Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– In a
coup, Colonel
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its s ...
takes over as military ruler of the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
, ousting President
David Dacko
David Dacko (; 1927 – 21 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first president of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966, and 3rd President from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. Af ...
.
*
January 3 –
1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President
Maurice Yaméogo
Maurice Yaméogo (31 December 1921 – 15 September 1993) was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1959 until 1966.
"Monsieur Maurice" embodied the Voltaic state at the moment of independence. However ...
is deposed by a military coup in the
Republic of Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper Volta (french: République de Haute-Volta) was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the ...
(modern-day Burkina Faso).
*
January 10
**
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
i–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the
Tashkent Declaration
The Tashkent Declaration was signed between India and Pakistan on 10 January 1966 to resolve the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Peace was achieved on 23 September through interventions by the Soviet Union and the United States, both of which push ...
, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
.
**
The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...
to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance.
** A
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences were biennial meetings of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominion members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Seventeen Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences were held betwee ...
convenes in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, primarily to discuss
Rhodesia.
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
* 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...
– United States President
Lyndon Johnson states that the United States should stay in
South Vietnam until
Communist aggression there is ended.
*
January 15 –
1966 Nigerian coup d'état
The 1966 Nigerian coup d'état began on 15 January 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army of ...
: A bloody military coup is staged in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day ...
.
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
*38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
** The Nigerian coup is overturned by another faction of the military, leaving a military government in power. This is the beginning of a long period of military rule.
**
1966 Palomares B-52 crash
The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at over the Med ...
: A U.S. Air Force
B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
bomber collides with a
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of trans ...
over Spain, dropping three 70-
kiloton
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a ...
hydrogen bombs near the town of
Palomares, and one into the sea.
Carl Brashear
Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July 25, 2006) was a United States Navy sailor. He was a master diver, rising to the position in 1970, despite having his left leg amputated in 1966. The film '' Men of Honor'' was based on his life.
E ...
, the first African American
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter which results in the amputation of his leg.
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...
–
Indira Gandhi is elected
Prime Minister of India; she is sworn in
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
.
*
January 20
**
1966 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
The Liberal Party of Australia held a leadership ballot on 20 January 1966, following the resignation of Robert Menzies. Incumbent deputy leader Harold Holt was elected unopposed as his successor, and was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia, p ...
:
Harold Holt is elected leader of the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
unopposed when
Sir Robert Menzies
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
retires after an unprecedented
16 years in office; consequently Holt becomes
Prime Minister of Australia six days later.
** Demonstrations occur against high
food prices
Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food.
Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...
in Hungary.
*
January 21
Events Pre-1600
* 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
* 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when ...
– Italian Prime Minister
Aldo Moro
Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July 1 ...
resigns due to a power struggle in his party.
*
January 22
** The military government of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
announces that ex-prime minister
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day ...
was killed during the coup a week previously.
** The
Chadian Muslim insurgent group
FROLINAT
FROLINAT (french: Front de libération nationale du Tchad; en, National Liberation Front of Chad) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993.
Origins
The organization was a result of the political union between the left ...
is founded in
Sudan, starting the
Chadian Civil War.
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
–
Air India Flight 101
Air India Flight 101 was a scheduled Air India passenger flight from Bombay to London. On the morning of 24 January 1966 at 8:02 CET, the aircraft operating the flight accidentally flew into Mont Blanc in France. The accident was caused by a mi ...
crashes into
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...
, killing all 117 people on board, including Dr.
Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the
Indian Atomic Energy Commission.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
* 1564 – The Council of Tren ...
–
Beaumont children disappearance
Jane Nartare Beaumont (born 10 September 1956), Arnna Kathleen Beaumont (born 11 November 1958) and Grant Ellis Beaumont (born 12 July 1961), collectively known as the Beaumont children, were three Australian siblings who disappeared from Gle ...
: Three children disappear on their way to
Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...
, never to be seen again.
*
January 27
**The British government promises the U.S. that British troops in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
will stay until more peaceful conditions occur in the region.
**Britain's
Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of
Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351.
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– The United Kingdom ceases all trade with
Rhodesia.
February
*
February 1 – Around 2,600
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s are released by
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
*
February 3 – The unmanned Soviet
Luna 9
Luna 9 (Луна-9), internal designation Ye-6 No.13, was an uncrewed space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. On 3 February 1966, the Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body ...
spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
.
*
February 4 –
All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
–
Lyndon Johnson of the United States and
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...
of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a
summit in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
to discuss the course of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
– Soviet fiction writers
Yuli Daniel
Yuli Markovich Daniel ( rus, Ю́лий Ма́ркович Даниэ́ль, p=ˈjʉlʲɪj ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ dənʲɪˈelʲ, a=Yuliy Markovich Daniel'.ru.vorb.oga; 15 November 1925 — 30 December 1988) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident ...
and
Andrei Sinyavsky
Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (russian: Андре́й Дона́тович Синя́вский; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965.
Sinyav ...
are sentenced to five and seven years, respectively, for "anti-Soviet" writings.
*
February 14 – The
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isl ...
is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar.
*
February 19 – The naval minister of the United Kingdom,
Christopher Mayhew
Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...
, resigns.
*
February 20 – While Soviet author and translator
Valery Tarsis is abroad, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
negates his citizenship.
*
February 23 –
1966 Syrian coup d'état
The 1966 Syrian coup d'état refers to events between 21 and 23 February during which the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was overthrown and replaced. The ruling National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party were removed from power ...
: An intra-party military coup in
Syria replaces the previous government of
Amin al-Hafiz
Amin al-Hafiz ( ar, أمين الحافظ, Amīn al-Ḥāfiẓ12 November 1921 – 17 December 2009), also known as Amin Hafez was a Syrian politician, general, and member of the Ba'ath Party who served as the President of Syria from 27 July ...
by one led by
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (1926 – 19 August 1993, ar, صلاح جديد, Ṣalāḥ Jadīd) was a Syrian general, a leader of the left-wing of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria, and the country's ''de facto'' leader from 1966 until 1970, when h ...
.
*
February 24 – A coup led by the police and military of
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
raises the
National Liberation Council
The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...
to power while president
Kwame Nkrumah is abroad.
*
February 28 – British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson calls a General Election in the United Kingdom, to be held on March 31.
March
* March – The
DKW automobile ceases production in Germany.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
**The British Government announces plans for the
decimalisation of the
pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
(hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (
Decimal Day).
**Soviet
space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ...
''
Venera 3
Venera 3 (russian: Венера-3 meaning ''Venus 3'') was a Venera program space probe that was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It was launched on 16 November 1965 at 04:19 UTC from Baikonur, Kazakhstan ...
'' crashes on
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
**The
Ba'ath Party takes power in
Syria.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
–
Kwame Nkrumah arrives in
Guinea and is granted
asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
...
.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
**
Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at
Tokyo International Airport
, officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...
in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.
**In an interview with ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' reporter
Maureen Cleave
Maureen Diana Cleave (20 October 1934 – 6 November 2021) was a British journalist. She worked for the London ''Evening Standard'' from 1958 conducting interviews with many prominent musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon. O ...
,
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
states "We're
more popular than Jesus now".
*
March 5
**
BOAC Flight 911
BOAC Flight 911 (call sign "Speedbird 911") was a round-the-world flight operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) that crashed near Mount Fuji in Japan on 5 March 1966, with the loss of all 113 passengers and 11 crew members ...
crashes in severe
clear-air turbulence
In meteorology, clear-air turbulence (CAT) is the turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual clues, such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet.
The atmospheric region most suscept ...
over
Mount Fuji soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
**"
Merci, Chérie
"Merci, Chérie" (; "Thank you, darling") was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed for by Udo Jürgens with lyrics in German and partially in French. It is an earnest ballad in which the singer, as he leaves her, than ...
" by
Udo Jürgens
Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...
(music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the
Eurovision Song Contest 1966
The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. O ...
for Austria.
*
March 7 –
Charles de Gaulle asks U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
for negotiations about the state of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
equipment in France.
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bou ...
**Anti-communist demonstrations occur at the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n Foreign Ministry.
**
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
: The U.S. announces it will substantially increase the number of its troops in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
**
Nelson's Pillar
Nelson's Pillar (also known as the Nelson Pillar or simply the Pillar) was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio Nelson, built in the centre of what was then Sackville Street (later renamed O'Connell Street) in Dublin, Ireland. ...
in
O'Connell Street
O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry S ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, is clandestinely blown up by former
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the
Easter Rising.
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a ...
–
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
ss
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...
marries
Claus von Amsberg
Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...
. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German.
*
March 11
Events Pre-1600
* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the ven ...
**
Transition to the New Order
Indonesia's transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s ousted the country's first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
: President
Sukarno gives all
executive power
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems b ...
s to General
Suharto by signing the "
Supersemar
The Order of Eleventh March ( id, Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret), commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation ''Supersemar'', was a document signed by the Indonesian President Sukarno on 11 March 1966, giving army commander Lt. Gen. Suhar ...
" order.
**French President
Charles de Gaulle states that French troops will be taken out of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and that all French NATO bases and headquarters must be closed within a year.
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
**
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
spacecraft
Gemini 8
Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the sixth crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was launched on March 16, 1966, and was the 14th crewed American fli ...
(
David Scott
David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and ...
,
Neil Armstrong) conducts the first docking in space, with an
Agena target vehicle.
**
Paul Van Doren establishes the
Vans
Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...
shoe company in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
* 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
– The
Texas Western Miners defeat the
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...
with five African American starters, ushering in desegregation in athletic recruiting.
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
* 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 1600 – The Link ...
– Football's
FIFA World Cup Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "
Pickles
Pickles may refer to:
Dogs
* Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966
* Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball
* Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in ...
" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden.
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
: in the Chinese city of
Xingtai
Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...
a magnitude
6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured.
*
March 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
*1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate o ...
–
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
meets
Michael Ramsey
Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1 ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
– Demonstrations are held across the United States against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
*
March 27
Events Pre-1600
*1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom.
* 1329 – Pope John XXII ...
– In
South Vietnam, 20,000 Buddhists march in demonstrations against the policies of the military government.
*
March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
**
Cevdet Sunay
Cevdet Sunay (; 10 February 1899 – 22 May 1982) was a Turkish politician and army officer, who served as the fifth President of Turkey from 1966 to 1973.
Early life and career
Sunay was born in 1899 in Trabzon, in the Ottoman Empire. ...
becomes the fifth president of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
**
Indira Gandhi visits Washington, D.C.
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– The
23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) took place in Moscow, RSFSR between 29 March and 8 April 1966. It was the first Congress during Leonid Brezhnev's leadership of the Party and state. The position of First Secret ...
is held:
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that
Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory.
*
March 31
**The British
Labour Party led by
Harold Wilson wins the
1966 United Kingdom general election, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28).
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
launches
Luna 10
Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of ...
, which becomes the first
space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ...
to enter orbit around the Moon.
April
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
– The
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n army demands that the country rejoin the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
.
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
* ...
–
Luna 10
Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of ...
is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.
*
April 5 – During the
Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...
personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of
Đà Nẵng
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is on ...
before backing down.
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Empe ...
– The United Kingdom asks the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
for authority to use force to stop
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...
s that violate the embargo against
Rhodesia (authority is given
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 140 ...
).
*
April 8
** Buddhists in
South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for Election#Difficulties with elections, free elections.
**
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
becomes General Secretary of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, as well as Leader of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R.
* April 14
** Kenyan Vice President Oginga Odinga resigns, saying "invisible government" representing foreign interests now runs the country. He will head a new party, the Kenya People's Union.
**The
South Vietnamese government promises free elections in 3–5 months.
* April 15 – An anti-Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nasser conspiracy is exposed in Egypt.
* April 18
** China declares that it will stop economic aid to
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
** The 38th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: ''The Sound of Music (film), The Sound of Music'' wins Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture.
* April 21
** An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital.
** The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.
** Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rastafari movement, Rasta leaders.
** Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965.
* April 24 – Uniform Time Act, Uniform daylight saving time is first observed in most parts of North America.
* April 26
** A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
** The magnitude 5.1 1966 Tashkent earthquake, Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale, MSK intensity of VII (''Very strong''). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
* April 27 –
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican City, Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
).
* April 28 – In
Rhodesia, security forces kill seven ZANLA men in combat; ''Chimurenga'', the ZANU rebellion, begins.
* April 30 – Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued in 2000).
May
![Flag of Guyana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Flag_of_Guyana.svg)
* May 4
** Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
** May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111.
* May 5 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.
* May 6 – The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.
* May 7 – Irish bank workers Irish bank strikes (1966–76), go on strike.
* May 12
** African members of the UN Security Council say that the British army should blockade Rhodesia.
** China Radio International, Radio Peking claims that U.S. planes have shot down a Chinese plane over Yunnan (the U.S. denies the story the next day).
* May 14 –
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in Cyprus.
* May 15
**
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
asks
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
for peace negotiations.
** The
South Vietnamese army besieges Da Nang.
** Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators again picket the White House, then rally at the Washington Monument.
* May 16
** The Chinese Communist Party issues the 'May 16 Notification, May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
** A strike is called by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom.
** In New York City, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes his first public speech on the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
* May 19 – Gertrude Baniszewski is found guilty of torturing and murdering 16-year-old Murder of Sylvia Likens, Sylvia Likens at a court in Indianapolis, United States, and is sentenced to life in prison (she is released on parole in December 1985).
* May 24
** Battle of Mengo Hill: Ugandan army troops arrest Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace.
** The
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
n government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.
* May 25
** Explorer program: Satellite Explorer 32 (Atmosphere Explorer-B) is launched from the United States.
** No. 9 Squadron RAAF becomes part of the 4,500 strong Australian Task Force assigned to duties in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, leaving for Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney (R17), HMAS ''Sydney''.
* May 26 – British Guiana achieves independence, becoming Guyana.
* May 28
** Fidel Castro declares martial law in Cuba because of a possible U.S. attack.
** The
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n governments declare that the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation is over (a treaty is signed on August 11).
** Boat ride "It's a Small World" opens at Disneyland.
* May 29 – Sports stadium Estadio Azteca officially opens in Mexico City in advance of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
* May 31 – The Philippines reestablishes diplomatic relations with
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
June
* June 2
** Éamon de Valera is re-elected as Irish president.
** Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
** Four former cabinet ministers including Évariste Kimba are executed in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Democratic Republic of the Congo, for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko.
* June 3 – Joaquín Balaguer is elected president of the Dominican Republic.
* June 5 – Gemini 9A: Gene Cernan completes the second U.S. spacewalk (2 hours, 7 minutes).
* June 6 – Civil rights movement, Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot by a sniper while traversing Mississippi in the March Against Fear.
* June 8
** A North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber prototype is destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross are both killed.
** 1966 Topeka tornado: Topeka, Kansas is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, and the campus of Washburn University suffers catastrophic damage.
* June 12 – Chicago's Division Street riots begin in response to police shooting of a young Puerto Rican man.
* June 13 – ''Miranda v. Arizona'': The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.
* June 14 – The Holy See, Vatican abolishes the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''.
* June 17 – An Air France personnel strike begins.
* June 18 – CIA chief William Raborn resigns; Richard Helms becomes his successor.
* June 28 – Argentine Revolution: In Argentina, a military dictatorship, military junta calling itself ''Revolución Argentina'' deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a
coup and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to power.
* June 29
**
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
: U.S. planes begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.
** The strike by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom is called off.
[
* June 30
** France formally leaves ]NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
** The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, D.C.
July
* July 1 – Joaquín Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.
* July 3
**31 people are arrested when a demonstration by approximately 4,000 anti-Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
protesters in front of the United States Embassy in London in Grosvenor Square turns violent.
**René Barrientos is elected President of Bolivia.
* July 6 – Malawi becomes a republic.
* July 7 – A Warsaw Pact conference ends with a promise to support North Vietnam.
* July 8 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Ntare V, who is in turn deposed by prime minister Michel Micombero.
* July 11 – The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England.
* July 12
** Indira Gandhi visits Moscow.
** Zambia threatens to leave the Commonwealth of Nations because of British peace overtures to Rhodesia.
* July 13 – The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is founded in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
* July 14
** Israeli and Syrian jet fighters clash over the Jordan River.
** Richard Speck murders 8 student nurses in their Chicago dormitory. He is arrested on July 17.
** Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency), Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history.
* July 18
** Gemini 10 (John Young (astronaut), John Young, Michael Collins (astronaut), Michael Collins) is launched from the United States. After docking with an Agena target vehicle, the astronauts set a world altitude record of 474 miles (763 km).
** The International Court of Justice rules in favour of South Africa in a case on the administration of South West Africa which has been brought before them by Ethiopia and Liberia.
* July 22 – Following the death of Hsu Tsu-tsai, an engineer, in The Hague, the Chinese government declares Dutch delegate G. J. Jongejans persona non grata, but tells him not to leave the country before other Chinese engineers have left the Netherlands.
* July 23 – Katanga Province, Katangese troops in Kisangani, Stanleyville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.
* July 24 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant visits Moscow.
* July 24 – A USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, F-4C Phantom #63-7599 is shot down by a North Vietnamese S-75 Dvina, SAM-2 northeast of Hanoi, the first loss of a U.S. aircraft to a Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in the Vietnam War.
* July 26 – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stating that the House is not bound to follow its own previous precedent.
* July 28 – The U.S. announces that a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane has disappeared over Cuba.
* July 29
** 1966 Nigerian counter-coup: Army officers from the north of Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
execute head of state General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Aguiyi-Ironsi and install Yakubu Gowon.
** ''La Noche de los Bastones Largos'': Junta takes over Argentine universities.
** Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.
* July 30 – England national football team, England beats Germany national football team, West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley after extra time.
* July 31 – The pleasure cruiser MV ''Darlwyne'' Loss of MV Darlwyne, disappeared off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard.
August
* August 1
** Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and wounds 32 from atop the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower, after earlier killing his wife and mother.
** The British Colonial Office merges with the Commonwealth Relations Office to form a new Commonwealth Office.
* August 2 – The Spanish government forbids overflights by British military aircraft.
* August 5
** Groundbreaking takes place for the World Trade Center (1973-2001), World Trade Center in New York City.
** Martin Luther King Jr. leads a civil rights march in Chicago, during which he is struck by a rock thrown from an angry white mob.
** The Caesars Palace hotel and casino opens in Las Vegas.
* August 6
** Braniff Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, Nebraska, killing all 42 on board.
** René Barrientos takes office as the President of Bolivia.
** The António de Oliveira Salazar, Salazar Bridge (later the 25 de Abril Bridge) opens in Lisbon, Portugal.
* August 10
** An East German court sentences Günter Laudahn to life imprisonment for spying for the United States.
** Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the moon, is launched.
* August 11
** Indonesia and Malaysia issue a joint peace declaration, formally ending the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation which began in 1963.
** The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
hold a press conference in Chicago, during which John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
apologizes for his " more popular than Jesus" remark, saying, "I didn't mean it as a lousy anti-religious thing."
* August 12 – Massacre of Braybrook Street: Harry Roberts, John Duddy and Jack Witney shoot dead 3 plainclothes policemen in London; they are later sentenced to life imprisonment.
* August 15 – Syrian and Israeli troops clash over Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee) for 3 hours.
* August 17 – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic begin negotiations in Kuwait to end the war in Yemen.
* August 18 – Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
– Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.
* August 19 – The 6.8 1966 Varto earthquake, Varto earthquake affects the town of Varto in eastern Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), killing at least 2,394–3,000 and injuring at least 1,420.
* August 21 – Seven men are sentenced to death in Egypt for anti-Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nasser agitation.
* August 22
** The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is established.
** The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers, United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.
* August 26 – The first battle of the South African Air Force and the South African Police with People's Liberation Army of Namibia, PLAN, the armed wing of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), takes place at Ongulumbashe during Operation Blue Wildebeest, triggering the South African Border War which continues until 1989.
* August 29 – The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
end their The Beatles' 1966 US tour, U.S. tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last performance as a live touring band.
* August 30 – France offers independence to French Somaliland (Djibouti from 1977).
September
* September 1
** United Nations Secretary-General U Thant declares that he will not seek re-election, because U.N. efforts in Vietnam have failed.
** 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia.
* September 6 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.
* September 9 – NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
decides to move Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to Belgium.
* September 12
** Gemini 11 (Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Pete Conrad) docks with an Agena target vehicle.
** B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.
* September 13 – Cultural Revolution in China: Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, TASS in the Soviet Union.
* September 16
** In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.
** The Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera ''Antony and Cleopatra (opera), Antony and Cleopatra''.
* September 19 – Indonesian military commander (later President) Suharto announces the resumption of Indonesian participation in the United Nations.
* September 29 – Hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
* September 30
** The Bechuanaland Protectorate in Africa achieves independence from the United Kingdom as Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first President of Botswana, President.
** Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer are released from Spandau Prison in West Berlin.
October
* October – Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found the Black Panther Party in the United States.
* October 1 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors south of Wemme, Oregon, the first loss of a DC-9.
* October 3 – Tunisia severs diplomatic relations with the United Arab Republic.
* October 4
** Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.
** Basutoland becomes independent of the United Kingdom and takes the name Lesotho.
* October 5
** UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This event is to be celebrated as World Teachers' Day.
** Spain closes its Gibraltar border to vehicular traffic.
** An experimental breeder reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan suffers a partial meltdown when its cooling system fails.
* October 6
** LSD is made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only are possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the country are shut down as well.
** The Love Pageant Rally takes place in the Panhandle (San Francisco), Panhandle of Golden Gate Park (a narrow section that projects into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district).
* October 7 – The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October.
* October 9 – Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
: Binh Tai Massacre.
* October 11 – France and the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
sign a treaty for cooperation in nuclear research.
* October 14
** Closure of Intra Bank begins a crisis in the Lebanese banking system.
** The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro system.
* October 17 – Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
.
* October 21
** Aberfan disaster in South Wales (U.K.): 144 (including 116 children) are killed by a collapsing coal spoil tip.
** The AFL-NFL merger in American football is approved by the U.S. Congress.
* October 22 – Spain demands that the United Kingdom stop military flights to Gibraltar; Britain refuses the next day.
* October 26
** NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
decides to move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels.
** A fire aboard the aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.
* October 27
** The United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
terminates the mandate given by the League of Nations and proclaims that South West Africa will be administrated by the United Nations. This is rejected by South Africa.
** Walt Disney records his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for EPCOT (concept), EPCOT, a utopian planned community, planned city to be built in Florida.
November
* November 1 – The National Football League in the United States awards its sixteenth franchise to the city of New Orleans. The team will be named the New Orleans Saints.
* November 2 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States.
* November 4 – 1966 flood of the Arno river in Italy hits Florence, flooding it to a maximum depth of , leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. In addition, a 1966 Venice flood, severe tidal flood hits Venice.
* November 5 – Thirty-eight African states demand that the United Kingdom use force against the Rhodesian government.
* November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.
* November 8 – Screen actor Ronald Reagan is elected Governor of California.
* November 10 – Seán Lemass retires as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland to be replaced in the role by fellow Fianna Fáil member Jack Lynch.
* November 11
** A mine kills 3 Israelis, Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.
** Spain declares general amnesty for crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War, effective only for the Falangists' side.
* November 12 – Total solar eclipse occurs, the 20th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 142.
* November 14 – Jack L. Warner sells Warner Bros. to Seven Arts Productions, which eventually becomes Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
* November 15
** Gemini 12 (James A. Lovell, Buzz Aldrin) splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bahamas.
** A Boeing 727 freighter on Pan Am Flight 708 crashes near Berlin, Germany, killing all three crew on board.
** Two young couples in Point Pleasant, West Virginia reportedly see a strange moth-like creature, which would become known as the Mothman.
* November 17
** The U.N. General Assembly decides to found the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
** A spectacular Leonids, Leonid meteor shower passes over Arizona, at the rate of 2,300 a minute for 20 minutes.
* November 21 – In Togo, the army crushes an attempted coup.
* November 24
** The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
begin recording sessions for their ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album at Abbey Road Studios in London.
** TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.
* November 26
** 1966 Australian federal election: Harold Holt's Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal/National Party of Australia, Country Coalition (Australia), Coalition Holt Government, Government is re-elected with a significantly increased majority, defeating the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. Calwell resigns as Labor leader shortly after; he will be 1967 Australian Labor Party leadership election, replaced by his deputy and future Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
** In the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup at Vancouver's Empire Stadium (Vancouver), Empire Stadium 29–14. Saskatchewan were led by quarterback Ron Lancaster.
* November 27 – The Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in National Football League history.
* November 28 – Truman Capote's Black and White Ball ('The Party of the Century') is held in New York City.
* November 29 – The sinks in a storm on Lake Huron, killing 28 of 29 crewmen.
* November 30 – Barbados achieves Barbados Independence Act 1966, independence from the United Kingdom.
December
* December 1
** Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic), Chancellor of West Germany.
** British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith negotiate aboard in the Mediterranean.
* December 2 – U Thant agrees to serve a second term as United Nations Secretary General.
* December 3 – Anti-Portuguese demonstrations occur in Macau; a curfew is declared the next day.
* December 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in ''Bond v. Floyd'' that the Georgia House of Representatives must seat Julian Bond, having violated his First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment rights.
* December 6 – Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
: Bình Hòa massacre.
* December 7
** Syria offers weapons to rebels in Jordan.
** Barbados is United Nations Security Council Resolution 230, admitted to the United Nations.
* December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.
* December 12 – Harry Roberts (criminal), Harry Roberts, John Whitney and John Duddy are sentenced to life imprisonment (each with a recommended minimum of 30 years) for the Shepherd's Bush murders of three London policemen on August 12. Roberts, arrested on November 15 north of London, will eventually spend nearly 48 years in prison.
* December 16
** The United Nations Security Council approves an oil embargo against Rhodesia.
** The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).
* December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia.
* December 19 – The Asian Development Bank begins operations.
* December 20 – U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson withdraws all his previous offers to the Rhodesian government and announces that he will agree to independence for the country only after the establishment of a Black majority government there.
* December 22 – Prime Minister Ian Smith declares that Rhodesia is already a republic.
* December 24 – New York television station WPIX broadcasts ''Yule Log (TV program), The Yule Log'' for the first time; it becomes a Christmas tradition.
* December 25 – Marionette sci-fi series ''Thunderbirds (TV series), Thunderbirds'' airs its final episode on ITV (TV network), ITV in the United Kingdom with a Christmas special.
* December 26 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.
* December 31
** East German Premier Walter Ulbricht discusses negotiations about German reunification.
** Eight paintings worth millions of pounds are stolen from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, but are recovered locally within a week.
** The Congolese government takes over the Union Minière du Haut Katanga.
Date unknown
* Konstantin Chernenko, later leader of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, becomes a candidate member of the Central Committee.
* Paramount Pictures Corporation becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Gulf+Western Industries, Inc.
* Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn are awarded the Fermi Prize.
* The Congress of the United States creates the National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development.
* Martin Richards (computer scientist), Martin Richards designs the programming language BCPL.
* The World Buddhist Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha Council is convened by Theravada, Theravadins in Sri Lanka, with the hope of bridging differences and working together.
* ''The Jerusalem Bible'', a Roman Catholic translation, is published in English.
* Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann publish ''The Social Construction of Reality''.
* Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cell (biology), cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.
* In or about this year, one person returning to Haiti from the Republic of the Congo, Congo is thought to have first brought HIV to the Americas.
Births
January
* January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Ivica Dačić, Serbian politician, Prime Minister of Serbia 2012–2014
* January 4 – Christian Kern, Austrian politician, 24th Chancellor of Austria
* January 6 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino actress, host and singer
* January 7 – Corrie Sanders, South African boxer (d. 2012)
* January 8
** Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
** Andrew Wood (singer), Andrew Wood, American musician (d. 1990)
* January 13 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor and race car driver
* January 14
** Nadia Maftouni, Iranian philosopher
** Dan Schneider, American television producer, screenwriter and actor
* January 17
Events Pre-1600
*38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
** Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer
** Nobuyuki Kojima, Korean footballer
* January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...
** Floris Jan Bovelander, Dutch field-hockey player
** Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player
** Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer and media personality
* January 20 – Rainn Wilson, American actor, writer and producer
* January 22 – Jegath Gaspar Raj, Tamil Maiyam founder
* January 28 – Andrea Berg, German singer
* January 29 – Romário, Brazilian footballer and politician
February
* February 1 – Michelle Akers, American footballer
* February 3 – Jimmy Thunder, Samoan boxer
* February 5 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
* February 6 – Rick Astley, British pop musician
* February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
– Kristin Otto, German swimmer
* February 8 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
* February 9 – Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
* February 11 – Cristina Elena Grigoraș, Romanian artistic gymnast
* February 13 – Neal McDonough, American actor
* February 17 – Quorthon, Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer (d. 2004)
* February 20 – Cindy Crawford, American model and actress
* February 22 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
* February 23
**Alexandre Borges, Brazilian actor
**Didier Queloz, Swiss-born astronomer, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate
* February 24 – Billy Zane, American actor
* February 25
** Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete
** Téa Leoni, American actress
* February 26
** Jennifer Grant, American actress
** Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
* February 27 – Alison Gertz, American AIDS activist (d. 1992)
* February 28
** Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
** Ickey Woods, American football player
March
* March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
– Zack Snyder, American actor, film director, screenwriter and producer
* March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Sheren Tang, Hong Kong actress
* March 3
** Fernando Colunga, Mexican actor
** Vander Lee, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
** Tone Lōc, African American R&B musician
* March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
** Steve Bastoni, Australian actor
** Kevin Johnson (basketball), Kevin Johnson, American basketball player
* March 9 – Tony Lockett, Australian rules footballer
* March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a ...
– Edie Brickell, American singer
* March 13 – Chico Science, Brazilian musician (d. 1997)
* March 17 – Espen Hammer, Norwegian philosopher
* March 18 – Jerry Cantrell, American guitarist and singer
* March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
** Pia Cayetano, Filipino politician, and lawyer
** António Pinto (athlete), Antonio Pinto, Portuguese long-distance runner
* March 25
** Tom Glavine, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
** Jeff Healey, Canadian guitarist (d. 2008)
** Anton Rogan, Northern Irish footballer
** Remig Stumpf, German cyclist (d. 2019)
* March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
– Michael Imperioli, American actor
* March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Krasimir Balakov, Bulgarian footballer
April
* April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
– Teddy Sheringham, British footballer
* April 8
** Cynthia Nixon, American actress
** Robin Wright, American actress
* April 11 – Lisa Stansfield, British soul singer
* April 13 – Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian footballer
* April 14 - Greg Maddux, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
* April 15 – Samantha Fox, British model and singer
* April 17 – Vikram (actor), Vikram, Indian actor
* April 18 – Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
* April 20 – David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
* April 22 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
* April 25 – Man Arenas, Spanish comic creator
* April 26 – Natasha Trethewey, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet
* April 27
** Siw Anita Andersen Norwegian actress
** Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese author and illustrator
* April 28 – Ali Reza Pahlavi (born 1966), Ali-Reza Pahlavi, titular prince of Iran (d. 2011)
May
* May 3 – Firdous Bamji, Indian-American actor
* May 5 – Lyubov Yegorova (cross-country skier), Lyubov Yegorova, Russian cross-country skier
* May 6
** Andrea Chiesa, Swiss Formula One driver
** Cindy Hsu, American Emmy Award-winning journalist
* May 7
** Anderson Cummins, Canadian cricketer
** Jes Høgh, Danish footballer
* May 8
** Robert J. Behnen, American genealogist and politician
** Kamil Kašťák, Czech ice hockey player
** Marta Sánchez, Spanish female vocalist, entertainer
** Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian goalkeeper
* May 10
** Mikael Andersson (ice hockey, born 1966), Mikael Andersson, Swedish ice hockey player
** Jonathan Edwards (triple jumper), Jonathan Edwards, British athlete
** Anne Elvebakk, Norwegian biathlete
** Genaro Hernández, Mexican-American boxer
** Wade Dominguez, American actor, model, singer and dancer (d. 1998)
* May 12
** Stephen Baldwin, American actor
** Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian popular singer
* May 13
** Cheryl Dunye, Liberian-born film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress
** Darius Rucker, African American country singer
* May 16
** Janet Jackson, African American R&B singer
** Juan Manuel Funes, Guatemalan footballer and coach
* May 17
** Hill Harper, American actor
** Qusay Hussein, Iraqi politician (d. 2003)
* May 19 – Polly Walker, English actress
* May 21
** Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
** François Omam-Biyik, Cameroonian football player
* May 22 – Siri Eftedal, Norwegian team handball player and Olympic medalist
* May 23
** H. Jon Benjamin, American actor and comedian
** Graeme Hick, English cricketer
* May 24
** Eric Cantona, French footballer
** Francisco Javier Cruz, Mexican football player
** Russell Kun, Nauruan politician
* May 25 – Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Iranian goalkeeper
* May 26
** Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
** Zola Budd, South African athlete
* May 27
** Heston Blumenthal, British chef
** Carol Campbell (actress), Carol Campbell, Afro-German actress, model and presenter
* May 30 – Thomas Häßler, German football player
June
* June 3 – Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer
* June 4
** Cecilia Bartoli, Italian mezzo-soprano
** Svetlana Jitomirskaya, American mathematician
** Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician (d. 2017)
* June 6 – Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo
* June 7 – Tom McCarthy (director), Tom McCarthy, American film director and actor
* June 8
** Jens Kidman, Swedish musician
** Julianna Margulies, American actress and producer
* June 13 – Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician
* June 14 – Eduardo Waghorn, Chilean musician
* June 15 – Roberto Carnevale, Italian musician
* June 16 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower
* June 18 – Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater
* June 19 – Samuel West, British actor
* June 22
** Michael Park (co-driver), Michael Park, British rally co-driver (d. 2005)
** Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
** Dean Woods, Australian cyclist and Olympic champion (d. 2022)
* June 23 – Richie Jen, Taiwanese musician
* June 24 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress, film director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
* June 25 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese basketball player
* June 26 – Dany Boon, French comedian and filmmaker
* June 27 – J. J. Abrams, American television writer and producer
* June 28
** John Cusack, American actor
** Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
* June 29 – Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Indonesian politician, governor of Jakarta
* June 30
** Cheryl Bernard, Canadian Olympic curler
** Marton Csokas, New Zealand actor
** Mike Tyson, African American boxer
July
* July 1
** Enrico Annoni, Italian footballer
** Samir Rifai, Prime Minister of Jordan
* July 3 – František Štorm, Czech musician (Master's Hammer) and typographer
* July 5 – Gianfranco Zola, Italian footballer
* July 8 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
* July 9 – Pamela Adlon, American actress, voice actress, screenwriter, producer and director
* July 10 – Gina Bellman, New Zealand-British actress
* July 11 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
* July 14 – Matthew Fox, American actor
* July 15
** Irène Jacob, French-born actress
** Kristoff St. John, American actor (d. 2019)
* July 16
** Frankie Gan Joon Zin, Malaysian politician
** Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, Malaysian lawyer
* July 18
** Lori Alan, American actress and voice actress
** Dan O'Brien, American athlete
* July 20 – Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012-2018), Governor of the State of Mexico (2005–2011)
* July 21 – Sarah Waters, British novelist
* July 26 – Angelo Di Livio, Italian footballer
* July 28 – Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer
* July 29 – Richard Steven Horvitz, American actor and voice actor
* July 30
** Murilo Bustamante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
** Allan Langer, Australian rugby league player
* July 31 – Dean Cain, American actor
August
* August 5 – James Gunn, American filmmaker
* August 7
** Harith Iskander, Malaysian actor and comedian
** Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia[. Quoted from the April 25, 2004, first-ever press release issued by the Wikimedia Foundation.]
* August 10
** Charlie Dimmock, English TV gardening expert
** Hossam Hassan, Egyptian footballer
** André Sogliuzzo, American actor and voice actor
* August 11 – Juan María Solare, Argentine composer
* August 12 – Les Ferdinand, English footballer
* August 14
** Halle Berry, American actress
** Freddy Rincón, Colombian footballer (d. 2022)
* August 17 – Rodney Mullen, American skateboarder
* August 19 – Lee Ann Womack, American musician
* August 20
** Dimebag Darrell, American guitarist (d. 2004)
** Enrico Letta, 55th Prime Minister of Italy
** Liu Chunyan, Chinese voice actress and host
* August 23 – Rik Smits, Dutch basketball player
* August 26 – Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
* August 27
** Jeroen Duyster, Dutch rower
** Juhan Parts, 15th Prime Minister of Estonia
* August 28 – Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician
September
* September 1 – Tim Hardaway, American basketball player
* September 2 – Salma Hayek, Mexican-American actress
* September 4 – Yanka Dyagileva, Russian singer (d. 1991)
* September 6
** Emil Boc, 61st Prime Minister of Romania
** Eduardo Maruri, Ecuadorian businessman and politician
* September 7
** Vladimir Andreyev (racewalker), Vladimir Andreyev, Russian race walker
** Toby Jones, English actor
** Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, German speed skater
* September 8 – Carola Häggkvist, Swedish pop singer, Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest 1991, 1991 winner
* September 9
** Georg Hackl, German skiing, luger
** Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian
* September 12
** Steve Ells, American entrepreneur and founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill
** Kiko, Princess Akishino, Princess Akishino of Japan
** Malu Mader, Brazilian actress
* September 20 – Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese-American guitarist and singer-songwriter
* September 21 – Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan
* September 22
** Erdoğan Atalay, German actor
** Moustafa Amar, Egyptian singer
* September 25 – Jason Flemyng, English actor
* September 28 – Maria Canals-Barrera, American actress
* September 29 – Bujar Nishani, President of Albania (d. 2022)
October
* October 1
** Ashab Uddin, Indian politician
** George Weah, Liberian politician and football player
* October 2 – Yokozuna (wrestler), Rodney Anoa'i, Samoan-American professional wrestler (d. 2000)
* October 3 – Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Israeli settler leader (d. 2000)
* October 5 – Inessa Kravets, Ukrainian athlete
* October 6 – Niall Quinn, Irish footballer
* October 7 – Sherman Alexie, Native American author
* October 8 – Aaron Callaghan (footballer, born 1966), Aaron Callaghan, Irish football club executive
* October 9 – David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* October 10
** Tony Adams, English footballer
** Carolyn Bertozzi, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate
** Bai Ling, Chinese actress
** Elana Meyer, South African athlete
* October 11 – Luke Perry, American actor (d. 2019)
* October 15
** Eric Benét, African American singer-songwriter
** Jorge Campos, Mexican footballer and coach
* October 18 – Angela Visser, Dutch winner of Miss Universe 1989
* October 19 – Jon Favreau, American actor and director
* October 20 – Stefan Raab, German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician
* October 22 – Valeria Golino, Italian-Greek film and television actress
* October 24 – Roman Abramovich, UK-based Russian billionaire businessman
* October 25 – Wendel Clark, Canadian hockey player
* October 28 – Andy Richter, American actor, writer, comedian and late night talk show announcer
* October 30 – Zoran Milanović, Croatian politician, President of Croatia
* October 31
**Ad-Rock, Adam Horovitz, American rapper
**Mike O'Malley, American actor and playwright
November
*November 2
**David Schwimmer, American actor
* November 3 – Joe Hachem, Lebanese-born Australian poker player
* November 8 – Gordon Ramsay, Scottish-born chef, restaurateur and television personality
* November 11
** Benedicta Boccoli, Italian model and actress
** Peaches (musician), Peaches, Canadian musician
* November 13 – Susanna Haapoja, Finnish politician (d. 2009)
* November 15 – Rachel True, American actress
* November 17
** Jeff Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
** Daisy Fuentes, Cuban-born American model and television personality
** Sophie Marceau, French actress
* November 19
** Gail Devers, American track and field athlete
** Jason Scott Lee, American actor and martial artist
* November 22
** Orlando Jorge Mera, Dominican politician (d. 2022)
** Michael K. Williams, American actor (d. 2021)
* November 23
**Vincent Cassel, French actor
**Michelle Gomez, Scottish actress
* November 24 – Juan Pablo Gamboa, Colombian actor
* November 25
** Billy Burke (actor), Billy Burke, American actor
** Roberto Rojas, Bolivian politician (d. 2022)
* November 26 – Garcelle Beauvais, Haitian-American actress, singer and fashion model
* November 28 – Narumi Yasuda, Japanese actress
* November 29 – John Bradshaw Layfield, American professional wrestler
December
* December 1 - Larry Walker, Canadian baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
* December 3 – Adam Berry, American composer
* December 4
** Fred Armisen, American actor, comedian and musician
** Carey Means, American actor and voice artist
* December 5 – Patricia Kaas, French singer and actress
* December 7
** C. Thomas Howell, American actor and director
** Linn Ullmann, Norwegian journalist and author
* December 8
** Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (d. 2019)
** Matthew Labyorteaux, American actor
** Sinéad O'Connor, Irish pop singer
** Ralph Santolla, Italian-American metal guitarist (d. 2018)
* December 9
** Tim Bull, Australian politician
** Michael Foster (musician), Michael Foster, American musician, drummer
* December 10
** Montserrat Gil Torné, Andorran politician
** Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician; United States Senator (D-NY)
** Julio Rodas, Guatemalan soccer player
** Mateo Romero (artist), Mateo Romero, Native American painter
** Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli politician
** Kadyrbek Sarbayev, foreign minister of Kyrgyzstan
** Natee Thongsookkaew, Thailand footballer
* December 12
** Último Dragón, Japanese professional wrestler
** Lydia Zimmermann, Spanish filmmaker
* December 14
** Anthony Mason (basketball), Anthony Mason, American basketball player (d. 2015)
** Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish Prime Minister
* December 15 – Katja von Garnier, German film director
* December 17 – Miloš Tichý, Czech astronomer
* December 19
** Tim Sköld, Swedish multi-instrumentalist musician
** Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier
* December 20 – Ed de Goeij, Dutch footballer
* December 21 – Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor and film director
* December 22
** Din Beramboi, Malaysian comedian, actor and radio DJ (d. 2010)
** Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
* December 23 – Cláudia Raia, Brazilian actress, dancer and singer
* December 24 – Diedrich Bader, American actor and voice artist
* December 27 – Bill Goldberg, American professional wrestler
* December 28 – Kaliopi, Macedonian singer-songwriter
* December 31 – Maddie Taylor, American actress and comedian
Date unknown
* Guli Francis-Dehqani, Iranian-born Anglican diocesan bishop
* Julian Hooper, New Zealand artist
* Charbel Iskandar, Lebanese actor
* Kivi Larmola, Finnish artist
Deaths
January
* January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Vincent Auriol, French politician, President of France (b. 1884)
* January 3
** Sammy Younge Jr., American civil rights activist (b. 1944)
** Marguerite Higgins, American journalist (b. 1920)
** Rex Lease, American actor (b. 1903)
* January 4 – Georges Theunis, 24th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1873)
* January 10 – Ignacy Oziewicz, Polish general (b. 1887)
* January 11
** Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (b. 1901)
** Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish Olympic athlete (b. 1889)
** Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
, Indian activist, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)
* January 14
** Sergei Korolev, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (b. 1907)
** Bill Carr, American Olympic athlete (b. 1909)
* January 15
** Samuel Akintola, Nigerian premier of the Western Nigeria, Western region and Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of the Yoruba (assassinated) (b. 1910)
** Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day ...
, Nigerian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Nigeria (assassinated) (b. 1912)
** Ahmadu Bello, Nigerian premier of the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Northern region (assassinated) (b. 1910)
* January 16 – Courtney Hodges, American army general (b. 1887)
* January 17
Events Pre-1600
*38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
– Vincent J. Donehue, American stage director (b. 1917)
* January 18 – Kathleen Norris, American writer (b. 1880)
* January 22 – Herbert Marshall, English actor (b. 1890)
* January 25 – Saul Adler, Russian-born British-Israeli expert on parasitology (b. 1895)
* January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
** Elizabeth Patterson (actress), Elizabeth Patterson, American actress (b. 1875)
** Arthur Percival, British general (b.1887)
February
* February 1
** Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (b. 1885)
** Buster Keaton, American actor and film director (b. 1895)
** Joseph R. Knowland, American politician and newspaper publisher (b. 1873)
* February 3 – June Walker, American actress (b. 1900)
* February 5 – Louisa Martindale, British physician, writer, magistrate and prison commissioner (b. 1872)
* February 6 – Narcisa de León, Filipino film producer (b. 1877)
* February 9 – Sophie Tucker, American singer (b. 1886)
* February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
** J. F. C. Fuller, British general and military strategist (b. 1878)
** Billy Rose, American composer and band leader (b. 1899)
* February 12 – Wilhelm Röpke, German economist (b. 1899)
* February 15
** Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (b. 1909)
** Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian socialist and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1929)
* February 17
**Alfred P. Sloan, American automobile industrialist (b. 1875)
**Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
* February 18 – Robert Rossen, American film director (b. 1908)
* February 20 – Chester W. Nimitz, American Navy admiral (b. 1885)
* February 25 – Victor Kravchenko (defector), Victor Kravchenko, Soviet writer (b. 1905)
* February 26
** Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian pro-independence activist, Hindu nationalist (b. 1883)
** Gino Severini, Italian painter (b. 1883)
* February 28
** Charles Bassett, American astronaut (b. 1931)
** Jonathan Hale, American actor (b. 1891)
** Elliot See, American astronaut (b. 1927)
March
* March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
** Fritz Houtermans, German physicist (b. 1903)
** William R. Munroe, American admiral (b. 1886)
** Donald Stewart (actor), Donald Stewart, American actor (b. 1910)
* March 3
** Joseph Fields, American playwright (b. 1895)
** William Frawley, American actor (''I Love Lucy'') (b. 1887)
** Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
* March 5 – Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet (b. 1889)
* March 7 – Donald B. Beary, American admiral (b. 1888)
* March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bou ...
** William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, British politician (b. 1907)
** Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar, Egyptian painter (b. 1925)
* March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a ...
** Frank O'Connor, Irish writer (b. 1903)
** Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
* March 12 – Néstor Guillén, Bolivian politician, 40th President of Bolivia (b. 1890)
* March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
* 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 1600 – The Link ...
** Laurence Abrams, English professional footballer (b. 1889)
** Johnny Morrison (baseball), Johnny Morrison, American professional baseball player (b. 1895)
* March 27
Events Pre-1600
*1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom.
* 1329 – Pope John XXII ...
– Helen Menken, American actress (b. 1901)
* March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Stylianos Gonatas, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1876)
* March 30 – Erwin Piscator, German theater director (b. 1893)
April
* April 1 – Brian O'Nolan, Irish humorist (b. 1911)
* April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
– C. S. Forester, English author (b. 1899)
* April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
* ...
– Battista Farina, Italian car designer (b. 1893)
* April 6 – Julia Faye, American actress (b. 1893)
* April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 140 ...
– Evelyn Waugh, English author (b. 1903)
*April 11 - William H. Pitsenbarger, United States Air Force Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1944)
* April 13
** Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (b. 1881)
** Georges Duhamel, French author (b. 1884)
** Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi military officer and statesman, 2nd President of Iraq (b. 1921)
* April 17 – Mario Serandrei, Italian editor and screenwriter (b. 1907)
* April 19 – Javier Solís, Mexican singer and actor (b. 1931)
* April 20 – Prince Frederick of Prussia (1911–1966), Prince Frederick of Prussia (b. 1911)
* April 21 – Sepp Dietrich, Nazi German military leader and Schutzstaffel, SS commander (b. 1892)
* April 23 – George Ohsawa, Japanese dietist, founder of Macrobiotics (b. 1893)
* April 24 – Tino Pattiera, Yugoslav-born Italian tenor (b. 1890)
* April 29 – Eugene O'Brien (actor), Eugene O'Brien, American actor (b. 1880)
May
* May 4 – Amédée Ozenfant, French painter (b. 1886)
* May 8 – Erich Pommer, German film producer (b. 1889)
* May 11 – Alfred Wintle, British army officer and eccentric (b. 1897)
* May 14 – Ludwig Meidner, German painter (b. 1884)
* May 15
** Venceslau Brás, 9th President of Brazil, leader in World War II (b. 1868)
** Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, 30th President of El Salvador (assassinated) (b. 1882)
** Titien Sumarni, Indonesian actress (b. 1932)
* May 20 – Carlos Arruza, Mexican bullfighter (b. 1920)
* May 21 – Lady Dorothy Macmillan, spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
* May 22 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
* May 23 – Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b. 1902)
* May 24 – Jim Barnes, English golf champion (b. 1886)
* May 25 – Vernon Sturdee, Australian general (b. 1890)
* May 29 – John and James Woolf, James Woolf, British film producer (b. 1919)
June
* June 1 – Papa Jack Laine, American jazz musician (b. 1873)
* June 3 – Nicholas Straussler, Hungarian engineer (b. 1891)
* June 6 – Ethel Clayton, American actress (b. 1882)
* June 7 – Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor, painter and poet (b. 1886)
* June 8 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (b. 1890)
* June 11 – Wallace Ford, English-born American actor (b. 1898)
* June 12
** William Ernest Hocking, American philosopher (b. 1873)
** Hermann Scherchen, Austrian conductor (b. 1891)
* June 15 – Robert G. Fowler, American pioneer aviator (b. 1884)
* June 19 – Ed Wynn, American actor and comedian (b. 1886)
* June 20 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (b. 1894)
* June 30
** Margery Allingham, British detective fiction writer (b. 1904)
** Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
July
* July 2
** Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (b. 1900)
** John of Shanghai and San Francisco, John the Wonderworker, Chinese Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox bishop, American archbishop and saint (b. 1896)
* July 3 – Deems Taylor, American composer (b. 1885)
* July 5 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
* July 7 – Carmelita Geraghty, American actress (b. 1901)
* July 9 – Venerable Marija Petković, Yugoslav Roman Catholic foundress and Servant of God (b. 1892)
* July 11 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet (b. 1913)
* July 12 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese scholar and essayist (b. 1870)
* July 14 – Julie Manet, French painter (b. 1878)
* July 18 – Bobby Fuller, American rock and roll musician (b. 1942)
* July 21
** Francesco Paolo Cantelli, Italian mathematician (b. 1875)
** Philipp Frank, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1884)
* July 23
** Montgomery Clift, American actor (b. 1920)
** Douglass Montgomery, American actor (b. 1907)
* July 25 – Frank O'Hara, American poet (b. 1926)
* July 31
** Alexander von Falkenhausen, German general and military advisor, 20 July Plotter (b. 1878)
** Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924)
August
* August 1 – Charles Whitman, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
* August 3 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian (b. 1925)
* August 6 – Cordwainer Smith, American author (b. 1913)
* August 12 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet (b. 1923)
* August 15
** Jan Kiepura, Polish tenor and actor (b. 1902)
** Seena Owen, American actress (b. 1894)
* August 17 – Ken Miles, British sports car racing engineer and driver (b. 1918)
* August 19 – Fritz Bleyl, German painter (b. 1880)
* August 23 – Francis X. Bushman, American actor (b. 1883)
* August 24
** Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Polish general and statesman, 33rd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1895)
** Vicente Mejía Colindres, 29th President of Honduras (b. 1878)
* August 26 – Art Baker (actor), Art Baker, American actor (b. 1898)
September
* September 3 – Fu Lei, Chinese translator (b. 1908)
* September 6
** Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (b. 1879)
** Hendrik Verwoerd, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1901)
* September 14
** Gertrude Berg, American actress (b. 1899)
** Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard (b. 1881)
** Cemal Gürsel, Turkish general and statesman, 10th Prime Minister of Turkey and 4th President of Turkey (b. 1895)
* September 17 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
* September 19 – Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov, Soviet scientist and general (b. 1874)
* September 21 – Paul Reynaud, French lawyer and politician, 77th Prime Minister of France (b. 1878)
* September 26
** Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, Indian Independence activist (b. 1900)
** Helen Kane, American singer (b. 1904)
* September 28
** André Breton, French poet and writer (b. 1896)
** Eric Fleming, American actor (b. 1925)
October
* October 10
** Charlotte Cooper (tennis), Charlotte Cooper, English tennis champion (b. 1870)
** Wilfrid Lawson (actor), Wilfrid Lawson, English actor (b. 1900)
* October 13 – Clifton Webb, American actor, dancer and singer (b. 1889)
* October 16 – George O'Hara (actor), George O'Hara, American actor (b. 1899)
* October 17 – Cléo de Mérode, French dancer (b. 1875)
* October 18 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born American beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur (b. 1878)
* October 23 – Claire McDowell, American silent screen actress (b. 1877)
* October 24 – Hans Dreier, German art director (b. 1885)
* October 26 – Alma Cogan, English singer (b. 1932)
* October 28 – Robert Charpentier, French Olympic cyclist (b. 1916)
November
* November 2
** Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
** Mississippi John Hurt, African American singer and guitarist (b. 1893)
* November 4 – Dietrich von Choltitz, Nazi German military governor of Paris in World War II (b. 1894)
* November 8 – Bernhard Zondek German-born Israeli gynecologist, developer of first reliable pregnancy test (b. 1891)
* November 9 – Jisaburō Ozawa, Japanese admiral (b. 1886)
* November 13 – Esna Boyd, Australian tennis player (b. 1899)
* November 14 – Steingrímur Steinþórsson, 11th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1893)
* November 21 – Władysław Bortnowski, Polish historian and military commander (b. 1891)
* November 23 – Seán T. O'Kelly, 2nd President of Ireland (b. 1882)
* November 26 – Siegfried Kracauer, German writer, sociologist and critic (b. 1889)
* November 28 – Boris Podolsky, Russian-American physicist (b. 1896)
December
* December 2 – L.E.J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician and philosopher (b. 1881)
* December 6 – Juan Natalicio González, Paraguayan poet, 37th President of Paraguay (b. 1897)
* December 14
** Emma Dunn, British-born actress (b. 1875)
** Verna Felton, American actress (b. 1890)
** Richard Whorf, American actor (b. 1906)
* December 15 – Walt Disney, American animated film producer and founder of The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland Resort (b. 1901)
* December 19 – Betty Kuuskemaa, Estonian actress (b. 1879)
* December 22
** Harry Beaumont, American film director (b. 1888)
** Lucy Burns, American women's rights campaigner (b. 1879)
** Robert Keith (actor), Robert Keith, American actor (b. 1898)
* December 26 – Herbert Gille, SS German general (b. 1897)
* December 27 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentine football player and manager (b. 1905)
* December 30 – Christian Herter, United States Secretary of State (b. 1895)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Alfred Kastler
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Robert S. Mulliken
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Peyton Rous and Charles Brenton Huggins
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – not awarded
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1966
1966,