1960 Explained

Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. The year 1960 is known as the "Year of Africa."

Events

January

January - The state of emergency is lifted in Kenya — the Mau Mau Uprising is officially over.
January 1 - Cameroon gains its independence.
January 2 - U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
January 9–11 - Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt.
January 10 - British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes the Wind of Change speech for the first time (see February 3).
January 14 - The Reserve Bank and Commonwealth Bank are created in Australia.
January 19 - The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan is signed in Washington, DC.
January 21 - A mine collapses at Coalbrook, South Africa, killing 500.
January 22 - In France, President Charles de Gaulle fires Jacques Massu, commander-in-chief for the French troops in Algeria.
January 23 - Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descend into the Marianas Trench in the bathyscaphe Trieste, reaching the depth of 10,916 meters.
January 24 - A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy.
January 25 - In Washington, DC, the National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.
January 30 - The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.

February

February 1 - In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the Southern United States, and 6 months later the original 4 protesters are served lunch at the same counter.

February 3 - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan makes the Wind of Change speech to the South African Parliament in Cape Town (although he had first made the speech, to little publicity, in Accra, Gold Coast - now Ghana - on January 10).
February 5 - The CERN particle accelerator is inaugurated in Geneva, Switzerland.
February 9 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
February 9 - Adolph Coors III, chairman of the board of the Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped and captors demand $500,000. Coors is later found dead and Joseph Corbett, Jr. is indicted.
February 10 - A conference about the independence of the Belgian Congo begins in Brussels.
February 11 - The airship ZPG-3W is destroyed in a storm in Massachusetts.
February 11 - Twelve Indian soldiers die in clashes with Chinese troops at their common border.
February 13 - France tests its first atomic bomb in the Sahara.
February 18 - The 1960 Winter Olympics open in Squaw Valley, California.
February 29 - An earthquake completely destroys Agadir, Morocco.

March

March 3 - Elvis Presley returns home from Germany, after being away on duty for 2 years.
March 6 - Vietnam War: The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam.
March 6 - The Canton of Geneva in Switzerland gives women the right to vote.
March 17 - Northwest Airlines Flight 710 crashes near Tell City, Indiana, killing all 63 on board.
March 21 - The Sharpeville massacre in South Africa results in more than 69 dead, 300 injured.
March 22 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow & Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
March 23 - Nikita Khrushchev meets Charles De Gaulle in Paris.
March 25 - Tom Pillibi by Jacqueline Boyer (music by André Popp, text by Pierre Cour) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 for France.

April

April 1 - Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
April 1 - The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1.
April 4 - The first 3 female priests are ordained in Sweden.
April 4 - The 32nd Academy Awards ceremony is held.
April 12 - Eric Peugeot, youngest son of the founder of Peugeot, is kidnapped in Paris (he is released April 15 in exchange for $300,000 ransom).
April 13 - The United States launches navigation satellite Transit I-b.
April 13 - The Blue Streak missile is cancelled.
April 16 - Gunman David Pratt attacks South African Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd in Johannesburg, wounding him seriously.
April 19 - April Revolution: South Korean students hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against president Syngman Rhee, eventually leading him to resign.
April 21 - In Brazil, the country's capital (Federal District) is shifted from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília. The Guanabara State is founded to succeed Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian Federal District.
April 27 - Togo gains independence from French-administered U.N. trusteeship.

May

May 1 - A Soviet missile shoots down an American Lockheed U2 spy plane; the pilot Francis Gary Powers is captured.
May 1 - In India, May 1 is declared as 'Maharashtra Divas', i.e., Maharashtra Day (also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas', i.e., Workers Day).
May 4 - West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is fired because of his Nazi past.
May 6 - President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
May 9 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announces that it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making it the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
May 10 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the Earth.
May 11 - In Buenos Aires, 4 Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who was using the alias "Ricardo Klement".
May 13 - A Swiss/Austrian expedition makes the first ascent of Dhaulagiri, the world's 7th highest mountain.
May 14 - The Kenyan African National Congress Party is founded in Kenya, when 3 political parties join forces.
May 15 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
May 16 - Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union, thus ending the 1960 Paris summit.
May 16 - Theodore Maiman operates the first laser.
May 20 - In Japan, police carry away Socialist members of the Diet; Parliament then approves a security treaty with the United States.
May 22 - Great Chilean Earthquake: Chile's subduction fault ruptures from Talcahuano to Taitao Peninsula, causing a tsunami and one of the greatest earthquakes on record. Seismographs in Valdivia crash.
May 23 - Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
May 27 - In Turkey, a bloodless military coup d'état removes President Celal Bayar and installs General Cemal Gürsel as head of state.

June

June 1 - New Zealand's first television transmission occurs when a switch is flicked in Shortland Street, Auckland.
June 4 - The Lake Bodom murders occur in Finland.
June 7 - U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy wins the California Democratic primary.
June 9 - Typhoon Mary kills 1,000,000 in the Fukien province of China.
June 15 - Violent demonstrations at Tokyo University result in 182 arrests, 589 injuries.
June 15 - BC Ferries, the second largest ferry operator in the world, starts service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.
June 19 - The Associated Broadcasting Company is founded in the Philippines.
June 20 - The Mali Federation between Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (now Mali) gains independence from France.
June 23 - Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi announces his resignation.
June 24 - Joseph Kasavubu is elected the first president of independent Congo.
June 24 - Avro 748 makes its first flight at Woodford, UK.
June 26 - British Somaliland gains independence from the United Kingdom; 5 days later it unites with the former Italian Somaliland to create the modern Somali Republic.
June 28 - The University of Novi Sad is founded in Yugoslavia.
June 29 - The Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), the fourth TV station in the Philippines, is launched.
June 30 - Belgian Congo gains independence from Belgium; civil war follows.
June 30 - Public demonstrations by democratic and left forces, against Italian government support of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, are heavily suppressed by police.

July

July 1 - Ghana becomes a republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ceases to be the head of state.
July 1 - A Soviet MiG fighter north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea shoots down a 6-man RB-47. Two United States Air Force officers survive and are imprisoned in Moscow's dreaded Lubyanka prison.
July 1 - Italian Somailand gains its independence from Italy, 5 days after British Somailand.
July 4 - Following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state the previous year, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
July 10 - The Soviet Union beats Yugoslavia 2-1 to win the first European Football Championship.
July 11 - Moise Tshombe declares the Congolese province of Katanga independent; he receives Belgian help.
July 11 - Harper Lee releases her critically acclaimed novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
July 12 - Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
July 13 - U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.
July 14 - The United Nations decides to send troops to Katanga to oversee Belgian troop withdrawal.
July 20 - Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
July 21 - Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II, having made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.
July 25 - The Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, the subject of a sit-in which sparked sit-ins and pickets across the southern United States in February 1960, serves its first black customer.
July 25–28 - In Chicago, the Republican National Convention nominates U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon for President and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for Vice President.
July 27 - The OECD is founded in Paris.

August

August 1 - Benin becomes independent from France, under the name Dahomey.
August 5 - Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) declares independence from France.
August 6 - Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo against Cuba, Fidel Castro nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
August 6 - In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Albert Kalonji declares the independence of the Autonomous State of South Kasai.
August 7 - Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.
August 11 - Chad becomes independent.
August 13 - Central African Republic becomes independent.
August 15 - Congo-Brazzaville becomes independent.
August 16 - Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,333 m). He sets unbeaten () world records for: high-altitude jump; free-fall by falling 16 miles (25.7 km) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance, 982 km/h (614 mi/h).
August 16 - Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
August 17 - The newly named Beatles begin a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany.
August 17 - Gabon gains independence from France.
August 17 - The trial of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers begins in Moscow.
August 19 - Cold War: In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
August 19 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5, with the dogs Belka and Strelka (Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. The spacecraft returns to earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.
August 20 - Senegal breaks away from the Mali Federation, declaring independence.
August 25 - The 1960 Summer Olympics open in Rome.
August 25 - The USS Seadragon (SSN-584) surfaces at the North Pole, where the crew plays softball.
August 29 - Hurricane Donna kills 50 in Florida and New England.

September

September 1 - Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.
September 1 - Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasts 2 days).
September 2 - The first elections of the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration are held. The Tibetan community observes this date as Democracy Day.
September 5 - 1960 Summer Olympics: Cassius Clay wins the gold medal in boxing.
September 5 - Congo president Joseph Kasavubu fires Patrice Lumumba's government and places him under house arrest.
September 8 - In Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (activated by NASA on July 1).
September 14 - Colonel Joseph Mobutu takes power in Congo in a military coup.
September 14 - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela form OPEC.
September 22 - Mali, sole remaining member of the Mali Federation following the withdrawal of Senegal a month earlier, declares full independence as the Republic of Mali.
September 26 - The 2 leading U.S. presidential candidates, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy, participate in the first televised presidential debate.

October

October 1 - Nigeria gains independence; Nnamdi Azikiwe is the first native Governor General.
October 3 - Jânio Quadros is elected president of Brazil for a 5-year term.
October 5 - White South Africans vote to make the country a republic.
October 7 - Nigeria becomes the 99th Member of the United Nations.
October 12 - Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a United Nations General Assembly meeting, to protest at the discussion of Soviet Union policy toward Eastern Europe.
October 12 - Otoya Yamaguchi assassinates Inejiro Asanuma, chairman of the Japanese Socialist Party.
October 14 - U.S. presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps.
October 24 - A rocket explodes in the Baikonur Space Center during fueling, killing 91.
October 26 - Robert F. Kennedy calls Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, and secures his release from jail on a traffic violation in Atlanta, Georgia.
October 29 - In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.
October 30 - Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom, at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

November

November 2 - Penguin Chapter Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
November 8 - United States presidential election, 1960: In a close race, John F. Kennedy is elected over Richard M. Nixon, becoming (at 43) the youngest man elected President.
November 13 - Sammy Davis, Jr. marries Swedish actress May Britt.
November 14 - Belgium threatens to leave the United Nations over criticism of its Congo policy.
November 14 - Nigeria joins United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as 58th Member Country.
November 14 - A collision between 2 trains in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia kills 117 people.
November 15 - The Polaris missile is test-launched.
November 22 - The United Nations supports the government of Joseph Kasavubu and Joseph Mobutu in the Congo.
November 24 - Basketball player Wilt Chamberlain grabs 55 rebounds.
November 28 - Mauritania becomes independent of France.
November 30 - Production of the DeSoto automobile brand ceases.

December

December 1 - Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Congo, is arrested by troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu.
December 1 - A 5-ton Soviet spacecraft containing animals, insects and plants is launched into orbit; it burns up upon re-entry.
December 2 - The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Geoffrey Francis Fisher, talks with Pope John XXIII for about an hour in the Vatican. It is the first time in more than 500 years that a head of the Anglican Church had visited the Pope in England.
December 2 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who have been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
December 4 - The admission to the United Nations of Mauritania is vetoed by the USSR.
December 5 - Pierre Lagaillarde, who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, fails to appear in a Paris court. He has reportedly fled with 4 fellow defendants to Spain en route to Algeria.
December 5 - Boynton v. Virginia: The U.S. Supreme Court declares segregation in public transit to be illegal.
December 7 - The United Nations Security Council is called into session by the Soviet Union, to consider Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
December 9 - French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is marked by bloody European and Muslim mob riots by in Algeria's largest cities, resulting in 127 deaths.
December 9 - The first episode of the long-running drama Coronation Street airs. It was originally planned to be a 16-part drama but became such a success that it is still running 5 times or more per week.
December 12 - The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Federal Court ruling that Louisiana's segregation laws are unconstitutional.
December 12 - The Holy Bible in Spanish (the Reina-Valera 1960 Version) is published.
December 13 - While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard revolts against his rule, proclaiming the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, as Emperor.
December 13 - Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras found the Central American Common Market.
December 13 - Navy Commander Leroy Heath (Pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator) establish a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27,874.2 metres) in an A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000 kilogram payload, besting the previous record by over 4 miles.
December 14 - Antoine Gizenga proclaims in Stanleyville, Congo, that he has assumed the premiership.
December 14 - The OECD is formed in Paris.
December 15 - King Mahendra of Nepal deposes the government and takes power into his own hands.
December 15 - King Baudouin of Belgium marries Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon.
December 16 - U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit 5 atomic submarines and 80 Polaris missiles to NATO by the end of 1963.
December 16 - 1960 New York air disaster: United Airlines DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Constellation over Staten Island, New York City. All 128 passengers and crew on both planes are killed, as are 6 persons on the ground.
December 17 - Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia suppress the revolt that began December 13, giving power back to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
December 19 - Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.
December 20 - Discoverer XIX is launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, to measure radiation.
December 27 - France sets off its 3rd nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggane, Algeria.

Undated

The US census lists all people from Latin America as white, including blacks from the Dominican Republic, European whites from Argentina and Mexicans who resemble Native Americans.

Ongoing

World population

World population: 3,021,475,000
- Africa

277,398,000

- Asia

1,701,336,000

- Europe

604,401,000

- Latin-America

218,300,000

- Northern America

204,152,000

- Oceania

15,888,000

Births

January–February

January 2 - Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
January 3 - Sandeep Marwah, Indian filmmaker
January 4 - Michael Stipe, American rock singer (R.E.M.)
January 6 - Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player
January 6 - Nigella Lawson, British chef and writer
January 6 - Howie Long, American football player
January 6 - Miriam O'Callaghan, Irish television current affairs broadcaster
January 10 - Samira Said, Moroccan singer
January 10 - Brian Cowen, Taoiseach of Ireland
January 12 - Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
January 12 - Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player
January 13 - Kevin Anderson, American actor
January 13 - Dolores McNamara, world-record lottery winner
January 20 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
January 22 - Michael Hutchence, Australian rock musician (INXS) (d. 1997)
January 23 - Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (d. 1998)
January 24 - Rick Leventhal, American television news correspondent
January 28 - Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
January 29 - Greg Louganis, American diver
January 29 - Gia Carangi, American model (d. 1986)
January 29 - Sean Kerly, British field hockey player
February 2 - Jari Porttila, Finnish sports journalist
February 3 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler
February 4 - Tim Booth, British rock singer (James)
February 13 - Pierluigi Collina, Italian football (soccer) referee
February 13 - Gary Patterson, American football coach
February 14 - Jim Kelly, American football player
February 16 - Cherie Chung, Hong Kong actress
February 19 - Prince Andrew, Duke of York
February 20 - Kee Marcello, Swedish rock guitarist (Easy Action, Europe)
February 21 - Henry G. Brinton, American writer and minister
February 23 - Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
February 27 - Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
February 28 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model and actress (d. 1980)

March–April

March 2 - Hector Calma Filipino basketball player,
March 4 - Mikko Kuustonen, Finnish singer and songwriter
March 4 - John Mugabi, Ugandan boxer and world Junior Middleweight champion
March 4 - Thierry Pastor, French singer
March 4 - Mykelti Williamson, American actor
March 7 - Joe Carter, American baseball player
March 7 - Ivan Lendl, Czech tennis player
March 8 - Finn Carter, American actress
March 10 - Anne MacKenzie, British broadcaster
March 11 - Perri Peltz, News Reporter
March 12 - Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer
March 12 - Maki Nomiya, Japanese singer (Pizzicato Five)
March 13 - Adam Clayton, Irish rock bassist (U2)
March 13 - Joe Ranft, American animator (d. 2005)
March 14 - Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (d. 2006)
March 16 - Jenny Eclair, British comedian, actress and novelist
March 18 - Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
March 20 - Norm Magnusson, American artist
March 21 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
March 23 - Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
March 24 - Nena Kerner, German singer
March 26 - Marcus Allen, American football player
March 27 - Hans Pflügler, German footballer
March 27 - Renato Russo, Brazilian singer (Legião Urbana) (d. 1996)
April 1 - Michael Praed, British actor
April 2 - Linford Christie, British athlete
April 3 - Elizabeth Gracen, American beauty queen, actress, and model
April 4 - Jane Eaglen, English soprano
April 4 - Hugo Weaving, Australian actor
April 11 - Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television show host
April 13 - Rudi Voller, German footballer and manager
April 14 - Brad Garrett, American actor
April 16 - Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and coach
April 16 - Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager
April 16 - Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
April 18 - Neo Rauch, German painter
April 19 - Frank Viola, American baseball player
April 23 - Steve Clark, English rock guitarist (Def Leppard)
April 23 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
April 24 - Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
April 25 - Michael Lohan, American stock broker and reality television star, father of Lindsay Lohan
April 26 - Roger Taylor, English rock musician (Duran Duran)
April 28 - John Cerutti, American baseball player and announcer (d. 2004)

May–June

May 4 - Andrew Denton, Australian television presenter and comedian
May 6 - John Flansburgh, American rock musician (They Might Be Giants)
May 6 - Roma Downey, Irish-born actress
May 10 - Bono, Irish rock singer (U2)
May 14 - Ronan Tynan, Irish tenor
May 14 - "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, American professional wrestler
May 16 - Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician
May 18 - Jari Kurri, Finnish hockey player
May 18 - Yannick Noah, French tennis player
May 20 - John Billingsley, American actor
May 21 - Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
May 22 - Hideaki Anno, Japanese director
May 23 - Linden Ashby, American actor
May 31 - Greg C. Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
June 4 - Bradley Walsh, English comedian and actor
June 6 - Steve Vai, American guitarist
June 8 - Mick Hucknall, English rock singer and songwriter (Simply Red)
June 12 - Corynne Charby, French model, actress and singer
June 12 - Meredith Brooks, American singer
June 14 - Peter Mitchell, Australian news reader
June 16 - Peter Sterling, Australian rugby player
June 17 - Michael Monroe, Finnish rock singer (Hanoi Rocks)
June 18 - Kevin Drinkell, English footballer
June 20 - John Taylor, English rock musician (Duran Duran)
June 21 - Kevin Harlan, American sports announcer
June 28 - John Elway, American football player
June 30 - Tony Bellotto, Brazilian guitarist and writer

July–August

July 3 - Vince Clarke, English rock songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure)
July 3 - Perrine Pelen, French alpine skier
July 4 - Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler
July 5 - Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor
July 7 - Kevin A. Ford, American astronaut
July 9 - Charles Gavin, Brazilian drummer and producer
July 13 - Ian Hislop, British broadcaster and editor
July 14 - Kyle Gass, American music singer-song-writer-guitarist/actor
July 17 - Robin Shou, Hong Kong actor
July 17 - Jan Wouters, Dutch football player and manager
July 21 - Ezequiel Viñao, Argentine-born composer
July 21 - Fritz Walter, German footballer
July 22 - Jon Oliva, American vocalist and pianist (Savatage)
August 1 - Chuck D, American rapper, (Public Enemy)
August 4 - José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
August 4 - Dean Malenko, American professional wrestler
August 7 - David Duchovny, American actor
August 8 - Ulrich Maly, German politician and Mayor of Nuremberg
August 10 - Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
August 10 - Todd David Hess, USAF Colonel and surgeon
August 10 - Kenny Perry, American golfer
August 12 - Laurent Fignon, French road bicycle racer
August 13 - Phil Taylor, English darts player
August 14 - Sarah Brightman, English soprano singer and actress
August 17 - Sean Penn, American actor
August 19 - Morten Andersen, American football player
August 24 - Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player
August 26 - Branford Marsalis, American musician
August 30 - Chalino Sanchez, Mexican musician (d. 1992)

September–October

September 2 - John S. Hall, American poet and spoken-word artist
September 6 - Bob Stoops, American football coach
September 7 - Phillip Rhee, American actor, producer and writer
September 9 - Hugh Grant, English actor
September 10 - Colin Firth, English actor
September 12 - Robert John Burke, American actor
September 14 - Callum Keith Rennie, Canadian actor
September 16 - John Franco, American baseball player
September 16 - Yianna Katsoulos, French singer
September 17 - Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
September 19 - Yolanda Saldívar, American murderer of tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez
September 22 - Joan Jett, American rock musician and vocalist
October 4 - Billy Hatcher, American baseball player
October 5 - Antonio de Oliveira Filho, Brazilian footballer
October 6 - Richard Jobson, Scottish rock singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and television presenter (Skids)
October 7 - Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
October 9 - Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress (d. 2008)
October 12 - Alexei Kudrin, Russian Minister of Finance
October 17 - Guy Henry, English actor
October 18 - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
October 24 - Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)
October 24 - Dennis Anderson, American monster truck driver (Grave Digger)
October 26 - Jouke de Vries, Dutch-Frisian politician
October 28 - Landon Curt Noll, American astronomer, cryptographer, and mathematician
October 29 - Finola Hughes, British actress
October 30 - Diego Armando Maradona, Argentine footballer

November–December

November 3 - Karch Kiraly, American volleyball player
November 4 - Frl. Menke, German pop singer
November 5 - Tilda Swinton, British actress
November 9 - Joëlle Ursull, Guadeloupean singer
November 10 - Neil Gaiman, English author
November 11 - Peter Parros, American actor
November 11 - Stanley Tucci, American actor and film director
November 15 - Keith Washington, American singer
November 17 - Neil Flynn, American actor
November 17 - Jonathan Ross, English television presenter
November 18 - Kim Wilde, English singer and gardener
November 20 - Marc Labrèche, Canadian actor and television host
November 25 - Amy Grant, American Christian and pop musician
November 25 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer and journalist (d. 1999)
November 26 - Harold Reynolds, American baseball player and broadcaster
November 27 - Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine
November 30 - Rich Fields, American television personality
November 30 - Gary Lineker, English footballer
December 2 - Rick Savage, English rock bassist (Def Leppard)
December 3 - Daryl Hannah, American actress
December 3 - Julianne Moore, American actress
December 4 - Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
December 5 - Brian Bromberg American jazz bassist and composer
December 10 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
December 10 - Michael Schoeffling, American actor and model
December 14 - Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
December 18 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
December 24 - Carol Vorderman, British television presenter
December 24 - Eva Tamargo, American actress
December 27 - Maryam d'Abo, British actress
December 28 - John Fitzgerald, Australian tennis player
December 29 - Dave Pelzer, American author
December 31 - John Allen Muhammad, American serial killer
December 31 - Steve Bruce, English footballer

Deaths

January–June

January 1 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
January 4 - Albert Camus, French writer, Nobel Prize winner (b. 1913)
January 5 - Donald Knight, English cricketer (b. 1894)
January 9 - Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's novelist (b. 1880)
January 12 - Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
January 24 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
January 27 - Osvaldo Aranha, Brazilian politician (b. 1894)
January 28 - Zora Neale Hurston, American folklorist and author (b. 1891)
January 30 - J. C. Kumarappa, Indian economist (b. 1892)
February 2 - Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja, Hindu teacher (b. 1884)
February 3 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
February 7 - Igor Kurchatov, Soviet physicist (b. 1903)
February 9 - Jaroslav Joseph Polivka, Czech structural engineer (b. 1886)
February 10 - Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian Catholic prelate (b. 1898)
February 11 - Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
February 20 - Leonard Woolley, British archaeologist (b. 1880)
February 21 - Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (b. 1901), last Vicereine of India
February 29 - Melvin Purvis, American lawman (b. 1903)
February 29 - Walter Yust, American encyclopedia editor (b. 1894)
March 2 - Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (b. 1874)
March 9 - Jack Beattie, Irish politician (b. 1886)
March 11 - Roy Chapman Andrews, American explorer, adventurer and naturalist (b. 1884)
April 1 - Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, King of Malaysia (b. 1895)
April 5 - Cuthbert Burnup, English sportsman (b. 1875)
April 17 - Eddie Cochran, American rock singer (b. 1938)
April 24 - Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
May 2 - Caryl Chessman, American criminal (b. 1921)
May 3 - Masa Niemi, Finnish actor (b. 1914)
May 8 - J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
May 11 - John D. Rockefeller Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
May 23 - Georges Claude, French inventor (b. 1870)
May 27 - Edward Brophy, American actor (b. 1895)
May 27 - James Montgomery Flagg, American artist and illustrator (b. 1877)
May 30 - Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1890)
May 31 - Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (b. 1890)
June 4 - Józef Haller de Hallenburg, Polish general (b. 1873)
June 14 - Ana Pauker, Romanian communist politician (b. 1893)
June 18 - Shalva Aleksi-Meskhishvili, Georgian politician (b. 1884)
June 19 - Chris Bristow, English race car driver (b. 1937)
June 20 - William E. Fairbairn, English soldier, police officer, and hand-to-hand combat expert (b. 1885)
June 25 - Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (b. 1869)
June 27 - Lottie Dod, English athlete (b. 1871)

July–December

July 6 - Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician (b. 1897)
July 14 - Maurice, 6th duc de Broglie, French physicist (b. 1875)
July 15 - Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Italian cinematographer (b. 1890)
July 15 - Set Persson, Swedish politician (b. 1897)
July 16 - John P. Marquand, American novelist (b. 1893)
August 5 - Arthur Meighen, ninth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1874)
August 23 - Oscar Hammerstein II, writer and lyricist (b. 1895)
August 23 - Jersey Flegg, English-Australian rugby league player and chairman (b. 1878)
August 27 - Stanley Clifford Weyman, U.S. impostor (b. 1890)
August 29 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (b. 1888)
September 1 - Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, King of Malaysia (b. 1898)
September 8 - Feroze Gandhi, Indian politician (b. 1912)
September 9 - Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (b. 1911)
September 20 - Ida Rubinstein, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1885)
September 24 - Mátyás Seiber, Hungarian composer (b. 1905)
September 27 - Sylvia Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1882)

October 21 - Ma Hongbin, Chinese warlord (b. 1884)
October 31 - H. L. Davis, American author (b. 1894)
November 2 - Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (b. 1896)
November 5 - Mack Sennett, Canadian film producer and director (b. 1880)
November 5 - Ward Bond, American actor (b. 1903)
November 5 - Johnny Horton, American country singer (b. 1925)
November 7 - A.P. Carter, American singer and songwriter (b. 1891)
November 12 - Lord Buckley, American monologist (b. 1906)
November 14 - Walter Catlett, American actor (b. 1889)
November 16 - Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
November 24 - Grand Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas II (b. 1882)
November 25 - The Mirabal Sisters, three Dominican revolutionaries (b. 1924, 1926, 1935)
December 2 - Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot, German architect, interior designer and designer (b. 1883)
December 26 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)

Nobel Prizes

Physics - Donald Arthur Glaser
Chemistry - Willard Frank Libby
Physiology or Medicine - Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Peter Brian Medawar
Literature - Saint-John Perse
Peace - Albert John Luthuli

Academy Awards

Best Picture: Ben-Hur, Sam Zimbalist (producer)
Best Foreign Language Film: Orfeu Negro, France
Best Director: William Wyler, Ben-Hur
Best Actor: Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur
Best Supporting Actor: Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur
Best Actress: Simone Signoret, Room at the Top
Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Winters, The Diary of Anne Frank
Best Story and Screenplay: Pillow Talk by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin
Best Adapted Screenplay: Room at the Top by Neil Paterson
Best Original Song: "High Hopes" from A Hole in the Head
Best Scoring of a Comedy or Dramatic Picture: Ben-Hur, Miklos Rozsa
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Porgy and Bess, Andre Previn and Ken Darby