Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1946
January
- January 7 - Allies recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders - the country is divided into four occupation zones
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
- December 1 - Miguel Alemán Valdés takes office as President of Mexico.
- December 7 - Fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, United States kills 119.
- December 11 - UNICEF (UNIted nations Children's Emergency Fund) founded.
- December 12 - United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain and recommends the member countries to sever diplomatic relations
- December 12 - Léon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France
- December 12 - The new communist government held power in Tabriz center of Iranian Azerbaijan Province.
- December 19 - Martial law in Vietnam
- December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring a cast including James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York.
- December 20 - At least 1,362 people are killed in a earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan
- December 22 - Havana Conference begins between US organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba
- December 24 - France's Fourth Republic founded
- December 26 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
- December 26 - David Lean's Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, and featuring a cast headed by John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, Jean Simmons, and Finlay Currie, is released to great acclaim in England.
- December 31 - President Harry Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
Undated
Ongoing
Fictional
Births
January–February
- January 3 - John Paul Jones, English bassist (Led Zeppelin)
- January 3 - Cissy King, American dancer and singer The Lawrence Welk Show
- January 5 - Diane Keaton, American actress
- January 6 - Syd Barrett, English guitarist and singer (Pink Floyd) (d. 2006)
- January 8 - Stanton Peele, American psychologist
- January 8 - Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)
- January 11 - Naomi Judd, American singer
- January 11 - John Piper, American theologian
- January 12 - George Duke, American musician
- January 14 - Harold Shipman, British serial killer (d.2004)
- January 16 - Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
- January 16 - Katia Ricciarelli, Italian singer
- January 18 - Joseph Deiss, Swiss Federal Councillor
- January 19 - Julian Barnes, English writer
- January 19 - Dolly Parton, American singer and actress
- January 20 - David Lynch, American film director
- January 21 - Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- January 22 - Serge Savard, Canadian hockey player and executive
- January 24 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
- January 26 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (d. 1999)
- January 27 - Nedra Talley, American singer (Ronettes)
- January 31 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)
- February 2 - Blake Clark, American actor and comedian
- February 6 - Jim Turner, American politician
- February 9 - Séan Neeson, Northern Irish politician
- February 13 - Colin Matthews, British composer
- February 14 - Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
- February 14 - Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003)
- February 19 - Karen Silkwood, American activist (d. 1974)
- February 20 - Brenda Blethyn, English actress
- February 21 - Tyne Daly, American actress
- February 21 - Alan Rickman, English actor
- February 25 - Franz Xaver Kroetz, German dramatist
- February 26 - Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 28 - Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005)
March–April
- March 4 - Michael Ashcroft, English entrepreneur
- March 4 - Haile Gerima, Ethiopian filmmaker
- March 4 - Harvey Goldsmith, British impresario
- March 5 - Lova Moor, French singer and dancer
- March 6 - David Gilmour, English musician (Pink Floyd)
- March 7 - Peter Wolf, American musician (The J. Geils Band)
- March 10 - Mike Hollands, Australian animator
- March 12 - Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
- March 15 - Bobby Bonds, baseball player and manager (d. 2003)
- March 17 - Georges J. F. Kohler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1995)
- March 21 - Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor
- March 25 - Cliff Balsam, English footballer
- March 27 - Olaf Malolepski, German musician (Die Flippers)
- March 30 - Carolyn Simpson, judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
- March 31 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1984)
- April 4 - Dave Hill, English guitarist (Slade)
- April 7 - Colette Besson, French runner
- April 7 - John Loder, musician (CRASS)
- April 7 - Léon Krier, Luxembourgian architect
- April 12 - Ed O'Neill, American actor
- April 16 - Margot Adler, American journalist
- April 19 - Tim Curry, British actor, vocalist, and composer
- April 20 - Julien Poulin, Canadian actor
- April 25 - John Fox, British statistician
- April 25 - Talia Shire, American actress
- April 25 - Strobe Talbott, American journalist
- April 30 - King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden
May–June
- May 2 - Lesley Gore, American singer
- May 4 - John Watson, Northern Irish racecar driver
- May 7 - Thelma Houston, American singer
- May 9 - Candice Bergen, American actress
- May 9 - Drafi Deutscher, German Schlager singer (d. 2006)
- May 10 - Donovan Leitch, Scottish musician
- May 10 - Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
- May 11 - Robert Jarvik, American physicist and inventor
- May 12 - Richard Bruce Silverman, John Evans Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University
- May 16 - Robert Fripp, British musician
- May 17 - Udo Lindenberg, German musician
- May 18 - Reggie Jackson, baseball player
- May 19 - André the Giant, French professional wrestling (d. 1993)
- May 19 - Claude Lelièvre, Belgian Commissioner for Children Rights
- May 20 - Cher, American actress and singer
- May 22 - George Best, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2005)
- May 23 - Frederik de Groot, Dutch actor
- May 26 - Mick Ronson, English guitarist (d. 1993)
- May 28 - K. Satchidanandan, Malayalam poet
- May 29 - Fernando Buesa, Basque politician (d. 2000)
- May 30 - Candy Lightner, American founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
- June 2 - Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer
- June 8 - Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of St. Lucia
- June 12 - Harry Glasper, English football historian
- June 14 - Donald Trump, American real estate magnate
- June 15 - Demis Roussos, Greek singer
- June 15 - Noddy Holder, English singer (Slade)
- June 15 - Roy Holder, English actor
- June 15 - Janet Lennon, American singer, The Lennon Sisters
- June 17 - Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative for the Ninth Congressional District of Ohio, based in Toledo
- June 18 - Russell Ash, British author
- June 20 - Xanana Gusmão, first President of East Timor
- June 22 - Kay Redfield Jamison, American psychiatrist
- June 23 - Kathy Wilkes, English philosopher
- June 24 - Ellison Onizuka, astronaut (d. 1986)
- June 24 - Robert Reich, 22nd United States Secretary of Labor
- June 28 - Gilda Radner, American comedienne and actress (d. 1989)
- June 29 - Egon von Furstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (d. 2004)
July–August
- July 2 - Richard Axel, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- July 4 - Ed O'Ross, American actor
- July 4 - Michael Milken, American financier
- July 6 - George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
- July 6 - Sylvester Stallone, American actor
- July 9 - Natasha Pyne, English actress
- July 9 - Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (d. 1980)
- July 13 - Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
- July 14 - John Wood, Australian actor
- July 15 - Linda Ronstadt, American singer and songwriter
- July 16 - Dave Goelz, American puppeteer
- July 16 - Ron Yary, American football player
- July 17 - Alun Armstrong, English actor
- July 22 - Danny Glover, American actor
- July 22 - Mireille Mathieu, French singer
- July 23 - Sally Flynn, American singer The Lawrence Welk Show
- July 25 - Rita Marley, Jamaican singer
- July 30 - Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (d. 1994)
- August 1 - Mike Emrick, American sportscaster
- August 1 - Sandi Griffiths, American singer
- August 3 - Jack Straw, British politician
- August 5 - Ron Silliman, American poet
- August 9 - Jim Kiick, American football player
- August 19 - Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
- August 19 - Beat Raaflaub, Swiss conductor
- August 19 - Charles Bolden, American astronaut
- August 20 - Ralf Hütter, German singer and musician (Kraftwerk)
- August 20 - N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman
- August 23 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (d. 1978)
- August 24 - John Grahl, Economist
- August 25 - Charles Ghigna (Father Goose), American poet and Children's Author
- August 25 - Rollie Fingers, baseball player
- August 26 - Valerie Simpson, American singer
- August 26 - Mark Snow, American composer
- August 26 - Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
- August 26 - Zhou Ji, education minister of the People's Republic of China
- August 29 - Bob Beamon, American athlete
- August 29 - Leona Gom, Canadian novelist and poet
September–October
- September 1 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea
- September 1 - Barry Gibb - British/Australian Musician The Bee Gees
- September 2 - Luis Avalos, character actor
- September 3 - Francisco Trois,Brazilian chess player
- September 4 - Gary Duncan, American guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
- September 4 - Greg Elmore, American drummer (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
- September 5 - Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born singer (Queen) (d. 1991)
- September 7 - Willie Crawford, baseball player (d. 2004)
- September 7 - Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist (d. 2001)
- September 9 - Bruce Palmer, Canadian musician (Buffalo Springfield) (d. 2004)
- September 9 - Doug Ingle, Vocalist
- September 9 - Billy Preston, American soul musician (d. 2006)
- September 10 - Jim Hines, American athlete
- September 10 - Don Powell, English drummer
- September 15 - Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
- September 15 - Oliver Stone, American film director
- September 21 - Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councilor
- September 21 - Mikhail Kovalchuk, Russian physicist and official
- September 23 - Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
- September 24 - Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland
- September 25 - Jerry Penrod, American bass player
- September 25 - Felicity Kendal, British actress
- September 26 - Christine Todd Whitman, American politician
- September 26 - Radha Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician
- September 30 - Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican singer (d. 1993)
- September 30 - Claude Vorilhon, French-born Messenger
- October 1 - Tim O'Brien, American author
- October 2 - Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, President of the Council for National Security and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army
- October 3 - P. P. Arnold, American singer
- October 4 - Susan Sarandon, American actress
- October 6 - Lloyd Doggett, American politician
- October 6 - Renate Holub, German philosopher
- October 7 - Xue Jinghua, Chinese ballerina
- October 7 - Catharine MacKinnon, American feminist
- October 8 - Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian scholar
- October 8 - John T. Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton (d. 2005)
- October 9 - Tansu Çiller, Turkish politician
- October 10 - Anne Boyd, Australian musician
- October 10 - Chris Tarrant, Radio and TV personality
- October 10 - Naoto Kan, Japanese politician
- October 10 - Mildred Grieveson (aka: Anne Mather, Caroline Fleming, Cardine Fleming), British writer
- October 11 - Amitabh Bachchan Indian Actor
- October 11 - Daryl Hall, American musician (Hall & Oates)
- October 13 - Edwina Currie, English politician
- October 13 - Dorothy Moore, American singer
- October 14 - Justin Hayward, English singer and songwriter (Moody Blues)
- October 15 - Richard Carpenter, American musician and composer (The Carpenters)
- October 15 - Marsha Hunt, American singer and novelist
- October 16 - Suzanne Somers, American actress
- October 16 - Elizabeth Witmer, Dutch-born politician
- October 17 - Vicki Hodge, English actress
- October 17 - Bob Seagren, American athlete and actor
- October 18 - James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter
- October 18 - Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- October 18 - Andrea Zsadon, Hungarian soprano
- October 19 - Philip Pullman, English author
- October 20 - Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 21 - Lyn Allison, Australian politician
- October 22 - Eileen Gordon, British politician
- October 25 - Edith Leyrer, Austrian actress
- October 26 - Pat Sajak, American game show host (Wheel of Fortune)
- October 27 - Leslie L. Byrne, American politician
- October 27 - Ivan Reitman, Slovakian-born film director and producer
- October 27 - Carrie Snodgress, American actress (d. 2004)
- October 28 - Sharon Thesen, Canadian poet
- October 29 - Kathryn J. Whitmire, Mayor of Houston, Texas
- October 30 - Lynne Marta, American actress
- October 30 - Andrea Mitchell, American journalist
- October 31 - Caroline Jackson, British politician
- October 31 - Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor
November
- November 1 - Marina Abramovic, Yugoslavian performance artist
- November 1 - Ric Grech, British bassist (Family, Blind Faith, Traffic (d. 1990)
- November 1 - Lynne Russell, American newsreader
- November 2 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (d. 2001)
- November 4 - Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States
- November 5 - Herman Brood, Dutch artist (d. 2001)
- November 5 - Loleatta Holloway, American singer
- November 5 - Gram Parsons, American musician (d. 1973)
- November 6 - Sally Field, American actress
- November 7 - Diane Francis, Canadian journalist
- November 7 - Martin Barre, English musician (Jethro Tull)
- November 8 - Stella Chiweshe, Zimbabwe musician
- November 10 - Alaina Reed Hall, American actress
- November 11 - Corrine Brown, American politician
- November 12 - P.P. Arnold, English singer
- November 13 - Ohara Reiko, Japanese actress
- November 14 - Carola Dunn, English writer
- November 15 - Gwyneth Powell, British actress
- November 15 - Sandy Skoglund, American photographer
- November 17 - Petra Burka, Canadian figure skater
- November 18 - Andrea Allan, Scottish actress
- November 18 - Amanda Lear, Hong Kong singer
- November 19 - Terry Baum, American playwright
- November 20 - Greg Cook, American football player
- November 20 - Judy Woodruff, American television personality
- November 21 - Emma Cohen, Spanish actress
- November 21 - Pam Freeman, American actress
- November 21 - Chaviva Hosek, Czech-born feminist
- November 21 - Ulla Jessen, Danish actress
- November 21 - Jacky Lafon, Belgian actress
- November 21 - Marina Warner, English writer
- November 22 - Anne Wheeler, Canadian television and film director
- November 24 - Penelope Jones Halsall (aka: Caroline Courtney, Melinda Wright, Lydia Hitchcock, Penny Jordan, Annie Groves), British writer
- November 24 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (d. 1989)
- November 25 - Marika Lindstrom, Swedish actress
- November 26 - Ottilia Borbath, Romanian actress
- November 27 - Nina Maslova, Russian actress
- November 28 - Regina Braga, Brazilian actress
- November 29 - Brian Cadd, Australian singer-songwriter
- November 29 - Suzy Chaffee, American singer and actress
- November 30 - Barbara Cubin, U.S. Congresswoman from Wyoming
December
- December 2 - Gulsun Karamustafa, Turkish artist and film director
- December 2 - Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (d. 1997)
- December 3 - Marjana Lipovsek, Slovenian singer and actress
- December 3 - Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist
- December 4 - Sherry Alberoni, American actress
- December 4 - Angela Browning, British politician
- December 4 - You Inoue, Japanese voice actress (d. 2003)
- December 5 - José Carreras, Spanish tenor
- December 5 - Eva-Britt Svensson, Swedish politician
- December 6 - Chelsea Brown, American actress
- December 8 - Jacques Bourboulon, French photographer
- December 8 - Sharmila Tagore, Indian actress
- December 9 - Sonia Gandhi, Indian politician
- December 10 - Chrystos, American poet
- December 10 - Thomas Lux, American poet
- December 11 - Ellen Meloy, American writer (d. 2004)
- December 12 - Gloria Loring, American singer
- December 14 - Jane Birkin, English actress and singer
- December 14 - Patty Duke, American actress
- December 16 - Alice Aycock, American sculptor
- December 16 - Benny Andersson, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)
- December 16 - Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichordist and conductor
- December 17 - Bel Mooney, English broadcast journalist
- December 17 - Eugene Levy, Canadian Actor
- December 18 - Nina Skottova, Czech politician and member of the European Parliament
- December 18 - Steven Spielberg, American film director
- December 18 - Steve Biko, Apartheid activist (d. 1977)
- December 19 - Candace Pert, American nueroscientist
- December 19 - Robert Urich, American actor
- December 20 - Lesley Judd, English actress and television presenter
- December 20 - John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
- December 20 - Dick Wolf, American television producer
- December 21 - Carl Wilson, American musician (d. 1998)
- December 23 - Edita Gruberova, Slovakian soprano
- December 23 - Susan Lucci, American actress
- December 24 - Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, French politician and member of the European Parliament
- December 24 - Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist (d. 2005)
- December 24 - Jan Akkerman, Dutch guitarist, mostly known from Focus
- December 25 - Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter
- December 25 - Larry Csonka, American football player
- December 25 - Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager
- December 26 - Joyce Jillson, American astrologer (d. 2004)
- December 27 - Lenny Kaye, American guitarist
- December 27 - Janet Street Porter, English broadcast journalist
- December 27 - Polly Toynbee, English journalist and writer
- December 28 - Edgar Winter, American musician
- December 29 - Marianne Faithfull, English singer and actress
- December 29 - Ruth Shady, Peruvian archaeologist
- December 30 - Patti Smith, American poet and singer
Unknown dates
Deaths
January–June
- January 4 - George Woolf, Canadian jockey (b. 1910)
- January 29 - Harry Hopkins, American politician (b. 1890)
- February 5 - George Arliss, English actor (b. 1868)
- February 19 - Rafael Erich, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1879)
- March 2 - George E. Stewart, American Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
- March 4 - Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Danish big-game hunter (b. 1886)
- March 12 - Joachim Spungel, Austrian linguistics expert (b. 1874)
- March 23 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist (b. 1875)
- March 24 - Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (b. 1892)
- April 1 - Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
- April 3 - Alf Common, English footballer (b. 1880)
- April 8 - Qin Bangxian,
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