1947

January

January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: Worst snowfall in the country in the 20th century, with extensive disruption of travel. Given the low ratio of private vehicle ownership at the time this is mainly remembered in terms of the effects on the railway networks.

January 1

British coal mines are nationalised.

Nigeria gains limited autonomy before gaining independence in 1960.

The Canadian Citizenship Act comes into effect.

January 3 – Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time.

January 10 – The United Nations takes control of the free city of Trieste.

January 15 – Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia", is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The case remains unsolved to this day.

January 16 – Vincent Auriol is inaugurated as president of France.

January 19 – A shipwreck near Athens, Greece kills 392.

January 24 – Dimitrios Maximos founds a monarchist government in Athens.

January 25 – A Philippine plane crashes in Hong Kong, with $5 million worth of gold and money.

January 25 – Famous gangster Al Capone dies.

January 26 – A KLM Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft crashes soon after taking off from Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen, killing all on board, including Prince Gustaf Adolf, second in line to the Swedish throne, and the American singer Grace Moore.

January 30 – February 8 – A heavy blizzard in Canada buries towns from Winnipeg, to Calgary.

January 31 – The Communists take power in Poland.

February

February 3

The lowest air temperature in North America (-63 degrees Celsius) is recorded in Snag in the Yukon Territory.

Percival Prattis becomes the first African-American news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives and Senate press galleries.

February 5

Bolesław Bierut becomes the President of Poland.

The Government of the United Kingdom announces the £25 million Tanganyika groundnut scheme for cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory.

February 6 – South Pacific Commission (SPC) founded.

February 8 – Karlslust dance hall fire in Berlin, Germany, kills over 80 people.

February 10 – In Paris, France, peace treaties are signed between the World War II Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland. Italy cedes most of Istria to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later Croatia).

February 12

A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.

Christian Dior introduces The "New Look" in women's fashion, in Paris.

In Burma, the Panglong Agreement is reached between the Burmese government under its leader, General Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin ethnic peoples at the Panglong Conference. U Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung and Myoma U Than Kywe are among the negotiators.

February 17 – Cold War: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

February 20

An explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company in Los Angeles, leaves 17 dead, 100 buildings damaged, and a 22-foot-deep (6.7 m) crater in the ground.

U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hermes program V-2 rocket Blossom I launched into space carrying plant material and fruitflies, the first animals to enter space.

February 21 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", his Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

February 22 – Tom and Jerry cartoon Cat Fishin', is released.

February 23 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.

February 25

The German state of Prussia is officially abolished by the Allied Control Council.

The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.

John C. Hennessy, Jr., brings the first Volkswagen Beetle to the United States. He purchased the 1946 automobile from the U.S. Army Post Exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army. The Beetle was shipped from Bremerhaven, arriving in New York this day.

February 28

The United States grants France a military base in Casablanca.

In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with large loss of civilian lives.

March

March 1

The International Monetary Fund begins to operate.

Wernher von Braun marries his first cousin, the 18-year-old Maria von Quirstorp.

March 4 – Treaty of Dunkirk (coming into effect 8 September) signed between the United Kingdom and France providing for mutual assistance in the event of attack.

March 9 – Carrie Chapman Catt dies in New Rochelle.

March 12 – The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.

March 14 – Thames flood and other widespread flooding as the exceptionally harsh British winter of 1946–1947 ends in a thaw.

March 15 – Hindus and Muslims clash in Punjab.

March 19 – The 19th Academy Awards ceremony is held. The movie The Best Years of Our Lives wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with several other Academy Awards.

March 25 – A coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois, kills 111 miners.

March 28 – A World War II Japanese booby trap explodes on Corregidor island, killing 28 people.

March 29 – A rebellion against French rule erupts in Madagascar.

March 31 – The leaders of the Kurdish People's Republic of Mahabad, the second Kurdish state in the history of Iran, are hanged at the Chuwarchira Square in Mahabad after that country had been overrun by the Iranian army.

April

April – Previous discovery of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' in the Qumran Caves (above the northwest shore of the Dead Sea) by Bedouin shepherds, becomes known.

April 1

Jackie Robinson, the first African American in Major League Baseball since the 1880s, signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

King George II of Greece is succeeded by his brother King Paul I.

April 4 – International Civil Aviation Organization begins operations.

April 7

Edaville Railroad was opened as the first railway theme parks.

The largest recorded sunspot group appears on the solar surface.

April 9

Multiple tornadoes strike Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas killing 181 and injuring 970.

the Journey of Reconciliation began, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality

April 15 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play Major League Baseball since the 1880s.

April 16

Texas City disaster: The ammonium nitrate cargo of French-registered Liberty ship SS Grandcamp explodes in Texas City, Texas, killing at least 581, including all but one member of the city fire department, injuring at least 5,000 and destroying 20 city blocks. Of the dead, remains of 113 are never found and 63 are unidentifiable.

American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch describes the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "Cold War".

April 18

The British Royal Navy detonates 6,800 tons of explosives in an attempt to demolish the fortified island of Heligoland, Germany, thus creating one of the largest man-made non-nuclear explosions in history.

Mrs. Ples is discovered in the Sterkfontein area in Transvaal, South Africa.

April 26 – Academy-Award-winning Tom and Jerry cartoon, The Cat Concerto, is released to theatres.

May

May 1 – Portella della Ginestra massacre: The Salvatore Giuliano gang of Sicilian separatists opens fire on a Labour Day parade at Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 27.

May 2 – The movie Miracle on 34th Street, a Christmastime classic, is first shown in theaters.

May 3 – The new post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.

May 12 – The animated cartoon film Rabbit Transit, directed by Friz Freleng, is released.

May 22

The Cold War begins: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine. This Act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece. The Cold War ended in 1991.

David Lean's film Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, opens in the United States. Critics call it the finest film ever made from a Charles Dickens novel.

May 29 – An airliner of the Flugfelag Íslands crashes into a mountainside, killing 25 people.

May 30 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 605: A Douglas C-54 Skymaster crashes near Bainbridge, Maryland, killing all 53 aboard in the worst commercial aviation disaster in US history.

June

June – The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is introduced.

June 5 – U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the Marshall Plan for American reconstruction and relief aid to Europe in a speech at Harvard University.

June 7 – The Royal Romanian Army founds the Association football club FC Steaua București, which will become the most successful Romanian football team, as A.S.A. București.

June 10 – SAAB in Sweden produces its first automobile.

June 11–15 – First Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is held in Wales.

June 15 – The Portuguese government orders 11 military officers and 19 university professors who are accused of revolutionary activity to resign.

June 21

Seaman Harold Dahl claims to have seen six unidentified flying objects (UFOs) near Maury Island in Puget Sound, Washington. On the next morning, Dahl reports the first modern so-called "Men in Black" encounter.

The Canadian Parliament votes unanimously to pass several laws regarding displaced foreign refugees.

June 23 – The United States Senate follows the House of Representatives in overriding President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.

June 24 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.

June 25 – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is published for the first time as Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 14 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944 ("The Annex: Diary Notes from 14 June 1942 – 1 August 1944") in Amsterdam, two years after the writer's death in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

July

July 1 – The United States begins the National Malaria Eradication Program, successfully eradicating Malaria in 1951.

July 6 – The AK-47 assault rifle enters production, becoming the most produced gun in history.

July 8 – A supposedly downed extraterrestrial spacecraft is reportedly found in the Roswell UFO incident, near Roswell, New Mexico, which was written about by Stanton T. Friedman.

July 9 – In the UK, King George VI announces the engagement of his daughter Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten.

July 11 – The Exodus leaves France for Palestine, with 4,500 Jewish Holocaust survivor refugees on board.

July 17

The Indian passenger ship SS Ramdas is capsized by a cyclone at Mumbai, India, with 625 people killed.

This is the alleged date when Raoul Wallenberg dies in a Soviet prison. It is not announced until February 6, 1957. There will be reported sightings of him until 1987.

July 18

Following wide media and UNSCOP coverage, the Exodus is captured by British troops and refused entry into Palestine at the port of Haifa.

President Harry S. Truman signs the Presidential Succession Act into law, which places the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate next in the line of succession after the Vice President.

July 19 – Burmese nationalist Aung San and six members of his newly formed cabinet are assassinated during a cabinet meeting.

July 26 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

July 27–28 – English endurance swimmer Tom Blower becomes the first person to swim the North Channel, from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland to Portpatrick in Scotland.

July 29 – After being shut down on November 9, 1946, for a refurbishment, the ENIAC computer, the world's first electronic digital computer, is turned back on again. It next remains in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.

August

August 5 – The Netherlands stops all "police actions" in Indonesia.

August 7

Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could hypothetically have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

August 14

The Muslim majority region formed by the Partition of India gains independence from the British Empire and adopts the name Pakistan. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first Governor-General of Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan takes office as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan

August 15

The greater Indian subcontinent with a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, etc. formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and retains the name India.

Louis Mountbatten becomes the first Governor-General of India. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India. He took the Prime Minister's oath from Mountbatten.

August 16 – In Greece, General Markos Vafiadis takes over the government.

August 23 – The Prime Minister of Greece, Dimitrios Maximos, resigns.

August 27 – The French government lowers the daily bread ration to 200 grams, causing riots in Verdun and in Le Mans.

August 30 – A fire at a movie theater in Rueil, a suburb of Paris, France kills 87 people.

August 31 – The communists seize power in Hungary.

September

September 9 –A moth lodged in a relay is found to be the cause of a malfunction in the Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer, logged as "First actual case of bug being found."

September 13 – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru suggests the exchange of four million Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan.

September 16 – 1947 Typhoon Kathleen, where damaged in centralized torrential rain, following to embankment collapse and flood in Tone River, debris flow in Kanto region, Japan. According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, killing 1,930 persons with injuring 1,547 persons.

September 17–September 21 – The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane in southeastern Florida, and also in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana causes widespread damage and kills 51 people.

September 18

National Security Act of 1947 becomes effective on this day creating the United States Air Force, National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.

War Department becomes the Department of the Army, a branch of the new Department of Defense.

September 22 – Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Communist Information Bureau) ("Cominform") is founded.

September 30 – Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations.

October

October – First recorded use of the word computer in its modern sense, referring to an electronic digital machine.

October 5 – President Harry S. Truman delivers the first televised White House address speaking on the world food crises.

October 14 – The United States Air Force test pilot, Captain Chuck Yeager, flies a Bell X-1 rocket plane faster than the speed of sound, the first time it has been accomplished

October 20 – A war begins in Kashmir, along the border between India and Pakistan, leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 in the following year. Also, Pakistan established diplomatic relations with the United States of America.

October 24 – The first Azad Kashmir Government is established within Pakistan, headed by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as its first President supported by the government of Pakistan.

October 30 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is established.

November

November 2

In Long Beach, California, the designer and airplane pilot Howard Hughes carries out the one and only flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built and flown. This flight only lasted eight minutes.

An earthquake in the Chilean Andes kills 233 people.

November 6 – The program Meet the Press makes its television debut on the NBC-TV network in the United States.

November 9 – Junagadh is invaded by the Indian army.

November 10 – The arrest of four steel workers in Marseille begins a French communist riot that also spreads to Paris.

November 15

International Telecommunication Union becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Universal Postal Union (UPU) becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations (effective 1 July 1948).

November 16

In Brussels, 15,000 people demonstrate against the relatively short prison sentences of Belgian Nazi criminals.

Great Britain began withdrawing its troops from Palestine.

November 18 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 people.

November 20

The Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), the daughter of George VI, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom.

Paul Ramadier resigns as the Prime Minister of France. He is succeeded by Robert Schuman, who calls 80,000 army reservists to quell rioting miners in France.

November 21 – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment begins in Havana, Cuba. This conference ends in 1948, when its members finish the Havana Charter.

November 24 – McCarthyism: The United States House of Representatives votes 346–17 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten" after the screenwriters and directors refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of communist influences in the movie business. The ten men are blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios on the following day.

November 25

The Parliament of New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster, and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The new Pakistan Army and Pashtun mercenaries overrun Mirpur in Kashmir, resulting in the death of 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs.

November 27 – In Paris, France, police occupy the editorial offices of the communist newspapers.

November 29 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arab and Jewish regions, which results in the creation of the State of Israel.

December

December 3

French communist strikers derail the Paris-Tourcoing express train because of false rumors that it was transporting soldiers. 21 people are killed.

The Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Marlon Brando in his first great role, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Jessica Tandy also stars as Blanche Du Bois.

December 4 – The French Interior Minister, Jules S. Moch, takes emergency measures against his country's rioters after six days of violent arguments in the National Assembly.

December 6

Arturo Toscanini conducts a concert performance of the first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello for a broadcast on NBC Radio in the United States. The second half of the opera is broadcast a week later.

Women are admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge in England following a vote in September.

December 9 – French labor unions call off the general strike and re-commence negotiations with the French government.

December 12 – The Iranian Royal Army takes back power in the Azerbaijan province.

December 14 – Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, as known well for sports venues of Spain, officially opened in Madrid.

December 21 – 400,000 slaughtered during mass migration of Hindus and Muslims into the new states India and Pakistan.

December 22

The Italian Constituent Assembly votes to accept the new Constitution of Italy.

The first practical electronic transistor is demonstrated by Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley of the United States.

December 30 – King Michael I of Romania abdicates.

Date unknown

The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigations into communism in Hollywood.

Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 assault rifle is accepted as the standard small arm of the Soviet military.

Raytheon produces the first commercial microwave oven

Women's suffrage is granted in Argentina.

The longest ever Ice cream serving career, the one of Allen Gans, started in 1947 in Boston.

In fiction

The song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" mentions Sgt. Pepper teaching the band to play "20 years ago today". This would place the event somewhere between February 1 and June 1 of 1947.

L.A. Noire, a video game released in 2011 by Rockstar Games, takes place in Los Angeles throughout the year 1947.

January

January 1

F. R. David, Tunisian-born French singer

Leon Patillo, American Christian musician

Vladimir Titov, Russian cosmonaut

Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer

January 2 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist

January 4 – Chris Cutler, English percussionist

January 5 – Mercury Morris, American football player

January 6 – Sandy Denny, British singer (d. 1978)

January 8

David Bowie, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)

Samuel Schmid, Swiss Federal Councilor

Terry Sylvester, English singer and musician

Laurie Walters, American actress

January 9

Nic Jones, English folk singer

Ronnie Landfield, American artist

January 10 – Peer Steinbrück, German politician

January 11 – Mart Smeets, Dutch sports journalist

January 14 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (d. 2003)

January 15

Andrea Martin, American actress

Michael Schanze, German television presenter

January 16

Apasra Hongsakula, Miss Universe 1965

Laura Schlessinger, American radio and TV talk show host

January 18 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese film director and actor

January 19 – Paula Deen, Food Channel star

January 21 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress

January 23

Thomas R. Carper, U.S. Senator from Delaware

Megawati Sukarnoputri, 5th President of Indonesia

January 24

Michio Kaku, American theoretical physicist

Masashi Ozaki, Japanese golfer

Warren Zevon, American rock musician (d. 2003)

January 25 – Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade (Tostão), Brazilian football player

January 27

Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hoola Bandoola Band) (d. 1999)

Vyron Polydoras, Greek politician

Cal Schenkel, American illustrator

Philip Sugden, English historian (d. 2014)

January 29 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

January 30 – Steve Marriott, British rock musician (d. 1991)

January 31 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player

January 31 - Maggi Clayden, Test Pilot, Solicitor, Artist and serial Entrepreneur

February

February 1 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)

February 2 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)

February 3

Paul Auster, American novelist

Melanie Safka, American rock singer

February 4

Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and Director of National Intelligence

Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States

February 5 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and broadcaster

February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (d. 2009)

February 10

Louise Arbour, Canadian jurist

Nicholas Owen, English newsreader (ITN)

February 11

Yukio Hatoyama, 60th Prime Minister of Japan

Derek Shulman, Lead Singer of Gentle Giant

February 13 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball coach

February 15

John Adams, American composer

Wenche Myhre, Norwegian actress and singer

Ádám Nádasdy, Hungarian linguist and poet

February 18

Princess Christina of the Netherlands

Dennis DeYoung, American rock musician (Styx)

February 19 – Gustavo Rodríguez, Venezuelan actor (d. 2014)

February 20

Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)

Peter Strauss, American actor

February 21 – Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident journalist and priest (d. 2006)

February 24

Rupert Holmes, British-born American singer-songwriter

Edward James Olmos, American actor, better known for his role in Stand and Deliver

February 25

Lee Evans, American Olympic athlete

Doug Yule, American rock singer and musician (The Velvet Underground)

February 26 – Sandie Shaw, British singer

February 27 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist

February 28 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress

March

March 1 – Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and television host (d. 2016)

March 4

David Franzoni, American screenwriter

Jan Garbarek, Norwegian musician

Gunnar Hansen, Icelandic actor (d. 2015)

March 6

Kiki Dee, English pop singer

Dick Fosbury, American athlete

Teru Miyamoto, Japanese author

Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, producer, director, activist

March 7 – Walter Röhrl, German race car driver

March 8

Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter

Michael S. Hart, American author and inventor (d. 2011)

March 10

Kim Campbell, 19th Prime Minister of Canada

Tom Scholz, American musician, songwriter and inventor

March 11

David Ferguson, American music producer and activist

Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player

March 12

Kalervo Palsa, a Finnish artist

Mitt Romney, American businessman, politician, former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 presidential candidate

March 13 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist

March 14 – Pam Ayres, British poet

March 15 – Ry Cooder, American guitarist

March 16

Baek Yoon-sik, South Korean actor

Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist

March 17 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer and producer

March 18 – Tamara Griesser Pečar, Slovenian historian

March 19 – Glenn Close, American actress

March 20 – John Boswell, American historian (d. 1994)

March 22

James Patterson, American author

Florence Warner, Voice of Adult Abigail the Woman in Once Upon a Forest

March 24

Louise Lanctôt, Canadian terrorist and writer

Alan Sugar, Baron Sugar, English entrepreneur

March 25 – Elton John, British rock musician

March 27 – Walt Mossberg, American newspaper columnist

March 31 – César Gaviria, President of Colombia

April

April 1

Alain Connes, French mathematician

Ingrid Steeger, German actress and comedian

April 2

Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter

Camille Paglia, American literary critic

April 4 – Eliseo Soriano, Philippine preacher

April 5 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines and daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal

April 6 – John Ratzenberger, American actor

April 8

Tom DeLay, American politician

Robert Kiyosaki, American investor, businessman, self-help author

April 11

Meshach Taylor, American actor (d. 2014)

Lucian Truscott IV, American writer and journalist

April 12

Tom Clancy, American author (d. 2013)

David Letterman, American talk show host

April 15

Mike Chapman, Australian-born songwriter, record producer

Lois Chiles, American actress

Roy Raymond (businessman), American entrepreneur and founder of Victoria's Secret (d. 1993)

April 16

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American pro basketball player

Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011)

April 18

Kathy Acker, American author (d. 1997)

Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor and director

James Woods, American actor

April 19  – Murray Perahia, American pianist

April 20   Hector, Finnish rock musician

April 21  – Iggy Pop, American rock musician

April 25  – Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2016)

April 28  – Ken St. Andre, American game designer and author

April 29  – Tommy James, American rock singer and producer

April 30  – Leslie Grantham, English actor

May

May 3 – Richard Jenkins, American actor

May 4 – Theda Skocpol, American sociologist

May 6 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher

May 8 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

May 11 – Walter Selke, German physicist

May 12 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician, philosopher and historian

May 13 – Stephen R. Donaldson, American novelist

May 19 – Paul Brady, Northern Irish singer/songwriter

May 23 – Ken Westerfield, Disc sports (Frisbee) pioneer, athlete, showman, promoter

May 24 – Maude Barlow, Canadian author, activist and National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians

May 26 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricket captain

May 27

Branko Oblak, Slovenian football player and coach

Peter DeFazio, American politician

May 29 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio broadcaster (d. 2007)

June

June 1

Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor

Ronnie Wood, English rock musician (The Faces, The Rolling Stones)

June 2 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Punjabi saint, Sikh theologian, military leader (d. 1984)

June 4 – Viktor Klima, Chancellor of Austria

June 5 – Laurie Anderson, American experimental performance artist, composer and musician

June 5 – Jojon, Indonesian comedian and actor (d. 2014)

June 6

David Blunkett, British politician

Robert Englund, American actor (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer

June 7 – Thurman Munson, American baseball catcher (d. 1979)

June 8 – Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

June 9 – Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter and sculptor

June 14 – Barry Melton, American rock musician (Country Joe and the Fish)

June 15 – John Hoagland, American war photographer (d. 1984)

June 16 – -minu, Swiss columnist and writer

June 19

Paula Koivuniemi, Finnish singer

Salman Rushdie, Indian-born British author (The Satanic Verses)

June 20 – Candy Clark, American actress

June 21

Meredith Baxter, American actress

Shirin Ebadi, Iranian activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

Michael Gross, American actor

Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher and author

June 22

Octavia E. Butler, American author (d. 2006)

David Lander, American actor

Pete Maravich, American basketball player (d. 1988)

Jerry John Rawlings, 3-Time President of Ghana

June 23 – Bryan Brown, Australian actor

June 25 – Jimmie Walker, American actor

June 28 – Mark Helprin, American writer

June 29 – David Chiang, Hong Kong actor

July

July 2 – Larry David, American actor, writer, producer and director

July 3

Dave Barry, American writer

Betty Buckley, American actress and singer

July 5

Joe Brown (judge), TV Judge

July 6 – Larnelle Harris, American Christian musician

July 7

Richard Beckinsale, English actor (d. 1979)

Felix Standaert, Belgian diplomat

July 8 – Bobby Sowell, American pianist and composer

July 9

Haruomi Hosono, Japanese musician (Yellow Magic Orchestra)

Mitch Mitchell, English rock drummer (d. 2008)

O. J. Simpson, American football player, actor

July 10 – Arlo Guthrie, American folk singer

July 12 – Loren Coleman, American cryptozoologist and author

July 17 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, British Princess and second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales

July 18 – Steven W. Mahoney, Canadian politician

July 19

Bernie Leadon, American musician and songwriter

Brian May, English rock guitarist (Queen)

July 20

Gerd Binnig, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Carlos Santana, Mexican-born rock guitarist

July 21 – Co Adriaanse, Dutch football manager

July 22

Albert Brooks, American actor, comedian, director, and novelist

Don Henley, American singer-songwriter and musician

July 23 – Spencer Christian, American television personality

July 24 – Peter Serkin, American pianist

July 27

Bob Klein, American football player

Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (d. 2008)

July 30

William Atherton, American actor

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born American actor, bodybuilder and 38th Governor of California

July 31

Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)

Joe Wilson, American politician

August

August 1 – Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet

August 3 – Colleen Corby, American fashion model

August 4 – Hubert Ingraham, Bahamian politician

August 7 – Franciscus Henri, Dutch-born Australian children's entertainer, composer and artist

August 8

Terangi Adam, Nauruan politician

George Costigan, British actor and screenwriter

August 9 – John Varley, American science-fiction author

August 10

Ian Anderson, British rock musician

Drupi, Italian singer

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian politician

August 11 – Diether Krebs, German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. (d. 2000)

August 12 – William Hartston, British chess player

August 13 – John Stocker, Canadian voice actor

August 14

Maddy Prior, English folk singer

Danielle Steel, American romance novelist

August 15 – Raakhee, Indian actress

August 16 – Marc Messier, Canadian actor

August 19

Terry Hoeppner, American football coach (d. 2007)

Gerard Schwarz, American conductor

August 22 – Cindy Williams, American actress

August 23 – Willy Russell, British playwright

August 24 – Roger De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist

August 27 – Barbara Bach, American actress

August 28 – Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress, Otis Surratt

August 29 – Temple Grandin, American animal welfare and autism expert

August 30 – Allan Rock, Canadian politician and diplomat

August 31

Ramón Castellano de Torres, Spanish painter

Somchai Wongsawat, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand

September

September 1 – Al Green, American politician

September 3 – Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway

September 5 – Kiyoshi Takayama, Japanese yakuza boss

September 6

Jane Curtin, American actress and comedian

Bruce Rioch, Scottish footballer and coach

Jacob Rubinovitz, Israeli scientist.

September 8

Amos Biwott, Kenya Olympic athlete

Benjamin Orr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2000)

September 9 – Freddy Weller, American singer-songwriter

September 14

Sam Neill, British-born New Zealand actor

Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish Roman Catholic priest and blessed (d. 1984)

September 16 – Russ Abbot, British comedian and actor

September 17 – Dame Tessa Jowell, British politician

September 19

Steve Bartlett, American businessman, lobbyist, politician (former U.S. congressman from Texas's 3rd congressional district; former mayor of Dallas, Texas; member of the Dallas City Council)

Tanith Lee, British author (d. 2015)

September 21

Don Felder, American musician and songwriter

Stephen King, American writer and novelist, specializing in the horror genre

September 22

Jo Beverley, Anglo-Canadian writer (d. 2016)

Norma McCorvey, American abortion plaintiff (Roe v. Wade) (d. 2017)

September 23 – Mary Kay Place, American actress

September 25 – Cheryl Tiegs, American model and actress

September 26 – Lynn Anderson, American country-music singer (d. 2015)

September 27

Dick Advocaat, a Dutch football manager

Meat Loaf, American rock singer, actor

September 28 – Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1996–2001; 2009–present)

September 30

Marc Bolan, English rock musician (d. 1977)

Rula Lenska, English actress

October

October 1

Aaron Ciechanover, an Israeli biologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Stephen Collins, American actor

October 2 – Ward Churchill, American author and activist

October 3

Alain Mucchielli, French physician

Fred DeLuca, American entrepreneur and co-founder of Subway (d. 2015)

October 4 – Ann Widdecombe, British politician

October 5 – Brian Johnson, English rock singer (AC/DC)

October 6 – Gail Farrell, American singer

October 7 – Pip Williams, British record producer

October 8 – Stephen Shore, American photographer

October 9 – France Gall, French singer

October 10 – Larry Lamb, British actor

October 13 – Sammy Hagar, Lead singer of American rock group Van Halen

October 14 – Nikolai Volkoff, Croatian-Russian professional wrestler

October 16

Nicholas Day, British actor

Bob Weir, American rock guitarist

October 17

Gene Green, American politician

Michael McKean, American actor and comedian

October 18

James H. Fallon, American neuroscientist

Job Cohen – Dutch politician

October 19

Giorgio Cavazzano, Italian comics artist and illustrator

Gunnar Staalesen, Norwegian author

October 22 – Ed Welch, English TV-music composer

October 24 – Kevin Kline, American actor

October 25 – Glenn Tipton, English rock guitarist

October 26

Hillary Clinton, American politician, former First Lady, US Senator (D-Ny.) and Secretary of State

Ene Järvis, Estonian actress

Trevor Joyce, Irish poet

October 29 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor

October 30 – Timothy B. Schmit, American musician

October 31 – Herman Van Rompuy, Belgian politician and 66th Prime Minister of Belgium

November

November 5 – Rubén Juárez, Argentine bandoneonist and singer-songwriter of tango (d. 2010)

November 6

Jim Rosenthal, ITV sport presenter

E. Lee Spence, pioneer underwater archaeologist and treasure hunter

November 7

Yutaka Fukumoto, Japanese professional baseball player

Sondhi Limthongkul, Thai journalist, writer and founder of Manager Daily

November 8

Minnie Riperton, American singer (d. 1979)

Cassandra B. Whyte, American educator and higher education administrator

Lewis Yocum, American orthopedic surgeon (d. 2013)

November 9 – Phil Driscoll, American Christian musician and trumpet player

November 10

Glen Buxton, American rock guitarist (d. 1997)

Greg Lake, English musician and producer (King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer) (d. 2017)

November 13 – Joe Mantegna, American actor

November 14 – P. J. O'Rourke, American journalist and satirist

November 15 – Steven G. Kellman, American author and critic

November 17 – Inky Mark, Canadian politician

November 19

Bob Boone, American baseball player and manager

Anfinn Kallsberg, former Faroese Prime Minister

Lamar S. Smith, American politician

November 20

Joe Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist

Nurlan Balgimbayev, Kazakh politician (d. 2015)

November 21

Nickolas Grace, British actor

Chua Ek Kay, Singaporean painter (d. 2008)

November 23 – Alphons Orie, Dutch criminal lawyer and judge

November 24 – Dwight Schultz, American actor (The A-Team)

November 25 – John Larroquette, American actor

November 27 – Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti

November 29 – Mirza Khazar, Azerbaijani author

November 30

Sergio Badilla Castillo, Chilean poet

Stuart Baird, English film editor, producer and director

Jude Ciccolella, American actor

Véronique Le Flaguais, Canadian actress

David Mamet, American playwright

December

December 1 – Bob Fulton, English-born Australian rugby league player

December 2 – Isaac Bitton, French rock band drummer

December 7

Johnny Bench, American baseball player

Wendy Padbury, British actress

December 8

Gregg Allman, American singer and songwriter

Gérard Blanc, French singer

Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

December 9 – Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator

December 10 – Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player

December 12 – Will Alsop, English architect

December 14

Christopher Parkening, American guitarist

Dilma Rousseff, 36th President of Brazil

December 16

Ben Cross, English actor

Vincent Matthews, American athlete

December 18 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian crime fiction writer

December 21 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist

December 22

Mitsuo Tsukahara, Japanese gymnast

Porfirio Lobo, 54th President of Honduras

December 26 – Carlton Fisk, American baseball player

December 28 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican Major League Baseball player (d. 2000)

December 29

Ted Danson, American actor (Cheers)

Cozy Powell, British Rock Drummer (d. 1998)

December 30 – Jeff Lynne, British musician

December 31

Burton Cummings, Canadian rock musician

Tim Matheson, American actor, film director and producer

Date unknown

Jean-François Batellier, French political cartoonist

Peter Irniq, Commissioner of Nunavut

Stephen LaBerge, Lucid dream researcher

Jamie Donnelly, American film and stage actress

January

January 3 – Al Herpin (The Man Who Never Slept), notable insomniac (b. 1853)

January 9

Herman Bing, German actor (b. 1889)

Karl Mannheim, Hungarian sociologist (b. 1893)

January 10 – Arthur E. Andersen, American accountant (b. 1885)

January 12 – Zdenko Blažeković, Croatian politician (b. 1915)

January 14 – Bill Hewitt, American football player (Chicago Bears) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1909)

January 15 – Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia), famous murder victim (b. 1924)

January 19 – Manuel Machado Spanish poet (b. 1874)

January 20

Andrew Volstead, American politician (b. 1860)

Josh Gibson, African-American baseball player and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1911)

January 22 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, English writer (b. 1888)

January 23

Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)

Roy Geiger, American general (b. 1885)

January 25 – Al Capone, American gangster (b. 1899)

January 26

Grace Moore, American opera singer (b. 1898)

Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, Swedish prince (b. 1906)

January 27 – Vassily Balabanov, administrator and Provincial Governor of Imperial Russia (b.1873)

January 30 – Frederick Blackman, British plant physiologist (b.1866)

February

February 3 – Petar Zivkovic, Serbian politician, former Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1879)

February 6

O. Max Gardner, Governor of North Carolina (b. 1882)

Luigi Russolo, Italian Futurist painter and composer (b. 1885)

February 11 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler (b.1884)

February 12

Kurt Lewin, German-American psychologist (b. 1890)

Sidney Toler, American actor (b. 1874)

February 27 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1868)

March

March 5 – Alfredo Casella, Italian composer (b. 1883)

March 10 – Harukichi Hyakutake, Japanese general (b. 1888)

March 11

Victor Lustig, Austrian-born con artist (b. 1890)

Wilhelm Heye, German general (b. 1869)

March 12 – Walter Samuel Goodland, Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1862)

March 15

Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (b. 1863)

Jean-Richard Bloch, French critic, novelist and playwright (b. 1884)

March 18 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)

March 19 – Prudence Heward, Canadian painter (b. 1896)

March 20 – Victor Goldschmidt, Swiss geochemist (b. 1888)

March 21 – Homer Lusk Collyer, American hermit brother (Collyer brothers) (b. 1881)

March 23

Archduchess Louise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)

Ferdinand Zecca, French film director (b. 1864)

March 25 – Chen Cheng-po, Taiwanese painter (b. 1895)

March 28

Johnny Evers, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1881)

Karol Świerczewski, Polish military leader (b. 1897)

April

April 1 – King George II of Greece (b. 1890)

April 7 – Henry Ford, American industrialist and automobile manufacturer (b. 1863)

April 8 – Langley Collyer, American hermit brother (b. 1885)

April 10

John Ince, American actor (b. 1878)

Charles Bally, Swiss linguist (b. 1865)

April 16 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp (executed) (b. 1900)

April 20 – King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)

April 24 – Willa Siebert Cather, American novelist (b. 1873)

May

May 8 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American department store magnate (b. 1858)

May 13 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet (b. 1926)

May 14 – John R. Sinnock, eighth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint (b. 1888)

May 16 – Frederick Hopkins, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1861)

May 17

George Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)

Seabiscuit, Thoroughbred Racehorse (b. 1933)

May 18 – Lucile Gleason, American actress (b. 1888)

May 20 – Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)

May 24 – C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)

May 28 – August Eigruber, Nazi war criminal (executed) (b. 1907)

May 30 – Georg Ludwig von Trapp, Austrian sailor, patriarch of the Von Trapp Family of The Sound of Music fame (b. 1880)

May 31 – Adrienne Ames, American actress (b. 1907)

June

June 6 – Władysław Raczkiewicz, 1st president of the Polish Government in exile (b. 1885)

June 9 – J. Warren Kerrigan, American actor (b. 1879)

June 11 – Richard Hönigswald, Hungarian-born American philosopher (b. 1875)

June 14 – Albert Marquet, French painter (b. 1875)

June 17 – Maxwell Perkins, American literary editor (b. 1884)

June 18 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese rear admiral and convicted war criminal (executed) (b. 1898)

June 19 – Kōsō Abe, Japanese admiral and convicted war criminal (executed) (b. 1892)

June 20 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (b. 1906)

June 22 – Jim Tully, vagabond, pugilist, noted American writer (b. 1891)

June 26 – Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1870)

July

July 12 – Jimmie Lunceford, American jazz musician (b. 1902)

July 15 – Brandon Hurst, American stage and screen veteran (b. 1866)

July 15 – Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (b. 1893)

July 17 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat and humanitarian (presumed dead on this date) (b. 1912)

July 19 – Aung San, Burmese nationalist (assassinated) (b. 1915)

July 27 – Ivan Regen, Slovenian biologist (b. 1868)

July 29

Leo Stein, American art collector and critic (b. 1872)

George Bausewine American baseball player and umpire (b. 1869)

July 30 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1860)

August

August 3 – Vic Willis, American baseball player (Boston Braves) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1876)

August 8 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian military leader (b. 1872)

August 20 – Franz Cumont, Belgian archaeologist and historian (b. 1868)

August 29

Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (gored) (b. 1917)

Kōtarō Nakamura, General of the Imperial Japanese Army (b. 1881)

September

September 1 – Frederick Russell Burnham, American Scout, father of the international Scouting movement (b. 1861)

September 8 – Victor Horta, Belgian Art Nouveau architect (b. 1861)

September 9 – Ananda Coomaraswamy, philosopher (b. 1877)

September 10 – Hatazō Adachi, Japanese general (suicide) (b. 1890)

September 20

Fiorello H. La Guardia, Mayor of New York (b. 1882)

Jantina Tammes, Dutch plant biologist (b. 1871)

September 21 – Harry Carey, American film actor (b. 1878)

September 26 – Hugh Lofting, British-born writer (b. 1886)

October

October 1 – Olive Borden, American actress (b. 1906)

October 2 – P. D. Ouspensky, Russian mathematician (b. 1878)

October 3 – Ernest L. Riebau, American politician (1895)

October 4 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)

October 6 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (b. 1887)

October 12 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, British general (b. 1853)

October 13 – Sidney Webb, English economist and social reformer (b. 1859)

October 17 – John Halliday, American actor (b. 1880)

October 23 – Carl Shelton, Gangster (b. 1888)

October 24 – Dudley Digges, Irish actor (b. 1879)

October 28 – Earl Snell, Governor of Oregon (plane crash) (b. 1895)

October 29 – Frances Cleveland, First Lady of the United States (b. 1864)

November

November 1 – Man o' War, champion thoroughbred racehorse (b. 1917)

November 8 – Mariano Benlliure, Spanish sculptor (b. 1862)

November 15 – Eduard Ritter von Schleich, German fighter ace and air force general (b. 1888)

November 20 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (b. 1877)

November 25 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French writer (b. 1876)

November 28

W. E. Lawrence, American silent film actor (b. 1896)

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general (b. 1902)

November 30 – Ernst Lubitsch, German film director (b. 1892)

December

December 1

Aleister Crowley, British occultist (b. 1875)

G. H. Hardy, British mathematician (b. 1877)

December 7

Tristan Bernard, French writer and lawyer (b. 1866)

Nicholas M. Butler, American president of Columbia University, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1862)

December 13 – Nicholas Roerich, Russian painter (b. 1874)

December 14

Stanley Baldwin, English Conservative politician, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)

Edward Higgins, General of The Salvation Army (b. 1864)

December 15 – Arthur Machen, Welsh writer (b. 1863)

December 17 – J. N. Brønsted, Danish chemist (b. 1879)

December 25 – Gaspar G. Bacon, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1886)

December 27 – Johannes Winkler, German rocket pioneer (b. 1897)

December 28 – Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)

December 29 – Han van Meegeren, Dutch painter and forger (b. 1889)

December 30 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1861)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Edward Victor Appleton

Chemistry – Sir Robert Robinson

Medicine – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Gerty Cori, Bernardo Houssay

Literature – André Gide

Peace – The Friends Service Council (UK) and The American Friends Service Committee (USA), on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends