Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. The year 1960 is known as the "Year of Africa."
Events of 1960
January
February
March
April
- April 1 - Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
- April 1 - The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1.
- April 4
- April 12 - Eric Peugeot, youngest son of the founder of Peugeot, is kidnapped in Paris. Kidnappers release him April 15 in exchange for $300,000 ransom.
- April 13 - The United States launches navigation satellite Transit I-b.
- April 13 - The Blue Streak missile is cancelled.
- April 16 - Gunman David Pratt attacks South African Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd in Johannesburg, wounding him seriously.
- April 16 - The Times of London abandons use of the term "Imperial and Foreign News", replacing it with "Overseas News", and changes its house style from "to-day" to "today".
- April 16 - On the campaign trail in West Virginia, Senator John F. Kennedy says, in reply to a question about his Roman Catholic faith, "I don't think that my religion is anyone's business."
- April 21 - In Brazil, the country's capital (Federal District) is shifted from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília. The Guanabara State is founded to succeed Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian Federal District.
- April 27 - Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
May
- May 1 - A Soviet missile shoots down an American Lockheed U2 spy plane; the pilot Francis Gary Powers is captured.
- May 1 - In India, May 1st is declared as 'Maharashtra Divas', i.e., Maharashtra Day (the same day is also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas', i.e., Workers Day).
- May 4 - West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is fired because of his Nazi past.
- May 6 - President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
- May 9 - The U.S. FDA announces that it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making it the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
- May 10 - The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the Earth.
- May 11 - In Buenos Aires, 4 Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who was using the alias "Ricardo Klement".
- May 13 - A Swiss/Austrian expedition makes the first ascent of Dhaulagiri, the world's 7th highest mountain.
- May 14 - The Kenyan African National Congress Party is founded in Kenya, when 3 political parties join forces.
- May 15 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
- May 16 - Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union, thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- May 16 - Theodore Maiman operates the first laser.
- May 20 - In Japan, police carry away Socialist members of the Diet; Parliament then approves a security treaty with the United States.
- May 22 - Great Chilean Earthquake: Chile's subduction fault ruptures from Talcahuano to Taitao Peninsula, causing a tsunami and one of the greatest earthquakes on record. Seismographs in Valdivia crash.
- May 23 - Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
- May 27 - In Turkey, a bloodless military coup d'état removes President Celal Bayar and installs General Cemal Gürsel as head of state.
June
- June 1 - New Zealand's first television transmission occurs when a switch is flicked in Shortland Street, Auckland
- June 4 - The Lake Bodom murders occur in Finland.
- June 6 - U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy wins the California Democratic primary.
- June 9 - Typhoon Mary kills 1,000,000 in the Fukien province of China.
- June 15 - Violent demonstrations at Tokyo University result in 182 arrests, 589 injuries.
- June 15 - BC Ferries, the second largest ferry operator in the world, starts service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.
- June 19 - The Associated Broadcasting Company is founded in the Philippines.
- June 20 - The Mali Federation between Senegal and Sudanese Republic (now Mali) gains independence from France.
- June 23 - Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi announces his resignation.
- June 24 - Joseph Kasavubu is elected the first president of independent Congo.
- June 24 - Avro 748 makes its first flight at Woodford, UK.
- June 26 - British Somaliland gains independence from the United Kingdom; 5 days later it unites with the former Italian Somaliland to create the modern Somali Republic.
- June 28 - The University of Novi Sad is founded.
- June 29 - The Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), the fourth TV station in the Philippines, is launched.
- June 30 - Belgian Congo gains independence from Belgium; civil war follows.
- June 30 - Public demonstrations by democratic and left forces, against Italian government support of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, are heavily suppressed by police.
July
- July 1 - Ghana becomes a Republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ceases to be the Head of state.
- July 1 - A Soviet MiG fighter north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea shoots down a 6-man RB-47. Two United States Air Force officers survive and are imprisoned in Moscow's dreaded Lubyanka prison.
- July 1 - Italian Somailand Gains it's Independence from Italy, 5 days after the British Somailand
- July 4 - Following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state the previous year, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- July 10 - The Soviet Union beats Yugoslavia 2-1 to win the first European Football Championship.
- July 11 - Moise Tshombe declares the Congolese province of Katanga independent; he receives Belgian help.
- July 11 - U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.
- July 12 - Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
- July 14 - The United Nations decides to send troops to Katanga to oversee Belgian troops withdrawal.
- July 18 - Mark Pavey is born. Kevin Davies is born.
- July 20 - Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
- July 21 - Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II — he has made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.
- July 25 - The Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, the subject of a sit-in which sparked sit-ins and pickets across the southern United States in February 1960, serves its first black customer.
- July 25-July 28 - In Chicago, the Republican National Convention nominates U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon for President and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for Vice President.
- July 27 - The OECD is founded in Paris.
August
- August 5 - Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) declares independence from France.
- August 6 - Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
- August 6 - In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Albert Kalonji declares the independence of the Autonomous State of South Kasai.
- August 7 - Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.
- August 11 - Chad becomes independent.
- August 13 - Central African Republic becomes independent.
- August 15 - Congo-Brazzaville becomes independent.
- August 16 - Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,333 m). He sets unbeaten (as of 2005) world records for: high-altitude jump; free-fall by falling 16 miles (25.7 km) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance, 982 km/h (614 mi/h).
- August 16 - Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- August 17 - The newly named Beatles begin a forty-eight night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany.
- August 17 - Gabon gains independence from France.
- August 17 - The trial of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers begins in Moscow.
- August 19 - Cold War: In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
- August 19 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5, with the dogs Belka and Strelka (Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. The spacecraft returns to earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.
- August 20 - Senegal breaks away from the Mali Federation, declaring independence.
- August 25 - The 1960 Summer Olympics are open in Rome.
- August 25 - The USS Seadragon (SSN-584) surfaces at the North Pole, where the crew plays softball.
- August 29 - Hurricane Donna kills 50 in Florida and New England.
September
- September 1 - Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.
- September 1 - Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasts 2 days).
- September 5 - 1960 Summer Olympics: Cassius Clay wins the gold medal in boxing.
- September 5 - Congo president Joseph Kasavubu fires Patrice Lumumba's government and places him under house arrest.
- September 8 - In Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (which NASA had already activated on July 1).
- September 14 - Colonel Joseph Mobutu takes power in Congo in a military coup.
- September 14 - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela form OPEC.
- September 22 - Mali, sole remaining member of the Mali Federation following the withdrawal of Senegal a month earlier, declares full independence as the Republic of Mali.
- September 26 - The 2 leading U.S. presidential candidates, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy, participate in the first televised presidential debate.
October
November
December
- December 1 - Patrice Lumumba, the deposed premier of the Congo, is arrested by troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu.
- December 1 - A 5-ton Soviet spacecraft containing animals, insects and plants is launched into orbit; it burns up upon re-entry.
- December 2 - The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Geoffrey Francis Fisher, talks with Pope John XXIII for about an hour in the Vatican. It is the first time in more than 500 years that a head of the Anglican Church had visited the Pope.
- December 2 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who have been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
- December 4 - The admission to the United Nations of Mauritania is vetoed by the USSR.
- December 5 - Pierre Lagaillarde, who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, fails to appear in a Paris court. He has reportedly fled with 4 fellow defendants to Spain en route to Algeria.
- December 7 - The United Nations Security Council is called into session by the Soviet Union, to consider Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
- December 9 - French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is marked by bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria's largest cities, killing 127 people.
- December 9 - First Episode of long-running drama Coronation Street airs. It was originally planned to be a 16 part drama but became such a success that it is still running 5 times or more per week.
- December 12 - The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Federal Court ruling that Louisiana's segregation laws are unconstitutional.
- December 12 - Reina-Valera 1960 published, the standard Bible of Hispanics
- December 13 - While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard revolts unsuccessfully against his rule. The rebels proclaim the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, as Emperor.
- December 13 - Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras found the Central American Common Market.
- December 13 - Navy Commander Leroy Heath (Pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator) establish a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27,874.2 metres) in an A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000 kilogram payload, besting the previous record by over 4 miles.
- December 14 - Antoine Gizenga proclaims in Stanleyville, Congo, that he has assumed the premiership.
- December 14 - The OECD is formed in Paris.
- December 15 - King Mahendra of Nepal deposes the government and takes power into his own hands.
- December 15 - King Baudouin of Belgium marries Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon.
- December 16 - U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit 5 atomic submarines and 80 Polaris missiles to NATO by the end of 1963.
- December 16 - 1960 New York air disaster: United Airlines DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Constellation over Staten Island, New York City. All 128 passengers and crew on both planes are killed, as are 6 persons on the ground.
- December 17 - Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia suppress the revolt that began December 13, giving power back to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
- December 19 - Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.
- December 20 - Discoverer XIX is launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, to measure radiation.
- December 27 - France sets off its third nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggane, Algeria.
Ongoing
World population
- World population: 3,021,475,000
- Africa: 277,398,000
- Asia: 1,701,336,000
- Europe: 604,401,000
- Latin-America: 218,300,000
- Northern America: 204,152,000
- Oceania: 15,888,000
Births
January-February
- January 2 - Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
- January 3 - Sandeep Marwah, Founder of Noida Film City
- January 4 - Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)
- January 6 - Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player
- January 6 - Nigella Lawson, British chef and writer
- January 6 - Howie Long, American football player
- January 12 - Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
- January 12 - Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player
- January 13 - Kevin Anderson, American actor
- January 20 - Will Wright, American computer game designer best known for games such as The Sims, Sim City, and Spore (video game)
- January 22 - Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (INXS) (d. 1997)
- January 23 - Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (d. 1998)
- January 28 - Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
- January 29 - Greg Louganis, American diver
- January 29 - Gia Carangi, American model (d. 1986)
- January 29 - Sean Kerly, British field hockey player
- February 2 - Jari Porttila, Finnish sports journalist
- February 4 - Tim Booth, British singer (James)
- February 13 - Pierluigi Collina, Italian football (soccer) referee
- February 13 - Gary Patterson, American football coach
- February 16 - Cherie Chung, Hong Kong actress
- February 19 - Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- February 21 - Henry G. Brinton, American writer and minister
- February 23 - Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
- February 27 - Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
- February 28 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model and actress (d. 1980)
March-April
- March 2 - Hector Calma, Filipino basketball player
- March 4 - Mikko Kuustonen, Finnish singer and songwriter
- March 4 - John Mugabi, Ugandan boxer and world Junior Middleweight champion
- March 4 - Mykelti Williamson, American actor
- March 7 - Joe Carter, baseball player
- March 7 - Ivan Lendl, Czech tennis player
- March 8 - Finn Carter, American actress
- March 10 - Anne MacKenzie, British broadcaster
- March 12 - Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer
- March 12 - Maki Nomiya, Japanese singer (Pizzicato Five)
- March 13 - Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2)
- March 13 - Joe Ranft, American animator (d. 2005)
- March 14 - Kirby Puckett, baseball player (d. 2006)
- March 16 - Jenny Eclair (British comedian, actress and novelist
- March 18 - Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
- March 20 - Norm Magnusson, American artist
- March 21 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
- March 23 - Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
- March 24 - Nena Kerner, German singer
- March 26 - Marcus Allen, American football player
- March 27 - Hans Pflügler, German footballer
- March 27 - Renato Russo, Brazilian singer (Legião Urbana) (d. 1996)
- April 1 - Michael Praed, British actor
- April 2 - Linford Christie, British athlete
- April 3 - Elizabeth Gracen, American beauty queen, actress, and model
- April 4 - Jane Eaglen, English soprano
- April 4 - Hugo Weaving, Australian actor
- April 11 - Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television show host
- April 14 - Brad Garrett, American actor
- April 16 - Rafael Benitez, Spanish football manager
- April 16 - Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
- April 18 - Neo Rauch, German painter
- April 19 - Frank Viola, baseball player
- April 23 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
- April 23 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
- April 24 - Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
- April 26 - Roger Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- April 28 - John Cerutti, baseball player and announcer (d. 2004)
May-June
- May 6 - John Flansburgh, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- May 6 - Roma Downey, Irish-born actress
- May 10 - Bono, Irish singer (U2)
- May 12 - John Egan, Australian author [The Shed; Canetoad Times (as Herling Stayden)]
- May 14 - Ronan Tynan, Irish tenor
- May 18 - Jari Kurri, Finnish hockey player
- May 18 - Yannick Noah, French tennis player
- May 20 - John Billingsley, American actor
- May 21 - Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- May 22 - Hideaki Anno, Japanese director
- May 23 - Linden Ashby, American actor
- May 31 - Greg C. Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 4 - Bradley Walsh, English comedian and actor
- June 6 - Steve Vai, American guitarist
- June 8 - Mick Hucknall, English singer and songwriter (Simply Red)
- June 12 - Corynne Charby, French model, actress and singer
- June 14 - Peter Mitchell, Australian news reader
- June 16 - Peter Sterling, Australian rugby player
- June 17 - Michael Monroe, Finnish singer (Hanoi Rocks)
- June 18 - Kevin Drinkell, English footballer
- June 20 - John Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- June 21 - Kevin Harlan, American sports announcer
- June 28 - John Elway, American football player
- June 30 - Tony Bellotto, Brazilian guitarist and writer
July-August
- July 3 - Vince Clarke, English songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)
- July 5 - Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor
- July 5 - Rick Devin, American guitarist and singer/songwriter
- July 7 - Kevin A. Ford, American NASA astronaut
- July 9 - Charles Gavin, Brazilian drummer and producer
- July 13 - Ian Hislop, British broadcaster and editor
- July 14 - Kyle Gass, American music singer-song-writer-guitarist/actor
- July 17 - Robin Shou, Hong Kong actor
- July 17 - Jan Wouters, Dutch football player and manager
- July 21 - Ezequiel Viñao, Argentine-born composer
- July 21 - Fritz Walter, German footballer
- July 22 - Jon Oliva American vocalist and pianist (Savatage)
- August 1 - Chuck D, American rapper, leader of Public Enemy
- August 4 - José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
- August 7 - David Duchovny, American actor
- August 8 - Ulrich Maly, German politician and Mayor of Nuremberg
- August 10 - Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
- August 10 - Todd David Hess, USAF Colonel and surgeon
- August 13 - Phil Taylor, English darts player
- August 14 - Sarah Brightman, English soprano singer and actress
- August 17 - Sean Penn, American actor
- August 19 - Morten Andersen, American football player
- August 24 - Cal Ripken, Jr., baseball player
- August 26 - Branford Marsalis, American musician
- August 30 - Chalino Sanchez, Mexican musician (d. 1992)
September-October
- September 6 - Bob Stoops, American football coach
- September 9 - Hugh Grant, English actor
- September 10 - Colin Firth, English actor
- September 16 - John Franco, baseball player
- September 22 - Joan Jett, U.S. musician, vocalist & leader of "Joan Jett & The Blackhearts"
- October 6 - Richard Jobson Scottish singer-songwriter (Skids) and film-maker, best known as a television presenter
- October 7 - Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
- October 12 - Alexei Kudrin, a Russian statesman and the Russian Minister of Finance
- October 17 - Guy Henry, English actor
- October 18 - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- October 24 - Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)
- October 28 - Landon Curt Noll, Astronomer, Cryptographer and Mathematician: youngest to world record for the largest known prime 3 times
- October 29 - Finola Hughes, British actress
- October 30 - Diego Armando Maradona, Argentine footballer
November-December
- November 3 - Karch Kiraly, American volleyball player
- November 4 - Frl. Menke, German pop singer
- November 10 - Neil Gaiman, English author
- November 11 - Peter Parros, American actor
- November 11 - Stanley Tucci, American actor and film director
- November 17 - Neil Flynn, American actor
- November 17 - Jonathan Ross, English television presenter
- November 18 - Kim Wilde, English singer and gardener
- November 20 - Marc Labrèche, Canadian actor and television host
- November 25 - Amy Grant, American musician
- November 25 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer and journalist (d. 1999)
- November 26 - Harold Reynolds, baseball player and broadcaster
- November 27 - Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine
- November 30 - Rich Fields, American television personality
- December 2 - Rick Savage, English bassist (Def Leppard)
- December 3 - Daryl Hannah, American actress
- December 4 - Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
- December 5 - Brian Bromberg American Jazz bassist and composer
- December 10 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
- December 10 - Michael Schoeffling, American actor and model
- December 14 - Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
- December 18 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- December 24 - Carol Vorderman, British television presenter
- December 24 - Eva Tamargo, American actress
- December 27 - Maryam d'Abo, British actress
- December 28 - John Fitzgerald, Australian tennis player
- December 29 - Dave Pelzer, American author
- December 31 - John Allen Muhammad, American serial killer
- December 31 - Steve Bruce, English footballer
Deaths
January-June
- January 1 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
- January 4 - Albert Camus, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (automobile accident) (b. 1913)
- January 9 - Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's novelist (b. 1880)
- January 12 - Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
- January 24 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
- January 27 - Osvaldo Aranha, Brazilian politician (b. 1894)
- January 30 - J. C. Kumarappa, Indian economist (b. 1892)
- February 2 - Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja, Hindu teacher (b. 1884)
- February 3 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
- February 9 - Jaroslav Joseph Polivka, Czech structural engineer (b. 1886)
- February 10 - Aloysius Stepinac, Catholic prelate (b. 1898)
- February 11 - Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
- February 20 - Sir Leonard Woolley, British archaeologist (b. 1880)
- February 21 - Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (b. 1901), last Vicereine of India
- February 29 - Walter Yust, American encyclopedia editor (b. 1894)
- March 2 - Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (b. 1874)
- March 9 - Jack Beattie, Irish politician (b. 1886)
- April 1 - Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, King of Malaysia (b. 1895)
- April 17 - Eddie Cochran, American singer (b. 1938)
- April 24 - Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- May 3 - Masa Niemi, Finnish actor (b. 1914)
- May 8 - J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
- May 11 - John D. Rockefeller Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
- May 23 - Georges Claude, French inventor (b. 1870)
- May 27 - Edward Brophy, American actor (b. 1895)
- May 30 - Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1890)
- May 31 - Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (b. 1890)
- June 4 - Józef Haller de Hallenburg, Polish general (b. 1873)
- June 14 - Ana Pauker, Romanian politician (b. 1893)
- June 18 - Shalva Aleksi-Meskhishvili, Georgian politician (b. 1884)
- June 25 - Tommy Corcoran, baseball player (b. 1869)
- June 27 - Lottie Dod, English athlete (b. 1871)
July-December
- July 6 - Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician (b. 1897)
- July 14 - Maurice, 6th duc de Broglie, French physicist (b. 1875)
- July 15 - Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Italian cinematographer (b. 1890)
- July 15 - Set Persson, Swedish politician (b. 1897)
- July 16 - John P. Marquand, American novelist (b. 1893)
- August 23 - Oscar Hammerstein II, writer and lyricist (b. 1895)
- August 27 - Stanley Clifford Weyman, U.S. impostor (b. 1890)
- August 29 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (b. 1888)
- September 1 - Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, King of Malaysia (b. 1898)
- September 8 - Feroze Gandhi, Indian politician (b. 1912)
- September 9 - Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (b. 1911)
- September 20 - Ida Rubinstein, iconic Russian ballet dancer (b. 1885)
- September 24 - Mátyás Seiber, Hungarian composer (b. 1905)
- October 31 - H. L. Davis, American author (b. 1894)
- November 2 - Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (b. 1896)
- November 5 - Mack Sennett, Canadian film producer and director (b. 1880)
- November 5 - Johnny Horton, American country singer (b. 1925)
- November 7 - A.P. Carter, American singer and songwriter (b. 1891)
- November 14 - Walter Catlett, American actor (b. 1889)
- November 16 - Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
- November 24 - Grand Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas II (b. 1882)
- November 25 - The Mirabal Sisters, three Dominican revolutionaries (b. 1924, 1926, 1935)
- December 2 - Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot, German architect, interior designer and designer (b. 1883)
- December 26 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
Nobel prizes
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Ben-Hur, Sam Zimbalist (producer)
- Best Foreign Language Film: Orfeu Negro, France
- Best Director: William Wyler, Ben-Hur
- Best Actor: Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur
- Best Supporting Actor: Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur
- Best Actress: Simone Signoret, Room at the Top
- Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Winters, The Diary of Anne Frank
- Best Story and Screenplay: Pillow Talk by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Room at the Top by Neil Paterson
- Best Original Song: "High Hopes" from A Hole in the Head
- Best Scoring of a Comedy or Dramatic Picture: Ben-Hur, Miklos Rozsa
- Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Porgy and Bess, Andre Previn and Ken Darby
Ship events
Notes
External links
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