1955 CE

The Montgomery bus boycott begins after Rosa Parks’ arrest; the Warsaw Pact forms the Eastern Bloc; the Bandung Conference unites Asian and African nations; Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California; the 1955 Le Mans disaster kills over 80 spectators; the Lynching of Emmett Till shocks the U.S.; the 1955 State of Vietnam referendum makes Ngô Đình Diệm president; the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo reveals Argentina’s unrest; and Hurricane Diane causes major U.S. flooding.

In the 1950s, the 20th century.

1955 at a glance

World population: about 2.74 billion Our World in Data
United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower (President) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
United Kingdom: Elizabeth II (Queen); Winston Churchill, then Anthony Eden (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
Soviet Union: Nikita Khrushchev (General Secretary); Kliment Voroshilov (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Georgy Malenkov, then Nikolai Bulganin (Chairman of the Council of Ministers) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
People's Republic of China: Mao Zedong (Chairman; Paramount Leader); Mao Zedong (Chairman); Zhou Enlai (Premier) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
French Fourth Republic: René Coty (President); Pierre Mendès France, then Edgar Faure (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
Allied-occupied Germany: André François-Poncet, then James B. Conant, then Frederick Millar (High Commissioner) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
East Germany: Wilhelm Pieck (President); Otto Grotewohl (Chairman) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
West Germany: Theodor Heuss (President); Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor) Wikipedia rev. 1371751893
$1 in 1955: $12.58 in September 2026 dollars BLS CPI-U

Who led every country in 1955 →Born in 1955? What it cost, who led, what was No. 1 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.source
12 January – A law is passed granting amnesty for crimes committed against the state and laxening denazification.Luxembourg source
February 19 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established, at a meeting in Bangkok.source
February 24 – The Baghdad Pact (CENTO), originally known as Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), is signed between Iraq and Turkey.source
April 6 – Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.source
April 16 – The Burma–Japan Peace Treaty, signed in Rangoon on November 5, 1954, comes into effect, formally ending a state of war between the two countries.source
1 May – The end of First Taiwan Strait Crisis.Taiwan source
May 6 – The Western European Union Charter becomes effective.source
May 9 – West Germany joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).source
May 14 – Eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty in Warsaw, Poland, that is called the Warsaw Pact (it will be dissolved in 1991).source
May 15 – The Austrian State Treaty, which restores Austria's national sovereignty, is concluded between the 4 occupying powers following World War II (the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France) and Austria, setting it up as a neutral country.source
12 June – The 1955 Vuelta a Colombia ends, Ramón Hoyos comes in first place overall.Colombia source
June 26 – The Freedom Charter of the anti-apartheid South African Congress Alliance is adopted, at a Congress of the People in Kliptown.source
June 30 – The Simonstown Agreement provides for control of the naval base at Simon's Town in the Union of South Africa to transfer from the British Royal Navy to the South African Navy.source
July 18–23 – Geneva Summit between the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.source
July 18 – Illinois Governor William Stratton signs the Loyalty Oath Act, that mandates all public employees take a loyalty oath to the State of Illinois and the United States or lose their jobs.source
27 July – First General Elections in Malaya. Alliance Party (Parti Perikatan) won 51 parliament seats of 52.Malaya source
August 18 – The first meeting of the Organization of Central American States (Organización de Estados Centroamericanos, ODECA) is held, in Antigua Guatemala.source
September 18 – The United Kingdom formally annexes the uninhabited Atlantic island of Rockall.source
September 18-Democratic Party was founded.South Korea source
September 23 – "Baghdad Pact": Military treaty among Iraq, Turkey, the U.K., Pakistan, and Iran is ratified by Pakistan.Pakistan source
September 24 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States, suffers a coronary thrombosis while on vacation in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Nixon assumed administrative duties and presided over Cabinet and National Security Council meetings while Eisenhower recovers.source
October 14 – The Organization of Central American States secretariat is inaugurated.source
October 26 – After the last Allied troops have left Austria, and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, the country declares its permanent neutrality.source
October 26 – Ngô Đình Diệm proclaims Vietnam to be a republic, with himself as its President (following the State of Vietnam referendum on October 23), and forms the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.source
November 15 – The Democratic Party of Japan and Japan Liberal Party merge to form the Japan Liberal Democratic Party, beginning the "1955 System".source
November 23 – The Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are transferred from British to Australian control.source
23 November – The administration of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is transferred to Australia after several delays.Singapore source
December 9 – Adnan Menderes of DP forms the new government of Turkey (22nd government).source
December 10 – 1955 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a substantially increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt. This election comes in the immediate aftermath of the devastating split in the Labor Party, which leads to the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. The DLP will preference against Labor, and keep the Coalition in office until 1972.source
14 December - Laos is admitted to the United Nations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.Laos source
December 20 – Cardiff is declared by the British Government as the capital of Wales.source
December 31 – Austria becomes independent, under terms of the May 15 Austrian State Treaty.source

Conflict & Security

9 January – The National Action Movement (Movimiento de Acción Nacional, MAN), the political party of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, is created.Colombia source
January 18–20 – Battle of Yijiangshan Islands: The Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army seizes the islands from the Republic of China (Taiwan).source
January 25 – The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union announces the end of the war between the USSR and Germany, which began during World War II in 1941.source
February 10 – The United States Seventh Fleet helps the Republic of China evacuate the Chinese Nationalist army and residents from the Tachen Islands to Taiwan.source
14 February – Dissident émigrés seize the Romanian embassy in Bern, Switzerland, in protest against the government. The group surrender after two days.Romania source
28 February – 1 March – Operation Black Arrow: An IDF operation carried out in Gaza (then under Egyptian control) from 28 February through 1 March 1955. The operation is aimed at the Egyptian army. 38 Egyptian and eight Israeli soldiers are killed during the operation and 30 Egyptians and thirteen Israelis are wounded. According to the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, this operation was the main motivation for Egypt's major arms deal with Czechoslovakia in 1955.Israel source
March 2 – Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old African-American girl, refuses to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white woman after the driver demands it. She is carried off the bus backwards, while being kicked, handcuffed and harassed on the way to the police station. She becomes a plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle (1956), which rules bus segregation to be unconstitutional.source
April 1 – EOKA starts a resistance campaign against British rule in the Crown colony of Cyprus.source
April 5 – Richard J. Daley defeats Robert Merrian to become Mayor of Chicago, by a vote of 708,222 to 581,555.source
April 11 – Taekwondo, a form of Korean martial arts, is officially recognized in South Korea. A board convened by General Choi Hong Hi, including master instructors, historians and societal leaders, officially adopts the name Taekwon-Do for the unified Korean martial art.source
April 11 – The Taiwanese Kuomintang put a bomb on the airplane Kashmir Princess, killing 16 but failing to assassinate the People's Republic of China leader, Zhou Enlai.source
May 7 – Newcastle United F.C. beat Manchester City F.C. 3–1 to win the 1955 FA Cup final in English Association football.source
12 May – The Hock Lee strikes escalated into a riot, resulting in 4 fatalities.Singapore source
2 July – Fatma Seher Erden, heroine who fought during the Turkish War of Independence (Kara Fatma; born 1888)Turkey source
August 18 – The First Sudanese Civil War begins.source
August 25 – The last Soviet Army forces leave Austria.source
August 26 – Satyajit Ray's film Pather Panchali is released in India.source
September 6 – Istanbul pogrom: Istanbul's Greek minority is the target of a government-sponsored pogrom.source
September 16 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.source
September 19–21 – President of Argentina Juan Perón is ousted in a military coup.source
September- Major General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu overthrew Lonardi.Argentina source
October 27 – The film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, is released in the United States.source
November 1 – Official start date of the Vietnam War between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam; the north is allied with the Viet Cong.source
27 November – A rally is held in Kuala Lumpur to urge CPM members to surrender and end the Malayan Emergency.Malaya source
November-December: a fresh wave of riots oust the government and police crush uprising.Jordan source

Exploration & Expansion

13 February – Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls, which had been discovered in the caves in and around the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in the Judean Desert.Israel source
March 23 – The Meadowridge garden city opens near Cape Town.South Africa source
April 15 – The first franchised McDonald's restaurant is opened by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.source
April 18–24 – The Asian-African Conference is held in Bandung, Indonesia.source
May 15 – Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy become the first people to reach the summit of Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world, on the 1955 French Makalu expedition. The entire team of climbers reaches the summit over the next two days.source
May 18 – Free movement of residents between North and South Vietnam ends.source
21 May – The 1955 Vuelta a Colombia begins.Colombia source
May 25 – Joe Brown and George Band are the first to climb Kangchenjunga in the Himalayas, as part of the British Kangchenjunga expedition led by Charles Evans.source
A 5,500-ton freighter carrying 7,800 tons of coal is run onto a reef in Port Phillip Bay to prevent it from sinking after it struck rocks while traversing The Rip.Australia source
20 August – The Paya Lebar Airport is officially opened, replacing the Kallang Airport which opened on 12 June 1937.Singapore source
30 November – The 1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition begins.Soviet Union source
René Magritte, The Mysteries of the HorizonBelgium source
The 1955 Pan American Games take place in Mexico City.Mexico source

Religion & Belief

1 March – Paul Thibeau is appointed to the Council of State.Luxembourg source
20 March – Zerrin Güngör, president of the Council of StateTurkey source
19 April – The city of Ofakim is founded.Israel source
July 25-August 4: Bishops from all over Latin America meet in Rio de Janeiro for the first Episcopal Conference of Latin America.Brazil source
September 14 – Pope Pius XII elevates many of the apostolic vicariates in Africa to Metropolitan Archdioceses.source
5 November – Convention establishing the Interparliamentary Consultative Council of the Benelux.Belgium source
November 27 – Fred Phelps establishes the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.United States source
Yje Danish Lanugage Council is established.Denmark source
Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan : Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku MuhammadMalaya source

Economy & Finance

January 28 – Benesse Corporation was founded, following its predecessor, Fukutake Shoten.Japan source
4-5 – The Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is held at the Trades Hall in Johannesburg.South Africa source
30 April – Singapore Harbour Board Staff Association Strike.Singapore source
19 June – Minister for Trade and Customs, Senator O'Sullivan confirms the federal government has abandoned with control of tea with merchants now free to resume private trading of tea making their own arrangements with tea producing countries.Australia source
1 October – Finance minister Abraham Perez resigns due to disagreements with President Campo.Chile source
30 November – The internal debt of Colombia reaches 880 million pesos, a rise from 489 million at the end of 1954.Colombia source
December 5 – The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge, to become the AFL–CIO.source
December 31 – General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make a profit of over 1 billion dollars in 1 year.source
The Imperial Bank of India, the oldest (est. 1921) and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, was transformed into the State Bank of India.India source
Unknown date – YTL Corporation Berhad was founded by Yeoh Tiong Lay.Malaya source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 17 – USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.source
28 January – The Royal Lao Air Force is established as the Lao Air Force.Laos source
July 17 – The first atomic-generated electrical power is sold commercially, partially powering Arco, Idaho, from the U.S. National Reactor Testing Station; on July 18, Schenectady, New York, receives power from a prototype nuclear submarine reactor at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.source
July 17 – The Disneyland theme park opens in Anaheim, California, an event broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company television network.source
19 July – Estonian Television (ETV) began broadcasting.Estonia source
21 July – The BBC brings into service its Divis transmitter, its first permanent facility serving Northern Ireland, marking the launch of a television service for Northern Ireland; the 35 kW transmissions can also be readily received in much of the Republic of Ireland.Northern Ireland source
August 1 – The prototype Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft first flies, in Nevada.source
14 August – Güler Sabancı, industrialistTurkey source
September 22 – Commercial television starts in the United Kingdom with the Independent Television Authority's first ITV franchises beginning broadcasting in London, ending the BBC monopoly.source
October 5 – Disneyland Hotel opens to the public in Anaheim, California.source
November 3 – The Rimutaka Tunnel opens on the New Zealand Railways, at 5.46 mi (8.79 km), the longest in the Southern Hemisphere at this time.source
10 December – The Asia Insurance Building is opened, then Southeast Asia's tallest building.Singapore source
December 14 – The Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, in New York State, opens to traffic.source
December: Club de Yates de Acapulco opens its doors.Mexico source
Rádio Barlavento in Mindelo begins broadcastingCape Verde source
Tengku Mohamad Sultan Ahmad (until 1 February)Malaya source

Science & Discovery

March 20 – The movie adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel Blackboard Jungle premieres in the United States, featuring the famous single "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to the song.source
July 7 – The New Zealand Special Air Service is formed.source
12 August – The aircraft carrier HMAS Vengeance is returned to the British Royal Navy.Australia source
September 16 – A Soviet Navy Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.source
1 October – South Africa wins 4–1 at the Newcastle's Sports Grounds, Australia.South Africa source
17 October – Charles Mackenzie Bruff, forensic chemist (born 1887).Norway source
October 20 – Disc jockey Bill Randle of WERE (Cleveland) is the key presenter of a concert at Brooklyn High School (Ohio), featuring Pat Boone and Bill Haley & His Comets and opening with Elvis Presley, not only Elvis's first performance north of the Mason–Dixon line, but also his first filmed performance, for a documentary on Randle titled The Pied Piper of Cleveland.United States source
November 19 – C. Northcote Parkinson first propounds 'Parkinson's law', in The Economist.source
December 22 – American cytogeneticist Joe Hin Tjio discovers the correct number of human chromosomes, forty-six.source
Glenn Gould's first recording of the Goldberg Variations is made.Canada source
Sunan Shuofang International AirportChina source
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985.Denmark source
The Querétaro Intercontinental Airport is established.Mexico source

Health & Medicine

January 22 – In the United States, The Pentagon announces a plan to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), armed with nuclear weapons.source
February 17 - A fire broke out at Seibo no Sono (Our Lady's Garden) in Totsuka-ku, Yokohama. According to a report from Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency (JFDMA), it resulted in the death of 99 people.Japan source
2 March – Samet Aybaba, former football player and currently coachTurkey source
March 25 – The Appeal Court bench increases from six to eleven members.South Africa source
April 5 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, due to ill-health, at the age of 80.source
April 12 – The Salk polio vaccine, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.source
April 17 – Imre Nagy, the communist Premier of Hungary, is ousted for being too moderate.source
27 April – The IMI Uzi submachine gun is introduced in the IDF parade on the Israel's Independence Day.Israel source
September 2 – Under the guidance of Dr. Humphry Osmond, Christopher Mayhew ingests 400 mg of mescaline hydrochloride and allows himself to be filmed as part of a Panorama special for BBC TV in the U.K. that is never broadcast.source
November 3: President Café Filho is admitted to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro after suffering a heart attack.Brazil source
22 November – The first Soviet hydrogen bomb, RDS-37, is tested.Soviet Union source
November 26 – The British Governor of Cyprus declares a state of emergency on the island.source
December 19 – Australian comedian Barry Humphries first introduces his character Edna Everage on stage in Melbourne.source
World population: 2,755,823,000source
Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical SciencesIran source
Menteri Besar of Kedah : Tunku Ismail Tunku YahyaMalaya source

Crime & Justice

2 January – Armed Palestinian Arab militants attacked and killed two hikers in the Judean Desert.Israel source
July 13 – Ruth Ellis is hanged for murder in London, becoming the last woman ever to be executed in the United Kingdom.source
August 28 – Black 14-year-old Emmett Till is lynched and shot in the head for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi; his white murderers, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, are acquitted by an all-white jury.source
September 3 - Yumiko-chan incidentJapan source
22 September – To deal with crimes, the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act is passed, allowing for detentions.Singapore source
October 4 – The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is released from prison in Seoul, South Korea.source
December 1 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger, and is arrested, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott.source
Ariano Suassuna - O Auto da CompadecidaBrazil source
American Community School in Amman.Jordan source
Residents-Commissioner : Robert Porter BinghamMalaya source
The Tigres del México win the Mexican League.Mexico source
14-16 February – Four Romanian émigrés seize the Romanian embassy in Bern and kill a chauffeur in protest of Romania's communist government.Switzerland source

Disasters & Accidents

January 23 – The Sutton Coldfield rail crash kills 17, near Birmingham, England.source
24 January – Mine accident in ZonguldakTurkey source
February 16 – Nearly 100 die in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.source
February 22 – In Chicago's Democratic primary, Mayor Martin H. Kennelly loses to the head of the Cook County Democratic Party, Richard J. Daley, 364,839 to 264,077.source
22 March – A fire destroys much of the original rococo interior of Florence Court.Northern Ireland source
April 16–17 - Abe coal mine debris collapse, due to heavy torrential rain hit in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, resulting in the death of 73 people, according to a confirmed JFDMA report.Japan source
11 June – 1955 Le Mans disaster. Driver Pierre Levegh and 82 spectators killed in a crash during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans race.France source
June 13 – Mir mine, the first diamond mine in the Soviet Union, is discovered.source
June 16 - Bombing of Plaza de Mayo: failed attempt by Argentine Naval Aviation to overthrow President PeronArgentina source
17 July – San Bernardo train crashChile source
July 27 – El Al Flight 402 from Vienna (Austria) to Tel Aviv, via Istanbul, is shot down over Bulgaria. All 58 passengers and crewmen aboard the Lockheed Constellation are killed.source
27 July – After straying into Bulgarian airspace, El Al Flight 402 was shot down by two MiG-15 fighter jets, resulting in the deaths of all 58 on board.Israel source
11 August – A Rhodesian soldier named Shaweleka Fungabelo killed six people and wounded at least twelve people on a mail train travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore before committing suicide.Malaya source
October 29 – Soviet battleship Novorossiysk explodes at moorings in Sevastopol Bay, killing 608 (the Soviet Union's worst naval disaster to date).source
November 1 – A time bomb explodes in the cargo hold of United Airlines Flight 629, a Douglas DC-6B, over Longmont, Colorado, killing all 39 passengers and 5 crew members on board.source
21 November – C-47D Skytrain aircraft crash in AkrafjallIceland source

Climate & Environment

January 31: An earthquake with a 6.2 magnitude hits Porto dos Gaúchos, Mato Grosso; becoming the biggest earthquake in Brazil.Brazil source
22–28 February – 1955 Hunter Valley floods: Enormous flooding of the Hunter River and adjacent areas of the Murray–Darling basin causes loss of life and set many rainfall and streamflow records.Australia source
March 17 – The Richard Riot erupts in Montreal after the NHL suspends Maurice Richard for the remainder of the season.Canada source
16 July – The magnitude 6.8 Soke–Aydin earthquake shook the Aydın Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing severe damage and four deaths.Turkey source
August 19 – Hurricane Diane hits the northeastern United States, killing over 200 people and causing over $1 billion in damage.source
September 3 – Little Richard records "Tutti Frutti" in New Orleans; it is released in October.source
September 3 – African American rock singer Little Richard records "Tutti Frutti" in New Orleans; it is released in October.United States source
September 10–20: Hurricane Hilda (1955).Mexico source
September 19 – Hurricane Hilda kills about 200 people in Mexico.source
September 21–30 – Hurricane Janet, one of the strongest North Atlantic tropical cyclones on record, sweeps the Lesser Antilles and Mexico, causing more than 1,020 deaths.source
September–November Bumper rice and wheat cropChina source
Sultan of Johor : Sultan Ibrahim Al-MasyhurMalaya source

Culture & Society

January 7 – Marian Anderson is the first African-American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.source
2 April - Queen Sirikit gives birth to a third child and second daughter Sirindhorn.Thailand source
4 April – Sultan Alam Shah Islamic College was founded.Malaya source
1 June – Joseph Bech leads a delegation to the three-day Messina Conference on European integration.Luxembourg source
June 7 – The television quiz program The $64,000 Question premieres on CBS-TV in the United States, with Hal March as the host.source
July 28 – The first Interlingua Congress is held in Tours, France, leading to the foundation of the Union Mundial pro Interlingua.source
4 August – The newspaper El Tiempo is closed.Colombia source
16 August – The establishment of Mongolian State Honor Guard.Mongolia source
August 27 – The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published, in London.source
September 10 – The long-running Western television series Gunsmoke debuts, on the CBS network in the United States.source
September 15 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in Paris, by Olympia Press.source
October 2 – Alfred Hitchcock Presents debuts on the CBS TV network in the United States.source
October 3 – The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on the ABC-TV network in the United States.source
October 11 – 70-mm film for projection is introduced, with the theatrical release of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical film, Oklahoma!.source
Captain Kangaroo debuts on CBS network in the United States.source
December 4 – The International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations is founded in Luxembourg.source
December 5 – The Montgomery Improvement Association is formed in Montgomery, Alabama, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other Black ministers to coordinate the Montgomery bus boycott by Black people.source
23 December – The first film adaptation of Väinö Linna's novel The Unknown Soldier, directed by Edvin Laine, was premiered.Finland source
28 December: Kim Il Sung delivers his "Juche Speech", On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work.North Korea source
28-29 December – David Marshall represented the government of the Crown Colony of Singapore in the Baling Talks.Singapore source

Births

January 13 – Paul Kelly, Australian musiciansource
January 28 – Nicolas Sarkozy, 23rd President of Francesource
February 24 – Steve Jobs, American businessman and founder of Apple Computer (died 2011)source
March 21 – Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian congressman and politician, 38th President of Brazilsource
2 April - Sirindhorn Thai PrincessThailand source
June 15 – David A. Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy (died 1984)source
July 9 – Lindsey Graham, American politician, lawyer, U.S. Army soldier, U.S. Senator (R-Sc.) and unsuccessful 2016 presidential candidate (died 2026)source
11 July – Balaji Sadasivan, former Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (died 2010).Singapore source
11 July - Sim Soo-bong, Korean singerSouth Korea source
July 22 – Asif Ali Zardari, politicianPakistan source
July 26 – Asif Ali Zardari, 11th President of Pakistansource
August 4 – Alberto Gonzales, American lawyer and 80th United States Attorney Generalsource
September 14 – Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Churchsource
October 8 – Bill Elliott, American racing driversource
October 28 – Bill Gates, American businessman and co-founder of Microsoftsource
November 11 – Friedrich Merz, German politician, Chancellor of Germanysource
November 13 – Whoopi Goldberg, American actress and comediansource
November 22 – Milan Bandić, Croatian politician (died 2021)source

Deaths

28 February – Isak Penttala, politician (born 1883)Finland source
March 11 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1881)source
March 12 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist (born 1920)source
March 23 – Artur Bernardes, 12th President of Brazil (born 1875)source
April 10 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French Jesuit priest, philosopher, paleontologist and geologist (born 1881)source
12 April – Teo Kim Eng, businessman (born 1893).Singapore source
April 18 – Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)source
May 11 – Japanese National Railways' ferry Shiun Maru sinks after a collision with sister ship Uko Maru, in thick fog off Takamatsu, Shikoku, in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan; 166 passengers (many children) and 2 crew members are killed. This event is influential in plans to construct the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (built 1986–98).source
May 26 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race-car driver (accident) (born 1918)source
June 11 – Le Mans disaster: Eighty-three people are killed and at least 100 are injured after two race cars collide in the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans.source
July 23 – Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1871)source
August 5 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress (born 1909)source
August 12 – Thomas Mann, German novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1875)source
16 August - Yi Kang, former royalSouth Korea source
August 28 – Emmett Till, American murder victim (born 1941)source
September 30 – James Dean, American actor (born 1931)source
September 30 – Actor James Dean is killed when his automobile collides with another car at a highway junction, near Cholame, California.source
November 8 – Musa Ghiatuddin Riayat Shah of Selangor, 7th Sultan of Selangor (born 1893)Malaya source