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Wikipedia / 1959

Events

January

January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the vicinity of Earth's Moon, where it was intended to crash-land, but instead becomes the first spacecraft to go into heliocentric orbit.

January 3

Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
The southernmost island of the Maldives archipelago, Addu Atoll, declares its independence from the Kingdom of the Maldives, initiating the United Suvadive Republic.

January 4

In Cuba, rebel troops led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos enter the city of Havana.
Léopoldville riots: At least 49 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the ABAKO Party in Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo.
January 6 – The International Maritime Organization is inaugurated.
January 7 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
January 8 – Charles de Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.
January 9 – The Vega de Tera disaster in Spain, a flood caused by a dam collapse, nearly destroys the town of Ribadelago and kills 144 residents.
January 10 – The Soviet government recognizes the new Castro government of Cuba.
January 11 – The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques is founded in Monaco.
January 12 – The Motown record label is founded as Tamla by Berry Gordy in Detroit.
January 15 – The Soviet Union conducts its first census after World War II.
January 21 – The European Court of Human Rights is established.
January 22 – Knox Mine disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, near Pittston, Pennsylvania, United States; 12 miners are killed.

January 25

American Airlines begins the first U.S. domestic jet service with a Boeing 707 airliner flight between New York and Los Angeles.
Pope John XXIII announces that the Second Vatican Council will be convened in Rome.
January 30 – Danish passenger/cargo ship , returning to Copenhagen after its maiden voyage to Greenland, strikes an iceberg and sinks off the Greenland coast with the loss of all 95 on board.

February

February 2 – Nine ski hikers mysteriously perish in the northern Ural Mountains in the Dyatlov Pass incident and are all found dead a few weeks later.

February 3

A chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper with pilot Roger Peterson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".
American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L-188 Electra from Chicago crashes into the East River on approach to New York City's LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.
February 6 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
February 9 – Yugoslavia and Spain set trade relations (not diplomatic ones).
February 13 – TAT-2, AT&T's second transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation between Newfoundland and France.
February 16 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
February 17 – Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, is launched to measure cloud cover for the United States Navy.

February 18

Jesús Sosa Blanco, a colonel in the Cuban army of Fulgencio Batista, is executed in Cuba after being convicted of committing 108 murders for Batista.
Women in Nepal vote for the first time.
February 19 – First of the London and Zürich Agreements under which the United Kingdom agrees to grant independence to Cyprus.
February 20 – The Canadian Government cancels the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft project.

March

March 1

The , , and are stricken from the United States Naval Vessel Register.
Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.
March 3 – Lunar probe Pioneer 4 becomes the first American object to escape dominance by Earth's gravity.
March 9 – Mattel's Barbie doll debuts in the United States.
March 10 – The Tibetan uprising erupts in Lhasa when Chinese officials attempt to arrest the Dalai Lama.
March 11 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1959, staged in Cannes, is won for the Netherlands by "'n Beetje" sung by Teddy Scholten (music by Dick Schallies, lyrics by Willy van Hemert).
March 17 – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama escapes Tibet and arrives in India.
March 18 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Hawaii Admission Act, granting statehood to Hawaii.
March 19 – The other two southern islands of the Maldives, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah, join Addu Atoll in forming the United Suvadive Republic (abolished September 1963).
March 28 – The Kashag, the government of Tibet, is abolished by an order signed by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. The Dalai Lama is replaced in China by the Panchen Lama.
March 31 – The Dalai Lama is granted asylum in India.

April

April 6 – The 31st Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood. Musical film Gigi receives a record 9 Oscars.
April 8 – The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is established.
April 9 – NASA announces its selection of seven military pilots to become the first U.S. astronauts, later known as the 'Mercury Seven'.
April 10 – Crown Prince Akihito of Japan marries Shōda Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Imperial House of Japan.
April 25 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.
April 27 – National People's Congress elects Liu Shaoqi as Chairman of the People's Republic of China, as a successor of Mao Zedong.

May

May – In the United Kingdom:

Import tariffs are lifted.
The first Ten Tors event is held on Dartmoor.
May 2 – 1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest defeat Luton Town 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.
May 18 – The National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire is launched in Conakry, Guinea.
May 21 – Gypsy: A Musical Fable, starring Ethel Merman in her last new musical, opens on Broadway and runs for 702 performances.
May 23 – In Laos the Laotian Civil War begins between the Kingdom of Laos and communist rebels, the Pathet Lao.
May 24 – British Empire Day is renamed Commonwealth Day.
May 28 – Jupiter AM-18 rocket launches two primates, Miss Baker and Miss Able, into space from Cape Canaveral in the United States along with living microorganisms and plant seeds. Successful recovery makes them the first living beings to return safely to Earth after space flight.

June

June 3

Singapore becomes a self-governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.
Real Madrid beat Stade Reims 2–0 at Neckarstadion, Stuttgart and win the 1958–59 European Cup (Association football).
June 5 – A new government of the State of Singapore is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former ministers are re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
June 8 – The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
June 9 – The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
June 14 – A 3-front invasion of the Dominican Republic by exile forces backed by Fidel Castro and Venezuela attempts to overthrow Rafael Trujillo.
June 18 – The film The Nun's Story, based on the best-selling novel, is released. Audrey Hepburn stars as the title character; she later says that this is her favorite film role. The film is a box-office hit, and is nominated for several Oscars.

June 23

Seán Lemass becomes the third Taoiseach of Ireland.
Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after nine years in a British prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
June 26 – Elizabeth II (as monarch of Canada) and United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower open the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
June 30 – 1959 Okinawa F-100 crash: Twenty-one students are killed and more than a hundred injured when a U.S. Air Force North American F-100 Super Sabre jet crashes into Miamori Elementary School on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The pilot ejected before the plane struck the school.

July

July 2 – Prince Albert of Belgium marries Italian Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria.
July 4 – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia.
July 7 – At 14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. The rare event (which will next occur on October 1, 2044) is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
July 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a British Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.
July 14 – Groups of Kurdish and communist militias rebel in Kirkuk, Iraq against the central government.
July 17 – The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania.
July 22 – A Kumamoto University medical research group studying Minamata disease concludes that it is caused by mercury.
July 24 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, United States Vice President Richard Nixon and USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev engage in the "Kitchen Debate".
July 25 – The British SR.N1 hovercraft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours, on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's first crossing by heavier-than-air craft.

August

August 4 – Martial law is declared in Laos.

August 7

Explorer program: The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Roseburg Blast in Oregon, caused when a truck carrying explosives catches fire, kills 14 and causes $12million worth of damage.
August 8 – A flood in Taiwan kills 2,000.
August 14 – Explorer 6 sends the first picture of Earth from orbit.
August 15 – Cyprus gains independence.

August 17 – In the United States:

The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in southwest Montana kills 28.
Miles Davis' influential jazz album Kind of Blue is released.
August 19 – The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is established.
August 21 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th and last U.S. state.
August 26 – The original Mini car, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, is launched in England.
August 30 – 1959 South Vietnamese legislative election: South Vietnamese opposition figure Phan Quang Dan is elected to the National Assembly despite soldiers being bussed in to vote for President Ngo Dinh Diem's candidate.
August 31 – The Workers' Stadium sports venue in Beijing (China) is officially opened.

September

September 14 – Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to crash on the Moon.
September 15–28 – USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his wife tour the United States, at the invitation of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
September 16 – The Xerox 914, the first plain paper copier, is introduced to the public.
September 17 – The hypersonic North American X-15 research aircraft, piloted by Scott Crossfield, makes its first powered flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
September 23 – The , Australia's first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across the Bass Strait.

September 26

Typhoon Vera hits central Honshū, Japan, as a Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the Nagoya area.
First large unit action of the Vietnam War takes place, when two companies of the ARVN's 23rd Division are ambushed by a well-organized Viet Cong force of several hundred, identified as the "2nd Liberation Battalion".
September 30 – Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev meets Mao Zedong in Beijing.

October

October 1 – The 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China is celebrated with pomp across the country.
October 7 – The Soviet probe Luna 3 sends back the first ever images of the far side of the Moon.
October 12 – At the national Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana Congress in Peru, a group of leftist radicals is expelled from the party; they later form APRA Rebelde.
October 13 – The United States launches research satellite Explorer 7.
October 21 – The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of modern art (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who died on April 9) opens to the public in New York City.
October 29 – First appearance of Astérix the Gaul, in a French comic magazine.
October 31 – Riots break out in the Belgian Congo.

November

November 1 – In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction.
November 2 – At a ceremony near Toddington, British Minister of Transport Ernest Marples opens the first section of the M1 Motorway, between Watford and Crick, along with two spur motorways, the M45 and M10. Three decades of large scale motorway construction follow, leading to the rapid expansion of the UK motorway network.
November 15 – The brutal Clutter family murders are committed in Holcomb, Kansas, inspiring Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1966).
November 18 – Religious epic film Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, which will be by far the highest-grossing film of the year and will go on to win a record 12 Academy Awards, premieres at New York City's Loews Theater in Ultra Panavision 70.
November 20 – The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations.
November – The MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor, is invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in the United States. It revolutionizes the electronics industry, becomes the fundamental building block of the Information Age and goes on to become the most widely manufactured device in history.

December

December 1 – Cold War: Antarctic Treaty – 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty that sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent (the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).
December 2 – Malpasset Dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Fréjus, killing 412.
December 8 – The life-boat Mona, based at Broughty Ferry in Scotland, capsizes during a rescue attempt with the loss of 8 lives.
December 11 – Charles Robberts Swart is appointed the 11th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
December 14 – Makarios III is selected as the first president of Cyprus.

Date unknown

The Supremes girl group is founded as The Primettes in Detroit.
Nylon pantyhose, or sheer tights, are first sold on the open market as 'Panti-Legs' by Glen Raven Knitting Mills in the United States.
The first known human with HIV dies in the Congo.
The current (as of 2024) design of the Japanese 10 yen coin is put into circulation.
The Caspian tiger becomes extinct in Iran.
The Henney Kilowatt goes on sale in the United States, becoming the first production electric car in almost three decades, but only 47 models will be sold in its 2-year production run.
Car tailfin design reaches its apex in the United States with such as the Cadillac Eldorado, Chevrolet Impala second generation model, Dodge Silver Challenger and Imperial Crown Sedan.
Sprite was created in West Germany by The Coca-Cola Company .

Births

January

January 1 – Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros
January 2 – Rajinder Gupta, Indian politician and industrialist
January 4 – Vanity, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2016)
January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor
January 9 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
January 10 – Chris Van Hollen, American politician
January 11 – Majed Abdullah, Saudi Arabian footballer
January 16 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer

January 17

Susanna Hoffs, American rock vocalist
Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer

January 20

Rusty Anderson, American guitarist
Joel Rifkin, American serial killer
January 22 – Linda Blair, American actress

January 24

Kevin Magee, American basketball player (d. 2003)
Jim Moir, English comedian

January 27 –

Cris Collinsworth, American professional football player and sports broadcaster
Keith Olbermann, American news anchor and sportscaster

January 30

Steve Augeri, American singer
Jody Watley, African-American singer

February

February 3 – Chan Santokhi, president of Suriname (d. 2026)
February 5 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American politician, 47th governor of Michigan (2003–2011)

February 8

Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian
Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina
February 9 – Joachim Kunz, East German Olympic weightlifter
February 10 – Haku, Tongan wrestler
February 13 – Benur Pashayan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler (d. 2019)
February 14 – Renée Fleming, American soprano
February 16 – John McEnroe, American tennis player
February 18 – Jayne Atkinson, English-born American film, theatre and television actress
February 22 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
February 23 – Clayton Anderson, American astronaut
February 25 – Mike Peters, Welsh musician (d. 2025)
February 26 – Rolando Blackman, Panamanian-American basketball player

March

March 3 – Ira Glass, American radio personality
March 4 – Irina Strakhova, Russian race walker
March 5 – Vazgen Sargsyan, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)

March 6

Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
Lawrence R. Jacobs, American political scientist and professor

March 7

Donna Murphy, American actress and singer
Tom Lehman, American golfer

March 8

Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
Lester Holt, American journalist and news anchor
March 9 – Takaaki Kajita, Japanese nuclear physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
March 11 – Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist and businessman
March 13 – Kathy Hilton, American socialite and philanthropist
March 14 – Tamara Tunie, American actress
March 15 – Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
March 16 – Jens Stoltenberg, 27th Prime Minister of Norway
March 17 – Danny Ainge, American basketball executive and player

March 18

Luc Besson, French film producer, writer and director
Irene Cara, American singer and actress (d. 2022)
March 21 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
March 22 – Matthew Modine, American actor
March 26 – Catherine Keener, American actress
March 28 – Laura Chinchilla, 49th president of Costa Rica
March 29 – Perry Farrell, American singer, songwriter and musician
March 30 – Andrew Bailey, executive director banking and chief cashier at the Bank of England

April

April 2

Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina
Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan football player and manager
April 3 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor
April 7 – Rejoice Timire, Zimbabwean activist and politician (d. 2021)
April 10 – Babyface, American singer, songwriter, and record producer

April 15

Emma Thompson, English actress
Debra Livingston, American Lawyer
Thomas F. Wilson, American actor
April 16 – Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
April 17 – Sean Bean, British actor
April 21 – Robert Smith, lead vocalist of The Cure
April 22 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian comedian
April 24 – Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
April 26 – Pedro Pierluisi, Governor of Puerto Rico

April 27

Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
Nicholas Kristof, American journalist and political commentator

April 30

Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada
Paul Gross, Canadian actor, producer, director and writer

May

May 1 – Yasmina Reza, French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter

May 3

Uma Bharti, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
May 4 – Randy Travis, American singer

May 9

Christian Bach, Argentine-Mexican actress and producer of telenovelas (d. 2019)
János Áder, President of Hungary

May 10

Victoria Rowell, American actress
Cindy Hyde-Smith, US Senator
May 12 – Ving Rhames, African-American actor

May 14

Patrick Bruel, French singer
Robert Greene, American author
May 17 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
May 20 – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Hawaiian singer (d. 1997)
May 21 – Loretta Lynch, American politician, 83rd United States Attorney General
May 22 – Morrissey, British singer
May 23 – Bob Mortimer, English comedian, presenter, and actor
May 24 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-born hockey player (d. 1985)
May 25 – Julian Clary, English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter
May 27 – Donna Strickland, Canadian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics

May 29

Rupert Everett, British actor
Gretchen, Brazilian singer and media personality
May 30 – Phil Brown, English association football manager

June

June 6 – Colin Quinn, American comedian and actor
June 7 – Mike Pence, American politician and former Vice President of the United States
June 9 – Paul Graham, Canadian television producer

June 10

Carlo Ancelotti, Italian football player and manager
Eliot Spitzer, American politician and governor of New York
June 11 – Hugh Laurie, British actor, comedian and musician

June 13

Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania
Jim Irsay, American businessman and former owner of the Indianapolis Colts (d. 2025)
June 14 – Marcus Miller, American musician, composer and producer
June 16 – James Brian Hellwig (The Ultimate Warrior), American professional wrestler and bodybuilder (d. 2014)
June 17 – Ulrike Richter, German swimmer

June 19

Anne Hidalgo, French politician, Mayor of Paris (2014–present)
Christian Wulff, Federal President of Germany

June 21

Guerrinha, Brazilian basketball coach and basketball player
Marcella Detroit, American soprano vocalist, guitarist and songwriter
Louis Febre, Mexican composer
Kathy Mattea, American musician and activist
June 22 – Wayne Federman, American comedian, actor and author
June 25 – Paris Themmen, American actor and businessman

June 27

Khadja Nin, Burundian singer and musician
Pétur Pétursson, Icelandic footballer
Lorrie Morgan, American musician
June 29 – Gina Alajar, Filipino film and television actress and television director
June 30 – Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor

July

July 1

Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig, Mauritanian academic and political figure
Giovanni D'Aleo, Italian long-distance runner
July 4 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer

July 5

María Concepción Navarrete, Mexican politician
Marc Cohn, American singer-songwriter
July 6 Richard Dacoury, French basketball player

July 7

Barbara Krause, German swimmer
Billy Campbell, American actor

July 8

Pauline Quirke, English actress
Mikhail Zingarevich, Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist

July 9

Jim Kerr, Scottish rock singer (Simple Minds)
Kevin Nash, American professional wrestler

July 11

Richie Sambora, American musician
Suzanne Vega, American singer

July 12

King Tupou VI of Tonga
Charlie Murphy, African-American actor and comedian (d. 2017)

July 14

Susana Martinez, American politician, Governor of New Mexico
Lynn Bertholet, Swiss bank executive
July 15 – Vincent Lindon, French actor and filmmaker
July 19 – Juan J. Campanella, Argentinian filmmaker
July 20 – Giovanna Amati, Italian racing driver
July 24 – Markus Graf, Swiss ice hockey player, coach, and executive
July 25 – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
July 26 – Kevin Spacey, American actor

July 29

Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
Ruud Janssen, Dutch artist
John Sykes, British guitarist (d. 2024)
July 30 − Abdullah of Pahang, sixteenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia

August

August 3

John C. McGinley, American actor
Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
August 5 – Pete Burns, English singer, songwriter and television personality (d. 2016)
August 6 – Rajendra Singh, Indian water conservationist, Magsaysay Award (2001)
August 7 – Koenraad Elst, Belgian Indologist
August 10 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
August 11 – Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian singer (d. 2014)
August 13 – Danny Bonaduce, American wrestler, actor and radio/television personality

August 14

Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
Magic Johnson, African-American basketball player
Bill Hagerty, US Senator
August 15 – Scott Altman, American astronaut

August 17

Jonathan Franzen, American author
David Koresh, American spiritualist, leader of the Branch Davidian religious cult (d. 1993)

August 18

Dorothy Bush Koch, American writer and philanthropist
Winona LaDuke, Native American environmentalist, author and activist
August 21 – Liza Araneta Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines and lawyer

August 25

Guglielmo Trinci, retired Italian professional baseball player
Sönke Wortmann, German film director
August 26 – Stan Van Gundy, American basketball coach and TV commentator

August 27

Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
Daniela Romo, Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess
August 28 – Arthur Holden, Canadian actor and writer

August 29

Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
Chris Hadfield, Canadian retired astronaut
August 30 – Mark Jackson, Australian rules footballer and actor
August 31 – Tony DeFranco, Canadian singer

September

September 2 – Guy Laliberté, Canadian Cirque du Soleil founder

September 4

Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
Armin Kogler, Austrian ski jumper
September 6 – Gaetano Varcasia, Italian voice actor and theatre director (d. 2014)

September 7

Pierre Nanterme, French business executive (d. 2019)
Drew Weissman, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

September 8

Daler Nazarov, Tajik composer, singer and actor
Kerry Kennedy, American human rights activist
September 11 – John Hawkes, American actor
September 12 – Sigmar Gabriel, German politician

September 13

Kathy Johnson, American artistic gymnast
Chris Hansen, American journalist

September 14

Morten Harket, Norwegian rock singer (A-ha)
Mary Crosby, American actress and daughter of Bing Crosby
September 16 – Peter Keleghan, Canadian actor
September 17 – Olivia Lozano, Venezuelan politician

September 18

Ian Bridge, Canadian soccer player
Sérgio Britto, Brazilian singer and keyboardist
Mark Romanek, American director
Ryne Sandberg, American baseball player and manager (d. 2025)

September 21

Dave Coulier, American comedian
Crin Antonescu, Acting President of Romania in 2012 and history teacher

September 23

Jason Alexander, American actor and comedian
Elizabeth Peña, American actress (d. 2014)
September 28 – Dantes Tsitsi, Nauruan politician
September 29 – Jon Fosse, Norwegian Nynorsk novelist, dramatist and poet, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature

September 30

Ana Denicola, Uruguayan scientist
Ettore Messina, Italian basketball coach

October

October 1 – Youssou N'Dour, Senegalese singer
October 2 – Lena Hades, Russian artist

October 3

Fred Couples, American golfer
Jack Wagner, American singer and actor
October 4 – Chris Lowe, British musician
October 5 – Maya Lin, American designer and artist

October 6

Brian Higgins, American politician
Walter Ray Williams Jr., American professional bowler
Smash, American wrestler
Lai Ching-te, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

October 7

Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
Dylan Baker, American actor

October 8

Erik Gundersen, Danish motorcycle racer
Carlos I. Noriega, Peruvian-American colonel and astronaut
October 9 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician (murdered 2015)

October 10

Kirsty MacColl, British singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
Julia Sweeney, American actress and comedian
Bradley Whitford, American actor and producer
October 13 – Marie Osmond, American singer

October 15

Emeril Lagasse, American chef and restaurant owner
Sarah Ferguson, British royal spouse

October 17

Francisco Flores Pérez, President of El Salvador (d. 2016)
Norm Macdonald, Canadian comedian (d. 2021)
October 18 – Mauricio Funes, 44th President of El Salvador (d. 2025)
October 21 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
October 22 – Arto Salminen, Finnish writer (d. 2005)

October 23

"Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodist
Sam Raimi, American producer, writer and director
October 24 – Michelle Lujan Grisham, American politician, governor and representative from New Mexico
October 25 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian rock singer (d. 2013)

October 26

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia
Dimitris Tsiodras, Greek politician
October 27 – Rick Carlisle, American basketball coach
October 29 – John Magufuli, 5th President of Tanzania (d. 2021)
October 31 – Neal Stephenson, American writer

November

November 2 – Saïd Aouita, Moroccan athlete
November 5 – Bryan Adams, Canadian singer and photographer

November 10

Mackenzie Phillips, American actress
Mike McCarthy, American football coach

November 11

Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, Indian politician (d. 2018)
Christian Schwarzenegger, Swiss legal scientist and professor

November 14

Deta Hedman, Jamaican-born English darts player
Paul McGann, British actor
November 18 – Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer

November 19

Allison Janney, American actress
Rob Ashford, American stage director and choreographer
November 20 – Sean Young, American actress

November 23

Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
Maxwell Caulfield, British actor
November 25 – Charles Kennedy, British politician (d. 2015)
November 26 – Sergey Golovkin, Russian serial killer and rapist (d. 1996)
November 27 – Viktoria Mullova, Russian violinist
November 28 – Judd Nelson, American actor

November 29

Rahm Emanuel, American politician
Platon Lebedev, Russian executive
Neal Broten, American professional ice hockey player

November 30

Cherie Currie, singer, musician, actress, and artist
Marie Currie, singer, songwriter, actress, and artist
Sylvia Hanika, German tennis player

December

December 1 – Wally Lewis, Australian rugby league player

December 3

Kathy Jordan, American tennis player
Eamonn Holmes, Northern Irish television presenter
December 4 – Christa Luding-Rothenburger, German speed skater
December 5 – Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese artist
December 6 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese president of Nintendo (d. 2015)
December 11 – Li Gui-min, Taiwanese politician
December 13 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
December 14 – Evan Ziporyn, American composer
December 15 – Betsy Arakawa, American classical pianist
December 17 – Gregg Araki, American director
December 19 – Waise Lee, Hong Kong actor

December 20

Stephen Chan Chi Wan, general manager of TVB
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, 51st Prime Minister of Poland
December 21 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American athlete (d. 1998)
December 22 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer and manager
December 24 – Lee Daniels, American director and producer
December 25 – Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut (d. 2003)

December 26

Glenna Cabello, Venezuelan political scientist
Hans Nielsen, Danish speedway rider
December 28 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer

December 29

Marco Antonio Solís, Mexican singer
Patricia Clarkson, American actress
Paula Poundstone, American stand-up comedian
December 30 – Tracey Ullman, British-American comedian and actress

December 31

Val Kilmer, American actor (d. 2025)
Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician and composer, 14th President of Nauru

Full date unknown

Paul Zgheib, Lebanese photographer
Bernard Lavigne, French Judge
Li Qiang, Premier of China since 2023
Jorge Arroyo, Costa Rican writer
Terry Smith, American sportsman
Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress
Peter Mullan, Scottish actor and filmmaker

Deaths

January

January 9 – Giuseppe Bottai, Italian Fascist journalist and politician (b. 1895)
January 10 – Colin Gregory, Australian tennis player (b. 1903)

January 14

Eivind Berggrav, Norwegian Lutheran bishop and reverend (b. 1884)
G. D. H. Cole, English political theorist, economist and historian (b. 1889)

January 21

Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
Frances Gertrude McGill, Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)

January 22

Elisabeth Moore, American tennis champion (b. 1876)
Mike Hawthorn, English racing driver (b. 1929)

February

February 3 – Killed in the crash of a private plane:

The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), American rock singer (b. 1930)
Buddy Holly, American rock singer (b. 1936)
Ritchie Valens, American rock singer (b. 1941)
February 4 – Una O'Connor, Irish actress (b. 1880)
February 7 – D. F. Malan, South African politician, 4th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
February 11 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1921)
February 12 – George Antheil, American composer (b. 1900)
February 14 – Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
February 15 – Sir Owen Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
February 18 – Gago Coutinho, Portuguese aviation pioneer (b. 1869)
February 22 – Helen Parrish, American actress (b. 1923)
February 23 – Pierre Frieden, Luxembourgish politician and writer, 18th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1892)
February 25 – Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski, Soviet architect, diplomat and journalist (b. 1891)

February 26

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, eldest grandchild of King Edward VII (b. 1891)
Kōtoku Satō, Japanese general (b. 1893)

February 28

Maxwell Anderson, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
Beatrix Farrand, American gardener and architect (b. 1872)

March

March 1 – Mack Gordon, American composer and lyricist (b. 1904)
March 2 – Eric Blore, English actor (b. 1887)
March 3 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
March 4 – Maxie Long, American athlete (b. 1878)

March 6

Guido Brignone, Italian actor (b. 1886)
Fred Stone, American actor (b. 1873)
March 7 – Ichirō Hatoyama, Japanese politician, 36th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1883)

March 15

Shalva Dadiani, Soviet novelist (b. 1874)
Lester Young, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1909)
March 17 – Galaktion Tabidze, Georgian poet (b. 1891)
March 19 – Umberto Barbaro, Italian critic (b. 1902)
March 23 – Dominick Trcka, Czechoslovak Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1886)
March 24 – Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, Sudanese political figure and religious leader, Imam of the Ansar and 1st Prime Minister of Sudan (b. 1885)
March 26 – Raymond Chandler, American-born novelist (b. 1888)
March 28 – Lyubov Golanchikova, Soviet pilot (b. 1889)
March 29 – Barthélemy Boganda, 1st Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)

April

April 2 – Nicholas Charnetsky, Soviet Orthodox priest, bishop, martyr and blessed (b. 1884)
April 8 – Jonathan Zenneck, German physicist and electrical engineer (b. 1871)
April 9 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
April 18 – Irving Cummings, American actor (b. 1888)
April 26 – Ki Hajar Dewantara, founder of Taman Siswa school, first Minister of Education of Indonesia (b. 1889)
April 28 – María Guggiari Echeverría, Paraguayan Roman Catholic religious professed and venerable (b. 1925)
April 29 – Sir Kenneth Anderson, British general (b. 1891)

May

May 5

Georges Grente, French Roman Catholic cardinal and eminence (b. 1872)
Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)

May 8

Renato Caccioppoli, Italian mathematician (b. 1904)
Ibrahim of Johor, Malaysian sultan (b. 1873)
May 11 – Marcella Albani, Italian actress (b. 1899)
May 14 – Sidney Bechet, American-born jazz saxophonist (b. 1897)
May 17 – George Albert Smith, English film pioneer (b. 1864)

May 18

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Antarctic explorer (b. 1886)
Enrique Guaita, Argentinian footballer (b. 1910)
May 20 – Alfred Schütz, Austrian sociologist (b. 1899)
May 21 - Marie Denizard, French feminist, first woman to stand as a candidate in a French presidential election (b. 3 April 1872)
May 24 – John Foster Dulles, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
May 29 – Ed Walsh, American baseball player (b. 1881)

June

June 1 – Sax Rohmer, English author (b. 1883)
June 4 – Charles Vidor, American director (b. 1900)
June 8 – Pietro Canonica, Italian sculptor (b. 1869)
June 9 – Adolf Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
June 13 – Seán Lester, Irish diplomat (b. 1888)
June 14 – Jerónimo Méndez, Chilean politician, acting President of the Republic (b. 1887)
June 15 – Kazimierz Bein, Polish ophthalmologist (b. 1872)
June 16 – George Reeves, American television actor (b. 1914)

June 18

Ethel Barrymore, American stage and screen actress (b. 1879)
Vincenzo Cardarelli, Italian poet (b. 1887)

June 20

Hitoshi Ashida, Japanese politician, 34th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
Sir Ian Clunies Ross, Australian scientist (b. 1899)
June 22 – Bruce Harlan, American Olympic diver (b. 1926)

June 23

Cesare Maria De Vecchi, Italian soldier (b. 1884)
Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer and musician (b. 1920)

June 27

Elias, Duke of Parma (b. 1880)
Giovanni Pastrone, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1883)
June 30 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican politician, writer and philosopher (b. 1882)

July

July 2 – Sergei Chetverikov, Russian biologist (b. 1880)
July 3 – Johan Bojer, Norwegian novelist and dramatist (b. 1872)
July 6 – George Grosz, German artist (b. 1893)

July 7

Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, Spanish painter (b. 1871)
Ernest Newman, English music critic (b. 1868)
July 14 – Grock, Swiss clown (b. 1880)

July 15

Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born American composer (b. 1880)
Agostino Gemelli, Italian Franciscan friar and reverend (b. 1878)
July 17 – Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
July 20 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (b. 1875)

July 25

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Polish-born Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and later of Israel (b. 1888)
King Mutara III of Rwanda (b. 1911)
July 27 – Aleksandar Tsankov, 21st Prime Minister of Bulgaria (b. 1879)
July 30 – María Natividad Venegas de la Torre, Mexican Roman Catholic nun and saint (b. 1868)

August

August 4 – Ioan Bălan, Romanian Orthodox prelate (b. 1880)
August 6 – Preston Sturges, American film director and writer (b. 1898)

August 8

Albert Namatjira, Australian Aboriginal artist (b. 1902)
Luigi Sturzo, Italian Roman Catholic priest and politician (b. 1871)
August 9 – Emil František Burian, Czechoslovak poet (b. 1904)

August 16

William Halsey Jr., American US Navy Fleet admiral (b. 1882)
Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
August 19 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist (b. 1901)
August 21 – Sir Jacob Epstein, American-born British sculptor (b. 1880)