1949
1949 (MCMXLIX) is a Common year starting on Saturday .
Events January-February March-April May-June May 5 - The Council of Europe is founded by the signing of the Treaty of London . May 9 - Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco . May 11 - Israel is admitted to the U.N. as its 59th member. May 11 - Siam changes its name to Thailand . May 12 - Cold War : The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin . May 20 - The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA ) is established. May 22 - After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital , James Forrestal commits Suicide , under circumstances that seem suspicious to many. May 23 - The Federal Republic of Germany is established. EDSAC , the first stored-program computer, begins operation at Cambridge University . June 2 - Transjordan becomes kingdom of Jordan June 6 - With the passage of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act by the Indian government, Mahabodhi Temple is restored to partial Buddhist control. June 8 - Red Scare : Such celebrities as Helen Keller , Dorothy Parker , Danny Kaye , Fredric March , John Garfield , Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist party members. June 8 - George Orwell 's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. June 29 - Last US troops withdraw from South Korea June 29 - Dock strike in the UK June 29 - Beginning of Apartheid - The South African Citizenship ActBritish Commonwealth immigrants after five years and imposes a ban on mixed marriages July 31 - Captain Kerans of HMS Amethyst August September October-December
An Unknown Date Births January January 2 - Christopher Durang , American playwright January 7 - Steven Williams , American actor January 8 - Wolfgang Puck , Austrian chef January 10 - George Foreman , American boxer January 10 - James Lapine , American stage director and librettist January 10 - Linda Lovelace , American actress (d. 2002 ) January 11 - Kalev Ots , Estonian statesman January 12 - Wayne Wang , Hong Kong-born film director January 13 - Brandon Tartikoff , American television executive (d. 1997 ) January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan , American director and screenwriter January 17 - Andy Kaufman , American comedian (d. 1984 ) January 18 - Philippe Starck , French designer January 19 - Robert Palmer , English musician (d. 2003 ) January 20 - Göran Persson , Prime Minister of Sweden January 24 - John Belushi , American actor (d. 1982 ) January 30 - Peter Agre , American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry January 31 - Ken Wilber , American philosopher February March March 2 - Gates McFadden , American actress March 2 - Eddie Money , American singer March 2 - JPR Williams , Welsh rugby player March 3 - Jesse Jefferson , baseball player March 6 - Shaukat Aziz , Prime Minister of Pakistan March 6 - Martin Buchan , Scottish footballer March 7 - Ghulam Nabi Azad , Indian politician March 10 - Larry Wall , American computer programmer March 12 - Bill Payne , American musician (Little Feat ) March 13 - Julia Migenes , American soprano March 16 - Erik Estrada , Puerto Rican actor March 16 - Victor Garber , Canadian actor March 17 - Patrick Duffy , American actor March 22 - Fanny Ardant , French actress March 23 - Ric Ocasek , American musician (The Cars ) March 24 - Nick Lowe , American musician March 26 - Patrick Süskind , German writer March 30 - Marcia Ball , American musician March 30 - Lene Lovich , American singer April-June April 1 - Gérard Mestrallet , French businessman April 1 - Gil Scott-Heron , American musician and composer April 3 - Richard Thompson , British musician and songwriter April 6 - Horst Ludwig Störmer , German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate April 7 - John Oates , American musician (Hall and Oates ) April 14 - John Shea , American actor April 16 - Sandy Hawley , Canadian jockey April 17 - Claudia de Santa-Fe , American painter and sculptor April 18 - Geoff Bodine , American race car driver May 4 - John Force , American race car driver May 9 - Billy Joel , American musician May 18 - Rick Wakeman , English musician and songwriter (Yes ) May 18 - Bill Wallace , Canadian musician (The Guess Who ) May 19 - Archie Manning , American football player May 24 - Tomaž Pisanski , Slovenian mathematician May 26 - Philip Michael Thomas , American actor May 26 - Hank Williams Jr. , American singer May 31 - Tom Berenger , American actor June 8 - Emanuel Ax , Polish-born pianist June 13 - Ann Druyan , writer June 14 - Jimmy Lea , English musician (Slade ) June 14 - Harry Turtledove , American historian and novelist June 21 - John Agard , British poet and playwright June 21 - Jane Urquhart , Canadian author July-September July 3 - Jan Smithers , American actress July 15 - Carl Bildt , Prime Minister of Sweden July 17 - Charlie Steiner , American sportscaster July 22 - Alan Menken , American composer July 26 - Roger Taylor , English musician (Queen ) August 6 - Alan Campbell , Irish minister August 7 - Walid Jumblatt , leader of the Lebanese Druze August 12 - Mark Knopfler , Swiss guitarist August 15 - Richard Deacon , Welsh sculptor August 23 - Shelley Long , American actress August 25 - Martin Amis , English novelist August 31 - Richard Gere , American actor August 31 - H. David Politzer , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate September 1 - P.A. Sangma , Indian politician September 3 - Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria (d. 2004 ) September 7 - Lee McGeorge Durrell , American author, television presenter, and zookeeper September 7 - Gloria Gaynor , American singer September 14 - Eikichi Yazawa , Japanese singer September 15 - Joe Barton , American politician September 18 - Mo Mowlam , British politician (d. 2005 ) September 23 - Bruce Springsteen , American singer and songwriter September 27 - Mike Schmidt , baseball player October-December October 1 - Isaac Bonewits , American author and occultist October 2 - Lorraine Bracco , American actress October 8 - Sigourney Weaver , American actress October 14 - Katy Manning , British actress October 20 - Valeri Borzov , Ukrainian athlete October 21 - Benjamin Netanyahu , Prime Minister of Israel October 22 - Stiv Bators , American musician (The Dead Boys ) (d. 1990 ) November 5 - Armin Shimerman , American actor November 6 - Arturo Sandoval , Cuban musician November 7 - Aiswarya , Queen of Nepal (d. 2001 ) November 7 - Judi Bari , American environmental activist (d. 1997 ) November 24 - Nicholas Richard Ainger , British politician November 26 - Juanin Clay , American actress (d. 1995 ) November 29 - Alexander Godunov , Russian-born dancer and actor (d. 1995 ) December 3 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler (d. 1997 ) December 4 - Jeff Bridges , American actor December 4 - Pamela Stephenson , New Zealand-born comedienne, actress, and singer December 7 - Tom Waits , American singer, composer, and actor December 12 - Bill Nighy , English actor December 14 - Bill Buckner , baseball player December 15 - Don Johnson , American actor December 17 - Paul Rodgers , British singer (Free ) December 22 - Maurice Gibb , Australian musician (The Bee Gees ) (d. 2003 ) December 22 - Robin Gibb , Australian musician (The Bee Gees ) December 24 - Randy Neugebauer , American politician December 25 - Sissy Spacek , American actress December 25 - Joe Louis Walker , American musician December 26 - José Ramos Horta , Foreign Minister of East Timor, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize Unknown date Deaths January 6 - Victor Fleming , American director (b. 1883 ) January 11 - Nelson Doubleday , American publisher (b. 1889 ) January 14 - Joaquín Turina , Spanish composer (b. 1882 ) January 28 - Jean-Pierre Wimille , French race car driver (b. 1908 ) February 12 - Imam Hassan al Banna , Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906 ) March 30 - Friedrich Bergius , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884 ) April 19 - Ulrich Salchow , Swedish figure skater (b. 1877 ) May 6 - Maurice Maeterlinck , Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862 ) May 9 - Louis II, Prince of Monaco (b. 1870 ) May 22 - James Forrestal , U.S. Secretary of Navy and Defense (suicide) (b. 1892 ) May 22 - Klaus Mann , German writer (suicide) (b. 1906 ) June 10 - Sigrid Undset , Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882 ) June 14 - Russell Doubleday , American author and publisher (b. 1872 ) July 9 - Fritz Bennicke Hart , English-born composer (b. 1874 ) July 12 - Douglas Hyde , first President of Ireland (b. 1860 ) July 18 - Vítězslav Novák , Czech composer (b. 1870 ) August 18 - Paul Mares , American musician (b. 1900 ) August 30 - Arthur Fielder , English cricketer (b. 1877 ) September 8 - Richard Strauss , German composer (b. 1864 ) September 19 - Will Cuppy , American humorist (b. 1884 ) September 19 - Nikolaos Skalkottas , Greek composer (b. 1901 ) October 27 - Marcel Cerdan , French boxer (plane crash) (b. 1916 ) October 27 - Ginette Neveu , French violinist (plane crash) (b. 1919 ) December 6 - Leadbelly , American musician (b. 1885 ) December 11 - Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya , Indian philosopher (b. 1875 ) December 16 - Sidney Olcott , Canadian film director (b. 1873 ) December 28 - Jack Lovelock , New Zealand athlete (b. 1910 ) December 28 - Hervey Allen , American author (b. 1889 ) Nobel Prizes
