Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events of 1948

January

January
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• January 1 - Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways.
• January 1 - Arab militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
• January 1 - First day of the Italian republican constitution.
• January 1 - First day of the New Jersey State Constitution.
• January 4 - Burma 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 17 - Truce 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 30 - Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse.
• January 30 - 1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

February

February
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• February 1 - Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.
• February 4 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. King George VI becomes King of Ceylon.
• 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. This day was celebrated by the regime as the "Victorious February" (Czech:"Vítězný únor"; Slovak:"Víťazný Február") until November 1989.

March

March
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• March 8 - McCollum v. Board of Education: the United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the U.S. Constitution.
• March 16 - Largest flood in the history of Brampton, Ontario. ^[1]
• March 17 - Hells Angels founded in California.
• March 20 - First elections in Singapore.
• March 20 - Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program.

April

April
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• April 1 - Scientists Ralph Alpher and George Gamow publish the Alpher-Bethe-Gamow paper about the big bang.
• April 3 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
• April 3 - 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 7 - The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
• April 7 - Buddhist monastery burns in Shanghai - 20 monks dead.
• April 9 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia (La Violencia).
• April 9 - The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in Palestine.
• April 24 - End of the Costa Rican Civil War
• April 30 - Land Rover unveiled at Amsterdam Motor Show

May

May
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31

• May 4 - Laurence Olivier's film version of Hamlet receives its world premiere in London.
• May 11 - Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.
• May 14 - Declaration of Independence of Israel.
• May 14 - The murder of a three-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: Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated by Britain; Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia enter Palestine and attack the nascent State of Israel .
• 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 heinous era of Apartheid which was finally dismantled by F W de Klerk 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
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28	29	30

• June 3 - Palomar Observatory telescope finished in California.
• June 16
  • Communist guerillas kill three rubber planters in Malaya.
  • Three armed men hijack Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes - one of 27 survives.
• June 11 - The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.
• 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
  • State of Emergency declared in Malaysia for communist insurgency - Malayan Emergency begins.
  • First democratic general election with universal suffrage in Italy.
• June 20 - U.S.Congress: Commencement of Congressional Recess for the remainder of 1948 after an overtime session closed on this Saturday at 0700 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 brings the first group of several hundred black immigrants to Tilbury near London from the Caribbean countries. This would be the start of multiculturalism in Britain.
• June 24
  • Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.
  • The first World Health Assembly of World Health Organisation is held in Geneva.
• June 26 - William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
• June 28
  • Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and Soviet/Yugoslav split.
  • David Lean's Oliver Twist, based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It will be banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged anti-Semitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.
  • Earthquake hits Fukui, Japan killing 3,895.

July

July
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26	27	28	29	30	31

• July 5 - National Health Service Acts enacted in United Kingdom.
• July 6 - The world's first Air Car-ferry service was flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways from Lympne to Le Touquet.

• 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
  • Attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, incites number of strikes all over the country.
  • First London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous
• 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 24 - Great oil fire in the harbor of Naantali, *Finland
• July 26 - U.S. President 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 - 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first Summer Olympics since World War II.
• July 31 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

August

August
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30	31

• August 1 - The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
• August 10 - August 23 - Herrenchiemsee Convent prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.
• August 15 - Establishment of the Republic of Korea.
• August 23 - World Council of Churches established.
• August 24 - First meeting of the charter members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) held.^[2]
• August 25 - House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.

September

September
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• 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 - Death of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder and first Governor General of Pakistan (b. 1876). 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 - Invasion of the State of Hyderabad by the Indian Army on the day after the Pakistani leader Jinnah's death to assist damage control. Operation Polo led to the deaths of an estimated tens of thousands of Hyderabadi Muslims.
• September 17 - Stern Gang assassinates count Folke Bernadotte.
• September 29 - Laurence Olivier's Hamlet opens in the United States.

October

October
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18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

• October 5 - The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 100,000
• October 11 - Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, four games to two.
• 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.

November

November
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29	30

• November 2 - United States presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey and Strom Thurmond for the US presidency.
• November 12 - In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven 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 twelfth 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 ago, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.
• November 24 - In Venezuela, president Rómulo Betancourt is ousted by a military coup. A military junta takes over the government.
• 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
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27	28	29	30	31

• December 1 - José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, being the first country in history to do so.
• December 10 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• December 26 - Last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.
• December 28 - Member of Muslim Brotherhood assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi.
• December 30 - The play Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances.
• December 31 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive Egyptians from Negev.

Undated

• Brandeis University is founded.
• Casimir effect discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.
• Fresh Kills, world's largest landfill, opens in Staten Island, New York.
• Playwright Arthur Miller writes "Death of a Salesman."
• The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is founded.
• Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.
• Oakridge Transit Centre opened in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• RAND Corporation is established as a nonprofit policy research and analysis institution.
• The Slovak city Gúta was renamed to Kolárovo.
• Tunnel of Vielha is opened in the Aran Valley, Spanish Pyrenees.
• The Caspian Tiger became extinct in Kazakhstan by this date.
• The Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band was founded.

Ongoing

• First Indochina War

Births

January-February

• January 2
  • Mary Archer, British scientist
  • Deborah Watling, British actress
• January 5
  • Wally Foreman, Australian media icon (d. 2006)
• January 7
  • Kenny Loggins, American singer
• January 10
  • Donald Fagen, American keyboardist
  • Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
• January 12
  • Kenny Allen, English footballer
    
• January 14
  • T-Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician
  • Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
• January 15
  • Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (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
• January 30 - Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
• January 31 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
• February 1
  • Elisabeth Sladen, British actress
  • Rick James, American musician (d. 2004)
• February 2 - Ina Garten, Cooking author
• February 3 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• 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, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
• February 7 - Tony Iommi, English guitarist (Black Sabbath)
• February 10 - John Magnier, Irish businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse breeder
• February 12 - Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author
• February 14
  • 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
  • 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, 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 -
  • Richard Hickox, English classical conductor and musician
  • Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
• March 9 - Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
• March 11 - Dominique Sanda, French actress
• March 12 - James Taylor, American musician
• March 14 - Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian
• March 15 - Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
• March 17 - William Gibson, American writer
• March 19 - John Oldfield , Advertising & Management consultant UK
• March 20
  • John de Lancie, American actor
  • Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player
• March 22
  • Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer
• March 26 - Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)
• March 28 - Dianne Wiest, American actress
• March 31
  • Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States
  • Rhea Perlman, American actress
• April 1 - Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician
• April 4
  • Squire Parsons, Southern Gospel singer/songwriter
  • Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor
• April 12 - Jeremy Beadle, TV presenter (d. 2008)
• 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 - Kate Pierson, American singer (The B-52's)
  • Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician
• April 29 - Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)

May-June

• May 1 - Constance, Lady Crabtree, British comedy act
• May 2 - Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer
• May 4 - Tanya Falan, American singer from The Lawrence Welk Show
• 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 singer
  • Bob Carolgees, British comedy entertainer
• 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 21 - Leo Sayer, English musician
• May 25 - P.Nand.R Nand Huyghe, Flemish sculptor
• May 26 - Stevie Nicks, American singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
• May 27 - Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant
• May 29 - Michael Berkeley, British composer
• May 31 - John Bonham, British drummer (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
• June 2 - Jerry Mathers, American actor
• 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, American actress
  • Nick Drake, English musician (d. 1974)
• June 20 - Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
• June 21
  • Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
  • Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
  • Don Airey, English musician (Deep Purple)
• June 22 - Todd Rundgren, American singer and record producer
• June 28 - Kathy Bates, American actress
• June 29 - Ian Paice, English drummer (Deep Purple, Whitesnake)
• June 30 - Vladimir Yakunin, Russian official, head of state-run Russian Railways company

July-August

• 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, English musician
  • Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
  • Mikhail Zadornov, Russian stand-up comedian and writer
• July 22
  • Neil Hardwick, British-born Finnish director and writer
  • Susan Eloise Hinton, American author
• July 23 - John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
• July 25 - Steve Goodman, a Grammy Award-winning folk music singer and songwriter from Chicago, United States. (d. 1984)
• July 27 - Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
• July 28 - Sally Struthers, American actress
• July 30 - Jean Reno, French actor
• July 31 - Jonathan Dollimore, famous 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
  • Uschi Digard, American erotic actress and figure model
  • George Ryton, British engineer
• August 18 - Joseph Marcell, actor
• August 20 - Robert Plant, English 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 1 - James Rebhorn, American actor
• September 2
  • Terry Bradshaw, American football player and sportscaster
  • Nate Archibald, American basketball player
• 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 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 (d. 1998)
• September 25 - Vladimir Yevtushenkov, a Russian oligarch
• September 26 - Olivia Newton-John, Australian singer and actress
• September 27 - Michele Dotrice, English actress
• September 29
  • Bryant Gumbel, American television broadcaster
  • Theo Jörgensmann, German jazz clarinetist
• October 1 - Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand yachtsman (d. 2001)
• October 2
  • Avery Brooks, American television actor
  • 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 guitarist (The Ramones) (d. 2004)
• October 9 - Jackson Browne, American musician
• October 13
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician (d. 1997)
  • Ted Poe, American politician
  • John Ford Coley, American musician
• October 14 - Engin Arık, Turkish nuclear physicist (d. 2007)
• October 16 - Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
• October 17 - George Wendt, American television actor
• October 17 - Robert Jordan, American novelist (d. 2007)
• October 18 - Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher

November-December

• November 3 - Lulu (singer), Scottish singer
• November 5 - William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• November 10 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)
• November 14 - Prince Charles of Edinburgh, now Prince of Wales
• 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
  • John R. Bolton, Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN
  • Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano
• December 2 - T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer
• December 3
  • Rick Cua, American singer and evangelist
  • Ozzy Osbourne, English singer
• December 6
  • Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One Champion
  • JoBeth Williams, American actress
• December 7
  • Gary Morris, singer and actor
  • Mads Vinding, Danish bassist
• December 10 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)
• December 13 - David O'List, British rock guitarist
• December 14
  • Lester Bangs, American music journalist (d. 1982)
  • Kim Beazley, Australian politician
• December 18 - Bill Nelson, (born William Nelson), British guitarist, songwriter, painter and experimental musician
• December 19 - Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
• December 21
  • Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
  • Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist
• December 22
  • Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
  • Noel Edmonds, British TV presenter
• December 27 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor
• December 28 - Dick Siegel, American songwriter
• December 31 - Joe Dallesandro, American model and actor
• 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
  • Kenny Troutt, billionaire businessman

Deaths

January - March

• January 5 - Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison (b. 1858)
• January 21 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
• January 30
  • 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 - Sergy Eisenstein, Russian film director (b. 1898)
• February 23 - John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b. 1866)
• March 4 - Antonin Artaud, playwright, actor and director (b. 1896)
• March 6 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (suicide) (b. 1914)
• March 10 - 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)

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 - Suzuki Kantaro, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1867)
• May 15 - Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)
• May 28 - Unity Mitford, British friend of Hitler (b. 1914)
• 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, Known as "The Great Master," was an Indian Saint (b. July 27, 1858)
• July 5 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (b. 1888)
• July 15 - John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)
• July 18 - May Moss, Australian women's rights activist (b. April 27, 1869)
• July 21 - Arshile Gorky, Armenian-born painter (b. 1904)
• July 23 - David Wark Griffith, American film director (b. 1875)
• July 31 - Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd, Franklin Roosevelt's lover (b. 1891)
• August 10 - Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (b. 1873)
• August 10 - Andrew Brown, Scottish soccer coach (b. 1870)
• August 12 - Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel (b. 1871)
• August 16 - Babe Ruth, baseball player (b. 1895)
• August 27 - Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1862)
• September 2 - Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy (b. 1883)
• September 5 - Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (b. 1881)
• 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 30 - Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (b. 1861)

October - December

• October 1 - Phraya Manopakorn Nititada (b. 1884)
• October 12- Susan Sutherland Isaacs, educational psychologist and psychoanalyst (b.1885).
• October 24 - Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b. 1870)
• November 28 - D.D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b. 1873)
• December 23 - Japanese war leaders (hanged):
  • Kenji Doihara, spy (b. 1883)
  • Koki Hirota, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
  • Iwane Matsui, general (b. 1878)
  • Itagaki Seishiro, military officer (b. 1885)
  • Hideki Tojo, general (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

Notes