Famous birthdays, deaths and events of 1955
Birthdays
- January 2 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor
- January 2 - Vivien Savage, French singer
- January 3 - Palmolive, English musician (The Slits
- January 4 - Mark Hollis, English musician and composer (Talk Talk)
- January 6 - Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor
- January 6 - Richard Corbett, Labour Member of the European Parliament
- January 8 - Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer
- January 8 - Mike Reno, Canadian musician
- January 9 - Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic
- January 9 - J. K. Simmons, American actor
- January 10 - Michael Schenker, German guitarist (UFO)
- January 12 - Rockne S. O'Bannon, American screenwriter
- January 13 - Paul Kelly, Australian singer
- January 13 - Jay McInerney, American writer
- January 15 - Nigel Benson, English author
- January 17 - Steve Earle, American musician
- January 18 - Kevin Costner, American actor
- January 18 - Fergus Martin, Irish artist
- January 19 - Simon Rattle, English conductor
- January 19 - Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-born actor and comedian
- January 20 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
- January 20 - Joe Doherty, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
- January 20 - Hiromi Ōta, Japanese singer
- January 21 - Jeff Koons, American artist
- January 22 - Timothy R. Ferguson, American politician
- January 25 - Terry Chimes, English musician (The Clash)
- January 26 - Eddie Van Halen, Dutch musician
- January 27 - Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player
- January 27 - John G. Roberts, 17th Chief Justice of the United States
- January 27 - Alexander Stuart, British author
- January 27 - Koji Ushikubo, Japanese racing driver
- January 28 - Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France
- January 29 - Eddie Jordan, American basketball player and head coach
- January 29 - Lynne McGranger, Australian actress
- January 30 - Curtis Strange, American golfer
- January 30 - John Baldacci, American politician
- January 30 - Judith Tarr, American author
- February 1 - Ernie Camacho, baseball player
- February 2 - Virginia Leng, British equestrian
- February 3 - Stephen Euin Cobb, American novelist
- February 3 - Kirsty Wark, British broadcast journalist
- February 4 - Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak Prime minister
- February 5 - Mike Heath, baseball player
- February 6 - Michael Pollan, American journalist
- February 7 - Rolf Benirschke, American football player
- February 7 - Mario Coutinho, Brazilian physician
- February 7 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor
- February 8 - John Grisham, American writer
- February 8 - Nancy Oliver, American playwright and television writer
- February 9 - Jim J. Bullock, American actor
- February 9 - Charles Shaughnessy, British actor
- February 10 - Chris Adams, British pro wrestler and judoka (d. 2001)
- February 10 - Jim Cramer, American television personality
- February 10 - Greg Norman, Australian golfer
- February 12 - Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
- February 12 - Bill Laswell, American bassist and record producer
- February 12 - Chet Lemon, American baseball player
- February 13 - Joe Birkett, American lawyer
- February 14 - Ronald Desruelles, Belgian athlete
- February 14 - James Eckhouse, American actor
- February 14 - Carol Kalish, American publishing executive (d. 1991)
- February 14 - Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler
- February 15 - Christopher McDonald, American actor
- February 15 - Janice Dickinson, American Ex-Supermodel
- February 16 - Hunt Block, American actor
- February 17 - Mo Yan, Chinese novelist
- February 18 - Miles Tredinnick, English playwright
- February 18 - Raymond Rougeau, Canadian professional wrestler
- February 19 - Jeff Daniels, American actor
- February 21 - Sir Steven Fayburgh, British diplomat
- February 21 - Kelsey Grammer, American actor
- February 22 - Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
- February 23 - Tom Bodett, American voice actor
- February 23 - Howard Jones, British pop singer
- February 24 - Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer
- February 24 - Alain Prost, French race car driver
- February 26 - Andreas Maislinger, founder of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
- February 27 - Peter Christopherson, English musician and video director
- February 28 - Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian
- March 2 - Shoko Asahara, Japanese cult leader
- March 2 - Jay Osmond, American musician (The Osmonds)
- March 2 - Ken Salazar, American politician
- March 3 - Andy Breckman, American comedian and radio personality
- March 4 - Rowland Charles Gould, (Boon Gould) English musician
- March 4 - Dominique Pinon, French actor
- March 4 - James Weaver, English race car driver
- March 5 - Penn Jillette, American magician and comedian
- March 6 - Alberta Watson, Canadian actress
- March 7 - Tommy Kramer, American football player
- March 7 - Anupam Kher, Bollywood Actor
- March 8 - Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1981)
- March 9 - Teo Fabi, Italian racing driver
- March 9 - Ornella Muti, Italian actress
- March 10 - Youssra, Egyptian actress and singer
- March 10 - Toshio Suzuki, Japanese racing driver
- March 11 - Nina Hagen, German singer
- March 13 - Bruno Conti, Italian footballer
- March 13 - Glenne Headly, American actress
- March 15 - Dee Snider, American singer (Twisted Sister)
- March 16 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
- March 16 - Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
- March 17 - Gary Sinise, American actor
- March 17 - Cynthia McKinney, American politician
- March 18 - Francis G. Slay, Mayor of St. Louis
- March 19 - Bruce Willis, American actor
- March 19 - Simon Yam, Hong Kong actor
- March 22 - Pete Sessions, American politician
- March 22 - Lena Olin, Swedish actress
- March 22 - Valdis Zatlers, 7th President of Latvia
- March 23 - Moses Malone, American basketball player
- March 23 - Petrea Burchard, American actress
- March 24 - Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player
- March 25 - Daniel Boulud, French chef and restaurateur
- March 25 - Lee Mazzilli, American baseball player
- March 26 - Danny Arndt, Canadian ice hockey player
- March 28 - John Alderdice, Northern Irish politician
- March 28 - Reba McEntire, American singer and actress
- March 29 - Earl Campbell, American football player
- March 29 - Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
- March 29 - Christopher Lawford, Irish actor
- March 29 - Marina Sirtis, English actress
- March 30 - Randy VanWarmer, American singer and songwriter (d. 2004)
- March 31 - Angus Young, Scottish-born Australian guitarist (AC/DC)
- March 31 - Robert Vance, New Zealand cricketer
- April 1 - Gregg Jarrett, American television anchor
- April 1 - Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani statesman
- April 2 - Michael Stone, British terrorist
- April 5 - Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist
- April 5 - Janice Long, English broadcaster
- April 5 - Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress
- April 6 - Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian-born serial killer
- April 6 - Michael Rooker, American actor
- April 7 - Werner Stocker, German actor (d. 1993)
- April 8 - Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
- April 8 - Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
- April 8 - Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
- April 8 - David Wu, Taiwanese-born American politician
- April 9 - Joolz Denby, English poet and novelist
- April 9 - Kate Heyhoe, American food writer
- April 10 - Lesley Garrett, British soprano
- April 11 - Kevin Brady, American politician
- April 11 - Michael Callen, American musician (d. 1993)
- April 13 - Ole von Beust, Mayor of Hamburg
- April 13 - Lupe Pintor, Mexican boxer
- April 15 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)
- April 16 - Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
- April 16 - Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- April 17 - Pete Shelley, British musician
- April 22 - Johnnie To, Hong Kong film director and producer
- April 23 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
- April 23 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
- April 24 - John de Mol, Dutch media businessman
- April 25 - Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor
- April 25 - Américo Gallego, Argentine footballer
- April 26 - Mike Scott, American baseball player
- April 28 - Paul Guilfoyle, American actor
- April 28 - Nicky Gumbel, British author and priest
- April 29 - Kate Mulgrew, American actress
- April 29 - Wendee Lee, American voice actress
- April 29 - Gino Quilico, Canadian baritone
- April 30 - Nicolas Hulot, French journalist
- May 1 - Nick Feldman, English musician
- May 2 - Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
- May 3 - David Hookes, Australian cricketer (d. 2004)
- May 4 - Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer
- May 4 - Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
- May 5 - Melinda Culea, American actress
- May 6 - Tom Bergeron, American game show host
- May 7 - Ben Poquette, American basketball player
- May 7 - Peter Reckell, American actor
- May 7 - Kevin Reed, American theologian
- May 9 - Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
- May 9 - Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
- May 9 - Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
- May 10 - Chris Berman, American sportscaster
- May 10 - Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
- May 11 - John DeStefano, Jr.
- May 14 - Dennis Martínez, Nicaraguan baseball player
- May 15 - Lee Horsley, American actor
- May 16 - Olga Korbut, Russian gymnast
- May 16 - Jack Morris, American baseball player
- May 16 - Hazel O'Connor, English singer
- May 16 - Debra Winger, American actress
- May 17 - Bill Paxton, American actor and film director
- May 18 - Chow Yun-Fat, Hong Kong actor
- May 19 - James Gosling, Canadian computer programmer
- May 20 - Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
- May 21 - Paul Barber, British field hockey player
- May 21 - Stan Lynch, American drummer
- May 22 - Jimmy Lyon, American guitarist (Eddie Money)
- May 22 - Dale Winton, British radio DJ and television presenter
- May 22 - Jerry Dammers, English musician (The Specials)
- May 22 - Chalmers "Spanky" Alford, American jazz guitarist (d. 2008)
- May 23 - Luka Bloom, Irish singer/songwriter
- May 24 - Rosanne Cash, American singer
- May 24 - David Leonard, American musician
- May 25 - Alistair Burt, British politician
- May 26 - Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef
- May 26 - Wesley Walker, American football player
- May 27 - Richard Schiff, American actor
- May 27 - Eric Bischoff, American professional wrestling promoter
- May 28 - John McGeoch, Scottish musician (Siouxsie and the Banshees) (d. 2004)
- May 28 - Mark Howe, American ice hockey player
- May 29 - John Hinckley, Jr.
- May 29 - Sut Jhally, Kenyan-born American educator
- May 29 - Ken Schrader, American race car driver
- May 30 - Jake "The Snake" Roberts, American wrestler
- May 30 - Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash)
- May 31 - Tommy Emmanuel, Australian Guitarist CGP
- June 1 - Ralph Morse, British actor
- June 1 - Tony Snow, News Anchor
- June 2 - Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
- June 2 - Michael Steele, American musician (The Bangles)
- June 2 - Chantal Hochuli, Swiss-born socialite
- June 4 - Paul Stewart, English writer
- June 4 - Mary Testa, American stage actress
- June 5 - Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian football player
- June 6 - Sandra Bernhard, American actress and comedian
- June 7 - William Forsythe, American actor
- June 7 - Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
- June 8 - Tim Berners-Lee, English internet developer
- June 8 - Griffin Dunne, American actor
- June 8 - Greg Ginn, American guitarist (Black Flag)
- June 11 - Yuriy Sedykh, Soviet hammer thrower
- June 13 - Alan Hansen, Scottish football pundit
- June 14 - Michael D. Duvall, California State Assemblyman
- June 14 - Paul O'Grady, British comedian and television presenter
- June 15 - Julie Hagerty, American actress
- June 15 - David Kennedy, Kennedy family member (d. 1984)
- June 16 - Laurie Metcalf, American actress
- June 17 - Gail Jones, Australian author
- June 21 - Tim Bray, Canadian computer programmer
- June 21 - Leigh McCloskey, American actor
- June 21 - Michel Platini, French footballer
- June 22 - Green Gartside, Welsh singer songwriter
- June 23 - Pierre Corbeil, Canadian politician
- June 23 - Glenn Danzig, American musician (The Misfits and Danzig)
- June 23 - Maggie Greenwald, American film director and writer
- June 23 - Jordan, British actress and model
- June 23 - Jean Tigana, French footballer
- June 24 - Betsy Randle, American actress
- June 26 - Mick Jones, British guitarist (The Clash
- June 27 - Isabelle Adjani, French actress
- June 28 - Shirley Cheriton, English actress
- June 28 - Eric Gates, English footballer
- June 28 - Thomas Hampson, American baritone
- June 29 - Terence M. O'Sullivan, American activist
- June 29 - Charles J. Precourt, American astronaut
- June 30 - David Alan Grier, American actor and comedian
- July 1 - Keith Whitley, American singer (d. 1989)
- July 2 - Andrew Divoff, Venezuelan actor
- July 2 - Kevin Michael Grace, Canadian journalist
- July 3 - Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer
- July 4 - John Waite, English singer
- July 5 - Peter McNamara, Australian tennis player
- July 6 - Frank Sontag, American radio personality
- July 6 - William Wall, Irish writer
- July 7 - Len Barker, American baseball player
- July 8 - Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress
- July 9 - Fred Norris, American radio personality
- July 9 - Jimmy Smits, American actor
- July 9 - Willie Wilson, American baseball player
- July 9 - Steve Coppell, English football player and manager
- July 14 - L. Brent Bozell, American author and activist
- July 17 - Paul Stamets, American mycologist and environmentalist
- July 17 - Christopher Chappell, Former Canadian Cricketer
- July 18 - Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
- July 19 - Roger Binny, Former Indian cricketer
- July 20 - Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
- July 21 - Howie Epstein, American musician (d. 2003)
- July 21 - Taco Ockerse, Indonesian singer
- July 22 - Willem Dafoe, American actor
- July 22 - Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistani politician
- July 25 - Iman Abdulmajid, Somali model
- July 25 - Kike Elomaa, Finnish bodybuilder
- July 27 - Cat Bauer, American novelist
- July 27 - Allan Border, Australian cricketer
- July 28 - Nikolay Zimyatov, Russian cross-country skier
- July 29 - Dave Stevens, American illustrator
- July 29 - Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor
- July 31 - Jakie Quartz, French singer
- August 1 - Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (d. 2006)
- August 1 - Arun Lal, Former Indian cricketer
- August 2 - Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
- August 2 - Tim Dunigan, American Actor
- August 3 - Corey Burton, American voice actor
- August 4 - Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
- August 4 - Alberto Gonzales, American U.S. Attorney General
- August 4 - Billy Bob Thornton, American actor and writer
- August 7 - Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer
- August 7 - Greg Nickels, mayor of Seattle
- August 7 - Wayne Knight, American actor
- August 7 - Gregoris Valtinos, Greek actor and director
- August 8 - Diddú, Icelandic soprano and songwriter
- August 8 - Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer
- August 9 - John E. Sweeney, American politician
- August 9 - Peter Schmuck, American sportswriter
- August 11 - Sylvia Hermon, British politician
- August 11 - Marc Bureau, French Canadian politician
- August 12 - Ann M. Martin, American author
- August 12 - Terry Taylor, American retired professional wrestler
- August 13 - Keith Ahlers, British racing driver
- August 13 - Hideo Fukuyama, Japanese racing driver
- August 13 - Paul Greengrass, English film director
- August 17 - Richard Hilton, American heir
- August 18 - Taher ElGamal, Egyptian scientist
- August 19 - Peter Gallagher, American actor
- August 19 - Ned Yost, American baseball player and manager
- August 20 - Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer and writer
- August 22 - Will Shetterly, writer
- August 22 - Chiranjeevi, Telugu film actor
- August 24 - Mike Huckabee, American politician
- August 25 - Vijayakanth, Tamil actor and politician
- August 27 - Laura Fygi, Dutch singer
- August 27 - Robert Richardson, American cinematographer
- August 27 - Diana Scarwid, American actress
- August 29 - Frank Hoste, Belgian cyclist
- August 31 - Edwin Moses, American athlete
- September 1 - Billy Blanks, American martial artist
- September 1 - Bruce Foxton, English bassist (The Jam)
- September 3 - Steve Jones, English musician (Sex Pistols)
- September 4 - Brian Schweitzer, American politician
- September 4 - Garth Le Roux, South African cricketer
- September 7 - Efim Zelmanov, Russian mathematician
- September 7 - Mira Furlan, Croatian actress
- September 9 - John Kricfalusi, Canadian animator
- September 13 - Joe Morris, American musician
- September 15 - Željka Antunović, Croatian politician
- September 15 - Renzo Rosso, Italian clothing designer
- September 16 - Ron Brewer, American basketball player
- September 16 - Janet Ellis, British television presenter
- September 16 - Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer
- September 16 - Robin Yount, American baseball player
- September 17 - Koralia Karanti, Greek actress
- September 17 - Charles Martinet, American actor
- September 18 - Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (d. 2006)
- September 19 - Richard Burmer, American composer and musician (d. 2006)
- September 19 - Rex Smith, American singer and actor
- September 21 - Mika Kaurismäki, Finnish director
- September 21 - Richard Hieb, American astronaut
- September 22 - Jeffrey Leonard, Major League baseball player
- September 24 - Riccardo Illy, Italian politician
- September 25 - Steven Severin, British musician (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
- September 25 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, German footballer
- September 25 - Ludo Coeck, Belgian footballer (d. 1985)
- September 26 - Carlene Carter, American singer
- September 28 - Stéphane Dion, Canadian politician
- September 29 - Benoît Ferreux, French actor
- October 1 - Howard Hewett, R & B Singer
- October 2 - Phil Oakey, English singer (The Human League)
- October 4 - Jorge Valdano, Argentine footballer
- October 5 - Jean-Jacques Lafon, French singer-songwriter
- October 5 - Ángela Molina, Spanish actress
- October 6 - Tony Dungy, American football coach
- October 7 - Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist
- October 7 - Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
- October 8 - Bill Elliott, American racecar driver
- October 8 - Lonnie Pitchford, American blues musician (d. 1998)
- October 8 - Darrell Hammond, American comedian (SNL)
- October 12 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian general
- October 12 - Jane Siberry, Canadian musician
- October 15 - Kulbir Bhaura, British field hockey player
- October 15 - Tanya Roberts, American actress
- October 17 - Georgios Alogoskoufis, Greek politician
- October 18 - Timmy Mallett, British TV presenter
- October 18 - David Twohy, American movie director and screenwriter
- October 18 - Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- October 18 - Vanessa Briscoe Hay, American singer and songwriter (Pylon (band) & Supercluster)
- October 19 - Melpo Kosti, Greek actress
- October 20 - Thomas Newman, American composer
- October 20 - David Profumo, English novelist
- October 20 - Aaron Pryor, American boxer
- October 21 - Rich Mullins, American musician (d. 1997)
- October 25 - Robin Eubanks, American jazz trombonist
- October 25 - Glynis Barber, English actress
- October 25 - Matthias Jabs, German guitarist (Scorpions)
- October 27 - Debra Bowen, American politician
- October 28 - Bill Gates, American software executive
- October 29 - Kevin DuBrow, American singer (Quiet Riot) (d. 2007)
- October 29 - Roger O'Donnell, English musician (The Cure)
- October 29 - Boy Abunda, Filipino journalist and television personality
- November 1 - Beth Leavel, American musical theatre actress
- November 1 - Mike Mendoza, British radio personality
- November 2 - Chris Burnett, American musician
- November 3 - Phil Simms, American football player
- November 4 - Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland
- November 5 - Karan Thapar, Foremost Indian Journalist
- November 5 - Bernard Chazelle, French computer scientist
- November 5 - Nestor Serrano, American actor
- November 6 - Maria Shriver, American journalist
- November 7 - Detlef Ultsch, German judoka
- November 9 - Bob Nault, French Canadian politician
- November 9 - Karen Dotrice, British actress
- November 9 - Fernando Meirelles, Brazilian film director
- November 10 - James Chapman, American novelist
- November 10 - Jack Clark, American baseball player
- November 10 - Roland Emmerich, German film producer and director
- November 11 - Dave Alvin, American songwriter and guitarist
- November 13 - Whoopi Goldberg, American actress
- November 14 - Jack Sikma, American basketball player
- November 15 - Georgie Born, English academic
- November 15 - Henry Corra, American documentarian
- November 16 - Pierre Larouche, Canadian National Hockey League player
- November 17 - Dennis Maruk, Canadian hockey player
- November 17 - Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King
- November 18 - Carter Burwell, American composer
- November 19 - Sam Hamm, American screenwriter
- November 21 - Cedric Maxwell, American basketball player
- November 23 - Steven Brust, American author
- November 23 - Ludovico Einaudi, Italian composer and pianist
- November 23 - Mary Landrieu, American politician
- November 24 - Ian Botham, England test cricketer
- November 24 - Elvis Ramone, American drummer (The Ramones)
- November 24 - Takashi Yuasa, Japanese lawyer
- November 24 - Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Swedish politician
- November 25 - Bruno Tonioli, Italian born British dancer
- November 27 - Bill Nye (The science guy), American engineer and broadcaster
- November 27 - Pierre Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player
- November 28 - Alessandro Altobelli, Italian footballer
- November 28 - Jeffrey Byron, American actor
- November 28 - Adem Jashari, Albanian freedom fighter
- November 29 - Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian
- November 30 - Kevin Conroy, American Actor (Batman in the DC animated universe)
- November 30 - Billy Idol, British musician
- November 30 - Richard Burr, American politician
- November 30 - Gordon Liu, Chinese actor
- November 30 - Muricy Ramalho, Brazilian manager and former football player
- December 1 - Mark Thompson, American disc jockey and actor
- December 1 - Verónica Forqué, Spanish actress
- December 3 - Steven Culp, American actor
- December 3 - Warren Jeffs, American convicted polygamist
- December 4 - Dave Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player
- December 6 - Rick Buckler, British drummer (The Jam)
- December 6 - Steven Wright, American comedian
- December 7 - Priscilla Barnes, American actress
- December 7 - John Watkins, Australian politician
- December 9 - Chamras Saewataporn, Thai composer and musician
- December 10 - Jacquelyn Mitchard, American novelist
- December 12 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman
- December 12 - Eddy Schepers, Belgian cyclist
- December 15 - Paul Simonon, English bassist (The Clash)
- December 16 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
- December 16 - Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
- December 17 - Brad Davis, American basketball player
- December 18 - Ray Liotta, American actor
- December 20 - Ed Kuepper, German-born Australian musician (The Saints
- December 21 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
- December 21 - Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese musician
- December 22 - Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
- December 24 - Grand L. Bush, American actor
- December 24 - Clarence Gilyard, American actor
- December 25 - Alannah Myles, Canadian singer
- December 26 - Evan Bayh, American politician
- December 27 - Barbara Olson, American political commentator (d. 2001)
- December 27 - Brad Murphey, Australian racing driver
- December 30 - Dindo Yogo, Congolese musician (d. 2000)
- December 31 - Dawood Ibrahim, Indian crime boss
Deaths
- January 15 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
- January 21 - Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- January 24 - Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
- January 31 - John Mott, American YMCA leader
- February 18 - Sadako Sasaki, School student(b. 1944)
- February 23 - Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
- March 5 - Antanas Merkys, President of Lithuania (b. 1888)
- March 11 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist
- March 11 - Oscar Mayer, Bavarian-born American meat packer (b. 1859)
- March 12 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920)
- March 13 - King Tribhuvan of Nepal, (b. 1906)
- March 16 - Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (b. 1914)
- March 22 - Ivan Šubašiæ, Kingdom of Yugoslavia prime minister and last ban of Croatia (b. 1892)
- March 23 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
- April 7 - Theda Bara, American film actress (b. 1885)
- April 10 - Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and theologian (b. 1881)
- April 18 - Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate (b. 1879)
- May 4 - George Enescu, Romanian composer (b. 1881)
- May 9 - Kate Booth, the oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1858)
- May 10 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
- May 10 - John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (b. 1865)
- May 11 - Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
- May 16 - James Agee, American writer (b. 1909)
- May 18 - Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
- May 26 - Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver and two-time F1 world champion (b. 1918)
- May 30 - Bill Vukovich, Auto racer
- June 3 - Barbara Graham, American murderer (b. 1923)
- June 6 - Max Meldrum, Scottish-born Australian painter (b. 1875)
- June 16 - Ozias Leduc, Quebec painter (b. 1864)
- July 2 - Edward Lawson, Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1873)
- July 9 - Don Beauman, British racing driver (b. 1928)
- July 13 - Ruth Ellis, last woman to get the death sentence in Britain (b. 1926)
- July 23 - Cordell Hull, 47th United States Secretary of State
- August 2 - Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
- August 5 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese actress and singer (b. 1909)
- August 12 - Thomas Mann, German writer
- August 12 - James B. Sumner, American chemist
- August 14 - Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (b. 1861)
- August 23 - Reginald Tate, British actor (b. 1896)
- August 28 - Emmett Till, American civil rights movement icon (b. 1941)
- September 7 - Ham Fisher, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- September 19 - John D. Dingell, Sr.
- September 30 - James Dean, American actor (automobile accident) (b. 1931)
- October 1 - Charles Christie, American film studio owner (b. 1880)
- October 4 - Alexander Papagos, Greek general and political leader (b. 1883)
- October 9 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Austrian Catholic archbishop (b. 1875)
- October 13 - Manuel Ávila Camacho, President of Mexico (b. 1897)
- October 25 - Sadako Sasaki atomic bomb victim, (b. 1943)
- November 1 - Dale Carnegie, American writer (b. 1888)
- November 4 - Cy Young, American baseball player (b. 1867)
- November 5 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (b. 1883)
- November 12 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (b. 1878)
- November 17 - James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (b. 1894)
- November 22 - Shemp Howard, American actor (b. 1895)
- November 27 - Arthur Honegger, French-born Swiss composer (b. 1892)
- November 30 - Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer (b. 1896)
- December 3 - Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (b. 1894)
- December 5 - Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer (b. 1886)
- December 6 - Honus Wagner, baseball player (b. 1874)
- December 9 - Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885)
- December 13 - Egas Moniz, Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon
- December 27 - Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (b. 1881)
- December 30 - Rex Ingamells, Australian poet (b. 1913)
Events
- January 2 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
- January 18 - Battle of Yijiangshan occurred.
- January 25 - Soviet Union ends state of war with Germany.
- February 8 - The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
- February 13 - Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls.
- February 18 - The Shot Teapot-Wasp is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp would be the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.
- February 23 - First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
- March 2 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates the throne in favor of his father, King Norodom Suramarit.
- March 25 - United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" as obscene.
- April 1 - The EOKA rebellion against The British Empire starts in Cyprus, with the goal of obtaining the desired unification ("enosis") with Greece.
- April 3 - The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
- April 5 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
- April 11 - The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
- April 12 - The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
- April 15 - Ray Kroc opens his first franchise of McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- April 16 - The Burma-Japanese peace treaty signed in Rangoon on November 5, 1954 comes into force, formally ending the state of war.
- April 18 - Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandurg, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
- April 19 - The German automaker Volkswagen, after six years of selling cars in the United States, founds Volkswagen of America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize its dealer and service network.
- April 23 - The Canadian Labour Congress is formed by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.
- April 24 - The Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
- May 2 - Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
- May 5 - West Germany gains full sovereignty.
- May 9 - Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
- May 9 - Sam and Friends debuts on a local United States television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets.
- May 12 - The last portion of the IRT Third Avenue Elevated in Manhattan closes.
- May 14 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
- May 15 - The Austrian Independence Treaty is signed.
- May 15 - The first ascent of Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain.
- May 24 - David Leonard is born.
- May 25 - In the United States, a night time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
- May 28 - Henry Bolte becomes Premier of the state of Victoria.
- June 2 - The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
- June 7 - Lux Radio Theater signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
- June 11 - Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- June 13 - Mir Mine, the first diamond mine in the USSR, is discovered.
- June 14 - Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- June 15 - The Eisenhower administration stages the first annual "Operation Alert" (OPAL) exercise, an attempt to assess the USA's preparations for a nuclear attack.
- June 16 - Pope Pius XII excommunicates Juan Perón.
- July 9 - The Russell-Einstein Manifesto is released by Bertrand Russell in London.
- July 11 - The phrase In God We Trust is added to all U.S. currency.
- July 15 - Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
- July 17 - Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
- July 27 - The Allied occupation of Austria stemming from World War II, ends (started on May 9, 1945).
- July 28 - The Union Mundial pro Interlingua is founded at the first Interlingua congress in Tours, France.
- August 7 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan.
- August 19 - In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
- August 20 - In Morocco, a force of Berbers from the Atlas Mountains region of Algeria raid two rural settlements and kill 77 French nationals.
- September 6 - Istanbul Pogrom: Istanbul's Greek and Armenian minority are the target of a government-sponsored pogrom.
- September 11 - Dedication of the first Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe, the Bern Switzerland Temple.
- September 16 - Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina.
- September 22 - In Britain, the television channel ITV goes live for the first time.
- September 25 - The Royal Jordanian Air Force is founded.
- September 30 - Film icon James Dean dies in a road accident at age 24.
- October 3 - Captain Kangaroo debuts on the CBS television network.
- October 3 - The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC.
- October 6 - A United Airlines DC-4 crashes in Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming, killing 66 people
- October 7 - Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.
- October 20 - Publication of The Return of the King, being the last part of The Lord of the Rings.
- October 26 - After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares permanent neutrality.
- October 26 - Ngô Đình Diệm declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.
- October 29 - The Soviet battleship Novorossiisk strikes a World War II mine in the harbor at Sevastopol.
- November 1 - The bombing of United Airlines Flight 629 occurs near Longmont, Colorado, killing all 39 passengers and five crew members aboard the Douglas DC-6B airliner.
- November 4 - After being totally destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio.
- November 19 - National Review publishes its first issue.
- November 23 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
- December 1 - American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- December 5 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.
- December 5 - E.D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- December 14 - Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations.
- December 20 - Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
- December 31 - The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.
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