Directory

1966 CE

The Cultural Revolution begins in Communist China as Mao Zedong mobilizes the Red Guards; the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England sees the host nation defeat West Germany; the Beach Boys release Pet Sounds, produced by Brian Wilson, an album considered a masterpiece; the Aberfan disaster kills 144 people in Wales when a colliery spoil tip collapses; the University of Texas tower shooting kills sixteen; Gemini 8 performs the first orbital docking with the Agena target vehicle; the 1966 flood of the Arno devastates Florence, Italy; Star Trek premieres on NBC; and the Buddhist Uprising in South Vietnam intensifies amid the Vietnam War.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 21 – Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party.source
  • January 27 – Britain's Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351.source
  • February 1 – Around 2,600 political prisoners are released by East Germany, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from West Germany.source
  • February 7 – Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a summit in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss the course of the Vietnam War.source
  • February 20 – While Soviet author and translator Valery Tarsis is abroad, the Soviet Union negates his citizenship.source
  • March 1 – The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.source
  • March 11 – Transition to the New Order in Indonesia: President Sukarno gives all executive powers to General Suharto by signing the Supersemar order.source
  • March 31 – The British Labour Party led by Harold Wilson wins the 1966 United Kingdom general election, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28).source
  • May 28 – The Indonesian and Malaysian governments declare that the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation is over (a treaty is signed on August 11).source
  • June 2 – Joaquín Balaguer is elected president of the Dominican Republic.source
  • June 18 – CIA chief William Raborn resigns; Richard Helms becomes his successor.source
  • July 1 – Joaquín Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.source
  • July 14 – Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history.source
  • July 26 – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stating that the House, when acting in a judicial capacity, is not bound to follow its own previous precedent.source
  • August 11 – Indonesia and Malaysia issue a joint peace declaration, formally ending the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation which began in 1963.source
  • August 30 – France offers independence to French Somaliland (Djibouti from 1977).source
  • September 12 – B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.source
  • September 30 – The Bechuanaland Protectorate in Africa achieves independence from the United Kingdom as Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first President.source
  • October 4 – Basutoland becomes independent of the United Kingdom and takes the name Lesotho.source
  • October 17 – Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the United Nations.source
  • November 10 – Seán Lemass retires as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, to be replaced in the role by fellow Fianna Fáil member Jack Lynch.source
  • December 1 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of West Germany.source
  • December 16 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).source
  • December 31 – East German Premier Walter Ulbricht discusses negotiations about German reunification.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso).source
  • January 10 – The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance.source
  • January 22 – The military government of Nigeria announces that ex-prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was killed during the coup a week previously.source
  • February 23 – 1966 Syrian coup d'état: An intra-party military coup in Syria replaces the previous government of Amin al-Hafiz by one led by Salah Jadid.source
  • February 24 – A coup led by the police and military of Ghana raises the National Liberation Council to power while president Kwame Nkrumah is abroad.source
  • March 29 – The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held: Leonid Brezhnev demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory.source
  • April 5 – During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down.source
  • April 21 – Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.source
  • May 12 – Radio Peking claims that U.S. planes have shot down a Chinese plane over Yunnan (the U.S. denies the story the next day).source
  • May 15 – The South Vietnamese army besieges Da Nang.source
  • May 24 – Battle of Mengo Hill: Ugandan army troops arrest Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace.source
  • May 25 – No. 9 Squadron RAAF becomes part of the 4,500 strong Australian Task Force assigned to duties in Vietnam, leaving for Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.source
  • June 17 – An Air France personnel strike begins.source
  • June 28 – Argentine Revolution: In Argentina, a military junta calling itself Revolución Argentina deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to power.source
  • July 23 – Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.source
  • July 24 – A USAF F-4C Phantom #63-7599 is shot down by a North Vietnamese SAM-2 45 mi northeast of Hanoi, the first loss of a U.S. aircraft to a Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in the Vietnam War.source
  • July 29 – 1966 Nigerian counter-coup: Army officers from the north of Nigeria execute head of state General Aguiyi-Ironsi and install Yakubu Gowon.source
  • August 18 – Vietnam War – Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.source
  • September 9 – NATO decides to move Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to Belgium.source
  • September 13 – Cultural Revolution in China: Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by TASS in the Soviet Union.source
  • October 15 – Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found the Black Panther Party in the United States.source
  • November 2 – North Korean commandos ambush a UN command control consisting of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.source
  • November 27 – The Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in National Football League history.source
  • December 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bond v. Floyd that the Georgia House of Representatives must seat Julian Bond, having violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 20 - The Radio Caroline ship Mi Amigo runs aground on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, UK.source
  • January 26 – Disappearance of the Beaumont children: Three children disappear on their way to Glenelg, South Australia, never to be seen again. Their fate remains unknown.source
  • December 19 – The Asian Development Bank begins operations.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 4 – In an interview with London Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, John Lennon of the Beatles states: "We're more popular than Jesus now."source
  • March 24 – Pope Paul VI meets Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring.source
  • April 27 – Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union).source
  • June 14 – The Vatican abolishes the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.source
  • August 11 – the Beatles hold a press conference in Chicago, during which John Lennon apologizes for his "more popular than Jesus" remark, saying, "I didn't mean it as a lousy anti-religious thing."source
  • October 5 – UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This event is to be celebrated as World Teachers' Day.source
  • The World Buddhist Sangha Council is convened by Theravadins in Sri Lanka, with the hope of bridging differences and working together.source

Economy & Finance

  • February 14 – The Australian dollar is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar.source
  • March 1 – The British Government announces plans for the decimalisation of the pound sterling (hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (Decimal Day).source
  • April 18 – China declares that it will stop economic aid to Indonesia.source
  • May 7 – Irish bank workers go on strike.source
  • October 4 – Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.source
  • October 14 – Closure of Intra Bank begins a crisis in the Lebanese banking system.source
  • November 17 – The U.N. General Assembly decides to found the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.source
  • December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • April 21 – The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.source
  • April 24 – Uniform daylight saving time is first observed in most parts of North America.source
  • May 4 – Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the Soviet Union.source
  • August 5 – The Caesars Palace hotel and casino opens in Las Vegas, United States.source
  • August 6 – The Salazar Bridge (later the 25 de Abril Bridge) opens in Lisbon, Portugal.source
  • October 5 – Spain closes its Gibraltar border to vehicular traffic.source
  • October 14 – The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro system.source
  • October 27 – Walt Disney records his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for EPCOT, a utopian planned city to be built in Florida.source
  • November 26 – In the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup at Vancouver's Empire Stadium 29–14. Saskatchewan are led by quarterback Ron Lancaster.source
  • December 18 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, is shown for the first time on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 3 – The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.source
  • March 1 – Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.source
  • March 16 – NASA spacecraft Gemini 8 (David Scott, Neil Armstrong) conducts the first docking in space, with an Agena target vehicle.source
  • March 31 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.source
  • April 3 – Luna 10 is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.source
  • April 30 – Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued in 2000).source
  • May 4 – May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111.source
  • May 25 – Explorer program: Satellite Explorer 32 (Atmosphere Explorer-B) is launched from the United States.source
  • May 28 – Boat ride It's a Small World opens at Disneyland.source
  • June 2 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.source
  • June 5 – Gemini 9A: Gene Cernan completes the second U.S. spacewalk (2 hours, 7 minutes).source
  • July 18 – Gemini 10 (John Young, Michael Collins) is launched from the United States. After docking with an Agena target vehicle, the astronauts set a world altitude record of 474 miles (763 km).source
  • July 24 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant visits Moscow.source
  • August 10 – Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the Moon, is launched.source
  • September 12 – Gemini 11 (Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon Jr) is launched from the United States. The crew performed the first direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it.source
  • November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.source
  • November 12 – A total solar eclipse occurs, the 20th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 142.source
  • November 15 - Gemini 12 (James A. Lovell, Buzz Aldrin) splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 km mi east of the Bahamas.source
  • November 17 – A spectacular Leonid meteor shower passes over Arizona, at the rate of 2,300 a minute for 20 minutes.source
  • Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.source

Health & Medicine

  • April 21 – An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital.source
  • May 24 – The Nigerian government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.source
  • July 29 – Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.source
  • August 1 – Sniper Charles Whitman kills 15 people and wounds 31 from roof of the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower in the United States, after earlier killing his wife and mother.source
  • October 6 – LSD is made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only are possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the country are shut down as well.source
  • October 7 – The Soviet Union declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October.source
  • In or about this year, one person returning to Haiti from the Congo is thought to have first brought HIV to the Americas.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 20 – Football's FIFA World Cup Trophy is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "Pickles" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden.source
  • April 19 – Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965.source
  • May 6 – The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.source
  • May 19 – Gertrude Baniszewski is found guilty of torturing and murdering 16-year-old Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, United States, and is sentenced to life in prison (she is released on parole in December 1985).source
  • June 2 – Four former cabinet ministers including Évariste Kimba are executed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko.source
  • June 6 – Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot by a sniper while traversing Mississippi in the March Against Fear.source
  • June 13 – Miranda v. Arizona: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.source
  • July 3 – 31 people are arrested when a demonstration by approximately 4,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters in front of the United States Embassy in London in Grosvenor Square turns violent.source
  • July 13 – In Chicago, United States, Richard Speck breaks into a nurses' dormitory and murders eight of the nine student nurses who live there.source
  • September 6 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.source
  • September 30 – Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer are released from Spandau Prison in West Berlin.source
  • October 21 – Aberfan disaster in South Wales (U.K.): 144 (including 116 children) are killed by a collapsing coal spoil tip.source
  • December 31 – Eight paintings worth millions of pounds are stolen from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, but are recovered locally within a week.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 17 – 1966 Palomares B-52 crash: A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea. Carl Brashear, the first African-American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter, which results in the amputation of his leg.source
  • January 24 – Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board, including Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.source
  • February 4 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed.source
  • February 7 – The Great Fire of Iloilo, Philippines, breaks out in a lumber yard and burns for almost half a day, destroying nearly three-quarters of the City Proper area and causing 50 million pesos in total property damage.source
  • March 4 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.source
  • March 5 – BOAC Flight 911 crashes in severe clear-air turbulence over Mount Fuji soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board.source
  • March 8 – Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, Dublin, is clandestinely blown up by former Irish Republican Army volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.source
  • March – The DKW automobile ceases production in Germany.source
  • June 8 – A North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber prototype is destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot. NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross are both killed.source
  • July 31 – Loss of MV Darlwyne: a pleasure cruiser disappears off the Cornwall coast of England with the loss of all 31 aboard.source
  • August 6 – Braniff International Airways Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, Nebraska, United States, killing all 42 of those on board.source
  • September 1 – 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.source
  • October 1 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors 5.5 mi km south of Wemme, Oregon, the first loss of a DC-9.source
  • October 26 – A fire aboard the US aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.source
  • November 11 – A mine kills three Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.source
  • November 24 – TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.source
  • December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.source

Climate & Environment

  • March 3 – A F5 tornado strikes Mississippi and Alabama, causing catastrophic damage over its 200 miles, and kills 57 peoplesource
  • March 22 – in the Chinese city of Xingtai a magnitude 6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured.source
  • April 26 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.source
  • June 8 – 1966 Topeka tornado: Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, and the campus of Washburn University suffers catastrophic damage.source
  • August 19 – The 6.8 Varto earthquake affects the town of Varto in eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing at least 2,394–3,000 and injuring at least 1,420.source
  • September 29 – Hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.source
  • October 5 – An experimental breeder reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan suffers a partial meltdown when its cooling system fails.source
  • November 4 – 1966 flood of the Arno river in Italy hits Florence, flooding it to a maximum depth of 6.7 m ft, leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. In addition, a severe tidal flood hits Venice.source

Culture & Society

  • March 5 – Merci, Chérie by Udo Jürgens (music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 (staged in Luxembourg) for Austria.source
  • March 10 – Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German.source
  • April 8 – Buddhists in South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for free elections.source
  • April 18 – The 38th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: The Sound of Music wins Best Picture.source
  • May 5 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.source
  • May 16 – The Chinese Communist Party issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.source
  • May 16 – The Beach Boys releases the album Pet Sounds.source
  • May 29 – Sports stadium Estadio Azteca officially opens in Mexico City in advance of the 1968 Summer Olympics.source
  • June 29 – The strike by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom is called off.source
  • June 30 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, D.C.source
  • June 30 – Australia's semi-decennial census took place.source
  • July 11 – The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England.source
  • July 29 – La Noche de los Bastones Largos: Junta takes over Argentine universities.source
  • July 30 – England beats West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley after extra time.source
  • August 5 – the Beatles releases the album Revolver, in the UK.source
  • August 22 – The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.source
  • August 22 – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is established.source
  • August 29 – the Beatles end their U.S. tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last performance as a live touring band.source
  • September 16 – In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.source
  • September 16 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.source
  • October 6 – The Love Pageant Rally takes place in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park (a narrow section that projects into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district).source
  • November 2 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States.source
  • November 28 – Truman Capote's Black and White Ball ("The Party of the Century") is held in New York City.source
  • December 26 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.source

Births

  • June 29 – Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Indonesian politician, governor of Jakartasource
  • July 20 – Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012–2018), Governor of the State of Mexico (2005–2011)source
  • August 7 – Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipediasource
  • August 20 – Enrico Letta, 55th Prime Minister of Italysource
  • September 8 – Carola Häggkvist, Swedish pop singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1991 winnersource
  • September 12 – Steve Ells, American entrepreneur and founder of Chipotle Mexican Grillsource
  • September 27 – Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Member of the US House from Floridasource
  • October 9 – David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2010–2016source
  • October 22 – Valeria Golino, Italian-Greek film and television actresssource
  • October 24 – Roman Abramovich, UK-based Russian billionaire businessmansource
  • October 30 – Zoran Milanović, Croatian politician, President of Croatiasource
  • November 8 – Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur and television personalitysource
  • December 10 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician; United States Senator (D-NY)source
  • December 21 – William Samoei Ruto, 5th President of the Republic of Kenyasource

Deaths

  • January 10 – Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.source
  • January 11 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian activist, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)source
  • January 14 – Sergei Korolev, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (b. 1907)source
  • January 15 – 1966 Nigerian coup d'état: A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.source
  • February 1 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (b. 1885)source
  • February 1 – Buster Keaton, American actor and film director (b. 1895)source
  • February 15 – Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian socialist and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1929)source
  • February 26 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian pro-independence activist, Hindu nationalist (b. 1883)source
  • May 15 – Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, 30th President of El Salvador (assassinated) (b. 1882)source
  • June 20 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (b. 1894)source
  • September 6 – Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (b. 1879)source
  • November 2 – Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)source
  • November 5 – Dietrich von Choltitz, Nazi German military governor of Paris in World War II (b. 1894)source
  • December 31 – Nipo T. Strongheart, Native American filmmaker (b. 1891)source