1968

1968 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1968; MCMLXVIII
Ab urbe condita	2721
Armenian calendar	1417; ԹՎ ՌՆԺԷ
Assyrian calendar	6718
Baháʼí calendar	124–125
Balinese saka calendar	1889–1890
Bengali calendar	1375
Berber calendar	2918
British Regnal year	16 Eliz. 2 – 17 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2512
Burmese calendar	1330
Byzantine calendar	7476–7477
Chinese calendar	丁未年 (Fire Goat); 4665 or 4458; — to —; 戊申年 (Earth Monkey); 4666 or 4459
Coptic calendar	1684–1685
Discordian calendar	3134
Ethiopian calendar	1960–1961
Hebrew calendar	5728–5729
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2024–2025
- Shaka Samvat	1889–1890
- Kali Yuga	5068–5069
Holocene calendar	11968
Igbo calendar	968–969
Iranian calendar	1346–1347
Islamic calendar	1387–1388
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 43; (昭和４３年)
Javanese calendar	1899–1900
Juche calendar	57
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4301
Minguo calendar	ROC 57; 民國57年
Nanakshahi calendar	500
Thai solar calendar	2511
Tibetan calendar	阴火羊年; (female Fire-Goat); 2094 or 1713 or 941; — to —; 阳土猴年; (male Earth-Monkey); 2095 or 1714 or 942

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century; 20th century ; 21st century;
Decades:	1940s; 1950s; 1960s ; 1970s; 1980s;
Years:	1965; 1966; 1967; 1968 ; 1969; 1970; 1971;

1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1968th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 968th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1960s decade.

Events

January–February

January – The I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat.
January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000.
January 21
- Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8.
- 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs.
January 23 – North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.
January 25 – Israeli submarine INS Dakar sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.

January 28 – French submarine Minerve sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 52.
January 30 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins as Viet Cong forces launch a series of surprise attacks across South Vietnam.
January 31
- Viet Cong soldiers attack the Embassy of the United States, Saigon.
- Nauru president Hammer DeRoburt declares independence from Australia.
February 1
- Vietnam War: A Viet Cong officer named Nguyễn Văn Lém is executed by Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by Eddie Adams. The photo makes headlines around the world, eventually winning the 1969 Pulitzer Prize, and sways U.S. public opinion against the war.
- The Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad merge to form Penn Central, the largest ever corporate merger up to this date.
February 6–18 – The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.
February 12 – Vietnam War: Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
February 24 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Huế.
February 25 – Vietnam War: Hà My massacre.

March–April

March 2 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country of England.
March 6 – Un-recognized Rhodesia executes 3 black citizens, the first executions since UDI, prompting international condemnation.
March 7 – Vietnam War: The First Battle of Saigon ends.
March 8
- The first student protests spark the 1968 Polish political crisis.
- The Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 sinks with all 98 crew members, about 90 nautical miles (104 miles or 167 km) southwest of Hawaii.
March 10–11 – Vietnam War: Battle of Lima Site 85, the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members (12) during the (at this time) secret war later known as the Laotian Civil War.
March 11 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson mandates that all computers purchased by the federal government support the ASCII character encoding.
March 12
- Mauritius achieves independence from British rule.
- U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson barely edges out antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, a vote which highlights the deep divisions in the country, and the party, over Vietnam.
March 13 – The first Rotaract club is chartered in North Charlotte, North Carolina.
March 14 – Nerve gas leaks from the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground near Skull Valley, Utah.
March 16
- Vietnam War – My Lai Massacre: American troops kill scores of civilians. The story will first become public in November 1969 and will help undermine public support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
- U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy enters the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
March 18 – Gold standard: The United States Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency.
March 19–23 – Afrocentrism, Black Power, Vietnam War: Students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., signal a new era of militant student activism on college campuses in the U.S. Students stage rallies, protests and a 5-day sit-in, laying siege to the administration building, shutting down the university in protest over its ROTC program and the Vietnam War, and demanding a more Afrocentric curriculum.
March 22 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit ("Danny the Red") and 7 other students occupy the administrative offices of the University of Nanterre, setting in motion a chain of events that lead France to the brink of revolution in May.
March 24 – Aer Lingus Flight 712 crashes en route from Cork to London near Tuskar Rock, Wexford, killing 61 passengers and crew.
March 28 – Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is shot by the police in a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students. The aftermath of his death is one of the first major events against the military dictatorship.
April 2 – Bombs explode at midnight in two department stores in Frankfurt-am-Main; Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin are later arrested and sentenced for arson.
April 4
- Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King-assassination riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards.
- Apollo program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last uncrewed test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
- AEK Athens wins the FIBA European Cup Winners Cup Final in basketball against Slavia Prague, in front of a record attendance of 80,000 spectators. It is the first major European trophy won at club level of any sport in Greece.
April 6
- "La, la, la" by Massiel (music and lyrics by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 for Spain, at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
- A shootout between Black Panthers and police in Oakland, California, results in several arrests and deaths, including 17-year-old Panther Bobby Hutton.
- Richmond, Indiana explosion: A double explosion in downtown Richmond kills 41 and injures 150.
April 7 – British racing driver Jim Clark is killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
April 10 – The ferry TEV Wahine strikes a reef at the mouth of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand, with the loss of 53 lives, in Cyclone Giselle, which has created the windiest conditions ever recorded in New Zealand.
April 11
- Josef Bachmann tries to assassinate Rudi Dutschke, leader of the left-wing movement (APO) in Germany, and tries to commit suicide afterwards, failing in both, although Dutschke dies of his brain injuries 11 years later.
- German left-wing students blockade the Springer Press HQ in Berlin and many are arrested (one of them Ulrike Meinhof).
April 20 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.
April 23
- President Mobutu releases captured mercenaries in the Congo.
- Surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, perform Europe's first heart transplant, on Clovis Roblain.
- The United Methodist Church is created by the union in Dallas, Texas, of the former Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches.
April 23–30 – Vietnam War: Columbia University protests of 1968 – Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
April 26 – The nuclear weapon "Boxcar" is tested at the Nevada Test Site in the biggest detonation of Operation Crosstie.

May–June

May 2 – The Israel Broadcasting Authority commences television broadcasts.
May 3 – Braniff Flight 352 crashes near Dawson, Texas, United States, killing all 85 people on board.
May 13
- Paris student riots: One million march through the streets of Paris.
- Manchester City wins the 1967–68 Football League First Division by 2 clear points, over club rivals Manchester United.
May 16 – Ronan Point, a 23 floor tower block in Canning Town, east London, partially collapses after a gas explosion, killing 5.
May 17 – The Catonsville Nine enter the Selective Service offices in Catonsville, Maryland, take dozens of selective service draft records, and burn them with napalm as a protest against the Vietnam War.
May 18
- Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars are introduced.
- West Bromwich Albion win the Football Association Cup, defeating Everton 1–0 after extra time. The winning goal is scored by Jeff Astle.
May 19
- A general election is held in Italy.
- Nigerian forces capture Port Harcourt and form a ring around the Biafrans. This contributes to a humanitarian disaster as the surrounded population already suffers from hunger and starvation.
May 22 – The U.S. nuclear-powered submarine Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
May 29 – Manchester United wins the European Cup Final, becoming the first English team to do so.
May 30 – Bobby Unser wins the Indianapolis 500.
June 2 – Student demonstrations in Yugoslavia start in Belgrade.
June 3 – Radical feminist Valerie Solanas shoots Andy Warhol at his New York City studio, The Factory; he survives after a 5-hour operation.
June 4 – The Standard & Poor's 500 index in the United States closes above 100 for the first time, at 100.38.
June 5 – Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Robert F. Kennedy who was a leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan is arrested.
June 7 – The Ford sewing machinists strike for equal pay starts at the Ford Dagenham plant in London.
June 10 – Italy beats Yugoslavia 2–0 in a replay to win the 1968 European Championship. The original final on June 8 ended 1–1.
June 12 – The horror film Rosemary's Baby premieres in the U.S.
June 17 – The Malayan Communist Party launches a second insurgency and the state of emergency is again imposed in Malaysia.
June 20 – Austin Currie, Member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, along with others, squats in a house in Caledon to protest discrimination in housing allocations.
June 21 – Bloody Friday [pt]: A student demonstration in front of the Jornal do Brasil ("JB") building ends with 28 dead and over a thousand arrested.
June 23
- Puerta 12 tragedy: A football stampede in Buenos Aires leaves 74 dead and 150 injured.
- The first round of voting takes place in the French legislative elections scheduled following the public unrest of May.
June 26
- The Bonin Islands are returned to Japan after 23 years of occupation by the United States Navy.
- The "March of the One Hundred Thousand" takes place in Rio de Janeiro as crowds demonstrate against the Brazilian military government.

July–August

July 1 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opens for signature.
July 4 – British yachtsman Alec Rose, 59, receives a hero's welcome as he sails into Portsmouth, after his 354-day solo round-the-world trip.
July 17 – Saddam Hussein becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup d'état.
July 18 – The semiconductor company Intel is founded.
July 20 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.
July 23–28 – Black militants led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans engage in a fierce gunfight with police in the Glenville Shootout of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
July 25 – Pope Paul VI publishes the encyclical entitled Humanae vitae, on birth control.
July 26 – Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Trương Đình Dzu is sentenced to 5 years hard labor, for advocating the formation of a coalition government as a way to move toward an end to the war.
July 29 – Arenal Volcano erupts in Costa Rica for the first time in centuries.
August 1 – The Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul is established in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo.
August 2 – The magnitude (M_w) 7.6 Casiguran earthquake affects the Aurora province in the Philippines with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing at least 207 and injuring 261.
August 5–8 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Richard Nixon for U.S. president and Spiro Agnew for vice president.
August 11 – The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and return to Liverpool – the journey is known as the Fifteen Guinea Special.
August 18 – Two charter buses are forced into the Hida River on National Highway Route 41 in Japan in an accident caused by heavy rain; 104 are killed.
August 20–21 – Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia: The 'Prague Spring' of political liberalization ends, as 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 6,500 tanks with 800 aircraft invade Czechoslovakia, the largest military operation in Europe since the end of World War II.
August 24 – Canopus (nuclear test): France explodes its first hydrogen bomb in a test at Fangataufa atoll in French Polynesia.
August 22–30 – Police clash with anti-war protesters in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. president and Edmund Muskie for vice president. The riots and subsequent trials are an essential part of the activism of the Youth International Party.
August 29 – Crown Prince Harald of Norway marries Sonja Haraldsen, the commoner he has dated for 9 years.

September–October

1968 Summer Olympics

September 6 – Swaziland (now eSwatini) becomes independent.
September 7 – The crash of Air France Flight 1611 kills 95 people, including French Army General René Cogny, as the Caravelle jetliner plunges into the Mediterranean Sea while making its approach to Nice following its departure from the island of Corsica.
The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) is founded.
September 13 – Albania officially withdraws from the Warsaw Pact upon the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, having already ceased to participate actively in Pact activity since 1962.
September 17 – The D'Oliveira affair: The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of South Africa is cancelled when the South Africans refuse to accept the presence of Basil D'Oliveira, a Cape Coloured, in the side.
September 21 – The Soviet's Zond 5 uncrewed lunar flyby mission returns to earth, with its first-of-a-kind biological payload intact.
September 23 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive comes to an end in South Vietnam.
September 27 – Marcelo Caetano becomes prime minister of Portugal.
September 29 – A referendum in Greece gives more power to the military junta.
October 2 – Tlatelolco massacre: A student demonstration ends in bloodbath at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico, 10 days before the inauguration of the 1968 Summer Olympics. 300-400 are estimated to have been killed.
October 3 – In Peru, Juan Velasco Alvarado takes power in a revolution.
October 8 – Vietnam War – Operation Sealords: United States and South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the Mekong Delta.
October 11
- Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo mission (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and simulating lunar module rendezvous and docking, using the S-IVB rocket stage as a test target.
- In Panama, a military coup d'état, led by Col. Boris Martinez and Col. Omar Torrijos, overthrows the democratically elected (but highly controversial) government of President Arnulfo Arias. Within a year, Torrijos ousts Martinez and takes charge as de facto Head of Government in Panama.
October 12–27 – The Games of the XIX Olympiad are held in Mexico City, Mexico.
October 12 – Equatorial Guinea receives its independence from Spain.
October 14 – Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the United States Army and United States Marines will send about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours.
October 16
- In Mexico City, African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists in a black power salute after winning, respectively, the gold and bronze medals in the Olympic men's 200 metres.
- Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney Riots, provoked by the banning of Walter Rodney from the country.
October 18 – US athlete Bob Beamon breaks the long jump world record by 55 cm / 213⁄4 ins at the Olympics in Mexico City. His record stands for 23 years, and is still the second longest jump in history.
October 25 – Led Zeppelin make their first live performance, at Surrey University in England
October 31 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.

November–December

Richard Nixon (pictured) is elected United States President.

November 5
- 1968 United States presidential election: Republican candidate Richard Nixon defeats the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate George Wallace.
- Luis A. Ferré, of the newly formed New Progressive Party is elected Governor of Puerto Rico, by beating incumbent governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella of the People's Party, Luis Negrón López of the Popular Democratic Party and Antonio J. Gonzalez of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, he also becomes the first "statehooder" governor of the Island.
November 11 – A second republic is declared in the Maldives.
November 15 – Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt is initiated to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.
November 17
- British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.
- The Heidi Game: NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an Oakland Raiders–New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score 2 late touchdowns to win 43–32; as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest.
November 19 – In Mali, President Modibo Keïta's regime is overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Moussa Traoré.
November 20 – The Farmington Mine disaster in Farmington, West Virginia, kills seventy-eight men.
November 24 – 4 men hijack Pan Am Flight 281 from JFK International Airport, New York to Havana, Cuba.
December 9 – Douglas Engelbart publicly demonstrates his pioneering hypertext system, NLS, in San Francisco, together with the computer mouse, at what becomes retrospectively known as "The Mother of All Demos".
December 10 – Japan's biggest heist, the never-solved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
December 11 – The film Oliver! based on the hit London and Broadway musical, opens in the U.S. after being released first in the UK. It goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
December 13 – Prompted by growing unrest and a perceived proliferation of "pro-communist" violent actions, Brazilian president Artur da Costa e Silva enacts the so-called AI-5, the fifth of a series of non-constitutional emergency decrees allegedly to help "stabilize" the country after the turmoils of the early 1960s.
December 22 – Mao Zedong advocates that educated urban youth in China be sent for re-education in the countryside. It marks the start of the "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement.
December 24 – Apollo program: The crewed U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole, as well as having traveled further away from Earth than any people in history. Anders photographs Earthrise. The crew also give a reading from the Book of Genesis.
December 28 – Israeli forces fly into Lebanese airspace, launching an attack on the airport in Beirut and destroying more than a dozen aircraft.

Dates unknown

The Khmer Rouge is officially formed in Cambodia as an offshoot movement of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam to bring communism to the nation. A few years later, they will become bitter enemies.
An oil field is confirmed in Northern Alaska: the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.

Births

Births
January · February · March · April · May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December

January

January 1 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
January 2
- Oleg Deripaska, Russian businessman
- Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
- Anky van Grunsven, Dutch equesterian
January 5
- DJ BoBo, Swiss singer, songwriter and dancer
- Andrzej Gołota, Polish boxer
- Carrie Ann Inaba, American choreographer, game show host and singer
January 6 – John Singleton, African-American film director and writer (d. 2019)
January 11 – Benjamin List, German organic chemist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
January 12
- Rachael Harris, American actress and comedian
January 13 – Pat Onstad, Canadian soccer player
January 14 – LL Cool J, African-American rapper and actor
January 16 – Atticus Ross, English musician, songwriter, record producer and audio engineer
January 17 – Svetlana Masterkova, Russian athlete
January 24
- Michael Kiske, German musician
- Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
January 26 – Novala Takemoto, Japanese author and fashion designer
January 27 – Mike Patton, American singer
January 28 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer
January 29 – Edward Burns, American actor
January 30 – King Felipe VI of Spain

February

February 1
- Lisa Marie Presley, American singer, songwriter and daughter of Elvis Presley (d. 2023)
- Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player
February 3 – Vlade Divac, Serbian basketball player
February 5
- Marcus Grönholm, Finnish rally driver
- Qasim Melho, Syrian television actor
February 7
- Peter Bondra, Slovakian ice hockey player
- Porntip Nakhirunkanok, Miss Universe 1988
February 8
- Gary Coleman, African-American actor (d. 2010)
- April Stewart, American voice actress
February 10
- Laurie Foell, New Zealand/Australian actress
- Atika Suri, Indonesian television newscaster
February 11
- Lavinia Agache, Romanian artistic gymnast
- Mo Willems, American children's book author
February 12 – Josh Brolin, American actor
February 13
- Kelly Hu, American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen
- Niamh Kavanagh, Irish singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1993 winner
February 14 – Jules Asner, American model and television personality
February 15 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
February 18
- Molly Ringwald, American actress
- Dennis Satin, German film director
February 21 – Pellom McDaniels, American football player (d. 2020)
February 22
- Bradley Nowell, American musician (d. 1996)
- Jeri Ryan, American actress
February 24
- Andy Berman, American actor, director, producer, writer, voice artist, and comedian
- Mitch Hedberg, American stand-up comedian (d. 2005)
February 29 – Sam Sneed, American producer and rapper

March

March 1
- Kat Cressida, American voice actress
- Kunjarani Devi, Indian weightlifter
- Muho Noelke, German Zen master
March 2 – Daniel Craig, British actor
March 3 – Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
March 4
- Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- Patsy Kensit, British actress
March 5
- Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian Prime Minister
- Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, 10th Prime Minister of Eswatini (d. 2020)
March 6 – Moira Kelly, American actress
March 7 – Jeff Kent, American baseball player
March 9
- Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer
- Rexy Mainaky, Indonesian badminton player
March 11 – Lisa Loeb, American singer
March 12 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor
March 13
- Gillian Keegan, British politician
- Masami Okui, Japanese singer
March 14
- Megan Follows, Canadian-American actress
- James Frain, British actor
March 15
- Mark McGrath, American singer
- Terje Riis-Johansen, Norwegian politician
- Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer
March 16
- David MacMillan, Scottish-born organic chemist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Trevor Wilson, American basketball player
March 20
- Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean long-distance runner
- Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ and promoter
March 22 – Euronymous, Norwegian musician (d. 1993)
March 23
- Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter and musician
- Mike Atherton, English cricketer
- Fernando Hierro, Spanish football player and coach
March 26
- Kenny Chesney, American country music singer
- James Iha, American rock musician
March 27 – Ben Koldyke, American actor
March 28 – Iris Chang, American author (d. 2004)
March 29 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer
March 30 – Celine Dion, Canadian singer
March 31 – César Sampaio, Brazilian football player and coach

April

April 1
- Julia Boutros, Lebanese singer
- Andreas Schnaas, German director
April 5
- Paula Cole, American singer
- Stewart Lee, English stand-up comedian
April 7 – Jože Možina, Slovenian historian, sociologist and journalist
April 8
- Patricia Arquette, American actress
- Shawn Fonteno, American actor
April 12 – Ott, English musician and record producer
April 13 – Necrobutcher, Norwegian musician
April 14 – Anthony Michael Hall, American actor and singer
April 15 – Stacey Williams, American model
April 16
- Greg Baker, American actor and musician
- Martin Dahlin, Swedish football player
- Vickie Guerrero, American professional wrestler
April 17
- Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer
- Adam McKay, American film director, producer, screenwriter, comedian, and actor
April 18 – David Hewlett, English-born Canadian actor, writer and director
April 19 – Ashley Judd, American actress
April 20
- J. D. Roth, American television host
- Yelena Välbe, Russian cross-country skier
April 23 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
April 24
- Stacy Haiduk, American actress
- Jorge Medina, Bolivian civil rights activist and politician (d. 2022)
- Yuji Nagata, Japanese professional wrestler
April 28 – Howard Donald, British singer (Take That)
April 29
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of Croatia (2015-2020)
- Michael Herbig, German film director, actor and author
- Darren Matthews, English professional wrestler

May

May 1 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer
May 2
- Jeff Agoos, American soccer player
- Hikaru Midorikawa, Japanese voice actor
May 3
- Nina Paley, American cartoonist
- Li Yong, Chinese host (d. 2018)
May 4
- Julian Barratt, English comedian, actor, musician and music producer
- Momoko Kikuchi, Japanese actress and singer
May 5 – John Soko, Zambian footballer (d. 1993)
May 7
- Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish-born musician
- Traci Lords, American actress
May 8 – Mickaël Madar, French footballer
May 9
- Carla Overbeck, American soccer player
- Marie-José Pérec, French athlete
- Nataša Pirc Musar, Slovenian politician, attorney, author, journalist and 5th President of Slovenia
May 10 – Al Murray, English comedian
May 12 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
May 13
- Sonja Zietlow, German television presenter
- Scott Morrison, 30th Prime Minister of Australia
May 14 - Greg Davies, English actor, comedian and presenter
May 16 – Chingmy Yau, Hong Kong actress
May 17 – Constance Menard, French professional dressage rider
May 18 – Vanessa Leggett, American freelance journalist, author, lecturer and First Amendment advocate
May 19 – Kyle Eastwood, American jazz bass musician
May 20
- Timothy Olyphant, American actor
- Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby player
May 22
- Michael Kelly, American actor
- Graham Linehan, Irish television writer and director
May 23 – John Ortiz, American actor
May 24 – Charles De'Ath, English actor
May 26 – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
May 27
- Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player
- Frank Thomas, American baseball player
May 28 – Kylie Minogue, Australian actress and singer
May 30 – Zacarias Moussaoui, French-Moroccan 9/11 conspirator

June

June 1 – Jason Donovan, Australian actor and singer
June 2
- Beetlejuice, American entertainer, member of the Wack Pack (The Howard Stern Show)
- Jon Culshaw, English impressionist
June 4 – Scott Wolf, American actor
June 5 – Sandra Annenberg, Brazilian newscaster, previously actress
- Mel Giedroyc, English comedian and presenter
June 9 – Aleksandr Konovalov, Russian lawyer and politician
June 10
- Bill Burr, American comedian
- Nobutoshi Canna, Japanese voice actor
June 14 – Yasmine Bleeth, American actress
June 16 – Mariana Mazzucato, Italian born-American economist
June 20 – Mateusz Morawiecki, Polish banker and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Poland
June 24 – Boris Gelfand, Israeli chess grandmaster
June 25 – Albert Fulivai, Tongan rugby league player
June 26
- Paolo Maldini, Italian football player
- Jovenel Moïse, 42nd President of Haiti (d. 2021)
- Iwan Roberts, Welsh footballer
June 27 – Isabel Saint Malo, Panamian politician
June 28
- Chayanne, Puerto Rican-American singer
- Adam Woodyatt, English actor
June 29 – Theoren Fleury, Canadian ice hockey player
June 30 – Phil Anselmo, American heavy metal vocalist

July

July 5
- Ken Akamatsu, Japanese manga artist
- Michael Stuhlbarg, American actor
- Darin LaHood, American attorney and politician
July 6 – Rashid Sidek, Malaysian badminton player and coach
July 7
- Jorja Fox, American actress
- Allen Payne, American actor
- Jeff VanderMeer, American writer
July 8
- Billy Crudup, American actor
- Akio Suyama, Japanese voice actor
- Josephine Teo, Singaporean politician
- Michael Weatherly, American actor
July 9 – Eduardo Santamarina, Mexican actor
July 10 – Hassiba Boulmerka, Algerian athlete
July 11 – Conrad Vernon, American voice actor and director
July 13
- Robert Gant, American actor
- Omi Minami, Japanese voice actress
July 14 – Samantha Gori, Italian basketball player
July 15
- Leticia Calderón, Mexican actress
- Eddie Griffin, American actor and comedian
July 16
- Dhanraj Pillay, Indian field hockey player
- Barry Sanders, American football player
- Olga de Souza, Brazilian-Italian singer, model and dancer
July 17
- Darren Day, British actor and TV presenter
- Beth Littleford, American actress and comedian
July 18 – Grant Bowler, New Zealand-born Australian actor
July 19 – Robert Flynn, American vocalist and guitarist (Machine Head)
July 23
- Gary Payton, American basketball player
- Stephanie Seymour, American model and actress
July 24
- Kristin Chenoweth, American actress and singer
- Laura Leighton, American actress
- Troy Kotsur, American actor
July 25 – John Grant, American singer-songwriter
July 27 – Julian McMahon, Australian actor
July 30
- Robert Korzeniowski, Polish athlete
- Terry Crews, American actor, television host, artist, and former American football player

August

August 1 – Pavo Urban, Croatian photographer (d. 1991)
August 3 – Rod Beck, American baseball player (d. 2007)
August 4
- Lee Mack, English actor and stand-up comedian
- Olga Neuwirth, Austrian composer
August 5 – Patricia Tarabini, Argentine tennis player
- Marine Le Pen, French politician
- Colin McRae, Scottish rally car driver (d. 2007)
August 6
August 7 – Lynn Strait, American musician (d. 1998)
August 8 – Kimberly Brooks, American actress and voice artist
August 9
- Gillian Anderson, American actress
- Eric Bana, Australian actor
- James Roy, Australian author
August 11 – Vladimir Kosterin, Ukrainian businessman and foundation president
August 12
- Pablo Rey, Spanish painter
- Paul Tucker, English songwriter and record producer
- Kōji Yusa, Japanese voice actor
August 14
- Catherine Bell, American actress
- Darren Clarke, Northern Irish professional golfer
- Jason Leonard, English rugby player
- Jennifer Flavin, businesswoman and former model
August 15 – Debra Messing, American actress
August 16 – Arvind Kejriwal, Indian politician
August 17
- Ed McCaffrey, American football player
- Bruno van Pottelsberghe, Belgian economist
- Helen McCrory, English actress (d. 2021)
August 20
- Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
- Yuri Shiratori Japanese actress and singer
- Bai Yansong, Chinese host
August 21
- Dina Carroll, British singer
- Stretch, American rapper and record producer (d. 1995)
August 24
- Shoichi Funaki, Japanese professional wrestler
- Hiroshi Kitadani, Japanese singer
- Tim Salmon, American baseball player
- Daniel Pollock, Australian actor (d. 1992)
August 25 – Rachael Ray, American television chef and host
August 27 – Luis Tascón, Venezuelan politician (d. 2010)
August 28
- Billy Boyd, Scottish actor
- Tom Warburton, American animator
August 31
- Valdon Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician and Australian football player
- Hideo Nomo, Japanese baseball player

September

September 1
- Mohamed Atta, 9/11 ringleader of the hijackers and pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
- Atsuko Yuya, Japanese voice actress
September 3 – Raymond Coulthard, English actor
September 4
- John DiMaggio, American voice actor and comedian
- Mike Piazza, American baseball player
September 5 – Thomas Levet, French golfer
September 7 – Marcel Desailly, French footballer
September 9 – Julia Sawalha, English actress
September 10
- Big Daddy Kane, American hip-hop artist
- Guy Ritchie, British film director
September 11
- Kay Hanley, American musician
- Tetsuo Kurata, Japanese actor
September 13 – Laura Cutina, Romanian artistic gymnast
September 15 – Danny Nucci, American actor
September 16 – Marc Anthony, American actor and singer
September 17
- Anastacia, American singer-songwriter
- Tito Vilanova, Spanish football manager (d. 2014)
September 18 – Toni Kukoč, Croatian basketball player
September 20 – Van Jones, African-American author
September 21
- Lisa Angell, French singer
- Kevin Buzzard, British mathematician
- Ricki Lake, American actress, producer, and television presenter
September 22 – Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, 62nd Prime Minister of Romania
September 23 – Michelle Thomas, American actress (d. 1998)
September 25
- Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, (d. 2013)
- John A. List, American economist
- Will Smith, African-American actor and rapper
September 26
- James Caviezel, American actor
- Michelle Meldrum, American guitarist (d. 2008)
- Tricia O'Kelley, American actress
- Ben Shenkman, American television, film and stage actor
September 27
- Mari Kiviniemi, 62nd Prime Minister of Finland
- Paul Rudish, American voice actor and animator
September 28
- Mika Häkkinen, Finnish double Formula 1 world champion
- Naomi Watts, British actress and film producer
September 29
- Patrick Burns, American paranormal investigator and television personality
- Luke Goss, English singer and actor
- Alex Skolnick, American jazz/heavy metal guitarist
- Samir Soni, Indian film and TV actor
September 30 – Bennet Omalu, Nigerian pathologist

October

October 1
- Kevin Griffin, American singer-songwriter, frontman of Better Than Ezra
- Mark Durden-Smith, British television presenter
- Jay Underwood, American actor
October 2
- Lucy Cohu, English actress
- Victoria Derbyshire, English broadcast presenter
- Jana Novotná, Czech tennis player (d. 2017)
October 3 – Nadia Calviño, Spanish politician
October 7
- Luminița Anghel, Romanian dance/pop recording artist, songwriter, television personality and politician
- Thom Yorke, British singer-songwriter
October 8
- Daniela Castelo, Argentine journalist (d. 2011)
- Emily Procter, American actress
October 9
- Troy Davis, American high-profile death row inmate and human rights activist (d. 2011)
- Pete Docter, American animator, director
October 10
- Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountainbiker
- Feridun Düzağaç, Turkish rock singer-songwriter
- Richard Duke, My Dad
October 11
- Tiffany Grant, American voice actress
- Jane Krakowski, American actress
- Brett Salisbury, American football quarterback
October 12
- Paul Harragon, Australian rugby league player
- Hugh Jackman, Australian actor, singer, and producer
October 13
- Preet Bharara, Indian-American politician
- Tisha Campbell-Martin, American actress and singer
October 14
- Matthew Le Tissier, English footballer
October 15
- Didier Deschamps, French footballer
- Jyrki 69, Finnish singer
- Nashwa Mustafa, Egyptian actress
October 16 – Michael Stich, German tennis player
October 20 – Damien Timmer, British joint-managing director, television producer, television executive producer
October 22 – Shaggy, Jamaican singer
October 24 – Mark Walton, American story artist, actor
October 27 – Alain Auderset, Swedish writer
October 28 – Juan Orlando Hernández, 55th President of Honduras
October 29
- Johann Olav Koss, Norwegian speed skater
- Tsunku, Japanese singer, music producer and song composer
- John Farley, American actor and comedian
October 30
- Moira Quirk, English actress and voice actress
- Jack Plotnick, American film and television actor, writer, and producer

November

November 1 – Silvio Fauner, Italian cross-country skier
November 4
- Lee Germon, New Zealand cricketer
- Daniel Landa, Czech composer, singer and actor
- Miles Long, American pornographic actor and director
November 5
- Mr. Catra, Brazilian musician (d. 2018)
- Sam Rockwell, American actor
- Seth Gilliam, African-American actor
- Penny Wong, Australian politician, Foreign Minister
November 6 – Kelly Rutherford, American actress
November 7 – Ignacio Padilla, Mexican writer (d. 2016)
November 8
- Parker Posey, American actress
- Zara Whites, Dutch actress
November 9 – Nazzareno Carusi, Italian classical pianist
November 10 – Tracy Morgan, African-American actor and comedian
November 12
- Kathleen Hanna, American musician and activist
- Aya Hisakawa, Japanese voice actress
- Sammy Sosa, Dominican Major League Baseball player
November 13 – Pat Hentgen, American baseball player
November 15
- Fausto Brizzi, Italian screenwriter and film director
- Ol' Dirty Bastard, American rapper (d. 2004)
November 16 – Tammy Lauren, American actress
November 18
- Barry Hunter, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- Luizianne Lins, Brazilian politician
- Owen Wilson, American actor and comedian
November 20
- Chew Chor Meng, Singaporean Chinese television actor
- Jules Trobaugh, American artist and photographer
November 21 – Qiao Hong, Chinese table tennis player
November 23 – Hamid Hassani, Iranian scholar
November 24
- Phil Starbuck, former English footballer
- Awie, Malaysian rock singer
- yukihiro, Japanese musician
November 25
- Tunde Baiyewu, British singer
- Jill Hennessy, Canadian actress
November 27 – Michael Vartan, French actor
November 29
- Hayabusa, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2016)
- Jonathan Knight, American singer
November 30 – Rica Matsumoto, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer

December

December 2
- Lucy Liu, American actress, voice actress, director, singer, dancer, model, and artist
- Rena Sofer, American actress
December 3
- Brendan Fraser, Canadian-American actor
- Montell Jordan, American singer
December 5
- Margaret Cho, American actress and comedian
- Wendi Deng Murdoch, Chinese-American entrepreneur and businesswoman
December 7
- Mark Geyer, Australian rugby league player
- David Kabré, Burkinabe military leader and politician
December 9 – Kurt Angle, American amateur and professional wrestler, 1996 Olympic gold medalist
December 11
- Emmanuelle Charpentier, French biochemist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt, German speed skater
- Eula Valdez, Filipino actress
December 18 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
December 19 – Ken Marino, American actor and comedian
December 20 – Nadia Farès, Moroccan born-French actress
December 21 – Khrystyne Haje, American actress
December 22 – Dina Meyer, American actress
December 23 – Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, American photographer
December 24 – Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress and model (d. 2008)
December 25 – Helena Christensen, Danish model
December 28 – Lior Ashkenazi, Israeli actor
December 30 – Fabrice Guy, French Olympic skier

Unknown date

Eleonora Requena, Venezuelan poet.
Martin Ssempa, Ugandan pastor and internet meme.
Isadora Zubillaga, Venezuelan diplomat and activist.

Deaths

Deaths
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