1948

January

January 1

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) inaugurated.

Railways of Britain are nationalized to form British Railways.

The Constitution of the Italian Republic goes into effect.

The latest Constitution of New Jersey goes into effect.

January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu its first Prime Minister.

January 5 – Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl).

January 7 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.

January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi to stop communal violence during the Partition of India.

January 17 – A truce is declared between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in Java.

January 22 – British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France, and the Benelux countries to stand up against the Soviet Union. The Treaty of Brussels is signed March 17 as a consequence, a predecessor to NATO.

January 26 – Teigin poison case: a man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 of 16 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced to death for the crime, but is never executed.

January 29

The Pakistan Socialist Party is founded in Karachi.

DC-3 aircraft crash at Los Gatos Creek, near Coalinga, California, kills four US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a protest song ("Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)") by Woody Guthrie.

January 30

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is shot by Nathuram Godse in New Delhi. Also on this day Orville Wright of the pioneering aviators the Wright Brothers dies in Dayton, Ohio.

1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

January 31 – The British crown colony of the Malayan Union, Penang and Malacca form the Federation of Malaya.

February

February 1

The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.

The proclamation of Federation of Malaya

February 4 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) becomes an independent kingdom within the British Commonwealth.

February 16 – Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.

February 18 – Éamon de Valera, Irish head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach by President Seán O'Kelly.

February 19 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.

February 21 – The stock car racing organization NASCAR is founded by Bill France, Sr.

February 22 – The first Ben Yehuda Street bombing kills between 49 and 58 civilians and injures between 140 and 200.

February 25 – The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia, a day celebrated by that regime as "Victorious February" (Czech: Vítězný únor; Slovak: Víťazný Február) until November 1989.

February 28

Riots take place in Accra, capital of the British colony of Gold Coast, when a peaceful protest march by ex-servicemen was broken up by police, leaving several members of the group dead, among them Sergeant Adjetey, one of the leaders.

The 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India convenes in Calcutta.

March

March 8 – McCollum v. Board of Education: The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.

March 12 – The Costa Rican Civil War begins.

March 16 – The largest flood in the history of Brampton, Ontario, occurs.

March 17

Treaty of Brussels signed by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, providing for economic, social and cultural collaboration and collective self-defence.

The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.

March 18 – The Round Table Conference in The Hague, Netherlands for the preparation of the decolonization process for Aruba and the other Dutch Colonies. Aruba presents the mandate of the Aruban People for Aruba to become an Independent Country, under the souvereignty of the House of Orange, based on Aruba's first state constitution presented officially since August 1947, and a (4th) Member State of the future Dutch Commonwealth.

March 20

Singapore holds its first elections.

Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program in the United States.

The 20th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Los Angeles. Gentleman's Agreement wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

April

April 1 – Physicists Ralph Asher Alpher and George Gamow publish the Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper about the Big Bang.

April 3

United States President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

Jeju Uprising – residents revolt on Jeju island, South Korea, eventually leading to the deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played on television in its entirety for the first time in a series of concerts featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the United States. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.

April 5 – 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Haganah launches Operation Nachshon; beginning of the 1948 Palestinian exodus.

April 7

The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.

A fire in a Buddhist monastery in Shanghai kills 20 monks.

April 9

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further 10 years of violence (La Violencia) across Colombia.

The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in British Mandatory Palestine.

April 13 – The Hadassah medical convoy massacre takes place in British Mandatory Palestine.

April 16 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is founded as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC).

April 18 – Italian general election, 1948:: The first democratic general election with universal suffrage is held in Italy. The Christian Democracy party achieves a majority over the Popular Democratic Front Communist-Socialist coalition.

April 19

– Burma joins the United Nations.

The American Broadcasting Company (otherwise known as ABC) begins television services, on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV).

April 22 – Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Battle of Haifa – The Jewish paramilitary group Haganah captures Haifa from the Arab Liberation Army.

April 24 – The Costa Rican Civil War ends.

April 30 – Organization of American States (OAS) founded.

April 30 – The English-built Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.

May

May – The RAND Corporation is established as an independent nonprofit policy research and analysis institution.

May 4 – Laurence Olivier's film version of Hamlet makes its world premiere in London.

May 11 – Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.

May 14 – The Israeli Declaration of Independence is made.

May 15

1948 Arab–Israeli War: The British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated; expeditionary forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria and Iraq invade Israel and clash with Israeli forces.

The murder of a 3-year-old girl in Blackburn, England leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.

May 16 – Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.

May 18 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.

May 22 – The Soviets launched the largest Lithuanian deportation to Siberia.

May 25 – The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) was founded on this date at Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila, Philippines.

May 26 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

May 28 – Daniel François Malan defeats Jan Smuts and becomes Prime Minister of South Africa, ushering in the era of apartheid, which is finally dismantled by F. W. de Klerk in 1994.

May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes; 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

June

June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.

June 10 – Hasan Saka forms the new government of Turkey. (17th government; Hasan Saka had served twice as a prime minister)

June 11 – The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.

June 15 – Chinese newspaper, Renmin Ribao (People's Daily), a first issue of published in Pingshan, Hebei Province, China.

June 16

Communist guerrillas kill 3 rubber planters in Malaya.

Three armed men hijack the Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes, killing 26 of 27 people on board.

June 17 – A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

June 18

Malayan Emergency: A state of emergency is declared in the Malayan Union due to a communist insurgency.

LP record – Columbia Records introduced its long playing 33 ¹/₃ rpm phonograph format.

June 20 – The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).

June 21 – The Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.

June 22 – The ship MV Empire Windrush brings a large group of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury near London, the start of a large wave of immigration to Britain.

June 24

Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.

The first World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization is held in Geneva.

June 26 – William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.

June 28

The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.

David Lean's Oliver Twist, based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged antisemitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.

1948 Fukui earthquake strikes Fukui, Japan. 3,769 dead, 22,203 injured.

July

July 5 – The National Health Service Acts are enacted in United Kingdom.

July 6 – The world's first Air Car-ferry service is flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways from Lympne to Le Touquet.

July 13 – The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.

July 15

Attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party results in numerous strikes all over the country.

First London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous is founded.

July 20 – Cold War:

President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt)

Eugene Dennis, William Z. Foster, and ten other CPUSA leaders are arrested and charged under the Alien Registration Act

July 22 – The Dominion of Newfoundland votes to join Canada after a referendum.

July 26 – U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.

July 28 – Around 200 die in explosion at a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

July 29 – The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first since the 1936 Summer Olympics

July 31 –

At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated

Elizabeth Bentley appears under subpoena before HUAC regarding Communist espionage; implicates Whittaker Chambers

August

August 1 – The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.

August 3 – Whittaker Chambers appears under subpoena before HUAC and alleges that several former U.S. Federal official were communists, including Harry Dexter White and Alger Hiss

August 5 – Alger Hiss appears before HUAC to deny the allegations of Whittaker Chambers

August 10 – August 23 – The Herrenchiemsee Convent prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany

August 13 – Harry Dexter White and Donald Hiss refute allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers before HUAC

August 14 – 1948 Ashes series: The Australian batsman Don Bradman, playing his last Test cricket match, against England at The Oval, is bowled by Eric Hollies for a duck; however, "The Invincibles" win the match by an innings and 149 runs, and The Ashes 4-0.

August 15 – The southern half of Korea is established as South Korea.

August 16 – Babe Ruth dies in his sleep at the age of 53.

August 17 – HUAC holds a private session between Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers

August 18 – Danube Commission created by Belgrade Convention (enters into force 11 May 1949).

August 20 – Lee Pressman, Nathan Witt, and John Abt, represented by Harold I. Cammer, plead the Fifth Amendment in response to allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers before HUAC

August 23 – The World Council of Churches is established.

August 24 – The first meeting of the charter members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) is held.

August 25 – HUAC holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss

August 27 – Whittaker Chambers states that Alger Hiss was a communist on Meet the Press radio

September

September 4 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.

September 5 – Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.

September 6 – Juliana is formally inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands.

September 9 – The northern half of Korea is formally declared North Korea, with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.

September 11 – Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder and first Governor-General of Pakistan, dies. Pakistan is in a state of shock as it mourns the departure of the father of the nation. The day is a public holiday nationwide.

September 12 – The State of Hyderabad is invaded by the Indian Army on the day after Pakistani leader Jinnah's death, to assist damage control. Operation Polo leads to the independence of Hyderabad state and its amalgamation into the Indian union.

September 17 – Lehi members, also known as the Stern Gang, assassinate Swedish count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator in Palestine, in Jerusalem.

September 20 – Establishment of the city Rabwah, Pakistan

September 27 – Alger Hiss files a slander suit against Whittaker Chambers for his August 27 radio statement

September 29 – Laurence Olivier's Hamlet opens in the United States.

October

October 6 – The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000.

October 10 – R-1 missile on test becomes the first Soviet launch to enter space.

October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.

October 26 – Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.

October 28 – The Al-Dawayima massacre begins.

November

November 1

Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other CPUSA leaders begins in New York City.

Athenagoras I is elected 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

November 2 – United States presidential election, 1948: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and "Dixiecrat" Strom Thurmond.

November 12 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.

November 15 – Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's 12th prime minister.

November 16

Operation Magic Carpet to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.

The University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes) is founded in Bogotá, Colombia.

November 17

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.

Whittaker Chambers produces secret government papers handwritten and typewritten by Alger Hiss during pretrial examination.

November 20 – Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.

November 24 – In Venezuela, president Rómulo Gallegos is ousted by a military junta.

November 27 – The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before 20,013 fans at Toronto's Varsity Stadium to capture their first Grey Cup and complete the only perfect season to date in Canadian Football.

December

December 1 – José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do so

December 2 – HUAC subpoenas and retrieves the "Pumpkin Papers" from the farm of Whittaker Chambers

December 6 – Richard Nixon parades microfilm from the "Pumpkin Papers" to the press

December 9 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Genocide Convention

December 10 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

December 11–12 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Scots Guards shoot 24 Chinese villagers in Malaya

December 15 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss on two counts of perjury

December 19 – In the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 to win the championship.

December 20 – Laurence Duggan falls to his death from the 16th storey window of his Manhattan office

December 26 – The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea

December 28 – A Muslim Brotherhood member assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi

December 30 – The musical Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances in New York City

December 31 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War: Israeli troops drive the Egyptians from Negev

Date unknown

Brandeis University is founded in Massachusetts, USA.

Casimir effect discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.

The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens on Staten Island, New York.

The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Slovak city Gúta is renamed Kolárovo.

The Tunnel of Vielha is opened in the Aran Valley, Spanish Pyrenees.

Last recorded sighting of the Caspian tiger in Kazakhstan.

A pack of wolves kills about 40 children in Darovskoy District, in Russia.

Charles Warrell creates the first I-Spy books.

Rev. W. Awdry's third book, James the Red Engine, is published.

Last edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum is published in the Vatican.

The first Kinsey Report, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, is published.

Inspired by World War II fighter planes, Cadillac introduces the first automobile to sport tailfins.

The inaugural Six Hours of Watkins Glen endurance race is held.

January

January 2

Mary Archer, born Mary Weeden, English scientist

Judith Miller, American journalist

Joyce Wadler, American writer and memoirist

Deborah Watling, English actress

January 5

Wally Foreman, Australian media icon (d. 2006)

Ted Lange, American actor and director

January 7

Kenny Loggins, American rock singer

Ichirou Mizuki, Japanese voice actor

January 10

Donald Fagen, American rock keyboardist

Teresa Graves, American actress and comedian (d. 2002)

Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist

William Sanderson, American actor and comedian

January 12

Kenny Allen, English footballer

Anthony Andrews, English actor

January 14

T Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician

Carl Weathers, American actor and football player

January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (d. 1977)

January 16

John Carpenter, American film director, producer, screenwriter and composer

Gregor Gysi, German politician

Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player

Tsuneo Horiuchi, Japanese baseball pitcher and mamager

January 17 – Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland

January 19

Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador

Michael J. Jackson, English actor

January 23

Katharine Holabird, American writer

Mitoji Yabunaka, Japanese politician

January 27 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born dancer

January 28 – Charles Taylor, Liberian president

January 29 – Marc Singer, Canadian actor

January 30 – Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member

January 31

Paul Jabara, American actor, singer and songwriter (d. 1992)

Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

February

February 1 – Rick James, Motown performer (d. 2004)

February 2 – Ina Garten, American cooking author

February 3

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

Henning Mankell, Swedish crime novelist (d. 2015)

February 4

Alice Cooper, American hard rock singer and musician

Ram Baran Yadav, President of Nepal

February 5

Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager

Christopher Guest, American actor, screenwriter, director and composer

Barbara Hershey, American actress

Tom Wilkinson, English actor

February 10 – John Magnier, Irish businessman and thoroughbred racehorse breeder

February 11 – Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian

February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author

February 13 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American film actress

February 14

Jackie Martling, American comedian and radio personality

Wally Tax, Dutch musician (d. 2005)

Raymond Teller, American illusionist and magician, one half of the duo Penn & Teller

February 17

György Cserhalmi, Hungarian actor

José José, Mexican singer and actor

February 18 – Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress

February 19

Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician and author (d. 2002)

Tony Iommi, English heavy metal guitarist

February 20 – Jennifer O'Neill, American model and actress

February 22

John Ashton, American actor

Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1970)

February 24

Jayalalithaa, Indian politician and film actress (d. 2016)

Walter Smith, Scottish football manager

February 25 – Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor

February 28

Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Mike Figgis, American director, screenwriter and composer

Kjell Isaksson, Swedish pole vaulter

Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer

Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

Alfred Sant, Leader of Malta Labour Party (1992–) and Prime Minister of Malta (1996–1998)

February 29 – Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer

March

March 2

R. T. Crowley, American pioneer of electronic commerce

Rory Gallagher, Irish musician (d. 1995)

Jeff Kennett, Australian politician

March 4

Lindy Chamberlain, Australian author

James Ellroy, American writer

Tom Grieve, American baseball player

Leron Lee, American baseball player

Chris Squire, English bassist (Yes) (d. 2015)

Shakin' Stevens, Welsh singer

Brian Cummings, American male voice actors

March 5

Eddy Grant, Guyanese British singer and musician

Elaine Paige, English singer and actress

March 6 – Anna Maria Horsford, American actress

March 9

László Lovász, Hungarian mathematician

Jeffrey Osborne, American singer

March 11 – Dominique Sanda, French actress

March 12 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter

March 14 – Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian

March 15 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)

March 17 – William Gibson, American/Canadian writer

March 20

John de Lancie, American actor

Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player

Helene Vannari, Estonian actress

March 22

Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist

Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer

March 25 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress

March 26 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter (Aerosmith)

March 28

Jayne Ann Krentz, American novelist

Dennis Unkovic, American author

Dianne Wiest, American actress

March 29 – Bud Cort, American actor

March 30 – Eddie Jordan, Irish founder of Jordan Grand Prix

March 31

Al Gore, American environmentalist and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton, and 2000 Democratic nominee for president

Rhea Perlman, American actress

April

April 1 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican singer and actor

April 2 – Roald Als, Danish cartoonist

April 3 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician and 53rd President of Mexico

April 4

Squire Parsons, American gospel singer/songwriter

Dan Simmons, American fantasy and science fiction author

April 7 – John Oates, American rock singer and guitarist (Hall & Oates)

April 12

Jeremy Beadle, English TV presenter (d. 2008)

Don Fernando, director and actor of pornographic films

Joschka Fischer German politician

Marcello Lippi, Italian football player and manager

April 13

Nam Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy

Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet and Russian singer, actor, TV presenter

April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)

April 16

Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian music icon and celebrity (d. 2012)

Kazuyuki Sogabe, Japanese voice actor (d. 2006)

April 17 – Jan Hammer, Czechoslovakian composer, pianist and keyboardist

April 21 – Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist (after whom Flammer syndrome is named)

April 27

Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician

Si Robertson, American reality star

April 28

Terry Pratchett, English comic fantasy and science fiction author (d. 2015)

Marcia Strassman, American actress and singer (d. 2014)

April 29 – Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)

May

May 2

Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer

Larry Gatlin, American singer/songwriter

May 3

William H. Miller, historian

Chris Mulkey, American actor

May 4

Tanya Falan, American singer

King George Tupou V of Tongo (d. 2012)

May 5

Joe Esposito, American singer-songwriter

Richard Pacheco, American pornographic actor

Bill Ward, English rock drummer

May 8

Dame Felicity Lott, English soprano

Stephen Stohn, Canadian television producer

May 9

Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist and author

Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and analyst

May 11 – Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician

May 12

Steve Winwood, English rock singer

Lindsay Crouse, American actress

May 14 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-born English cricket coach (d. 2007)

May 15

Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese professional baseball pitcher

Brian Eno, English musician and record producer

May 16 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor

May 18 – Mikko Heiniö, Finnish composer

May 19 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress

May 20 – Tesshō Genda, Japanese voice actor

May 21

D'Jamin Bartlett, American musical theatre actress

Elizabeth Buchan, English writer

Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born English actor

Leo Sayer, English rock musician

May 25 – Klaus Meine, German singer (Scorpions)

May 26

Dayle Haddon, Canadian model and actress

Stevie Nicks, American rock singer and songwriter

May 27 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant

May 29 – Michael Berkeley, English composer

May 31

Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian writer of literary reportage, Nobel Prize laureate

John Bonham, English rock drummer of Led Zeppelin (d. 1980)

June

June 1

Powers Boothe, American actor

Tom Sneva, American race car driver and Indianapolis 500 winner

June 2 – Jerry Mathers, American actor

June 4

Bob Champion, English jump jockey

David Haskell, American actor (d. 2000)

June 6 – Richard Sinclair, English musician (Caravan)

June 8 – Jürgen von der Lippe, German television presenter, actor and comedian

June 9

Gudrun Schyman, Swedish politician

Gary Thorne, American play-by-play announcer

June 11 – Dave Cash, American baseball player

June 13 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and scout (d. 2001)

June 14 – Laurence Yep, American author

June 15 – Paul Michiels, Belgian singer-songwriter

June 17 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player

June 19

Nick Drake, English musician (d. 1974)

Lea Laven, Finnish singer

Phylicia Rashad, American actress

June 20 – Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru

June 21

Lionel Rose, Australian boxer

Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer

June 22 – Todd Rundgren, American rock singer and record producer

June 23

Luther Kent, American blues singer

Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

June 24 – Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player

June 27 – Camile Baudoin, American rock guitarist

June 28 – Kathy Bates, American actress

June 29 – Fred Grandy, American actor and politician

June 30

Isabelita dos Patins, Argentine-Brazilian drag queen.

Vladimir Yakunin, Russian official, head of state-run Russian Railways company

July

July 1 – John Ford, Best known for penning Part of the Union whilst in Strawbs

July 3 – Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist

July 8 – Raffi, Egyptian-born children's entertainer

July 12 – Richard Simmons, American television personality and fitness expert

July 15 – Richard Franklin, Australian film director (d. 2007)

July 16 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist

July 18 – Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

July 20 – Muse Watson, American actor

July 21

Beppe Grillo, Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor

Ed Hinton, American sportswriter

Cat Stevens, born Steven Georgiou, later known as Yusuf Islam, British singer, musician

Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist

Mikhail Zadornov, Russian stand-up comedian and writer

July 22

Susan Eloise Hinton, American author

Otto Waalkes, German comedian and actor

July 23 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician

July 25 – Steve Goodman, Grammy Award-winning folk music singer and songwriter (d. 1984)

July 27 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater

July 28

Gerald Casale, American director and singer (Devo)

Sally Struthers, American actress and spokeswoman

July 30

Jean Reno, French actor

Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian composer and musician (d. 2010)

July 31 – Jonathan Dollimore, English academic sociologist and cultural theorist

August

August 1 – Jim Carroll, American author, poet and musician (d. 2009)

August 2

Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author

Bob Rae, Canadian politician

August 3 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France

August 13 – Kathleen Battle, American soprano

August 15 – George Ryton, Singapore-born English Formula One engineer

August 18 – Joseph Marcell, English actor

August 19

Robert Hughes, Australian actor

Tipper Gore, Second Lady of the United States

August 20

John Noble, Australian actor

Robert Plant, English singer (Led Zeppelin)

Barbara Allen Rainey (born Barbara Ann Allen), American aviator, first female pilot in the U.S. armed forces (d. 1982)

August 23 – Lev Zeleny, Soviet and Russian physicist

August 24

Jean Michel Jarre, French electronic musician

Sauli Niinisto, Finnish politician, 12th President of Finland

Kim Sung-il, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force

Vicente Sotto III, Filipino actor, host and politician

August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler

August 30

Lewis Black, American comedian

Fred Hampton, American activist (d. 1969)

Victor Skumin, Russian scientist, Professor

August 31

Cyril Jordan, American musician

Holger Osieck, German football manager

September

September 1 – James Rebhorn, American actor

September 2

Nate Archibald, American basketball player

Terry Bradshaw, American football player and sportscaster

September 3

Don Brewer, American drummer (Grand Funk Railroad)

Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian president (d. 2008)

September 4 – Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer

September 5 – Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician

September 7 – Susan Blakely, American actress

September 8 – Great Kabuki, Japanese professional wrestler

September 10

Judy Geeson, English actress

Bob Lanier, American basketball player

Margaret Trudeau, born Margaret Sinclair, wife and mother of Prime Ministers of Canada

Charlie Waters, American football player

September 11 – John Martyn, born Iain McGeachy, British folk-rock guitarist (d. 2009)

September 13

Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d. 2003)

Sitiveni Rabuka, 3rd Prime Minister of Fiji

September 16 – Ron Blair, American bassist (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

September 17 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)

September 19

Jeremy Irons, English actor

Nadezhda Tkachenko, Soviet pentathlete

September 20

Rey Langit, Filipino journalist and radio host

George R. R. Martin, American speculative fiction author

September 22

Denis Burke, Australian politician

Mark Phillips, army captain and equestrian, first husband of Anne, Princess Royal

Jim Byrnes, American voice actor, blues musician and actor

September 24 – Phil Hartman, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 1998)

September 25

Cäcilia Rentmeister, German art historian and gender researcher

Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Russian oligarch

September 26

Maurizio Gucci, Italian businessman and murder victim (k. 1995)

Olivia Newton-John, English-born Australian singer and actress

September 27 – Michele Dotrice, English actress

September 29

Mark Farner, American rock guitarist and singer (Grand Funk Railroad)

Bryant Gumbel, African-American television broadcaster

Theo Jörgensmann, German jazz clarinetist

Burton Richardson, American game show announcer

October

October 1 – Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand yachtsman (d. 2001)

October 2

Avery Brooks, American actor and musician

Persis Khambatta, Indian actress and model (d. 1998)

Chris LeDoux, American singer and rodeo star (d. 2005)

October 4 – Meg Bennett, American soap opera writer

October 6 – Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician

October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist

October 8

Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (Ramones) (d. 2004)

Baldwin Spencer, 3rd Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda

October 9

Jackson Browne, American rock musician

Ciarán Carson, Northern Irish poet and novelist

Oliver Hart, English-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate

October 11 – Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer

October 13

John Ford Coley, American rock musician

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician (d. 1997)

Ted Poe, American politician

October 14

Engin Arık, Turkish nuclear physicist (d. 2007)

David Ruprecht, American actor and writer (Supermarket Sweep)

October 15

Renato Corona, Filipino jurist and lawyer (d. 2016)

Chris de Burgh, born Christopher Davison, Argentine-born Anglo-Irish singer-songwriter

October 16 – Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach

October 17

Robert Jordan, American novelist (d. 2007)

Margot Kidder, Canadian actress

Akira Kushida, Japanese singer

George Wendt, American actor

October 18 – Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher

October 19 – Patrick Simmons, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)

October 21

Tom Everett, American actor

Allen Vigneron, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit

October 22 – Lynette Fromme, American attempted assassin of Gerald Ford

October 23 – Sir Gerry Robinson, Irish-born British businessman

October 25

Dave Cowens, American basketball player and coach

Dan Gable, American wrestler and coach

October 26 – Toby Harrah, American baseball player

October 28 – Telma Hopkins, American actress and singer

October 29 – Kate Jackson, American actress

November

November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress

November 3 – Lulu, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, Scottish singer and actress

November 4 – Amadou Toumani Touré, President of Mali

November 5

Bob Barr, American politician

Dallas Holm, American Christian musician

William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist and singer (The Eagles) (d. 2016)

November 7 – Jim Houghton, American actor and director

November 9 – Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazilian football player and manager

November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)

November 12

Hassan Rouhani, 7th President of Iran

Richard Roberts, American evangelist and son of Oral Roberts

November 13

Humayun Ahmed, Bengali-language writer.

Lockwood Smith, New Zealand politician

November 14

Charles, Prince of Wales, born Prince Charles of Edinburgh, heir apparent to the British throne and son of Elizabeth II (at this time Duchess of Edinburgh) and The Duke of Edinburgh

Robert Ginty, American actor and director (d. 2009)

Dee Wallace, American actress

November 15 – James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (d. 2007)

November 16

Chi Coltrane, American musician

Ken James, Australian actor

Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer

Mate Parlov, Yugoslav Olympic boxer (d. 2008)

November 17 – Howard Dean, American politician

November 19 – Rance Allen, American gospel singer and preacher

November 20

John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

Barbara Hendricks, American singer

Richard Masur, American actor, director; president of Screen Actors Guild

November 21 – Michel Suleiman, President of Lebanon

November 23

Dominique-France Picard, also known as Princess Fadila of Egypt, wife of King Fuad II of Egypt and the Sudan

Ron Bouchard, American NASCAR driver (d. 2015)

Gabriele Seyfert, East German figure skater

November 24 – Joe Howard, American actor

November 26 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist and winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

November 27 – James Avery, American actor (d. 2013)

November 28 – Agnieszka Holland, Polish director and screenwriter

December

December 2

T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer

Toninho Horta, Brazilian singer and musician

Christine Westermann, German television and radio host, journalist and author

December 3

Rick Cua, American singer and evangelist

Ozzy Osbourne, English singer (Black Sabbath)

December 6

Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One champion

Marius Müller-Westernhagen, German actor and musician

JoBeth Williams, American actress and director

December 7

Gary Morris, American country singer and actor

Tony Thomas, American television producer

Mads Vinding, Danish bassist

December 10 – Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)

December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock drummer

December 13

Lillian Board, South African-born English Olympic athlete (d. 1970)

Ted Nugent, American rock guitarist and singer

David O'List, English rock guitarist

December 14

Lester Bangs, American music journalist (d. 1982)

Kim Beazley, Australian politician

December 19 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player

December 20 – Alan Parsons, English songwriter, musician and record producer

December 21

Samuel L. Jackson, African-American actor and film producer

Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist

December 22

Noel Edmonds, English TV presenter and DJ

Flip Mark, American child actor

Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)

December 23 – Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, composer, educator, author and music journalist

December 25 – Barbara Mandrell, American country singer

December 27

Ronnie Caldwell, American soul music and rhythm and blues musician (d. 1967)

Gérard Depardieu, French actor

December 28

Dick Siegel, American songwriter

Mary Weiss, American singer (The Shangri-Las)

December 29 – Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland First Minister

December 31

Joe Dallesandro, American model and actor

Sandy Jardine, Scottish professional footballer playing for Rangers and Hearts and representing Scotland (d. 2014)

Donna Summer, African-American singer and actress (d. 2012)

Date unknown

Archana Bhattacharyya, Indian physicist

Miguel Cabrera Cabrera, Spanish architect and politician

Vicatan, born Vicente Doria Catan Jr., Filipino comic book artist (d. 2004)

Gudo Hoegel, German actor and voice actor

Phalon Jones, American soul music and rhythm and blues musician (d. 1967)

John Blair Moore, American comic book artist

Johnny Nicholas, American blues musician

Judy Nylon, American artist and musician

Edward Rutherfurd, born Francis Edward Wintle, English novelist

January

January 1 – Edna May, American actress (b. 1878)

January 2 – Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet (b. 1893)

January 5 – Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison (b. 1858)

January 8

Kurt Schwitters, German artist (b. 1887)

Edward Stanley Kellogg, 16th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1870)

January 21 – Eliza Moore last person born into slavery in the United States (b. 1843)

January 21 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)

January 24 – Bill Cody, American actor (b. 1891)

January 26 – Georg Bruchmüller, influential German artillery officer (b. 1863)

January 29 – King Tomislav II of Croatia (b. 1900)

January 30

Nigel De Brulier, English actor (b. 1877)

Arthur Coningham, British air force air marshal (disappeared) (b. 1895)

Mahatma Gandhi, Leader of Indian independence movement, (assassinated) (b. 1869)

Herb Pennock, American baseball player (New York Yankees) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1894)

Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b. 1871)

January 31 – John T. Daniels, American Coast Guardsman, took the Wright brothers first flight photograph (b. 1873)

February

February 1 – Jatindramohan Bagchi, Indian (Bengali) poet (b. 1878)

February 2 – Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)

February 9

Burns Mantle, American theatre critic (b. 1873)

Karl Valentin, German actor (b. 1882)

February 11

Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film director (b. 1898)

Isaac Isaacs, 9th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1855)

February 14 – Mordecai Brown, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1876)

February 23 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b. 1866)

February 25

Alexander du Toit, South African geologist (b. 1878)

Felix Krueger, German psychologist (b. 1874)

March

March 4 – Antonin Artaud, French playwright, actor and director (b. 1896)

March 6 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (suicide) (b. 1914)

March 10

Zelda Fitzgerald, American wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900)

Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1886)

March 23 – Kōzō Satō, Japanese admiral (b. 1871)

March 24

Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian religious and political philosopher (b. 1874)

Paolo Thaon di Revel, former admiral of the Royal Italian Navy (b. 1859)

March 31 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist and author (b. 1885)

April

April 9

George Carpenter, 5th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1872)

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (assassinated) (b. 1903)

April 15 – Manuel Roxas, 5th President of the Philippines (b. 1892)

April 17 – Kantarō Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)

April 20 – Mitsumasa Yonai, 37th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1880)

April 24 – Manuel Ponce, Mexican composer (b. 1882)

May

May 3 – Ernst Tandefelt, Finnish nobleman, assassin of Minister Ritavuori (b. 1876)

May 9 – Viola Allen, American actress (b. 1867)

May 13 – Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (b. 1920)

May 15 – Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)

May 21 – Jacques Feyder, French filmmaker (b. 1885)

May 22 – Claude McKay, Jamaican-American writer and poet (b. 1889)

May 28 – Unity Mitford, British socialite; friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1914)

May 29 – Dame May Whitty, British actress (b. 1865)

May 30 – József Klekl, Slovene politician in Hungary (b. 1874)

June

June 2 – Viktor Brack, German doctor (b. 1904), executed by hanging for warcrimes

Karl Brandt, German S.S. officer (b. 1904)

Rudolf Brandt, German S.S. officer (b. 1909)

Karl Gebhardt, German S.S. officer (b. 1897)

Waldemar Hoven, German S.S. officer (b. 1903)

Joachim Mrugowsky, German S.S. officer (b. 1905)

Wolfram Sievers, German S.S. officer (b. 1905)

June 6 – Louis Lumière, French film pioneer (b. 1864)

June 13 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese writer (b. 1909)

June 25 – William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)

June 26 – Lilian Velez, Filipino actress (murder) (b. 1924)

July

July 2 – Baba Sawan Singh, Indian saint known as "The Great Master" (b. 1858)

July 5

Georges Bernanos, French writer (b. 1888)

Carole Landis, American actress player (b. 1919)

July 9 – James Baskett, American actor (Uncle Remus in Disney's Song of the South) (b. 1904)

July 11

King Baggot, American actor (b. 1879)

Franz Weidenreich, German anatomist and physical anthropologist (b. 1873)

July 14 – Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel (b. 1871)

July 15 – John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)

July 18 – May Moss, Australian women's rights activist (b. 1869)

July 21 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-born painter (b. 1904)

July 23 – D. W. Griffith, American film director (The Birth Of A Nation) (b. 1875)

July 27

Susan Glaspell, American playwright (b. 1882)

Joe Tinker, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1880)

July 31 – Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, mistress of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (b. 1891)

August

August 3 – Tommy Ryan, American boxing champion (b. 1870)

August 10

Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (b. 1873)

Andrew Brown, Scottish soccer coach (b. 1870)

August 16 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (New York Yankees) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1895)

August 17 – Mariette Rheiner Garner, Second Lady of the United States (b. 1869)

August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1862)

September

September 1 – Muhammad VII al-Munsif, ruler of Tunisia 1942–43 (b. 1881)

September 2 – Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy (b. 1883)

September 3 – Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1884)

September 5 – Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (b. 1881)

September 10 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Tsar of Bulgaria (b. 1861)

September 11 – Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder and first Governor General of Pakistan (b. 1876)

September 12 – Rupert D'Oyly Carte, English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario (b. 1876)

September 13 – Paul Wegener, German actor and film director (b. 1874)

September 17

Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (assassinated) (b. 1895)

Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist and folklorist (b. 1887)

Emil Ludwig, German-Swiss historian and biographer (b. 1881)

September 20 – Husain Salaahuddin, Famous Mahl writer (b. 1881)

September 24 – Warren William, American actor (b. 1894)

September 26 – Gregg Toland, American cinematographer (b. 1904)

September 30 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (b. 1861)

October

October 1 – Phraya Manopakorn Nititada, 1st Prime Minister of Siam (b. 1884)

October 12 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, British educational psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1885)

October 13 – Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (b. 1875)

October 15 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)

October 18 – Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (b. 1881)

October 21 – Elissa Landi, Italian actress (b. 1904)

October 22 – William Royland, British baronet

October 24 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b. 1870)

October 31 – Mary Nolan, American actress (b. 1905)

November

November 4 – Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, British-American businessman (b. 1874)

November 9 – Edgar Kennedy, American actor (b. 1890)

November 10 – Julius Curtius, German politician and diplomat (b. 1877)

November 11 – Fred Niblo, American film director (b. 1874)

November 21 – Béla Miklós, Hungarian military officer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1890)

November 23 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1900)

November 28 – D. D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b. 1873)

December

December 2 – Chano Pozo, Cuban percussionist (b. 1915)

December 20 – C. Aubrey Smith, British actor (b. 1863)

December 23 – Japanese war leaders (hanged):

Kenji Doihara, spy (b. 1883)

Kōki Hirota, 32nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)

Seishirō Itagaki, military officer (b. 1885)

Heitarō Kimura, general (b. 1888)

Iwane Matsui, general (b. 1878)

Akira Mutō, general (b. 1892)

Hideki Tojo, general, 40th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1884)

December 28 – Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt (assassinated) (b. 1888)

December 31 – Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and water racer (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett

Chemistry – Arne Tiselius

Medicine – Paul Hermann Müller

Literature – T. S. Eliot

Peace – not awarded