1969

January

January 2

Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest-selling British Sunday newspaper, The News of the World.

People's Democracy begins a march from Belfast to Derry City, Northern Ireland to gain publicity and to promote its cause.

Ohio State defeats USC in the Rose Bowl to win the national title for the 1968 season.

January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.

January 5 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 5 toward Venus.

January 6 – The final passenger train traverses the Waverley Line, which subsequently closes to passengers.

January 10 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 6 toward Venus.

January 12

Led Zeppelin, the first Led Zeppelin album, is released in the United States.

Martial law is declared in Madrid, as the University is closed and over 300 students are arrested.

American football: The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, 16-7. Joe Namath is the MVP of the game.

January 14

An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314.

The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 4.

January 15 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5, which docks with Soyuz 4 for a transfer of crew.

January 16 – Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; 3 days later he dies.

January 18 – In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution displays the art of Winslow Homer for 6 weeks.

January 20 – Richard Nixon is sworn in as President of the United States.

January 22 – An assassination attempt is carried out on Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Brezhnev escaped unharmed.

January 26 – Elvis Presley steps into American Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, recording "Long Black Limousine", thus beginning the recording of what becomes his landmark comeback sessions for the albums From Elvis in Memphis and Back in Memphis. The sessions yield the popular and critically acclaimed singles "Suspicious Minds", "In the Ghetto", and "Kentucky Rain".

January 27

Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.

Reverend Ian Paisley, Northern Irish Unionist leader and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster is jailed for three months for illegal assembly.

The modern-day powerhouse of the Hetch Hetchy Project at Moccasin, California, rated at 100,000 kVA, is completed and placed in operation. On February 7, the original is removed from service.

January 28 – 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill: A blowout on Union Oil's Platform A spills 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil into a channel and onto the beaches of Santa Barbara County in Southern California; on February 5 the oil spill closes Santa Barbara's harbor. The incident inspires Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to organize the first Earth Day in 1970.

January 30 – The Beatles give their last public performance, of several tracks on the roof of Apple Records, London (featured in Let It Be (1970 film)).

February

February 2

Two cosmonauts transfer from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4 via a spacewalk while the two craft are docked together, the first time such a transfer takes place. The two spacecraft undock. Soyuz 4 will reenter Earth's atmosphere and land February 17 while Soyuz 5 will have a hard landing February 18.

Ten paintings are defaced in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

February 4 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is elected Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

February 8

The Allende meteorite explodes over Mexico.

The last issue of The Saturday Evening Post in its original form hits magazine stands in the United States after 147 years.

February 9 – The Boeing 747 makes its maiden flight at Everett, Washington.

February 13 – Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorists bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange.

February 14 – Pope Paul VI issues Mysterii Paschalis, a motu proprio, deleting many names from the Roman calendar of saints (including Valentine, who was celebrated on this day).

February 17 – Aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair the SEALAB III habitat off San Clemente Island, California.

February 24

The Mariner 6 Mars probe is launched from the United States.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to public schools.

March

March 2

In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted.

Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.

March 3

In a Los Angeles court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 (James McDivitt, David Scott, Rusty Schweickart) to test the lunar module.

The United States Navy establishes the Navy Fighter Weapons School (also known as Top Gun) at Naval Air Station Miramar.

March 4 – Jim Morrison is arrested in Florida for indecent exposure during a Doors concert three days earlier.

March 10

In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. (he later retracts his guilty plea).

The novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo is published.

March 13 – Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

March 17

The Longhope life-boat is lost after answering a mayday call during severe storms in the Pentland Firth between Orkney and the northern tip of Scotland; the entire crew of 8 die.

Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel.

March 18 – Operation Breakfast, the covert bombing of Cambodia by U.S. planes, begins.

March 19

British paratroopers and Marines land on the island of Anguilla.

A 385 metres (1,263 ft) tall TV mast at Emley Moor, England, collapses due to ice build-up.

March 20 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at Gibraltar, and proceed to their honeymoon "Bed-In" for peace in Amsterdam.

March 22 – The landmark art exhibition When Attitudes become Form, curated by Harald Szeemann, opens at the Kunsthalle Bern in Bern, Switzerland.

March 29 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 is held in Madrid, and results in four co-winners, with 18 votes each, from Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France.

March 30 – The body of former United States General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower is brought by caisson to the United States Capitol to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda; Eisenhower had died two days earlier, after a long illness, in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

April

April 1 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the Royal Air Force.

April 4 – Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

April 9

The Harvard University Administration Building is seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the takeover ends, 45 will be injured and 184 arrested.

Fermín Monasterio Pérez is murdered by the ETA in Biscay, Spain; the 4th victim in the name of Basque nationalism.

April 13 – Queensland: The Brisbane Tramways end service after 84 years of operation.

April 15 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down the aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

April 20

British troops arrive in Northern Ireland to reinforce the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

A grassroots movement of Berkeley community members seizes an empty lot owned by the University of California, to begin the formation of "People's Park".

April 22 – Robin Knox-Johnston becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping.

April 24 – Recently formed British Leyland launches their first new model, the Austin Maxi in Portugal.

April 28 – Charles de Gaulle steps down as president of France after suffering defeat in a referendum the day before.

May

May 10

Zip to Zap, a harbinger of the Woodstock Concert, ends with the dispersal and eviction of youths and young adults at Zap, North Dakota by the National Guard.

The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as Hamburger Hill, begins during the Vietnam War.

May 13 – May 13 Incident: Race riots occur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

May 14 – Colonel Muammar Gaddafi visits Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

May 15 – An American teenager known as 'Robert R.' dies in St. Louis, Missouri, of a baffling medical condition. In 1984 it will be identified as the first confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America.

May 16 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.

May 17 – Venera program: Soviet probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus' atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

May 18 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, John Young) is launched, on the full dress-rehearsal for the Moon landing.

May 20 – United States National Guard helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in California.

May 21 – Rosariazo: Civil unrest breaks out in Rosario, Argentina, following the death of a 15-year-old student.

May 22 – Apollo program: Apollo 10's lunar module flies to within 15,400 m of the Moon's surface.

May 25 – Midnight Cowboy, an X-rated, Oscar-winning John Schlesinger film, is released.

May 26

The Andean Pact (Andean Group) is established.

Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth, after a successful 8-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first manned Moon landing.

May 26–June 2 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct their second Bed-In. The follow-up to the Amsterdam event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Lennon composes and records the song Give Peace a Chance during the Bed-In.

May 29

Cordobazo: A general strike and civil unrest break out in Córdoba, Argentina.

Guided tours begin at the Kremlin and other government sites in Moscow.

May 30 – Riots in Curaçao mark the start of an Afro-Caribbean civil rights movement on the island.

June

June 3 – While operating at sea on SEATO maneuvers, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne accidentally rams and slices into the American destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea, killing 74 American seamen.

June 5 – An international communist conference begins in Moscow.

June 7 – The rock group Blind Faith plays its first gig in front of 100,000 people in London's Hyde Park.

June 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu meet at Midway Island. Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September.

June 17 – After a 23-game match, Boris Spassky defeats Tigran Petrosian to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow.

June 18–June 22 – The National Convention of the Students for a Democratic Society, held in Chicago, collapses, and the Weatherman faction seizes control of the SDS National Office. Thereafter, any activity run from the National Office or bearing the name of SDS is Weatherman-controlled.

June 20 – Georges Pompidou is elected President of France.

June 22

The Cuyahoga River fire helps spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Judy Garland dies of a drug overdose in her London home.

June 23 – Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren.

June 24 – The United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic ties.

June 28 – The Stonewall riots in New York City mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S.

July

July 1 – Charles, Prince of Wales, is invested with his title at Caernarfon.

July 3 – Brian Jones, musician and founder of The Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England.

July 4 – Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin are shot at Blue Rock Springs in California. They are the second (known) victims of the Zodiac Killer. Mageau survives the attack while Ferrin is pronounced dead-on-arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Richmond.

July 5 – Tom Mboya, Kenyan Minister of Development, is assassinated.

July 6 – Francisco Franco orders the closing of the border and communications between Gibraltar and Spain in response to the 1967 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum.

July 7 – French is made equal to English throughout the Canadian national government.

July 8 – Vietnam War: The very first U.S. troop withdrawals are made.

July 10 – Donald Crowhurst's trimaran Teignmouth Electron is found drifting and unoccupied. It is assumed that Crowhurst might have committed suicide.

July 14

Football War: After Honduras loses a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS works out a cease-fire on July 18, which takes effect on July 20.

The Act of Free Choice commences in Merauke, West Irian.

The United States' $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation.

July 16 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins) lifts off toward the first landing on the Moon.

July 18 – Chappaquiddick incident – Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge on his way home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign aide to his brother, dies in the early morning hours of July 19 in the submerged car.

July 19

John Fairfax lands in Hollywood Beach, Florida near Miami and becomes the first person to row across an ocean solo, after 180 days spent at sea on board 25' ocean rowboat 'Britannia' (left Gran Canaria on January 20, 1969).

July 20 – Apollo program: The lunar module Eagle/Apollo 11 lands on the lunar surface. An estimated 500 million people worldwide watch in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his historic first steps on the Moon at 10:56 pm ET (02:56 UTC July 21), the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time.

July 22 – Spanish dictator and head of state Francisco Franco appoints Prince Juan Carlos his successor.

July 24

The Apollo 11 astronauts return from the first successful Moon landing, and are placed in biological isolation for several days, on the chance they may have brought back lunar germs. The airless lunar environment is later determined to preclude microscopic life.

The Soviet Union returns Gerald Brooke to the United Kingdom in exchange for spies Peter and Helen Kroger (Morris and Lona Cohen).

July 25 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This starts the "Vietnamization" of the war.

July 26 – The New York Chapter of the Young Lords is founded.

July 30 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam, meeting with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.

July 31

The halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in the UK.

Pope Paul VI arrives in Entebbe, Uganda for the first visit by a reigning Pope to Africa.

August

August 4 – Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, U.S. representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. They eventually fail since both sides cannot agree to any terms.

August 5 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers) and proto-punk band The Stooges releases their homonym debut album.

August 8

The Beatles at 11:30 have photographer Iain Macmillan take their photo on a zebra crossing on Abbey Road.

A fire breaks out in Bannerman's Castle in the Hudson River; most of the roof collapses and crashes down to the lower levels.

August 9

The Haunted Mansion attraction opens at Disneyland California. Later versions open in Florida, Tokyo and Paris.

Followers of Charles Manson murder Sharon Tate, (who was 8 months pregnant), and her friends: Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring at the home of Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski, in Los Angeles. Also killed is Steven Parent, leaving from a visit to the Polanski's caretaker. More than 100 stab wounds are found on the victims, except for Parent, who had been shot almost as soon as the Manson Family entered the property.

August 10 – The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, wealthy Los Angeles businessman and his wife.

August 12 – Violence erupts after the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in Derry, Northern Ireland, resulting in a three-day communal riot known as the Battle of the Bogside.

August 13 – Serious border clashes occur between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

August 14 – British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland following the three-day Battle of the Bogside.

August 15 – Captain D's is founded as "Mr. D’s Seafood and Hamburgers" by Ray Danner with its first location opening in Donelson, Tennessee.

August 15–August 18 – The Woodstock Festival is held in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

August 17 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille, the most powerful tropical cyclonic system at landfall in history, hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars).

August 20 – Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is established in Florissant, CO, USA

August 21

Donald and Doris Fisher open the first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco.

Australian Denis Michael Rohan sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire.

Strong violence on demonstration in Prague and Brno, Czechoslovakia. Military force contra citizens. Prague spring finally beaten.

August 29 – A Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Tel Aviv is hijacked and diverted to Syria.

September

September 1 – A coup in Libya ousts King Idris, and brings Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power.

September 2

The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.

Ho Chi Minh, former president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, dies.

September 5 – Lieutenant William Calley is charged with 6 counts of premeditated murder, for the 1968 My Lai Massacre deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, Vietnam.

September 9 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 DC-9 collides in flight with a Piper PA-28, and crashes near Fairland, Indiana, killing all 83 persons in both aircraft.

September 13 – Scooby-Doo aired its first episode on the CBS network.

September 20 – The very last theatrical Warner Bros. cartoon is released: the Merrie Melodies short Injun Trouble.

September 22 – San Francisco Giant Willie Mays becomes the first player since Babe Ruth to hit 600 career home runs.

September 22 – September 25 – An Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem.

September 23

China carries out an underground nuclear bomb test.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford) opens to limited release in the United States.

September 24 – The Chicago Eight trial begins in Chicago, Illinois.

September 25 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference is founded.

September 26

The Beatles release their Abbey Road album, while receiving mixed reviews, was an enormous commercial success. It is now considered the Beatles' best album.

The Brady Bunch is broadcast for the first time on ABC.

September 28 – The Social Democrats and the Free Democrats receive a majority of votes in the German parliamentary elections, and decide to form a common government.

October

October 1

In Sweden, Olof Palme is elected Leader of the Social Democratic Worker's Party, replacing Tage Erlander as Prime Minister on October 14.

The Beijing Subway begins operation.

October 2 – A 1.2 megaton thermonuclear device is tested at Amchitka Island, Alaska. This test is code-named Project Milrow, the 11th test of the Operation Mandrel 1969–1970 underground nuclear test series. This test is known as a "calibration shot" to test if the island is fit for larger underground nuclear detonations.

October 5

Monty Python's Flying Circus first airs on BBC One.

Sazae-san first airs on Fuji Television.

October 9–October 12 – Days of Rage: In Chicago, the United States National Guard is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen, in connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial.

October 11–October 16 – The New York Mets defeat the Baltimore Orioles four games to one in one of the greatest World Series upsets in baseball history.

October 13

An unofficial strike amongst British mineworkers begins over the working hours of surface workers.

October 15

DZKB-TV Channel 9, the Philippines TV station, owner by Roberto S. Benedicto, is launched.

Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations across the United States.

October 17

Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell Laboratories (30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras).

Fourteen black athletes are kicked off the University of Wyoming football team for wearing black armbands into their coach's office.

October 21

Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.

General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.

October 22 – Led Zeppelin release Led Zeppelin II to critical acclaim and commercial success.

October 25 – Pink Floyd release their Ummagumma album.

October 29 – The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.

October 31

Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The disappearance of Patricia Spencer and Pamela Hobley occurs.

November

November 3

Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon addresses the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity with the Vietnam War effort, and to support his policies. Vice President Spiro Agnew denounces the President's critics as 'an effete corps of impudent snobs' and 'nattering nabobs of negativism'.

Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (31st government).

November 9 – A group of American Indians, led by Richard Oakes, seizes Alcatraz Island for 19 months, inspiring a wave of renewed Indian pride and government reform.

November 10 – Sesame Street aired its first episode on the NET network.

November 12 – Vietnam War – My Lai Massacre: Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.

November 14

Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean), the second manned mission to the Moon.

The SS United States the last active United States Lines passenger ship is withdrawn from service.

November 15

Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea.

Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000–500,000 protesters stage a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death".

Regular colour television broadcasts begin on BBC1 and ITV in the United Kingdom.

Dave Thomas opens his first restaurant in a former steakhouse in downtown Columbus, Ohio. He names the chain Wendy's after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou (nicknamed "Wendy" by her siblings).

November 17 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, to begin the SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

November 19

Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

Soccer great Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.

November 20

Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.

Richard Oakes returns with 90 followers and offers to buy Alcatraz for $24 (he leaves the island January 1970).

November 21

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, D.C. to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.

The first ARPANET link is established (the progenitor of the global Internet).

The United States Senate votes down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement Haynsworth, the first such rejection since 1930.

November 24 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.

November 25 – John Lennon returns his MBE medal to protest the British government's involvement in the Nigerian Civil War.

December

December 1 – Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II (on January 4, 1970, The New York Times will run a long article, "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random").

December 2 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle, to New York City.

December 4 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot dead in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

December 5 – The Rolling Stones release Let it Bleed.

December 6 – The Altamont Free Concert is held at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. Hosted by The Rolling Stones, it is an attempt at a "Woodstock West" and is best known for the uproar of violence that occurred. It is viewed by many as the "end of the sixties."

December 12 – The Piazza Fontana bombing in Italy (Strage di Piazza Fontana) takes place.

December 14 – The murder of Diane Maxwell takes place, when the 25-year-old phone operator is found sexually assaulted and killed (the case remains unsolved until 2003).

December 24

Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial.

The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea.

Nigerian troops capture Umuahia, the last Biafran capital before its dissolution became Owerri

December 27 – The Liberal Democratic Party wins 47.6% of the votes in the Japanese general election, 1969. Future prime ministers Yoshirō Mori and Tsutomu Hata and future kingmaker Ichirō Ozawa are elected for the first time.

December 28 – The Young Lords take over the First Spanish Methodist Church in East Harlem.

December 30 – The Linwood bank robbery leaves two police officers dead.

Date unknown

Common African, Malagasy and Mauritian Organization (OCAMM) (Organisation Commune Africaine Malgache et Mauricienne).

Reported as being the year the first strain of the AIDS virus (HIV) migrates to the United States via Haiti.

Summer sees the invention of Unix under the potential name "Unics" (after Multics).

Women are allowed membership in the Future Farmers of America (now the National FFA Organization).

Long John Silver's restaurant chain opens its first store in Lexington, Kentucky.

Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips is founded by S. Robert Davis and Dave Thomas and its first location in Columbus, Ohio opens for business.

The Montreal Expos debut as Major League Baseball's first team outside the United States.

Dodge Challenger is introduced.

January

January 2

Dean Francis Alfar, Filipino author

Tommy Morrison, American boxer (d. 2013)

Christy Turlington, American fashion model

Robby Gordon, American race car driver

January 3 – Michael Schumacher, German race car driver

January 5 – Marilyn Manson, American rock musician

January 6 – Norman Reedus, American actor

January 11 – Kyōko Hikami, Japanese voice actress

January 13 – Stephen Hendry, British snooker player

January 14

Jason Bateman, American actor, director and producer

David Grohl, American rock drummer and composer (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)

January 15 – Meret Becker, German actress and musician

January 16

Roy Jones Jr., American boxer

Per "Dead" Ohlin, Norwegian vocalist (d. 1991)

January 17

Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film director

Tiësto, Dutch trance DJ

January 18 – Dave Bautista, American actor, professional mixed martial artist and professional wrestler

January 19 – Junior Seau, American NFL player (d. 2012)

January 20 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American writer, hacker

January 27

Cornelius, Japanese rock musician, singer and producer (Flipper's Guitar)

Patton Oswalt, American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor

January 28 – Kathryn Morris, American actress

January 29 – Hyde, Japanese rock musician, singer and guitarist

February

February 1

Andrew Breitbart, American writer and publisher (d. 2012)

Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer

February 3

Retief Goosen, South African golfer

Beau Biden, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)

February 5

Bobby Brown, African-American singer

Michael Sheen, Welsh actor

February 9 – Ian Eagle, American sports announcer

February 11

Jennifer Aniston, American actress, director, producer and businesswoman

Bill Warner, American motorcycle racer (d. 2013)

February 12

Darren Aronofsky, American film director

Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer

Brad Werenka, Canadian ice-hockey player

February 13

Ahlam, Arabic singer

J. B. Blanc, French voice actor

February 15 – Birdman, American rapper, entertainer, and record producer

February 19 – Burton C. Bell, American rock vocalist/lyricist

February 20 – Keiji Takayama, Japanese professional wrestler

February 21

Bosson, Swedish singer-songwriter

Petra Kronberger, Austrian alpine skier

February 22 – Thomas Jane, American actor

February 23

Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer

Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist

February 24 – Christine Ng, Hong Kong actress

February 28

Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

Patrick Monahan, American musician and singer

Stephen Bishop, Australian poet, writer, radio presenter

Paul Bishop, twin of Stephen and all-round cool guy!

March

March 1

Javier Bardem, Spanish actor

Dafydd Ieuan, Welsh rock drummer

Litefoot, Native American actor

March 4

Chaz Bono, American LGBT rights activist

Annie Shizuka Inoh, Taiwanese actress

Patrick Roach, Canadian actor

March 7 – Todd Williams, American long-distance runner

March 10 – Paget Brewster, American actress

March 11

Terrence Howard, American actor and singer

Soraya, Colombian singer and multi-instrumentalist (d. 2006)

March 12

Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (Blur) and painter

Akemi Okamura, Japanese voice actress

March 13 – Susanna Mälkki, Finnish conductor

March 15

Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician

Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey

Kim Raver, American actress

March 16 – Markus Lanz, German-Italian television presenter

March 17 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010)

March 18 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess grandmaster

March 19

Patrick Tam, Hong Kong actor

Connor Trinneer, American actor

March 21 – Ali Daei, Iranian football player

March 24 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian alpine skier

March 25 – Jeffrey Walker, English musician

March 27 – Pauley Perrette, American actress

March 28

Rodney Atkins, America country music singer-songwriter

Laurie Brett, Scottish actress

March 29 – Chiaki Ishikawa, Japanese singer (See-Saw)

March 31 – Samantha Brown, American television host

April

April 1 – Fadl Shaker, Lebanese singer

April 2 – Ajay Devgan, Bollywood actor

April 3 – Lance Storm, Canadian professional wrestler

April 6

Bret Boone, American baseball player

Paul Rudd, American actor, comedian, writer and producer

April 9 – Debbie Schlussel, political commentator and film critic

April 10 – Billy Jayne, American actor

April 11

Barnaby Kay, English actor

Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer

Caren Miosga, German journalist and television presenter

Chisato Moritaka, Japanese singer

April 12 – Michael Jackson, former NFL wide receiver

April 19

Shannon Lee, Chinese-American actress

Susan Polgar, Hungarian chess player

April 20 – Marietta Slomka, German journalist

April 21 – Toby Stephens, English actor

April 22 – Dion Dublin, English footballer

April 23 – Yelena Shushunova, Soviet gymnast

April 25

Vanessa Beecroft, Italian artist

Joe Buck, American sports announcer

Gina Torres, American actress

Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer

May

May 1 – Wes Anderson, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor

May 2 – Brian Lara, West Indian cricketer

May 3 – Daryl F. Mallett, American author and actor

May 4

Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player

Christina Billotte, American musician

May 5 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese baseball player (d. 2011)

May 6 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer

May 7 – Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish-born musician

May 9 – Amber, Dutch musician

May 10 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch soccer player

May 12 – Kevin Nalty, American YouTube comedian

May 13

Nikos Aliagas, French-born television host

Brian Carroll (a.k.a. Buckethead), American guitarist

May 14

Cate Blanchett, Australian actress

Danny Wood, American singer (New Kids on the Block)

May 15

Asalah Nasri, Syrian singer

Emmitt Smith, American football player

May 16

David Boreanaz, American actor

Tracey Gold, American actress

Steve Lewis, American athlete

May 18 – Martika, American singer

May 21 – Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (d. 2000)

May 25

Anne Heche, American actress

Stacy London, American fashion consultant and media personality

May 26 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete

May 28 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician (d. 2016)

June

June 2 – Jamie Thraves, English film writer, director and music video director

June 3 – Takako Minekawa, Japanese musician, composer and writer

June 4 – Rob Huebel, American comedian

June 7

Alina Astafei, Romanian-German high jumper

Prince Joachim of Denmark

Kim Rhodes, American actress

June 8 – J. P. Manoux, American actor

June 11

Peter Dinklage, American actor

Steven Drozd, American rock drummer (The Flaming Lips)

June 12

Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian rock guitarist (d. 2007)

Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician

June 13 – Søren Rasted, Danish musician (Aqua)

June 14

Steffi Graf, German tennis player

MC Ren, American rapper (N.W.A)

Eugene Chung, Korean-American football player

June 15

Ice Cube, African-American rapper and actor

Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper

Jansher Khan, Pakistani squash player

Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer

June 17 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete

June 18 – Haki Doku, Albanian para-cyclist

June 19 – Trine Pallesen, Danish actress

June 20 – Paulo Bento, Portuguese football player and coach

June 23

Fernanda Ribeiro, Portuguese long-distance runner

Achinoam Nini (Noa), Israeli singer

June 24

Rich Eisen, American television journalist

Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer

June 25

Storm Large, American singer and actor

Zim Zum, American guitarist

June 28 – Tichina Arnold, African-American actress (Everybody Hates Chris)

June 29

Tōru Hashimoto, Japanese local governor

Ilan Mitchell-Smith, American actor

June 30 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer

July

July 2

Matthew Cox, American criminal

Tim Rodber, English rugby player

Jenni Rivera, Mexican-American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (d. 2012)

July 3 – Gedeon Burkhard, German actor

July 4 – Jordan Sonnenblick, American teacher and novelist

July 5 – John LeClair, American hockey player

July 7

Sylke Otto, German luger

Joe Sakic, Canadian hockey player

Cree Summer, American-Canadian actress and singger

July 8

George Fisher, American vocalist, Cannibal Corpse

Sugizo, Japanese guitarist and singer

July 10

Gale Harold, American actor

Jonas Kaufmann, German operatic tenor

July 11 – David Tao, Taiwanese singer-songwriter

July 13 – Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian and physician

July 16 – Sahra Wagenknecht, German politician

July 18 – Masanori Murakawa, Japanese wrestler

July 20 – Josh Holloway, American actor

July 21

Godfrey, American comedian and actor

Avraam Russo, Russian singer

Isabell Werth, German equestrian

July 22

James Arnold Taylor, American voice actor

Despina Vandi, Greek singer

July 24 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer

July 26 – Tanni Grey-Thompson, born Carys Grey, British Paralympian

July 27

Pavel Hapal, Czech footballer

Triple H (aka Paul Levesque), American wrestler

July 28

Alexis Arquette, American actress (d. 2016)

Michael Amott, English musician

July 29 – Timothy Omundson, American actor

July 30 – Simon Baker, Australian actor and director

July 31 – Antonio Conte, Italian football player and manager

August

August 2

Jan Axel Blomberg, Norwegian drummer

Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer

August 4 – Max Cavalera, Brazilian musician and singer (Soulfly)

August 5 – Kenny Erwin Jr, NASCAR Driver

August 6

Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)

Jonathan Aibel, American script writer

August 8 Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress

August 9 – Troy Percival, American baseball player

August 10 – Brian Drummond, Canadian voice actor

August 11

Ashley Jensen, British actress

Vanderlei de Lima, Brazilian long-distance runner

August 12 – Tanita Tikaram, German-born British singer-songwriter

August 13 – Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater

August 15

Justin Broadrick, British musician

Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong television actor and singer

August 16 – Kate Higgins American voice actress

August 17

Donnie Wahlberg, American singer (New Kids on the Block)

Dick Togo, Japanese professional wrestler

August 18

Everlast, American singer, rapper, and songwriter

Edward Norton, American actor, film director, screenwriter, and social activist

Christian Slater, American actor

August 19

Nate Dogg, African-American rapper (d. 2011)

Matthew Perry, Canadian-American actor

Clay Walker, American singer

August 21 – Oliver Geissen, German television presenter

August 26 – Glenn Berger, American scriptwriter

August 28 – Jack Black, American actor and musician

August 29

Lucero, Mexican singer and actress

Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player

September

September 2

Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, American singer, one half of R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo

Dave Naz, American photographer

September 3 – Robert Karlsson, Swedish golfer

September 5 – Dweezil Zappa, American actor and musician

September 7

Jean-Benoît Dunckel, French musician (Air)

Diane Farr, American actress

Jimmy Urine, American singer

September 8 – Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 2011)

September 9 – Rachel Hunter, New Zealand model and actress

September 10 – Ai Jing, Chinese singer

September 11 – Crystal Lewis, American Christian musician

September 12

Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer

Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer

September 13

Tyler Perry, American actor, film director, and screenwriter

Shane Warne, Australian cricketer

September 14 – Bong Joon-ho, South Korean screenwriter and film director

September 17 – Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player

September 19

Simona Păucă, Romanian gymnast

Michael Symon, American chef and television personality

September 24

Shawn "Clown" Crahan, American rock percussionist

DeVante Swing, American music producer

September 25

Yves Amyot, Québécois actor

Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (d. 2002)

Bill Simmons, American sports columnist

Hal Sparks, American actor and comedian

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Welsh actress

September 26

Victor N'Gembo-Mouanda, Congolese author

Paul Warhurst, English football player

September 29 – Erika Eleniak, American model and actress

October

October 1

Zach Galifianakis, American actor and stand-up comedian

Igor Ulanov, Russian hockey player

October 2 – Mitch English, American actor and television host

October 3

Gwen Stefani, Lead singer of American rock group No Doubt and television host

Tetsuya, Japanese musician

October 5 – Elizabeth Azcona Bocock, Honduran politician

October 6

Muhammad V of Kelantan, current Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and Sultan of Kelantan

Ogün Temizkanoğlu, Turkish football player

October 7

Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor

Benny Chan Muk-Sing, Hong Kong film director

October 8 – Julia Ann, American porn actress

October 9

Jun Akiyama, Japanese professional wrestler

PJ Harvey, British singer-songwriter

Steve McQueen, English film director, producer and screenwriter

October 10

Brett Favre, American football player

Wendi McLendon-Covey, American actress

October 12 – Judit Mascó, Spanish model, television host and writer

October 13

Rhett Akins, American country singer

Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater

Cady McClain, American actress and director

October 14

Kosuke Okano, Japanese voice actor

David Strickland, American actor (d. 1999)

October 16 – Wendy Wilson, American singer and television personality

October 17

Ernie Els, South African golfer

Jesús Ángel García, Spanish race walker

Wood Harris, American actor

Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper

Nancy Sullivan, American actress

October 19 – Trey Parker, American voice actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, director and producer

October 20

Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league player

Juan González, American baseball player

October 21 – Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league footballer

October 24

Peter Dolving, Swedish musician

Adela Noriega, Mexican actress

October 25

Josef Beránek, Czech ice hockey player

Oleg Salenko, Russian football player

Alex Webster, American bassist

October 29 – Ha Hee-ra, Korean actress

October 30

Snow, Canadian singer

Stanislav Gross, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (d. 2015)

October 31 – Kim Rossi Stuart, Italian actor and director

November

November 1 – Diane Parish, English actress

November 2 – Reginald Arvizu (aka Fieldy Snuts), American bassist

November 3 – Robert Miles, Swiss-Italian record producer and DJ

November 4

Sean Combs, African-American rapper (aka Puff Daddy, P. Diddy)

Matthew McConaughey, American actor

November 7

Michelle Clunie, American actress

Hélène Grimaud, French pianist

November 8 – Roxana Zal, American actress

November 9

Sandra Denton, African-American rapper (Salt-n-Pepa)

Allison Wolfe, American musician

November 10

Faustino Asprilla, Colombian football player

Jens Lehmann, German football player

Ellen Pompeo, American actress

November 11 – Carson Kressley, American fashion expert

November 12

Johnny Gosch, American child kidnap victim

Tomas N'evergreen, Danish singer

November 13

Gerard Butler, Scottish actor

Josh Mancell, American freelance composer and multi-instrumentalist

November 17

Ryōtarō Okiayu, Japanese voice actor

Jean-Michel Saive, Belgian table tennis player

November 18

Kathleen van Brempt, Belgian politician

Sam Cassell, American basketball player

Ahmed Helmy, Egyptian actor

November 19 – Ertuğrul Sağlam, Turkish football coach and former player

November 20 – Sakura, Japanese musician

November 21 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player

November 23 – Robin Padilla, Filipino actor

November 24 – David Adeang, Nauruan politician

November 28 – Lexington Steele, American actor and film director

November 29

Chris Baker, American race car driver

Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch footballer

Kasey Keller, American Major League Soccer player

Mariano Rivera, Panamanian Major League Baseball player

December

December 1 – Richard Carrier, American historian

December 3 – Bill Steer, English musician

December 4 – Jay-Z, African-American rapper

December 5 – Alex Kapp Horner, American actress

December 8 – Kerry Earnhardt, American race car driver

December 9 – Jakob Dylan, American singer-songwriter (The Wallflowers)

December 11

Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess Grandmaster

Sean Grande, American basketball announcer

December 13 – Hideo Ishikawa, Japanese voice actor

December 14 – Archie Kao, Chinese-American film and television actor

December 15 – Rick Law, American illustrator and producer

December 16 – Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer

December 17

Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial arts fighter

Michael V., Filipino comedian and actor

December 18

Irvin Duguid, Scottish rock keyboard player (Stiltskin)

Mille Petrozza, German-Italian rock vocalist and guitarist (Kreator)

Joe Randa, American Major League Baseball player and radio talk-show host

December 19

Richard Hammond, British TV presenter

Lauren Sánchez, American news anchor

Kristy Swanson, American actress

December 20 – Chisa Yokoyama, Japanese voice actress

December 21

Julie Delpy, French actress

Magnus Samuelsson, Swedish bodybuilder, World's Strongest Man

December 23

Greg Biffle, American race car driver

Martha Byrne, American actress and singer

Rob Pelinka, American sports agent

December 24

Brad Anderson, American wrestler

Milan Blagojevic, Australian soccer player

Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish film director

Taro Goto, Japanese soccer player

Stephen Shaun Griffiths, English serial killer

Leavander Johnson, American lightweight boxer (d. 2005)

Ryuji Kato, Japanese soccer player

Nick Love, English film director and writer

Miyuki Matsushita, Japanese voice actress

Clinton McKinnon, American musician

Sean Cameron Michael, South African actor and singer

Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office

Mark Millar, Scottish author

Luis Musrri, Chilean soccer player

Mariko Shiga, Japanese voice actress (d. 1989)

Oleg Skripochka, Russian cosmonaut

Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian soccer player

Chen Yueling, American race walker

Jonathan Zittrain, American professor

Michael Zucchet, American economist and politician, Mayor of San Diego

December 25 – Nicolas Godin, French musician (Air)

December 27 – Chyna, American professional wrestler (d. 2016)

December 28 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer

December 30

Matt Goldman, American record producer

Jason Kay, English singer (Jamiroquai)

Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia

December 31 – Dominik Diamond, Scottish presenter and newspaper columnist

Date unknown

Russ Kick, American writer and founder of The Memory Hole.

Molly Kiely, American cartoonist

January

Daisy and Violet Hilton, English conjoined twin actresses (b. 1908; bodies discovered on January 4, 1969)

January 1 – Barton MacLane, American actor (b. 1902)

January 2 – Gilbert Miller (aka Gilbert Heron) American theatrical producer (b. 1884)

January 3 – Howard McNear, American actor (b. 1905)

January 4 – William M. Zachacki, American politician (b. 1913)

January 8 – Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889)

January 16 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American songwriter (b. 1903)

January 19 – Jan Palach, Czech student protester (suicide) (b. 1948)

January 25 – Irene Castle, English dancer (b. 1893)

January 27 – Charles Winninger, American actor (b. 1884)

January 29 – Allen Dulles, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1893)

January 30 – Georges Pire, Belgian monk, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1910)

January 31 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)

February

February 2 – Boris Karloff, British actor (b. 1887)

February 3 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican FRELIMO leader (assassinated) (b. 1920)

February 5

Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)

Conrad Hilton, Jr., American heir and socialite (b. 1926)

February 9 – George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (b. 1885)

February 12 – Paltiel Daykan, Russian-born Israeli jurist (b. 1885)

February 13 – Florence Mary Taylor, Australia's first female architect (b. 1879)

February 14 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mobster (b. 1897)

February 15 – Pee Wee Russell, American jazz musician (b. 1906)

February 20 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)

February 23 – Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 2nd King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)

February 26

Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)

Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)

February 27 – John Boles, American actor (b. 1895)

March

March 4 – Nicholas Schenck, Russian-born film impresario (b. 1881)

March 9 – Charles Brackett, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1892)

March 11

Daniel E. Barbey, American admiral (b. 1889)

John Wyndham, British author (b. 1903)

March 14 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-born American artist (b. 1898)

March 18 – Barbara Bates, American actress (b. 1925)

March 20 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)

March 21 – Pinky Higgins, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)

March 25

Billy Cotton, British entertainer and bandleader (b. 1899)

Max Eastman, American writer (b. 1883)

Alan Mowbray, English actor (b. 1896)

March 26

John Kennedy Toole, American author (b. 1937)

B. Traven, German writer

March 28 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)

April

April 5

Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi war criminal (b. 1903)

Shelby Storck, American television producer (b. 1917)

April 6 – Gabriel Chevallier, French writer (b. 1895)

April 7 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan writer and President of Venezuela (b. 1884)

April 15 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, former Queen consort of Spain (b. 1887)

April 26 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)

April 27 – René Barrientos, Bolivian general and statesman, 56th and 58th President of Bolivia (plane crash) (b. 1919)

May

May 1 – Ella Logan, American actress (b. 1913)

May 2 – Franz von Papen, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)

May 3

Karl Freund, German cinematographer (b. 1890)

Amy Ashwood Garvey, Jamaican pan-African activist (b. 1897)

Zakir Hussain; Indian politician, 3rd President of India (b. 1897)

May 4 – Osbert Sitwell, English writer (b. 1892)

May 14

Enid Bennett, American actress (b. 1893)

Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)

May 15 – Robert R., American HIV/AIDS victim (b. 1953)

May 19 – Coleman Hawkins, American musician (b. 1904)

May 20 – Fred Sherman, American actor (b. 1905)

May 23 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (b. 1894)

May 24 – Mitzi Green, American actress (b. 1920)

May 27 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor (b. 1926)

May 28 – Rhys Williams, Welsh actor (b. 1897)

June

June 1 – Ivar Ballangrud, Norwegian Olympic speed skater (b. 1904)

June 2 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)

June 4 – Rafael Osuna, Mexican tennis champion (b. 1938)

June 5 – Miles Dempsey, British general (b. 1896)

June 8 – Robert Taylor, American actor (b. 1911)

June 13 – Martita Hunt, British actress (b. 1899)

June 16 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, British field marshal (b. 1891)

June 19 – Natalie Talmadge, American actress (b. 1898)

June 21 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (b. 1934)

June 22 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922)

June 23 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish Olympic athlete (b. 1907)

June 24 – Willy Ley, German science writer and space advocate (b. 1906)

June 29 – Moise Tshombe, Congolese politician (b. 1919)

July

July 2

Mikio Naruse, Japanese film director (b. 1905)

Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (b 1923)

July 3 – Brian Jones, British rock musician (The Rolling Stones) (b. 1942)

July 5

Ben Alexander, American actor (b. 1911)

Walter Gropius, German architect (b. 1883)

Tom Mboya, Kenyan politician (assassinated) (b. 1930)

Lambert Hillyer, American film director (b. 1889)

Leo McCarey, American film director (b. 1898)

July 7 – Gladys Swarthout, American opera singer (b. 1900)

July 9 – Raizō Tanaka, Japanese admiral (b. 1892)

July 15 – Peter van Eyck, German-American actor (b. 1911)

July 18

Mary Jo Kopechne, American teacher, secretary, and political campaign specialist (b. 1940)

Barbara Pepper, American actress (b. 1915)

July 20

Cathy Wayne, pop entertainer, first Australian woman killed in Vietnam War (b. 1949)

July 24 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (b. 1904)

July 25 – Otto Dix, German painter (b. 1891)

July 26 – Raymond Walburn, American actor (b. 1887)

July 28

Frank Loesser, American songwriter (b. 1910)

Ramón Grau, Cuban president (b. 1882)

August

August 6 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)

August 9

Abigail Folger, American socialite, Folgers Coffee heiress, and social worker (b. 1943)

Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)

Jay Sebring, American celebrity hair stylist (b. 1933)

Sharon Tate, American actress (assassinated) (b. 1943)

August 14 – Leonard Woolf, English writer (b. 1880)

August 17

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect (b. 1886)

Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)

August 18 – Mildred Davis, American actress (b. 1901)

August 20 – Dudley D. Watkins, Scottish illustrator for D. C. Thomson & Co. (b. 1907)

August 25 – Harry Hammond Hess, American geologist and United States Navy officer in World War II (b. 1906)

August 27

Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist (b. 1884)

Erika Mann, German writer (b. 1905)

August 31 – Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)

September

September 2 – Ho Chi Minh, President of Vietnam (b. 1890)

September 3 – John Lester, American cricketer (b. 1871)

September 6 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (b. 1892)

September 7 – Gavin Maxwell, Scottish naturalist and author (b. 1914)

September 8 – Bud Collyer, American radio and television personality (b. 1908)

September 12 – Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr., American general (b. 1888)

September 19 – Rex Ingram, American actor (b. 1895)

September 22 – Adolfo López Mateos, 48th President of Mexico (b. 1895)

October

October 4 – Natalino Otto, Italian singer (b. 1912)

October 6 – Walter Hagen, American golf champion (b. 1892)

October 7 – Ture Nerman, Swedish politician (b. 1886)

October 8 – Eduardo Ciannelli, Italian actor and singer (b. 1889)

October 11 – Kazimierz Sosnkowski, General of the Polish Army (b. 1885)

October 12 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912)

October 14

Arnie Herber, American football player (Green Bay Packers) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1910)

August Sang, Estonian poet and literary translator (b. 1914)

October 15

Rod La Rocque, American actor (b. 1896)

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, 2nd President of Somalia (assassinated) (b. 1919)

October 21

Jack Kerouac, American author (b. 1922)

Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)

October 29 – Pops Foster, American musician (b. 1892)

November

November 5 – Lloyd Corrigan, American actor (b. 1900)

November 8 – Vesto Slipher, American astronomer (b. 1875)

November 11 – Frank Mills (politician), American politician in Ohio legislature (b. 1904)

November 12

William F. Friedman, American cryptanalyst (b. 1891)

Liu Shaoqi, Chinese revolutionary and statesman and 2nd President of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)

November 13 – Iskander Mirza, 1st President of Pakistan (b. 1899)

November 15

Roy D'Arcy, American actor (b. 1894)

Ignacio Aldecoa, Spanish writer (b. 1925)

Billy Southworth, American baseball manager (St. Louis Cardinals) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1893)

November 18 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., American politician (b. 1888)

November 28 – Roy Barcroft, American actor (b. 1902)

December

December 1 – Magic Sam, American musician (b. 1937)

December 2 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist (b. 1911).

December 3 – Ruth White, American actress (b. 1914)

December 4

Mark Clark, American Black Panther (b. 1947)

Fred Hampton, American Black Panther (b. 1948)

Hugh Oswald Short, aviation pioneer; CEO, Short Brothers (b. 1883)

December 5

Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)

Claude Dornier, German airplane builder (b. 1884)

December 7

Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player (b. 1897)

Eric Portman, English actor (b. 1901)

December 13

Raymond A. Spruance, American admiral and ambassador (b. 1886)

Spencer Williams, American actor (b. 1893)

December 16 – Alphonse Castex, French rugby union player (b. 1899)

December 17 – Artur da Costa e Silva, Brazilian marshal and statesman, 27th President of Brazil (b. 1899)

December 21 – Georges Catroux, French Army general and colonial governor (b. 1877)

December 22

Josef von Sternberg, Austrian film director (b. 1894)

Enrique Peñaranda, 45th President of Bolivia (b. 1892)

December 24

Stanisław Błeszyński, Polish entomologist (b. 1927)

Cortelia Clark, African American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1907)

Olivia FitzRoy, British author of children's books (b. 1921)

Seabury Quinn, American author (b. 1889)

Alfred B. Skar, Norwegian politician (b. 1896)

December 29 – Ricardo de la Guardia, former President of Panama (b. 1899)

December 31 – Joseph Yablonski, murdered American labor leader (b. 1910)

Date unknown

George de la Warr, British alternative physician (b. 1904)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Murray Gell-Mann

Chemistry – Derek Harold Richard Barton, Odd Hassel

Medicine – Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, Salvador Luria

Literature – Samuel Beckett

Peace – International Labour Organization

Economics – Ragnar Frisch, Jan Tinbergen