Year 1977

1977 (MCMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1977th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 977th year of the 2nd millennium, the 77th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1970sdecade.

Events

January

• January – The world’s first all-in-one home computer (keyboard/screen/tape storage), the Commodore PET, is demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.
• January 3 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
• January 6 – Record company EMI drops the controversial United Kingdom punk rock group the Sex Pistols.
• January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenianseparatist group.
• January 9
  • Rock band Toto is founded by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.
  • Super Bowl XI: After having the best record in the National Football League since Al Davis took over his team in 1963, the Oakland Raiders finally win their first World Championship, by beating the Minnesota Vikings 32–14.
• January 10
  • Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
  • Ocean Park opens in Hong Kong.
• January 15 – Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes into the Kälvesta area of Stockholm, killing all 22 on board.
• January 17
  • Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah (the first execution after the reintroduction of the death penalty in the U.S.).
  • 49 marines from the USS Trenton and USS Guam are killed as a result of a collision in Barcelona harbour.
• January 18
  • Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.
  • Australia’s worst railway disaster at Granville, a suburb of Sydney, leaves 83 people dead.
  • SFR Yugoslavia Prime minister Džemal Bijedić, his wife and 6 others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• January 19
  • U.S. President Gerald Ford, on his final full day in office, pardons Iva Toguri D’Aquino (aka “Tokyo Rose”).
  • Snow falls in Miami (despite its ordinarily tropical climate) for the only time in its history. Snowfall has occurred farther south in the United States only on the high mountains of the state of Hawaii.
• January 20 – Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States.
• January 21 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.
• January 23
  • Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India calls for fresh elections to the Lok Sabha, and releases all political prisoners.
  • Roots begins its run on ABC.
• January 24 – The Massacre of Atocha occurs, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
• January 26 – Katimavik is founded as a volunteer service organization for Canadian youths.
• January 28 – The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hits Buffalo, New York, and the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario.
• January 31 – The Centre Georges Pompidou is officially opened by French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

February

• February 2 – The Congress party of India, led by Indira Gandhi, splits with Jagjivan Ram and other senior leaders, forming Congress for Democracy. This party later merges with the Janata Party.
• February 3 – In northern Japan a blizzard piled snow on rooftops, causing many to collapse, killing at least 31 people.
• February 4
  • Fleetwood Mac’s Grammy-winning album Rumours is released in the United States.
  • Eleven CTA commuters are killed when an elevated train derails from the Loop in central Chicago.
• February 7 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24 (Viktor Gorbatko, Yury Glazkov) to dock with the Salyut 5 space station.
• February 18 – American Space Shuttle program: First test flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise mated to the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
• February 23 – Óscar Romero, an outspoken opponent of violence, becomes Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador.
• February 28 – Queen Elizabeth II opens the Parliament of New Zealand.

March

• March 4 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in the Vrancea Mountains of Romania kills 1,500.
• March 5 – Formula One driver Tom Pryce dies after colliding with a track marshal at the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami.
• March 8 – The Australian parliament is opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia.
• March 9 – Hanafi Siege: Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Movement members take over 3 buildings in Washington, D.C., killing 1 person and taking more than 130 hostages (the hostage situation ends 2 days later).
• March 10 – The rings of Uranus are discovered.
• March 12 – The Centenary Test between Australia and England begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• March 15 – Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the PBS opera series Live from the Met both make their American television debuts. Pavarotti stars in a complete production of Puccini’s La Boheme.
• March 18 – United States lifts ban on travel by U.S. citizens to Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam.
• March 19 – Results of elections to the Indian Parliament are declared. Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party is routed by the opposition Janata alliance.
• March 21 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi withdraws the state of emergency which was implemented on June 25, 1975.
• March 26 – Focus on the Family is founded by Dr. James Dobson.
• March 27 – Tenerife disaster: A collision between KLM and Pan Am Boeing 747s at Tenerife, Canary Islands, kills 583 people. This becomes the deadliest accident in aviation history.

April

• April 1 – The small market town of Hay-on-Wye declares independence from the UK, as a publicity stunt.
• April 2 – Horse racing: Red Rum wins a record third Grand National at Aintree Racecourse.
• April 4
  • Grundy, Virginia experiences a major flood that causes around $15 million in damages to 228 residential and commercial structures (to date the town is still recovering).
  • Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes on a highway in New Hope, Georgia, killing 72 people.
• April 5 – Beginning of demonstrations in 10 cities across the U.S., the longest being the 3.5 week sit-in the San Francisco Federal Building to persuade President Jimmy Carter to implement the first Federal civil rights law for people with disabilities, Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, without reinstituting the “separate but equal” doctrine.
• April 7
  • German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by 2 Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe. The “Ulrike Meinhof Commando” later claims responsibility.
  • The Toronto Blue Jays play their first game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox.
  • The Seattle Mariners play their first-ever game of baseball against the California Angels.

• April 9 – Spain legalizes the Communist Party of Spain, which had been outlawed since 1939.
• April 11 – London Transport’s Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched.
• April 17 – Belgian Prime Minister Leo Tindemans’ Christian Social Party gains eight seats in the lower house in parliamentary elections.
• April 17 – The Apple II debuts at the West Coast Computer Faire, positioning Apple at the forefront of the looming personal computer revolution.
• April 18 – An annular solar eclipse was visible in Africa, and was the 29th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 138.
• April 21 – Residents of Dover, Massachusetts report sightings of an eerie monster.
• April 22 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
• April 24 – In northern Bangladesh, a cyclone killed 13 people and injuring about 100 others.
• April 26 – Iconic disco Studio 54 has it’s grand opening.
• April 28 – A federal court in Stuttgart sentences Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe to life imprisonment.
• April 30
  • The Cold War between Cambodia and Vietnam evolves into the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
  • Led Zeppelin sets a new world record attendance for an indoor solo attraction at the Pontiac Silverdome when 76,229 persons attend a concert here on the group’s 1977 North American Tour.

May

• May 1 – The Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul results in 34 deaths, hundreds of injuries.
• May 3 – The light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible is launched at Barrow-in-Furness by Elizabeth II.
• May 4 – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops rule that divorced Catholics, including those who remarried outside the Church, are no longer automatically excommunicated and can still attend Mass but if they remarry without obtaining a Church annulment, can’t receive Holy Communion and confession.
• May 8 – Suzanne Lacy’s extended performance piece about rape, Three Weeks in May begins in Los Angeles and continues until May 24.
• May 12 – Portugal and Israel establish diplomatic relations.
• May 14
  • The 1977 IAS Cargo Boeing 707 airplane crash in Lusaka, Zambia kills all six on board.
  • In Milan, Italy, during a far-left demonstration, a hooded person shoots at the police, killing a policeman, Antonio Custra. The scene is photographed and the picture of the hooded man shooting in the middle of the street appears in many magazines around the world.
  • The Montreal Canadiens sweep the Boston Bruins in four games to win their second straight Stanley Cup.
• May 16 – A 20-passenger S-61L topples sideways at takeoff from the roof of the Pan Am Building in Midtown Manhattan. Four passengers are killed by the turning rotors and a woman at street level is fatally struck by a fallen blade.
• May 17
  • The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the national elections in Israel.
  • Elizabeth II commences her 1977 Silver Jubilee tour in Glasgow, Scotland.
  • Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre first opens in San Jose, California.
• May 23
  • Scientists report using bacteria in a lab to make insulin via gene splicing.
  • Moluccan terrorists take over a school in Bovensmilde, northern Netherlands (105 hostages), and a passenger train on the Bovensmilde–Assen route nearby (90 hostages) at the same time. On June 11, Dutch Royal Marines storm the train, and six terrorists and two hostages are killed.
• May 25 – George Lucas’s Star Wars opens in cinemas and becomes the highest-grossing film of its time.
• May 26 – George Willig climbs the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
• May 27
  • Elizabeth II opens the new Air Terminal Building at the Edinburgh Airport.
  • The 1977 Aeroflot Ilyushin 62 airplane crash in Cuba kills 69 people.
  • Space Mountain opens at Disneyland and to this day remains as one of the park’s most popular attractions.
  • A demonstration and coup attempt in Angola takes place. Afterward thousands were killed by the government and Cuban forces.
• May 28 – The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, is engulfed in fire; 165 are killed inside.
• May 29 – Indianapolis 500: A. J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win the race four times.

June

• June 1 – The Color TV-Game was released.
• June 5
  • A bloodless coup installs France-Albert René as President of the Seychelles.
  • The Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 109–107 to win the National Basketball Association finals four games to two. Bill Walton is selected as the MVP of the series.
• June 6 – 9 – Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate 25 years of Elizabeth II’s reign.
• June 7 – After campaigning by Anita Bryant and her “Save Our Children” crusade, Miami-Dade County, Florida voters overwhelmingly vote to repeal the county’s “gay rights” ordinance.
• June 10
  • The first Apple II series computers go on sale.
  • James Earl Ray escapes from the Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee; he is recaptured on June 13.
• June 12 – The Supremes perform their final concert together at Drury Lane, London, and then disband permanently.
• June 15 – Spain has its first democratic elections, after 41 years of Francoist Spain.
• June 16 – The Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California as Software Development Laboratories by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates.
• June 20
  • The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions.
  • Anglia Television broadcasts the fake documentary Alternative 3, which enters into the conspiracy theory canon.
• June 21 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (40th government since the founding of the Turkish republic, but fails to receive the vote of confidence).
• June 25
  • The 1977 Rugby League World Cup culminates in Australia’s 13–12 victory over Great Britain at the Sydney Cricket Ground before about 24,450 spectators.
  • American Roy Sullivan is struck by lightning for the seventh time.
• June 26
  • Elvis Presley holds his last concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
  • Some 200,000 protesters march through the streets of San Francisco, protesting Anita Bryant’s anti-gay remarks and the murder of Robert Hillsborough.
  • 16-year-old shop assistant Jayne Macdonald is murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper in Leeds, England.
• June 27 – Djibouti receives its independence from France.
• June 30
  • The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization is permanently disbanded.
  • The Women Marines are disbanded, and the women are integrated into regular Marine Corps.
  • U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces the cancellation of the B-1 Bomber program (it is later revived by the Reagan Administration).

July

• July 1
  • CKO (a Canadian all news radio network, defunct since 1989) begins broadcasting.
  • The East African Community is dissolved.
  • The Championships, Wimbledon (tennis) – Virginia Wade wins the women’s singles title in the centenary year of the tournament, Wade’s first and only Wimbledon title and her third and final Grand Slam title overall; she remains the last British woman to win the singles title at Wimbledon.
• July 5 – General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq overthrows Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• July 9 – The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain.
• July 10 – A temperature of 48.0 °C (118.4 °F), a record for continental Europe, is recorded in Greece.
• July 13
  • Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethio-Somali War.
  • The New York City blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours, resulting in looting and other disorder.
• July 15 – Anti-drug campaigner Donald Mackay disappears near Griffith, New South Wales (presumed murdered).
• July 19 – 20 – Flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, caused by massive rainfall, kills over 75 people and causes billions in damage.
• July 21 – 24 – The Libyan–Egyptian War, sparked by a Libyan raid on Sallum, begins.
• July 21 – Süleyman Demirel, of AP forms the new government of Turkey (41st government a three-party coalition, so-called second national front (Turkish: Milliyetçi cephe)).
• July 22 – The purged Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power nine months after the “Gang of Four” was expelled from power in a coup d’état.
• July 24 – Led Zeppelin presents its last American concert in Oakland, California, at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A brawl erupts between Led Zeppelin’s crew and the staff of the promoter Bill Graham, resulting in criminal assault charges for several members of the Led Zeppelin group including the drummer John Bonham.
• July 27 – The Soviet Politburo orders Boris Yeltsin to demolish the Ipatiev House, where Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family were shot in 1918. Yeltsin eventually calls this a barbarian act.
• July 28
  • The first oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System reaches Valdez, Alaska.
  • Emanuel Jaques, 12, is abducted after being lured into an apartment building under false pretenses on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. His strangled body is found several days later under a pile of wood on the building’s rooftop. Four men are apprehended for the crime.
• July 30 – Left-wing German terrorists Susanne Albrecht, Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Christian Klar assassinate Jürgen Ponto, chairman of the Dresdner Bank in Oberursel, West Germany.

August

• August 3
  • United States Senate hearings on Project MKUltra are held.
  • The Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model I computer is announced at a press conference.
• August 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
• August 7 – Mount Usu volcano in Japan erupts.
• August 9 – The military-controlled government of Uruguay announces that it will return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a President and Congress.
• August 9 – Hulk Hogan debuts as The Super Destroyer for Championship Wrestling from Florida when he is defeated by Don Serrano at John Carroll Catholic High School’s gym in Fort Pierce, Florida
• August 10 – David Berkowitz is captured in Yonkers, New York, after over a year of murders in New York City as the “Son of Sam”.
• August 12 – The NASA Space Shuttle, named Enterprise, makes its first test free-flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
• August 15
  • The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the Wow! signal for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.
  • Herbert Kappler escapes from the Caelian Hill military hospital in Rome.
• August 16
  • Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll”, dies in his home in Graceland at age 42. 75,000 fans line the streets of Memphis for his funeral, which occurred on August 18.

    

    August 16: Elvis Presleydies. His funeral in Memphis attracts 75,000 fans.

  • Supertanker Pierre Guillaumat is launched at Saint-Nazaire; she is the all-time world’s largest ship (by deadweight tonnage and length overall) at launch.
• August 17
  • The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
  • New York City ban on Concorde test flights is overturned.
• August 19 – Comedian Groucho Marx dies of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 86 (born 1890).
• August 20 – Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
• August 21 – Actor/dancer Danny Lockin is murdered by a man he met in a Garden Grove, California, bar just hours after taping a winning skit on The Gong Show.
• August 26 – The National Assembly of Quebec passes the Charter of the French Language (Law 101, La charte de la langue française) making French the official language of the Canadian province of Quebec.

September

• September – Evangelical pastor Oral Roberts publishes plans to build the ‘City of God Hospital’ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The towers are completed in 1981 for $120m ($299m, in 2012)
• September 3 – The Commodore PET computer is first sold.
• September 4 – The Golden Dragon massacre takes place in San Francisco.
• September 5
  • Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
  • German Autumn: Employers Association President Hanns Martin Schleyer is kidnapped in Cologne, West Germany. The kidnappers kill three escorting police officers and his chauffeur. They demand the release of Red Army Faction prisoners.
• September 7 – Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The U.S. agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
• September 8 – Interpol issues a resolution against the copyright infringement of video tapes and other material, which is still cited in warnings on opening pre-credits of videocassettes and DVDs.
• September 10 – Hamida Djandoubi’s is the last guillotine execution in France (at Marseille) and the last legal beheading in the western world.
• September 11 – Atari, Inc. releases its Video Computer System in North America.
• September 12 – South African activist Steve Biko dies after suffering a massive head injury in police custody in Pretoria.
• September 13 – Soap debuts on ABC and launches the career of Billy Crystal.
• September 14 – Manacled Mormon case begins with the alleged abduction in England of a young Mormon missionary.
• September 18 – Courageous (U.S.), skippered by Ted Turner, sweeps the Australian challenger Australia in the 24th America’s Cup yacht race.
• September 19
  • Under pressure from the Carter Administration, President of Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza Debayle lifts the state of siege in Nicaragua.
  • North Korean agents abduct Yutaka Kume from Noto Peninsula starting the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.
• September 20 – The Petrozavodsk phenomenon is observed in the Soviet Union and some northern European countries.
• September 23 – Jazz-rock group Steely Dan releases their sixth studio album Aja; it becomes their highest charting album in the United States at No. 3 and goes on to sell over 5 million copies.
• September 28 – The Porsche 928 debuts at the Geneva Motor Show.
• September 29
  • Singer-songwriter Billy Joel releases his fifth studio album The Stranger; it becomes the first of several hit albums, spawning five hit singles, going 10× platinum in the US, and later ranking at No. 70 on the list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
  • The modern Food Stamp Program begins when the Food Stamp Act of 1977 is enacted.

October

• October 1 – Energy Research and Development Administration combined with the Federal Energy Administration to form United States Department of Energy.
• October 7
  • The Soviet Union adopts its third Constitution after a prolonged campaign by Brezhnev Supporters to have it passed before the Supreme Soviet dissolves for the end of the parliamentary session.
  • Pelé plays his final professional football game as a member of the New York Cosmos.
• October 13 – German Autumn: Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.
• October 14 – Anita Bryant is hit with pies by four gay rights activists during a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa.
• October 15 – World’s End Murders: Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, disappear after leaving the World’s End pub in Edinburgh, Scotland. Their bodies are found tied and strangled in the countryside the next day. In 2014, serial killer Angus Sinclair is convicted of the crime.
• October 17 – 18 – German Autumn: GSG 9 troopers storm the hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia; three of the four hijackers die.
• October 18
  • German Autumn: Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin commit suicide in Stammheim prison; Irmgard Möller fails (their supporters still claim they were murdered). They are buried on October 27.
  • Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, opens the third session of the 30th Canadian Parliament.
  • Reggie Jackson blasts three home runs to lead the New York Yankees to victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth and deciding game of the World Series.
• October 19 – German Autumn: Kidnapped industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer is found murdered in Mulhouse, France.
• October 20 – Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd die in a charter plane crash outside Gillsburg, Mississippi, three days after the release of their fifth studio album Street Survivors.
• October 21 – The European Patent Institute is founded.
• October 23 – The president of Catalonia, Josep Tarradellas, returns to Barcelona from exile and the autonomous government of Catalonia, the Generalitat, is restored.
• October 26
  • The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, a great success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.
  • Space Shuttle program: Last test taxi flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise, over California.
• October 27 – British punk band Sex Pistols release Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols on the Virgin Records label. Despite refusal by major retailers in the UK to stock it, it debuts at number one on the UK Album Charts the week after its release.
• October 28
  • Hong Kong police forces attack the ICAC headquarters.
  • British rock band Queen release the album News of the World.

November

• November 1 – 2060 Chiron, first of the outer Solar System asteroids known as Centaurs, is discovered by Charlie Kowal.

• November 2 – The worst storm in Athens’ modern history causes havoc across the Greek capital and kills 38 people.
• November 6 – The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia fails, killing 39.
• November 8
  • Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
  • San Francisco elects City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the U.S.
• November 9 – Gen. Hugo Banzer, president of the military government of Bolivia, announces that the constitutional democracy will be restored in 1978instead of 1980 as previously provided.
• November 10 – The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever is released. Featuring five new Bee Gees compositions, it will go on to become the then best selling album of all time.
• November 19
  • Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to make an official visit to Israel, when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
  • TAP Portugal Flight 425 crashes at Madeira Airport, Funchal, Portugal, killing 131 and leaving 33 survivors.
• November 22
  • British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
  • The TCP/IP test succeeds, connecting 3 ARPANET nodes (of 111), in what eventually becomes the Internet protocol.
• November 28 – Jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp records “On Green Dolphin Street”, the first digitally recorded album to be released commercially in the USA.
• November 30 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is founded as a specialized agency of the United Nations.

December

• December – the Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific (CESDAP) is implemented.
• December 1
  • Lockheed’s top-secret stealth aircraft project, designated Have Blue and precursor to the U.S. Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, makes its first flight.
  • QUBE is launched in Columbus, Ohio. It’s best known for the starts of Nickelodeon, MTV, and The Movie Channel
• December 4
  • Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor.
  • Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, killing all 100 passengers and crew on board.
• December 5
  • The Solar System, produced and directed by Thomas G. Smith for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, is released. It led to the producer hiring Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a company producing visual effects for films such as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films.
• December 6 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
• December 10 – 1977 Australian federal election: Malcolm Fraser’s Liberal/National Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a slightly reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Consequently, Whitlam resigned as ALP leader after holding the job for nearly 11 years; he would be replaced by former Treasurer Bill Hayden.
• December 11 – after losing 26 games, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the US National Football League record their very first win; against the New Orleans Saints.
• December 13 – a chartered Douglas DC-3 aircraft carrying the University of Evansville basketball team to Nashville, Tennessee, crashes in rain and dense fog about 90 seconds after takeoff from Evansville Regional Airport; 29 people die in the crash, including 14 members of the team and head coach Bob Watson.
• December 16
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov’s 1976 production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker comes to CBS a year after premiering onstage at the Kennedy Center. This adaptation will become the most popular television production of the work.
  • Saturday Night Fever is released in theaters and becomes the biggest dancing movie of all time. The movie launches the career of its star John Travolta and catapults the Bee Gees — who performed several songs on the soundtrack — to newfound success.
• December 18 – SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730, an international charter service from Zurich to Funchal Airport (Madeira), hits the sea during a landing attempt. Many of the 36 who die drown, trapped inside the sinking aircraft. Twenty-one people survive with the help of rescuers and by swimming to the shore.
• December 20 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.
• December 22 – A grain elevator explodes in Westwego, Louisiana, killing 36.
• December 25
  • English comedian and silent film actor, Charlie Chaplin dies at his home in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland from a stroke at the age of 88.

Date unknown

• Portugal’s traditional naming conventions change such that children’s surnames can come from either the mother or the father, not just from the father.
• The Soviet National Anthem’s lyrics are returned after a 24-year period, with Joseph Stalin’s name omitted.
• Mount Ngauruhoe in New Zealand makes its latest eruption in Tongariro National Park

Births

January

• January 1
  • Donna Ares, Bosnian singer (d. 2017)
  • Axel, Argentine singer and songwriter
  • Lasha Bugadze, Georgian novelist and playwright
  • Craig Reucassel, Australian comedian
  • Jerry Yan, Taiwanese singer
• January 2
  • Gavin Mahon, English footballer
  • Aleš Píša, Czech ice hockey player
• January 3
  • A. J. Burnett, American baseball player
  • Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress
• January 4
  • Irán Castillo, Mexican actress and singer
  • Graham Elliot, American chef, restauranteur and television personality 
  • Vhong Navarro, Filipino actor and comedian
• January 8 – Francesco Coco, Italian footballer
• January 9 – Scoonie Penn, American basketball player
• January 11
  • Anni Friesinger-Postma, German speed skater
  • Devin Ratray, American actor
• January 12 – Piolo Pascual, Filipino actor
• January 13 – Orlando Bloom, British actor
• January 14
  • Ruco Chan, Hong Kong actor
  • Narain Karthikeyan, Indian Formula One driver
• January 15 – Giorgia Meloni, Italian politician
• January 17 – Leigh Whannell, Australian actor and writer
• January 19 – Taliesin Jaffe, American voice actor and actor
• January 20 – Melody, Belgian singer
• January 21 – Jerry Trainor, American actor, comedian and musician
• January 22 – Hidetoshi Nakata, Japanese footballer
• January 23
  • Kamal Heer, Punjabi singer and musician
  • Hamdi Marzouki, Tunisian footballer
• January 24 – Johann Urb, American actor
• January 25
  • Christian Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian singer
  • Hatem Trabelsi, Tunisian footballer
• January 26
  • Nicholaus Arson, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
  • Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
  • Vince Carter, American basketball player
• January 28
  • Daunte Culpepper, American football player
  • Joey Fatone, American musician
  • Lyle Overbay, American baseball player
  • Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
• January 29
  • Dion Basco, American actor
  • Sam Jaeger, American actor
• January 31
  • Mark Dutiaume, Canadian hockey player
  • Bobby Moynihan, American actor and comedian
  • Kerry Washington, African-American actress

February

• February 1 – Lari Ketner, American professional basketball player (d. 2014)
• February 2
  • Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter and musician
  • Jessica Wahls, German pop singer
• February 3
  • Daddy Yankee, Puerto Rican singer
  • Maitland Ward, American actress
• February 4
  • Bruno Castanheira, Portuguese cyclist (d. 2014)
  • Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
• February 5
  • Adam Everett, American baseball player
  • Ben Ainslie, British sailor
• February 7
  • Paul Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Mariusz Pudzianowski, Polish strongman
  • Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
• February 8
  • Yucef Merhi, Venezuelan artist
  • Barry Hall, Australian rules footballer
• February 10
  • Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
  • Morihiro Hashimoto, Japanese darts player (d. 2017)
• February 11 – Mike Shinoda, American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and graphic designer
• February 12 – Omar Daf, Senegalese footballer
• February 13 – Randy Moss, American football player
• February 14 – Elmer Symons, motorcycle enduro racer (d. 2007)
• February 16
  • Ian Clarke, Irish computer scientist
  • Paul Brittain, American actor and comedian
• February 18
  • Ike Barinholtz, American actor, comedian and screenwriter
  • László Nemes, Hungarian film director and screenwriter
• February 19 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer
• February 20
  • Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
  • Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
  • Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler and actress
• February 21
  • Cyrine Abdelnour, Lebanese singer, actress, and model
  • Jonathan Safran Foer, American author
  • Steve Francis, American basketball player
  • Ben Ikin, Australian rugby league player
  • Kevin Rose, American television host
• February 23 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier
• February 24
  • Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing champion
  • Jason Akermanis, Australian rules footballer
• February 26 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player
• February 27 – Ji Sung, South Korean actor
• February 28
  • Jason Aldean, American country music singer
  • Rafael Amaya, Mexican model, singer, and actor

March

• March 1 – Rens Blom, Dutch athlete
• March 2
  • Chris Martin, British rock musician
  • Heather McComb, American actress
• March 3 – Ronan Keating, Irish singer
• March 4
  • Ana Guevara, Mexican track and field athlete
  • Daniel Klewer, German footballer
• March 5 – Wally Szczerbiak, Spanish-born basketball player
• March 6
  • Paquillo Fernández, Spanish race walker
  • Santino Marella, Canadian wrestler
• March 7
  • Ronan O’Gara, Irish rugby player
  • Mitja Zastrow, German-born swimmer
• March 8
  • Reagan Pasternak, Canadian actress
  • James Van Der Beek, American actor
• March 9
  • Lydia Mackay, American voice actress
  • Bree Turner, American actress
  • Peter Enckelman, Finnish footballer
  • Shannon Miller, American gymnast
  • Robin Thicke, American-Canadian R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor
• March 11
  • Becky Hammon, American basketball player
  • Jason Greeley, Canadian singer
• March 12
  • Amdy Faye, Senegalese footballer
  • Rachel Wilson, Canadian actress
• March 13 – Brent Sancho, Trinidadian footballer
• March 14
  • Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (d. 2011)
  • Kim Nam-il, South Korean footballer
• March 15
  • Adrian Burnside, Australian baseball player
  • Brian Tee, Japanese American actor
  • Joe Hahn, Korean-American musician, DJ, director and visual artist (Linkin Park)
  • Norifumi Yamamoto, Japanese mixed martial artist (d. 2018)
• March 16
  • Richard Swift, American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and short-film maker (d. 2018)
  • Mónica Cruz, Spanish actress and dancer
  • Ismael La Rosa, Peruvian actor
• March 18
  • Arkady Babchenko, Russian journalist
  • Zdeno Chára, Czechoslovakian (now Slovakia) hockey player
• March 22
  • Raphael von Bargen, German actor
• March 23
  • Sammy Morris, American football player
  • Edwin Siu, Hong Kong actor and singer
• March 24
  • Jessica Chastain, American actress
  • Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league player
• March 25 – Édgar Ramírez, Venezuelan actor
• March 26 – Bianca Kajlich, American actress
• March 27
  • Vítor Meira, Brazilian race car driver
  • Roger Velasco, American actor
• March 28 – Annie Wersching, American actress

April

• April 1
  • J. T. Tepnapa, American writer, producer, actor, and director
  • Paul Kalanithi, Indian-American neurosurgeon and writer (d. 2015)
• April 2
  • Michael Fassbender, Irish-German actor
  • Nicki Pedersen, Danish motorcycle rider
• April 3 – Aiden Leslie, American pop singer-songwriter
• April 4
  • Adam Dutkiewicz, American musician
  • Stephen Mulhern, British musician and television presenter
• April 5
  • Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
  • Daniel Majstorović, Swedish soccer player
  • Daniele Raffaeli, Italian voice actor
• April 8 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (d. 2008)
• April 9 – Gerard Way, American musician and comic book writer
• April 10 – Stephanie Sheh, American voice actress
• April 11 – DJ Fresh, English DJ and music producer
• April 12
  • Tobias Angerer, German cross-country skier
  • Sarah Monahan, Australian actress
  • Sarah Jane Morris, American actress
• April 14
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress
  • Nate Fox, American professional basketball player (d. 2014)
  • Rob McElhenney, American actor
• April 15
  • Matt Holt, American heavy metal singer (d. 2017)
  • Dejan Milojevic, Serbian basketball player
• April 16
  • Freddie Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
  • Tameka Empson, English actress
• April 17 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist
• April 19 – Bryan Spears, American film and television producer
• April 21 – Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
• April 22
  • Anna Eriksson, Finnish pop-rock singer
  • Steven Price, British film composer
• April 23
  • Arash, Iranian-Swedish singer, entertainer and producer
  • John Cena, American professional WWE wrestler, actor and rapper
  • Eric Edelstein, American actor and voice actor
  • Andruw Jones, Antillean baseball player
  • John Oliver, British comedian and television personality
  • Kal Penn, American actor, producer, and former civil servant
• April 24
  • Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican baseball player
  • Rebecca Mader, English actress
• April 25 – Manolo Cardona, Colombian actor
• April 26
  • Jason Earles, American actor, comedian, and martial artist
  • Tom Welling, American actor
• April 27 – Dai Fujikura, Japanese composer
• April 30
  • Robert Evans, Welsh playwright
  • Alexandra Holden, American actress
  • Ole Jørn Myklebust, Norwegian jazz musician

May

• May 2 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress
• May 3
  • Eric Church, American country music singer
  • Ryan Dempster, Canadian baseball player
• May 4 – Emily Perkins, Canadian actress
• May 5
  • Choi Kang-hee, South Korean actress
  • Virginie Efira, Belgian actress and television anchor
  • Jessica Schwarz, German film and television actress
• May 8
  • Pepe Sánchez, Argentine basketball player
  • Chiaki Takahashi, Japanese voice actress
• May 10
  • Henri Camara, Senegalese footballer
  • Nick Heidfeld, German race car driver
  • Chas Licciardello, Australian comedian
• May 11
  • Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
  • Victor Matfield, South African rugby player
• May 12
  • Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player
  • Rebecca Herbst, American actress
  • Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017)
  • Rachel Wilson, Canadian actress
• May 13
  • Samantha Morton, English actress
  • Christopher Ralph, Canadian actor
  • Pusha T, American rapper
• May 14
  • Roy Halladay, American baseball player (d. 2017)
  • Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
• May 15 – Zoubeir Baya, Tunisian footballer
• May 16
  • Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
  • Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer
• May 19
  • Kelly Sheridan, Canadian voice actress
  • Katrin Pärn, Estonian actress and singer
• May 23
  • Richard Ayoade, British actor
  • Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
  • Yevgeny Rodionov, Russian soldier (d. 1996)
  • Heather Wahlquist, American actress
• May 24 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian singer, music director and score composer
• May 26
  • Misaki Ito, Japanese actress
  • Luca Toni, Italian footballer
• May 27
  • Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian athlete
  • Atsushi Yanagisawa, Japanese footballer
  • Tommie van der Leegte, Dutch soccer player
• May 28 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host
• May 29
  • Akwá, Angolan football player
  • Massimo Ambrosini, Italian football player
  • Rory Albanese, American comedian, comedy writer and television producer
• May 31
  • Phil Devey, Canadian baseball player
  • Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
  • Greg Leeb, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Joachim Olsen, Danish athlete
  • Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
  • Joel Ross, British radio DJ and presenter
  • June Sarpong, British television presenter
  • Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
  • Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player

June

• June 1
  • Sarah Wayne Callies, American actress
  • Danielle Harris, American actress and film director
  • Jónsi, Icelandic singer
• June 2 – Zachary Quinto, American actor
• June 7 – Chen Luyun, Chinese basketball (d. 2015)
• June 8 – Kanye West, American rapper and record producer
• June 9 – Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
• June 11
  • Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer
  • Shane Meier, Canadian actor
• June 12
  • Ana Tijoux, French-Chilean musician
  • Nicolás Vázquez, Argentine actor-singer
• June 14 – Chris McAlister, American football player
• June 16 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
• June 18
  • Kaja Kallas, 19th Prime Minister of Estonia
  • Majed Moqed, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
• June 19
  • Peter Warrick, American football player
  • Veronika Vařeková, Czech model
  • Maria Cioncan, distance runner from Romania (d. 2007)
• June 20 – Aaron Moule, Australian rugby league player
• June 21 – Jochen Hecht, German ice hockey player
• June 22
  • Ryōko Ono, Japanese voice actress
  • Bernadette Heerwagen, German actress
  • Denis Moschitto, German actor
• June 23
  • Gladys Reyes, Filipina actress
  • Jason Mraz, American singer-songwriter
• June 24
  • Mal Michael, Papua New Guinean footballer
  • Antoine Winfield, American football player
• June 25
  • Layla El, English dancer, model, and retired professional wrestler
  • Naoya Tsukahara, Japanese gymnast
• June 26
  • William Kipsang, Kenyan long-distance runner
  • Tite Kubo, Japanese manga artist who created BLEACH
• June 27
  • Minh Le, Canadian video game developer
  • Arkadiusz Radomski, Polish footballer
  • Raúl, Spanish footballer
  • Anna Kumble, English pop singer and television presenter
• June 28 – Harun Tekin, Turkish rock vocalist and guitarist (Mor ve Ötesi)
• June 29
  • Jeff Baena, American screenwriter and film director
  • Will Kemp, English actor and dancer
  • Zuleikha Robinson, British actress and singer
  • Bradley Stryker, American actor

July

• Unknown date – Li Zimeng, Chinese host
• July 1
  • Tom Frager, French-born singer and surfer
  • Jarome Iginla, Canadian hockey player
  • Liv Tyler, American actress
• July 2 – Carl Froch, British boxer
• July 5 – Steven Sharp Nelson, American cellist
• July 6 – Audrey Fleurot, French actress
• July 8
  • Maciej Jachowski, Polish actor and singer
  • Belinda Lee, Singaporean television host and actress
  • Milo Ventimiglia, American actor
  • Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
• July 9 – Noppadol Sangnil, Thai snooker player
• July 10
  • Cary Fukunaga, American film director, writer, and cinematographer
  • Schapelle Corby, Australian convicted drug smuggler
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, English actor
• July 11
  • Casper Crump, Danish actor
  • Finau Maka, Tongan rugby union footballer
  • Edward Moss, American impersonator
• July 12
  • Soa Palelei, Australian mixed martial artist
  • Jejomar Binay Jr., Filipino politician
  • Steve Howey, American actor
  • Brock Lesnar, American professional wrestler
  • Peter Schaefer, Canadian ice hockey player
• July 13
  • Jonah Lotan, Israeli actor
  • Ashley Scott, American actress
  • Kari Wahlgren, American voice actress
• July 14
  • Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
  • Jed Madela, Filipino recording artist and TV host
• July 15
  • Lana Parrilla, American actress
  • Ray Toro, American rock guitarist
• July 16 – Brian Cook, American bass guitarist
• July 18
  • Alfian Sa’at, Singaporean writer, poet and playwright
  • Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess Grandmaster
  • Kelly Reilly, English actress
  • Alfian bin Sa’at, Singaporean writer, poet and playwright
• July 19 – Jean-Sébastien Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player
• July 20 – Alex, Brazilian born Japanese footballer
• July 21 – Paul Casey, English golfer
• July 24
  • Danny Dyer, English actor
  • Mehdi Mahdavikia, Iranian football player
• July 26
  • Tony Sampson, Canadian voice and television actor
  • Rebecca St. James, Australian-born Christian musician
• July 27
  • Martha Madison, American actress
  • Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
  • Jason Zimbler, American actor
• July 28
  • Manu Ginóbili, Argentine basketball player
  • Rahman “Rock” Harper, American personality, restaurateur
  • Allan Hawco, Canadian actor and producer
• July 30
  • Misty May-Treanor, American beach volleyball player
  • Jaime Pressly, American actress
• July 31 – Tim Couch, American football player

August

• August 1 – Helder Mota Ricardo, East Timorese footballer
• August 2 – Edward Furlong, American actor
• August 3 – Tom Brady, American football player and entrepreneur
• August 7 – Charlotte Ronson and Samantha Ronson, British designer and DJ, respectively (twin sisters)
• August 8
  • Michael Chernus, American actor
  • Marílson Gomes dos Santos, Brazilian long-distance runner
  • Lindsay Sloane, American actress
• August 9 – Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player
• August 10 – Michael McDerman, American actor, comedian, and writer
• August 11 – Pablo Lucio Vasquez, American murderer, execution by lethal injection (d. 2016)
• August 12
  • Plaxico Burress, American football player
  • Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor and singer (d. 2010)
• August 13
  • Michael Klim, Australian swimmer
  • Miho Konishi, Japanese actress
• August 15
  • Martin Biron, Canadian hockey player
  • Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
  • Nicole Paggi, American actress
  • Anthony Rocca, Australian rules footballer
• August 16 – Tamer Hosny, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor
• August 17
  • Ahmed al-Nami, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
  • Tarja Turunen, Finnish operatic soprano
  • Claire Richards, English singer
  • Thierry Henry, French footballer
  • William Gallas, French footballer
• August 18 – Lukáš Bauer, Czech cross-country skier
• August 19 – Callum Blue, English actor
• August 20
  • Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
  • Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
  • Henning Stensrud, Norwegian ski jumper
• August 22 – JP Auclair, Canadian freeskiier. (d. 2014)
• August 23
  • Nicole Bobek, American figure skater
  • Kenta Miyake, Japanese voice actor
• August 24
  • Per Gade, Danish footballer
  • Jürgen Macho, Austrian footballer
  • John Green, American author, vlogger, and editor
  • Robert Enke, German footballer (d. 2009)
• August 25
  • Masumi Asano, Japanese voice actress
  • Lawrence Leung, Australian comedian, writer, and director
• August 26
  • Therese Alshammar, Swedish swimmer
  • Morris Peterson, American basketball player
• August 29
  • Denny Cagur, Indonesian actor and comedian
  • Martha Ehlin, Swedish sports teacher (d. 2016)
• August 30
  • Shaun Alexander, American football player
  • Jens Ludwig, German guitarist
  • Kamil Kosowski, Polish footballer
  • Félix Sánchez, American-Dominican athlete
  • Sayori Ishizuka, Japanese voice actress
• August 31
  • Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler
  • Ian Harte, Irish footballer
  • Craig Nicholls, Australian rock musician and songwriter

September

• September 1
  • Kathleen de Leon Jones, Filipino-Australian actress, dancer, singer and television performer (Hi-5)
  • Adrienne Wilkinson, American actress
• September 2
  • Frédéric Kanouté, Malian soccer player
  • Elitsa Todorova, Bulgarian singer-songwriter
• September 4
  • Ian Grushka, American bassist (New Found Glory)
  • Lucie Silvas, English singer
  • Kia Stevens, American professional wrestler and actress
  • Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, Malaysian politician
• September 6 – Kiyoshi Hikawa, Japanese enka singer
• September 7 – Molly Holly, American professional wrestler
• September 9 – Soulja Slim, American rapper (d. 2003)
• September 11
  • Jackie Buscarino, American voice actress, writer and producer
  • Ludacris, American rapper and actor
• September 12
  • 2 Chainz, American rapper
  • James McCartney, English musician and songwriter
  • Idan Raichel, Israeli singer-songwriter
• September 13 – Fiona Apple, American singer
• September 15
  • Angela Aki, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • Kenny Blank, American actor and musician
  • Tom Hardy, English actor
  • Jason Terry, American basketball player
• September 18 – Kieran West, British Olympic oarsman
• September 19 – Ryan Dusick, American musician (former Maroon 5)
• September 20 – Namie Amuro, Japanese singer
• September 21
  • Marc de Hond, Dutch television presenter and wheelchair basketball player (d. 2020)
  • Hank Fraley, American football player
• September 22 – Paul Sculthorpe, English rugby league player
• September 23
  • Nozomi Momoi, Japanese AV idol, and murder victim (d. 2002)
  • Suzanne Tamim, Lebanese singer, actress, and murder victim (d. 2008)
• September 24
  • Elizabeth Bogush, American actress
  • Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, American football player
• September 25
  • Clea DuVall, American actress
  • Robbie Jones, American actor
  • Joel David Moore, American actor
  • Atsushi Aoki, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2019)
• September 26 – Sirena Irwin, American actress and voice actress
• September 27
  • Andrus Värnik, Estonian javelin thrower
  • Michael C. Maronna, American actor
• September 28
  • Se-Ri Pak, South Korean golfer
  • Kristal Tin, Hong Kong actress
  • Jeezy, American rapper
• September 29
  • Heath Bell, American professional baseball
  • Jorgito Vargas Jr., Canadian actor
• September 30
  • Roy Carroll, Irish footballer
  • Sun Jihai, Chinese footballer

October

• October 2 – Didier Défago, Swiss Olympic alpine skier
• October 5 – Hugleikur Dagsson, Icelandic artist
• October 6 – Daniel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player
• October 8 – Anne-Caroline Chausson, French mountain bicycle racer
• October 11
  • Matt Bomer, American film, stage, and television actor
  • Claudia Palacios, Colombian journalist and newsreader
  • Rhett McLaughlin, American musician, comedian and internet personality
• October 12 – Bode Miller, American skier
• October 13
  • Paul Pierce, American basketball player
  • Quincy Carter, American football player
  • Kiele Sanchez, American actress
• October 14
  • Kelly Schumacher, American basketball and volleyball player
  • Oleg Velyky, Ukrainian and German handball player World champion 2007 (d. 2010)
• October 15
  • Jeff Sutphen, American actor and producer
  • David Trezeguet, French footballer
• October 16 – John Mayer, American musician and record producer
• October 17
  • Dudu Aouate, Israeli footballer
  • Alimi Ballard, American television actor
  • André Villas-Boas, Portuguese football manager
• October 18
  • Jyothika, Indian actress
  • Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand footballer
  • Paul Stalteri, Canadian footballer
• October 19 – Habib Beye, Senegalese footballer
• October 20
  • Jennifer Hall, American actress
  • Sam Witwer, American actor and musician
• October 21 – Brett Goldin, South African actor (d. 2006)
• October 25 – Birgit Prinz, German footballer
• October 26
  • Jon Heder, American actor and voice artist
  • Louis Crayton, Swiss/Liberian footballer
  • Chaz Lamar Shepherd, American actor and singer-songwriter
• October 27
  • Mat Lucas, American voice actor
  • Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan cricketer
• October 28 – Jonas Rasmussen, Danish badminton player
• October 29 – Brendan Fehr, Canadian actor

November

• November 1 – Alistair Griffin, British singer and songwriter
• November 2
  • Maajid Nawaz, British-Pakistani activist and radio presenter
  • Randy Harrison, American actor
• November 3 – Greg Plitt, American fitness model, actor and former Army Ranger (d. 2015)
• November 4 – Larry Bigbie, American baseball player
• November 6
  • Dušan Kecman, Serbian basketball player
  • Patrícia Tavares, Portuguese actress
• November 8
  • Nick Punto, Italian-American baseball player
  • João Rodrigo Silva Santos, Brazilian soccer player (d. 2013)
• November 10
  • Josh Barnett, American mixed martial artist
  • Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
  • Lea Moreno Young, American actress
• November 11
  • Scoot McNairy, American actor
  • Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (d. 2002)
• November 13
  • Chanel Cole, New Zealand-born singer
  • Huang Xiaoming, Chinese actor and singer
• November 15 – Sean Murray, American actor
• November 16
  • Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress
• November 17 – Ryk Neethling, South African swimmer
• November 18
  • Trent Barrett, Australian rugby league player
  • Miranda Raison, British actress
  • Dallas Miller, American Track Star
• November 19
  • Reid Scott, American actor
  • Kerri Strug, American gymnast
• November 20
  • Daniel Svensson, Swedish drummer
  • Josh Turner, American country music singer
• November 21
  • Jonas Jennings, American football player
  • Tobias Sammet, German singer and songwriter
  • Annie, Norwegian singer
• November 22 – Michael Preston, English footballer
• November 23
  • Christopher Amott, Swedish musician
  • David Lucas, English footballer
• November 24 – Colin Hanks, American actor
• November 26 – Stu Block, Canadian metal singer and songwriter
• November 28 – DeMya Walker, American basketball player
• November 30
  • Steve Aoki, American DJ, entertainer and record producer
  • Nelsan Ellis, African-American film and television actor and playwright (d. 2017)

December

• December 1 – Brad Delson, American musician (Linkin Park)
• December 3
  • Troy Evans, American football player
  • Adam Małysz, Polish ski jumper
• December 6
  • Lindsey Alley, American actress and singer
  • Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer
  • Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer
  • Miwa Yasuda, Japanese voice actress
• December 7
  • Luke Donald, English golfer
  • Dominic Howard, English drummer in rock trio Muse
  • Pape Sarr, Senegalese footballer
  • Fernando Vargas, American boxer
• December 8
  • Elsa Benítez, Mexican model and television host
  • Sébastien Chabal, French rugby union player
  • Ryan Newman, American race car driver
  • Matthias Schoenaerts, Belgian actor and producer
• December 11 – Peter Stringer, Irish rugby union player
• December 12 – Adam Saitiev, Chechen wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
• December 14
  • Jamie Peacock, English rugby league player
  • KaDee Strickland, American actress
• December 16
  • Kevin Gillespie, American comic book artist
  • Anu Nieminen, Finnish badminton player
  • René Redzepi, Danish chef
• December 17
  • Oxana Fedorova, Russian model
  • Katheryn Winnick, Canadian actress
• December 20 – Sonja Aldén, Swedish pop singer
• December 21
  • Mark Dice, American conservative YouTube personality and Illuminati conspiracy theorist
  • Gregor Horvatič, Slovenian politician
  • Emmanuel Macron, 25th President of France
  • Gregory Siff, American visual artist, designer, writer and actor
  • Kevin Miller, American voice actor (Sly Cooper)
• December 23
  • Alge Crumpler, American football player
  • Matt Baker, British television presenter
  • Jari Mäenpää, Finnish musician
• December 24
  • Domingo Vega, also known as Américo, Chilean singer
  • Gil Seong-joon, Korean hip-hop musician
• December 25 – Uhm Ji-won, South Korean actress
• December 27
  • Jacqueline Pillon, Canadian voice actress
  • Sam Talbot, American chef
• December 29
  • Laveranues Coles, American football player
  • Katherine Moennig, American actress
• December 30
  • Laila Ali, American boxer
  • Saša Ilić, Serbian footballer
  • Scott Lucas, Australian rules footballer
  • Kenyon Martin, American basketball player
  • Kazuyuki Toda, Japanese footballer
• December 31
  • Psy, South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and record producer
  • Donald Trump Jr., American businessman and son of U.S. President Donald Trump

Date unknown

• Faris al-Zahrani, Saudi Arabia’s list of 26 ‘most-wanted’ suspected terrorists. (d. 2016)
• Kristian Ealey, British actor and musician (d. 2016)

Deaths

January

• January 2 – Erroll Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
• January 4 – Ibrahim Biçakçiu, Albanian politician, 2-time Prime Minister of Albania leader of World War II (b. 1905)
• January 5 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, writer and theatre critic (b. 1889)
• January 14
  • Anthony Eden, British politician, 62nd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1897)
  • Peter Finch, English-born actor (b. 1916)
  • Anaïs Nin, French diarist and writer (b. 1903)
• January 17 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940)
• January 18
  • Džemal Bijedić, Yugoslavian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1917)
  • Carl Zuckmayer, German writer and playwright (b. 1896)
• January 19 – Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (b. 1895)
• January 20 – Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1892)
• January 23 – Pascual Pérez, Argentine world Flyweight boxing champion (b. 1926)
• January 26 – Dietrich von Hildebrand, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1889)
• January 29 – Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (b. 1954)

February

• February 3 – Pauline Starke, American actress (b. 1901)
• February 4 – Brett Halliday, American writer (b. 1904)
• February 5 – Oskar Klein, Swedish theoretical physicist (b. 1894)
• February 9 – Alia Al-Hussein, Queen consort of Jordan (b. 1948)
• February 15 – Herman Johannes Lam, Dutch botanist (b. 1892)
• February 16
  • Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
  • Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (b. 1897)
• February 19 – Anthony Crosland, British author and politician (b. 1918)

March

• March 1 – Diallo Telli, Guinean diplomat and politician, 1st Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity (b. 1925)
• March 3
  • Brian Faulkner, last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1921)
  • Percy Marmont, American stage and screen actor (b. 1883)
• March 4
  • Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (b. 1951)
  • Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and senior government official (b. 1887)
• March 5 – Tom Pryce, British Formula race car driver (b. 1949)
• March 8 – Henry Hull, American actor (b. 1890)
• March 10
  • E. Power Biggs, English-American organist (b. 1906)
  • Willem Schermerhorn, Dutch politician and civil engineer, 28th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1894)
• March 14 – Fannie Lou Hamer, American civil rights activist (b. 1917)
• March 15 – Antonino Rocca, Italian professional wrestler (b. 1921)
• March 17 – Claude Roger-Marx, French writer, and playwright (b. 1888)
• March 18 – Marien Ngouabi, 3rd President of Congo (b. 1938)
• March 19 – William L. Laurence, Jewish Lithuanian-American journalist (b. 1888)
• March 20 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
• March 29 – Eugen Wüster, industrialist and terminologist (b. 1898)
• March 30 – Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (b. 1929)

April

• April 2 – John Whitaker, British gymnast (b. 1886)
• April 5 – Carlos Prío Socarrás, 11th President of Cuba (b. 1903)
• April 7 – Karl Ritter, German film producer and director (b. 1888)
• April 11 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (b. 1900)
• April 17 – William Conway, Northern Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
• April 20
  • Wilmer Allison, American tennis champion (b. 1904)
  • Bryan Foy, American film producer and director (b. 1896)
• April 21 – Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)
• April 27
  • Stanley Adams, American actor (b. 1915)
  • Charles Alston, American artist and sculptor (b. 1907)
• April 28
  • Ricardo Cortez, American actor (b. 1899)
  • Sepp Herberger, German footballer and manager (b. 1897)

May

• May 5 – Ludwig Erhard, German politician, 28th Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) (b. 1897)
• May 7 – Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Spanish Carlist pretender (b. 1889)
• May 9 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• May 10 – Joan Crawford, American actress (b. c. 1904)
• May 13 – Otto Deßloch, German World War II Luftwaffe general (b. 1889)
• May 15 – Herbert Wilcox, British film director and producer (b. 1892)
• May 16 – Modibo Keïta, 1st President of Mali (b. 1915)
• May 25 – Willoughby Norrie, British army general and Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1893)
• May 31 – William Castle, American film director (b. 1914)

June

• June 2 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (b. 1931)
• June 3
  • Archibald Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
  • Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director (b. 1906)
• June 13 – Matthew Garber, English child actor (b. 1956)
• June 14 – Alan Reed, American actor (b. 1907)
• June 16 – Wernher von Braun, American-German aerospace engineer (b. 1912)
• June 22 – Marston Morse, American mathematician (b. 1892)
• June 25 – Olave Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting and Girl Guides, by over 35 years (b. 1889)
• June 30 – Paul Hartmann, American actor (b. 1889)

July

• July 2 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born American writer (b. 1899)
• July 9 – Alice Paul, American women’s rights activist (b. 1885)
• July 15 – Konstantin Fedin, Russian writer (b. 1892)
• July 20 – Carter DeHaven, American actor (b. 1886)
• July 25 – David Toro, 35th President of Bolivia (b. 1898)
• July 26 – Prince Charles of Luxembourg, Prince of Luxembourg (b. 1927)
• July 30 – Jean de Laborde, French admiral (b. 1878)
• July 31 – Giuseppe Castellano, Italian general (b. 1893)

August

• August 1 – Francis Gary Powers, American U-2 spy plane pilot (b. 1929)
• August 2 – Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, Portuguese Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1888)
• August 3
  • Alfred Lunt, American actor (b. 1892)
  • Makarios III, Greek-Cypriot archbishop, 1st President of Cyprus (b. 1913)
• August 4
  • Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
  • Ernst Bloch, German Marxist philosopher (b. 1885)
• August 6 – Alexander Bustamante, Jamaican politician, 1st Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1884)
• August 8 – Son Ngoc Thanh, 2nd Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1908)
• August 9 – George Kenney, World War II United States Army Air Forces general (b. 1889)
• August 13 – Henry Williamson, English naturalist, farmer and prolific ruralist (b. 1895)
• August 16 – Elvis Presley, American actor, musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1935)
• August 17 – Delmer Daves, American screenwriter and director (b. 1904)
• August 19 – Groucho Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1890)
• August 22 – Sebastian Cabot, English actor (b. 1918)
• August 23 – Naum Gabo, Russian sculptor (b. 1890)
• August 29 – Jean Hagen, American actress (b. 1923)

September

• September 1 – Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (b. 1896)
• September 4 – E. F. Schumacher, German statistician and economist (b. 1885)
• September 6 – John Edensor Littlewood, British mathematician (b. 1885)
• September 8 – Zero Mostel, American actor (b. 1915)
• September 12 – Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (b. 1946)
• September 13 – Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (b. 1882)
• September 16
  • Marc Bolan, British singer and guitarist (b. 1947)
  • Maria Callas, Greek soprano (b. 1923)
• September 18 – Paul Bernays, Swiss mathematician (b. 1888)
• September 29 – Robert McKimson, American animator and director (b. 1910)

October

• October 3 – Tay Garnett, American film director (b. 1894)
• October 10 – Jean Duvieusart, Belgian politician, 36th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1900)
• October 12 – Dorothy Davenport, American actress (b. 1895)
• October 14 – Bing Crosby, American pop singer and actor (b. 1903)
• October 17 – Sir Michael Balcon, English film producer (b. 1896)
• October 20 – Three members of American rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd, killed in plane crash:
  • Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer (b. 1948)
  • Cassie Gaines, lead singer (b. 1948)
  • Steve Gaines, lead singer and guitarist (b. 1949)
• October 25 – Félix Gouin, French Socialist politician (b. 1884)
• October 27
  • James M. Cain, American writer (b. 1892)
  • Miguel Mihura, Spanish playwright (b. 1905)

November

• November 3 – Florence Vidor, American actress (b. 1895)
• November 4 – Betty Balfour, English screen actress (b. 1903)
• November 5
  • René Goscinny, French comic book writer (b. 1926)
  • Guy Lombardo, Canadian-American bandleader (b. 1902)
• November 9 – Gertrude Astor, American actress (b. 1887)
• November 10 – Dennis Wheatley, English writer (b. 1897)
• November 14
  • A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Indian religious leader (b. 1896)
  • Ferdinand Heim, German general, branded the “Scapegoat of Stalingrad” (b. 1897)
• November 15 – Princess Charlotte of Monaco (b. 1898)
• November 18
  • Victor Francen, Belgian actor (b. 1888)
  • Kurt Schuschnigg, 11th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1897)
• November 21 – Richard Carlson, American actor (b. 1912)

December

• December 3 – Jack Beresford, British Olympic rower (b. 1899)
• December 5 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
• December 12 – Clementine Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
• December 16
  • Gustaf Aulén, Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden (b. 1879)
  • Yngve Larsson, Swedish statesman (b. 1881)
• December 19
  • Takeo Kurita, Japanese admiral (b. 1889)
  • Nellie Tayloe Ross, American politician (b. 1876)
• December 20 – Henry Tandey, British soldier, World War I veteran. (b, 1891)
• December 24 – Juan Velasco Alvarado, 58th President of Peru (b. 1910)
• December 25 – Charlie Chaplin, British actor, producer and director (b. 1889)
• December 26 – Howard Hawks, American film director (b. 1896)
• December 28 – Charlotte Greenwood, American actress (b. 1890)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Philip Warren Anderson, Sir Nevill Francis Mott, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck
• Chemistry – Ilya Prigogine
• Physiology or Medicine – Roger Guillemin, Andrew Schally, Rosalyn Yalow
• Literature – Vicente Aleixandre
• Peace – Amnesty International
• Economics – Bertil Ohlin, James Meade