1945
1945 (
MCMVL) was a
common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). It is most widely known for being the end of
World War II.
January
*
January 5 - The
Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of
Poland.
*
January 7 -
British General
Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference at
Zonhoven describing his contribution to the
Battle of the Bulge.
*
January 12 -
World War II: The
Soviet Union begin a very large offensive in
Eastern Europe against the
Nazis.
*
January 13 - A Soviet patrol arrests
Raoul Wallenberg in
Hungary.
*
January 16 -
Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called
Führerbunker*
January 17 - World War II:
Soviets occupy
Warsaw*
January 17 -
Holocaust:
Nazis begin to evacuate from
Auschwitz concentration camp*
January 20 -
Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to an unprecedented fourth term as
President of the United States.
*
January 20 -
Hungary drops out of the
Second World War, agreeing to an
armistice with the
Allies.
*
January 24 - First successful launch of the German
A4b-Rocket
*
January 27 - The
Red Army arrives at
Auschwitz and
Birkenau in
Poland and find the
Nazi concentration camp where 1.3 million people were murdered.
*
January 28 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach
China over the newly reopened
Burma Road.
*
January 30 - The
Wilhelm Gustloff with about 10,000 Nazi troops and refugees from
Gotenhafen in the
Gdansk Bay sunk with three
torpedoes from the
Soviet submarine S-13. More 9,300 drowned in the
Baltic Sea.
*
January 31 -
Eddie Slovik is executed by firing squad for
desertion, the first American soldier since the
American Civil War and last to date to be executed for this offence.
February
 | February 2: The "Big Three" at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. |
|
*
February 2 -
World War II:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with
Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin at the
Yalta Conference.
*
February 3 - World War II:
Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theater conflict against
Japan.
*
February 4 - World War II:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and
Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin begin the
Yalta Conference (ends
February 11)
*
February 6 - French writer
Robert Brasillach executed for
collaboration with the Germans
*
February 7 - World War II: General
Douglas MacArthur returns to
Manila*
February 9 -
Walter Ulbricht becomes the leader of German
communists in
Moscow*
February 10 - World War II: The
SS General von Steuben sunk by the
Soviet submarine S-13.
*
February 13 - World War II:
Soviet Union forces capture
Budapest,
Hungary from the
Nazis.
*
February 13 - World War II: The
Royal Air Force bombs
Dresden,
Germany.
*
February 14 -
Chile,
Ecuador,
Paraguay and
Peru join the
United Nations.
*
February 16 - World War II: American forces land on
Corregidor island in the
Philippines.
*
February 16 - American forces recapture the
Bataan Peninsula
*
February 19 - World War II:
Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000
United States Marines landed on
Iwo Jima starting the battle.
*
February 21 - Last launch of an A4-rocket at
Peenemünde*
February 23 - World War II: Following the American victory at the
Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of
United States Marines reach the top of
Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the
American flag. The photo will later win a
Pulitzer Prize.
*
February 23 - World War II: The capital of the
Philippines, Manila, is liberated by
American forces.
*
February 23 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in
Poznań, city is liberated by
Red Army and Polish forces.
*
February 24 - Egyptian Premier
Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
March
*
March 2 - Former US Vice-President
Henry Agard Wallace starts his term of office as
US Secretary of Commerce, serving under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt*
March 2 - Launch of the
Bachem Ba 349 Natter from
Stetten am kalten Markt. The Natter was the first manned rocket and developed as anti-aircraft weapon. The launch failed and the pilot died.
["Year by Year 1945" -- History Channel International]*
March 3 -
World War II: Previously neutral
Finland declares war on the
Axis powers.
*
March 3 - A possible experimental atomic test blast occurs at the Nazis'
Ohrdruf military testing area [
1].
*
March 3 -
Florida celebrates the first
centenary of its statehood.
*
March 6 - Communist-led government formed in
Romania*
March 7 - World War II: American troops seize the bridge over the
Rhine River at
Remagen,
Germany and begin to cross.
*
March 8 -
Josip Broz Tito forms a government in
Yugoslavia*
March 9-
March 10 - World War II: American
B-29 bombers attack
Japan with
incendiary bombs.
Tokyo is
fire-bombed killing 100,000 citizens.
*
March 16 - World War II: The
Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
*
March 17 - World War II:
Japanese city of
Kobe is
fire-bombed by 331
B-29 bombers, killing over 8,000.
*
March 18 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack
Berlin.
*
March 19 - World War II:
Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in
Germany be destroyed.
*
March 19 - Off the coast of
Japan, bombers hit the
aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
*
March 21 - World War II:
British troops liberate
Mandalay,
Burma*
March 22 - The
Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in
Cairo,
Egypt.
*
March 29 - The "Clash of Titans":
George Mikan and
Bob Kurland duelled at
Madison Square Garden.
OSU defeats
DePaul 52-44.
*
March 30 - World War II:
Soviet Union forces invade
Austria and take
Vienna.
Alger Hiss congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing about the
Western betrayal at the
Yalta Conference.
* From
February 14,
1936, to
March 1, 1945,
AG Weser launched a total of 162
U-boats.
April
*
April 1 -
World War II:
United States troops land on
Okinawa in the last campaign of the war. The
Battle of Okinawa starts.
*
April 4 - World War II: American troops liberate
Ohrdruf death camp in
Germany.
*
April 7 - World War II: The
Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of
Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
* April 7 -
Kantaro Suzuki becomes the
Prime Minister of Japan*
April 9 - Abwehr conspirators
Wilhelm Canaris,
Hans Oster, and
Hans Dohanyi are hanged at
Flossenberg concentration camp along with pastor
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
*
April 10 - The
Allied Forces liberated their first
Nazi concentration camp,
Buchenwald.
*
April 12 -
United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (
1933-1945) dies suddenly at
Warm Springs, Georgia; Vice President
Harry S. Truman (1945-
1953) takes the Oath of Office.
*
April 15 -
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp liberated.
*
April 16 - Singer
Priscilla Paris, of the Paris Sisters, was born in San Francisco
*
April 16 - World War II: The
Goya sunk by the
Soviet submarine L-3.
*
April 25 - Founding negotiations of
United Nations in
San Francisco*
April 25 - World War II:
Elbe Day,
United States and
Soviet troops link up at the
Elbe River, cutting
Germany in two
*
April 26 -
Battle of Bautzen (World War II) - last "successful" German panzer-offensive in
Bautzen, the city is recaptured
*
April 27 - U.S. Ordinance troops find the coffins of Frederick Wilhelm I, Frederick the Great,
Paul Von Hindenburg,and his wife
*
April 28 - Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini and his mistress,
Clara Petacci, are executed by Italian partisans as they attempt to flee the country. Their bodies are then hung by their heels in the public square of
Milan.
*
April 29 - Start of
Operation Manna: British
Lancaster bombers drop food into the
Netherlands to prevent the starvation of the civilian population.
*
April 30 -
Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day,
Eva Braun,
commit suicide as
Red Army approaches
Führerbunker in
Berlin.
Karl Dönitz succeeds Hitler as
President of Germany.
Joseph Goebbels succeeds Hitler as
Chancellor of Germany.
May
*
May 1 -
Joseph Goebbels and his wife commit suicide after killing their 6 children. Karl Dönitz appoints
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk as the new
Chancellor of Germany.
*
May 1 - World War II: Troops of
Yugoslav 4th Army together with
Slovene 9th Corpus NOV enter
Trieste.
*
May 2 -
World War II: The
Soviet Union announces the
fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the
red flag over the
Reichstag building.
*
May 2 - World War II: Troops of
New Zealand Army 2nd Division enter
Trieste a day after the
Yugoslavs.
German Army in
Trieste surrenders to the
New Zealand Army.
*
May 2 - The last postage stamp utilized by
Manzhouguo is issued.
*
May 3 - World War II: Sinkings of the
floating-jails Cap Arcona,
Thielbek and
Deutschland by the
RAF in the
Lübeck Bay.
*
May 3 - Rocket scientist
Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to US forces. They later help start the US space program.
*
May 4 - World War II: Liberation of the
concentration camp Neuengamme near
Hamburg by the British army.
*
May 4 - World War II: Reddition of the North Germany army by Marshal
Bernard Montgomery.
*
May 4 - World War II: Holland liberated by Canadian troops. [
2] German troups officially surrender one day later.
*
May 5 - World War II:
Prague uprising against the Nazis.
*
May 5 -
Ezra Pound, poet and author, is arrested by American soldiers in
Italy for treason.
*
May 5 - World War II: US armored unit liberates prisoners of
Mauthausen concentration camp - including
Simon Wiesenthal*
May 5 - World War II:
Canadian soldiers liberate the city of
Amsterdam from
Nazi occupation.
*
May 5 - World War II:
Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all
U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
*
May 5 - World War II: A Japanese
balloon bomb killed five children and a woman,
Elsie Mitchell near
Bly, Oregon, when it exploded as they dragged it from the woods. They were the only people killed by enemy attack on the United States mainland during
World War II.
*
May 6 - World War II:
Axis Sally delivers her last
propaganda broadcast to
Allied troops (first was on
December 11,
1941).
*
May 7 - World War II: General
Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at
Reims,
France, ending
Germany's participation in the war. The document will take effect the next day.
*
May 8 - World War II:
V-E Day (Victory in Europe, as
Nazi Germany surrenders) commemorates the end of
World War II in
Europe.
*
May 8 - World War II: British 8th Army together with Slovene partisan troops and motorized detachment of Yugoslav 4th Army arrives to
Carinthia and
Klagenfurt.
*
May 8-
May 29 - In
Algeria, thousands die as French troops and released Italian POW's brutally kill what is estimated as 45 thousand Algerian citizens
(setif rebellion).in the biggest massacre in the world along with Hiroshima.
*
May 9 - World War II:
Hermann Göring is captured by the
United States Army;
Norway arrests
Vidkun Quisling;
Soviet Union marks
V-E Day.
*
May 9 - World War II:
Red Army enters Prague (capitulation of German occupation troops)
*
May 9 - World War II: General
Alexander Löhr Commander of German Army Group E near
Topolšica,
Slovenia, signs capitulation of German occupation troops.
*
May 9 - World War II:
Occupation of the Channel Islands ends with the liberation by British troops.
Alderney, annex of the
concentration camp Neuengamme liberated.
*
May 12 - World War II:
Yugoslav Army capitulates to the
New Zealand Army, in
Trieste and hands over the city.
*
May 15 - World War II: the last WWII battle in Europe is fought at
Poljana near
Slovenj Gradec,
Slovenia*
May 18 - The Death of the second
KKK founder
William Joseph Simmons. William died in
Atlanta. He is survived by his wife.
*
May 23 -
President of Germany Karl Dönitz and
Chancellor of Germany Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by
British forces at
Flensburg. They would respectively be the last German
Head of state and
Head of government until
1949.
*
May 23 -
Heinrich Himmler, the head of the
Nazi Gestapo, commits suicide in British custody.
*
May 25 - In Atlantic, ships can finally keep their lights lit.
Leo Szilard begs
Harry S. Truman not to use the bomb. [
3]
*
May 28 -
William Joyce, known as "
Lord Haw-Haw" is captured. He is later charged with high treason in
London for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio. He is hanged in January of 1946.
*
May 29 - Group of German communists, Ulbricht in the lead, arrive in
Berlin*
May 30 -
Iranian government demands that Soviet and British troops leave the country
June
*
June 1 - British take over
Lebanon and
Syria*
June 5 -
Allied Control Council, military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
*
June 6 - King
Haakon VII of Norway returns to Norway
*
June 11 -
William Lyon Mackenzie King is re-elected as Canadian prime minister. Franck Committee recommends against a surprise nuclear bombing of Japan. [
4]
*
June 12 -
Yugoslav Army leaves
Trieste, leaving the
New Zealand Army in control.
*
June 21 -
World War II: The
Battle of Okinawa ends.
*
June 24 - World War II: Victory parade in
Red Square*
June 25 -
Seán T. O'Kelly is elected the second
President of Ireland.
*
June 26 -
United Nations charter signed.
*
June 29 -
Czechoslovakia cedes
Ruthenia to
Soviet UnionJuly
*
July 1 -
World War II: Germany is divided between Allied occupation forces
*
July 5 - World War II: Liberation of the
Philippines declared.
*
July 8 - World War II:
Harry S. Truman informed that
Japan will talk peace if she can keep the Emperor. [
5]
*
July 9 - A
forest fire breaks out in the
Tillamook Burn, the third fire in that area since 1933.
*
July 16 -
Nuclear testing: The
Trinity Test, the first test of an
atomic bomb, using 6 kilograms of
plutonium, succeeds in detonating, unleashing an explosion equivalent to that of 19 kilotons of TNT.
*
July 17 - World War II:
Potsdam Conference - At
Potsdam, the three main
Allied leaders begin their final summit of the war. The meeting will end on
August 2.
*
July 21 - World War II:
Harry S. Truman approves order for atomic bombs to be used. [
6]
*
July 23 - World War II: French marshall
Philippe Pétain, who headed the
Vichy government during
World War II goes on trial, charged with treason.
*
July 26 -
Winston Churchill resigns as
Britain's prime minister after his
Conservative Party is soundly defeated by the
Labour Party in the
1945 general election.
Clement Attlee becomes the new prime minister.
*
July 26 -
Potsdam Declaration demands Japan's unconditional surrender; Article 12 permitting Japan to retain the Emperor had been deleted by Truman. [
7]
*
July 28 - An
Army Air Forces B-25 bomber accidentally crashes into the
Empire State Building, killing 14 people.
*
July 28 - World War II:
Japan rejects
Potsdam Declaration [
8].
*
July 29 - The
BBC Light Programme radio station was launched, aimed at
mainstream light entertainment and
music.
*
July 30 - World War II: The
USS Indianapolis is hit and sunk by the
Japanese submarine I-58. Some 900 survivors jump into the sea and are adrift for 4 days. Nearly 600 die before help arrives. Captain
Charles B. McVay III is later court-martialed.
*
July 31 - World War II:
Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of
Vichy France, surrenders to
Allied soldiers in Austria.
August
*
August 6 -
World War II: the
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The
United States detonates an
atomic bomb nicknamed "
Little Boy" on
Hiroshima,
Japan at 8:16 AM (local time).
*
August 7 - President Harry Truman announces the successful bombing of Hiroshima with an
atomic bomb while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the heavy cruiser
USS Augusta (CA-31) in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
*
August 8 - The
United Nations Charter is ratified by the
United States, and that nation becomes the third to join the new international organization. Soviets declare war on Japan.
*
August 9 -
World War II: The
United States detonates an
atomic bomb nicknamed "
Fat Man" over the city of
Nagasaki,
Japan at 11:02 AM (local time).
*
August 9 -
World War II: The
Soviet Union begins its offensive against Japan in the then Japanese controlled Chinese region of Manchuria. [
9]
*
August 10 -
World War II:
Japan offers to surrender to the
Allies, "...provided this does not prejudice the sovereignty of the Emperor."
*
August 10 -
World War II: US drops warning leaflets on Nagasaki. [
10]
*
August 11 -
World War II:
Allies reply to the Japanese surrender offer by saying that Emperor
Hirohito would be subject to the authority of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.
*
August 13 -
Zionist World Congress approaches British government to talk about founding of
Israel.
*
August 14 -
World War II: Emperor
Hirohito accepts the terms of the
Potsdam Declaration.
*
August 15 -
World War II: Emperor
Hirohito announces Japan's surrender on the radio. The United States called this day
V-J Day (Victory in Japan). This ends the period of
Japanese expansionism and begins the period of
Occupied Japan.
*
August 15 -
Korea gains independence following Japan's surrender
*
August 17 -
Indonesian nationalists
Sukarno and
Mohammed Hatta declare the independence of Republic of
Indonesia, Sukarno as a president. Dutch colonial authorities do not approve
*
August 19 -
Vietnam War:
Viet Minh led by
Ho Chi Minh take power in
Hanoi,
Vietnam.
* End of August -
Chinese Civil War:
Mao Zedong and
Chiang Kai-shek meet in
Chongqing to discuss an end to hostilities between the
Communists and the
Nationalists.
September
*
September 2 -
World War II ends: The final official surrender of
Japan was accepted by Supreme Allied Commander General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral
Chester Nimitz from a delegation led by
Mamoru Shigemitsu, aboard the battleship
Missouri in Tokyo Bay. But in Japan
August 14 is well recognized as the day the
Pacific War ended.
*
September 2 -
Ho Chi Minh promulgates the
Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, and unity from the north to the south.
*
September 4 - World War II:
Japanese forces surrender on
Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.
*
September 5 -
Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "
Tokyo Rose," is arrested in
Yokohama.
*
September 8 - US troops occupy southern
Korea,
Soviet Union occupy the north. This arrangement proves to be the beginning of a divided
Korea.
*
September 8 -
Hideki Tojo, Japanese prime minister during most of
World War II, attempts suicide to avoid facing a
war crimes tribunal.
*
September 9 - "First actual case of bug being found" Moth found in Relay 70, Panel F Mark II Aiken Relay Computer
*
September 11 -
Radio Republik Indonesia starts broadcasting.
*
September 12 -
Japanese army formally surrendered in Singapore.
*
September 20 -
Mohandas Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru demand that British troops leave
IndiaOctober
|
October 24: The United Nations is formed. This was its flag. The modern version is slightly retouched. |
*
October 1 - to
October 15 - Launch of three
A4 rockets near
Cuxhaven in order to show Allied forces the rocket with liquid fuel (
Operation Backfire)
*
October 5 - A strike by the Set Decorator's Union in Hollywood results in
riot*
October 10 - Russian code clerk
Igor Gouzenko defects to
Canada. He helps the West gain an understanding of
Soviet spy rings in
North America.
*
October 15 -
World War II: Former premier of
Vichy France,
Pierre Laval, is executed by
firing squad for
treason.
*
October 17 - A massive number of people, headed for
CGT and
Evita, gather in the
Plaza de Mayo in
Argentina to demand
Juan Peron's release. This is known to the
Peronists as the
Día de la lealtad (day of loyalty) or
San Perón (Saint Perón). It's considered the birthday of Peronism.
*
October 18 - The first German
war crimes trial begins in
Nuremberg.
*
October 18 -
Isaías Medina Angarita, president of
Venezuela, is overthrown by a
military coup.
*
October 21 -
Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in
France for the first time.
*
October 23 -
Jackie Robinson signs a contract with the
Montreal Royals.
*
October 24 -
United Nations founded.
*
October 24 - Norwegian Nazi leader,
Vidkun Quisling, is shot by
firing squad for
treason.
*
October 27 -
Indonesian separatists riot and fight Dutch and British security forces.
*
October 29 -
Getúlio Vargas, president of
Brazil, resigns.
*
October 29 - At
Gimbel's Department Store in
New York City, the first
ballpoint pens go on sale at $12.50 each.
November
*
November 1 -
John H. Johnson publishes the first issue of the magazine
Ebony.
*
November 1 - Telechron introduces the model 8H59 "Musalarm", the first clock radio.
*
November 13 -
Charles De Gaulle elected head of a French
provisional government*
November 15 -
Harry S. Truman,
Clement Attlee, and
Mackenzie King call for a UN Atomic Energy Commission.[
11]
*
November 16 -
Cold War: The
United States controversially imports 88
German scientists to help in the production of
rocket technology.
*
November 16 -
Yeshiva College founded
*
November 20 -
Nuremberg Trials begin: Trials against 24
Nazi war criminals of
World War II start at the
Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
*
November 29 - The
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is declared (this day was celebrated as Republic Day until
1990s).
Marshal Tito is named president.
*
November 29 - Assembly of the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (
ENIAC), is completed. It covers 1800 feet of floor space. The first set of calculations is run on the computer.
December
*
December 2 - General
Eurico Gaspar Dutra elected president of
Brazil*
December 3 -
Communist demonstrations in
Athens - preliminary of the
Greek Civil War*
December 4 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the
United States Senate approves the entry of the
United States into the
United Nations.
*
December 21 - General
George S. Patton dies from injuries sustained in a car accident on December 9.
*
December 27 - Twenty-eight nations sign an agreement creating the
World Bank.
*
December 27 - Terror strikes against British military bases in
Palestine.
*
December 29 -
Texas celebrates the first
centenary of its statehood.
Unknown date
*Foundation of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
*Poland has two rival governments
*Discovery of
Nag Hammadi scriptures*Dutch painter
Han van Meegeren is arrested for collaboration with Nazis but the paintings he had sold to
Hermann Göring are found to be his fakes.
*
Female suffrage in
Guatemala and
Japan*
Saskatchewan Government Insurance, the first state-owned
automobile insurance company in
North America, is created.
*
Denmark recognizes independent
Iceland* US house of representatives calls for unrestricted Jewish immigration to
Palestine in order to establish a Jewish commonwealth there
*
Roben Hollis Fleet pays $11.550.000 alimony to his second wife Dorothy
Ongoing events
*
Sino-Japanese War (
1937–1945)
*
Arthur C. Clarke puts forward the idea of a communications
satellite in a
Wireless World magazine article.
*At the
Mayo Clinic,
streptomycin is first used to treat
tuberculosis.
*
Percy Spencer accidentally discovers that microwaves can heat food. Invention of the
microwave oven follows.
*
Grand Rapids, Michigan and
Newburgh, New York become the first cities to
add fluoride to drinking water.
*The first nuclear reactor outside of the U.S. is built in
Chalk River,
Ontario,
Canada.
*High-altitude, west-to-east winds across the
Pacific Ocean — discovered by the
Japanese in
1942 and by
Americans in
1944 — are dubbed the
jet stream.
*
Salvador Edward Luria and
Alfred Day Hershey independently recognize that
viruses undergo
mutations.
*The
herbicide 2,4-D is introduced; it is later used as a component of
Agent Orange.
*A team led by
Charles DuBois Coryell discovers
chemical element 61, the only one still missing between 1 and 96 on the
periodic table. The new element is called
promethium.
*
Raymond Libby develops oral
penicillin.
*American Canamid discovers
folic acid, a
vitamin abundant in
green leafy vegetables,
liver,
kidney, and
yeast.
*The first
geothermal milk pasteurization occurs in
Klamath Falls,
Oregon,
USA.
January
*
January 3 -
Victoria Principal, American actress
*
January 3 -
Stephen Stills, American singer and songwriter (
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
*
January 4 -
Richard R. Schrock, American chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
January 10 -
Rod Stewart, English singer
*
January 15 -
Princess Michael of Kent*
January 26 -
Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d.
1987)
*
January 27 -
Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader, writer, and lawyer (d.
2005)
*
January 29 -
Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician
*
January 29 -
Tom Selleck, American actor
*
January 30 -
Michael Dorris, American author (d.
1997)
*
January 31 -
Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist
February-March
*
February 3 -
Bob Griese, American football player
*
February 5 -
Charlotte Rampling, English actress
*
February 6 -
Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (d.
1981)
*
February 7 -
Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
*
February 7 -
Pete Postlethwaite, English actor
*
February 9 -
Mia Farrow, American actress
*
February 14 - Prince
Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein*
February 17 -
Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
*
February 27 -
Carl Anderson, American singer and actor (d.
2004)
*
February 28 -
Bubba Smith, American football player and actor
*
March 1 -
Dirk Benedict, American actor
*
March 4 -
Dieter Meier, Swiss singer and children book writer
*
March 4 -
Tommy Svensson, Swedish football manager and former player
*
March 4 -
Gary Williams, Head coach of the University of Maryland's Men's basketball team
*
March 7 -
John Heard, American actor
*
March 8 -
Jim Chapman, American politician
*
March 8 -
Micky Dolenz, American actor, director, and musician (
The Monkees)
*
March 8 -
Anselm Kiefer, German painter
*
March 9 -
Dennis Rader, American serial killer
*
March 19 -
Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d.
2004)
*
March 26 -
Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (d.
2004)
*
March 29 -
Walt Frazier, American basketball player
*
March 30 -
Eric Clapton, English guitarist
April
*
April 2 -
Linda Hunt, American actress
*
April 4 -
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French activist
*
April 7 -
Werner Schroeter, German film director
*
April 9 -
Peter Gammons, baseball sportswriter
*
April 9 -
Steve Gadd, American session drummer
*
April 12 -
Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organization (d.
2006)
*
April 13 -
Tony Dow, American actor, producer, and director
*
April 13 -
Lowell George, American musician (
Little Feat)
*
April 13 -
Bob Kalsu, American football player (d.
1970)
*
April 20 -
Frank DiLeo, American actor
*
April 25 -
Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish songwriter (
ABBA)
*
April 27 -
August Wilson, American playwright (d.
2005)
May
*
May 1 -
Rita Coolidge, American singer
*
May 2 -
Sarah Weddington, American attorney
*
May 4 -
Narasinham Ram, Indian journalist
*
May 6 -
Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American musician
*
May 6 -
Bob Seger, American singer
*
May 8 -
Keith Jarrett, American musician
*
May 15 -
Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, heir to the Portuguese crown
*
May 16 -
Nicky Chinn, songwriter (
The Sweet,
Suzi Quatro)
*
May 17 -
Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
*
May 19 -
Pete Townshend, English guitarist and lyricist
*
May 21 -
Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
*
May 23 -
Doris Mae Oulton, Canadian community developer
*
May 24 -
Priscilla Presley, American actress
*
May 28 -
John Fogerty, American singer
*
May 28 -
Gary Stewart, American singer (d.
2003)
*
May 31 -
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German film director (d.
1982)
June-July
*
June 1 -
Frederica von Stade, American mezzo-soprano
*
June 9 -
Nike Wagner, German woman of the theater
*
June 12 -
Pat Jennings, Northern Irish footballer player
*
June 17 -
Frank Ashmore, American actor
*
June 17 -
Art Bell, American radio talk show host
*
June 17 -
Anupam Kher, Indian actor
*
June 17 -
Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist
*
June 19 -
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar poet, politician, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize*
June 25 -
Carly Simon, American singer and songwriter
*
June 26 -
Dwight York, American musician, fashion consultant, cult leader, and child molester
*
July 1 -
Debbie Harry, American singer (
Blondie)
*
July 7 -
Michael Ancram, British politician
*
July 8 -
Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Federal Councilor
*
July 9 -
Dean R. Koontz, American writer
*
July 15 -
Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (d.
2003)
*
July 16 -
Victor Sloan, Irish artist
*
July 17 -
Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia*
July 24 -
Azim Premji, Indian businessman
*
July 28 -
Jim Davis, American cartoonist
*
July 28 -
Richard Wright, English keyboardist (
Pink Floyd)
August-October
*
August 1 -
Douglas D. Osheroff, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
August 7 -
Alan Page, American football player
*
August 9 -
Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist
*
August 14 -
Steve Martin, American actor and comedian
*
August 15 -
Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, Indian guru
*
August 19 -
Ian Gillan, English singer (
Deep Purple)
*
August 22 -
Ron Dante, American singer (
The Archies), songwriter and record producer
*
August 24 -
Vince McMahon , chairman of
WWE*
August 31 -
Van Morrison, Irish musician
*
August 31 -
Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist
*
September 8 -
Jose Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer
*
September 15 -
Jessye Norman, American soprano
*
September 21 -
Shaw Clifton, the 18th General of
The Salvation Army*
September 30 -
Ehud Olmert, 12th
Prime Minister of Israel*
October 12 -
Aurore Clément, French actress
*
October 15 -
Jim Palmer, baseball player
*
October 19 -
John Lithgow, American actor
*
October 25 -
David Schramm, American astrophysicist
*
October 27 -
Luís Inácio Lula da Silva,
President of Brazil*
October 30 -
Henry Winkler, American actor
November-December
*
November 5 -
Jacques Lanctôt, Canadian terrorist
*
November 12 -
Neil Young, Canadian singer and songwriter (
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
*
November 15 -
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Norwegian singer (
ABBA)
*
November 21 -
Goldie Hawn, American actress
*
November 26 -
Daniel Davis, American actor
*
November 26 -
John McVie, English musician (
Fleetwood Mac)
*
December 1 -
Bette Midler, American singer and actress
*
December 6 -
Larry Bowa, baseball player
*
December 20 -
Peter George Criscoula, American drummer and singer (
KISS (band))
*
December 24 -
Ian "Lemmy" Kilminster, British bassist and singer (
Motörhead)
*
December 28 - King
Birendra of Nepal (d.
2001)
Unknown dates
*
Victor Sloan, Northern Irish artist
*
Roger Dobkowitz, game show producer
January-February
*
January 2 -
Bertram Ramsay, British admiral (b.
1883)
*
January 3 -
Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b.
1877)
*
January 9 –
Jüri Uluots, Estonian statesman (b.
1890)
*
January 22 -
Else Lasker-Schuler, German poet (b.
1869)
*
January 31 -
Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b.
1920)
*
February 5 -
Denise Bloch, French World War II heroine (executed) (b.
1915)
*
February 5 -
Lilian Rolfe, French World War II heroine (executed) (b.
1914)
*
February 5 -
Violette Szabo, French World War II heroine (executed) (b.
1921)
*
February 11 -
Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter (b.
1891)
*
February 17 -
Gabrielle Weidner, Belgian World War II heroine (b.
1914)
*
February 21 -
Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b.
1902)
*
February 25 -
Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer and photographer (b.
1893)
March-April
*March -
Anne Frank, German-born diarist (typhus) (b.
1929)
*
March 2 -
Emily Carr, Canadian artist (b.
1871)
*
March 16 -
Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (b.
1874)
*
March 18 -
William Grover-Williams, French race car driver and war hero (b.
1903)
*
March 19 -
Friedrich Fromm, Nazi official (b.
1888)
*
March 22 -
Eliyahu Hakim and
Eliyahu Bet-Zuri (executed)
*
March 23 -
Elisabeth de Rothschild, French World War II heroine (executed) (b.
1902)
*
March 26 -
David Lloyd George, Welsh
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1863)
*
March 30 -
Élise Rivet, French nun and war heroine (b.
1890)
*
March 31 -
Hans Fischer, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1881)
*
April 9 -
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (hanged) (b.
1906)
*
April 9 -
Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German Abwehr (hanged) (b.
1887)
*
April 10 -
H.N. Werkman, Dutch artist and printer (executed) (b.
1882)
*
April 12 -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
President of the United States (massive stroke) (b.
1882)
*
April 18 -
Ernie Pyle, American journalist (sniper fire) (b.
1900)
*
April 22 -
Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (b.
1867)
*
April 28 -
Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator (hanged) (b.
1883)
*
April 30 -
Adolf Hitler, German dictator (suicide) (b.
1889)
* April 30 -
Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler (suicide) (b.
1912)
* April 30 -
William Darby. creator of the army rangers (b.1911)
May-September
*
May 1 -
Cecily Lefort English World War II heroine (executed) (b.
1900)
* May 1 -
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist (suicide) (b.
1897)
* May 1 -
Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels (suicide) (b.
1901)
*
May 14 -
Heber J. Grant, president of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b.
1856)
*
May 15 -
Charles Williams, British author (b.
1886)
*
May 23 -
Heinrich Himmler, head of the Nazi Gestapo (suicide) (b.
1900)
*
June 8 -
Robert Desnos, French
surrealist poet and member of the French resistance (b.
1900)
*
June 15 -
Nikola Avramov, Bulgarian painter (b.
1897)
*
July 5 -
John Curtin, fourteenth
Prime Minister of Australia (b.
1885)
*
July 20 -
Paul Valéry, French poet (b.
1871)
*
August 2 -
Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (b.
1863)
*
August 9 -
Harry Hillman, American athlete (b.
1881)
*
August 10 -
Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist (b.
1882)
*
August 31 -
Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician (b.
1892)
*
September 15 -
Anton Webern, Austrian composer (b.
1883)
*
September 24 -
Johannes Hans Geiger, German physicist and inventor (b.
1882)
*
September 26 -
Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b.
1881)
October-December
*
October 13 -
Milton Hershey, American chocolate tycoon (b.
1857)
*
October 15 -
Pierre Laval,
Prime Minister of France (executed) (b.
1883)
*
October 19 -
N.C. Wyeth, American illustrator (b.
1882)
*
October 24 -
Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian traitor (executed) (b.
1887)
*
October 26 -
Paul Pelliot, French explorer (b.
1878)
*
November 8 -
August von Mackensen, German field marshal (b.
1849)
*
November 11 -
Jerome Kern, American composer (b.
1885)
*
November 20 -
Francis William Aston, English chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1877)
*
November 21 -
Robert Benchley, American humorist, theater critic, and actor (b.
1889)
*
December 4 -
Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.
1866)
*
December 5 -
Cosmo Lang,
Archbishop of Canterbury (b.
1864)
*
December 16 -
Fumimaro Konoe,
Prime Minister of Japan (suicide) (b.
1891)
*
December 21 -
George S. Patton, U.S. general (car accident) (b.
1885)
*
December 28 -
Theodore Dreiser, American author (b.
1871)
*
Physics -
Wolfgang Pauli*
Chemistry -
Artturi Ilmari Virtanen*
Physiology or Medicine - Sir
Alexander Fleming,
Ernst Boris Chain, Sir
Howard Walter Florey*
Literature -
Gabriela Mistral*
Peace -
Cordell Hull
