1961

January

January 3

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba. Cuba–United States relations are later restored in 2015.

At the National Reactor Testing Station near Idaho Falls, atomic reactor SL-1 explodes, killing three military technicians.

Aero Flight 311 (Koivulahti air disaster): Douglas DC-3C OH-LCC of Finnish airline Aero crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti) on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland killing all 25 on board, due to pilot error: an investigation finds that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep and had taken excessive alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country.

January 5

Italian sculptor Alfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the Etruscan terracotta warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cemal Gürsel forms the new government of Turkey (25th government).

January 7 – Following a four-day conference in Casablanca, five African chiefs of state announce plans for a NATO-type African organization to ensure common defense. The Charter of Casablanca involves the Casablanca Group: Morocco, the United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, and Mali.

January 8 – In France, a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies on independence for Algeria.

January 9 – British authorities announce that they have discovered a large Soviet spy ring in London.

January 17

President Dwight Eisenhower gives his final State of the Union Address to Congress. In a Farewell Address the same day, he warns of the increasing power of a "military–industrial complex."

Patrice Lumumba of Republic of Congo is assassinated.

January 20 – John F. Kennedy is sworn in as President of the United States.

January 24 – A B-52 Stratofortress, with two nuclear bombs, crashes near Goldsboro, North Carolina.

January 25

In Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential news conference. In it, he announces that the Soviet Union has freed the two surviving crewmen of a USAF RB-47 reconnaissance plane shot down by Soviet flyers over the Barents Sea July 1, 1960 (see RB-47H shot down).

One Hundred and One Dalmatians is released in cinemas.

Acting to halt 'leftist excesses', a junta composed of two army officers and four civilians takes over El Salvador, ousting another junta that had ruled for three months.

Jânio Quadros is elected president of Brazil. He later resigns on August 25.

January 26 – President John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician, the first woman to hold this appointment.

January 28 – Supercar, the first family sci-fi TV series filmed in Supermarionation debuts on ATV.

January 30 – President John F. Kennedy delivers his first State of the Union Address.

January 31 – Ham the Chimp, a 37-pound (17-kg) male, is rocketed into space aboard Mercury-Redstone 2, in a test of the Project Mercury capsule, designed to carry United States astronauts into space.

February

February 1 – The United States tests its first Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile.

February 3 – China buys grain from Canada for $60 million.

February 4 – The Portuguese Colonial War begins in Angola.

February 5 – February 9 – In Congo, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu names Joseph Iléo as the new Prime Minister.

February 9 – The Beatles perform for the first time at The Cavern Club.

February 12 – The USSR launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

February 13 – The Congo government announces that villagers have killed Patrice Lumumba.

February 14 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized in Berkeley, California.

February 15

President Kennedy warns the Soviet Union to avoid interfering with the United Nations pacification of the Congo.

A Sabena Boeing 707 crashes near Brussels, Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team and several coaches.

A total solar eclipse occurs in the southern part of Europe.

February 25 – The last public trams in Sydney, Australia, cease operation, bringing to an end the Southern Hemisphere's largest tramway network.

February 26 – Hassan II is pronounced King of Morocco.

March

March–April – Drilling for Project Mohole is undertaken off the coast of Guadalupe Island, Mexico.

March 1 – United States President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

March 3 – Hassan II is crowned King of Morocco.

March 8

Max Conrad circumnavigates the earth in 8 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes, setting a new world record.

The first U.S. Polaris submarines arrive at Holy Loch.

March 13

Black and white £5 notes cease to be legal tender in the UK.

A dam bursts in Kiev, USSR, killing 145.

United States delegate to the United Nations Security Council Adlai Stevenson votes against Portuguese policies in Africa.

United States President John F. Kennedy proposes a long-term "Alliance for Progress" between the United States and Latin America.

Cyprus joins the Commonwealth of Nations, becoming the first small country in the Commonwealth.

Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, takes in its first students.

A second B-52 crashes near Yuba City, California after cabin pressure is lost and the fuel runs out. Two nuclear weapons are found unexploded.

March 15

South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations. The nation rejoins the organization in 1994.

The Union of Peoples of Angola, led by Holden Roberto, attacks strategic locations in the north of Angola. These events result in the beginning of the colonial war with Portugal.

March 18

A ceasefire takes effect in the Algerian War of Independence.

Nous les amoureux by Jean-Claude Pascal (music by Jacques Datin, text by Maurice Vidalin) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 for Luxembourg.

March 29 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.

March 30 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York.

April

April 5 – The New Guinea Council of Western Papua is installed.

April 8 – The British passenger ship Dara blows up and sinks off Dubai; 238 passengers and crew are killed.

April 11 – The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.

April 12

Vostok 1: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, orbiting the Earth once.

Albert Kalonji takes the title Emperor Albert I Kalonji of South Kasai.

April 13 – In Portugal, a coup attempt against António de Oliveira Salazar fails.

April 17

The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins; it fails by April 19.

The 33rd Academy Awards ceremony is held.

April 18 – Portugal sends to Angola its first military reinforcement.

April 20 – Fidel Castro announces that the Bay of Pigs Invasion has been defeated.

April 22 – Algiers putsch: Four French generals who oppose de Gaulle's policies in Algeria fail in a coup attempt.

April 23 – Judy Garland performs in a legendary comeback concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

April 24 – The Swedish ship Vasa is removed from the water after being sunk 333 years earlier.

April 27

President Kennedy urges newspapers to consider national interest in times of struggle against "a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy" in an address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association.

Sierra Leone becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

May

May 4 – U.S. Freedom Riders begin interstate bus rides to test the new U.S. Supreme Court integration decision.

May 5 – Mercury program: Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space aboard Mercury-Redstone 3.

May 6 – Tottenham Hotspur F.C. becomes the first team in the 20th century to win the English league and cup double. This being the last time Tottenham won the English League.

May 8 – Briton George Blake is sentenced to 42 years imprisonment for spying.

May 9 – In a speech on "Television and the Public Interest" to the National Association of Broadcasters, FCC chairman Newton N. Minow describes commercial television programming as a "vast wasteland".

May 14 – African-American Civil Rights Movement: A Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama and the civil rights protestors are beaten by an angry mob of Ku Klux Klan members.

May 15 – J. Heinrich Matthaei alone performs the Poly-U-Experiment and is the first person to recognize and understand the genetic code. This is the birthdate of modern genetics.

May 16 – Park Chung-hee takes over in a military coup in South Korea.

May 19 – Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (however, the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and does not send back any data).

May 21 – African-American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.

May 22 – An earthquake rocks New South Wales.

May 24 – African-American Civil Rights Movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.

May 25 – Apollo program: President Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

May 27 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaya, holds a press conference in Singapore, announcing his idea to form the Federation of Malaysia, comprising Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo (Sabah).

May 28 – Peter Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners" is published in several internationally read newspapers. This is later considered the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.

May 30 – Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, totalitarian despot of the Dominican Republic since 1930, is killed in an ambush, putting an end to the second longest-running dictatorship in Latin American history.

May 31

In France, rebel generals Maurice Challe and Andre Zelelr are sentenced to 15 years in prison.

South Africa officially leaves the Commonwealth of Nations.

President John F. Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle meet in Paris.

Benfica beats Barcelona 3-2 at Wankdorf Stadium, Bern and wins the 1960–61 European Cup (football).

June

June 1 – Ethiopia experiences its most devastating earthquake of the 20th century, with a magnitude of 6.7. The town of Majete is destroyed, 45% of the houses in Karakore collapse, 17 kilometers (11 mi) of the main road north of Karakore are damaged by landslides and fissures, and 5,000 inhabitants in the area are left homeless.

June 4 – Vienna summit: John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev meet during two days in Vienna. They discuss nuclear tests, disarmament and Germany.

June 16 – Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev requests asylum in France while in Paris with the Kirov Ballet.

June 17

A Paris-to-Strasbourg train derails near Vitry-le-François; 24 are killed, 109 injured.

The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress.

June 19 – The British protectorate ends in Kuwait and it becomes an emirate.

June 22 – Moise Tshombe is released for lack of evidence of connection to the murder of Patrice Lumumba.

June 23 – The Antarctic Treaty comes into effect.

June 25 – Iraqi president Abd al-Karim Qasim announces he is going to annex Kuwait (such an annexation of Kuwait would occur in 1990).

June 27 – Kuwait requests British help; the United Kingdom sends in troops.

July

July 4 – The Soviet submarine K-19 reactor leak occurs in the North Atlantic.

July 5 – The first Israeli rocket, Shavit 2, is launched.

July 8 – A mine explosion in Czechoslovakia leaves 108 dead.

July 12 – A Czechoslovakian Ilyushin Il-18 crashes while attempting to land at Casablanca, Morocco, killing all 72 persons on board.

July 17 – Baseball legend Ty Cobb dies at the age of 74 at Emory University Hospital.

July 21 – Mercury program: Gus Grissom, piloting the Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule Liberty Bell 7, becomes the second American to go into space (sub-orbital). Upon splashdown, the hatch prematurely opens, and the capsule sinks (it is recovered in 1999).

July 25 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives a widely watched TV speech on the Berlin crisis, warning "we will not be driven out of Berlin." Kennedy urges Americans to build fallout shelters, setting off a four-month debate on civil defense.

July 31

At Fenway Park in Boston, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game tie occurs, when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain (the only tie until 2002).

Ireland submits the first application from a non-founding country to join the European Economic Community.

August

August – The United States founds the Alliance for Progress.

August 1 – The Six Flags Over Texas theme park officially opens to the public.

August 6 – Vostok 2: Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov becomes the second human to orbit the Earth, and the first to be in outer space for more than one day.

August 7 – Vostok 2 (with Titov on board) lands in the Soviet Union.

August 10 – The United Kingdom applies for membership in the European Economic Community.

August 13 – Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe. On August 22 Ida Siekmann jumps from a window in her tenement building trying to flee to the West, becoming the first of at least 138 people to die at the Wall.

August 21 – Jomo Kenyatta is released from prison in Kenya.

August 25 – João Goulart replaces Jânio Quadros as President of Brazil. He is ousted in 1964.

September

September 1

The Eritrean War of Independence officially begins with the shooting of the Ethiopian police by Hamid Idris Awate.

The first meeting is held of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Soviet Union resumes nuclear testing, escalating fears over the ongoing Berlin crisis.

September 7 – Tom and Jerry make a return with their first episode since 1958, Switchin' Kitten. The new creator, Gene Deitch, makes 12 more Tom and Jerry episodes until 1962.

September 10 – During the F1 Italian Grand Prix on the circuit of Monza, German Wolfgang von Trips, driving a Ferrari, crashes into a stand, killing 14 spectators and himself.

September 14

The new military government of Turkey sentences 15 members of the previous government to death.

The Focolare Movement opens its first North American center in New York.

September 17 – Military rulers in Turkey hang former prime minister Adnan Menderes.

September 18 – United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in an air crash en route to Katanga, Congo.

September 21 – In France, the OAS slips an anti-de Gaulle message into TV programming.

September 24

The old Deutsche Opernhaus in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is returned to its newly rebuilt house as the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In the U.S., the Walt Disney anthology television series, renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, moves from ABC to NBC after seven years on the air, and begins telecasting its programs in color for the first time. Years later, after Disney's death, the still-on-the-air program will be renamed The Wonderful World of Disney.

September 28 – A military coup in Damascus, Syria effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.

September 30 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is formed to replace the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC).

October

October 1 – Baseball player Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, setting a new record for the longer baseball season. The record for the shorter season was still held by Babe Ruth.

October 10 – A volcanic eruption on Tristan da Cunha causes the whole population to be evacuated.

October 12 – The death penalty is abolished in New Zealand.

October 17 – Paris massacre of 1961: French police in Paris attack about 30,000 protesting a curfew applied solely to Algerians. The official death toll is 3, but human rights groups claim 240 dead.

October 18 – West Side Story is released as a film in the United States.

October 19 – The Arab League takes over protecting Kuwait; the last British troops leave.

October 25 – The first edition of Private Eye, the British satirical magazine, is published.

October 26 – Cemal Gürsel becomes the fourth president of Turkey. (His former title was head of state and government. By constitution referendum, he is elected as president.)

October 27

An armistice begins in Katanga, Congo.

Mongolia and Mauritania join the United Nations.

Confrontation at Checkpoint Charlie: A standoff between Soviet and American tanks in Berlin, Germany heightens Cold War tensions.

Fahrettin Özdilek becomes the acting prime minister of Turkey.

October 29

DZBB-TV Channel 7, the Philippines' third TV station, is launched.

Devrim has been released. The project was completed only in 130 days almost from scratch and this period includes decision of the project, research, design, development and production of four cars.

October 30

Nuclear weapons testing: The Soviet Union detonates a 58-megaton yield hydrogen bomb known as Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya. It remains the largest ever man-made explosion.

The Note Crisis: The Soviet Union issues a diplomatic note to Finland proposing military co-operation.

October 31

Hurricane Hattie devastates Belize City, Belize killing over 270. After the hurricane, the capital moves to the inland city of Belmopan.

Joseph Stalin's body is removed from the Lenin Mausoleum.

November

November 1

The Hungry generation Movement is launched in Calcutta, India.

The Interstate Commerce Commission's federal order banning segregation at all interstate public facilities officially comes into effect.

The Madame Alexander Doll Club is founded by Margaret Doris Winson of Sweet Springs, MO.

November 2 – Kean opens at Broadway Theater in New York City for 92 performances.

November 3 – The United Nations General Assembly unanimously elects U Thant to the position of acting Secretary-General.

November 6 – The U.S. government issues a stamp honoring the 100th birthday of James Naismith.

November 8 – Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 crashes while attempting to land at Richmond, Virginia, killing 77 persons on board.

November 9 – Neil Armstrong records a world record speed in a rocket plane of 6,587 km/h flying a X-15.

November 10 – Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is first published.

November 11

Congolese soldiers murder 13 Italian United Nations pilots.

Stalingrad is renamed Volgograd.

November 17 – Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles of New Guinea.

November 18 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

November 20

The funeral of longtime House Speaker Sam Rayburn is held in Washington, D.C. Two former Presidents (Truman, Eisenhower) and one future one (Lyndon B. Johnson) join President Kennedy in paying their respects.

İsmet İnönü of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (26th government, first coalition in Turkey, partner AP)

November 21 – The "La Ronde" opens in Honolulu, the first revolving restaurant in the United States

November 24 – The World Food Programme (WFP) is formed as a temporary United Nations program.

November 30 – The Soviet Union vetoes Kuwait's application for United Nations membership.

December

December 1 – Netherlands New Guinea raises the new Morning Star flag and changes its name to West Papua.

December 2 – Cold War: In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro announces he is a Marxist–Leninist, and that Cuba will adopt socialism.

December 5 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives support to the Volta Dam project in Ghana.

December 9

Tanganyika gains independence and declares itself a republic, with Julius Nyerere as its first President.

The Australian government of Robert Menzies is re-elected for a sixth term.

December 10 – The Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Albania.

December 11

The American involvement in the Vietnam War officially begins, as the first American helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.

Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity by a panel of three Israeli judges.

December 14 – Walt Disney's first live-action Technicolor musical, Babes in Toyland, a remake of the famous Victor Herbert operetta, is released, but flops at the box office.

December 15 – An Israeli war crimes tribunal sentences Adolf Eichmann to death for his part in The Holocaust.

December 17 – A circus tent fire in Niterói, Brazil kills 323.

December 18 – India opens hostilities in its annexation of Portuguese India, the colonies of Goa, Damao and Diu.

December 19

The Portuguese surrender Goa to India after 400 years of Portuguese rule.

Indonesian president Sukarno announces that he will take West Irian by force if necessary.

December 21 – In Congo, Katangan prime minister Moise Tshombe recognizes the Congolese constitution.

December 23 – Luxembourg's national holiday, the Grand Duke's Official Birthday, is set on June 23 by Grand Ducal decree.

December 30 – Congolese troops capture Albert Kalonji of South Kasai (who soon escapes).

December 31 – Ireland's first national television station, Telefís Éireann (later RTÉ), begins broadcasting.

Date unknown

"Barbie" gets a boyfriend when the "Ken" doll is introduced in the United States.

Sheila Burnford's The Incredible Journey, a story of three pets travelling through the Canadian wilderness, is published in the United Kingdom.

January

January 1

Sergei Babayan, American classical pianist

Sam Backo, Australian rugby league footballer

January 2

Neil Dudgeon, English actor

Todd Haynes, American film director

January 5 – Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter

January 7 – Supriya Pathak,Indian actress

January 8 – Calvin Smith, American athlete

January 9

Candi Milo, American voice actress

Al Jean, American television writer

January 10 – Mark Venturini, American actor (d. 1996)

January 11

Jasper Fforde, British fantasy novelist

Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, Austrian politician and noble

January 12 – Sean Blowers, English actor

January 13

Wayne Coyne, American musician and frontman of the band The Flaming Lips

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress, producer and comedian

Suggs, British singer and TV presenter

January 14 – Mike Tramp, Danish rock singer (White Lion)

January 16 – Peter Tanfield, British concert violinist

January 17 – Maia Chiburdanidze, Georgian chess player

January 18

Peter Beardsley, English footballer

Mark Messier, Canadian hockey player

January 19 – William Ragsdale, American actor

January 22

Daniel Johnston, American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist

Shigeru Nakahara, Japanese voice actor

January 24 – Guido Buchwald, German football player

January 26

Sharyl Attkisson, American author and former television journalist and investigative correspondent

Wayne Gretzky, Canadian hockey player

Li Cunxin, Artistic Director for Queensland Ballet

January 28 – Arnaldur Indriðason, Icelandic writer

January 29 – Petra Thümer, German swimmer

January 30 – Dexter Scott King, son of Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 31 – Lloyd Cole, British singer and songwriter

February

February 1 – Volker Fried, German field hockey player

February 3 – Jim Balsillie, Canadian CEO and philanthropist

February 6 – Yuko Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress

February 8 – Vince Neil, American singer

February 9

John Kruk, American baseball player and commentator

Jussi Lampi, Finnish musician and actor

February 10 – George Stephanopoulos, American political consultant and commentator

February 11 – Mary Docter, American speed skater

February 13 – Henry Rollins, American musician and activist

February 14 – Latifa, Tunisian singer

February 17

Meir Kessler, Israeli rabbi

Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, economic historian, and sociologist

February 18 – Hironobu Kageyama, Japanese singer

February 20

Phil Powers, American alpinist

Dwayne McDuffie, American writer of comics and television (d. 2011)

February 21 – Geoff Moore, American Christian musician

February 22 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist

February 25 – Davey Allison, American race car driver (d. 1993)

February 27 – James Worthy, American basketball player and analyst

February 28 – Mark Latham, Australian politician

March

March 3

Mary Page Keller, American actress

John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer

March 4

Ray Mancini, American boxer

Steven Weber, American actor

Roger Wessels, South African golfer

March 9

Mike Leach, American college football coach

Rick Steiner, American professional wrestler

March 10

Mike Bullard, American hockey player

Laurel Clark, American astronaut (d. 2003)

Mitch Gaylord, American gymnast

March 14

Kim Boyce, American Christian musician

Gary Dell'Abate, American radio producer

Marc Koska, English businessman and inventor

March 16

Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league player

Michiru Ōshima, Japanese composer

March 17

Umayya Abu-Hanna, Palestine-born Finnish writer and politician

Alexander Bard, Swedish musician (Army of Lovers)

Sam Bowie, American basketball player

Dana Reeve, American actress, singer and activist (d. 2006)

March 21

Lothar Matthäus, German footballer

Kassie DePaiva, American actress

March 23

Ali Hewson, Irish activist and businesswoman

Helmi Johannes, Indonesian television newscaster

March 24 – Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist, current Greek Finance Minister

March 25 – Reggie Fils-Aimé, American businessman

March 27 – Tak Matsumoto, Japanese guitarist (B'z)

March 28 – Byron Scott, American basketball player and coach

March 29

Amy Sedaris, American actress, comedian and writer

Gerardo Teissonniere, Puerto Rican pianist

April

April 1

Susan Boyle, Scottish singer

Kujira, Japanese voice actress

April 2 – Christopher Meloni, American actor

April 3 – Eddie Murphy, African-American actor and comedian

April 5 – Lisa Zane, American actress

April 6 – Gene Eugene, Canadian actor and singer (d. 2000)

April 7 – Thurl Bailey, American basketball player

April 11 – Vincent Gallo, American actor

April 12 – Lisa Gerrard, Australian musician

April 14

Robert Carlyle, Scottish film and television actor

Neil Dougherty, American basketball coach (d. 2011)

April 17

Frank J. Christensen, American labor leader

Daphna Kastner, Canadian actress

April 18 – Jane Leeves, English actress

April 20

Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor

Don Mattingly, American baseball player

April 21 – Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress

April 23

Dirk Bach, German actor and comedian (d. 2012)

George Lopez, American actor and comedian

April 26 – Anthony Cumia, American radio personality

April 27 – Moana Pozzi, Italian porn actress (d. 1994)

April 28 – Futoshi Matsunaga, Japanese serial killer

April 29 – Fumihiko Tachiki, Japanese voice actor

April 30 – Isiah Thomas, African-American basketball player, coach, and team owner

May

May 1 – Marilyn Milian, American judge

May 2 – Steve James, English snooker player

May 3

Joe Murray, American animator

David Vitter, U.S. Senator (R-LA)

May 4

Jay Aston, British singer (Bucks Fizz)

Mary Elizabeth McDonough, American actress, producer, director and author

May 5

Hiroshi Hase, Japanese professional wrestler

Sarah Zivale, American actress

May 6 – George Clooney, American actor

May 7 – Robert Spano, American conductor and pianist

May 8

Janet McTeer, British actress

Akira Taue, Japanese professional wrestler

May 9 – Rene Capo, American judoka (d. 2009)

May 10 – Danny Carey, American drummer (Tool, Pigmy Love Circus)

May 11

Paul Begala, American political commentator

Lar Park Lincoln, American actress

May 12 – Billy Duffy, British guitarist (The Cult)

May 13 – Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor

May 14

Tim Roth, English actor

Urban Priol, German Kabarett artist and comedian

May 16

Kevin McDonald, Canadian comedian and actor

Charles Wright, American professional wrestler

May 17 – Enya, Irish musician

May 18 – Jim Bowden, American baseball executive

May 20 – Clive Allen, British footballer

May 22 – Mike Breen, American sports announcer

May 23 – Karen Duffy, American actress

May 27 – Peri Gilpin, American actress

May 28 – Roland Gift, British singer and musician (Fine Young Cannibals)

May 29 – Melissa Etheridge, American musician

May 30

Ralph Carter, American actor

Harry Enfield, English comedian, actor, writer and director

May 31

Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player

Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician

Lea Thompson, American actress

June

June 1 – Paul Coffey, Canadian hockey player

June 2 – Dez Cadena, American musician

June 3

Lawrence Lessig, American academic and political activist

Ed Wynne, English musician (Ozric Tentacles)

June 4 – El DeBarge, African-American singer

June 5

Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)

Anthony Burger, American musician and singer (d. 2006)

Rosie Kane, Member of Scottish Parliament

June 6 – Tom Araya, Chilean-born rock musician (Slayer)

June 8 – Katy Garbi, Greek singer

June 9

Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author

Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright

June 10

Kim and Kelley Deal, American musicians

Maxi Priest, born Max Elliott, British reggae singer

June 14 – Boy George, born George O'Dowd, British singer-songwriter and music producer

June 15 – Dave McAuley, Northern Irish boxer

June 17 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese voice actor

June 18

Andrés Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player

Alison Moyet, English singer-songwriter

June 19 – Bidhya Devi Bhandari, 2nd President of Nepal

June 20 – Karin Kania, German speed skater

June 21

Manu Chao, French singer

Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia

June 23

Zoran Janjetov, Serbian comic artist

David Leavitt, American novelist

June 24

Lisa Bevill, American Christian musician

Curt Smith, British musician and lead singer and keyboardist of rock group Tears For Fears

June 25

Mike Breen, American broadcaster

Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, writer and director. Former singer in Seona Dancing

June 26 – Greg LeMond, American cyclist

June 27 – Meera Syal, British-Indian comedian and actress

June 28

Jeff Malone, American basketball player

Eliezer Melamed, Israeli rabbi

June 29 – Greg Hetson, American rock guitarist (Bad Religion, Circle Jerks)

July

July 1

Vito Bratta, American rock guitarist (White Lion)

Diana, Princess of Wales, British Princess and first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales (d. 1997)

Carl Lewis, American athlete

July 4 – Andrew Zimmern, American television personality (Bizarre Foods)

July 5 – Patrizia Scianca, Italian voice actress

July 7 – Eric Jerome Dickey, American writer

July 8 – Toby Keith, American country music singer

July 10 –

Jacky Cheung, Hong Kong singer and actor

Ulla Kock am Brink, German television presenter

July 14 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor

July 15 – Forest Whitaker, American actor and film director

July 16 – J. Alan Brogan, Irish programmer

July 17

Guru, American emcee (d. 2010)

Jonathan Potts, Canadian actor

António Costa, Portuguese politician, 119th Prime Minister (2015–present)

July 19

Maria Filatova, Soviet gymnast

Benoît Mariage, Belgian film director

Noriyuki Abe, Japanese anime director

July 22 – Keith Sweat, American singer

July 23

Milind Gunaji, Indian actor, model, television show host

Woody Harrelson, American actor and comedian

July 25 – Hugo Teufel III, 2nd Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security

July 26

Keiko Matsui, Japanese pianist and composer

Gary Cherone, American rock singer and songwriter

July 30 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor and film director

August

August 3 – Nick Harvey, English politician

August 4

Robin Carnahan, Secretary of State of Missouri

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

Lauren Tom, American actress

August 5 – Clayton Rohner, American actor

August 7

Brian Conley, English presenter, comedian, singer and actor

Yelena Davydova, Soviet gymnast

August 8

The Edge, Irish rock guitarist (U2)

Bruce Matthews, American football player

Rikki Rockett, American rock drummer (Poison)

August 9 – John Key, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand

August 11

Sunil Shetty, Indian Bollywood film actor

Jukka Tapanimäki, Finnish game programmer (d. 2000)

August 14 – Susan Olsen, American actress and animal welfare advocate

August 16

Elpidia Carrillo, Mexican-American actress

Urara Takano, Japanese voice actress

August 18

Huw Edwards, BAFTA award-winning Welsh journalist and presenter

Bob Woodruff, American television journalist

August 21 – Stephen Hillenburg, American marine biologist, cartoonist, and animator

August 22 – Roland Orzabal, British musician and songwriter

August 24 – Jared Harris, English actor

August 25 – Billy Ray Cyrus, American actor and singer

August 27 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and film director

August Date Unknown– Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army

September

September 1

Bam Bam Bigelow, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)

Cécilia Rodhe, Miss Sweden

September 2

Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer

Anthony Wong Chau-sang, Hong Kong actor

September 4 – Felix Wong, Hong Kong actor

September 5 – Karim Abdul Razak, Ghanaian footballer

September 6

Akira Kuroiwa, Japanese speed skater

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, Norwegian rock musician and songwriter (A-ha)

September 7 – Kevin Kennedy, British actor

September 11

Elizabeth Daily, American voice actress and singer

Virginia Madsen, American actress

September 12 – Mylène Farmer, Canadian singer and songwriter

September 13 – Dave Mustaine, American metal singer, guitarist (Megadeth)

September 14 – Martina Gedeck, German actress

September 15

Dan Marino, American football player

Lidia Yusupova, Chechen human-rights lawyer

September 16 – Jen Tolley, American-Canadian voice actress

September 18 – James Gandolfini, American actor (d. 2013)

September 20 – Caroline Flint, British Labour MP

September 22

Bonnie Hunt, American actress, comedian, writer, director and television producer

Catherine Oxenberg, British actress

September 23 – William C. McCool, U.S. Army Commander and astronaut (d. 2003)

September 24 – Jack Dee, English stand-up comedian, actor and writer

September 25

Heather Locklear, American actress

Steve Scott, British journalist and presenter

September 26 – Edward M. Kennedy Jr., son of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy

September 27 – Andy Lau, Hong Kong actor and singer

September 28

Yordanka Donkova, Bulgarian athlete

Wayne Westner A South African Golfer who won twice on the European Tour (d. 2017)

September 29 – Julia Gillard, 27th Prime Minister of Australia

September 30

Crystal Bernard, American actress and singer

Eric Stoltz, American actor and director

Sally Yeh, Hong Kong singer and actress

October

October 1

Gary Ablett, Australian rules footballer

Rico Constantino, American professional wrestler

Robert Rey, Brazilian-American plastic surgeon and television personality

October 2 – Edmond Yu, Chinese student (d. 1997)

October 3 – Ludger Stühlmeyer, German cantor, composer and musicologist

October 4

Philippe Russo, French singer

Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer and songwriter

October 5 – Matthew Kauffman, American journalist and George Polk Award winner

October 6 – Mark Shasha, American artist, author, illustrator

October 10 – Jodi Benson, American actress and singer

October 11

Amr Diab, Egyptian singer

Steve Young, American football player

October 13

Rachel De Thame, English gardener and television presenter

Doc Rivers, American basketball player and coach

October 14 – Jim Burns, British science-fiction illustrator

October 16 – Randy Vasquez, American actor

October 18

Wynton Marsalis, African-American trumpeter and composer

Rick Moody, American writer

October 20 – Michie Tomizawa, Japanese voice actress

October 24 – Dave Meltzer, American wrestling journalist

October 25

Pat Sharp, British radio DJ and host

Chad Smith, American musician

Ward Burton, American NASCAR driver

October 26 – Dylan McDermott, American actor

October 29 – Randy Jackson, African-American musician

October 31

Alonzo Babers, American runner

Peter Jackson, New Zealand film director

Larry Mullen, Jr., Irish rock drummer (U2)

November

November 1 – Anne Donovan, American basketball player

November 2 – k.d. lang, Canadian singer and songwriter

November 4

Daron Hagen, American composer

Dominic Heale, British journalist and newsreader

Ralph Macchio, American actor

Jeff Probst, American television personality

Jerry Sadowitz, American-born British stand-up comic and card magician

Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish footballer and football manager

November 9

Jill Dando, British journalist and television presenter (d. 1999)

Jackie Kay, Scottish poet and novelist

November 12 – Nadia Comăneci, Romanian gymnast

November 14

Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (d. 2007)

D. B. Sweeney, American actor

November 16 – Corinne Hermès, French singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1983 winner

November 18

Jan Kuehnemund, American guitarist (Vixen) (d. 2013)

Steven Moffat, Scottish screenwriter

Anthony Warlow, Australian singer

November 19 – Meg Ryan, American actress and film director

November 20 – Dave Watson, English footballer

November 21 – Maria Kawamura, Japanese voice actress

November 22

Mariel Hemingway, American actress

Randal L. Schwartz, American computer programmer

November 24 – Arundhati Roy, Indian writer and activist

November 28 – Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican film director, screenwriter and producer

December

December 3 – Marcelo Fromer, Brazilian guitarist

December 4

Roy Dennis, disabled American boy (d. 1978)

Frank Reich, American football player

December 8 – Ann Coulter, American author, conservative commentator and attorney

December 10 – Nia Peeples, American actress

December 12

Daniel O'Donnell, Irish singer

Sarah Sutton, British actress

December 13 – Karen Witter, American actress and model

December 15 – Karin Resetarits, Austrian journalist and politician

December 16 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)

December 19

Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Matthew Waterhouse, British actor

Reggie White, American football player (d. 2004)

December 20 – Mohammad Fouad, Arab singer and actor

December 21 – Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor

December 23 – Ezzat el Kamhawi, Egyptian novelist

December 24 – Ilham Aliyev, 7th Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and 4th President of Azerbaijan

December 25 – Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian senator

December 26 – John Lynch, Northern Irish actor

December 27 – Guido Westerwelle, German politician (d. 2016)

December 29 – Jim Reid, Scottish musician

December 30

Douglas Coupland, Canadian author

Bill English, Prime Minister of New Zealand

Matt Goldman, American performance artist

Sean Hannity, American radio/television host and conservative commentator

Ben Johnson, Canadian athlete

Date unknown

Judie Bamber, American artist

Jaime Crespo, Mexican-American artist

James Rolfe, Canadian composer

Acharya S, American writer and proponent of the Christ myth theory (d. 2015)

Lefred Thouron, French cartoonist

January

January 4 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

January 9 – Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1867)

January 10 – Dashiell Hammett, American writer (b. 1894)

January 13 – Blanche Ring, American singer and actress (b. 1871)

January 14 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (b. 1888)

January 17 – Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)

January 18 – Thomas Anthony Dooley III, physician (b. 1927)

January 21

Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1887)

John J. Becker, American composer and pianist (b. 1886)

January 24 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)

January 26 – Stan Nichols, English cricketer (b. 1900)

January 29 – Jesse Wallace, American naval officer, 29th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1899)

January 30 – Dorothy Thompson, American journalist (b. 1893)

February

February 2 – Anna May Wong, Chinese-American actress (b. 1905)

February 3 – Viscount Dunrossil, Australian Governor-General (b. 1893)

February 7 – William Duncan, American actor (b. 1879)

February 9 – Carlos Luz, 19th President of Brazil (b. 1894)

February 12 – Richmond K. Turner, American admiral (b. 1885)

February 13 – Arthur Ripley, American film director (b. 1897)

February 15 – Laurence Owen, American Figure Skater (b. 1944)

February 16 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1891)

February 17 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)

February 20 – Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)

February 22

Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)

George de Cuevas, Chilean-American ballet impresario and choreographer (b. 1885)

February 26

Karl Albiker, German sculptor (b. 1878)

King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)

February 28 – Aaron S. "Tip" Merrill, American admiral (b. 1890)

March

March 3 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)

March 6 – George Formby, British singer, comedian & actor (b. 1904)

March 8

Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)

Gala Galaction, Romanian writer (b. 1879)

March 12

Victor d'Arcy, British Olympic athlete (b. 1887)

Belinda Lee, English actress (b. 1935)

March 17 – Susanna M. Salter, first woman mayor in the United States (b. 1860)

March 23 – Valentin Bondarenko, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)

March 25 – Arthur Drewry, English administrator, 5th President of FIFA (b. 1891)

March 26 – Carlos Duarte Costa, founder of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (b. 1888)

April

April 6 – Jules Bordet, Belgian immunologist and microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1870)

April 7 – Vanessa Bell, English artist and interior designer (b. 1879)

April 9 – Ahmet Zog, King of Albania (b. 1895)

April 21 – James Melton, American tenor (b. 1904)

April 24 – Lee Moran, American actor (b. 1888)

April 25

Robert Garrett, American athlete (b. 1875)

George Melford, American actor (b. 1877)

April 27

Roy Del Ruth, American film director (b. 1893)

Minoru Sasaki, Japanese general (b. 1893)

May

May 3 – Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French phenomenological philosopher (b. 1908)

May 6 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet and philosopher (b. 1895)

May 13 – Gary Cooper, American actor (High Noon) (b. 1901)

May 14 – Albert Sévigny, Canadian politician (b. 1881)

May 16 – George A. Malcolm, American jurist & educator (b. 1881)

May 22 – Joan Davis, American actress (b. 1907)

May 30 – Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, 2-Time President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)

May 31 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)

June

June 2 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright (b. 1889)

June 6 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)

June 9 – Camille Guérin, French bacteriologist and immunologist (b. 1872)

June 14 – Eddie Polo, Austro-American dramatist (b. 1875)

June 15 – Peyami Safa, Turkish journalist and writer (b. 1899)

June 16 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician (b. 1904)

June 17

Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)

Thomas Darden, American Rear admiral, 37th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1900)

June 24

William J. Connors, American politician (b. 1891)

George Washington Vanderbilt III, American philanthropist (b. 1914)

June 25 – John A D McCurdy, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia & pilot (b. 1886)

June 30 – Lee de Forest, American inventor (b. 1873)

July

July 1 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French writer (b. 1894)

July 2 – Ernest Hemingway, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (suicide) (b. 1899)

July 4 – Franklyn Farnum, American actor (b. 1878)

July 6 – Woodall Rodgers, Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1890)

July 17 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1886)

July 23

Esther Dale, American actress (b. 1885)

Valentine Davies, American screenwriter (b. 1905)

August

August 4 – Maurice Tourneur, French film director (b. 1873)

August 8 – Mei Lanfang, Beijing opera star (b. 1894)

August 9 – Walter Bedell Smith, American general and diplomat (b. 1895)

August 14

Henri Breuil, French priest, archaeologist, anthropologist and ethnologist (b. 1877)

Clark Ashton Smith, American writer and sculptor (b. 1893)

August 20 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)

August 23

Gotthard Sachsenberg, German World War I naval aviator and fighter ace (b. 1891)

Beals Wright, American tennis player (b. 1879)

August 26

Howard P. Robertson, American physicist (b. 1903)

Gail Russell, American actress (b. 1924)

August 30 – Charles Coburn, American actor (b. 1877)

September

September 1 – Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect (b. 1910)

September 10 – Leo Carrillo, American actor (b. 1880)

September 11 – George Irving, American actor (b. 1874)

September 17 – Adnan Menderes, 9th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1899)

September 18 – Dag Hammarskjöld, 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1905)

September 22 – Marion Davies, American actress (b. 1897)

September 24 – Sumner Welles, American diplomat (b. 1892)

September 25 – Frank Fay, American actor (b. 1897)

September 26

Robert L. Eichelberger, American general (b. 1886)

Juanita Hansen, American actress (b. 1895)

October

October 1 – Donald Cook, American actor (b. 1901)

October 2 – Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist (b. 1881)

October 4

Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov), Eastern Orthodox missionary and writer, Exarch of Russian Church in North America (b. 1880)

Max Weber, Polish-American artist (b. 1881)

October 11

Lucy Tayiah Eads, Kaw tribal chief (b. 1888)

Chico Marx, American comedian (b. 1887)

October 13

Maya Deren, Russian-born filmmaker (b. 1917)

Zoltán Korda, Hungarian screenwriter and director (b. 1895)

Dun Karm Psaila, Maltese writer (b. 1871)

October 14 – Harriet Shaw Weaver, English political activist (b. 1876)

October 19

Şemsettin Günaltay, Turkish historian, politician and 8th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1883)

Sergio Osmena, 4th President of the Philippines (b. 1878)

October 22 – Joseph Schenck, Russian-born film studio executive (b. 1878)

November

November 1 – Mordecai Ham, American evangelist (b. 1877)

November 2

James Thurber, American humorist (b. 1894)

Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I, 12th Hakim of Bahrain (b. 1894)

November 9 – Ferdinand Bie, Norwegian athlete (b. 1888)

November 15

Elsie Ferguson, American actress (b. 1883)

Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch plant pathologist (b. 1883)

November 16 – Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1882)

November 24 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (b. 1893)

November 30

Anna Gould, American heiress and socialite; daughter of financier Jay Gould (b. 1875)

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, German scientist (b. 1899)

December

December 2 – Herbert Pitman, British sailor, third officer of the RMS Titanic (b. 1877)

December 6 – Frantz Fanon, philosopher (b. 1925)

December 13 – Anna Mary Robertson Moses aka Grandma Moses, painter (b. 1860)

December 20

Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904)

Earle Page, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)

December 23 – Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer, German Generalmajor der Waffen-SS and war criminal (b. 1910)

December 25 – Otto Loewi, German-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1873)

December 28 – Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, First Lady of the United States from 1915-21 (b. 1872)

December 29

Anton Flettner, German aviation engineer and inventor (b. 1885)

Sibyl Morrison, first female barrister in New South Wales, Australia (b. 1895)

Date unknown

František Flos, Czech novelist

Wyncie King, American illustrator

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Robert Hofstadter, Rudolf Mössbauer

Chemistry – Melvin Calvin

Physiology or Medicine – Georg von Békésy

Literature – Ivo Andrić

Peace – Dag Hammarskjöld (posthumously)