1958 British Television Series Debuts

Events

January

* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles.
** Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit, and burns up.
* January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol.
* January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the " Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C.
* January 31 – The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit.

February

* February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite, to form the United Arab Republic.
* February 6 – Seven Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed in the Munich air disaster in West Germany, on the return flight from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia. 23 people survive, but 4 of them, including manager Matt Busby and players Johnny Berry and Duncan Edwards, are in serious condition. Busby and Berry will pull through, although Berry will never play again. Edwards dies a fortnight later.
* February 11
**Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
** Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant. Hired by Mohawk Airlines, her career lasts only 6 months, due to another discriminatory barrier – the airline's ban on married flight attendants.
* February 14 – The Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan unite in the Arab Federation, with King Faisal II of Iraq as head of state.
* February 21 – A peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.
* February 23
** Cuban rebels kidnap five-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio, releasing him 28 hours later.
** Arturo Frondizi is elected president of Argentina.
* February 24 – In Cuba, Fidel Castro's ''Radio Rebelde'' begins broadcasting from Sierra Maestra.
* February 17 – Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK.
* February 28 – Prestonsburg bus disaster: One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurs when a school bus hits a truck and falls into a river, resulting in 27 deaths, 26 of them schoolchildren. Twenty-two others are rescued.

March

* March 1 – Turkish passenger ship capsizes and sinks in the Gulf of İzmit, Turkey; at least 300 die.
* March 2 – A British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition team, led by Sir Vivian Fuchs, completes the first overland crossing of the Antarctic, using snowcat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams, in 99 days, via the South Pole.
* March 8 – The is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896 (she is recommissioned October 22, 1988).
* March 11 – A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Without a fissile warhead, its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people.
* March 17 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
* March 19 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire occurs in New York, United States, killing 24 people.
* March 25 – Canada's Avro Arrow makes its maiden flight.
* March 26
** The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
** The 30th Academy Awards Ceremony takes place; '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' wins 7 awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture.
* March 27 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

April

* April 3 – In Cuba, Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.
* April 13 – The satellite Sputnik 2 (launched November 3, 1957) disintegrates during reentry from orbit.
* April 14 – Van Cliburn wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition for pianists in Moscow, breaking Cold War tensions.
* April 17 – King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the world's fair in Brussels, also known as Expo 58. The Atomium forms the centrepiece.
* April 20 – The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey, after defeating the US team the Boston Bruins in 6 games.
* April 21 – United Airlines Flight 736 is involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force F-100F jet fighter in what is now Enterprise, Nevada; all 49 persons in both aircraft are killed.

May

* May 1
** Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina.
** U.S. space scientist James van Allen announces the discovery of Earth's magnetosphere.
** The Nordic Passport Union comes into force.
* May 10 – Interviewed in the Chave d'Ouro café, when asked about his rival António de Oliveira Salazar, Humberto Delgado utters one of the most famous comments in Portuguese political history: "Obviamente, demito-o! (Obviously, I'll sack him!)".
* May 12 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
* May 13
** Crisis in France: French Algerian protesters seize government offices in Algiers, leading to a military coup.
** During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
* May 15 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
* May 18 – An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of .
* May 20 – The Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista launches a counteroffensive against Castro's rebels.
* May 22 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first American elected official to be broadcast on color television.
* May 23 – Explorer 1 ceases transmission.
* May 28 – Real Madrid beats A.C. Milan 3–2 at Heysel Stadium, Brussels and wins the 1957–58 European Cup.
* May 30 – The bodies of unidentified United States soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns, in Arlington National Cemetery.

June

* June 1
** Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises to lead France by decree for 6 months.
** Iceland extends its fishing limits to 12 miles (22.2 km).
* June 4 – French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle visits Algeria.
* June 16 – Imre Nagy and other leaders of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956 are hanged for treason, following secret trials.
* June 20 – The iron barque ''Omega'' of Callao, Peru (built in Liverpool, 1887), sinks on passage carrying guano from the Pachacamac Islands for Huacho, the world's last full-rigged ship trading under sail alone.
* June 27 – The Peronist Party becomes legal again in Argentina.
* June 29 – Brazil beats Sweden 5–2 in the final game, to win the football World Cup in Sweden.
* June 30 – The Ifni War ends in Spanish Sahara.

July

* July 9 – 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami: A 7.8 strike-slip earthquake in Southeast Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reaches on the rim of Lituya Bay.
* July 11 – Count Michael Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, direct descendant of Samuel Aba, King of Hungary, age 60, is pistol-whipped and murdered over a few hectares of land by Czechoslovak Communists, during the collectivization process at his residence in Olcsvar, Slovakia.
* July 12
** The Beatles, at this time known as The Quarrymen, pay 17 shillings and 6 pence to have their first recording session where they record Buddy Holly's " That'll Be the Day" and " In Spite of All the Danger", a song written by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
** Henri Cornelis becomes Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the last Belgian governor prior to independence.
* July 14 – July 14 Revolution in Iraq: King Faisal is killed. Abd al-Karim Qasim assumes power.
* July 15 – In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in support of the pro-Western government.
* July 24 – Fourteen life peerages, the first under the Life Peerages Act 1958, are created in the United Kingdom.
* July 26
** Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched in the United States.
** Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom announces that she is giving her son and heir apparent Charles III, Prince Charles, the customary title of Prince of Wales. The announcement is made at the end of the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held in Cardiff.
* July 29 – The United States Congress, U.S. Congress formally creates the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
* July 31 – The Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950, Tibetan resistance movement against rule by China receives support from the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

August

* August 3 – The nuclear-powered submarine becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.
* August 6
** Australian athlete Herb Elliott clips almost 3 seconds off the Mile run world record progression, world record for the mile run at Santry Stadium, Dublin, recording a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds.
** The Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, which outlawed the Communist Party of Chile and banned 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed.
* August 14 – KLM Flight 607-E, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, crashes into the sea with 99 people aboard.
* August 17 – The first Thor-Able rocket is launched, carrying Pioneer 0, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17. The launch fails due to a first stage malfunction.
* August 18 – Brojen Das from East Pakistan swims across the English Channel in a competition, the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He is first among 39 competitors.
* August 21 – October 15 – Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln–Douglas debates.
* August 23 – The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins, with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
* August 26 – A 1958 Paraguayan general strike, general strike is called in Paraguay.
* August 30 – September 1 – 1958 Notting Hill race riots, Notting Hill race riots: Riots occur between blacks and whites in Notting Hill, London.

September

* September 1 – The first Cod War begins between the United Kingdom and Iceland.
* September 2
** Hendrik Verwoerd becomes the 6th Prime Minister of South Africa.
** China's first television broadcasts start at Beijing Television Station, a predecessor of China Central Television.　
* September 4 – Jorge Alessandri is the winner of 1958 Chilean presidential election, Chile's presidential election.
* September 6 – Paul Robeson performs in concert at the Soviet Young Pioneer camp Artek (camp), Artek.
* September 12 – Jack Kilby invents the first integrated circuit, while working at Texas Instruments.
* September 14 – Two Mohr Rocket, rockets designed by German engineer Ernst Mohr (the first German post-war rockets) reach the upper atmosphere.
* September 18 – BankAmericard, the first credit card to be widely offered, is launched in Fresno, California in what becomes known as the "Fresno Drop".
* September 27
** Typhoon Ida (1958), Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshū, Japan.
** Hurricane Helene (1958), Hurricane Helene, the worst storm of the North Atlantic hurricane season, reaches category 4 status.
* September 28 – In the 1958 French constitutional referendum, a majority of 79% says yes to the constitution of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic.
* September 30 – The U.S.S.R. performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

October

* October – GoldStar, as predecessor for LG Electronics, founded in South Korea.
* October 1
** Tunisia and Morocco join the Arab League.
** NASA starts operations and replaces the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA in the United States.
* October 2 – Guinea declares itself independent from France.
* October 4
** The new Constitution of France is signed into law, establishing the French Fifth Republic.
** British Overseas Airways Corporation uses the new De Havilland Comet jets, to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.
* October 11 – ''Pioneer 1'', the second and most successful of the 3 project Pioneer program, Able space probes, becomes the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.
* October 13 – Penelope Coelen, Penny Coelen is crowned Miss World 1958 during the 8th Miss World Pageant, the first South African to win the title.
* October 16 – The long-running BBC Television children's programme ''Blue Peter'' is first broadcast.
* October 17 – ''An Evening with Fred Astaire'', the first television show recorded on color videotape, is broadcast on NBC in the United States.
* October 18 – ''Tennis for Two'', a game invented by William Higinbotham and considered to be the first pure entertainment computer game, is introduced at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Visitors' Day Exhibit in the United States.
* October 23 – The Nobel Committee announces Russian novelist Boris Pasternak as the winner of the 1958 Prize for Literature.
* October 26 – A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 makes its first transatlantic flight.
* October 28 – Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII, as the 261st pope.

November

* November 3
** The new UNESCO building, World Heritage Centre, is inaugurated in Paris.
** Jorge Alessandri is sworn in as President of Chile.
* November 10 – The bossa nova is born in Rio de Janeiro, with João Gilberto's recording of ''Chega de Saudade''.
* November 10 – Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution.
* November 18 – En route to Rogers City, Michigan, the Lake freighter breaks up and sinks in a storm on Lake Michigan; 33 of the 35 crewmen on board perish.
* November 20 – The Jim Henson Company is founded as The Muppets, Muppets, Inc. in the United States.
* November 22 – 1958 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal/National Party of Australia, Country Coalition (Australia), Coalition Menzies Government (1949-66), Government is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party led by H.V. Evatt. This is the first election where television was used as a medium for communicating with voters. Evatt will eventually resign as Labor leader and will be 1960 Australian Labor Party leadership election, replaced by his deputy Arthur Calwell.
* November 25 – French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community, French colonial empire.
* November 28 – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French colonial empire.
* November 30 – Gaullism, Gaullists win the 1958 French legislative election, French parliamentary election.

December

* December 1
** Our Lady of the Angels School fire: 90 students and 3 nuns are killed in a fire in Chicago.
** Adolfo López Mateos takes office as President of Mexico.
* December 14 – The ''3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition'' becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.
* December 15 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes, Charles H. Townes of Bell Laboratories publish a paper in ''Physical Review, Physical Review Letters'' setting out the principles of the optical laser.
* December 16
** A fire breaks out in the Vida Department Store in Bogotá, Colombia and kills 84 persons.
** Soviet Union, Soviet polar pilot V. M. Perov on Li-2 rescues four Belgian polar explorers, led by Gaston de Gerlache, who have survived a plane crash in Antarctica 250 km from their base five days earlier.
* December 18
** The United States launches SCORE (satellite), SCORE, the world's first communications satellite.
** The Bell XV-3 Tiltrotor makes the first true mid-air transition from vertical helicopter-type flight to fully level fixed-wing flight.
* December 19 – A message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower is broadcast from the SCORE (satellite), SCORE satellite.
* December 21 – General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France with 78.5% of the votes.
* December 24 – 1958 BOAC Bristol Britannia crash: A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England, during a test flight, killing nine people. Three crew members survive.
* December 28 – In American football, the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants 23–17 to win the 1958 NFL Championship Game, NFL Championship Game, the first to go into Sudden death (sport), sudden death Overtime (sport), overtime and "The Greatest Game Ever Played".
* December 29 – Battle of Santa Clara: Rebel troops under Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara begin to invade Santa Clara, Cuba.
* December 30 – The Guatemalan Air Force fires on Mexican fishing boats which had strayed into Guatemalan territory, triggering the Mexico–Guatemala conflict.
* December 31
** Tallies reveal that, for the first time, the total of passengers carried by air this year exceeds the total carried by sea in transatlantic service.
** After the fall of Santa Clara, Cuban President Fulgencio Batista flees the country.

Date unknown

* Denatonium, the bitter (taste), bitterest substance known, is discovered. It is used as an aversive agent in products such as bleach to reduce the risk of children drinking them.

Births

January

* January 1 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian-American hip-hop/rap DJ
* January 4 – Matt Frewer, Canadian-American actor (''Max Headroom'')
* January 6 – Shlomo Glickstein, Israeli tennis player
* January 7 – Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysian film director, writer and scriptwriter (died 2009)
* January 8 – Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education
* January 9 – Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish militant, would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II
* January 10 – Samira Said, Moroccan singer
* January 15 – Boris Tadić, Serbian president
* January 20 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, martial artist and reality show participant
* January 21 – Hussein Saeed, Hussein Saeed Mohammed, Iraqi football player
* January 24 – Jools Holland, British musician
* January 26
** Anita Baker, American soul and R&B singer
** Ellen DeGeneres, American actress, comedian, and television host
* January 28 – Maitê Proença, Brazilian actress

February

* February 4 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (died 2005)
* February 8 – Marina Silva, Brazilian politician
* February 9 – Cyrille Regis, English footballer (died 2018)
* February 10 – Ricardo Gareca, Argentine footballer and manager
* February 11 – Regina Maršíková, Czechoslovakian tennis player
* February 13 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
* February 16
** Ice-T, American rapper, songwriter, and actor
** Andriy Bal, Ukrainian football player and coach (died 2014)
* February 21
** Jack Coleman (actor), Jack Coleman, American actor and screenwriter
** Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
* February 26
** María Casal, Spanish actress
** Susan Helms, American astronaut
* February 27 – Maggie Hassan, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
* February 28 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian activist (died 2009)

March

* March 3 – Miranda Richardson, English actress
* March 4 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
* March 5 – Andy Gibb, English singer, songwriter, performer, and teen idol (died 1988)
* March 7 – Rik Mayall, English comedian and actor (died 2014)
* March 8 – Gary Numan, British singer
* March 10
** Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
** Frankie Ruiz, Puerto Rican singer (died 1998)
* March 14
** Bruno Dumont, French film director and screenwriter
** Albert II, Prince of Monaco
* March 20 – Holly Hunter, American actress
* March 21 – Gary Oldman, English actor and filmmaker
* March 24 – Roland Koch, German politician
* March 26
** Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (died 1986)
** Hala Fouad, Egyptian actress (died 1993)
* March 27 – Jessica Soho, Philippine television celebrity and reporter
* March 28
** Bart Conner, American gymnast
** Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler (died 2003)
* March 30
** Lucy Turnbull, Lord Mayor of Sydney, wife of Malcolm Turnbull
** Maurice LaMarche, Canadian voice actor and comedian
* March 31 – Dietmar Bartsch, German politician

April

* April 3 – Alec Baldwin, American actor
* April 4
** Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (d. 1990)
** Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Thai billionaire businessman (d. 2018)
* April 10 – Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born pianist
* April 11
** Hussniya Jabara, Israeli Arab politician
** Luc Luycx, Belgian coin designer
* April 12 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian athlete
* April 14 – Peter Capaldi, Scottish actor
* April 15 – Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician
* April 21
** Andie MacDowell, American actress
** Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist (Crayon Shin-chan) (d. 2009)
* April 24 – Susan Tsvangirai, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (d. 2009)
* April 25 – Luis Guillermo Solís, President of Costa Rica
* April 26 – Giancarlo Esposito, Italian-American actor
* April 29
** Sergey Goryunov, Russian football coach and former Soviet player
** Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress

May

* May 4 – Keith Haring, American artist (died 1990)
* May 10
** Rick Santorum, American politician
** Ellen Ochoa, American astronaut, first Hispanic woman to go into space
* May 12 – Dries van Noten, Belgian designer
* May 20 – Jane Wiedlin, American musician and actress
* May 23 – Drew Carey, American comedian and actor
* May 25 – Paul Weller, English singer-songwriter
* May 26 – Margaret Colin, American actress
* May 27 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter
* May 29
** Annette Bening, American actress
** Juliano Mer-Khamis, Israeli actor, director, filmmaker and political activist (died 2011)
* May 30 – Marie Fredriksson, Swedish rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (died 2019)

June

* June 1 – Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Mongolian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Mongolia
* June 2 – Lex Luger, former American professional wrestler
* June 3 – Margot Käßmann, Lutheran theologian, German bishop
* June 5 – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comoroan businessman and politician, President of Comoros 2006-2011
* June 7 – Prince (musician), Prince, African-American musician (died 2016)
* June 14 – Eric Heiden, American speed skater with five Olympic gold medals
* June 15 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
* June 17 – Jello Biafra, American punk musician and activist (Dead Kennedys)
* June 18 – Peter Altmaier, German jurist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany
* June 19 – Sergei Makarov (ice hockey), Sergei Makarov, Russian ice-hockey player and coach
* June 22
** Rocío Banquells, Mexican pop singer and actress
** Bruce Campbell, American actor, producer, writer and director
* June 24 – Tommy Lister Jr., American actor and professional wrestler (died 2020)
* June 25 – Serik Akhmetov, 8th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
* June 27 – Magnus Lindberg (Finnish composer), Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
* June 29 – Rosa Mota, Portuguese long-distance runner
* June 30
** Karl Friesen, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
** Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
** Irina Vorobieva, Russian pair skater
** Vasil Yakusha, Belarusian rower

July

* July 1 – Tom Magee, Canadian world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor
* July 2
** Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor
** Rainer Hasler, Liechtensteiner footballer (died 2014)
* July 3 – Didier Mouron, Swiss artist
* July 5
** Bill Watterson, American cartoonist (Calvin and Hobbes)
** Kyoko Terase, Japanese voice actress
* July 6 – Jennifer Saunders, British comedian and actress
* July 7 – Michala Petri, Danish recorder player
* July 8
** Kevin Bacon, American actor
** Neetu Singh, Indian actress
* July 10 – Fiona Shaw, Irish actress
* July 12 – Valery Kipelov, Russian music artist and composer
* July 13 – Arun Pandian, Indian film actor, director, producer and politician
* July 14 – Jujie Luan, Chinese-Canadian fencer
* July 15 – Jörg Kachelmann, Swiss presenter, journalist and entrepreneur in the meteorological field
* July 16 – Michael Flatley, Irish-born dancer
* July 17 – Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong second wave filmmaker
* July 19
** Azumah Nelson, Ghanaian boxer
** Jonathan Lee (musician), Jonathan Lee, Taiwanese musician
* July 20 – Bala Garba Jahumpa, Gambian politician
* July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, Japanese professional-baseball coach and player
* July 27
** Margarethe Schreinemakers, German television presenter
** Christopher Dean, British ice dancer and Olympian
* July 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (died 1981)
* July 30 – Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter
* July 31 – Mark Cuban, American entrepreneur and basketball team owner

August

* August 1
** María Ignacia Benítez, Chilean politician (died 2019)
** Adrian Dunbar, Irish actor and director
* August 2 – Shō Hayami, Japanese voice actor and singer
* August 3 – Lambert Wilson, French actor
* August 5 – Andriy Fedetskyi, Ukrainian football player (died 2018)
* August 7
** Bruce Dickinson, English musician (Iron Maiden)
** Russell Baze, Canadian/American champion jockey
* August 10 – Rami Hamdallah, Palestine politician
* August 16
** Angela Bassett, African-American actress
** Madonna, American-born singer, songwriter, and actress
* August 17 – Belinda Carlisle, American singer
* August 18
** Reg E. Cathey, African-American actor (died 2018)
** Madeleine Stowe, American actress
* August 19 – Brendan Nelson, Australian politician
* August 22 – Colm Feore, American-born Canadian actor
* August 24 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor
* August 25 – Tim Burton, American film director
* August 27
** Normand Brathwaite, African-Canadian comedian and television and radio host
**Kathy Hochul, American politician, Governor of New York
* August 29
** Michael Jackson, African-American singer, songwriter and dancer (died 2009)
** Lenny Henry, English comedian and actor
* August 31 – Julie Brown, American actress

September

* September 2 – Zdravko Krivokapić, Montenegrin politician, Prime Minister of Montenegro
* September 6 – Jeff Foxworthy, American comedian, actor and author
* September 10
** Chris Columbus (filmmaker), Chris Columbus, American film director/writer/producer
** Siobhan Fahey, Irish singer (Bananarama, Shakespears Sister)
* September 11 – Julia Nickson-Soul, Singapore actress
* September 13 – Paweł Przytocki, Polish conductor
* September 16 – Jennifer Tilly, Canadian/American actress
* September 17 – Janez Janša, 2-Time Prime Minister of Slovenia
* September 18 – Rachid Taha, Algerian singer and activist (died 2018)
* September 19 – Lita Ford, British musician
* September 21 – Bruno Fitoussi, French poker player
* September 22
** Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor
** Joan Jett, American rock musician
* September 24
** Kevin Sorbo, American actor
** Eamonn Healy, Irish chemist
* September 27
** Shaun Cassidy, American actor, producer and screenwriter
** Irvine Welsh, Scottish writer
* September 29
** Eduardo Cunha, Brazilian politician, former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil
** Tom Buhrow, German journalist and intendant of the WDR

October

* October 3 – Chen Yanyin, Chinese sculptor
* October 5 – Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and science communicator
* October 8 – Ursula von der Leyen, German politician, President of the European Commission
* October 10 – Tanya Tucker, American singer
* October 13 – Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist (died 2018)
* October 14 – Peter Kloeppel, German television journalist
* October 16
** Noel Cleal, Australian rugby league player
** Tim Robbins, American actor and film director
* October 17 – Alan Jackson, American country singer and songwriter
* October 20
** Mark King (musician), Mark King, English pop-rock guitarist and singer (Level 42)
** Viggo Mortensen, Danish-American actor
* October 25 – Kornelia Ender, German swimmer
* October 26 – Pascale Ogier, French actress (died 1984)
* October 27 – Simon Le Bon, English rock singer
* October 28 – Raúl Pellegrin, Chilean revolutionary, leader of Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (died 1988)
* October 29
** Blažej Baláž, Slovak painter
** Stefan Dennis, Australian actor & singer
* October 31 – Jeannie Longo, French cyclist

November

* November 5 – Robert Patrick, American actor
* November 7 – Dmitry Kozak, Russian politician and deputy Prime Minister of Russia
* November 10 – Vicky Rosti, Finnish singer, former Eurovision contestant
* November 12
** Megan Mullally, American actress, singer and media personality
** Hiromi Iwasaki, Japanese singer
* November 14 – Sergio Goyri, Mexican actor
* November 16
** Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Kyrgyzstan
** Marg Helgenberger, American actress
** Boris Krivokapić, Serbian academic
* November 17 – Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, American actress and singer
* November 18
** Laura Miller, American politician
** Oscar Nunez, Cuban-American actor and comedian
* November 18 – Daniel Brailovsky, Argentine-born Israeli footballer and manager
* November 22
** Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
** Ibrahim Ismail of Johor, Sultan of Johor
* November 25 – Alice Cohen, American singer and fine artist
* November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, Japanese music producer and songwriter
* November 30 – Juliette Bergmann, Dutch bodybuilder

December

* December 1
** Charlene Tilton, American actress
** Javier Aguirre, Mexican football player and manager
* December 2 – Mina Asami, Japanese actress
* December 6 – Nick Park, English filmmaker and animator
* December 10
** Cornelia Funke, German author
** Annelore Zinke, East German gymnast
* December 11 – Nikki Sixx, American rock musician
* December 12
** Monica Attard, Australian journalist
** Lucie Guay, Canadian canoer
** Dag Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian musician
** Sheree J. Wilson, American actress
* December 14 – François Zocchetto, French politician
* December 15 – Alfredo Ormando, Italian writer (died 1998)
* December 16 – Katie Leigh, American voice actress
* December 18 – Julia Wolfe, American composer
* December 25
** Dimi Mint Abba, Mauritanian musician and singer (died 2011)
** Rickey Henderson, African-American baseball player
** Alannah Myles, Canadian singer-songwriter
* December 26 – Mieko Harada, Japanese actress
* December 29 – Lakhdar Belloumi, Algerian football player
* December 31 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

Deaths

January

* January 1 – Edward Weston, American photographer (born 1886)
* January 3 – Cafer Tayyar Eğilmez, Turkish general (born 1877)
* January 4 – Archie Alexander, American designer and governor (born 1888)
* January 7
** Margaret Anglin, Canadian stage actress (born 1876)
** Petru Groza, Romanian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Romania and head of the State (born 1884)
* January 8
** Mary Colter, American architect (born 1869)
** Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (born 1883)
* January 9 – Karl Reinhardt (philologist), Karl Reinhardt, German philologist. (born 1886)
* January 13
** Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer (born 1880)
** Edna Purviance, American actress (born 1895)
* January 16 – Aubrey Mather, English actor (born 1885)
* January 19 – Cândido Rondon, Brazilian military officer (born 1865)
* January 20 – Ataúlfo Argenta, Spanish conductor and pianist (born 1913)
* January 27 – Prince Oskar of Prussia (born 1888)
* January 30
** Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (born 1878)
** Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer and manufacturer (born 1888)

February

* February 1 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1881)
* February 6 – Manchester United footballers killed in Munich air disaster
** Geoff Bent (born 1932)
** Roger Byrne (born 1929)
** Eddie Colman (born 1936)
** Mark Jones (footballer, born 1933), Mark Jones (born 1933)
** David Pegg (born 1935)
** Frank Swift (born 1913)
** Tommy Taylor (born 1932)
** Liam Whelan, Liam "Billy" Whelan (born 1935)
* February 7 – Walter Kingsford, English actor (born 1882)
* February 10 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete (born 1899)
* February 11 – Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (born 1879)
* February 13
** Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (born 1880)
** Georges Rouault, French painter (born 1871)
** Helen Twelvetrees, American actress (born 1908)
* February 14 – Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (1922–1958), Prince Heinrich of Bavaria (born 1922)
* February 16 – Situ Qiao, Chinese painter (born 1902)
* February 17 – Marguerite Snow, American actress (born 1889)
* February 20 – Thurston Hall, American actor (born 1882)
* February 21
** Henryk Arctowski, Polish scientist and explorer (born 1871)
** Duncan Edwards English footballer, died from injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster (born 1936)
* February 27 – Harry Cohn, American film producer (born 1891)

March

* March 1 – Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (born 1871)
* March 6 – Anton Reinthaller, Austrian right wing politician (born 1895)
* March 8 – Brian Swift (cricketer), Brian Swift, Australian cricketer, car accident (born 1937)
* March 11 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (born 1891)
* March 12 – Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (born 1878)
* March 17 – Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (born 1877)
* March 21 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (born 1923)
* March 22 (in plane crash)
** Mike Todd, American film producer (born 1909)
** Art Cohn, American screenwriter (born 1909)
* March 23
** Charlotte Walker (actress), Charlotte Walker, American actress (born 1876)
** Florian Znaniecki, Polish philosopher and sociologist (born 1882)
* March 24
** Herbert Fields, American librettist and screenwriter (born 1897)
** Alexandros Hatzikyriakos, Greek admiral and politician (born 1874)
* March 25
**Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian politician (born 1915)
** Tom Brown (trombonist), Tom Brown, American musician (born 1888)
* March 26 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (born 1887)
* March 28
** W. C. Handy, African-American blues composer (born 1873)
** Chuck Klein, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (born 1904)

April

* April 2
** Willie Maley, Scottish football player and manager (born 1868)
** Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (born 1900)
* April 4 – María Luisa Sepúlveda, Chilean composer (born 1898)
* April 5 – Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria (born 1884)
* April 8
** Alcibíades Arosemena, Panamanian politician, 15th President of Panama (born 1883)
** George Jean Nathan, American drama critic (born 1882)
** Frank Eaton, American Deputy Marshal (born 1860)
** Frank Kingdon-Ward, English botanist and explorer (born 1885)
* April 15 – Estelle Tay