1969 Poems

This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.

Events

January

* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants.
* January 14 – An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314.
* January 19 – End of the siege of the University of Tokyo, marking the beginning of the end for the 1968–69 Japanese university protests.
* January 20 – Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States.
* January 22 – An assassination attempt is carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Brezhnev escaped unharmed.
* January 27
** Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.
** Reverend Ian Paisley, Northern Irish Unionist leader and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster is jailed for three months for illegal assembly.
* January 28 – 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill: A blowout on Union Oil's Platform A spills 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil into a channel and onto the beaches of Santa Barbara County in Southern California; on February 5 the oil spill closes Santa Barbara's harbor. The incident inspires Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to organize the first Earth Day in 1970.

February

* February 4 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is elected Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
* February 8
** The Allende meteorite explodes over Mexico.
** After 147 years, the last weekly issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is published in the United States. (The magazine is later briefly resurrected as a monthly magazine.)
* February 9 – The Boeing 747 "jumbo jet" is flown for the first time, taking off from the Boeing airfield at Everett, Washington.
* February 13 – Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorists bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange.
* February 14 – Pope Paul VI issues ''Mysterii Paschalis'', a ''motu proprio'', deleting many names from the Roman calendar of saints (including Valentine, who was celebrated on this day).
* February 17 – Aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair the SEALAB III habitat off San Clemente Island, California.
* February 24 – The Mariner 6 Mars probe is launched from the United States.

March

* March 2
** In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted.
** Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.
* March 3
** Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 (James McDivitt, Rusty Schweickart, David Scott) to test the lunar module.
** In a Los Angeles court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
* March 13 – Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
* March 16 – Viasa Flight 742 crashes into a neighborhood in Maracaibo, Venezuela, shortly after taking off for Miami; all 84 people on board the DC-9 jet are killed along with 71 people on the ground.
* March 17
** Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel.
** The Longhope life-boat is lost after answering a mayday call during severe storms in the Pentland Firth between Orkney and the northern tip of Scotland; the entire crew of 8 die.
* March 18 – An annular solar eclipse is visible in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is the 49th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 129.
* March 20
**One hundred of the 105 passengers and crew on a United Arab Airlines flight, most of them Muslim pilgrims returning to Aswan from Mecca, are killed when the Ilyushin-18 turboprop crashes during a sandstorm.
**John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at Gibraltar, and proceed to their honeymoon "Bed-In" for peace in Amsterdam.
* March 22
**UCLA wins its third consecutive NCAA basketball championship by defeating Purdue University, 92 to 72.
**The landmark art exhibition ''When Attitudes become Form'', curated by Harald Szeemann, opens at the Kunsthalle Bern in Bern, Switzerland.
* March 28 – Pope Paul VI increases the number of Roman Catholic cardinals by one-third, from 101 to 134.
* March 29 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 is held in Madrid, and results in four co-winners, with 18 votes each, from Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France.
* March 30 – The body of former United States General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower is brought by caisson to the United States Capitol to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda; Eisenhower had died two days earlier, after a long illness, in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
* March 31 – The Barroterán coal mine disaster kills 153 coal miners in Mexico.

April

* April 4 – Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
* April 8 – The Montreal Expos become Major League Baseball's first team outside the United States.
* April 9 – Fermín Monasterio Pérez is murdered by the ETA in Biscay, Spain; the 4th victim in the name of Basque nationalism.
* April 13 – Queensland: The Brisbane Tramways end service after 84 years of operation.
* April 15 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down the aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
* April 17 – Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is found guilty of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
* April 20 – British troops arrive in Northern Ireland to reinforce the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
* April 22 – Robin Knox-Johnston becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping.
* April 28 – Charles de Gaulle steps down as president of France after suffering defeat in a referendum the day before.

May

* May 4
** Zakir Husain, President of India, dies due to a heart attack.
** In a repeat of the previous season's hockey finals, the Montreal Canadiens defeat the St. Louis Blues four games to none to win the Stanley Cup.
* May 10 – The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as Hamburger Hill, begins during the Vietnam War.
*May 13 – May 13 Incident: Race riots occur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
* May 14 – Colonel Muammar Gaddafi visits Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
* May 15 – An American teenager known as ' Robert R.' dies in St. Louis, Missouri, of a baffling medical condition. In 1984 it will be identified as the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America.
* May 16 – Venera program: Soviet space probe Venera 5 lands on Venus.
* May 17 – Venera program: Soviet space probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus's atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
* May 18 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, John Young) is launched. It is to be a full rehearsal for the Moon landing, stopping 15 kilometers short of actually reaching the lunar surface.
* May 20 – United States National Guard.
* May 21 – ''Rosariazo'': Civil unrest breaks out in Rosario, Argentina, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
* May 22 – Apollo program: Apollo 10's lunar module flies to within 15,400 m of the Moon's surface.
* May 26
** The Andean Pact (Andean Group) is established.
** Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth, after a successful 8-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first manned Moon landing.
* May 26–June 2 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct their second Bed-In. The follow-up to the Amsterdam event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Lennon composes and records the song "Give Peace a Chance" during the event.
* May 29 – ''Cordobazo'': A general strike and civil unrest break out in Córdoba, Argentina.
* May 30 – Riots in Curaçao mark the start of an Afro-Caribbean civil rights movement on the island.

June

* June 3 – While operating at sea on SEATO maneuvers, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS ''Melbourne'' accidentally rams and slices into the American destroyer USS ''Frank E. Evans'' in the South China Sea, killing 74 American seamen.
* June 5 – An international communist conference begins in Moscow.
* June 8 – Francisco Franco orders the closing of the Gibraltar–Spain border and communications between Gibraltar and Spain in response to the 1967 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum. The border remains closed until a partial reopening on December 15, 1982.
* June 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu meet at Midway Island. Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September.
* June 15 – Georges Pompidou is elected President of France.
* June 17 – After a 23-game match, Boris Spassky defeats Tigran Petrosian to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow.
* June 24 – The United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic relations, after the Rhodesian constitutional referendum.
* June 27 – Gay intercourse is officially legalized in Canada.
* June 28 – The Stonewall riots, a milestone in the modern gay rights movement in the United States, began in New York City.

July

* July 7 – French is made equal to English throughout the Canadian national government.
* July 8 – Vietnam War: The very first U.S. troop withdrawals are made.
* July 14
** Football War: After Honduras loses an association football match against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS works out a cease-fire on July 18, which takes effect on July 20.
** The Act of Free Choice for West Irian commences in Merauke, Indonesia.
* July 16 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 (Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins) lifts off from Cape Kennedy in Florida towards the first manned landing on the Moon.
* July 19
** Chappaquiddick incident: US Senator Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge into a tidal pond after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy does not report the accident for nine or ten hours.
** John Fairfax lands in Hollywood Beach, Florida, United States and becomes the first person to row across an ocean solo, after 180 days spent at sea on board the 25' ocean rowboat ''Britannia'' (left Gran Canaria on January 20, 1969).
* July 20
** Apollo program Moon landing: At 3:17 pm ET (20:17 UTC) Apollo 11's Lunar Module ''Eagle'' lands on the Moon's surface. At 10:56 pm ET (02:56 UTC July 21), an estimated 650 million people worldwide, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at this time, watch in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his first historic steps on the surface.
** 1969 Tour de France: Belgian Eddy Merckx wins the cycle race for the first time.
* July 22 – Spanish dictator and head of state Francisco Franco appoints Prince Juan Carlos to be his successor as head of state following his death.
* July 24
** Apollo 11 returns from the first successful Moon landing and the astronauts are placed in biological isolation for several days in case they may have brought back lunar germs. The airless lunar environment is later determined to rule out microscopic life.
** The Soviet Union returns British lecturer Gerald Brooke to the United Kingdom freed from a Soviet prison in exchange for their spies Peter and Helen Kroger (Morris and Lona Cohen).
* July 26 – A 6.4 earthquake shakes the Chinese city of Yangjiang destroying thousands of homes and killing 3,000 people.
* July 30 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam, meeting with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.
* July 31 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Entebbe, Uganda for the first visit by a reigning Pope to Africa.

August

* August 4 – Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, U.S. representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. They eventually fail since the two sides cannot agree to any terms.
* August 5 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars ().
* August 13 – Serious border clashes occur between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.
* August 14 – The Troubles: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order following three days of political and sectarian violence, marking the beginning of the 37-year Operation Banner.
* August 15– 18 – The Woodstock Festival is held near White Lake, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
* August 17 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 USD).
* August 21
** Australian Denis Michael Rohan sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire.
** Strong violence on demonstration in Prague and Brno, Czechoslovakia. Military force contra citizens. Prague spring finally beaten.
* August 29 – A Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Tel Aviv is hijacked and diverted to Syria.

September

* September 1
** 1969 Libyan coup d'état: A bloodless coup in Libya ousts King Idris and brings Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power.
** For Brazil, the Jornal Nacional was created on Monday, 1 September 1969.
* September 2 – Ho Chi Minh, the president of North Vietnam, dies at the age of 79.
* September 5 – Lieutenant William Calley is charged with six counts of premeditated murder for the 1968 My Lai Massacre deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, Vietnam.
* September 9 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9 airliner, collides in flight with a small Piper PA-28 airplane, and crashes near Fairland, Indiana, killing all 83 people in both aircraft.
* September 11 – An annular solar eclipse is visible in Pacific Ocean and South America, and is the 41st solar eclipse of Solar Saros 134.
* September 22– 25 – An Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem.
* September 23 – China carries out an underground nuclear bomb test.
* September 25 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference is founded.
* September 28 – 1969 West German federal election: The Social Democrats, led by Vice Chancellor Willy Brandt, and the Free Democrats led by Walter Scheel, formed a coalition government with Brandt as Chancellor, after the Social Democrats severed their relationship with Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger's Christian Democratic Union.

October

* October 1
** In Sweden, Olof Palme is elected Leader of the Social Democratic Worker's Party, replacing Tage Erlander as Prime Minister on October 14.
** The Beijing Subway begins operation.
* October 2 – A 1.2 megaton thermonuclear device is tested at Amchitka Island, Alaska. This test is code-named Project Milrow, the 11th test of the Operation Mandrel 1969–1970 underground nuclear test series. This test is known as a "calibration shot" to test if the island is fit for larger underground nuclear detonations.
* October 5 – ''Sazae-san'' first airs on Fuji Television.
* October 9– 12 – Days of Rage: In Chicago, the Illinois National Guard is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen, in connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial.
* October 11 – The Zodiac Killer shoots and kills taxi driver Paul Stine in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco; this is the serial killer's last known murder.
* October 11– 16 – The New York Mets upset the Baltimore Orioles four games to one in the World Series.
* October 15
** DZKB-TV Channel 9, the Philippines TV station, owned by Roberto S. Benedicto, is launched.
** Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations across the United States.
* October 17 – Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell Laboratories (30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras).
* October 20 – Experimental research showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks, is published.


* October 21
** Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.
** General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
* October 25 – 1969 Australian federal election: John Gorton's Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal/National Party of Australia, Country Coalition (Australia), Coalition Gorton Government, Government is narrowly re-elected with a sharply reduced majority, defeating a resurgent Australian Labor Party, Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Gorton survived a Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, 1969, leadership challenge by his deputy William McMahon as well as David Fairbairn (politician), David Fairbairn in the immediate aftermath of the election.
* October 29 – The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.

November

* November 3] – Süleyman Demirel of Justice Party (Turkey), AP forms the new government of Turkey (31st government).
* November 14
** Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Richard Gordon, Alan Bean), the second manned mission to the Moon.
** The SS United States, the last active United States Lines passenger ship, is withdrawn from service.
* November 15 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato (SSN-615), USS ''Gato'' in the Barents Sea.
* November 17 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, to begin the SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
* November 19
** Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
** Professional footballer Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.
** Vietnam War: A Cleveland, Ohio newspaper, ''The Plain Dealer'', publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.
** Richard Oakes (activist), Richard Oakes returns with 90 followers to Alcatraz Island and begins a 19 month long occupation, lasting until June 1971.
* November 21
** U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, D.C. to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.
** The first ARPANET link is established (the progenitor of the global Internet).
* November 24 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.

December

* December 1 – Vietnam War: The first Draft lottery (1969), draft lottery in the United States since World War II is held. September 14 is the first of the 366 days of the year selected, meaning that anyone born on September 14 in the years from 1944 to 1951 would be the first to be summoned. On January 4, 1970, ''The New York Times'' will run a long article, "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random".
* December 2 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City.
* December 12 – The Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan, Italy, kills 17 people and injures 88.
* December 24
** Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial.
** The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea.
** Nigerian troops capture Umuahia. The last Biafran capital before its dissolution becomes Owerri.
* December 27 – The Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party wins 47.6% of the votes in the 1969 Japanese general election. Future prime ministers Yoshirō Mori and Tsutomu Hata and future kingmaker Ichirō Ozawa are elected for the first time.

Date unknown

* Summer – Invention of Unix under the potential name "Unics" (after Multics).
* Common African, Madagascar, Malagasy and Mauritius, Mauritian Organization (OCAMM) (Organisation Commune Africaine Malgache et Mauricienne) is established.
* International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, a maritime treaty, is adopted.

Births

January

* January 1 – Verne Troyer, American actor (d. 2018)
* January 2
** Robby Gordon, American racing driver
** Tommy Morrison, American boxer (d. 2013)
** Christy Turlington, American fashion model
* January 3 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time Formula One world champion
* January 5 – Marilyn Manson, American rock musician
* January 6 – Norman Reedus, American actor
* January 7 – Alfredo Romero (activist), Alfredo Romero, Venezuelan activist
*January 11
* Kyōko Hikami, Japanese voice actress
* Kyle Richards, American actress
* January 13
** Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, Mexican writer, wife of Andrés Manuel López Obrador
** Stephen Hendry, British snooker player
* January 14
** Jason Bateman, American actor, director and producer
** Dave Grohl, American rock drummer and composer
* January 15 – Meret Becker, German actress and musician
* January 16 – Dead (musician), Dead, Swedish vocalist (d. 1991)
* January 17 – Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film director
* January 27
** Cornelius (musician), Cornelius, Japanese rock musician, singer and producer
** Patton Oswalt, American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice artist
* January 28 – Kathryn Morris, American actress
* January 29 – Hyde (musician), Hyde, Japanese rock musician, singer and guitarist

February

* February 1
** Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer
** Andrew Breitbart, American writer and publisher (d. 2012)
* February 2 – Dambisa Moyo, Zambian-born economist
* February 3 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
* February 5
** Bobby Brown, African-American singer
** Michael Sheen, Welsh actor
* February 6 – David Hayter, Canadian-American actor, voice actor, screenwriter, director, and producer
* February 7 – Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician
* February 11 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress, director, producer and businesswoman
* February 12
** Darren Aronofsky, American filmmaker
** Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer
** Brad Werenka, Canadian ice-hockey player
* February 13
** Ahlam (singer), Ahlam, Arabic singer
** JB Blanc, French voice actor
* February 14 – Nurserik Kudereev, Russian civil servant
* February 15
** Roberto Balado, Cuban boxer (d. 1994)
** Birdman (rapper), Birdman, American rapper, entertainer, and record producer
* February 20 – Gedo (wrestler), Keiji Takayama, Japanese professional wrestler
* February 21
** James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter
** Bosson, Swedish singer-songwriter
** Petra Kronberger, Austrian alpine skier
* February 23
** Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
** Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
* February 28 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

March

* March 1 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor
* March 4
** Annie Yi, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Taiwanese actress
** Patrick Roach, Canadian actor
* March 10 – Paget Brewster, American actress
* March 11
** Terrence Howard, American actor and singer
** Soraya (musician), Soraya, Colombian singer and multi-instrumentalist (d. 2006)
* March 12
** Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter
** Akemi Okamura, Japanese voice actress
* March 13 – Susanna Mälkki, Finnish conductor
* March 15
** Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician
** Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey
* March 16 – Markus Lanz, German-Italian television presenter
* March 17 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010)
* March 18
** Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess grandmaster
** Jimmy Morales, Guatemalan politician, 37th President of Guatemala
* March 19 – Patrick Tam (actor), Patrick Tam, Hong Kong actor
* March 21 – Ali Daei, Iranian football player
*March 22 – Tony Fadell, American engineeer, inventor, designer and entrepreneur (Nest Labs, Apple Inc)
* March 24 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian alpine skier
* March 25 – Jeff Walker (musician), Jeffrey Walker, British musician
* March 27
** Mariah Carey, American pop singer
** Kevin Corrigan, American actor
** Pauley Perrette, American actress
* March 28 – Rodney Atkins, American country music singer
* March 29 – Chiaki Ishikawa, Japanese singer (See-Saw (group), See-Saw)

April

* April 1
** Fadl Shaker, Lebanese singer
** Andrew Vlahov, Australian basketball player
* April 2 – Ajay Devgn, Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director and producer
* April 3
** Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor
** Lance Storm, Canadian professional wrestler
* April 6 – Paul Rudd, American actor, comedian, writer and producer
* April 11
** Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer
** Caren Miosga, German journalist and television presenter
** Chisato Moritaka, Japanese singer
* April 16 – Dawn Brancheau, American senior animal trainer (d. 2010)
* April 18
** Shannon Lee, Chinese-American actress
** Susan Polgár, Hungarian chess player
* April 20 – Marietta Slomka, German journalist
* April 21 – Toby Stephens, English actor
* April 22 – Dion Dublin, English footballer
* April 23 – Yelena Shushunova, Soviet gymnast (d. 2018)
* April 25
** Vanessa Beecroft, Italian artist
** Gina Torres, American actress
** Renée Zellweger, American Academy Awards, Academy Award-winning actress and producer

May

* May 1 – Wes Anderson, American filmmaker
* May 2
** Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer.
** Corinna Schumacher, German animal rights activist and accomplished horse rider
* May 4 – Rabindra Prasad Adhikari, Nepalese politician (d. 2019)
* May 5 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese baseball player (d. 2011)
* May 6 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer
* May 9 – Amber (singer), Amber, German musician
* May 10 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
* May 13
** Nikos Aliagas, French-born television host
** Buckethead, Brian Carroll (aka Buckethead), American guitarist
* May 14 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
* May 16
** David Boreanaz, American actor
** Tucker Carlson, American political commentator
** Steve Lewis (sprinter), Steve Lewis, American athlete
* May 21 – Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (d. 2000)
* May 26 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete
* May 28 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016)

June

* June 3 – Takako Minekawa, Japanese musician, composer and writer
* June 4 – Rob Huebel, American comedian
* June 7
** Alina Astafei, Romanian-German high jumper
** Prince Joachim of Denmark
** Kim Rhodes, American actress
* June 8 – J. P. Manoux, American actor
* June 11
** Peter Dinklage, American actor
** Steven Drozd, American rock drummer
** Anatoliy Povedenok, Kazakh football player
* June 12
** Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian rock guitarist (d. 2007)
** Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
* June 13 – Søren Rasted, Danish musician
* June 14
** Eugene Chung, Korean-American football player
** Steffi Graf, German tennis player
* June 15
** Ice Cube, African-American rapper and actor
** Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper
** Jansher Khan, Pakistani squash player
* June 16 – MC Ren, American rapper
* June 17 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete
* June 18 – Haki Doku, Albanian para-cyclist
* June 19 – Trine Pallesen, Danish actress
* June 20
** Alexander Schallenberg, current Chancellor of Austria
** Paulo Bento, Portuguese football player and coach
* June 23
** Achinoam Nini, Noa, Israeli singer
** Fernanda Ribeiro, Portuguese long-distance runner
* June 24 – Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer
* June 30 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer

July

* July 2
** Jenni Rivera, Mexican-American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (d. 2012)
** Tim Rodber, English rugby player
* July 3
** Gedeon Burkhard, German actor
** Shawnee Smith, American actress
* July 5 – John LeClair, American hockey player
* July 7
** Sylke Otto, German luger
** Joe Sakic, Canadian hockey player
** Cree Summer, American-Canadian actress and singer
* July 8 – Sugizo, Japanese guitarist and singer
* July 9 – Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, Mongolian-German sport shooter
* July 10
** Gale Harold, American actor
** Hossan Leong, Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian
** Jonas Kaufmann, German operatic tenor
** Rami Makhlouf, Syrian businessman
* July 11 – David Tao, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
* July 14 – Billy Herrington, American gay pornographic actor (d. 2018)
* July 16
** Björn Dunkerbeck, Danish windsurfer
** Sahra Wagenknecht, German politician
* July 17
** Jason Clarke, Australian actor
** Ravi Kishan, Indian actor
** Kazuki Kitamura, Japanese actor
* July 18 – The Great Sasuke, Masanori Murakawa, Japanese wrestler
* July 20
** Josh Holloway, American actor
** Johnny Ngauamo, Tonga rugby union player
* July 21
** Avraam Russo, Russian singer
** Isabell Werth, German equestrian
* July 22
** Jason Becker, American heavy metal guitarist, formerly of Cacophony
** James Arnold Taylor, American voice actor
** Despina Vandi, Greek singer
* July 23 – Raphael Warnock, American pastor and junior senator from Georgia
* July 24 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer
* July 25 – Annastacia Palaszczuk, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland
* July 26 – Tanni Grey-Thompson, born Carys Grey, British Paralympian
* July 27
** Dacian Cioloș, 64th Prime Minister of Romania
** Pavel Hapal, Czech footballer
** Jonty Rhodes, South African cricketer
** Triple H (aka Paul Levesque), American wrestler
* July 28
** Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
** Alexis Arquette, American actress, cabaret performer, underground cartoonist, and activist (d. 2016)
** Dana White, American businessman and president of Ultimate Fighting Championship
* July 30 – Simon Baker, Australian-American actor and director
* July 31 – Antonio Conte, Italian football player and manager

August

* August 2
** Jan Axel Blomberg, Norwegian drummer
** Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer
* August 3 – Anne Marie DeLuise, Canadian actress
* August 4
** Max Cavalera, Brazilian musician and singer (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, ex-Sepultura)
** Michael DeLuise, American actor
* August 6 – Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)
* August 8 – Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress
* August 10 – Brian Drummond, Canadian voice actor
* August 11
** Vanderlei de Lima, Brazilian long-distance runner
** Ashley Jensen, British actress
* August 12 – Tanita Tikaram, German-born British singer-songwriter
* August 13 – Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater
* August 15
** Justin Broadrick, British musician
** Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong television actor and singer
** Bernard Fanning, Australian musician (Powderfinger)
**John Fetterman, American politician, Senator-elect of Pennsylvania
* August 17
** Christian Laettner, American professional basketball player
** Dick Togo, Japanese professional wrestler
** Donnie Wahlberg, American singer and actor (New Kids on the Block)
* August 18
** Edward Norton, American actor, film director, screenwriter, and social activist
** Christian Slater, American actor and producer
** Timothy Snyder, American author and historian
* August 19
** Nate Dogg, African-American rapper (d. 2011)
** Matthew Perry, American actor
* August 28 – Jack Black, American actor and musician
* August 29 – Lucero (entertainer), Lucero, Mexican singer and actress
* August 30 – Kent Osborne, American actor and producer

September

* September 3 – Robert Karlsson, Swedish golfer
* September 4 – Giorgi Margvelashvili, politician; 4th President of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia
* September 6 – Cece Peniston, American musician
* September 7 – Diane Farr, American actress
* September 8 – Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 2011)
* September 9 – Rachel Hunter, New Zealand model and actress
* September 12
** Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer
** Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer
* September 13
** Tyler Perry, American actor, film director and screenwriter
** Shane Warne, Australian cricketer (d. 2022)
* September 14 – Bong Joon-ho, South Korean film director and screenwriter
* September 17 – Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
* September 19 – Simona Păucă, Romanian gymnast
* September 24 – Shawn Crahan, Shawn "Clown" Crahan, American rock percussionist
* September 25
** Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (d. 2002)
* Catherine Zeta-Jones, Welsh actress
* September 26 – Victor N'Gembo-Mouanda, Congolese author
* September 29 – Erika Eleniak, American model and actress
* September 30 – Jackie Traverse, Canadian artist and activist

October

* October 1
** Zach Galifianakis, American actor and stand-up comedian
** Igor Ulanov, Russian hockey player
** Marcus Stephen, Former President of Nauru
* October 3
** Gwen Stefani, American singer, actress, and television host
** Tetsuya (musician), Tetsuya, Japanese musician
* October 5 – Elizabeth Azcona Bocock, Honduran politician
* October 6
** Muhammad V of Kelantan, 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and Sultan of Kelantan
** Ogün Temizkanoğlu, Turkish football player
* October 7 – Benny Chan (actor), Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor
* October 9
** Jun Akiyama, Japanese professional wrestler
** PJ Harvey, British singer-songwriter
** Steve McQueen (director), Steve McQueen, English film director, producer and screenwriter
* October 10
** Brett Favre, American football player
** Wendi McLendon-Covey, American actress
* October 12 – Judit Mascó, Spanish model, television host and writer
* October 13
** Rhett Akins, American country singer
** Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater
** Cady McClain, American actress and director
* October 15 – Kim Raver, American actress
* October 16 – Wendy Wilson, American singer and television personality
* October 17
** Ernie Els, South African golfer
** Jesús Ángel García, Spanish race walker
** Wood Harris, American actor
** Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper
** Nancy Sullivan (American actress), Nancy Sullivan, American actress
* October 19
** Pedro Castillo, 130th President of Peru
** Vanessa Marshall, American actress and voice actress
** Trey Parker, American actor, voice actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and composer
* October 20
** Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league player
** Juan González (baseball), Juan González, American baseball player
* October 21 – Michael Hancock (rugby league), Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league player
* October 22 – Spike Jonze, American director and filmmaker
* October 24
** Peter Dolving, Swedish musician
** Adela Noriega, Mexican actress
* October 25
** Samantha Bee, Canadian comedian, writer, producer, and political commentator
** Josef Beránek, Czech ice hockey player
** Oleg Salenko, Russian football player
* October 30
** Stanislav Gross, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (d. 2015)
** Snow (musician), Snow, Canadian singer
* October 31 – Kim Rossi Stuart, Italian actor and director

November

* November 1 – Gary Alexander (basketball), Gary Alexander, American basketball player
* November 2 – Reginald Arvizu (aka Fieldy Snuts), American bassist
* November 3 – Robert Miles, Swiss-born Italian record producer and DJ (d. 2017)
* November 4
** Sean Combs, American rapper and entrepreneur
** Matthew McConaughey, American actor
* November 7
** Michelle Clunie, American actress
** Hélène Grimaud, French pianist
* November 8 – Jonathan Slavin, American actor and activist
* November 9 – Allison Wolfe, American musician
* November 10
** Faustino Asprilla, Colombian football player
** Jens Lehmann, German football player
** Ellen Pompeo, American actress
* November 12
** Tomas N'evergreen, Danish singer
** Rob Schrab, American actor and comic book creator
* November 13
** Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born Dutch American activist
** Gerard Butler, Scottish actor
* November 17 – Jean-Michel Saive, Belgian table tennis player
* November 18
** Kathleen Van Brempt, Kathleen van Brempt, Belgian politician
** Sam Cassell, American basketball player
** Ahmed Helmy, Egyptian actor
* November 19 – Ertuğrul Sağlam, Turkish football coach and former player
* November 21 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player
* November 23 – Robin Padilla, Filipino actor
* November 24 – David Adeang, Nauruan politician
* November 26 – Kara Walker, American artist
* November 27 – Carina Ricco, Mexican actress and singer
* November 28
** Colman Domingo, African-American actor
** Lexington Steele, African-American actor and film director
* November 29
** Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch footballer
** Kasey Keller, American Major League Soccer player
** Mariano Rivera, Panamanian-American professional baseball player
* November 30 – Trina Gulliver, English darts player

December

* December 1 – Richard Carrier, American historian
* December 4 – Jay-Z, African-American rapper
* December 5
** Sajid Javid, British Pakistani politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
** Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer
* December 11 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster
* December 16 – Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer
* December 17
** Laurie Holden, American actress, producer, model and human rights activist
** Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial arts fighter
* December 18
** Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
** Irvin Duguid, Scottish rock keyboard player (Stiltskin)
** Mille Petrozza, German-Italian rock vocalist and guitarist (Kreator)
** Joe Randa, American Major League Baseball player and radio talk-show host
* December 19
** Richard Hammond, British television presenter
** Lauren Sánchez, American news anchor
** Kristy Swanson, American actress
* December 21
** Julie Delpy, French actress
** Magnus Samuelsson, Swedish bodybuilder, World's Strongest Man
* December 24
** Brad Anderson (wrestler), Brad Anderson, American wrestler
** Milan Blagojevic (footballer), Milan Blagojevic, Australian footballer
** Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish film director
** Leavander Johnson, American lightweight boxer (d. 2005)
** Sean Cameron Michael, South African actor and singer
** Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
** Mark Millar, Scottish author
** Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer
** Oleg Skripochka, Russian cosmonaut
** Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer
** Chen Yueling, American race walker
** Jonathan Zittrain, American professor
** Michael Zucchet, American economist and politician, Mayor of San Diego
* December 25 – Nicolas Godin, French musician
* December 27
** Chyna, American professional wrestler (d. 2016)
** Sarah Vowell, American historian, author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and actress
* December 28 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer
* December 30
** Kersti Kaljulaid, 5th President of Estonia
** Jay Kay, English singer (Jamiroquai)

Deaths

January

* January 1
** Barton MacLane, American actor (b. 1902)
** Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (b. 1881)
* January 3 – Commodore Cochran, American Olympic athlete (b. 1902)
* January 4 – Paul Chambers, American jazz bassist (b. 1935)
* January 8 – Albert Hill (athlete), Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889)
* January 19 – Jan Palach, Czech student (b. 1948)
* January 27 – Charles Winninger, American actor (b. 1884)
* January 29 – Allen Dulles, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1893)
* January 30 – Dominique Pire, Belgian Dominican friar, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1910)
* January 31 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)

February

* February 2 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
* February 3
** Eduardo Mondlane, leader of the Mozambique nationalist organization FRELIMO (b. 1920)
** Al Taliaferro, American Disney comics artist (b. 1905)
* February 5 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)
* February 9 – George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (b. 1885)
* February 13 – Florence Mary Taylor, English-born Australian architect (b. 1879)
* February 14 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mobster (b. 1897)
* February 18 – Dragiša Cvetković, 13th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1893)
* February 19 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
* February 20 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
* February 23
** Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
** Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933)
* February 25 – Jan Zajíc, Czech student (b. 1950)
* February 26
** Levi Eshkol, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
** Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
* February 27 – John Boles (actor), John Boles, American actor (b. 1895)

March

* March 3
** Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi, 11th Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1886)
** Fred Alexander, American tennis player (b. 1880)
* March 6 – Óscar Osorio, Salvadorian military leader, 32nd President of El Salvador (b. 1910)
* March 11 – John Wyndham, British author (b. 1903)
* March 14 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American artist (b. 1898)
* March 24 – Joseph Kasavubu, 1st President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President of Congo-Léopoldville (b. 1917)
* March 25 – Max Eastman, American writer (b. 1883)
* March 26 – John Kennedy Toole, American author (b. 1937)
* March 28 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American general and politician, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)

April

* April 2 – Fortunio Bonanova, Spanish actor and singer (b. 1895)
* April 5
** Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918)
** Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician, 48th President of Venezuela (b. 1884)
* April 10 – Harley Earl, American designer and executive (b. 1893)
* April 15 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, former Queen consort of Spain (b. 1887)
* April 20 – Vjekoslav Luburić, Croatian Ustaše official and concentration camp administrator (b. 1914)
* April 26 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)
* April 27 – René Barrientos , Bolivian general and statesman, 47th President of Bolivia (helicopter crash) (b. 1919)

May

* May 2 – Franz von Papen, 22nd Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany and 26th Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1879)
* May 3
** Karl Freund, German cinematographer (b. 1890)
** Zakir Husain (politician), Zakir Hussain, Indian politician, 3rd President of India (b. 1897)
* May 6 – Don Drummond, Jamaican ska musician (b. 1932)
* May 14
** Enid Bennett, American actress (b. 1893)
** Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)
* May 15 – Robert Rayford, American HIV/AIDS victim (b. 1953)
* May 21 – William Lincoln Bakewell, American explorer (b. 1888)
* May 23 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (b. 1894)
* May 24 – Mitzi Green, American actress (b. 1920)
* May 26 – Paul Hawkins (racing driver), Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937)
* May 27
** Muhammad Fareed Didi, Sultan of Maldives (b. 1901)
** Jeffrey Hunter, American actor (b. 1926)

June

* June 1 – Ivar Ballangrud, Norwegian Olympic speed skater (b. 1904)
* June 4 – Rafael Osuna, Mexican professional tennis player (b. 1938)
* June 8 – Robert Taylor (American actor), Robert Taylor, American actor (b. 1911)
* June 11 – John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers of America (b. 1889)
* June 12 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899)
* June 16 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891)
* June 18 – Edgar Anderson, American botanist (b. 1897)
* June 19 – Natalie Talmadge, American actress (b. 1896)
* June 20 – Mohamed Siddiq El-Minshawi, Egyptian Qur'anic reciter (b. 1920)
* June 22 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
* June 23 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (b. 1907)

July

* July 2 – Mikio Naruse, Japanese film director (b. 1905)
* July 3 – Brian Jones, British rock musician (b. 1942)
* July 5
** Ben Alexander (actor), Ben Alexander, American actor (b. 1911)
** Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (b. 1884)
** Walter Gropius, German architect (b. 1883)
** Lambert Hillyer, American film director (b. 1889)
** Tom Mboya, Kenyan politician (b. 1930)
** Leo McCarey, American film director (b. 1898)
* July 9 – Raizō Tanaka, Japanese admiral (b. 1892)
* July 15 – Peter van Eyck, German actor (b. 1911)
* July 17 – Ichikawa Raizō VIII, Japanese actor (b. 1931)
* July 20 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929)
* July 24 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (b. 1904)
* July 25 – Otto Dix, German painter (b. 1891)
* July 28
** Frank Loesser, American songwriter (b. 1910)
** Ramón Grau, president of Cuba (b. 1882)

August

* August 5 – Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg (b. 1873)
* August 6 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)
* August 8 – Choi Seung-hee, Korean modern dancer (b. 1911)
* August 9
** C. F. Powell, Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
** Constantin Ion Parhon, Romanian politician (b. 1874)
** Jay Sebring, American celebrity hair stylist (b. 1933)
** Sharon Tate, American actress and model (b. 1943)
* August 13 – Nicolás Fasolino, Argentine Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1887)
* August 14 – Leonard Woolf, English writer (b. 1880)
* August 17
** Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect (b. 1886)
** Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
* August 18 – Mildred Davis, American actress (b. 1901)
* August 20 – Marty Barry, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1905)
* August 26 – Ismail al-Azhari, 2nd Prime Minister, 3rd President of Sudan (b. 1900)
* August 27
** Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist (b. 1884)
** Erika Mann, German writer (b. 1905)
* August 31 – Rocky Marciano, American professional boxer (b. 1923)

September

* September 2 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese Communist politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Prime Minister of North Vietnam and 1st President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, President of North Vietnam (b. 1890)
* September 3 – John Lester, American cricketer (b. 1871)
* September 6 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (b. 1892)
* September 8
** Bud Collyer, American radio and television personality (b. 1908)
** Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer (b. 1868)
* September 19 – Rex Ingram (actor), Rex Ingram, American actor (b. 1895)
* September 22
** Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico, 1958-1964 (b. 1909)
** Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian politician, 2nd President of Lithuania, President of the Republic of Lithuania (b. 1885)
* September 27 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (b. 1913)
* September 28 – Nicolae Dăscălescu, Romanian general (b. 1884)

October

* October 3 – Skip James, American blues singer (b. 1902)
* October 6 – Walter Hagen, American golf champion (b. 1892)
* October 7 – Natalya Lisenko, Russian actress (b. 1884)
* October 8 – Eduardo Ciannelli, Italian actor and singer (b. 1888)
* October 12 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912)
* October 16 – Leonard Chess, Polish-American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (b. 1917)
* October 18 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1899)
* October 21
** Jack Kerouac, American author (b. 1922)
** Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)
* October 29 – Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich, 34th President of Costa Rica (b. 1907)
* October 31 – Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río, 26th President of Ecuador, leader during World War II (b. 1893)

November

* November 1 – Pauline Bush (actress), Pauline Bush, American actress (b. 1886)
* November 5 – Lloyd Corrigan, American actor (b. 1900)
* November 8
** Dave O'Brien (actor), Dave O'Brien, American actor (b. 1912)
** Vesto Slipher, American astronomer (b. 1875)
* November 12 – William F. Friedman, American cryptanalyst (b. 1891)
* November 13 – Iskander Mirza, Pakistani politician, 1st President of Pakistan (b. 1899)
* November 18 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., American politician (b. 1888)
* November 21
** Norman Lindsay, Australian painter (b. 1879)
** Mutesa II of Buganda, Kabaka of Buganda and 1st President of Uganda (b. 1924)

December

* December 1 – Magic Sam, American musician (b. 1937)
* December 2 – Kliment Voroshilov, Soviet military commander (b. 1881)
* December 4 – Fred Hampton, American activist (b. 1948)
* December 5
** Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)
** Claude Dornier, German airplane builder, founder of Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884)
* December 6 – João Cândido Felisberto, Brazilian sailor, led the Revolt of the Lash (b. 1880)
* December 8
** Karl Fiehler, German Politician of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and Lord Mayor of Munich (b. 1895)
** Ole Singstad, Norwegian-born American civil engineer (b. 1882)
* December 13
** Spencer Williams Jr., American actor (b. 1893)
** Raymond A. Spruance, United States admiral (b. 1886)
* December 21 – Georges Catroux, French Army general and colonial governor (b. 1877)
* December 22
** Josef von Sternberg, Austrian film director (b. 1894)
** Enrique Peñaranda , Bolivian general, 38th President of Bolivia, leader during World War II (b. 1892)
* December 29 – Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango, 11th President of Panama, leader during World War II (b. 1899)

Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Murray Gell-Mann
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Derek Barton, Odd Hassel
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, Salvador Luria
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Samuel Beckett
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – International Labour Organization
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Ragnar Frisch, Jan Tinbergen

References

1969 – Headlines
A report from Rich Lamb of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.

1969 – The Year in Sound
An Audiofile produced by Lou Zambrana of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.

{{DEFAULTSORT:1969
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