Explore 3967 historical events from 1940–1949.
Robert Duane Ballard is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology and m…
Robert Ballard, American lieutenant and oceanographer
Ronald Thomas Harris is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 476 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals, Atl…
Ron Harris, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was an Iraqi politician, military officer and field marshal. He served as Vice Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council until the 2003 invasion of…
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Iraqi field marshal and politician (died 2020)
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Awa…
Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress
Dame Julia Stretton Higgins is a British polymer scientist. Since 1976, she has been based at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, where she is emerit…
Julia Higgins, English chemist and academic
Andraé Edward Crouch was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian a…
Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer and pastor (died 2015)
John Eekelaar FBA is a South African-born legal scholar who specialised in family law during his academic career at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the …
John Eekelaar, South African-English lawyer and scholar
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was electe…
Vicente Fox, Mexican businessman and politician, 35th President of Mexico
Kevin Stephen Johnson is an Australian singer-songwriter. Popular in the 1970s, his biggest hit is "Rock and Roll ", which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singl…
Kevin Johnson, Australian singer-songwriter
Claude Moine, known professionally as Eddy Mitchell, is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires. He took the name Ed…
Eddy Mitchell, French singer-songwriter
Stefan Meller was a Polish diplomat and academician. He served as foreign minister of Poland from 31 October 2005, to 9 May 2006, in the cabinet of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.
Stefan Meller, French-Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2008)
Prince Michael of Kent is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2026. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Ma…
Prince Michael of Kent
Peter Rowan is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar, fiddle, dobro, banjo, bass, piano and mandolin. He has a wide vocal range and yodels. He was inducted i…
Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Matthias Bamert is a Swiss conductor and composer.
Matthias Bamert, Swiss composer and conductor
Johannes Löhr was a German professional football player and manager.
Hannes Löhr, German footballer, coach, and manager (died 2016)
Harold Clifton Lanier is an American former infielder, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Known as a brainy, defense-first player, he won National League Manager of …
Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach, and manager
Floyd Douglas Little was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National …
Floyd Little, American football player and coach (died 2021)
Ian Craig Leslie OAM is an Indonesian-born Australian television journalist and corporate communicator.
Ian Leslie, Indonesian-Australian journalist and television host
Carmen Joan Duncan was an Australian actress and activist, with a career locally and internationally that spanned over 50 years. She was nominated for an AFI/AACTA Award for Best A…
Carmen Duncan, Australian actress (died 2019)
William Philip Gramm is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched …
Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
David William George Chidgey, Baron Chidgey was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastleigh from 1994 to 2005, and latterly sat in t…
David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey, English engineer and politician (died 2022)
Richard Arnold Roundtree was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and four of its sequels, Shaft's Big Scor…
Richard Roundtree, American actor (died 2023)
Ronald James Padavona, known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black …
Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2010)
Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk is a former Soviet cosmonaut and the first Belarusian to travel in space. Klimuk made three flights into space. From 1991 to 2003, he headed the Yuri Gagarin Co…
Pyotr Klimuk, Belarusian general, pilot, and astronaut