, Prime Minister of Slovakia
* December 9
** Antony Alda, American actor (d. 2009)
** Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French writer
** Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician and mass murderer (d. 1994)
* December 10 – Rod Blagojevich, American politician and convicted felon, Governor of Illinois (2003–2009)
* December 11 – Lani Brockman, American playwright
* December 12
** Ana Alicia, Mexican actress
** Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
* December 13 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese singer
* December 14 – Béla Réthy, German sports journalist
* December 16 – Duncan Faure, South African musician
* December 18 – Ron White, American comedian
* December 19
** Masami Akita, Japanese noise music, noise musician (also known as Merzbow)
** Jimmy Cauty, British musician (The KLF, The Timelords)
* December 21 – Anna Erlandsson, Swedish filmmaker and animator
* December 23
** Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (d. 2001)
** Dave Murray (musician), Dave Murray, British musician (Iron Maiden)
* December 24
** Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
** Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic
* December 26
** Kashif (musician), Michael Jones (aka Kashif), musician, singer-songwriter (B.T. Express) (d. 2016)
** David Sedaris, American essayist
* December 28
** Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
** Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born footballer
** Phil Verchota, American ice hockey player
* December 29 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
* December 30
** Patricia Kalember, American actress
** Sheryl Lee Ralph, African American-actress
* December 31
** Shelagh Rogers, Canadian radio host
** Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djiboutian marathon runner
Date unknown
* Dong Hao, Chinese host, voice actor and painter * Gilma Jiménez, Colombian politician (d. 2013) * Nancy Lynn, American aerobatic pilot (d. 2006) * Ephraim Mirvis, South African-born Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth * Mirtha Rivero, Venezuelan journalist and writer. * Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist * Chris Wilson (Australian musician), Chris Wilson, Australian musician (d. 2019)Deaths
January
* January 3
** Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
** Joseph Wirth, Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
* January 5 – Mistinguett, French singer and actress (b. 1875)
* January 9 – Marion Leonard, American actress (b. 1881)
* January 10
**Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (b. 1862)
**Karl Ludwig Schmidt, German theologian (b. 1891)
* January 12
** Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
** Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
* January 13 – Lyonel Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)
* January 14 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (b. 1887)
* January 18 – Konstantin Päts, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
* January 23 – Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)
* January 27 – Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
* January 29 – H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
* January 31 – A. A. Milne, English author (''Winnie The Pooh'') (b. 1882)
February
* February 2
** Bob Burns (comedian), Bob Burns, American comedian (b. 1890)
** Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
* February 3 – Robert Yerkes, American psychologist and ethologist (b. 1876)
* February 8 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive and manager (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1862)
* February 10 – Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, British marshal of the Royal Air Force (b. 1873)
* February 13 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish logician and philosopher (b. 1878)
* February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– Walter Cowan, Sir Walter Cowan, British admiral (b. 1871)
* February 18 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
* February 20
** Heinrich Barkhausen, German physicist (b. 1881)
** James Cousins, Irish writer (b. 1873)
* February 26 – Elsie Janis, American singer and actress (b. 1889)
* February 28 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1880)
* February 29 – Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)
March
* March 9 – Arthur Leopold Busch, English-born American submarine pioneer (b. 1866)
* March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– Bolesław Bierut, Polish Communist politician and statesman, former Prime Minister of Poland, Prime Minister and President of Poland, President of Poland (b. 1892)
* March 14 – David Browning, American Olympic diver (b. 1931)
* March 17
** Fred Allen, American comedian (b. 1894)
** Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
* March 18
** Louis Bromfield, American writer (b. 1896)
** Paul Masson-Oursel, French orientalist and philosopher (b. 1882)
* March 20
** Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer (b. 1889)
** Wilhelm Miklas, 3rd President of Austria (b. 1872)
* March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Edwin Thanhouser, American actor, businessman, and film producer, founder of the Thanhouser Company (b. 1865)
* March 22
** Eduardo Lonardi, Argentine military officer, (de facto) 30th President of Argentina (b. 1896)
** George Sarton, Belgian-American chemist and historian (b. 1884)
* March 25
** Lou Moore, American racing driver and team owner (b. 1904)
** Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)
* March 28 – Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer (b. 1885)
* March 30 – Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English writer (b. 1875)
* March 31 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-born American race car driver (b. 1884)
April
* April 6 – Pío Valenzuela, Filipino physician and one of the leaders of the Katipunan (b. 1869)
* April 13 – Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter (b. 1867)
* April 15 – Kathleen Howard, Canadian-born American actress and opera singer (b. 1884)
* April 19 – Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886)
* April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
** Samuel Gottesman, American pulp-paper merchant (b. 1885)
** Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
* April 24 – Henry Stephenson, British character actor (b. 1871)
* April 26 – Edward Arnold (actor), Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
* June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
– Friedrich Schmidt-Ott, German lawyer, scientific organizer, and science policymaker (b. 1860)
* April 29
** Harold Bride, English-born junior radio officer on RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1890)
** Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal (b. 1876)
* April 30 – Alben W. Barkley, List of Vice Presidents of the United States, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
May
* May 3 ** Rodney Collin, British writer (b. 1909) ** Peter Watson (arts benefactor), Peter Watson, English art collector and benefactor (b. 1908) * May 6 – Fergus Anderson, British motorcycle racer (b. 1909) * May 12 – Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895) * May 15 – Austin Osman Spare, English artist and occultist (b. 1886) * May 18 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895) * May 20 ** Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist and caricaturist (b. 1872) ** Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian Olympic swimmer (b. 1881) * May 23 – Gustav Suits, Estonian poet (b. 1883) *May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
**Guy Kibbee, American actor (b. 1882)
**Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
* May 26 – Al Simmons, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1902)
* May 29 – Frank Beaurepaire, Australian Olympic swimmer (b. 1891)
* May 31 – Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist (b. 1875)
June
* June 2
** Richard S. Edwards, American admiral (b. 1885)
** Jean Hersholt, Danish actor (b. 1886)
* June 4 – Katherine MacDonald, American silent film actress (b. 1891)
* June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
** Hiram Bingham III, American explorer, discoverer of Machu Picchu (b. 1875)
** Margaret Wycherly, English stage and film actress (b. 1881)
* June 7 – Julien Benda, French philosopher and novelist (b. 1867)
* June 9 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist (b. 1888)
* June 11
** Frank Brangwyn, Anglo-Welsh artist (b. 1867)
** Ralph Morgan, American actor (b. 1883)
* June 17
** Paul Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b. 1892)
** Artur Văitoianu, Romanian general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1864)
* June 19 – Thomas J. Watson, American computer pioneer (b. 1874)
* June 22 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1873)
* June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875)
* June 25
**Ernest King, American Navy Fleet Admiral and Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II (b. 1878)
** Michio Miyagi, Japanese musician (b. 1894)
* June 26 – Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1930)
* June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
– Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, British civil servant (b. 1869)
July
* July 1 – Tawfik Abu Al-Huda, 4-Time Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1894) * July 7 – Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886) *July 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
* 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...
– Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet, novelist (b. 1881)
* July 10 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
* July 11 – John T. Raulston, American Scopes Monkey Trial judge (b. 1868)
* July 12 – Sprague Cleghorn, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
* July 20 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
* July 24 – Géza Zemplén, Hungarian chemist (b. 1883)
* July 29 – Ludwig Klages, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1872)
August
* August 2 – Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
* August 6
Events Pre-1600
*1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
* 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...
– Ioan Popovici (divisional general), Ioan Popovici, Romanian general (b. 1857)
* August 9 – Archie Cameron, Australian politician (b. 1895)
* August 11
** Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)
** Mincho Neychev, former Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (head of state) of Bulgaria (b. 1887)
* August 14
** Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898)
** Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi German diplomat and foreign minister (b. 1873)
* August 16
** Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born American film actor (''Dracula'') (b. 1882)
** Lynde D. McCormick, American admiral (b. 1895)
* August 19 – Bernard Griffin, English Cardinal, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster (b. 1899)
* August 23 – Peaches Browning, American actress (b. 1910)
* August 24 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese film director (b. 1898)
* August 25 – Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b. 1894)
September
* September 6
** Lee Jung-seob, Korean oil painter (b. 1872)
** Felix Borowski, British-American composer and teacher (b. 1872)
* September 7 – C. B. Fry, English sportsman and writer (b. 1872)
* September 11
** Billy Bishop, Canadian World War I flying ace (b. 1894)
** Lucien Febvre, French historian (b. 1878)
* September 20 – Flora Eldershaw, Australian novelist, critic, and historian (b. 1897)
* September 22 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
* September 27
** Milburn G. Apt, American test pilot (b. 1924)
** Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer (b. 1911)
* September 28 – William E. Boeing, American engineer and airplane manufacturer (b. 1881)
* September 29 – Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (assassinated) (b. 1896)
October
* October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer, American songwriter (b. 1878)
* October 2 – George Bancroft (actor), George Bancroft, American actor (b. 1882)
* October 9 – Marie Doro, American stage & silent film actress (b. 1882)
* October 12 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
* October 14 – Jules Richard (mathematician), Jules Richard, French mathematician (b. 1862)
* October 16
** Jules Rimet, French football administrator, 3rd president of FIFA (b. 1873)
** Jack Southworth, English footballer (b. 1866)
* October 17 – Anne Crawford, British actress (b. 1920)
* October 19 – Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
* October 22 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist and suffragette (b. 1872)
* October 25 – Risto Ryti, 23rd Prime Minister of Finland and 5th President of Finland (b. 1889)
* October 26 – Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)
* October 27 – Charles S. Johnson, American sociologist (b. 1893)
* October 30 – Pío Baroja, Spanish novelist (b. 1872)
November
* November 1
** Pietro Badoglio, Italian field marshal and 28th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1871)
** Tommy Johnson (musician), Tommy Johnson, American musician (b. 1896)
* November 2 – Leo Baeck, German rabbi, scholar and theologian (b. 1873)
* November 3 – Jean Metzinger, French painter, theorist and critic (b. 1883)
* November 5 – Art Tatum, American jazz pianist (b. 1909)
* November 6 – Paul Kelly (actor), Paul Kelly, American stage and film actor (b. 1899)
* November 10
** Harry F. Sinclair, American entrepreneur (b. 1876)
** Victor Young, American composer (b. 1900)
* November 12 – Juan Negrín, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1892)
* November 13 – Werner Haas, German motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
* November 19 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (b. 1903)
* November 22 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and actor (b. 1882)
* November 24
** Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)
** Lionel Whitby, Sir Lionel Whitby, British haematologist and academic administrator (b. 1895)
* November 26 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
* November 27 – Hugo Ballin, American artist, film production designer, and director (b. 1879)
December
* December 2 – Dell Henderson, Canadian actor (b. 1877)
* December 3 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist (b. 1891)
* December 6 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist and politician (b. 1891)
* December 7
** Henry Fillmore, American composer and bandleader (b. 1881)
** Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
* December 9 – Charles Joughin, English-born baker on RMS ''Titanic'' (b. 1878)
* December 10 – David Shimoni, Israeli poet and writer (b. 1891)
* December 12 – Ewald André Dupont, German film director (b. 1891)
* December 14 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, twice Prime Minister of Finland and 7th President of Finland (b. 1870)
* December 16
** René Couzinet, French aeronautics engineer and aircraft manufacturer (suicide) (b. 1904)
** Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
* December 17
** Eddie Acuff, American actor (b. 1903)
** Whitford Kane, Irish-born American actor (b. 1881)
* December 21 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist (b. 1877)
* December 23 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Spanish architect (b. 1867)
* December 25 – William Addison Dwiggins, American book designer, type designer, illustrator, author, marionette artist (b. 1880)
* December 26 – Holmes Herbert, English actor (b. 1882)
* December 30 – Ruth Draper, American actress (b. 1884)
Date unknown
* Dumitru Coroamă, Romanian soldier and fascist activist (b. 1885) *Victoria Hayward (journalist), Victoria Hayward, Bermudan-born travel writer and journalist (b. 1876) * Lotte Herrlich, female photographer of German naturism (b. 1883)Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – William Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain * Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Semyonov * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards * Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Juan Ramón Jiménez * Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Not AwardedReferences
Bibliography
*Further reading
* London Institute of World Affairs, ''The Year Book of World Affairs 1957'' (London 1957full text online
comprehensive reference book covering 1956 in diplomacy, international affairs and politics for major nations and regions
External links
{{Authority control 1956, Leap years in the Gregorian calendar