Events of 1948

January

• January 1

• *UK railways are nationalized to form British Railways.

• *The Italian republican constitution goes into effect.

• *The latest New Jersey State Constitution goes into effect.

• January 4 – Burma (now Myanmar) gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

• January 5 – Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl).

• January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop the communal violence during the Partition of India.

• January 17 – A truce is declared between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in Java.

• January 22 – British foreign secretary Bevin proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France and the Benelux countries to stand up against the Soviet Union. The Treaty of Brussels is signed March 17 as a consequence, a predecessor to NATO.

• January 26 – Teigin poison case: A man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 of 16 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced to death for the crime, but is never executed.

• January 29 – Plane crash at Los Gatos Creek, California kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a song by Woody Guthrie.

• January 30

• *Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

• *1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

February

• February 1 – The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.

• February 4 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) becomes an independent kingdom within the British Commonwealth.

• February 16 – Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.

• February 18 – Eamon de Valera, head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach of Éire (formerly called the Irish Free State) by President O'Kelly.

• February 25 – The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia, a day celebrated by that regime as "Victorious February" (Czech:"Vítězný únor"; Slovak:"Víťazný Február") until November 1989.

March

• March 8 – McCollum v. Board of Education: The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.

• March 16 – The largest flood in the history of Brampton, Ontario occurs.

• March 17 – The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.

• March 20

• *Singapore holds its first elections.

• *Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program.

April

• *Scientists Ralph Alpher and George Gamow publish the Alpher-Bethe-Gamow paper about the big bang.

• *The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is founded.

• April 3

• *President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

• *Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a concert featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.

• April 5 – 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Haganah launches Operation Nahshon; beginning of the 1948 Palestinian exodus.

• April 7

• *The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.

• *A fire in a Buddhist monastery Shanghai kills 20 monks.

• April 9

• *Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further 10 years of violence in all of Colombia (La Violencia).

• *The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in British Mandate of Palestine.

• April 13 – The Hadassah medical convoy massacre takes place in British Mandate of Palestine.

• April 16 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is founded as the OEEC.

• April 18 – The first democratic general election with universal suffrage is held in Italy.

• April 19 – Burma joins the United Nations.

• April 24 – The Costa Rican Civil War ends.

• April 30 – The Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.

May

• May – The RAND Corporation is established as an independent nonprofit policy research and analysis institution.

• May 4 – Laurence Olivier's film version of Hamlet makes its world premiere in London.

• May 11 – Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.

• May 14

• *The Declaration of Independence of Israel is made.

• *The murder of a 3-year-old girl in Blackburn, England leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.

• May 15 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: The British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated; expeditionary forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria and Iraq enter Israel and clash with Israeli forces.

• May 16 – Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.

• May 18 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.

• May 26 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

• May 28 – Daniel Francois Malan defeats Jan Smuts and becomes Prime Minister of South Africa, ushering in the era of apartheid, which is finally dismantled by F W de Klerk in 1994.

• May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes: 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

June

• June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.

• June 11 – The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.

• June 16

• *Communist guerrillas kill 3 rubber planters in Malaya.

• *Three armed men hijack the Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes, killing 26 of 27 people on board.

• June 17 – A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

• June 18

• *Malayan Emergency: A state of emergency is declared in Malaysia due to a communist insurgency.

• June 20 – The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).

• June 21 – The Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.

• June 22- The ship Empire Windrush a large group of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury near London, the start of a large wave of immigration to Britain.

• June 24

• *Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.

• *The first World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization is held in Geneva.

• June 26 – William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.

• June 28

• *The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.

• *David Lean's Oliver Twist, based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged anti-Semitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.

• *1948 Fukui earthquake strikes Fukui, Japan. 3,769 dead, 22,203 injured.

July

• July 5 – The National Health Service Acts are enacted in United Kingdom.

• July 6 – The world's first Air Car-ferry service is flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways from Lympne to Le Touquet.

• July 7 – The birth of Britain's future ruler

• July 13 – The Coptic and Ethiopian Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.

• July 15

• *The attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, incites numerous strikes all over the country.

• *The first London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous is founded.

• July 20 – Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).

• July 22 – The Dominion of Newfoundland votes 52% to 48% to join the foreign nation of Canada in a questionable referendum.

• July 24 – A great oil fire breaks out in the harbor of Naantali, Finland.

• July 26 – U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.

• July 28 – Around 200 die in explosion at a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

• July 29 – The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first since the 1936

• July 31 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

August

• August 1 – The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.

• August 10 – August 23 – The Herrenchiemsee Convent prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.

• August 15 – The Republic of Korea is established.

• August 23 – The World Council of Churches is established.

• August 24 – The first meeting of the charter members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) is held.

• August 25 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.

September

• September 4 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.

• September 5 – Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.

• September 6 – Juliana becomes Queen of the Netherlands.

• September 9 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is formally declared, with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.

• September 11 – Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder and first Governor General of Pakistan, dies. Pakistan is in a state of shock as it mourns the departure of the father of the nation. The day is a public holiday nation-wide.

• September 12 – The State of Hyderabad is invaded by the Indian Army on the day after Pakistani leader Jinnah's death, to assist damage control. Operation Polo leads to the deaths of an estimated tens of thousands of Hyderabadi Muslims.

• September 17 – Lehi members assassinate Swedish count Folke Bernadotte.

• September 29 – Laurence Olivier's Hamlet opens in the United States.

October

• October 5 – The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000.

• October 11 – The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.

• October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.

• October 26 – Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.

• October 28 – The massacre of Dawaymeh begins.

November

• November 2 – United States presidential election, 1948: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and 'Dixiecrat' Strom Thurmond.

• November 12 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences 7 Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.

• November 15 – Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's 12th prime minister.

• November 16 – Operation Magic Carpet to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.

• November 17 – Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.

• November 20 – Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.

• November 24 – In Venezuela, president Rómulo Betancourt is ousted by a military junta.

• November 27 – The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before 20,013 fans at Toronto's Varsity Stadium to capture their first Grey Cup and complete the only perfect season to date in Canadian Football.

December

• December 1 – José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do so.

• December 10 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

• December 26 – The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.

• December 28 – A Muslim Brotherhood member assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi.

• December 30 – The musical Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances.

• December 31 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive the Egyptians from Negev.

Undated

• Brandeis University is founded.

• The Casimir effect is discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.

• The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens in Staten Island, New York.

• The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• The Slovak city Gúta is renamed Kolárovo.

• The Tunnel of Vielha is opened in the Aran Valley, Spanish Pyrenees.

• Last recorded sighting of the Caspian Tiger in Kazakhstan.

• The Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band is founded.

• A pack of wolves kills about 40 children in the Darovskoye district in Russia.

Ongoing

• First Indochina War

• Greek Civil War

• Marshall Plan

Births

January–February

• January 2

• *Mary Archer, British scientist

• *Deborah Watling, Dr Who actress

• January 5

• *Wally Foreman, Australian media icon (d. 2006)

• *Ted Lange, American actor and director (The Love Boat)

• January 7 – Kenny Loggins, American rock singer (Footloose)

• January 10

• *Donald Fagen, American rock keyboardist (Steely Dan)

• *Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist

• January 12 – Kenny Allen, English footballer

• January 14

• *T-Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician

• *Carl Weathers, African-American football player and actor (Rocky III)

• January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)

• January 16

• *John Carpenter, American film director and composer

• *Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player

• January 17 – Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland

• January 19 – Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador

• January 27 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born dancer

• January 28 – Charles Taylor, Liberian president

• January 29 – Marc Singer, Canadian actor (V)

• January 30 – Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member

• January 31 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

• February 1

• *Elisabeth Sladen, Dr Who actress

• *Rick James, Motown performer (d. 2004)

• February 2 – Ina Garten, American cooking author

• February 3

• *Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

• *Henning Mankell, Swedish writer

• February 4

• *Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier), American hard rock singer and musician

• *Roedy Green, Canadian programmer and LGBT activist

• February 5

• *Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager

• *Christopher Guest, American actor, writer, director, and composer

• February 6 – Jack Conway, American musician, composer, arranger, and guitarist

• February 7 – Tony Iommi, English rock guitarist (Black Sabbath)

• February 10 – John Magnier, Irish businessman and thoroughbred racehorse breeder

• February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author

• February 14

• *Raymond Joseph Teller, American magician

• *Jackie Martling, American comedian and radio personality

• February 17 – José José, Mexican singer and actor

• February 19 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician and author (d. 2002)

• February 24

• *J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician

• *Walter Smith, Scottish football manager

• February 25 – Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor

• February 28 – Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• February 28

• *Mike Figgis, American director, writer, and composer

• *Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer

• *Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

• *Alfred Sant, Leader of Malta Labour Party (1992–) and Prime Minister of Malta (1996–1998)

March–April

• March 2

• *R. T. Crowley, American pioneer of electronic commerce

• *Rory Gallagher, Irish musician

• *Jeff Kennett, Australian politician

• March 4

• *Lindy Chamberlain, Australian author

• *James Ellroy, American writer

• *Tom Grieve, American baseball player

• *Leron Lee, American baseball player

• *Chris Squire, British bassist

• *Shakin' Stevens, Welsh singer

• March 5 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress

• March 9 – Jeffrey Osborne, African-American singer (On The Wings Of Love)

• March 11 – Dominique Sanda, French actress

• March 12 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter

• March 14 – Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian

• March 15 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)

• March 17 – William Gibson, American/Canadian writer

• March 20

• *John de Lancie, American actor

• *Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player

• March 22

• *Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist (CNN)

• *Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer

• March 26 – Steven Tyler, American rock singer (Aerosmith)

• March 28

• *Dianne Wiest, American actress

• *Jayne Ann Krentz, née Castle (Amanda Quick), American novelist

• March 29 – Bud Cort, American actor (Harold and Maude)

• March 31

• *Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States

• *Rhea Perlman, American actress (Cheers)

• April 1 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican singer and actor

• April 4 – Squire Parsons, American gospel singer/songwriter

• April 12 – Jeremy Beadle, English TV presenter (d. 2008)

• April 12 – Don Fernando, director and actor of pornographic films

• April 13 – Nam Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy

• April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)

• April 27 – Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician

• April 29 – Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)

May–June

• May 2 – Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer

• May 4 – Tanya Falan, American singer (The Lawrence Welk Show)

• May 5 – Richard Pacheco, American pornographic actor

• May 6 – Richard Bryant, African-American pastor

• May 8

• *Felicity Lott, English soprano

• *Stephen Stohn, Canadian television producer (Degrassi)

• May 9 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and analyst

• May 11 – Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician

• May 12 – Steve Winwood, English rock singer (Higher Love)

• May 14 – Bob Woolmer, British cricket coach (d. 2007)

• May 15

• *Brian Eno, English musician and record producer

• *Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese professional baseball pitcher

• May 19 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress

• May 20 – Tessho Genda, Japanese seiyu

• May 21 – Leo Sayer, English rock musician (You Make Me Feel Like Dancing)

• May 25 – Nand Huyghe, Flemish sculptor (P.Nand.R)

• May 25 – Klaus Meine, German singer (Scorpions)

• May 26 – Stevie Nicks, American rock singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)

• May 27 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant

• May 29 – Michael Berkeley, British composer

• May 31 – John Bonham, British rock drummer (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)

• June 2 – Jerry Mathers, American actor (Leave It To Beaver)

• June 4 – Bob Champion, English jump jockey

• June 13 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and scout (d. 2001)

• June 15 – Paul Michiels, Belgian singer-songwriter

• June 17 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player

• June 19

• *Lea Laven, Finnish singer

• *Phylicia Rashad, African-American actress (The Cosby Show)

• *Nick Drake, English musician (d. 1974)

• June 20 – Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru

• June 21

• *Lionel Rose, Australian boxer

• *Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer

• June 22 – Todd Rundgren, American rock singer and record producer (Hello It's Me)

• June 28 – Kathy Bates, American actress (Misery)

• June 29 – Fred Grandy, American actor and politician (The Love Boat)

• June 30 – Vladimir Yakunin, Russian official, head of state-run Russian Railways company

July–August

• July 1 – John Ford (musician), Best known for penning Part of the Union whilst in Strawbs.

• July 3 – Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist

• July 6 – Wadih Saadeh, Lebanese-Australian poet and journalist

• July 8 – Raffi, Egyptian-born children's entertainer

• July 12 – Richard Simmons, American television personality and fitness expert

• July 15 – Richard Franklin, Australian film director (d. 2007)

• July 16 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist

• July 18 – Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

• July 20 – Muse Watson, American actor

• July 21

• *Ed Hinton, American sportswriter

• *Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), English musician

• *Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist (Doonesbury)

• *Mikhail Zadornov, Russian stand-up comedian and writer

• July 22 – Susan Eloise Hinton, American author

• July 23 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician

• July 25 – Steve Goodman, Grammy Award-winning folk music singer and songwriter (d. 1984)

• July 27 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater

• July 28 – Sally Struthers, American actress (All In The Family)

• July 30 – Jean Reno, French actor

• July 31 – Jonathan Dollimore, British author and professor

• August 2

• *Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author

• *Bob Rae, Canadian politician

• August 3 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France

• August 13 – Kathleen Battle, American soprano

• August 15 – George Ryton, British Formula One engineer

• August 18 – Joseph Marcell, English actor

• August 20 – Robert Plant, English rock singer (Led Zeppelin)

• August 24 – Kim Sung-Il, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force

• August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler

• August 30 – Lewis Black, American comedian

September–October

• September 2

• *Terry Bradshaw, American football player and sportscaster

• *Nate Archibald, American basketball player

• September 3 – Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian president ( d. 2008 )

• September 4 – Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer

• September 5 – Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician

• September 8 – Great Kabuki, Japanese professional wrestler

• September 10

• *Judy Geeson, British actress

• *Bob Lanier, American basketball player

• *Margaret Trudeau, ex-wife of the former Prime Minister of Canada

• September 13 – Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d. 2003)

• September 17 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)

• September 19 – Nadezhda Tkachenko, former Soviet pentathlete

• September 20 – George R.R. Martin, American speculative fiction author

• September 22 – Denis Burke, Australian politician

• September 24

• *Heinz Chur, German composer

• *Phil Hartman, Canadian comedian (Saturday Night Live) (d. 1998)

• September 25 – Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Russian oligarch

• September 26 – Olivia Newton-John, Australian singer and actress

• September 27 – Michele Dotrice, English actress

• September 29

• *Bryant Gumbel, African-American television broadcaster

• *Theo Jörgensmann, German jazz clarinetist

• October 1 – Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand yachtsman (d. 2001)

• October 2

• *Avery Brooks, American actor and musician

• *Chris LeDoux, American singer and rodeo star (d. 2005)

• October 6 – Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician

• October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist

• October 8 – Johnny Ramone, American rock guitarist (The Ramones) (d. 2004)

• October 9 – Jackson Browne, American rock musician (Runnin' On Empty)

• October 11 – Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer

• October 13

• *Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician (d. 1997)

• *Ted Poe, American politician

• *John Ford Coley, American rock musician

• October 14 – Engin Arık, Turkish nuclear physicist (d. 2007)

• October 16 – Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach

• October 17

• *George Wendt, American television actor (Cheers)

• *Robert Jordan, American novelist (d. 2007)

• October 18 – Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher

November–December

• November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress

• November 3 – Lulu, Scottish singer and actress

• November 5

• *Bob Barr, American politician

• *Dallas Holm, American Christian musician

• *William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist and singer (The Eagles)

• November 7 – James Houghton, American actor and director

• November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)

• November 13 – Lockwood Smith, New Zealand politician

• November 14

• *Charles, Prince of Wales

• *Robert Ginty, American actor and director (d. 2009)

• November 15 – James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (d. 2007)

• November 16 – Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer

• November 17 – Howard Dean, American politician

• November 20

• *Richard Masur, American actor, director and former president of Screen Actor Guild

• *John R. Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

• *Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano

• November 21 – Michel Suleiman, current President of Lebanon

• November 24 – Joe Howard, American actor

• November 27 – James Avery, American actor

• December 2 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer

• December 3

• * Rick Cua, American singer and evangelist

• * Ozzy Osbourne, English rock singer

• December 6

• *Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One champion

• *JoBeth Williams, American actress

• December 7

• *Gary Morris, singer and actor

• *Mads Vinding, Danish bassist

• *Tony Thomas, American television producer

• December 10 – Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)

• December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock drummer

• December 13

• *Lillian Board, British Olympic athlete (d. 1970)

• *David O'List, British rock guitarist

• *Ted Nugent, American rock guitarist and singer

• December 14

• *Lester Bangs, American music journalist (d. 1982)

• *Kim Beazley, Australian politician

• December 19 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player

• December 21

• *Samuel L. Jackson, African-American actor

• *Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist

• December 22

• *Lynne Thigpen, African-American actress (Godspell) (d. 2003)

• *Noel Edmonds, British TV presenter and DJ

• December 27 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor

• December 28 – Dick Siegel, American songwriter

• December 31

• *Joe Dallesandro, American model and actor

• *Donna Summer, American singer and actress

• date unknown

• *Ciarán Carson, Northern Irish poet and novelist

• *Maurizio Gucci, Italian businessman and murder victim (d. 1995)

• *Johnny Nicholas, American blues musician

• *Edward Rutherfurd, British novelist

Deaths

January–March

• January 1 – Edna May, American actress (b. 1878)

• January 5 – Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison (b. 1858)

• January 21 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)

• January 24 – Bill Cody, American actor (b. 1891)

• January 29 – Tomislav II of Croatia, (Aimone 4th Duke of Aosta), king (b. 1900)

• January 30

• *Nigel De Brulier, English actor (b. 1877)

• *Mahatma Gandhi, Indian independence movement leader (assassinated) (b. 1869)

• *Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b. 1871)

• February 1 – Jatindramohan Bagchi, Indian (Bengali) poet (b. 1878)

• February 2 – Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)

• February 11 – Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film director (b. 1898)

• February 23 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b. 1866)

• March 4 – Antonin Artaud, French playwright, actor and director (b. 1896)

• March 6 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (suicide) (b. 1914)

• March 10

• *Zelda Fitzgerald, American wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900)

• *Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1886)

• March 24 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian religious and political philosopher (b. 1874)

• March 31 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist and author (b. 1885)

• May 9 – Viola Allen, stage actress, (b. 1869)

April–June

• April 9

• *George Carpenter, 5th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1872)

• *Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b. 1903)

• April 15 – Manuel Roxas, President of the Philippines (b. 1892)

• April 17 – Kantarō Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)

• April 20 – Mitsumasa Yonai, 37th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1880)

• April 24 – Manuel Ponce, Mexican composer (b. 1882)

• May 13 – Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, American daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1920)

• May 15 – Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)

• May 21 – Jacques Feyder, French filmmaker (b. 1885)

• May 28 – Unity Mitford, British friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1914)

• May 29 – May Whitty, British actress (b. 1865)

• May 30 – József Klekl, Slovene politician in Hungary (b. 1874)

• June 6 – Louis Lumière, French film pioneer (b. 1864)

• June 13 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese writer (b. 1909)

• June 25 – William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)

• June 26 – Lilian Velez, Filipino actress (murder) (b. 1924)

July–September

• July 2 – Baba Sawan Singh, Indian saint known as "The Great Master," (b. 1858)

• July 5

• *Georges Bernanos, French writer (b. 1888)

• *Carole Landis, American actress player (b. 1919)

• July 9 – James Baskett, American actor (b. 1904)

• July 11 – King Baggot, American actor (b. 1879)

• July 15 – John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)

• July 18 – May Moss, Australian women's rights activist (b. 1869)

• July 21 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-born painter (b. 1904)

• July 23 – David Wark Griffith, American film director (The Birth Of A Nation) (b. 1875)

• July 27 – Susan Glaspell, American playwright (b. 1882)

• July 31 – Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd, Franklin Roosevelt's lover (b. 1891)

• August 3 – Tommy Ryan, American boxing champion (b. 1870)

• August 10

• *Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (b. 1873)

• *Andrew Brown, Scottish soccer coach (b. 1870)

• August 12 – Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel (b. 1871)

• August 16 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (b. 1895)

• August 17 – Ettie Garner, Second Lady of the United States (b. 1869)

• August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1862)

• September 1 – Muhammad VII al-Munsif, ruler of Tunisia 1942–43 (b. 1881)

• September 2 – Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy (b. 1883)

• September 3 – Edvard Benes, President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1884)

• September 5 – Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (b. 1881)

• September 10 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Tsar of Bulgaria (b. 1861)

• September 11 – Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder and first Governor General of Pakistan (b. 1876)

• September 17 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (assassinated) (b. 1895)

• September 24 – Warren William, American actor (b. 1894)

• September 26 – Gregg Toland, American cinematographer (b. 1904)

• September 30 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (b. 1861)

October–December

• October 1 – Phraya Manopakorn Nititada, Prime Minister of Siam (b. 1884)

• October 12- Susan Sutherland Isaacs, British educational psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1885)

• October 13 – Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (b. 1875)

• October 15 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)

• October 21 – Elissa Landi, Italian actress (b. 1904)

• October 24 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b. 1870)

• October 31 – Mary Nolan, American actress (b. 1905)

• November 9 – Edgar Kennedy, American actor (b. 1890)

• November 11 – Fred Niblo, American film director (b. 1874)

• November 28 – D.D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b. 1873)

• December 2 – Chano Pozo, Cuban percussionist (b. 1915)

• December 20 – C. Aubrey Smith, British actor (b. 1863)

• December 23 – Japanese war leaders (hanged):

• *Kenji Doihara, spy (b. 1883)

• *Koki Hirota, 32nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)

• *Heitarō Kimura, general (b. 1888)

• *Iwane Matsui, general (b. 1878)

• *Akira Mutō, general (b. 1892)

• *Seishirō Itagaki, military officer (b. 1885)

• *Hideki Tojo, general, 40th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1884)

• December 31 – Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and water racer (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett

• Chemistry – Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius

• Medicine – Paul Hermann Müller

• Literature – T. S. Eliot

• Peace – not awarded