From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. According to measurements of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest ever year, as two leap seconds were added during this year, an event which has not since been repeated.
[edit] Events of 1972
[edit] January
[edit] February
- February 1 - The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
- February 2 - A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin, killing Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder.
- February 2 - The German militant group Movement 2 June announces its support of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
- February 2 - Anti-British riots take place throughout Ireland. The British Embassy in Dublin is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses.
- February 3–13 - The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
- February 4 - Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
- February 5 - U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.
- February 5 - Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
- February 9 - The British government declares a state of emergency over a miners' strike.
- February 15 - President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.
- February 15 - Phonorecords are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
- February 17 - Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model-T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.
- February 18 - The California Supreme Court voids the state's death penalty, commuting all death sentences to life in prison.
- February 19 - Asama-Sansō incident: Five United Red Army members break into a lodge below Mount Asama, taking the wife of the lodge keeper hostage.
- February 21 - The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
- February 21–28 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
- February 22 - Aldershot bombing: An Official IRA bomb kills 7 in Aldershot, England.
- February 23 - Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
- February 23 - A Lufthansa plane is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released after a ransom of 16 million German marks is agreed.
- February 24 - North Vietnamese negotiators walk out of the Paris Peace Talks to protest U.S. air raids.
- February 26 - A coal sludge spill kills 125 people in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia.
- February 26 - Luna 20 comes back to Earth with a cargo of moon rocks.
- February 28 - The Asama-Sanso incident ends in a standoff between 5 members of the Japanese United Red Army and the authorities, in which 2 policemen are killed and 12 injured.
- April 7 - Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy, Jr. hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000; he is later captured.
- April 10 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to ban biological warfare.
- April 10 - A 7.0 Richter scale earthquake kills 5,000 people in the Iranian province of Fars.
- April 10 - The 44th Annual Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
- April 13 - The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
- April 16 - Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts achieve a lunar rover speed record of 18 km/h.
- April 16 - Vietnam War - Nguyen Hue Offensive: Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
- April 22 - Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
- April 27 - A no-confidence vote against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.
- April 29 - The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and marijuana use.
- May
- The Burundian Genocide against the Hutu begins; more than 500,000 Hutus die.
- The Magnavox Odyssey video game system is released, thus marking the dawn of the video game age.
- May 2 - Fire in a silver mine in Idaho kills 91.
- May 5 - An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily; 115 die.
- May 7 - General elections are held in Italy.
- May 8 - U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam.
- May 13 - Fire in a nightclub atop the Sennichi department store in Osaka, Japan, kills 115.
- May 15 - Okinawa is returned to Japan after 27 years of United States Military occupation.
- May 15 - Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur Herman Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
- May 16 - The first financial derivatives exchange, the International Monetary Market (IMM), opens on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
- May 18 - Four troopers of both SAS and SBS are parachuted onto the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) off Britain in the Atlantic, after a bomb threat and ransom demand, which turns out to be bogus.
- May 19 - Three out of 6 bombs explode in the Springer Press building in Hamburg, Germany, injuring 17; the Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
- May 21 - In Rome, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's "Pietà" statue with a sledgehammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
- May 22 - Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when its new constitution is ratified.
- May 23 - The Tamil United Front (now known as Tamil United Liberation Front, a pro-Tamil organization, is founded.
- May 24 - Rangers lift the Cup Winners Cup, defeating Dynamo Moscow in the final at the Nou Camp. Their supporters invade the pitch, with the team banned from defending the trophy the following season.
- May 24 - A Red Army Faction bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany; 3 U.S. soldiers (Clyde Bonner, Ronald Woodard and Charles Peck) are killed.
- May 26 - Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.
- May 26 - The Watergate first break-in, the "Ameritas dinner", fails.
- May 26 - Wernher von Braun retires from NASA, frustrated by the agency's unwillingness to pursue a manned trans-orbital space program.
- May 26 - Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
- May 27 - A second Watergate break-in attempt fails.
- May 30 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial in the United Kingdom.
- May 30 - Three Japanese Red Army members kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.
- July - U.S. actress Jane Fonda tours North Vietnam, during which she is photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.
- July 1 - The Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters, to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.
- July 1 - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from the IRS.
- July 2 - Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes bilaterally.
- July 4 - The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.
- July 8 - The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
- July 10 - A stampede of elephants kills 24 people in the Chandka Forest in India.
- July 10–14 - The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for President. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.
- July 15 - The Pruitt-Igoe housing development is demolished in Saint Louis, Missouri.
- July 18 - Anwar Sadat expels 20,000 Soviet advisors from Egypt.
- July 21 - Bloody Friday: 22 bombs planted by the Provisional IRA explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland; 9 people are killed and 130 seriously injured.
- July 21 - Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee, Wisconsin police for public obscenity, for reciting his “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” at Summerfest.
- July 21 - A collision between two trains near Sevilla, Spain kills 76 people.
- July 23 - The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
- July 25 - U.S. health officials admit that African-Americans were used as guinea pigs in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.
- July 29 - A national dock strike begins in Britain.
- July 31 - Operation Motorman: British troops move into the no-go areas of Belfast and Derry, Northern Ireland, ending Free Derry.
[edit] August
- August 1 - U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, withdraws from the race after revealing he was once treated for mental illness.
- August 4 - Arthur Bremer is jailed for 63 years for shooting George Wallace.
- August 4 - Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within 3 months.
- August 4 - A huge solar flare (one of the largest ever recorded) knocks out cable lines in U.S. It begins with the appearance of sunspots on August 2; an August 4 flare kicks off high levels of activity until August 10.
- August 10 - A brilliant, daytime meteor skips off the Earth's atmosphere due to an Apollo asteroid streaking over the western US into Canada.[1]
- August 12 - The last U.S. ground troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
- August 14 - An East German Ilyushin airliner crashes near East Berlin; all 156 onboard perish.
- August 16 - The Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fires upon, but fails to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
- August 21 - The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.
- August 22 - John Wojtowicz, 27, and Sal Naturile, 18, hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Gravesend, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- August 22 - Jane Fonda makes an antiwar broadcast from a hotel room in Hanoi.
- August 26 – September 11 - The 1972 Summer Olympics are held in Munich, West Germany.
[edit] September
[edit] October
- October 1 - The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule, marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.
-
- Jackson, David A.; Symons, Robert H.; and Berg, Paul. (1972). Biochemical Method for Inserting New Genetic Information into DNA of Simian Virus 40: Circular SV40 DNA Molecules Containing Lambda Phage Genes and the Galactose Operon of Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) 69(10), 2904-2909.
[edit] November
Nixon's landslide victory in the electoral college during the
1972 Election .
- November - At a scientific meeting in Honolulu, Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen conceive the concept of recombinant DNA. They publish their results in November 1973 in PNAS. Separately in 1972, Paul Berg also recombines DNA in a test tube. Recombinant DNA technology has dramatically changed the field of biological sciences, especially biotechnology, and opened the door to genetically modified organisms.
- November 5 - A group of Amerindians occupies the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).
- November 11 - Vietnam War - Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
- November 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
- November 16 - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage [1].
- November 19 - Seán Mac Stíofáin, a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is arrested in Dublin after giving an interview to RTÉ.
- November 22 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
- November 28 - The last executions in Paris, France. Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet - the Clairvaux Mutineers - were guillotined at La Sante Prison by chief executioner Andre Obrecht (already suffering from Parkinson's Disease). Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice was condemned to death anyway. President Georges Pompidou, in private an abolitionist, upheld both death sentences in deference to French public opinion.
- November 29 - Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of Pong, the first game to achieve commercial success.
- November 30 - Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
- November 30 - Cod War: British Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home says that Royal Navy ships will be stationed to protect British trawlers off Iceland.
[edit] December
- December 2 - Edward Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years. He is sworn in on 5 December and his first action using executive power is to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War.
- December 7 - Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned Moon mission to date, is launched.
- December 7 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army kidnaps Jean McConville in Belfast.
- December 7 - Imelda Marcos is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot him.
- December 8 - United Airlines Boeing 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 onboard and 2 on the ground.
- December 8 - Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
- December 8 - International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.
- December 11 - Apollo 17 lands on the Moon.
- December 14 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th Century.
- December 15 - The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.
- December 16 - The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.
- December 16 - The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.
- December 19 - Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.
- December 21 - East Germany and West Germany recognize each other.
- December 21 - ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.
- December 22 - Two small earthquakes are felt at about 9:30 and 10:15 local time in Managua, Nicaragua.
- December 22 - Australia establishes diplomatic relations with China and West Germany.
- December 22 - A peace delegation that includes singer-activist Joan Baez and human rights attorney Telford Taylor visit Hanoi to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war (they will be caught in the Christmas bombing of North Vietnam).
- December 23 - A 6.25 Richter scale earthquake in Nicaragua kills 5,000-12,000 people in the capital, Managua; President Somoza is later accused of pocketing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid intended for relief.
- December 23 - The Pittsburgh Steelers win their first ever post-season NFL game, defeating the Oakland Raiders 13-7, on a last second play that becomes known as The Immaculate Reception.
- December 24 - Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
- December 25 - The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam causes widespread criticism of the U.S. and President Richard Nixon.
- December 26 - Former United States President Harry S. Truman dies in Kansas City, Missouri.
- December 28 - The bones of Martin Bormann are identified in Berlin.
- December 29 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 163 onboard.
- December 31 - Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
- December 31 - An extra leap second (23:59:60) is added to end the year.
[edit] Undated
[edit] Ongoing
[edit] Births
[edit] January–February
- January 1 - Lilian Thuram, French football player
- January 3 - Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
- January 4 - Brad Zavisha, Canadian ice hockey player
- January 7 - Donald Brashear, American ice hockey player
- January 10 - Thomas Alsgaard, Norwegian cross-country skier
- January 11 - Amanda Peet, American actress
- January 12 - Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
- January 13 - Nicole Eggert, American actress
- January 13 - Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
- January 16 - Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
- January 16 - Ang Christou, Australian footballer
- January 16 - Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor
- January 16 - Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
- January 16 - Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
- January 16 - Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
- January 16 - Joe Horn, American football player
- January 16 - Richard T. Jones, American actor
- January 16 - Greg Page, Australian actor
- January 16 - Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
- January 17 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
- January 18 - Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
- January 19 - Drea de Matteo, American actress
- January 19 - Angham, Egyptian singer, record producer and actress
- January 21 - Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer
- January 22 - Romi Park, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
- January 23 - Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
- January 23 - Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
- January 26 - Christopher Boykin, American rapper
- January 27 - Mark Owen, British rock singer (Take That)
- January 27 - Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
- February 2 - Klára Dobrev, wife of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
- February 4 - Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
- February 5 - Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
- February 5 - Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
- February 5 - Jimmy Gownley, American cartoonist and graphic novelist
- February 7 - Alex Bassi, American race car driver
- February 7 - Essence Atkins, American actress
- February 7 - Robyn Lively, American actress
- February 8 - Big Show, American professional wrestler
- February 11 - Craig Jones, American rock sampler and keyboardist (Slipknot)
- February 11 - Steve McManaman, British footballer
- February 11 - Kelly Slater, American professional surfer
- February 14 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player
- February 14 - Big Daddy V, American professional wrestler
- February 15 - Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player
- February 16 - Taylor Hawkins, American rock musician (Foo Fighters)
- February 16 - Jerome Bettis, American football player
- February 17 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American rock musician and lead singer (Green Day)
[edit] March–April
- March 3 - Darren Anderton, English footballer
- March 4 - Pae Gil-Su, North Korean gymnast
- March 4 - Ivy Queen, American composer and singer
- March 4 - Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
- March 4 - Alison Wheeler, British singer (The Beautiful South)
- March 6 - Terry Murphy, Northern Irish snooker player
- March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
- March 6 - Jaret Reddick, American musician (Bowling for Soup)
- March 8 - Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
- March 9 - Spencer Howson, Australian radio announcer
- March 10 - Takashi Fujii (Matthew Minami), Japanese television performer
- March 10 - Matt Kenseth, American race car driver
- March 15 - Mark Hoppus, American rock musician (blink-182)
- March 17 - Mia Hamm, American footballer
- March 18 - Dane Cook, American comedian
- March 20 - Alexander Kapranos, British rock singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
- March 21 - Chris Candido, American professional wrestler (d. 2005)
- March 21 - Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
- March 22 - Shawn Bradley, American basketball player
- March 22 - Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
- March 22 - Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- March 23 - Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
- March 23 - Judith Godrèche, French actress
- March 27 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
- March 27 - Charlie Haas, American professional wrestler
- March 27 - Ignacio Garrido, Spanish golfer
- March 28 - Nick Frost, English comedian actor
- March 30 - Karel Poborsky, Czech Republic football player
- April 3 - Jennie Garth, American actress
- April 5 - Krista Allen, American actress
- April 5 - Junko Takeuchi, Japanese voice actress
- April 8 - Paul Gray, American rock bassist (Slipknot)
- April 10 - Sami Yli-Sirniö, Finnish rock and metal guitarist
- April 11 - Jason Varitek, American baseball player
- April 12 - Şebnem Ferah, Turkish singer and song-writer
- April 12 - NiCole Robinson, American actress
- April 13 - Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
- April 13 - Aaron Lewis, American nu metal musician (Staind)
- April 16 - Conchita Martínez, Spanish tennis player
- April 17 - Tony Boselli, American football player
- April 17 - Jennifer Garner, American actress
- April 17 - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
- April 17 - Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
- April 19 - Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
- April 20 - Carmen Electra, American actress and singer
- April 20 - Le Huynh Đuc, Vietnamese footballer
- April 24 - Chipper Jones, American baseball player
- April 26 - Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer
- April 28 - Violent J, American rapper
- April 29 - Roman Dirge, American artist, writer and cartoonist
[edit] May–June
- May 2 - The Rock, American professional wrestler and actor
- May 2 - Paul Adcock, English footballer
- May 4 - Mike Dirnt, American rock musician (Green Day)
- May 5 - James Cracknell, British Olympic winning rower
- May 6 - Naoko Takahashi, Japanese long-distance runner
- May 6 - Janne Blomqvist, Finnish swimmer
- May 7 - Felix da Housecat, American house music DJ and record producer
- May 8 - Darren Hayes, Australian musician
- May 10 - Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
- May 10 - Katja Seizinger, German alpine skier
- May 16 - Derek Mears, American actor/stuntman
- May 19 - Jenny Berggren, Swedish rock singer (Ace of Base)
- May 20 - Busta Rhymes, American musician and actor
- May 20 - Andreas Lundstedt, Swedish singer and actor (Alcazar)
- May 21 - The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d. 1997)
- May 23 - Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
- May 28 - Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
- May 29 - Stanislas Renoult, French singer
- May 30 - Manny Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
- May 31 - Dave Roberts, American Major League Baseball player
- May 31 - Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
- June 2 - Wayne Brady, American comedian
- June 4 - Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey player
- June 4 - Debra Stephenson, English actress
- June 5 - Pavel Kotla, Polish conductor
- June 5 - Mike Bucci, American professional wrestler
- June 6 - Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
- June 7 - Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
- June 10 - Steven Fischer, American film producer and director
- June 14 - Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist
- June 15 - Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
- June 17 - Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
- June 18 - Roger "Infernus" Tiegs, Norwegian black metal musician, original member of Gorgoroth
- June 19 - Brian McBride, American footballer
- June 21 - Irene van Dyk, South African-born netball player
- June 21 - Christopher Matthews, English musician
- June 22 - Miguel Del Toro, Mexican baseball player
- June 23 - Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
- June 24 - Robbie McEwen, Australian professional road bicycle racer
- June 24 - Denis Zvegelj, Slovenian rower
- June 25 - Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
- June 25 - Mike Kroeger, Canadian rock bass guitarist (Nickelback)
- June 28 - John Heidenreich, American professional wrestler
- June 29 - Samantha Smith, American peace activist (d. 1985)
- June 29 - Nawal Al Zoghbi, Lebanese singer
[edit] July–August
- July 1 - Claire Forlani, British actress
- July 3 - Asha Gill, British-born television host
- July 4 - Craig Spearman, New Zealand cricketer
- July 6 - Mark Gasser, British concert pianist
- July 7 - Lisa Leslie, American basketball player
- July 8 - Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- July 13 - Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
- July 21 - Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan long-distance runner
- July 24 - Rev. Jen Miller, American actress, painter and poet
- July 27 - Maya Rudolph, American actress, comedian
- July 27 - Jill Arrington, American football reporter
- July 27 - Takako Fuji, Japanese Actress
- July 28 - Elizabeth Berkley, American actress
- July 29 - Anssi Kela, Finnish rock musician
- July 29 - Wil Wheaton, American actor
- July 31 - Tami Stronach, former actress
- August 1 - Devon Hughes, American professional wrestler
- August 1 - Tanya Reid, Canadian actress
- August 2 - Kelly Richardson, Canadian contemporary artist
- August 3 - Patrik Isaksson, Swedish singer and songwriter
- August 6 - Geri Halliwell, British pop musician (Spice Girls)
- August 7 - Sarah Cawood, British television presenter
- August 9 - A-Mei, Taiwanese singer
- August 10 - Angie Harmon, American actress
- August 11 - Jonathon Prandi, American model and actor
- August 12 - Demir Demirkan, Turkish rock musician and songwriter
- August 12 - Del tha Funkee Homosapien, American hip-hop artist
- August 13 - Kevin Plank, American entrepreneur (Under Armour)
- August 14 - Ed O'Bannon, American basketball player
- August 15 - Ben Affleck, American actor
- August 15 - Mikey Graham, Irish singer (Boyzone)
- August 16 - Emily Robison, American country music performer (Dixie Chicks)
- August 18 - Leo Ku, Hong Kong actor and singer
- August 19 - Sammi Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actress
- August 20 - Chaney Kley, American actor (d. 2007)
- August 22 - Jonathan Coachman, American World Wrestling Entertainment announcer
- August 25 - Marvin Harrison, American football player
- August 27 - Mike Smith, Canadian actor
- August 27 - Jimmy Pop, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)
- August 28 - Jay Witasick, American Major League Baseball player
- August 29 - Bae Yong Joon, South Korean actor
- August 30 - Cameron Diaz, American actress
- August 30 - Pavel Nedvěd, Czech footballer
- August 31 - Chris Tucker, American actor
[edit] September–October
- September 2 - Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player (d. 2004)
- September 3 - Kim Joo-hyuk, South Korean actor
- September 6 - Dylan Bruno, American actor
- September 6 - Anika Noni Rose, American actress
- September 8 - Os du Randt, South African rugby player
- September 8 - Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, American disc jockey and political satirist
- September 8 - Tomokazu Seki, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
- September 9 - Natasha Kaplinsky, English newsreader
- September 10 - Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
- September 10 - Rio Tahara, Japanese snowboarder
- September 12 - Budi Putra, Indonesian journalist, writer and blogger
- September 12 - Jason Statham, British actor
- September 16 - Sprent Dabwido, Nauruan politician
- September 17 - Bobby Lee, American comedian
- September 19 - Jim Druckenmiller, National Football League quarterback
- September 21 - Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)
- September 21 - Jon Kitna, American football player
- September 22 - Bob Sapp, American boxer and kickboxer
- September 24 - Karyn Bosnak, American author
- September 27 - Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
- September 27 - Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
- September 28 - Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist
- September 30 - Ari Behn, Norwegian author
- September 30 - Shaan, Indian singer
- October 5 - Grant Hill, American basketball player
- October 5 - Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
- October 6 - Ko So-young, South Korean actress
- October 8 - Tricia Vessey, American actress
- October 9 - Etan Patz, American missing school boy
- October 10 - Jun Lana, Filipino playwright and screenwriter
- October 11 - Claudia Black, Australian actress
- October 12 - Mechele Linehan, American murderer
- October 17 - Eminem, American rapper and actor
- October 17 - Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper
- October 17 - Tarkan, Turkish singer
- October 17 - Sharon Leal, American actress and director
- October 21 - Masakazu Morita, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
- October 21 - Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
- October 22 - D'Lo Brown, American professional wrestler
- October 24 - Kim Ji-soo, South Korean actress
- October 24 - Pat Williams, American football player
- October 27 - Lee Clark, English footballer
- October 27 - Elissa, Lebanese singer
- October 27 - Evan Coyne Maloney, American filmmaker
- October 27 - Brad Radke, American baseball player
- October 27 - Marika Krook, Finnish singer (Edea)
- October 27 - Maria de Lurdes Mutola, Mozambican athlete
- October 28 - Terrell Davis, American football player
- October 28 - Brad Paisley, American country music performer
- October 28 - Trista Rehn, American television personality
- October 29 - Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
- October 29 - Gabrielle Union, American actress
- October 29 - Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress
- October 31 - Matt Dawson, English rugby player
[edit] November–December
- November 1 - Toni Collette, Australian actress
- November 2 - Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player
- November 4 - Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
- November 6 - Thandie Newton, British actress
- November 7 - Danny Grewcock, British rugby player
- November 9 - Doug Russell, American radio personality
- November 9 - Corin Tucker, American musician
- November 9 - Naomi Shindou, Japanese seiyuu
- November 10 - Shawn Green, American baseball player
- November 13 - Takuya Kimura, Japanese actor
- November 14 - Matt Bloom, American wrestler
- November 14 - Josh Duhamel, American actor, model
- November 17 - Kimya Dawson, American singer/songwriter.
- November 23 - Alf-Inge Håland, Norwegian footballer
- November 28 - Jesper Strömblad, Swedish musician
- November 30 - Christopher Fitzgerald, American stage actor
- December 1 - Norbert Wójtowicz, Polish historian and theologian
- December 4 - Nikki Tyler, American actress
- December 6 - Mónica Santa María, Peruvian model and TV host (d. 1994)
- December 6 - Vince Corazza, American actor
- December 7 - Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
- December 7 - Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestling valet and topless model
- December 9 - Tre Cool, American rock drummer (Green Day)
- December 10 - Brian Molko, British rock singer (Placebo)
- December 11 - Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish NHL hockey player
- December 12 - Joel Cahen, Israeli artist
- December 13 - Chris Grant, Australian footballer
- December 13 - Mark Morton, American musician
- December 14 - Eric Anderson, American musical theatre actor
- December 15 - Rodney Harrison, American football player
- December 16 - Ben Kowalewicz, Canadian rock lead singer (Billy Talent)
- December 16 - Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress
- December 18 - DJ Lethal, Latvian-born rock musician (Limp Bizkit, House of Pain)
- December 19 - Alyssa Milano, American actress
- December 19 - Warren Sapp, American football player
- December 22 - Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress
- December 25 - Qu Yunxia, Chinese middle-distance runner
- December 27 - Colin Charvis, Welsh rugby player
- December 28 - Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
- December 29 - Jason Kreis, American footballer
- December 29 - Jude Law, British actor
- December 30 - Kerry Collins, American football player
- December 31 - Joey McIntyre, American actor and singer
[edit] Deaths
[edit] January–March
- January 1 - Maurice Chevalier, French entertainer (surgical complications) (b. 1888)
- January 6 - Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (b. 1901)
- January 7 - John Berryman, American poet and scholar (suicide) (b. 1914)
- January 8 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (b. 1911)
- January 10 - Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (b. 1897)
- January 14 - King Frederick IX of Denmark (b. 1899)
- January 16 - Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American record producer (Alvin and the Chipmunks) (b. 1919)
- January 18 - Clarence Earl Gideon, Defendant during civil rights court case (Gideon v. Wainwright) (b. 1910)
- January 26 - Mahalia Jackson, African-American gospel singer (b. 1911)
- February 11 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)
- February 19 - John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
- February 20 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- February 20 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
- February 22 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)
- March 13 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b. 1941)
- March 21 - David McCallum, Sr., British violinist and father of actor David McCallum (b. 1897)
- March 24 - Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (b. 1895)
- March 27 - Sharkey Bonano, American jazz musician (b. 1904)
- March 27 - M. C. Escher, Dutch artist (b. 1898)
- March 29 - J. Arthur Rank, British industrialist and film producer (b. 1888)
[edit] April–June
- April 2 - Gil Hodges, American baseball player (b. 1924)
- April 3 - Ferde Grofé, American composer (b. 1882)
- April 4 - Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (b. 1902)
- April 4 - Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., African-American politician (b. 1908)
- April 7 - Abeid Karume, President of Zanzibar (b. 1905) (assassinated)
- April 8 - Andrea Feldman, American actress (suicide) (b. 1948)
- April 11 - George H. Plympton, American screenwriter (b. 1889)
- April 16 - Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- April 25 - George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
- April 26 - Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
- April 27 - Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanian politician (b. 1909)
- May 2 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (b. 1895)
- May 4 - Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
- May 6 - Deniz Gezmiş, Turkish revolutionary (b. 1947)
- May 13 - Dan Blocker, American actor (Bonanza) (b. 1928)
- May 22 - Cecil Day-Lewis, English poet (b. 1904)
- May 22 - Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
- May 24 - Ismail Yasin, Egyptian comedian and actor (b. 1915)
- May 28 - King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
- May 31 - Walter Freeman, American physician (b. 1895)
- June 13 - Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- June 13 - Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German World War II spy (b. 1891)
- June 22 - Vladimir Durković, Serbian footballer (killed by a Swiss police officer) (b. 1937)
- June 25 - Jan Matulka, American painter, (b. 1890)
[edit] July–September
- July 2 - Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1876)
- July 7 - King Talal, King of Jordan (b. 1909)
- July 19 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, American missionary (b. 1884)
- July 21 - Ralph Craig, American athlete (b. 1889)
- July 28 - Helen Traubel, American soprano (b. 1903)
- August 5 - Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1905)
- August 11 - Max Theiler, South African virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- August 14 - Oscar Levant, American pianist and actor (b. 1906)
- August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester (air crash) (b. 1941)
- September 5 (Munich massacre):
- September 6 (Munich massacre):
- September 15 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1887)
- September 19 - Robert Casadesus, French pianist (b. 1899)
- September 21 - Henry de Montherlant, French writer (suicide) (b. 1896)
[edit] October–December
- October 1 - Louis Leakey, British paleontologist (b. 1903)
- October 5 - Ivan Yefremov, Soviet paleontologist and science fiction author (b. 1907)
- October 9 - Miriam Hopkins, American actress (b. 1902)
- October 20 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (b. 1885)
- October 24 - Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player (b. 1919)
- October 26 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian aviation engineer (b. 1889)
- November 1 - Ezra Pound, American poet (b. 1885)
- November 5 - Reginald Owen, English actor (b. 1887)
- November 14 - Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (b. 1900)
- November 25 - Henri Coandă, Romanian aerodynamics pioneer (b. 1886)
- November 28 - Havergal Brian, English composer (b. 1876)
- November 29 - Carl Stalling, American composer (b. 1891)
- December 3 - Bill Johnson, American musician (b. 1872)
- December 21 - Paul Hausser, German Waffen SS general (b. 1880)
- December 22 - Jimmy Wallington, American radio personality (b. 1907)
- December 24 - Charles Atlas, Italian-American strongman and sideshow performer (b. 1892)
- December 24 - Gisela Richter, English art historian (b. 1882)
- December 25 - C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. Last Governor-General of India (1948-50) (b. 1878)
- December 26 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
- December 27 - Lester B. Pearson, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1897)
- December 31 - Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player (b. 1934)
[edit] Nobel Prizes
[edit] Ship events
[edit] External links
