1920

January

January 16: Beginning of Prohibition in the United States

• January – First Red Scare: 4,025 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested and held without trial in the United States, following raids in several cities.
• January 1
  • Babe Ruth is traded by the Red Sox for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time.
  • Bolsheviks increase troops from 4 divisions to 20, along the Polish border.
• January 7
  • The forces of Russian White Admiral Alexander Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk; the Great Siberian Ice March ensues.
  • The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
• January 9 – Thousands of onlookers watch as George Polley ("The Human Fly") climbs the Woolworth Building in New York City; he reaches the 30th floor before being arrested.
• January 10 – The League of Nations Covenant enters into force. On January 16, the organization holds its first council meeting, in Paris.
• January 10 – The Treaty of Versailles takes effect, officially ending World War I.
• January 11 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic is recognised de facto by European powers in Versailles.^[1]
• January 13 – The New York Times ridicules American rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard.
• January 16
  • Prohibition in the United States begins, with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect.
  • The Allies of World War I demand that the Netherlands extradite German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who fled there in 1918.
  • Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
• January 19
  • The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
  • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
• January 22 – The Australian Country Party is officially formed, led by Nelson Pollard.
• January 23 – The Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser.
• January 28 – El Tercio de Extranjeros (the "Regiment of Foreigners"), later the Spanish Legion, is established by decree of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
• January 30 – The oldest surviving pro wrestling match on film takes place, with Joe Stecher defeating Earl Caddock.

February

• February 1 – The South African Air Force (SAAF) is established, the second autonomous Air Force in the world, after the Royal Air Force (RAF).^[2]
• February 2
  • Estonian War of Independence: The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed, ending the war and recognizing the independence of both the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
  • France occupies Memel.
  • Sayyid Muhammad, Khan of Khiva, abdicates.
• February 7 – Admiral Kolchak and Viktor Pepelyayev are executed by firing squad near Irkutsk.
• February 9 – The Svalbard Treaty, signed by members of the League of Nations in Paris, recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (at this time called Spitzbergen), while giving the other signatories economic rights in the islands.
• February 10 – General Józef Haller first performs Poland's Wedding to the Sea, a symbolic celebration of the restitution of Polish access to the Baltic Sea.
• February 12–24 – Conference of London: Leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Italy meet to discuss the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
• February 13 – Switzerland rejoins the League of Nations.
• February 14 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
• February 17 – A woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin, and is taken to a mental hospital, where she claims she is Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.
• February 19 – The United States Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
• February 20 – 1920 Gori earthquake: An earthquake hits Gori in the Democratic Republic of Georgia, killing 114.
• February 21 – The island province of Marinduque in the Philippines archipelago is founded.
• February 22 – In Emeryville, California, the first dog racing track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
• February 24 – Adolf Hitler presents his National Socialist Program in Munich to the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), which renames itself as the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei).

March

• March 1
  • Hungarian Admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary.
  • The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
• March 7 – The Syrian National Congress proclaims Syria independent, with Faisal I of Iraq as king.
• March 10
  • The world's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden, as Hjalmar Branting takes over as Prime Minister, when Nils Edén leaves office.
  • The Baylor Business Men's Club changes its name, to the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce.
• March 13–17 – Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz's Kapp Putsch (an attempted coup in Germany) briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin, but fails due to public resistance and a general strike.
• March 15 – The Ruhr Red Army, a communist army 60,000 men strong, is formed in Germany.
• March 15–16 – Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement. Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.^[3]
• March 18 – Greece begins using the Gregorian calendar.
• March 19 – The United States Congress refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
• March 23 – Admiral Miklós Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy, without anyone on the throne.
• March 25 – Irish War of Independence: British recruits to the Royal Irish Constabulary begin to arrive in Ireland. They become known from their improvised uniforms as the "Black and Tans".^[4]
• March 26 – The German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against the rebellious Ruhr Red Army, in the French-occupied area.
• March 28 – The 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak hits the Great Lakes region and Deep South, of the United States.
• March 29 – Sir William Robertson is promoted to Field Marshal, the first man to rise from private (enlisted 1877) to the highest rank in the British Army.^[5]

April

• April 2 – The German army marches to the Ruhr, to fight the Ruhr Red Army.
• April 4 – 1920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.
• April 6 – The short-lived Far Eastern Republic is declared, in eastern Siberia.
• April 11 – Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón flees from Mexico City (during a trial intended to ruin his reputation) to Guerrero, where he joins Fortunato Maycotte.
• April 19–26 – San Remo conference: Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories, following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
• April 19 – Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war.

1920 Summer Olympics

• April 20
  • Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón announces (in Chilpancingo) that he intends to fight against the rule of Venustiano Carranza.
  • The 1920 Summer Olympics open in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic symbols of five interlocking rings and the associated flag are first displayed at the games.
• April 23 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ankara. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI, and announces a temporary constitution.
• April 24 – Polish–Soviet War: Polish and anti-Soviet Ukrainian troops attack the Red Army, in Soviet Ukraine.
• April 26 – The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic is officially created by Bolshevist Russia, as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva.
• April 28 – The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic is officially created.

May

• May 2 – The first game of Negro National League baseball is played, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• May 3 – A Bolshevik coup fails, in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
• May 7
  • Polish–Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kiev. The government of the Ukrainian People's Republic returns to the city.
  • Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza leaves Mexico City in a large train.
  • Treaty of Moscow (1920): Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, only to invade the country six months later.
• May 15 – Russian Revolution: Russian White soldier Maria Bochkareva is executed in Soviet Russia.
• May 16
  • Canonization of Joan of Arc: Over 30,000 people attend the ceremony in Rome, including 140 descendants of Joan of Arc's family. Pope Benedict XV presides over the rite, for which the interior of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is richly decorated.
  • A referendum in Switzerland favors joining the League of Nations.
• May 17
  • French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
  • The first flight of Dutch air company KLM, from Amsterdam to London, takes place.
• May 19 – Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón's troops enter Mexico City.
• May 20 – Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza arrives in San Antonio Tlaxcalantongo; troops of Rodolfo Herrero attack him at night, and shoot him.
• May 24 – Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City; all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president.
• May 26 – Ganja revolt: Anti-Soviet opposition in the Azerbaijan SSR launches an abortive revolt in Ganja.
• May 27 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
• May 29 – Floods at Louth, Lincolnshire in England kill 23.

June

• June 4 – Treaty of Trianon: Peace is restored between the Allied Powers and Hungary, which loses 72% of its territory.
• June 5 – Bolshevik cavalry break through Polish and Ukrainian lines south of Kiev, precipitating eventual withdrawal.
• June 12 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army retakes Kiev.
• June 13
  • Essad Pasha Toptani, nominal ruler of Albania, is assassinated by Avni Rustemi in Paris.
  • The United States Post Office Department rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.^[6]
• June 15
  • A new border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
  • The Estonian Constituent Assembly adopts the first constitution of Estonia, which will come into effect on December 21 the same year.
• June 22 – Greek Summer Offensive: Greece attacks Turkish troops.

July

• July 1 – Germany declares its neutrality, in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia.
• July 2 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army continues its offensive into Poland.
• July 7 – Arthur Meighen becomes Canada's ninth prime minister.
• July 11 – The East Prussian plebiscite is held.
• July 12 – Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic recognizes independent Lithuania.
• July 13 – The London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs.
• July 19–August 7 – The Second Congress of the Communist International takes place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow; the notorious Twenty-one Conditions are adopted.
• July 20 – The United Kingdom cedes its brief control of the key Black Sea port of Batum, to the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
• July 21 – The Interallied Mission to Poland takes place.
• July 22 – Polish–Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia (which refuses).
• July 24 – Battle of Maysalun: The French defeat the Syrian army, whose leader Yusuf al-'Azma is killed. French troops occupy Damascus, and depose Faisal I of Syria as king.^[7]
• July 26 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes over Sabina and contacts de la Huerta to offer his conditional surrender. He signs his surrender on July 28.
• July 29 – The United States Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of the Link River Dam, as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
• July 30–August 8 – The 1st World Scout Jamboree is held at Olympia, London.^[8]
• July 31
  • Irish-born Australian Catholic Bishop Daniel Mannix is detained onboard ship off Queenstown, and prevented from landing in Ireland, or from speaking in the main Irish Catholic communities elsewhere in the United Kingdom.^[9]
  • France prohibits the sale or prescription of contraceptives.
  • Representatives of British revolutionary socialist groups meet at the Cannon Street Hotel in London, and agree to form the Communist Party of Great Britain.

August

• August 3 – Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast, in protest at the continuing British Army presence.
• August 10 – Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres with the Allied Powers, confirming arrangements for the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
• August 11 – Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Latvia.
• August 13–25 – Polish–Soviet War – Battle of Warsaw: The Red Army is defeated.
• August 13 – Irish War of Independence: The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom) receives Royal Assent, providing for Irish Republican Army activists to be tried by court-martial, rather than by jury in criminal courts.^[4]
• August 19–25 – Second Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise up against the Germans.
• August 20 – The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit. It is owned by the Detroit News, the first U.S. radio station owned by a newspaper.
• August 26 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
• August 28–September 2 – Bukhara operation: The Russian Red Army and Young Bukharians overthrow the Emirate of Bukhara, leading to the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.

September

• September 5 – Presidential elections begin in Mexico.
• September 8 – Gabriele D'Annunzio proclaims the Italian Regency of Carnaro, in the city of Fiume.
• September 12 – The position of Patriarch of the Serbs is re-established as the authority over the Serbian Orthodox Church, almost 156 years to the day after it was abolished by the Ottoman Empire in 1766. ^[10]
• September 16 – Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City, killing 38 and injuring 400.
• September 16 – The Latvian Agrarian Reform Law of 1920 is adopted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia.
• September 17 – The National Football League is established, as the American Professional Football Association.
• September 20 – The first soldier joins El Tercio de Extranjeros, (the "Regiment of Foreigners", later the Spanish Legion). Under the command of José Millán Astray and Francisco Franco, its first duties are against Rif rebels, in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco.
• September 21 – The Communist Party of Uruguay is founded.
• September 22 – The London Metropolitan Police forms the Flying Squad, a motorised mobile detective patrol unit.
• September 27 – Polish–Soviet War: Bolshevist Russia sues for peace with Poland.
• September 29
  • The first domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States; a Westinghouse radio costs $10.
  • Adolf Hitler makes his first public political speech, in Austria.

October

• October 3 – The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race first runs in Paris.
• October 9 – Polish–Lithuanian War: Polish troops take Vilnius.
• October 10 – Carinthian Plebiscite: A large part of Carinthia Province votes to become part of Austria, rather than Yugoslavia.
• October 14 – A peace treaty between the Soviet and the Finnish governments is concluded at Tartu.
• October 16 – Polish–Soviet War: After the Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
• October 18 – Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London; 50 are injured.
• October 26 – Álvaro Obregón is announced the elected president of Mexico.
• October 27 –
  • The League of Nations moves its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Baron Louis De Geer the Younger becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden.
• October 30 – The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.

November

• November 2
  • United States presidential election, 1920: Republican U. S. Senator Warren G. Harding defeats Democratic Governor of Ohio James M. Cox and Socialist Eugene V. Debs, in the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
  • In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the results of the presidential election.
  • Meiji Shrine, one of many landmark spots in Tokyo, is officially built in Japan.^[11]
• November 11 – The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey.
• November 12 – Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo.
• November 13 – The White Army's last units and civilian refugees are evacuated from the Crimea on board 126 ships, the remnants of the Russian Imperial Navy, to Turkey, Tunisia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, accompanied by wide-scale civilian massacres. The total number of evacuees amounts to approximately 150,000 people, of which 20% are civilians.
• November 14 – The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra holds its first concert.
• November 15 – In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held.
• November 16 – Queensland and Northern Territory Aviation Services (Qantas) is founded by Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness.
• November 17 – The council of the League of Nations accepts the constitution for the Free City of Danzig.
• November 20 – Prince Arthur of Connaught is appointed the 3rd Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
• November 21 – Irish War of Independence: Bloody Sunday: The Irish Republican Army, on the instructions of Michael Collins, shoot dead the "Cairo gang", 14 British undercover agents in Dublin, most in their homes. Later that day in retaliation, the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary open fire on a crowd at a Gaelic Athletic Association Football match in Croke Park, killing 13 spectators and 1 player, and wounding 60.^[4][12] Three men are shot this night in Dublin Castle "while trying to escape".
• November 28 – Irish War of Independence – Kilmichael Ambush: The flying column of the 3rd Cork Brigade of the Irish Republican Army, led by Tom Barry, ambushes two lorries carrying men of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary at Kilmichael, County Cork, killing 17 (with 3 of its men also dying), which leads to official reprisals.^[4]

December

• December 1 – The Mexican Revolution ends with a new regime coming to power, which couples with the end of the Old West.
• December 3 – Following more than a month of the Turkish–Armenian War, the Turkish-dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded.
• December 5 – A referendum in Greece is favorable to the reinstatement of the monarchy.
• December 10 – Irish War of Independence: Martial law is declared in Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary.^[4]
• December 11 – The Burning of Cork in Ireland: British forces set fire to some 5 acres (20,000 m²) of the centre of Cork, including the City Hall, in reprisal attacks, after a British auxiliary is killed in a guerilla ambush.

Haiyuan earthquake

• December 15–22 – The Brussels Conference establishes a timetable for German war reparations, intended to extend for over 42 years.
• December 16
  • Finland joins the League of Nations.
  • An 8.6 Richter scale Haiyuan earthquake causes a landslide in Gansu Province, China, killing 180,000.
• December 17 – South Africa is granted a League of Nations Class C mandate over South West Africa.
• December 22 – The 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR adopts the GOELRO plan, the major plan of the economical development of the country.
• December 23
  • The United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.
  • The Government of Ireland Act 1920, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, receives Royal Assent from George V, providing for the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, with separate parliaments, granting a measure of home rule.^[4][12]
• December 25 – The Rosicrucian Fellowship's spiritual healing temple The Ecclesia is dedicated at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California.

Date unknown

• Hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic closely related to codeine, is first synthesized in Germany, by Carl Mannich and Helene Löwenheim.
• Approximate date – The HIV pandemic almost certainly originates in Léopoldville, modern-day Kinshasa, the capital of the Belgian Congo.^[13]

January

Isaac Asimov

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

Federico Fellini

DeForest Kelley

Alf Ramsey

• January 1
  • José Antonio Bottiroli, Argentinean composer, poet (d. 1990)
  • Virgilio Savona, Italian singer, songwriter (d. 2009)
  • Heinz Zemanek, Austrian computer pioneer (d. 2014)
  • Elisabeth Andersen, Dutch actress (d. 2018)
• January 2
  • Isaac Asimov, American author (d. 1992)
  • George Herbig, American astronomer (d. 2013)
  • Anne-Sofie Østvedt, Norwegian resistance leader (d. 2009)
• January 3
  • Renato Carosone, Italian musician, singer (d. 2001)
  • Abbas Ali, Indian freedom fighter, politician (d. 2014)
• January 5 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
• January 6
  • John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
  • Early Wynn, American baseball player (d. 1999)
• January 7 – Vincent Gardenia, American actor (d. 1992)
• January 8
  • Abbey Simon, American classical pianist
  • Gordon Kahl, American tax protester, cop-killer (d. 1983)
• January 9
  • Clive Dunn, British actor (d. 2012)
  • Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar, philanthropist (d. 1998)
• January 10 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general, politician and 36th President of Argentina (d. 2015)
• January 11 – Jarbas Passarinho, Brazilian military officer, politician (d. 2016)
• January 12 – Bill Reid, Canadian artist (d. 1998)
• January 13 – Jahangir Amuzegar, Iranian economist, academic and politician (d. 2018)
• January 15 – John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
• January 16
  • Al Morgan, American novelist, television producer (d. 2011)
  • Elliott Reid, American actor (d. 2013)
  • Walter Frederick Morrison, American entrepreneur, inventor (d. 2010)
• January 19
  • Buddy O'Grady, American basketball player, coach (d. 1992)
  • Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian Secretary-General of the United Nations, 135th Prime Minister of Peru
• January 20
  • Federico Fellini, Italian film director, screenwriter (d. 1993)
  • DeForest Kelley, American actor (Star Trek) (d. 1999)
  • Fabian Ver, Filipino general (d. 1998)
• January 21 – Errol Barrow, 1st Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
• January 22 – Alf Ramsey, English footballer, manager (d. 1999)
• January 23 – Gottfried Böhm, German architect
• January 24
  • Manuel Yan, Filipino general (d. 2008)
  • Jerry Maren, American actor (d. 2018)
• January 25 – Alicia Montoya, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• January 26 – Heinz Kessler, German politician, military officer (d. 2017)
• January 27
  • Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese fighter ace (d. 1944)
  • Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (d. 2002)
• January 29 – Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao, Indian writer (d. 2018)
• January 30
  • Michael Anderson, English film director (d. 2018)
  • Delbert Mann, American television, film director (d. 2007)
• January 31 – James Yimm Lee, American martial arts pioneer, teacher, author, and publisher (d. 1972)

February

Farouk of Egypt

Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington

• February 2 – Heikki Suolahti, Finnish composer (d. 1936)
• February 3 – Henry Heimlich, American physician, medical researcher (d. 2016)
• February 4 – Giriraj Kishore, Indian activist, politician (d. 2014)
• February 5 – Frank Muir, British actor, comedy writer and raconteur (d. 1998)
• February 7
  • Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk singer, songwriter and author (d. 2016)
  • An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)
• February 8 – Bengt Ekerot, Swedish actor, director (d. 1971)
• February 11
  • Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
  • Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
• February 12
  • William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (d. 2000)
  • Heleno de Freitas, Brazilian footballer (d. 1959)
  • Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Chinese-Japanese actress, singer (d. 2014)
• February 13
  • Seneka Bibile, Sri Lankan pharmacologist (d. 1977)
  • Annæus Schjødt, Jr., Norwegian barrister (d. 2014)
• February 16 – Anna Mae Hays, American general (d. 2018)
• February 17
  • Ivo Caprino, Norwegian film director (d. 2001)
  • Annie Castor, American disability, communication disorder activist
• February 18
  • Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
  • Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (executed) (d. 1945)
• February 20 – Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (d. 1948)
• February 22 – Burt L. Talcott, American politician (d. 2016)
• February 23 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2018)
• February 25 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist, founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
• February 26
  • Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
  • Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer, and traveler (d. 2006)
• February 28
  • Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish pilot (d. 2014)
  • Zaim Topčić, Yugoslav, Bosnian writer (d. 1990)
• February 29
  • Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
  • Michele Morgan, French actress (d. 2016)

March

• March 3
  • James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (Star Trek) (d. 2005)
  • Ronald Searle, British cartoonist (d. 2011)
• March 4
  • Jean Lecanuet, French politician (d. 1993)
  • Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish actor (d. 2002)
• March 5
  • Rachel Gurney, British actress (d. 2001)
  • Del Latta, American politician (d. 2016)
• March 6 – Lewis Gilbert, British film director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2018)
• March 8 – Ingemar Hedberg, Swedish canoeist
• March 9 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian athlete (d. 2015)
• March 10
  • Alfred Peet, Dutch-American entrepreneur, founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea (d. 2007)
  • Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician (d. 1959)
• March 11
  • Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
• March 14 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
• March 15
  • Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
  • E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)
• March 17 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder, 2-time President & 2nd Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
• March 16 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• March 19
  • Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian poet, artist (d. 2002)
  • Paul Hagen, Danish actor (d. 2003)
  • Laurent Noël, Canadian Roman Catholic bishop
• March 20
  • Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat, socialite (d. 1997)
  • Vickie Panos, Greek-Canadian female professional baseball player (d. unknown)
  • Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (d. 1942)
  • Rosemary Timperley, British author (d. 1988)
• March 22
  • Werner Klemperer, German actor (Hogan's Heroes) (d. 2000)
  • Josip Manolić, Prime Minister of Croatia
  • Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (d. 1981)
  • Albert H. Pearson, American farmer, politician (d. 1963)
  • Fanny Waterman, English pianist, educator
• March 23
  • Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player, coach (d. 2013)
  • Neal Edward Smith, American pilot, lawyer and politician
• March 24 – Corbin Harney, elder and spiritual leader of the Newe (Western Shoshone) people (d. 2007)
• March 25 – Patrick Troughton, British actor (d. 1987)
• March 27
  • Robin Jacques, English illustrator (d. 1995)
  • William Moncrief, American businessman
• March 31
  • Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 2014)
  • Marga Minco, Dutch journalist, writer

April

Toshiro Mifune

Jack Webb

Richard von Weizsäcker

• April 1 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
• April 2 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
• April 3 – Ehsan Yarshater, Iranian scholar (d. 2018)
• April 4 – Éric Rohmer, French film director (d. 2010)
• April 5
  • Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1971 until 1973 (d. 2001)
  • Arthur Hailey, American writer (d. 2004)
• April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• April 7 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player (d. 2012)
• April 8 – Carmen McRae, American jazz singer (d. 1994)
• April 11
  • Emilio Colombo, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
  • Peter O'Donnell, British author, comic strip writer (d. 2010)
• April 12
  • Anita Ellis, Canadian-American singer, actress (d. pre-2008)
  • Buck Young, American actor (d. 2000)
• April 13
  • Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
  • Liam Cosgrave, sixth Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2017)
  • Jack Lambert, American actor (d. 2002)
• April 14
  • Stanley Stutz, American basketball player (d. 1975)
  • Ivor Forbes Guest, English lawyer, historian and author (d. 2018)
  • Antônio Afonso de Miranda, Brazilian Roman Catholic bishop
• April 15
  • Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-born psychiatrist, writer (d. 2012)
  • Richard von Weizsäcker, German politician, President of Germany (1984–1994) (d. 2015)
• April 16 – Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (d. 1986)
• April 19 – Gene Leis, American jazz guitarist, educator (d. 1993)
• April 20 – John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• April 21 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
• April 22 – Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian poet (d. 2014)
• April 23 – Eric Yarrow, English businessman
• April 27 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
• April 29 – Harold Shapero, American composer (d. 2013)

May

Pope John Paul II

• May 2
  • Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
  • Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-born writer, ecological activist (d. 2000)
  • Preben Neergaard, Danish actor (d. 1990)
• May 5 – Jon Naar, British-American author, photographer (d. 2017)
• May 6 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
• May 7 – Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (d. 1985)
• May 8 – Touko Laaksonen, Finnish artist (pseudonym Tom of Finland) (d. 1991)
• May 8 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
• May 9
  • Richard Adams, English novelist (d. 2016)
  • Mitsuko Mori, Japanese actress (d. 2012)
  • Michael Dauncey, British Army brigadier (d. 2017)
• May 11
  • Denver Pyle, American actor (d. 1997)
  • Gene Hermanski, American baseball player (d. 2010)
• May 12 – Gerald Stapleton, South African Battle of Britain fighter pilot (d. 2010)
• May 13 – Gareth Morris, British flautist (d. 2007)
• May 15
  • Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Lebanese cardinal
  • Louis Siminovitch, Canadian molecular biologist
• May 17 – Lydia Wideman, Finnish Olympic cross-country skier
• May 18
  • Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
  • Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2012)
• May 19 – Tina Strobos, Dutch psychiatrist known for rescuing Jews during World War II (d. 2012)
• May 20
  • John Cruickshank, Scottish Victoria Cross recipient
  • Domenico Leccisi, Italian politician (d. 2008)
• May 22 – Helen Andelin, American author (d. 2009)
• May 23 – Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
• May 25 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)
• May 26
  • John Dall, American actor (d. 1971)
  • Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)
• May 28 – Gene Levitt, American television writer, producer, and director (d. 1999)
• May 29
  • John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
  • Clifton James, American actor (d. 2017)
• May 30
  • Godfrey Binaisa, President of Uganda (d. 2010)
  • Franklin Schaffner, American film, television director (d. 1989)
  • Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese writer (d. 2013)

June

José López Portillo

Zeno Colò

• June 1 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli soldier (d. 1991)
• June 2
  • Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic, member of the literary Gruppe 47 (d. 2013)
  • Tex Schramm, American football executive (d. 2003)
  • Johnny Speight, British television scriptwriter (d. 1998)
• June 4 – Lynda Adams, Canadian diver
• June 6 – Jan Rubeš, Czech-Canadian bass opera singer, actor (d. 2009)
• June 10 – Ruth Graham, American evangelist, wife of Billy Graham (d. 2007)
• June 11 – King Mahendra of Nepal (d. 1972)
• June 12
  • Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
  • Jim Siedow, American actor (d. 2003)
• June 13
  • Rex Everhart, American actor (d. 2000)
  • Rolf Huisgen, German chemist and academic
• June 15 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor (d. 2003)
• June 16
  • Eva Estrada-Kalaw, Filipino politician (d. 2017)
  • José López Portillo, 51st President of Mexico (d. 2004)
• June 17
  • Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (d. 1981)
  • Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress (d. 2015)
  • François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2013)
  • Peter Le Cheminant, Guernesiase air force commander (d. 2018)
• June 18
  • Utta Danella, German writer (d. 2015)
  • Lode Van Den Bergh, Belgian author and academic
• June 19
  • Thomas Jefferson, American musician
  • Eliana Navarro, Chilean poet (d. 2006)
• June 20
  • Danny Cedrone, American guitarist, bandleader (d. 1954)
  • Amos Tutuola, Nigerian writer (d. 1997)
• June 21 – Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater (d. 2017)
• June 22
  • Lester Wunderman, American executive
  • Jack Karwales, American football player (d. 2004)
  • Walt Masterson, American right-handed baseball pitcher (d. 2008)
  • Paul Frees, American voice actor (d. 1986)
  • Jovito Salonga, Filipino statesman (d. 2016)
• June 23 – Saleh Ajeery, Kuwaiti astronomer
• June 25
  • Théo Klein, French lawyer
  • Jeanne Tomasini, Corsican writer
  • Lassie Lou Ahern, American actress (d. 2018)
  • Ozan Marsh, American pianist (d. 1992)
• June 26 – Jean-Pierre Roy, Canadian Major League Baseball pitcher (d. 2014)
• June 27 – Fernando Riera, Chilean football player, manager (d. 2010)
• June 28 – Clarissa Eden, wife of British Prime Minister Anthony Eden
• June 29
  • Armin Hofmann, Swiss graphic designer
  • Elói, Portuguese footballer
  • Ray Harryhausen, American animator (d. 2013)
• June 30
  • Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet (d. 2011)
  • Zeno Colò, Italian Olympic alpine skier (d. 1993)

July

Yul Brynner

Juan Antonio Samaranch

• July 1
  • Joseph G. Williams, American musician
  • George I. Fujimoto, American chemist of Japanese descent
  • Aziz Sedky, Egyptian politician, engineer (d. 2008)
  • Lucidio Sentimenti, Italian footballer (d. 2014)
• July 3 – Sergio Mendizabal, Spanish actor
• July 4
  • Paul Bannai, American politician
  • Anthony Barber, British Conservative politician (d. 2005)
  • Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator, real estate investor (d. 2007)
• July 5
  • Mary Louise Hancock, American politician (d. 2017)
  • Rosemarie Springer, German equestrian
• July 7
  • Sandy Tatum, American golfer (d. 2017)
  • William Thaddeus Coleman Jr., American attorney, politician (d. 2017)
  • Henry Williams Hise, U.S General (d. 2010)
• July 8
  • Eileen Bennett, British actress
  • Tom Currigan, 39th Mayor of Denver (d. 2014)
• July 10
  • Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
  • J. T. White, American college football assistant coach (d. 2005)
  • Milo Anstadt, Dutch-Jewish writer, journalist (d. 2011)
• July 11
  • Yul Brynner, Russian-born American actor (d. 1985)
  • Zecharia Sitchin, Soviet-born American author (d. 2010)
• July 12
  • Randolph Quirk, British linguist, life peer (d. 2017)
  • Bob Fillion, Canadian professional ice hockey player (d. 2015)
  • Keith Andes, American actor (d. 2005)
• July 13
  • Anna Halprin, American dancer
  • Don Ralke, American music arranger (d. 2000)
  • Bill Towers, English footballer (d. 2000)
• July 14
  • Tom Neil, English pilot Royal Air Force (d. 2018)
  • Marijohn Wilkin, American songwriter (d. 2006)
• July 15
  • Theresa Kobuszewski, American professional baseball player, World War II veteran (d. 2005)
  • Prince Michael Andreevich of Russia (d. 2008)
• July 16
  • Ulysses S. Washington, American college football player, coach
  • Phillip Pine, American actor (d. 2006)
  • Larry Jansen, American right-handed pitcher, coach (d. 2009)
  • Henry Williams Hise, United States Marine Corps Brigadier General (d. 2010)
• July 17
  • Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president (d. 2010)
  • Gordon Gould, American physicist (d. 2005)
  • June Vincent, American actress (d. 2008)
• July 18 – Dolph Sweet, American actor (d. 1985)
• July 19
  • Émile Idée, French professional road bicycle racer
  • Robert Mann, American violinist (d. 2018)
  • Frank Maznicki, American football player (d. 2013)
  • George Dawkes, English cricketer (d. 2006)
• July 20
  • Jasper Blackall, British sailor
  • James B. Owens, American engineer, former executive
  • Byron Krieger, American foil, sabre and épée fencer (d. 2015)
• July 21
  • Jean Daniel, Algerian-born French-Jewish journalist, author
  • Gunnar Thoresen, Norwegian footballer (d. 2017)
  • Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 2005)
  • Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
• July 24 – Bella Abzug, American feminist politician (d. 1998)
• July 25
  • Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (d. 1958)
  • David P. Buckson, American lawyer, politician (d. 2017)
• July 28 – Lea Padovani, Italian film actress (d. 1991)
• July 30 – Lady Brigid Guinness of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
• July 31 – Ndabaningi Sithole, Zimbabwean politician (d. 2000)

August

Ella Raines

Maureen O'Hara

Shelley Winters

Ray Bradbury

Ali Sabri

• August 1
  • Sammy Lee, Korean-American diver (d. 2016)
  • Thomas McGuire, American World War II fighter ace (d. 1945)
• August 2 – Hugh Hickling, English lawyer, colonial civil servant, law academic and author (d. 2007)
• August 3
  • Norman Dewis, English test driver and development engineer
  • P. D. James, English mystery novelist (d. 2014)
• August 4
  • John Figueroa, Jamaican poet (d. 1999)
  • Helen Thomas, American author, news service reporter, member of the White House press corps and columnist (d. 2013)
• August 5
  • Bill Grayden, Australian politician
  • Mickey Shaughnessy, Irish-American character actor, comedian (d. 1985)
• August 6
  • Selma Diamond, Canadian-American comedic actress (d. 1985)
  • Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988)
• August 7
  • Glauco Della Porta, Italian politician, economist (d. 1976)
  • Françoise Adret, French ballet dancer, choreographer (d. 2018)
  • Mario Astorri, Italian football player, coach (d. 1989)
• August 8
  • Leo Chiosso, Italian poet (d. 2006)
  • Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)
• August 9 – Milton G. Henschel, American member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, 5th President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (d. 2003)
• August 10
  • Ann Harnett, American female baseball player (d. 2006)
  • Red Holzman, American basketball coach (d. 1998)
• August 11 – Florence Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician, writer (d. 2017)
• August 12 – Aidan Maloney, Canadian politician, executive (d. 2018)
• August 13 – Neville Brand, American actor, highly decorated World War II combat soldier (d. 1992)
• August 15 – Prince Konstantin of Bavaria (d. 1969)
• August 16 – Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
• August 17 – Maureen O'Hara, Irish-American actress (d. 2015)
• August 18
  • Bob Kennedy, American baseball player, manager (d. 2005)
  • Shelley Winters, American actress (d. 2006)
• August 20 – Boris Braun, Croatian university professor and Holocaust survivor
• August 21 – Christopher Robin Milne, English author, bookseller (d. 1996)
• August 22 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer (d. 2012)
• August 23 – Jim Leavelle, American detective
• August 24 – Herbert Haft, American owner of Dart Drugs Chain (d. 2004)
• August 26
  • Mauri Favén, Finnish painter (d. 2006)
  • Prem Tinsulanonda, 16th Prime Minister of Thailand
  • Richard E. Bellman, American mathematician (d. 1984)
• August 27 – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (d. 2008)
• August 28 – Jaime de Almeida, Brazilian football player, manager (d. 1973)
• August 29
  • Charlie Parker, African-American saxophonist, composer (d. 1955)
  • Herb Simpson, American baseball player (d. 2015)
• August 30 – Ali Sabri, Egyptian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 1991)

September

Mickey Rooney

• September 1
  • Richard Farnsworth, American actor, stuntman (d. 2000)
  • Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist (d. 2015)
• September 3 – Les Medley, English footballer (d. 2001)
• September 4 – Catherine Bennett, Canadian female professional baseball player
• September 10 – Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (d. 2001)
• September 12
  • Darussalam, Indonesian actor (d. 1993)
  • Lore Lorentz, German cabaret artist, standup comedian (d. 1994)
• September 13 – Alan Sagner, American public servant, political fundraiser (d. 2018)
• September 14
  • Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (d. 2009)
  • Cascarita [a.k.a. Orlando Guerra], Cuban music singer (d. 1975)
  • Fuad Stephens, Malaysian politician (d. 1976)
  • Lawrence Klein, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• September 15 – Dave Garcia, American baseball coach, manager (d. 2018)
• September 17 – Marjorie Holt, American politician (d. 2018)
• September 18 – Jack Warden, American actor (d. 2006)
• September 19 – Roger Angell, American journalist and author
• September 21
  • Kenneth McAlpine, English racing driver
  • Kim Yong-ju, North Korean politician, younger brother of Kim Il-Sung
• September 22 – William H. Riker, American political scientist (d. 1993)
• September 23
  • Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer (d. 2012)
  • Mickey Rooney, American actor, dancer and entertainer (d. 2014)
• September 24
  • Dick Bong, American fighter ace (d. 1945)
  • Ovadia Yosef, Israeli Chief Rabbi (d. 2013)
• September 27 – William Conrad, American actor, film director, and producer (d. 1994)
• September 29 – Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• September 30 – Milton P. Rice, American politician (d. 2018)

October

Walter Matthau

Frank Herbert

Montgomery Clift

Timothy Leary

• October 1
  • Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001)
  • Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
• October 2 – Tun Tin, 6th Prime Minister of Burma
• October 4 – Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (d. 2005)
• October 8 – Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
• October 9
  • Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
  • Yusef Lateef, American jazz musician, composer (d. 2013)
  • Michael Shaw, Baron Shaw of Northstead, English politician
  • Jason Wingreen, American actor (d. 2015)
• October 10
  • Gail Halvorsen, retired American Air Force pilot
  • Noah Keen, American actor
• October 13 – Laraine Day, American actress (d. 2007)
• October 15 – Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999)
• October 17
  • Claire Barry, American singer (The Barry Sisters) (d. 2014)
  • Montgomery Clift, American actor (d. 1966)
  • Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (d. 2010)
• October 19 – Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Indian founder of the Swadhyay Movement (d. 2003)
• October 20
  • Janet Jagan, 6th President of Guyana (d. 2009)
  • Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
• October 21 – Ruth Terry, American singer, actress (d. 2016)
• October 22 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist, author, and proponent of LSD (d. 1996)
• October 23 – Vern Stephens, American baseball player (d. 1968)
• October 26
  • Sarah Lee Lippincott, American astronomer
  • Robert D. Maxwell, American Medal of Honour recipient
• October 27
  • Nanette Fabray, American actress, dancer and singer (d. 2018)
  • K. R. Narayanan, President of India (d. 2005)
• October 29 – Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)
• October 31
  • Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan revolutionary leader (d. 1957)
  • Dick Francis, British jockey-turned-novelist (d. 2010)
  • Joseph Gelineau, French composer (d. 2008)
  • Fritz Walter, German footballer (d. 2002)

November

Douglass North

Gene Tierney

• November 4 – Val Heim, American Major League Baseball player
• November 5
  • John H. Land, American politician, mayor of Apopka, Florida (d. 2014)
  • Douglass North, American economist (d. 2015)
• November 8
  • Sitara Devi, Indian dancer (d. 2014)
  • Esther Rolle, American actress (d. 1998)
  • Wally Westlake, American Major League Baseball player
• November 11 – Walter Krupinski, German World War II fighter ace, postwar general (d. 2000)
• November 12 – Josip Boljkovac, Croatian politician (d. 2014)
• November 13
  • Jack Elam, American actor (d. 2003)
  • Georg Olden, African-American graphic designer (d. 1975)
• November 14 – Mary Greyeyes, first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (d. 2011)
• November 17 – George Dunning, Canadian-born cartoon director, animator (d. 1979)
• November 18 – Mustafa Khalil, 40th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
• November 19 – Gene Tierney, American actress (d. 1991)
• November 21
  • Ralph Meeker, American actor (d. 1988)
  • Stan Musial, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• November 22 – Anne Crawford, British actress (d. 1956)
• November 23 – Paik Sun-yup, South Korean military officer
• November 24 – Jorge Mistral, Spanish-Mexican actor (d. 1972)
• November 25
  • Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican actor (d. 2009)
  • Putra of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2000)
  • Noel Neill, American actress (d. 2016)
• November 27 – Buster Merryfield, British actor (d. 1999)
• November 28 – Patrick Campbell Rodger, Scottish Anglican bishop (d. 2002)
• November 29
  • Bob Wolff, American sportscaster (d. 2017)
  • Yegor Ligachev, Soviet politician
• November 30 – Virginia Mayo, American actress (d. 2005)

December

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

Clark Terry

Rex Allen

• December 1 – Peter Baptist Tadamaro Ishigami, Japanese Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2014)
• December 5 – Poldine Carlo, American author (d. 2018)
• December 6
  • Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist, composer (d. 2012)
  • George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• December 8 – Ivar Martinsen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2018)
• December 9 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, 49th Prime Minister of Italy, 10th President of Italy (d. 2016)
• December 10 – Stanko Todorov, Bulgarian communist politician (d. 1996)
• December 12 – Margot Duhalde, Chilean pilot (d. 2018)
• December 13
  • Sally Mansfield, American actress (d. 2001)
  • Kaysone Phomvihane, 2nd President, 11th Prime Minister of Laos (d. 1992)
  • George P. Shultz, American economist, politician, and 60th United States Secretary of State
• December 14
  • Frank T. Cary, American executive, businessman (d. 2006)
  • Clark Terry, American musician, composer (d. 2015)
• December 15 – Eddie Johnson, American Major League Baseball player
• December 17 – Ewa Paradies, German Nazi war criminal (d. 1946)
• December 18 – Gianni Di Venanzo, Italian cinematographer (d. 1966)
• December 19
  • David Susskind, American producer, talk show host (d. 1987)
  • Little Jimmy Dickens, American country music singer, songwriter (d. 2015)
• December 21
  • Harold Lang, American dancer, actor (d. 1985)
  • Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina
  • J. Roderick MacArthur, American businessman, philanthropist (d. 1984)
  • Adele Goldstine, American mathematician (d. 1964)
• December 24
  • Yevgeniya Rudneva, Soviet World War II heroine (d. 1944)
  • Edy Reinalter, Swiss alpine skier (d. 1962)
• December 28 – Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy (d. 2011)
• December 29
  • Josefa Iloilo, 3rd President of Fiji (d. 2011)
  • Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
• December 30 – Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)
• December 31 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer, songwriter (d. 1999)

Possible

• Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (born between October 4, 1919, and January 2, 1920, inclusive;^[14] d. 1992)

Date unknown

• Anne Triola, American actress and singer
• Daniel Mellet, Swiss football referee
• Cezmi Kartay, Turkish civil servant, politician (d. 2008)
• İlhan Arsel, Turkish academic, writer, researcher, and senator (d. 2010)

January

Edmund Barton

Amedeo Modigliani

• January 2 – Paul Adam, French writer (b. 1862)
• January 3 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1888)
• January 4 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
• January 6
  • Heinrich Lammasch, Austrian statesman, last minister-president of Austria (as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in 1918 (b. 1853)
  • Walter Cunliffe, English banker (b. 1856)
• January 6 – Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathematician (b. 1839)
• January 7 – Edmund Barton, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
• January 14 – John Francis Dodge, American automobile manufacturer (b. 1864)
• January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet (b. 1859)
• January 22 – Georg Lurich, Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler, strongman (b. 1876)
• January 24
  • William Percy French, Irish songwriter, entertainer (b. 1854)
  • Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter, sculptor (tuberculosis) (b. 1884)
• January 25 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist, model, and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani (suicide) (b. 1898)

February

Robert Peary

• February 2 – Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
• February 3 – Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
• February 6 – Augustus F. Goodridge, Canadian merchant, politician (b. 1839)
• February 8 – Richard Dehmel, German poet, writer (b. 1863)
• February 7 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian naval commander (b. 1874)
• February 11 – Gaby Deslys, French dancer, actress & spy (b. 1881)
• February 15
  • Aleksander Aberg, Estonian professional wrestler, strongman (b. 1881)
  • Joseph Burton Sumner, American founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837)
• February 20
  • Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856)
  • Jacinta Marto, beatified, witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 at Fátima, Portugal (b. 1910)
• February 27 – William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)

March

• March 1
  • John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842)
  • William A. Stone, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846)
  • Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (b. 1880)
• March 3 – Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (b. 1840)
• March 4 – Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)
• March 7 – Jaan Poska, Estonian barrister, politician (b. 1866)
• March 11 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
• March 15 – Rudolf Berthold, German World War I fighter ace (b. 1891)
• March 21 – Evelina Haverfield British suffragette (b. 1867)
• March 26
  • William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)
  • Mary Augusta Ward, Tasmanian novelist (b. 1851)
• March 31
  • Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (b. 1837)
  • Lothar von Trotha, German military commander (b. 1848)
  • Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)

April

Srinivasa Ramanujan

• April 1 – Walter Simon, German philanthropist (b. 1857)
• April 8
  • John Brashear, American astronomer (b. 1840)
  • Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
• April 10 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematical historian (b. 1829)
• April 12 – Walter Edwards, American film director (b. 1870)
• April 21 – Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)
• April 26 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)

May

James Colosimo

• May 1 – Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (b. 1882)
• May 8 – Johan Reinhold Sahlberg, Finnish entomologist
• May 10 – John Wesley Hyatt, American inventor (b. 1837)
• May 11
  • James Colosimo, Italian-born American gangster (b. 1878)
  • William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
• May 15
  • Owen Morgan Edwards, Welsh writer, educator (b. 1858)
  • Maria Bochkareva, Russian White soldier (b. 1889)
• May 16
  • Joselito, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1895)
  • Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)
• May 21
  • Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)
  • Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)
• May 23 – Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b. 1856)
• May 28 – Hardwicke Rawnsley, English clergyman, poet, writer of hymns and conservationist (b. 1851)
• May 30 – George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer (b. 1862)

June

Essad Pasha

Max Weber

• June 5
  • Rhoda Broughton, Welsh writer (b. 1840)
  • Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)
• June 6 – James Dunsmuir, Canadian politician (b. 1851)
• June 13 – Essad Pasha, Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1863)
• June 14
  • Gabrielle Réjane, French actress (b. 1856)
  • Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864)
• June 18
  • Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)
  • John Macoun, Irish-born naturalist (b. 1831)
• June 20
  • Marie-Adolphe Carnot, French chemist, mining engineer, and politician (b. 1839)
  • John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1838)
• June 27 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian judge, author and lyricist (b. 1839)

July

• July 1 – Delfim Moreira, former President of Brazil (b. 1868)
• July 2 – William Louis Marshall, American general, engineer (b. 1846)
• July 3 – William Crawford Gorgas, American Army surgeon (b. 1854)
• July 5 – Max Klinger, German painter, sculptor (b. 1857)
• July 10 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
• July 11 – Empress Eugénie of France (b. 1826)
• July 14 – Albert Keller, German painter (b. 1844)
• July 17
  • Sir Edmund Elton, 8th Baronet (b. 1846)
  • Charles E. Courtney, American rower, rowing coach (b. 1849)
• July 22 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)

August

Ray Chapman

• August 1
  • Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)
  • Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist (b. 1856)
• August 2 – Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot, film actor (b. 1891)
• August 9 – Samuel Griffith, Australian politician, judge (b. 1845)
• August 10
  • James O'Neill, American actor (b. 1847)
  • Ádám Politzer, Austrian otologist (b. 1835)
• August 12 – Hermann Struve, Russian-born astronomer (b. 1854)
• August 16
  • Henry Daglish, Premier of Western Australia (b. 1866)
  • Joseph Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (b. 1836)
• August 17 – Ray Chapman, American baseball player (b. 1891)
• August 22 – Anders Zorn, Swedish painter (b. 1860)
• August 26 – James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)
• August 31 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist, psychologist (b. 1832)

September

Peter Carl Fabergé

• September 7 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)
• September 10 – Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)
• September 18 – Robert Beaven, Canadian politician (b. 1836)
• September 24 – Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweler (b. 1846)
• September 25 – Jacob Schiff, German-born banker, philanthropist (b. 1847)
• September 30 – William Wilfred Sullivan, Canadian journalist, politician, and jurist (b. 1843)

October

• October 2
  • Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator (b. 1853)
  • Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)
• October 5 – William Heinemann, English publisher (b. 1863)
• October 7 – Yves Delage, French zoologist (b. 1854)
• October 10 – Hudson Stuck, English mountaineer (b. 1865)
• October 17
  • Reginald Farrer, English botanist (b. 1880)
  • John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
• October 24 – Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (b. 1853)
• October 25 – Alexander of Greece, Greek king (b. 1893)

November

• November 1 – Kevin Barry, Irish republican (hanged) (b. 1902)
• November 2
  • Louise Imogen Guiney, American poet, essayist (b. 1861)
  • James Daly, Irish mutineer (firing squad)
• November 3 – Warren Terhune, United States Navy Commander, and the 13th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1869)
• November 4 – Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1858)
• November 9 – Alberto Blest Gana, Chilean novelist, diplomat (b. 1830)
• November 13 – Luc-Olivier Merson, French painter, illustrator (b. 1846)
• November 21 – Michael Hogan, Irish activist shot during a Gaelic football match by the British Army, who also killed 14 Irish supporters (b. 1896)
• November 22 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet (b. 1884)
• November 23 – George Callaghan, British admiral (b. 1852)
• November 25
  • Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, American leader of the women's suffrage movement, one of Kentucky's leading progressive reformers (b. 1872)
  • Gaston Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver, manufacturer (b. 1892)
• November 27 – Alexius Meinong, Austrian philosopher (b. 1853)
• November 30 – Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)

December

• December 11 – Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
• December 12 – Edward Gawler Prior, Canadian mining engineer, politician (b. 1854)
• December 14 – George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)

Date unknown

• Manuel de la Cámara y Libermoore, Spanish admiral (b. 1835)

Primary sources and year books

• New International Year Book 1920 (1921), Comprehensive coverage of world and national affairs, 844 pp