1956

This article is about the year 1956. For the 2000 album by Soul-Junk, see 1956 (album).

1956

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century 20th century 21st century
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years:	1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1956 by topic
Subject
Archaeology Architecture Art Aviation Awards Comics Film Literature Poetry Meteorology Music Country Rail transport Radio Science Spaceflight Sports Television
By country
Australia Brazil Canada People's Republic of China France Germany India Ireland Iran Israel Japan Luxembourg Malaya Mexico New Zealand Norway Pakistan Philippines Singapore South Africa South Korea Soviet Union Spain Sweden Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States
Lists of leaders
Sovereign states Sovereign state leaders Territorial governors Religious leaders Law
Birth and death categories
Births Deaths
Establishments and disestablishments categories
Establishments Disestablishments
Works category
Works Introductions

1956 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1956 MCMLVI
Ab urbe condita	2709
Armenian calendar	1405 ԹՎ ՌՆԵ
Assyrian calendar	6706
Bahá'í calendar	112–113
Balinese saka calendar	1877–1878
Bengali calendar	1363
Berber calendar	2906
British Regnal year	4 Eliz. 2 – 5 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2500
Burmese calendar	1318
Byzantine calendar	7464–7465
Chinese calendar	乙未年 (Wood Goat) 4652 or 4592     — to — 丙申年 (Fire Monkey) 4653 or 4593
Coptic calendar	1672–1673
Discordian calendar	3122
Ethiopian calendar	1948–1949
Hebrew calendar	5716–5717
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2012–2013
- Shaka Samvat	1877–1878
- Kali Yuga	5056–5057
Holocene calendar	11956
Igbo calendar	956–957
Iranian calendar	1334–1335
Islamic calendar	1375–1376
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 31 (昭和３１年)
Javanese calendar	1887–1888
Juche calendar	45
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4289
Minguo calendar	ROC 45 民國45年
Nanakshahi calendar	488
Thai solar calendar	2499
Tibetan calendar	阴木羊年 (female Wood-Goat) 2082 or 1701 or 929     — to — 阳火猴年 (male Fire-Monkey) 2083 or 1702 or 930

1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1956th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 956th year of the 2nd millennium, the 56th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1950s decade.

Events

January

Main article: January 1956

• January 1
  • The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
  • A crowd crush and stampede during a New Year's event results in 124 deaths and 77 injuries, at the Yahiko Shrine in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
• January 3
  • A fire damages the top floors of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
  • By popular demand, Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, is restaged live by Producers' Showcase on NBC-TV in the United States.
  • Columbia Records first releases Glenn Gould's solo piano recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
• January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Huaorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them.
• January 16 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to reconquer Palestine.
• January 25 – 26 – Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala, after Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4.
• January 26 – The 1956 Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

February

Main article: February 1956

• February 11 – British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years.
• February 14 – 25 – The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held in Moscow.
• February 16 – Only a little more than four months after the release of the 70 mm version of Oklahoma!, the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, is released in CinemaScope 55. MacRae and Jones had previously starred in Oklahoma! Carousel, intended for showing in 55 mm, ends up being shown only in 35 mm.
• February 22 – Elvis Presley enters the United States music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel".
• February 23 – Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to Marilyn Monroe.
• February 24 – Doris Day records her most famous song, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"; it is from Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which Day co-stars with James Stewart.
• February 25 – Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin, in a speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", at a secret session concluding the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

March

Main article: March 1956

• March 1 – The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the radiotelephony spelling alphabet, for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
• March 2 – Morocco declares its independence from France.
• March 9
  • The British deport Archbishop Makarios, from Cyprus to the Seychelles.
  • The Soviet Armed Forces suppress mass demonstrations in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy.
• March 10 – The Fairey Delta 2 breaks the World Air Speed Record, raising it to 1,132 mph (1,822 km/h) or Mach 1.73, an increase of some 300 mph (480 km/h) over the previous record, and thus becoming the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) in level flight.
• March 11 – After having opened in London the previous year, Laurence Olivier's film, Richard III, adapted from Shakespeare's play, has its U.S. premiere in theatres and on NBC-TV on the same day. On television it is not shown in prime time, but as an afternoon matinée, in a slightly cut version. It is one of the first such experiments of its kind. Olivier is later nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
• March 12
  • 96 U.S. Congressmen sign the Southern Manifesto, a protest against the 1954 Supreme Court ruling (Brown v. Board of Education) that desegregated public education.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time rising 2.40 points, or 0.48%, to 500.24.
• March 13 – Elvis Presley releases his first gold album titled Elvis Presley in the United States.
• March 15 – The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
• March 19 – At age 48, Dutch boxer Bep van Klaveren contests his last match in Rotterdam.
• March 20 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
• March 21 – The 28th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. Marty is awarded Best Picture.
• March 23 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic, and a national holiday is observed in the country, including the state of East Pakistan.

April

Main article: April 1956

A reel of 2-inch quadruplex videotape compared with a modern-day miniDV videocassette.

• April 2 – The first episodes of As the World Turns and The Edge of Night are broadcast on the CBS Television Network in the United States.
• April 7 – Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
• April 9 – Habib Bourguiba is elected President of the National Constituent Assembly of the Kingdom of Tunisia; on April 15 he becomes Prime Minister.
• April 14 – Videotape is first demonstrated at the 1956 NARTB (modern-day NAB) convention in Chicago by Ampex. It is the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex.
• April 17 – Queen Elizabeth II inaugurates the 4.9 km² Chew Valley Lake in Somerset, England, as a reservoir for the Bristol area.
• April 18 – Maria Desylla-Kapodistria is elected mayor of Corfu, becoming the first female mayor in Greece.
• April 19
  • British diver Lionel Crabb (working for MI6) dives into Portsmouth Harbour, to investigate a visiting Soviet cruiser, and vanishes.
  • American actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.
• April 21 – Former U.S. First Daughter Margaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel.
• April 27 – Heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retires, without losing a professional boxing match.

May

Main article: May 1956

• May 2
  • The United Methodist Church in America decides, at its General Conference, to grant women full ordained clergy status. It also calls for an end to racial segregation in the denomination.
  • Violet Gibson, who attempted to assassinate Mussolini in 1926, dies in a mental hospital in England, after a lifetime of imprisonment.
• May 8
  • Austria and Israel establish diplomatic relations.^{Confirmation needed}
  • The constitutional union between Indonesia and the Netherlands is dissolved.
  • John Osborne's Look Back in Anger opens at the Royal Court Theatre, London, changing the scope of theatrical and other forms of drama in the UK: the theatre's press release describes the dramatist as among the angry young men of the time.
• May 9 – Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world (in the Nepalese Himalayas), is first ascended, by a Japanese team.
• May 18 – Lhotse main summit, the fourth highest mountain (on the Nepalese–Tibetan border, is first ascended, by Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss.
• May 22 – The NBC Peacock logo debuts on television in the United States.
• May 23 – French minister Pierre Mendès France resigns, due to his government's policy on Algeria.
• May 24 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is broadcast from Lugano, Switzerland. The winning song is the host country's Refrain by Lys Assia (music by Géo Voumard, lyrics by Émile Gardaz).
• May 25 – India announces the institution of diplomatic relations with Francoist Spain).

June

Main article: June 1956

• June 1 – Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as foreign minister of the Soviet Union; he later becomes ambassador to Mongolia.
• June 3 – British Railways rename 'Third Class' passenger facilities 'Second Class'.
• June 4 – Montgomery bus boycott: The related civil suit is heard in federal district court; the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in November.
• June 5
  • The text of Nikita Khrushchev's February attack on Stalin's reputation, "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", is first published in the West, in The New York Times.
  • Elvis Presley performs "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the American television audience with his suggestive hip movements.
• June 6 – In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall resigns, after the breakdown of talks about internal self-government in London.
• June 8 – General Electric/Telechron introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", the first snooze alarm clock ever.
• June 10 – 1956 Summer Olympics: Equestrian events open in Stockholm, Sweden (all other events are held in November in Melbourne, Australia).
• June 13
  • The International Criminal Police Organization adopts Interpol as its official name.
  • Real Madrid beats Stade Reims 4-3 at Parc des Princes, Paris and wins the 1955–56 European Cup (football).
• June 14 – The Flag of the United States Army is formally dedicated.
• June 15 – Eindhoven University of Technology is founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
• June 18 – The last foreign troops leave Egypt.
• June 21 – Playwright Arthur Miller appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington, D.C.
• June 23 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes the 2nd president of Egypt, a post he holds until his death in 1970.
• June 28
  • Poznań 1956 protests: Labour riots in Poznań, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life. Soviet troops fire at a crowd protesting high prices, killing 53 people.
  • The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, is released only a few months after the film version of R&H's Carousel. It becomes the most financially successful film version of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical up to this time, and the only one to win an acting Oscar (Yul Brynner wins Best Actor for his performance as the King of Siam). It is also one of two Rodgers and Hammerstein films to be nominated for Best Picture (which it does not win).
• June 29
  • Actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller, in White Plains, New York.
  • President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System in the United States.
• June 30 – 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision: A TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft, in the deadliest civil aviation disaster to date; the accident leads to sweeping changes in the regulation of cross-country flight and air traffic control over the United States.

July

Main article: July 1956

• July 2 – A laboratory experiment involving scrap thorium at Sylvania Electric Products in Bayside, New York, results in an explosion.
• July 4 – An American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight over the Soviet Union.
• July 8 – The mountain Gasherbrum II, on the border of Pakistan and China, is first ascended, by an Austrian expedition.
• July 9 – The 7.7 M_w  Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the subsequent tsunami leave 53 people dead.
• July 10 – The British House of Lords defeats the abolition of the death penalty.
• July 13 – John McCarthy (Dartmouth), Marvin Minsky (MIT), Claude Shannon (Bell Labs) and Nathaniel Rochester (IBM) assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of artificial intelligence, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States.
• July 16 – With the closing of its "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces all subsequent circuses will be "arena shows", due to changing economics.
• July 24 – At New York City's Copacabana nightclub, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together (their act started on July 25, 1946).
• July 25 – The Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship SS Stockholm in heavy fog 72 kilometers (45 mi) south of Nantucket island, killing 51.
• July 26 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.
• July 30 – A joint resolution of Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God we trust" as the U.S. national motto.
• July 31
  • Cricket: Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test between England and Australia, taking 19 wickets in a first class match (the previous best was 17).
  • Luzhniki Stadium, well known sports venue of Russia and the Soviet Union, officially opens in Moscow.

August

Main article: August 1956

• August 6 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network airs its final broadcast, an episode of its sports series Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena.
• August 8 – 262 miners (chiefly Italian nationals) die in a fire at the Bois du Cazier coal mine, in Marcinelle, Belgium.
• August 9 – The exhibition This Is Tomorrow opens at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
• August 12 – Around 5,000 members of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church hold a mass outside Cluj-Napoca Piarists' Church to demonstrate that their church, proscribed by the government in 1948, has not ceased to exist as the regime claims.
• August 17 – West Germany bans the Communist Party of Germany.

September

Main article: September 1956

• September 9 – Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States for the first time.
• September 13
  • The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team, led by Reynold B. Johnson.
  • The dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.
• September 16 – Television broadcasting in Australia commences.
• September 21 – Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García is assassinated.
• September 25 – The submarine transatlantic telephone cable opens.
• September 27 – The Bell X-2 becomes the first manned aircraft to reach Mach 3.

October

Main article: October 1956

• October 5 – Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is released in the United States. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.
• October 8 – Baseball pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees throws the only perfect game in World Series history, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yogi Berra catches the game. Dale Mitchell is the final out. The New York Yankees win the series. Larsen is named series MVP.
• October 10
  • Finland joins UNESCO.
  • The prototype Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the final Lockheed Constellation model, makes its first flight.
• October 14 – In India:
  • Indira Kala Sangeet University, Khairagarh, is inaugurated by Indira Gandhi.
  • Dalit Buddhist movement: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Dalit leader, converts to Buddhism, along with 385,000 followers.
• October 15 – The British Royal Air Force retires its last Avro Lancaster bomber.
• October 17
  • The world's first industrial-scale commercial nuclear power plant is opened at Calder Hall in England.
  • The Game of the Century (chess): 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beats grandmaster Donald Byrne, in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City.
• October 22 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom, France, and Israel secretly meet in Sèvres and make plans to invade Egypt.
• October 23 – The Hungarian Revolution breaks out against the pro-Soviet government, originating as a student demonstration in Budapest. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact.
• October 26 – Soviet Red Army troops invade Hungary.
• October 29
  • Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
  • Tangier Protocol: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
  • The Huntley-Brinkley Report debuts on NBC-TV in the United States.
• October 31
  • Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.
  • A United States Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole (arriving by air), and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.

November

• November 1
  • The States Reorganisation Act of India reforms the boundaries and names of Indian states. Three new states, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, are formed.
  • City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco publishes Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, a key work of the Beat Generation.
  • The film Oklahoma! (1955), previously released to select cities in Todd-AO, now receives a U.S. national release in CinemaScope, since not all theatres are yet equipped for Todd-AO. To accomplish this, the film had to be actually shot twice, rather than printing one version in two different film processes, as is later done.
• November 3
  • Khan Yunis massacre (Suez Crisis) – Israeli soldiers shoot dead hundreds of Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants in Khan Yunis Camp.
  • MGM's film The Wizard of Oz is the first major Hollywood film running more than 90 minutes to be televised uncut in one evening, in the United States.
• November 4 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: More Soviet troops invade Hungary, to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
• November 6 – 1956 United States presidential election: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat challenger Adlai Stevenson, in a rematch of their contest 4 years earlier.
• November 7 – Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately.
• November 12 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.
• November 13 – Browder v. Gayle: The United States Supreme Court declares illegal the state and municipal laws requiring segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.
• November 14 – Fighting ends in Hungary.^{Confirmation needed}
• November 15 – Middle East Technical University is founded in Ankara, Turkey.
• November 18 – At a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev utters his famous phrase "We will bury you".
• November 20 – In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Đilas is arrested, after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito.
• November 22 – The 1956 Summer Olympics begin in Melbourne, Australia.
• November 23 – The Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
• November 25 – Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, en route to Santiago de Cuba aboard the yacht Granma, with 82 men.
• November 28 – Roger Vadim's drama film And God Created Woman, released in France as Et Dieu ... créa la femme, propels Brigitte Bardot into the public spotlight as a "sex kitten".
• November 30 – African-American Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight boxing championship, that is vacant after the retirement of Rocky Marciano.

December

• December 2
  • Fidel Castro and his followers land in Cuba, from the yacht Granma.
  • A pipe bomb planted by George Metesky explodes at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, injuring 6 people.
• December 3 – The 1956 Bush Terminal explosion occurs in Brooklyn.
• December 4 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio, for the first and last time in history.
• December 5 – Rose Heilbron becomes Britain's first female judge.
• December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes into Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack, British Columbia. All 62 people aboard, including five Canadian Football League players, are killed.
• December 12 – Japan becomes a member of the United Nations.
• December 18 – To Tell the Truth debuts on CBS-TV in the United States.
• December 19 – British doctor John Bodkin Adams is arrested for the murder of 2 patients in Eastbourne.
• December 23 – British and French troops leave the Suez Canal region.
• December 31 – Bob Barker makes his television debut, as host of the game show Truth or Consequences in the United States.

Date unknown

• Asian flu pandemic originates in China.
• Minamata disease is discovered.
• The Alpine Club of Canada, Toronto section, is founded.

Births

January

Mel Gibson

David Caruso

Bill Maher

Robby Benson

Geena Davis

Mimi Rogers

John Lydon

• January 1
  • Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
  • Kōji Yakusho, Japanese actor
  • Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician, IMF Managing Director and ECB president
  • Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (d. 2015)
  • Andy Gill, English musician (d. 2020)
• January 3
  • Mel Gibson, American-born Australian/Irish actor and director
  • Tomiko Suzuki, Japanese voice actress (d. 2003)
• January 4 – Bernard Sumner, British musician
• January 5
  • Ana Pessoa Pinto, East Timorese politician and jurist
  • Celso Blues Boy, Brazilian singer and guitarist (d. 2012)
  • Chen Kenichi, Japan-born Chinese chef
  • Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German politician
• January 7
  • David Caruso, American actor
  • Uwe Ochsenknecht, German actor
  • Johnny Owen, Welsh boxer (d. 1980)
  • Miladin Šobić, Montenegrin singer
• January 9
  • Kimberly Beck, American actress
  • Imelda Staunton, English actress
• January 12 – Nikolai Noskov, Soviet and Russian rock singer and songwriter
• January 13 – Janet Hubert, African-American actress
• January 14 – Ronan Bennett, Northern Irish writer
• January 15 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian convicted murderer, architect deputy minister of construction of North Ossetia-Alania
• January 16 – Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
• January 17 – Paul Young, English musician
• January 18
  • Tom Bailey, English musician
  • Jim Mothersbaugh, American rock drummer
• January 19 – Adriana Acosta, Argentine militant and field hockey player (d. 1978)
• January 20 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian and political analyst
• January 21
  • Robby Benson, American actor, voice actor, director, singer and educator
  • Geena Davis, American actress
• January 24 – Lounès Matoub, Algerian Berber Kabyle singer (d. 1998)
• January 25 – Bronwyn Pike, Australian politician
• January 26 – Pat Musick, American voice actress
• January 27
  • Susanne Blakeslee, American actress
  • Mimi Rogers, American actress
• January 28 – Peter Schilling, German singer
• January 29
  • Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish film director
  • Irlene Mandrell, American musician, actress
• January 30 – Keiichi Tsuchiya, Japanese race car driver
• January 31
  • John Lydon, British punk musician and TV personality
  • Trevor Manuel, South African politician

February

Nathan Lane

Enele Sopoaga

Jay Nixon

• February 1 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• February 2
  • Philip Franks, English actor and director
  • Alireza Soleimani, Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler (d. 2014)
• February 3
  • Nathan Lane, American actor
  • Lee Ranaldo, American musician
• February 6 – Jon Walmsley, British actor
• February 7
  • John Posey, American actor and writer
  • Heather Jones, Australian writer
  • Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
• February 10 – Enele Sopoaga, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
• February 11
  • Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist (d. 2018)
  • Catherine Hickland, American actress
• February 13
  • Peter Hook, British bass player
  • Yiannis Kouros, Greek-Australian ultra marathoner
  • Jay Nixon, 55th Governor of Missouri
  • Paul Stojanovich, American television producer
• February 14 – Tom Burlinson, Australian actor
• February 15 – Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer
• February 18 – Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player
• February 19
  • Kathleen Beller, American actress
  • Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  • Dave Wakeling, English musician
• February 20 – François Bréda, Romanian essayist, poet, literary critic, literary historian, translator and theatrologist (d. 2018)
• February 23
  • Reinhold Beckmann, German television presenter
  • Paul O'Neill, American composer, record producer (d. 2017)
• February 24
  • Judith Butler, American philosopher
  • Paula Zahn, American television journalist
• February 25
  • Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 1995)
  • Michel Friedman, German lawyer, politician and talk show host
• February 26
  • Michel Houellebecq, French author
  • Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician
  • Tim Brando, American sports broadcaster
• February 27 – Angela Aames, American actress (d. 1988)
• February 28 – Liem Swie King, Indonesian badminton player
• February 29
  • Mike Compton, American mandolinist
  • Tommy Remengesau, 2-Time President of Palau
  • Bob Speller, Canadian politician
  • Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)

March

Tim Daly

Bryan Cranston

John Kapelos

Rob Paulsen

Ingemar Stenmark

Catherine Ashton

José Manuel Barroso

• March 1
  • Tim Daly, American actor and producer
  • Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
• March 2 – Eduardo Rodríguez, President of Bolivia
• March 3 – Frank Giroud, French comics writer (d. 2018)
• March 5
  • Teena Marie, American singer (d. 2010)
  • Marco Paolini, Italian stage actor, dramaturge and author
• March 7
  • Andrea Levy, English novelist (d. 2019)
  • Bryan Cranston, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
• March 8 – John Kapelos, Canadian actor
• March 9
  • Kadyrzhan Batyrov, Kyrgyz businessman and politician (d. 2018)
  • Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician
• March 11 – Rob Paulsen, American voice actor and singer
• March 12
  • Lídice da Mata, Brazilian politician
  • Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager and former player (d. 2019)
• March 13 – Dana Delany, American actress
• March 16
  • Boaz Arad, Israeli visual artist (d. 2018)
  • Vladimír Godár, Slovak composer
• March 18 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish alpine skier
• March 19 – Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician (d. 2009)
• March 20
  • Minken Fosheim, Norwegian actress and author (d. 2018)
  • Catherine Ashton, British politician
  • Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer and director
• March 21
  • José Manuel Barroso, Prime Minister of Portugal
  • Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
  • Win Lyovarin, Thai author
• March 22
  • Tyrone Brunson, American singer (d. 2013)
  • Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, consort of Grand Duke Henri
• March 24 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman, CEO of Microsoft (2000–2014), owner of the Los Angeles Clippers
• March 25 – Matthew Garber, English child actor (d. 1977)
• March 28
  • Susan Ershler, American mountaineer
  • Evelin Jahl, German athlete
• March 29 – Evie, American Christian musician
• March 30 – Shahla Sherkat, Iranian feminist journalist

April

Miguel Bosé

Andy García

Eric Roberts

Lars von Trier

• April 3
  • Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
  • Miguel Bosé, Panamanian-born musician and actor
  • Boris Miljković, Serbian TV & theatre director and video artist
• April 4
  • Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician
  • David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
• April 5 – Diamond Dallas Page, American professional wrestler
• April 6
  • Sebastian Spreng, American-Argentinean visual artist
  • Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer
• April 7 – Christopher Darden, African-American attorney, author, actor and lecturer
• April 9 – Edmund Chong Ket Wah, Malaysian politician (d. 2010)
• April 12
  • Andy García, Cuban-American actor
  • Herbert Grönemeyer, German musician and actor
  • Yasuo Tanaka, Japanese politician, novelist
• April 13 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand rally car driver (d. 2003)
• April 14 – Barbara Bonney, American soprano
• April 16
  • David M. Brown, American astronaut (d. 2003)
  • Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
• April 18
  • John James, American actor
  • Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
  • Karim Abdul Razak, Ghanaian footballer
  • Eric Roberts, American actor
• April 19 – Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter
• April 21 – Phillip Longman, American demographer
• April 22 – Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Finnish conductor
• April 23 - Greg Colson, American artist
• April 26 – Koo Stark, British actress
• April 27 – Bryan Harvey, American musician (d. 2006)
• April 28
  • Jimmy Barnes, Scottish-Australian singer and songwriter
  • Hanka Paldum, Bosnian singer
• April 30 – Lars von Trier, Danish film director and screenwriter

May

Jan Peter Balkenende

Sugar Ray Leonard

Bob Saget

Giuseppe Tornatore

La Toya Jackson

• May 1
  • Alexander Ivanov, Russian-born American chess grandmaster
  • Danilo De Girolamo, Italian voice actor (d. 2012)
• May 4
  • David Guterson, American writer
  • Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
• May 5 – Lisa Eilbacher, American actress
• May 6
  • Vladimir Lisin, Russian business oligarch
  • Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
• May 7
  • S. Scott Bullock, American actor and voice actor
  • Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002–2010)
  • Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host
• May 9
  • Frank Andersson, Swedish wrestler (d. 2018)
  • Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
• May 10
  • Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (d. 1995)
  • Paige O'Hara, American actress, voice actress, singer and painter
  • Bikenibeu Paeniu, 2-Time Prime Minister of Tuvalu
• May 12 – Jānis Bojārs, Latvian shot putter (d. 2018)
• May 13
  • Kenneth Eriksson, Swedish rally driver
  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru
  • Mirek Topolánek, 7th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
  • Kirk Thornton, American voice actor
• May 15 – Dan Patrick, American sports commentator
• May 17
  • Cheenu Mohan, Indian actor (d. 2018)
  • Sugar Ray Leonard, African-American boxer, motivational speaker and actor
  • Bob Saget, American actor and television host
• May 19 – Steven Ford, American actor
• May 20
  • Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
  • Dean Butler, American actor and producer
• May 23
  • Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician
  • Buck Showalter, American baseball player and manager
  • Butch Francisco, Philippine talk show host (Startalk)
• May 24 – Michael Jackson, Irish Anglican bishop
• May 26 – Lisa Niemi, American actress and dancer, spouse of Patrick Swayze
• May 27 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian film director
• May 28
  • Jerry Douglas, American dobro player
  • John O'Donoghue, Irish Fianna Fáil politician
  • Sayuri Yamauchi, Japanese voice actress (d. 2012)
  • Pamela Eells O'Connell, American television producer and writer
• May 29 – La Toya Jackson, African-American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and television personality
• May 31 – Yoshiko Sakakibara, Japanese voice actress

June

Kenny G

Björn Borg

Joe Montana

Tim Russ

Randy Jackson

Anthony Bourdain

Catherine Samba-Panza

Chris Isaak

• June 1
  • Chintaman Vanaga, Indian politician (d. 2018)
  • Peter Tomka, Judge, International Court of Justice
  • Amanda Miguel, Argentinian singer
• June 2 – Mani Ratnam, Indian film director, screenwriter and producer
• June 3 – George Burley, Scottish football manager
• June 4 – Keith David, African-American actor and voice actor
• June 5 – Kenny G, American saxophonist
• June 6
  • Yuri Shundrov, Russian-Ukrainian ice hockey goaltender (d. 2018)
  • Christopher Adamson, British actor
  • Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
• June 7
  • Paul Sherwen, English racing cyclist and broadcaster (d. 2018)
  • Antonio M. Reid, American record executive
• June 8
  • Péter Besenyei, Hungarian pilot
  • Udo Bullmann, German politician
  • Jonathan Potter, British psychologist
• June 9 – Patricia Cornwell, American novelist
• June 10 – Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg, German head of the House of Mecklenburg
• June 11
  • Ashwini Kumar Chopra, Indian journalist, cricketer and politician (d. 2020)
  • Joe Montana, American football player
  • Arthur Porter, Canadian physician (d. 2015)
• June 13 – Yurik Vardanyan, Soviet weightlifter (d. 2018)
• June 14 – King Diamond, Danish heavy metal musician
• June 15 – Robin Curtis, American actress
• June 17
  • Kelly Curtis, American actor
  • Andrew Bicknell, English actor
• June 20 – Cho Chikun, Korean Go player
• June 21 – Thomas James O'Leary, American actor
• June 22
  • Abdulbaset Sieda, Kurdish-Syrian academic and politician
  • François Hadji-Lazaro, French actor and musician
  • Tim Russ, American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician
• June 23
  • Randy Jackson, African-American musician and talent judge
  • Mai Yamani, Saudi Arabian independent scholar, author and anthropologist
• June 24 – Turid Leirvoll, Norwegian-Danish politician
• June 25
  • Madeleine Petrovic, Austrian politician
  • Isabel de Navarre, German figure skating coach
  • Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
  • Anthony Bourdain, American chef, writer and television personality (d. 2018)
  • Chloe Webb, American actress and singer
• June 26
  • Catherine Samba-Panza, President of the Central African Republic
  • Chris Isaak, American musician
  • Davide Ferrario, Italian film director, screenwriter and author
• June 27
  • Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Royal Saudi Air Force pilot
  • Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player
• June 28 – Noel Mugavin, Australian rules football player
• June 29
  • Nick Fry, British motorsport
  • Honorato Hernández, Spanish long-distance runner
  • Richard Summerbell, Canadian mycologist, author and songwriter
• June 30
  • Sun Chanthol, Cambodian politician
  • Jessi Lintl, Austrian politician
  • David Alan Grier, African-American actor, comedian (In Living Color)
  • Piero Aiello, Italian politician

July

Mullah Krekar

Alan Ruck

Horacio Cartes

Tom Hanks

Sela Ward

Michael Spinks

Dorothy Hamill

• July 1
  • Alan Ruck, American actor
  • Gregg L. Semenza, American cellular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• July 2
  • Jerry Hall, American model and actress
  • Cynthia Kadohata, Japanese-American children's writer
• July 3 – Dorota Pomykała, Polish actress
• July 4 – Bárbara Bruno, Brazilian actress, director and producer
• July 5
  • Sapawi Ahmad, Malaysian politician
  • Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay
  • Louis Herthum, American actor and producer
  • Sheila Walsh, Scottish Christian artist and talk-show hostess
• July 7
  • Janet Cruz, American politician
  • Mullah Krekar, Iraqi Kurdish scholar and militiant
  • Ryuho Okawa, Japanese religious leader
  • Giam Swiegers, South African-Australian business executive
• July 9 – Tom Hanks, American actor and director
• July 10 – K. Rajagopal, Malaysian football manager and national player
• July 11
  • Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American fiction writer
  • Sela Ward, American actress
• July 12 – Mel Harris, American actress
• July 13
  • Günther Jauch, German television host
  • Koffi Olomide, Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer and composer
  • Michael Spinks, African-American boxer
• July 14
  • Dragan Despot, Croatian actor
  • Vladimir Kulich, Czechoslovakian actor
• July 15
  • Ian Curtis, English rock musician (Joy Division) (d. 1980)
  • Barry Melrose, Canadian hockey player, coach and commentator
  • Steve Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
  • Marky Ramone, American musician
  • Toshihiko Seko, Japanese long-distance runner
• July 16
  • Jerry Doyle, American talk show host and actor (d. 2016)
  • Tony Kushner, American playwright
  • Pratibha Singh, Indian politician
• July 17 – Robert Romanus, American actor and musician
• July 18 – Sheila Aldridge, American singer
• July 19
  • Peter Barton, American actor
  • Yoshiaki Yatsu, Japanese professional wrestler
• July 24
  • Charlie Crist, American politician
  • Pat Finn, American game show host and producer
  • Carmen Nebel, German television presenter
• July 25 – Frances Arnold, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• July 26
  • Andy Goldsworthy, British sculptor and photographer
  • Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater, Olympic gold medalist
• July 30
  • Delta Burke, American actress
  • Anita Hill, African-American lawyer and academic
• July 31
  • Michael Biehn, American actor
  • Deval Patrick, American politician, first African-American Governor of Massachusetts
  • Laura Zapata, Mexican television actress

August

Robert Khuzami

Maureen McCormick

Bruce Greenwood

Kim Cattrall

Andreas Floer

Kevin Dunn

• August 2 – Robert Khuzami, Deputy Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• August 4
  • Gerry Cooney, American boxer
  • Randall Wright, Canadian economist
• August 5
  • Ferdi Bolland, Dutch musician, songwriter and music producer (Bolland & Bolland)
  • Maureen McCormick, American actress
• August 6 – Stepfanie Kramer, American actress
• August 7
  • Ernie Johnson, Jr., American sportscaster
  • Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and environmentalist
• August 8 – Chris Foreman, English rock guitarist
• August 10
  • Fred Ottman, American professional wrestler
  • Charlie Peacock, American Christian producer, singer-songwriter
• August 12 – Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
• August 14
  • Jackée Harry, American actress and television personality
  • Rusty Wallace, American NASCAR race car driver
• August 17 – Dave Jones, English football manager
• August 19 – Adam Arkin, American actor
• August 20
  • Joan Allen, American actress
  • Jan Henry T. Olsen, Norwegian politician (d. 2018)
• August 21
  • Kim Cattrall, English-born Canadian actress
  • David Clarke, African-American law enforcement official
• August 22
  • Sid Michaels Kavulich, American politician and sportscaster (d. 2018)
  • Paul Molitor, American baseball player
• August 23
  • Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
  • Cris Morena, Argentine actress and television producer
• August 24
  • John Culberson, American politician
  • Kevin Dunn, American actor
• August 25 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (d. 1986)
• August 26 – Mark Mangino, American football coach
• August 28 – Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
• August 29
  • GG Allin, American punk singer (d. 1993)
  • Mark Morris, American choreographer
• August 31
  • Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer
  • Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

September

Michael Feinstein

David Copperfield

Almazbek Atambayev

Gary Cole

Linda Hamilton

• September 1 – Bernie Wagenblast, American editor and broadcaster
• September 2
  • Nandamuri Harikrishna, Indian actor and politician (d. 2018)
  • Angelo Fusco, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
• September 3 – Pat McGeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member (d. 1996)
• September 7 – Michael Feinstein, American singer and pianist
• September 8 – Maurice Cheeks, American basketball player and coach
• September 11 – Phillip D. Bissett, American politician
• September 12
  • Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor (d. 2003)
  • Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
  • Walter Woon, law professor, Nominated Member of Parliament and Attorney-General of Singapore
• September 13 – Ilie Balaci, Romanian football player (d. 2018)
• September 14
  • Kostas Karamanlis, Greek politician
  • Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach (d. 2018)
• September 15 – George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician (d. 1998)
• September 16
  • Sergei Beloglazov, Russian free-style wrestler
  • David Copperfield, American illusionist
  • Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)
• September 17
  • Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
  • Almazbek Atambayev, 3-Time Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and 4th President of Kyrgyzstan
• September 18 – Tim McInnerny, English actor
• September 20
  • Gary Cole, American actor and voice actor
  • Debbi Morgan, African-American actress
• September 21 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
• September 23
  • Mait Riisman, Estonian water polo player (d. 2018)
  • Peter David, comic book writer and novelist
  • Paolo Rossi, Italian soccer player
• September 24 – Gregory Peter Panos, American futurist, writer, inventor
• September 25 – Jamie Hyneman, American television co-host
• September 26 – Linda Hamilton, American actress
• September 29 – Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe, British athlete; co-ordinator of the London 2012 Olympic Games
• September 30 – Gordon Elliott, British-Australian television personality and talk show host

October

Theresa May

Charlie Adler

Christoph Waltz

Nicanor Duarte

Craig Bartlett

Carrie Fisher

Rita Wilson

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• October 1
  • Tara Buckman, American actress
  • Andrus Ansip, Estonian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
  • Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• October 2 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor and director
• October 3 – Ralph Morgenstern, German actor
• October 4 – Christoph Waltz, German-Austrian actor
• October 8
  • Danny Jacob, American composer, songwriter and guitarist
  • Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
• October 10 – Amanda Burton, Irish actress
• October 11 – Nicanor Duarte, 47th President of Paraguay
• October 12 – Trần Đại Quang, President of Vietnam (d. 2018)
• October 16 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1991)
• October 17
  • Mae Jemison, African-American astronaut
  • Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author
  • Ken Morrow, American ice hockey player
• October 18
  • Craig Bartlett, American animator and voice actor
  • Martina Navratilova, Czech-American multiple Grand Slam title winning tennis player
• October 19
  • Sunny Deol, Indian actor, director, producer and politician
  • Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
• October 20
  • Sonja Ball, Canadian voice actress
  • Danny Boyle, English film director
• October 21 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and novelist (d. 2016)
• October 22 – Marvin Bush, American businessman
• October 23 – Dwight Yoakam, American country singer, musician and actor
• October 26 – Rita Wilson, American actress and producer
• October 28 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th President of Iran

November

Richard Curtis

Sinbad

Bo Derek

William Fichtner

• November 5 – Rob Fisher, British keyboardist and songwriter (Climie Fisher) (d. 1999)
• November 7
  • Mikhail Alperin, Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist (d. 2018)
  • Judy Tenuta, American comedian
• November 8
  • Richard Curtis, English film director, producer and screenwriter
  • Kurt Sorensen, New Zealand rugby league player
• November 10
  • Sinbad, African-American stand-up, comedian and actor
  • Mohsen Badawi, Egyptian entrepreneur, political activist and writer
  • Peter Rangmar, Swedish actor, comedian and baritone (d. 1997)
• November 11 – Talat Aziz, ghazal singer
• November 14
  • Avi Cohen, Israeli football player (d. 2010)
  • Peter R. de Vries, crime reporter
• November 17
  • Angelika Machinek, German glider pilot (d. 2006)
  • Kelly Ward, American actor
• November 18
  • Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (d. 1995)
  • Warren Moon, American football player
• November 20
  • Jan Maxwell, American actress (d. 2018)
  • Bo Derek, American actress and model
  • Olli Dittrich, German actor, comedian, television personality and musician
• November 21 – Terri Welles, American actress and adult model
• November 22 – Richard Kind, American actor
• November 23
  • Shane Gould, Australian Olympic triple gold medallist swimmer (1972)
  • Nikolay Sidorov, Soviet athlete
• November 24 – Jouni Kaipainen, Finnish composer
• November 26 – Dale Jarrett, American race car driver
• November 27
  • Nazrin Shah of Perak, 35th Sultan of Perak
  • William Fichtner, American actor
• November 28
  • Kristine Arnold, American singer (Sweethearts of the Rodeo)
  • Lucy Gutteridge, English actress
• November 29
  • Eric Laakso, American football player
  • Leo Laporte, American author and television host
  • Bill Baker, American ice hockey player

December

Randy Rhoads

Iveta Radičová

Larry Bird

• December 1
  • Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emirati politician and royal (d. 2019)
  • Markos Kounalakis, American journalist, author and scholar, Second Gentleman of California
• December 4 – Bernard King, American basketball player and commentator
• December 5
  • Klaus Allofs, German football player
  • Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
• December 6
  • Peter Buck, American guitarist
  • Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
• December 7
  • Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American actor and entertainer (d. 2019)
  • Larry Bird, American basketball player
  • Iveta Radičová, Prime Minister of Slovakia
• December 9
  • Antony Alda, American actor (d. 2009)
  • Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French writer
  • Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician and mass murderer (d. 1994)
• December 10 – Rod Blagojevich, American politician and convicted felon, Governor of Illinois (2003–2009)
• December 11 – Lani Brockman, American playwright
• December 12
  • Ana Alicia, Mexican actress
  • Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
• December 13 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese singer
• December 14 – Béla Réthy, German sports journalist
• December 16 – Duncan Faure, South African musician
• December 18 – Ron White, American comedian
• December 19
  • Masami Akita, Japanese noise musician (also known as Merzbow)
  • Jimmy Cauty, British musician (The KLF, The Timelords)
• December 21 – Anna Erlandsson, Swedish filmmaker and animator
• December 23
  • Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (d. 2001)
  • Dave Murray, British musician (Iron Maiden)
• December 24
  • Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
  • Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic
• December 26
  • Michael Jones (aka Kashif), musician, singer-songwriter (B.T. Express) (d. 2016)
  • David Sedaris, American essayist
• December 28
  • Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
  • Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born footballer
  • Phil Verchota, American ice hockey player
• December 29 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
• December 30
  • Patricia Kalember, American actress
  • Sheryl Lee Ralph, African American-actress
• December 31
  • Shelagh Rogers, Canadian radio host
  • Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djiboutian marathon runner

Date unknown

• Dong Hao, Chinese host, voice actor and painter
• Gilma Jiménez, Colombian politician (d. 2013)
• Nancy Lynn, American aerobatic pilot (d. 2006)
• Ephraim Mirvis, South African-born Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth
• Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist
• Chris Wilson, Australian musician (d. 2019)

Deaths

January

Joseph Wirth

Konstantin Päts

• January 3
  • Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
  • Joseph Wirth, former Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• January 5 – Mistinguett, French singer and actress (b. 1875)
• January 9 – Marion Leonard, American actress (b. 1881)
• January 10
  • Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (b. 1862)
  • Karl Ludwig Schmidt, German theologian (b. 1891)
• January 12 – Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
• January 13 – Lyonel Charles Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)
• January 14 – Sheila Kaye-Smith, English writer (b. 1887)
• January 18 – Konstantin Päts, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
• January 21 – Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
• January 23 – Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)
• January 27 – Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
• January 29 – H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
• January 31 – A. A. Milne, English author (Winnie The Pooh) (b. 1882)

February

Elpidio Quirino

• February 2
  • Bob Burns, American comedian (b. 1890)
  • Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
• February 3 – Robert Yerkes, American psychologist and ethologist (b. 1876)
• February 8 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive and manager (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1862)
• February 10 – Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, British marshal of the Royal Air Force (b. 1873)
• February 13 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish logician and philosopher (b. 1878)
• February 18 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
• February 20
  • Heinrich Barkhausen, German physicist (b. 1881)
  • James Cousins, Irish writer (b. 1873)
• February 26 – Elsie Janis, American singer and actress (b. 1889)
• February 29 – Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)

March

Irene Joliot-Curie

Wilhelm Miklas

• March 12 – Bolesław Bierut, Polish Communist politician and statesman, former Prime Minister and Presdident of Poland (b. 1892)
• March 14 – David Browning, American Olympic diver (b. 1931)
• March 17
  • Fred Allen, American comedian (b. 1894)
  • Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
• March 18
  • Louis Bromfield, American writer (b. 1896)
  • Paul Masson-Oursel, French orientalist and philosopher (b. 1882)
• March 20
  • Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer (b. 1889)
  • Wilhelm Miklas, 3rd President of Austria (b. 1889)
• March 21 – Edwin Thanhouser, American actor, businessman, and film producer, founder of the Thanhouser Company (b. 1865)
• March 22
  • Eduardo Lonardi, Argentine military officer, (de facto) 30th President of Argentina (b. 1896)
  • George Sarton, Belgian-American chemist and historian (b. 1884)
• March 25
  • Lou Moore, American racing driver and team owner (b. 1904)
  • Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)
• March 28 – Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer (b. 1885)
• March 30 – Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English writer (b. 1875)
• March 31 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (b. 1884)

April

Alben W. Barkley

• April 6 – Pío Valenzuela, Filipino physician and one of the leaders of the Katipunan (b. 1869)
• April 13 – Emil Nolde, German-Danish painter (b. 1867)
• April 15 – Kathleen Howard, Canadian-born American actress and opera singer (b. 1884)
• April 19 – Ernst Robert Curtius, Alsatian philologist (b. 1886)
• April 21
  • Samuel Gottesman, American pulp-paper merchant (b. 1885)
  • Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
• April 24 – Henry Stephenson, British character actor (b. 1871)
• April 26 – Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)
• June 28 – Friedrich Schmidt-Ott, German lawyer, scientific organizer, and science policymaker (b. 1860)
• April 29
  • Harold Bride, English-born junior radio officer on RMS Titanic (b. 1890)
  • Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal (b. 1876)
• April 30 – Alben W. Barkley, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)

May

• May 3
  • Rodney Collin, British writer (b. 1909)
  • Peter Watson, English art collector and benefactor (b. 1908)
• May 6 – Fergus Anderson, British motorcycle racer (b. 1909)
• May 12 – Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
• May 15 – Austin Osman Spare, English artist and occultist (b. 1886)
• May 18 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
• May 20
  • Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist and caricaturist (b. 1872)
  • Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian Olympic swimmer (b. 1881)
• May 23 – Gustav Suits, Estonian poet (b. 1883)
• May 24
  • Guy Kibbee, American actor (b. 1882)
  • Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
• May 26 – Al Simmons, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1902)
• May 29 – Frank Beaurepaire, Australian Olympic swimmer (b. 1891)
• May 31 – Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist (b. 1875)

June

Michio Miyagi

• June 2
  • Richard S. Edwards, American admiral (b. 1885)
  • Jean Hersholt, Danish actor (b. 1886)
• June 4 – Katherine MacDonald, American silent film actress (b. 1891)
• June 6
  • Hiram Bingham, American explorer, discoverer of Machu Picchu (b. 1875)
  • Margaret Wycherly, English stage and film actress (b. 1881)
• June 7 – Julien Benda, French philosopher and novelist (b. 1867)
• June 11
  • Frank Brangwyn, Anglo-Welsh artist (b. 1867)
  • Ralph Morgan, American actor (b. 1883)
• June 17
  • Paul Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b. 1892)
  • Artur Văitoianu, 27th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1864)
• June 22 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1873)
• June 23 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875)
• June 25
  • Ernest King, American Fleet Admiral (b. 1878)
  • Michio Miyagi, Japanese musician (b. 1894)
• June 26 – Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1930)
• June 28 – Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, British civil servant (b. 1869)

July

• July 1 – Tawfik Abu Al-Huda, 4-Time Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1894)
• July 7 – Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)
• July 8 – Giovanni Papini, Italian essayist, poet, novelist (b. 1881)
• July 10 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
• July 11 – John T. Raulston, American Scopes Monkey Trial judge (b. 1868)
• July 12 – Sprague Cleghorn, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
• July 20 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
• July 24 – Géza Zemplén, Hungarian chemist (b. 1883)
• July 29 – Ludwig Klages, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1872)

August

Bertolt Brecht

Bela Lugosi

Alfred Kinsey

• August 2 – Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
• August 9 – Archie Cameron, Australian politician (b. 1895)
• August 11
  • Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)
  • Mincho Neychev, former Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (head of state) of Bulgaria (b. 1887)
• August 14
  • Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898)
  • Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi German diplomat and foreign minister (b. 1873)
• August 16
  • Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born film actor (Dracula) (b. 1882)
  • Lynde D. McCormick, American admiral (b. 1895)
• August 19 – Bernard Griffin, English Cardinal, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster (b. 1899)
• August 23 – Peaches Browning, American actress (b. 1910)
• August 24 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese film director (b. 1898)
• August 25 – Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b. 1894)

September

Billy Bishop

Anastasio Somoza Garcia

• September 6
  • Lee Jung-seob, Korean oil painter (b. 1872)
  • Felix Borowski, British-American composer and teacher (b. 1872)
• September 11
  • Billy Bishop, Canadian World War I flying ace (b. 1894)
  • Lucien Febvre, French historian (b. 1878)
• September 20 – Flora Eldershaw, Australian novelist, critic, and historian (b. 1897)
• September 22 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
• September 27
  • Milburn G. Apt, American test pilot (b. 1924)
  • Babe Zaharias, American golfer (b. 1911)
• September 29 – Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (assassinated) (b. 1896)

October

Risto Ryti

• October 1 – Albert Von Tilzer, American songwriter (b. 1878)
• October 2 – George Bancroft, American actor (b. 1882)
• October 9 – Marie Doro, American stage & silent film actress (b. 1882)
• October 12 – Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
• October 14 – Don Jules Richard, French mathematician (b. 1862)
• October 16 – Don Jules Rimet, French football administrator, 3rd president of FIFA (b. 1873)
• October 17 – Anne Crawford, British actress (b. 1920)
• October 19 – Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
• October 22 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist and suffragette (b. 1872)
• October 25 – Risto Ryti, 23rd Prime Minister of Finland and 5th President of Finland (b. 1889)
• October 26 – Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)
• October 27 – Charles S. Johnson, American sociologist (b. 1893)
• October 30 – Pío Baroja, Spanish novelist (b. 1872)

November

Pietro Badoglio

Juan Negrín

• November 1
  • Pietro Badoglio, Italian general and 28th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1871)
  • Tommy Johnson, American musician (b. 1896)
• November 2 – Leo Baeck, German rabbi, scholar and theologian (b. 1873)
• November 3 – Jean Metzinger, French painter, theorist and critic (b. 1883)
• November 5 – Art Tatum, American jazz pianist (b. 1909)
• November 6 – Paul Kelly, American stage and film actor (b. 1899)
• November 10
  • Harry F. Sinclair, American entrepreneur (b. 1876)
  • Victor Young, American composer (b. 1900)
• November 12 – Juan Negrín, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1892)
• November 13 – Werner Haas, German motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
• November 19 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (b. 1903)
• November 22 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and actor (b. 1882)
• November 24
  • Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)
  • Sir Lionel Whitby, British haematologist and academic administrator (b. 1895)
• November 26 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
• November 27 – Hugo Ballin, American artist, film production designer, and director (b. 1879)

December

Juho Kusti Paasikivi

• December 2 – Dell Henderson, Canadian actor (b. 1883)
• December 3 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist (b. 1891)
• December 6 – Dr B. R. Ambedkar, a founding father of modern India, the architect of its constitution and Indian dalit leader (b. 1891)
• December 7 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
• December 9 – Charles Joughin, English-born baker on RMS Titanic (b. 1878)
• December 10 – David Shimoni, Israeli poet and writer (b. 1891)
• December 12 – Ewald André Dupont, German film director (b. 1891)
• December 14 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, twice Prime Minister of Finland and 7th President of Finland (b. 1870)
• December 16
  • René Couzinet, French aeronautics engineer and aircraft manufacturer (suicide) (b. 1904)
  • Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b. 1890)
• December 17 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (b. 1903)
• December 21 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist (b. 1877)
• December 23 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Spanish architect (b. 1867)
• December 26 – Holmes Herbert, English actor (b. 1882)
• December 30 – Ruth Draper, American actress (b. 1884)

Date unknown

• Lotte Herrlich, female photographer of German naturism

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – William Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain
• Chemistry – Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Semyonov
• Physiology or Medicine – André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards
• Literature – Juan Ramón Jiménez
• Peace – Not Awarded

References

• 1956 Coin Pictures
• 1956 in History

Further reading

• London Institute of World Affairs, The Year Book of World Affairs 1957 (London 1957) full text online, comprehensive reference book covering 1956 in diplomacy, international affairs and politics for major nations and regions