1959 William

Events

January

* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of Earth's Moon, and was also the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit.
* January 3
** The three southernmost atolls of the Maldive archipelago (Addu Atoll, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah island) declare independence.
** Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
* January 4
** In Cuba, rebel troops led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos enter the city of Havana.
** Léopoldville riots: At least 49 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the ABAKO Party in Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo.
* January 6
** Fidel Castro arrives in Havana.
** The International Maritime Organization is inaugurated.
* January 7 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
* January 8 – Charles de Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.
* January 9 – The Vega de Tera disaster in Spain nearly destroy the town of Ribadelago and kills 144 residents.
* January 10 – The Soviet government recognizes the new Castro government.
* January 11 – The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques is founded in Monaco.
* January 12
** The Caves of Nerja are discovered in Spain.
** Motown Records is founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. in Detroit.
* January 13
**Cuban communists execute 71 supporters of Fulgencio Batista.
* January 15
**The Soviet Union conducts its first census after World War II.
* January 21 – The European Court of Human Rights is established.
* January 22 – Knox Mine disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania near Pittston, Pennsylvania; 12 miners are killed.
* January 25
** The Boeing 707 airliner begins service.
** Pope John XXIII announces that the Second Vatican Council will be convened in Rome.
* January 29 – Walt Disney releases his 16th animated film, '' Sleeping Beauty'' in Beverly Hills. It is Disney's first animated film to be shown in 70mm and modern 6-track stereophonic sound. Also on the program is Disney's new live-action short subject ''Grand Canyon'', which uses the music of Ferde Grofé's ''Grand Canyon Suite''. ''Grand Canyon'' wins an Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
* January 30 – Danish passenger/cargo ship , returning to Copenhagen after its maiden voyage to Greenland, strikes an iceberg and sinks off the Greenland coast with the loss of all 95 on board.

February

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* February 2 – Nine ski hikers mysteriously perish in the northern Ural Mountains in the Dyatlov Pass incident and are all found dead a few weeks later.
* February 3
** A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper with pilot Roger Peterson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song " American Pie".
** American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L-188 Electra from Chicago crashes into the East River on approach to New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.
* February 6 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
* February 9 – Yugoslavia and Spain set trade relations (not diplomatic ones).
* February 13 – TAT-2, AT&T's second transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation.
* February 16
** Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
** A blizzard causes a massive power outage in Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland.
* February 17 – Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, is launched to measure cloud cover for the United States Navy.
* February 18
** Jesús Sosa Blanco, a colonel in the Cuban army of Fulgencio Batista, is executed in Cuba after being convicted of committing 108 murders for Batista.
** Women in Kingdom of Nepal, Nepal vote for the first time.
* February 19 – The United Kingdom decides to grant independence to Cyprus.
* February 20 – The Politics of Canada, Canadian Government cancels the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft project.
* February 22 – Lee Petty wins the 1959 Daytona 500, first Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

March

* March 1
** The , , and are stricken from the United States Naval Vessel Register.
** Archbishop#Eastern Christianity, Archbishop Makarios III, Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.
* March 2 – Recording sessions for the album ''Kind of Blue'' by Miles Davis take place at CBS 30th Street Studio, Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City.
* March 3 – Lunar probe ''Pioneer 4'' becomes the first American object to escape dominance by Earth's gravity.
* March 8 – The Marx Brothers make their last television appearance, in ''The Incredible Jewel Robbery'', part of General Electric Theatre.
* March 9 – Mattel's Barbie doll debuts in the United States.
* March 10 – The 1959 Tibetan uprising, Tibetan uprising erupts in Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa when Chinese officials attempt to arrest the Dalai Lama.
* March 11
** ''A Raisin in the Sun'' by Lorraine Hansberry opens on Broadway theatre, Broadway.
** The Eurovision Song Contest 1959, staged in Cannes, is won for the Netherlands by "'n Beetje" sung by Teddy Scholten (music by Dick Schallies, lyrics by Willy van Hemert).
* March 17 – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama escapes Tibet and arrives in India.
* March 18 – American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Hawaii Admission Act, granting statehood to Hawaii.
* March 19 – Two other islands join Addu Atoll, Addu in the United Suvadive Republic (abolished September 1963), in the Maldives Islands.
* March 26 – Saxophone, Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane holds initial recording sessions for the album ''Giant Steps'' with Cedar Walton and Lex Humphries.
* March 28 – The Kashag, the government of Tibet, is abolished by an order signed by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. The Dalai Lama is replaced in China by the Panchen Lama.
* March 31
** The 14th Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama is granted asylum in India.
** The original Busch Gardens amusement park opens in Tampa, Florida, U.S.

April

* April 6 – The 31st Academy Awards ceremony is held.
* April 8 – The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is established.
* April 9 – NASA announces its selection of seven Aviator#Military, military pilots to become the first U.S. astronauts (later known as the ''Mercury Seven'').
* April 10 – Crown Prince Akihito of Japan marries Empress Michiko, Shōda Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Imperial House of Japan.
* April 22 – Recording sessions for the influential jazz album ''Kind of Blue'' by Miles Davis take place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City.
* April 25 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.
* April 27 – National People's Congress elects Liu Shaoqi as President of the People's Republic of China, Chairman of the People's Republic of China, as a successor of Mao Zedong.

May

* May
** Tariff, Import tariffs are lifted in the United Kingdom.
** The first Ten Tors event is held on Dartmoor in England.
* May 2 – 1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest defeats Luton Town 2–1 at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium.
* May 4 – Tenor Saxophone, saxophonist John Coltrane begins two days of principal recording sessions for his jazz album ''Giant Steps''.
* May 7 – English scientist and novelist C. P. Snow delivers an influential Rede Lecture on ''The Two Cultures'', concerning a perceived breakdown of communication between the sciences and humanities, in the University of Cambridge (U.K.)
* May 8 – The first Little Caesars pizza restaurant is opened, in Detroit.
* May 16 – The Triton Fountain (Malta), Triton Fountain is inaugurated in Valletta, Malta.
* May 18 – The National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire is launched in Conakry, Guinea.
* May 21 – ''Gypsy: A Musical Fable'', starring Ethel Merman in her last new musical, opens on Broadway theatre, Broadway and runs for 702 performances
* May 24 – British Empire Day is renamed Commonwealth Day.
* May 28 – PGM-19 Jupiter#Biological flights, Jupiter AM-18 rocket launches two primates, Miss Baker and Miss Able, into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral in the United States along with living microorganisms and plant seeds. Successful recovery makes them the first living beings to return safely to Earth after space flight.

June

* June 3
** Singapore becomes a self-governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.
** Real Madrid C.F., Real Madrid beats Stade Reims 2–0 at Neckarstadion, Stuttgart and wins the 1958–59 European Cup (football).
* June 5 – A new government of the Singapore, State of Singapore is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former ministers are re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
* June 8 – The USS Barbero (SS-317), USS ''Barbero'' and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
* June 9 – The USS George Washington (SSBN-598), USS ''George Washington'' is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
* June 14 - A 3-front invasion of the Dominican Republic by exile forces backed by Fidel Castro and Venezuela attempt to overthrow Rafael Trujillo.
* June 18 – The film ''The Nun's Story (film), The Nun's Story'', based on the best-selling novel, is released. Audrey Hepburn stars as the title character; she later says that this is her favorite film role. The film is a box-office hit, and is nominated for several Academy Awards, Oscars.
* June 23
** Seán Lemass becomes the third Taoiseach of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
** Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in a British prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
* June 25 – A KH-1 Corona (satellite), ''Corona'', believed to be the first operational reconnaissance satellite, is launched as science mission "Discoverer 4" from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Thor-Agena rocket.
* June 26
** Elizabeth II (Queen of Canada) and United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dwight Eisenhower open the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
** ''Darby O'Gill and the Little People'', a film based on Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, H. T. Kavanagh's short story, short stories, is released in the U.S. by the Walt Disney Company two days after a premiere, world premiere in Ireland.
* June 30 – Twenty-one students are killed and more than a hundred injured when an American North American F-100 Super Sabre jet crashes into Miamori Elementary School on the island of Okinawa. The pilot ejected before the plane struck the school.

July

* July 1 – Australia's longest running children's TV series, ''Mr. Squiggle'', first airs on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television.
* July 2 – Albert II of Belgium, Prince Albert of Belgium marries Italian Don (honorific), Donna Queen Paola of Belgium, Paola Ruffo di Calabria.
* July 4 – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia.
* July 7 – At 14:28 UT Venus occultation, occults the star Regulus. The rare event (which will next occur on October 1, 2044) is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
* July 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.
* July 14 – Groups of Kurdish people, Kurdish and Communism, communist militias rebel in Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq against the central government.
* July 15 – A Steel strike of 1959, strike occurs against the United States' steel industry.
* July 17 – The first skull of ''Australopithecus'' is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey, Mary in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania.
* July 22 – A Kumamoto University medical research group studying Minamata disease concludes that it is caused by mercury (element), mercury.
* July 24
** At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, United States Vice President Richard Nixon and Premier of the Soviet Union, USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev engage in the "Kitchen Debate".
** In Long Beach, United States, Akiko Kojima of Japan is crowned Miss Universe 1959.
* July 25 – The SR.N1 hovercraft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours, on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's first crossing by heavier-than-air craft.

August

* August 4 – Martial law is declared in Laos.
* August 7
** Explorer program: The United States launches ''Explorer 6'' from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
** United States: The Roseburg blast, Roseburg, Oregon blast kills 14 and causes $12 million worth of damage.
* August 8 – A flood in Taiwan kills 2,000.
* August 14 – ''Explorer 6'' sends the first picture of Earth from orbit.
* August 15 – Cyprus gains independence.
* August 17
** The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in southwest Montana kills 28.
** Columbia Records releases Miles Davis album ''Kind of Blue''.
* August 19 – The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is established.
* August 21 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
* August 21 - Canal 13 (Chilean TV channel) is launched in Chile
* August 26 – The original Mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis is launched.
* August 30 – South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Dan 1959 South Vietnamese legislative election, was elected to the National Assembly despite Army of the Republic of Vietnam, soldiers being bussed in to vote for President Ngo Dinh Diem's candidate.
* August 31 – Workers' Stadium, Beijing Workers' Stadium, known well for sports venues in China, officially opened.

September

* September 12 – "Bonanza" premieres, first regularly scheduled TV aired in color.
* September 14 – ''Luna 2'' becomes the first man-made object to crash on the Moon.
* September 15 – September 28 – Premier of the Soviet Union, USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his wife tour the United States, at the invitation of U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower.
* September 16 – The Xerox 914, the first plain paper copier, is introduced to the public.
* September 17
**The first ''Navy Navigation Satellite System'' Transit (satellite), Transit 1A is launched but fails to reach orbit.
**The hypersonic North American X-15 research vehicle, piloted by Scott Crossfield, makes its first powered flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
* September 23 – The motor ship, MS ''Princess of Tasmania'', (Australia's first passenger RO/RO Diesel engine, diesel ferry), makes its maiden voyage across the Bass Strait.
* September 25 – Sri Lanka, Ceylon's prime minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is assassinated.
* September 26
**Typhoon Vera hits central Honshū, Japan, as a 160 mph Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the Nagoya area.
** First large unit action of the Vietnam War takes place, when two companies of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, ARVN's 23rd Division (South Vietnam), 23rd Division are ambushed by a well-organized Viet Cong force of several hundred, identified as the "2nd Liberation Battalion".
* September 30 – Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev meets Mao Zedong in Beijing.

October

* October 1 – The 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China is celebrated with pomp across the country.
* October 2 – Rod Serling's classic anthology series ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'' premieres on CBS.
* October 7 – The U.S.S.R. probe ''Luna 3'' sends back the first ever photos of the far side of the Moon.
* October 12 – At the national Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana, APRA Congress in Peru, a group of leftist radicals is expelled from the party; they later form APRA Rebelde.
* October 13 – The United States launches ''Explorer 7''.
* October 16 – Founding of the Boston Patriots, American Football League, AFL American football club.
* October 21 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) opens to the public.
* October 29 – First appearance of Astérix the Gaul.
* October 31 – Riots break out in the Belgian Congo.

November

* November 1 – In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction.
* November 2 – At a ceremony near Toddington, Bedfordshire, Toddington, British Secretary of State for Transport, Minister of Transport Ernest Marples opens the first section of the M1 motorway, M1 Motorway, between Watford and Crick, Northamptonshire, Crick, along with two Spur route, spur motorways, the M45 motorway, M45 and M10 motorway (Great Britain), M10. Three decades of large scale motorway construction follow, leading to the rapid expansion of the UK List of motorways in the United Kingdom, motorway network.
* November 12 – The Warner Bros. religious epic ''The Miracle (1959 film), The Miracle'', very loosely based on the 1911 stage pantomime ''Das Mirakel (play), Das Mirakel'', is released. It is a critical and financial bomb.
* November 15 – Clutter family murders, The Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas is brutally murdered, inspiring Truman Capote's ''In Cold Blood''.
* November 16 – ''The Sound of Music'', written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
* November 18 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM releases the widescreen Technicolor version of ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben-Hur'', starring Charlton Heston. The film goes on to win record number of Academy Awards.
* November 19 – ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' is first broadcast. The cartoon was shown on American Broadcasting Company, ABC at 5:30 each afternoon and was originally called ''Rocky and His Friends'', although Bullwinkle soon became more popular than Rocky.
* November 20 – The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations.
* The MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor, was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs. It revolutionized the electronics industry, and became the fundamental building block of the Digital Revolution. The MOSFET went on to become the most widely manufactured device in history.

December

* December 1 – Cold War – Antarctic Treaty System, Antarctic Treaty: 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty that sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent (the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).
* December 2 – Malpasset Dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Fréjus, killing 412.
* December 8 – The ''RNLB Mona (ON 775), Mona'', a lifeboat based at Broughty Ferry in Scotland, capsizes during a rescue attempt, with the loss of 8 lives.
* December 11 – Charles Robberts Swart is appointed the 11th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
* December 14 – Makarios III is selected the first president of Cyprus.
* December 28 – After having been shot two years earlier, Ante Pavelić dies from his wounds in a Spanish hospital.

Date unknown

* The Daytona International Speedway completes construction.
* Nylon tights, popularly called pantyhose or sheer tights, first sold on the open market as 'Panti-Legs' by Glen Raven Knitting Mills.
* The Workers World Party is founded by Sam Marcy.
* The first known human with HIV dies in the Belgian Congo, Congo.
* The current (as of 2006) design of the Japanese 10 yen coin is put into circulation.
* The Caspian tiger becomes extinct in Iran.
* The Henney Kilowatt goes on sale in the United States, becoming the first mass-produced electric car in almost three decades.
* Erving Goffman publishes his seminal study in sociology, ''The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life''.
* The iconic 1959 Cadillac is introduced, with car tailfin, tailfin wars peaking that had begun in 1948.
* Chevy El Camino is introduced.

Births

January

* January 1 – Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros
* January 4 – Vanity (singer), Vanity, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2016)
* January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor and voice actor
* January 8 – Paul Hester, Australian musician (d. 2005)
* January 9
** Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
** Mark Martin, American NASCAR driver
* January 10 – Rocky Lockridge, American boxer (d. 2019)
* January 12 – Per Gessle, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Roxette)
* January 16 – Sade (singer), Sade, Nigerian-English singer
* January 17
** Susanna Hoffs, American rock vocalist
** :de:Reiner M. Sowa, Reiner M. Sowa, German Author
** Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer
* January 21 – Alex McLeish, Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest player
* January 22 – Linda Blair, American actress
* January 24 –
** Kevin Magee (basketball), Kevin Magee, American basketball player (d. 2003)
** Vic Reeves, English comedian
* January 26 – Bob Lazar, American physicist and conspiracy theorist
** Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer (d. 1982)
* January 27 – Keith Olbermann, American news anchor and sportscaster
* January 30 – Jody Watley, African-American singer
* January 31 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress

February

* February 1 – Wade Wilson (American football), Wade Wilson, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
* February 2
** Jari Tervo, Finnish author
** Hella von Sinnen, German TV-entertainer
* February 3 – Tonga Fifita, UliUli Fifita, Tongan professional Wrestler aka(Haku/Meng)
* February 4
** Pamelyn Ferdin, American former child actress; animal rights activist
** Raquel Morell, Mexican actress
** Lawrence Taylor, American football player
* February 5
** Chris Close, Australian rugby league player
** Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American politician, 47th Governor of Michigan (2003–2011)
* February 6
** Pat Bullard, Canadian game show host, comedian and writer
** Ken Nelson (British record producer), Ken Nelson, English record producer
* February 7 – Vladimír Havlík, Czech action artist
* February 8 – Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina
* February 9 – Joachim Kunz, East German Olympic weightlifter
* February 10
** John Berry (administrator), John Berry, American government official
** Dennis Gentry, American football player
* February 13 Benur Pashayan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler (d. 2019)
* February 14 – Renée Fleming, American soprano
* February 16 – John McEnroe, American tennis player
* February 18 – Jayne Atkinson, English-born American film, theatre and television actress
* February 20 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
* February 21 – Werner Schünemann, Brazilian actor and film director
* February 22 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
* February 23
** Clayton Anderson, American astronaut
** Ian Liddell-Grainger, British politician
* February 25 – Renee M. Borges, Indian ecologist
* February 26 – Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player

March

* March 1 – Nick Griffin, British politician
* March 4
** Rick Ardon, Australian news presenter
** Irina Strakhova, Russian race walker
* March 5
** Mike Byster, American mathematician, mental calculator and Mathematics education, math educator
** Vazgen Sargsyan, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
* March 6
** Tom Arnold (actor), Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
** Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, Filipino businessman
** Lars Larson, American conservative talk show host
* March 7 – Donna Murphy, American actress and singer
* March 8
** Lester Holt, American television journalist and news anchor
** Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
* March 9
** Giovanni di Lorenzo, German-Italian journalist and talk show host
** Takaaki Kajita, Japanese nuclear physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
* March 10 – Mike Wallace (racing driver), Mike Wallace, American race car driver
* March 11
**Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress and director
** Margus Oopkaup, Estonian actor
** Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist and businessman
* March 13
** Kathy Hilton, American actress and philanthropist
** Bruce Byron, English actor
* March 15
** Harold Baines, American baseball player
** Fabio Lanzoni, Italian fashion model and actor
** Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
* March 16
** Flavor Flav, American rapper
** Gary Basaraba, Canadian-American actor
** Jens Stoltenberg, 27th Prime Minister of Norway
* March 17
** Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach and baseball player
** Ken Lo, Hong Kong actor and member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team
* March 18
** Luc Besson, French film producer, writer and director
** Irene Cara, American singer and actress (d. 2022)
* March 20
** Sting (wrestler), Steve Borden, American wrestler
** Richard Drummie, English guitarist and composer (Go West (band), Go West)
** Steve McFadden, British actor
* March 21 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
* March 22 – Matthew Modine, American actor
* March 23
** Kazue Ikura, Japanese voice actress
** Catherine Keener, American actress
* March 27 – Jun'ichi Sugawara, Japanese voice actor
* March 28 – Laura Chinchilla, 49th President of Costa Rica
* March 29 – Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
* March 30 – Andrew Bailey (banker), Andrew Bailey, Executive Director Banking and Chief Cashier at the Bank of England
* March 31 – Markus Hediger, Swiss writer and translator

April

* April 2
** Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina
** Badou Ezzaki, Badou Zaki, Moroccan football player and manager
* April 3
** Tejumola Olaniyan, Nigerian academic (d. 2019)
** David Hyde Pierce, American actor
* April 4 – Phil Morris (actor), Phil Morris, American actor
* April 8 - Nell Newman, American entrepreneur
* April 10
** Joy Viado, Filipino comedian and actress (d. 2016)
** Brian Setzer, American rock guitarist and singer
**Mona Juul (Danish politician), Mona Juul, Norwegian diplomat and politician
* April 11 – Ana María Polo, Cuban-born judge and television personality
* April 14 – Steve Byrnes, American motorsports broadcaster (d. 2015)
* April 15
** Fruit Chan, Hong Kong film director
** Ray Neufeld, Canadian ice hockey player
** John Onoje, Sierra Leonean-born Moldovan activist
** Adriano Ruchini, Italian businessman
** Emma Thompson, English actress
** Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
* April 16
** David Feiss, American animator
** Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
* April 17 – Sean Bean, British actor
* April 19 – Patricia Charbonneau, American actress
* April 20 – Clint Howard, American actor and producer
* April 21 – Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith, lead vocalist and guitarist of the British rock group The Cure
* April 22
** Terry Francona, American baseball player and manager
** Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian comedian
* April 23 – Dan Frischman, American actor
* April 24 – Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
* April 25 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
*April 26 – Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rican politician and lobbyist, Governor-designate
* April 27 – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
* April 30 – Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

May

* May 2 – Alan Best (filmmaker), Alan Best, Canadian animation director and producer
* May 3
** Uma Bharti, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
** Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
* May 5
** Peter Molyneux, British game programmer
** Steve Stevens, American guitarist
** Brian Williams, American news anchor
** Gary Dubin, American actor and voice actor (d. 2016)
* May 9
** Christian Bach, Argentine-Mexican actress and producer of telenovelas (d. 2019)
** János Áder, President of Hungary
* May 10 – Victoria Rowell, American actress
* May 12
** Ving Rhames, African-American actor
** Ron Rubin (voice actor), Robin Rubin, Canadian voice actor
* May 14 – Patrick Bruel, French singer
* May 15 – Andrew Eldritch, British singer/songwriter
* May 17 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
* May 20
** Bronson Pinchot, American actor
** Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Hawaiian singer (d. 1997)
* May 21
** Brian Lenihan Jnr, Brian Lenihan, Irish politician (d. 2011)
** Loretta Lynch, American politician, 83rd United States Attorney General
* May 22
** David Blatt, Israeli-American professional basketball player and coach
** Morrissey, British singer
* May 23 – Bob Mortimer, English comedian
* May 24 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-born hockey player (d. 1985)
* May 25 – Julian Clary, English comedian, actor and author
* May 26 – Kevin Gage (actor), Kevin Gage, American actor
* May 27
** Katherine Lanpher, American journalist
** Donna Strickland, Canadian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
* May 28 – Steve Strange, Welsh singer (Visage (band), Visage) (d. 2015)
* May 29
** Gretchen (singer), Gretchen, Brazilian singer, reality television personality, actress and businesswoman
** Rupert Everett, British actor
* May 31 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian race car driver (d. 2014)

June

* June 7 – Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States
* June 8 – Bernard White (actor), Bernard White, Sri Lankan-born American actor, screenwriter and film director
* June 10
** Carlo Ancelotti, Italian football player and manager
** Phillip J. Roth, American film producer, director and screenwriter
** Eliot Spitzer, American politician and former List of Governors of New York, governor of New York
* June 11
** Hugh Laurie, British actor, comedian, and musician
** Magnum T. A., American professional wrestler
* June 12 – John Linnell, American singer-songwriter, half of alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants
* June 13 – Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania
* June 14 – Marcus Miller, American bassist
* June 15 – Eileen Davidson, American actress and author
* June 16 – The Ultimate Warrior, American professional wrestler (d. 2014)
* June 17
** Ulrike Richter, German swimmer
** Kazuki Yao, Japanese voice actor
* June 18
** Sione Laumanuʻuli Luani, Tongan politician (d. 2010)
** Joe Ansolabehere, American television screenwriter and producer
* June 19 – Christian Wulff, Federal President of Germany
* June 21
** Guerrinha, Brazilian basketball coach and basketball player
** Demetrio Román Isidoro, Mexican architect and politician
** Marcella Detroit, American soprano vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter
** Louis Febre, Mexican composer
* June 22
** Wayne Federman, American comedian, actor, and author
** Ed Viesturs, American mountaineer
* June 23
** Marc Larose, Seychellois sprinter
** Mariella Valentini, Italian actress
** Steve Joughin, Manx road racing cyclist
* June 24 – Andy McCluskey, English musician and songwriter (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, OMD)
* June 26
** Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and comedian
** :es:Stef Burns, Stef Burns, American guitarist
** Suresh Gopi, Indian actor
* June 27
** Khadja Nin, Burundian singer and musician
** Pétur Pétursson, Icelandic footballer
* June 28 – John Shelley (illustrator), John Shelley, British illustrator
* June 29 – Gina Alajar, Filipino film and television actress and television director
* June 30 – Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor

July

* July 1
** Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig, Mauritanian academic and political figure
** Giovanni D'Aleo, Italian long-distance runner
* July 2 – Indi Nadarajah, Malaysian actor and comedian
* July 3 – Julie Burchill, British journalist
* July 4
** Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer
** Joe Pannunzio, American football executive and player and coach
* July 5
** María Concepción Navarrete, Mexican politician
** Marc Cohn, American singer-songwriter
** Akari Hibino, Japanese voice actress
** Pablo Helman, Argentine special effects artist
* July 6
** Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
** John Keeble, English pop and rock drummer
* July 7
** Billy Campbell, American actor
** Barbara Krause, German swimmer
** Ben Linder, American engineer (d. 1987)
* July 8
** Pauline Quirke, British actress
** Lori Hallier, Canadian actress
** Robert Knepper, American actor
** Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Swiss actor
** Mikhail Zingarevich, Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist
* July 9
** Jim Kerr, Scottish rock singer (Simple Minds)
** Kevin Nash, American professional wrestler
* July 10 – Anjani, American singer-songwriter and pianist
* July 11
** Richie Sambora, American musician
** Suzanne Vega, American singer
* July 12
** King Tupou VI of Tonga
** Charlie Murphy (actor), Charlie Murphy, African-American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
* July 13 – Fuziah Salleh, Malaysian politician
* July 14
** M. Manogaran, Malaysian politician
** Paul Haba, Guinean sprinter
** Susana Martinez, American politician, Governor of New Mexico
* July 15
** Vincent Lindon, French actor and filmmaker
** Patrick Timsit, French comedian, writer and film director
* July 16
** Bob Joles, American voice actor and musician
** Gary Anderson (placekicker), Gary Anderson, American football player
** Matthew Bronfman, American businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist
* July 17 – Margaret Becker, American Christian singer
* July 18 – Mel Purcell, American tennis player
* July 19 – Juan J. Campanella, Argentinian filmmaker
* July 20 – Giovanna Amati, Italian race car driver
* July 21 – Gene Miles, Australian rugby league player
* July 22 – Nigel Findley, American game designer (d. 1995)
* July 25
** Anatoly Onoprienko, Ukrainian serial killer (d. 2013)
** Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
* July 26
** Rick Bragg, American journalist
** Kevin Spacey, American actor
** Richard Pearce (British actor), Richard Pearce, British voice artist
* July 27 – Hugh Green (American football), Hugh Green, American football player
* July 29
** Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
** Ruud Janssen, Dutch artist
* July 30 − Abdullah of Pahang, current Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
* July 31 – Kim Newman, English fiction writer, journalist, and film critic

August

* August 1 – Joe Elliott, English singer; lead singer of Def Leppard
* August 2
** Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
** Victoria Jackson, American actress, comedian, and singer
* August 3
** John C. McGinley, American actor
** Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* August 4 – Robbin Crosby, American rock guitarist (Ratt) (d. 2002)
* August 5 – Pete Burns, English singer (Dead or Alive (band), Dead or Alive) (d. 2016)
* August 6 – Rajendra Singh (environmentalist), Rajendra Singh, Indian water conservationist, Magsaysay Award (2001)
* August 7 – Koenraad Elst, Belgian Indologist
* August 10 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
* August 11
** Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian singer (d. 2014)
** Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor
* August 12 – Kerry Boustead, Australian rugby league player
* August 13 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor and disc jockey
* August 14
** Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
** Magic Johnson, African-American basketball player
* August 15 – Scott Altman, American astronaut
* August 17
** Chika Sakamoto, Japanese voice actress and singer
** Jonathan Franzen, American author
** David Koresh, American spiritualist, leader of the Branch Davidian religious cult (d. 1993)
** Brad Wellman, American baseball player
* August 18 – Dorothy Bush Koch, American author and philanthropist
* August 19 – Anthony Sowell, convicted serial killer and rapist
* August 21 – Jim McMahon, American football player
* August 25 – Sönke Wortmann, German film director
* August 26 – Stan Van Gundy, American basketball coach
* August 27
** Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
**Daniela Romo, Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess
* August 28 – Arthur Holden, Canadian actor and writer
* August 29
** Jeff Adachi, American attorney (d. 2019)
** Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
** Chris Hadfield, Canadian retired astronaut
** Stephen Wolfram, British scientist
* August 30 – Mark Jackson (Australian footballer), Mark Jackson, Australian rules footballer and actor
* August 31 – Tony DeFranco, Canadian singer

September

* September 1 – Kenny Mayne, American sportscaster
* September 2 – Guy Laliberté, Canadian Cirque du Soleil founder
* September 4
** Kevin Harrington (actor), Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
** Armin Kogler, Austrian ski jumper
* September 6 – Gaetano Varcasia, Italian voice actor and theatre director (d. 2014)
* September 7 – Pierre Nanterme, French business executive (d. 2019)
* September 8
** Daler Nazarov, Tajik composer, singer, and actor
** Saeko Shimazu, Japanese voice actress
* September 11 – John Hawkes (actor), John Hawkes, American actor
* September 12 – Sigmar Gabriel, German politician
* September 13
** Kathy Johnson, American artistic gymnast
** Chris Hansen, American journalist
* September 14
** Mary Crosby, American actress
** Morten Harket, Norwegian rock singer (A-ha)
* September 16 – Peter Keleghan, Canadian actor
* September 18
** Ian Bridge, Canadian footballer
** Sérgio Britto, Brazilian singer and keyboardist
**Mark Romanek, American filmmaker
* September 23
** Jason Alexander, American actor and comedian
** Elizabeth Peña, American actress (d. 2014)
* September 24 – Steve Whitmire, American puppeteer
* September 28 – Dantes Tsitsi, Nauruan politician
* September 29 – Benjamin Sehene, Rwandan writer
* September 30 – Ettore Messina, Italian basketball coach

October

* October 1 – Youssou N'Dour, Senegalese singer
* October 2 – Lena Hades, Russian artist
* October 3
** Fred Couples, American golfer
** Greg Proops, American comedian
** Jack Wagner (actor), Jack Wagner, American actor
* October 4 – Chris Lowe, British musician
* October 7
** Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
** Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
* October 8
** Erik Gundersen, Danish motorcycle racer
** Carlos I. Noriega, Peruvian-American colonel and astronaut
* October 9 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician (d. 2015)
* October 10
** Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (d. 2000)
** Julia Sweeney, American actress and comedian
* October 13 – Marie Osmond, American singer
* October 15
** Emeril Lagasse, American chef and restaurant owner
** Sarah, Duchess of York, British royal and former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York
* October 17 – Francisco Flores Pérez, President of El Salvador (d. 2016)
* October 18 – Mauricio Funes, 44th President of El Salvador
* October 20 - Hotman Paris Hutapea, Indonesian lawyer
* October 21 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
* October 22 – Arto Salminen, Finnish writer (d. 2005)
* October 23
** "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodist
** Sam Raimi, American producer, writer and director
* October 25 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian rock singer (d. 2013)
* October 26
** François Chau, American actor
** Evo Morales, President of Bolivia
* October 27 – Rick Carlisle, American basketball coach
* October 29 – John Magufuli, 5th President of Tanzania (d. 2021)
* October 31 – Neal Stephenson, American writer

November

* November 1 – John Odey, Nigerian politician (d. 2018)
* November 2 – Saïd Aouita, Moroccan athlete
* November 3 – Timothy Patrick Murphy, American actor (d. 1988)
* November 5 – Bryan Adams, Canadian singer and photographer
* November 6 – Nobuo Tobita, Japanese voice actor
* November 7 – Billy Gillispie, American basketball coach
* November 8 – Selçuk Yula, Turkish football player and top scorer
* November 9 – Tony Slattery, British comedian and actor
* November 10
** Linda Cohn, American sports reporter
** Mackenzie Phillips, American actress
** Mike McCarthy, American football coach
* November 11
** Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, Indian politician (d. 2018)
** Christian Schwarzenegger, Swiss legal scientist and professor
* November 14
** Deta Hedman, Jamaican-born English darts player
** Paul McGann, British actor
** Bryan Stevenson, American lawyer and social justice activist
* November 16 – RaeAnn Kelsch, American politician (d. 2018)
* November 17 – William R. Moses, American actor
* November 18
** Jimmy Quinn (footballer, born 1959), Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
** Karla Faye Tucker, American convicted murderer (d. 1998)
* November 19
** Robert Barron (bishop), Robert Barron, American bishop, author, and theologian
** Jo Bonner, American U.S. Representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district
** Allison Janney, American actress
* November 20 – Sean Young, American actress
* November 23 – Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
* November 24 – Akio Ōtsuka, Japanese voice actor and actor
* November 25 – Charles Kennedy, British politician (d. 2015)
* November 26 – Dai Davies (politician), Dai Davies Welsh politician and independent Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP)
* November 27 – Viktoria Mullova, Russian violinist
* November 28 – Judd Nelson, American actor
* November 29
** Rahm Emanuel, American politician
** Platon Lebedev, Russian executive
** Neal Broten, American professional ice hockey player
* November 30
** George S. J. Faber, George Faber, British television producer
** Lorraine Kelly, British presenter and journalist

December

* December 1
** Billy Childish, English painter, writer and musician
** Wally Lewis, Australian rugby league player
* December 2 – Hans Kristian Amundsen, Norwegian newspaper editor and politician (d. 2018)
* December 4 – Christa Luding-Rothenburger, German speed skater
* December 5 – Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese artist
* December 6 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese president of Nintendo (d. 2015)
* December 8 – Yun Duk-min, Korean diplomat
* December 9
** Mario Cantone, American comedian, writer, and actor
** Karl Shuker, British zoologist, crypto-zoologist, and author
* December 13 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
* December 14 – Evan Ziporyn, American composer
* December 16
** Alison LaPlaca, American actress
** Steve Mattsson, American writer
* December 17 – Gregg Araki, American director
* December 19 – Waise Lee, Hong Kong actor
* December 20 – Stephen Chan Chi Wan, general manager of TVB
* December 21 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American athlete (d. 1998)
* December 22 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer and manager
* December 24 – Keith Deller, English darts player
* December 25 – Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut (d. 2003)
* December 27 – Gerina Dunwich, American author
* December 28 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer
* December 29
** Marco Antonio Solís, Mexican singer
** Patricia Clarkson, American actress
* December 30 – Tracey Ullman, British-American comedian and actress
* December 31
** Val Kilmer, American actor
** Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician and composer, 14th President of Nauru

Date unknown

*Greg Cox (writer), Greg Cox, American novelist
*Tom Grummett, Canadian comics artist
*Jacki Randall, American artist

Deaths

January

* January 2 – William D. Francis, Australian botanist (b. 1889)
* January 3 – Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
* January 6 – José Enrique Pedreira, Puerto Rican composer (b. 1904)
* January 8 – Zhang Xi (PRC politician), Zhang Xi, Chinese politician (b. 1912)
* January 9 – Giuseppe Bottai, Italian Fascist journalist and politician (b. 1895)
* January 10 – Colin Gregory, Australian tennis player (b. 1903)
* January 14
** Eivind Berggrav, Norwegian Lutheran bishop and reverend (b. 1884)
** G. D. H. Cole, English political theorist, economist and historian (b. 1889)
* January 16 – Eduardo Braun-Menéndez, Argentine physiologist (b. 1903)
* January 19 – Jennie Ross Cobb, American photographer (b. 1881)
* January 20 – Roger Gray (actor), Roger Gray, American actor (b. 1881)
* January 21
** Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
** Frances Gertrude McGill, Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
** Carl Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)
* January 22
** Elisabeth Moore, American tennis champion (b. 1876)
** Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (b. 1929)
* January 25 – William Flannery, American director (b. 1898)
* January 26
** Margaret Elizabeth Egan, American librarian (b. 1905)
** MacGillivray Milne, United States Navy Captain (USN), Captain and the 27th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1882)
* January 28 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)

February

* February 1 – Frank Shannon, Irish-born American actor (b. 1874)
* February 3 – The Day the Music Died, Killed in the crash of a private plane:
** The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), American rock singer (b. 1930)
** Buddy Holly, American rock singer (b. 1936)
** Ritchie Valens, American rock singer (b. 1941)
* February 3
** Vincent Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1891)
** Herbert Greenwald, American real estate developer (b. 1915)
** Francesco De Robertis, Italian screenwriter, editor and director (b. 1902)
** Beulah Zachary, American television director and producer (Kukla, Fran and Ollie) (b. 1911)
* February 4
** Una O'Connor (actress), Una O'Connor, Irish actress (b. 1880)
** Robert Emerson (scientist), Robert Emerson, American scientist (b. 1903)
* February 7
** Nap Lajoie, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1874)
** D. F. Malan, South African politician, 4th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
* February 11 – Marshall Teague (racing driver), Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1921)
* February 12 – George Antheil, American composer (b. 1900)
* February 14 – Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
* February 15
** Ralph Eastwood, British army officer (b. 1890)
** Owen Willans Richardson, Sir Owen Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
* February 17 – Luigi Emanueli, Italian engineer (b. 1883)
* February 18 – Gago Coutinho, Portuguese aviation pioneer (b. 1869)
* February 20
** Gregório Bondar, Russian-Brazilian agronomist (b. 1881)
** Laurence Housman, English playwright and writer (b. 1865)
* February 22 – Helen Parrish, American actress (b. 1924)
* February 23
** Pierre Frieden, Luxembourgish politician and writer, 18th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1892)
** Luis Palés Matos, Puerto Rican poet (b. 1898)
* February 25 – Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski, Soviet architect, diplomat and journalist (b. 1891)
* February 26
** Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, eldest grandchild of King Edward VII (b. 1891)
** Kōtoku Satō, Japanese general (b. 1893)
** Selig Suskin, Russian-born Israeli agronomist and early Zionist (b. 1873)
* February 27 – Shigeyoshi Miwa, Japanese admiral (b. 1892)
* February 28
** Maxwell Anderson, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
** Beatrix Farrand, American gardener and architect (b. 1872)

March

* March 1 – Mack Gordon, American composer and lyricist (b. 1904)
* March 2
** Zalman Ben-Ya'akov, Israel politician (b. 1897)
** Eric Blore, English actor (b. 1887)
* March 3 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
* March 4
** Adolphe Danziger De Castro, Israeli scholar (b. 1859)
** Maxie Long, American athlete (b. 1878)
* March 6
** Guido Brignone, Italian actor (b. 1886)
** Fred Stone, American actor (b. 1873)
* March 7 – Ichirō Hatoyama, Japanese politician, 36th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1883)
* March 15
** Shalva Dadiani, Soviet novelist (b. 1874)
** Lester Young, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1909)
* March 17 – Galaktion Tabidze, Georgian poet (b. 1891)
* March 19 – Umberto Barbaro, Italian critic (b. 1902)
* March 21 – Edwin Balmer, American science fiction and mystery writer (b. 1883)
* March 23 – Dominick Trcka, Czechoslovak Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1886)
* March 24 – Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, Sudanese political figure and religious leader, Imam of the Ansar (Sudan), Ansar and 1st Prime Minister of Sudan (b. 1885)
* March 25 – Billy Mayerl, British pianist and composer (b. 1902)
* March 26 – Raymond Chandler, American-born novelist (b. 1888)
* March 27 – Grant Withers, American actor (b. 1905)
* March 28 – Lyubov Golanchikova, Soviet pilot (b. 1889)
* March 29 – Barthélemy Boganda, 1st Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
* March 30 – Reginald R. Belknap, United States Navy rear admiral (b. 1871)

April

* April 2 – Nicholas Charnetsky, Soviet Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox priest, bishop, martyr and blessed (b. 1884)
* April 6 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Israeli professor and scholar of Islamic art (b. 1895)
* April 8
** Mario de Bernardi, Italian aviator (b. 1893)
** Marios Makrionitis, Greek Jesuit prelate and reverend (b. 1913)
** Jonathan Zenneck, German physicist and electrical engineer (b. 1871)
* April 9 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
* April 12 – James Gleason, American actor, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1882)
* April 13 – Dagmar Hansen, Danish singer (b. 1871)
* April 15 – Leonard Beyers, South African army general (b. 1894)
* April 16 – Ramón Armando Rodríguez, Venezuelan writer (b. 1895)
* April 17 – Cecil Cunningham, American actress (b. 1888)
* April 18 – Irving Cummings, American actor (b. 1888)
* April 19 – Óscar Únzaga, Bolivian politician (assassinated) (b. 1916)
* April 25 - Count Michael Mikhailovich of Torby (b. 1898)
* April 28
** Alabert Fogarasi, Hungarian philosopher and politician (b. 1891)
** María Guggiari Echeverría, Paraguayan Roman Catholic religious professed and venerable (b. 1925)
* April 29 – Kenneth Anderson (British Army officer), Sir Kenneth Anderson, British general (b. 1891)

May

* May 3 – Troy Sanders (composer), Troy Sanders, American film score composer (b. 1901)
* May 4 – William S. Pye, American admiral (b. 1880)
* May 5
** Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente, Georges Grente, French Roman Catholic cardinal and eminence (b. 1872)
** Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
* May 6 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
* May 8
** Renato Caccioppoli, Italian mathematician (b. 1904)
** Hector Choquette, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
** Ibrahim of Johor, Malaysian sultan (b. 1873)
* May 11 – Marcella Albani, Italian actress (b. 1899)
* May 14 – Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
* May 15
** Joe Cook (actor), Joe Cook, American actor (b. 1890)
** Jeanne de Flandreysy, French author (b. 1874)
* May 16 – Elisha Scott, Irish footballer (b. 1894)
* May 17
** George Albert Smith (film pioneer), George Albert Smith, English film pioneer (b. 1864)
** Judite Teixeira, Portuguese writer (b. 1880)
* May 18
** Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer (b. 1886)
** Enrique Guaita, Argentinian footballer (b. 1910)
* May 20 – Alfred Schütz, Austrian sociologist (b. 1899)
* May 22 – Henri Marchand (actor), Henri Marchand, French actor (b. 1898)
* May 24 – John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
* May 29 – Ed Walsh, American baseball player (Chicago White Sox) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1881)
* May 30
** Hesperia (actress), Hesperia, Italian actress (b. 1885)
** Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz, Argentinian journalist (b. 1898)
* May 31 – Ede Zathureczky, Hungarian violinist (b. 1903)

June

* June 1 – Sax Rohmer, English author (b. 1883)
* June 3 – Kinahan Cornwallis, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, British diplomat (b. 1883)
* June 4 – Charles Vidor, American director (b. 1900)
* June 8 – Pietro Canonica, Italian sculptor (b. 1869)
* June 9
** Sonnie Hale, English actor and director (b. 1902)
** Adolf Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
* June 12 – Clyde E. Elliott, American director, producer and writer (b. 1885)
* June 14 – Jerónimo Méndez, Chilean politician, former acting Presidents of Chile, President of the Republic (b. 1887)
* June 15 – Kazimierz Bein, Polish ophthalmologist (b. 1872)
* June 16 – George Reeves, American television actor (b. 1914)
* June 18
**Ethel Barrymore, American stage and screen actress (b. 1879)
** Vincenzo Cardarelli, Italian poet (b. 1887)
* June 20 – Hitoshi Ashida, Japanese politician, 34th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
* June 22
** Félix Guignot, French physician (b. 1882)
** Bruce Harlan, American Olympic diver (b. 1926)
* June 23
** Cesare Maria De Vecchi, Italian soldier (b. 1884)
** Maria Gorczyńska, Polish actress (b. 1899)
** Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician (b. 1920)
* June 25
** Farajallah el-Helou, Lebanese militant (b. 1906)
** Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (b. 1938)
* June 27
** Elias, Duke of Parma (b. 1880)
** Giovanni Pastrone, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1883)
* June 30 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican politician, writer and philosopher (b. 1882)

July

* July 2 – Sergei Chetverikov, Russian biologist (b. 1880)
* July 3 – Johan Bojer, Norwegian novelist and dramatist (b. 1872)
* July 6 – George Grosz, German artist (b. 1893)
* July 7
** Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, Spanish painter (b. 1871)
** Ernest Newman, English music critic (b. 1868)
* July 11 – Charlie Parker (cricketer), Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)
* July 14 – Grock, Swiss clown (b. 1880)
* July 15
** Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born American composer (b. 1880)
** Agostino Gemelli, Italian Franciscan friar and reverend (b. 1878)
* July 17 – Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
* July 20 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (b. 1875)
* July 25
** Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Polish-born Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and later of Israel (b. 1888)
** King Mutara III of Rwanda (b. 1911)
* July 26 – Manuel Altolaguirre, Spanish poet (b. 1905)
* July 27 – Aleksandar Tsankov, 21st Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1879)
* July 30
** Heinie Conklin, American actor (b. 1886)
** María Natividad Venegas de la Torre, Mexican Roman Catholic nun and saint (b. 1868)

August

* August 2 – Mary Teresa Norton, American politician (b. 1875)
* August 3
** Herb Byrne, Australian rules footballer (b. 1887)
** Fernando Carpi, Italian tenor (b. 1876)
* August 4 – Ioan Bălan, Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox prelate (b. 1880)
* August 5 – Edgar A. Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
* August 6 – Preston Sturges, American film director and writer (b. 1898)
* August 8
** Albert Namatjira, Australian Aboriginal artist (b. 1902)
** Luigi Sturzo, Italian Roman Catholic priest and politician (b. 1871)
** Henry St. George Tucker (bishop), Henry St. George Tucker, American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal bishop and reverend (b. 1874)
** Luis Araquistáin, Spanish politician and writer (b. 1886)
* August 9
** Emil František Burian, Czechoslovak poet (b. 1904)
** Noboru Ishizaki, Japanese admiral (b. 1893)
* August 15 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist (b. 1901)
* August 16
**Benny Fields, American singer (b. 1894)
** William Halsey, Jr., American US Navy Fleet admiral (b. 1882)
** Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
** José Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Brazilian military officer (b. 1885)
* August 19 – Claude Grahame-White, British aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
* August 20 – Alexander Evreinov, Soviet Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox bishop and reverend (b. 1877)
* August 21 – Jacob Epstein, Sir Jacob Epstein, American-born British sculptor (b. 1880)
* August 22
** Marie Luise Droop, German writer, producer and director (b. 1890)
** Allan Aynesworth, English actor and producer (b. 1864)
* August 28
** Raphael Lemkin, international lawyer (b. 1900)
** Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)

September

* September 6
** Edmund Gwenn, English actor (b. 1877)
** Kay Kendall, English actress (b. 1927)
* September 7 – Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec (b. 1890)
* September 9 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (b. 1883)
* September 11 – Paul Douglas (actor), Paul Douglas, American actor (b. 1907)
* September 14 – Wayne Morris (American actor), Wayne Morris, American actor (b. 1914)
* September 18 – Adolf Ziegler, German painter (b. 1892)
* September 20 – Nikandr Chibisov, Russian commander (b. 1892)
* September 22
** Josef Matthias Hauer, Austrian composer and music theorist (b. 1883)
** Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, British field marshal (b. 1880)
* September 24 – Wolfgang Paalen, German-Austrian-Mexican painter, sculptor and art philosopher (b. 1905)
* September 25
** S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, 4th Prime Minister of Ceylon (b. 1899)
** Helen Broderick, American actress (b. 1891)
* September 28
** Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901)
** Vinnie Richards, American tennis player (b. 1903)
* September 30 – Taylor Holmes, American actor (b. 1878)

October

* October 1 – Enrico De Nicola, Italian jurist, politician and journalist, 1st President of Italy (b. 1877)
* October 6 – Bernard Berenson, American art historian (b. 1865)
* October 7 – Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
* October 9 – Shirō Ishii, Japanese microbiologist and lieutenant general of Unit 731 (b. 1892)
* October 11 – Bert Bell, 2nd commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1895)
* October 12
** Edward Keane (actor), Edward Keane, American actor (b. 1884)
** Arnolt Bronnen, Austrian playwright and director (b. 1895)
* October 14 – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (b. 1909)
* October 15 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (b. 1909)
* October 16
** Minor Hall, American jazz musician (b. 1897)
** George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1880)
* October 18
** Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
** Frederick J. Horne, American admiral (b. 1880)
* October 19 – Ebrahim Hakimi, 29th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1871)
* October 20 – Werner Krauss, German actor (b. 1884)
* October 22 – Joseph Cahill, Australian politician (b. 1891)
* October 25 – Genevieve R. Cline, American jurist (b. 1879)
* October 27 – Juan José Domenchina, Spanish poet (b. 1898)
* October 28
** Lili Árkayné Sztehló, Hungarian painter (b. 1897)
** Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1932)

November

* November 1
** M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, Tamil film actor and producer (b. 1910)
** Zhang Jinghui, Chinese general and politician, second and final Prime Minister of Manchukuo (b. 1871)
* November 2
** Michael Considine, Australian politician (b. 1885)
** Federico Tedeschini, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and eminence (b. 1873)
* November 4
** George (Karslidis) of Drama, George Karslidis, Greek Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox priest, elder and saint (b. 1901)
** Friedrich Waismann, Austrian mathematician, physicist and philosopher (b. 1896)
* November 6
** José P. Laurel, Filipino politician and judge, 3rd President of the Philippines (b. 1891)
** Ivan Leonidov, Russian architect (b. 1902)
* November 7
** Muhammad Mahabat Khan III, Nawab of Junagarh (b. 1900)
** Victor McLaglen, English actor and boxer (b. 1886)
* November 8 – Frank S. Land, founder of the Order of DeMolay (b. 1890)
* November 10 – Lupino Lane, British actor (b. 1892)
* November 15 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
* November 17 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
* November 18 – Arthur Q. Bryan, American actor, voice actor, comedian and radio personality (b. 1899)
* November 19 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate and reverend (b. 1892)
* November 21
** Max Baer (boxer), Max Baer, American boxer and actor (b. 1909)
** Olav Meisdalshagen, Norwegian politician, Minister of Finance (Norway), Minister of Finance (b. 1903)
* November 22 – Molla Mallory, American tennis champion (b. 1884)
* November 24
** Stepan Erzia, Russian sculptor (b. 1876)
** Ion Gigurtu, 42nd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1886)
** Dally Messenger, Australian rugby league player (b. 1883)
* November 25 – Gérard Philipe, French actor (b. 1922)
* November 29 – Hans Henny Jahnn, German playwright and novelist (b. 1894)
* November 30 – Alfonso López Pumarejo, Colombian political figure, 2-time President of Colombia (b. 1886)

December

* December 2 – Giuseppe Zucca, Italian screenwriter (b. 1887)
* December 3 – Juozapas Skvireckas, Soviet Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox archbishop and reverend (b. 1873)
* December 4 – Hubert Marischka, Austrian film director (b. 1882)
* December 7
** Charlie Hall (actor), Charlie Hall, English actor (b. 1899)
** Prince Kuni Asaakira (b. 1901)
* December 9 – Donald MacDonald (actor), Donald MacDonald, American actor (b. 1898)
* December 11 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1900)
* December 12
** Marcella Craft, American soprano (b. 1874)
** Russell Simpson (actor), Russell Simpson, American actor (b. 1880)
* December 14
** Edna Wallace Hopper, American stage actress (b. 1872)
** Stanley Spencer, British painter (b. 1891)
* December 19 – Andrés Martínez Trueba, 31st President of Uruguay (b. 1884)
* December 22 – Gilda Gray, Polish-born dancer and actress (b. 1901)
* December 23 – Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British politician (b. 1881)
* December 24 – Edmund Goulding, American director (b. 1891)
* December 28 – Ante Pavelić, Ante Pavelic, Croatian fascist leader and WWII war criminal (b. 1889)
* December 29 – Juan José Morosoli, Uruguayan writer (b. 1899)

Unknown

* Al-Abbas ibn Ibrahim as-Samlali, Moroccan historian (b. 1877)
* Elena Săcălici, Romanian artistic gymnast (b. 1935)

Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Emilio Gino Segrè, Owen Chamberlain
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Jaroslav Heyrovský
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Severo Ochoa, Arthur Kornberg
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Salvatore Quasimodo
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Philip Noel-Baker

Notes

References

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