← 1971 1970 1969 1972 in the United States → 1973 1974 1975
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	History of the United States (1964–1980) Timeline of United States history (1970–1989) List of years in the United States

Events from the year 1972 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Richard Nixon (R-California)
• Vice President: Spiro Agnew (R-Maryland)
• Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Minnesota)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Carl Albert (D-Oklahoma)
• Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana)
• Congress: 92nd

Events

January

• January 2 – Pierre Hotel Robbery: Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of The Pierre Hotel in New York City of at least $4 million.
• January 5 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
• January 7 – Howard Hughes speaks to the press by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's hoax biography of him.
• January 16 – Super Bowl VI: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Miami Dolphins 24–3.
• January 24 – Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi is discovered in Guam; he had spent 28 years in the jungle and becomes the third-to-last Japanese soldier to surrender after World War II.
• January 25 – Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman, announces her candidacy for president.
• January 27 – Two New York City Police Department officers, Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie, are assassinated by members of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) while on foot patrol in New York's East Village area.

February

• February 2 – The last draft lottery is held, a watershed event in the wind-down of military conscription in the United States during the Vietnam era. These draft candidates are never called to duty.
• February 4 – Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
• February 5 – Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• February 15 – Phonorecords are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
• February 18 – The California Supreme Court voids the state's death penalty, commuting all death sentences to life in prison.
• February 21–28 – U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
• February 23 – Activist Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California, farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
• February 24 – North Vietnamese negotiators walk out of the Paris Peace Talks to protest U.S. air raids.
• February 26 – A coal sludge spill kills 125 people in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia.

March

• March 2 – The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
• March 3
  • Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain in the U.S. state of Georgia.
  • Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes into a house on Edgewood Avenue in Albany, New York, killing 16 of the 47 people on board, and one person in an upstairs apartment. The impact happened at 8:48 pm after the commuter plane lost power during a snowstorm.
• March 13 – Clifford Irving admits to a New York court that he had fabricated Howard Hughes' "autobiography".
• March 15 – The Godfather has its premiere at the Loew's State Theatre in New York City.
• March 16 – The first building of the Pruitt–Igoe housing development in St. Louis is destroyed.
• March 22 – The 92nd U.S. Congress votes to send the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
• March 24 – Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident: A school bus crashes into a train in Congers, New York, killing five students.
• March 26 – After 14 years, the last of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts is telecast by CBS. This last concert is devoted to Gustav Holst's The Planets.

April

• April 4 - The Wall Street Journal announced the Digital Watch was on sale.
• April 7 – Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy Jr. hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000; he is later captured.^[1]
• April 10
  • The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to ban biological warfare.
  • The 44th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jack Lemmon, is held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. William Friedkin's The French Connection wins five awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Friedkin. The film is also tied with both Norman Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof and Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show in receiving eight nominations.
• April 12 – The X-rated animated movie Fritz the Cat is released.
• April 16 – Vietnam War – Nguyen Hue Offensive: Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• April 17 – The first Boston Marathon in which women are officially allowed to compete.
• April 29 – The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and for using marijuana. On this day Kings Island in Mason Ohio opened to the public.

May

• May 2 – A fire in the Sunshine Mine in northern Idaho kills 91.
• May 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam.
• May 11 – The Boston Bruins defeat the New York Rangers four games to two to win the Stanley Cup.
• May 15
  • Okinawa is returned to Japan after 27 years of United States occupation.^[2]
  • Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot and paralyzed by Arthur Bremer at a political rally in Laurel, Maryland, United States.^[3]
• May 16 – The first financial derivatives exchange, the International Monetary Market (IMM), opens on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
• May 24 – A Red Army Faction bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany; 3 U.S. soldiers (Clyde Bonner, Ronald Woodard and Charles Peck) are killed.
• May 26
  • Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.
  • The Watergate first break-in, the "Ameritas dinner", fails.
  • Wernher von Braun retires from NASA, frustrated by the agency's unwillingness to pursue a crewed trans-orbital space program.
• May 27
  • Mark Donohue wins the Indianapolis 500 in the Penske Racing McLaren-Offenhauser. This was the first win for Team Penske in the 500.
  • A second Watergate break-in attempt fails.

June

• June 3 – Sally Priesand becomes the first female rabbi in the U.S.
• June 4 – Angela Davis is found not guilty of murder.
• June 9 – The Black Hills flood kills 238 in South Dakota.
• June 12 – The first Popeyes opens in Arabi, Louisiana.
• June 14–23 – Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. east coast.
• June 15–18 – The first U.S. Libertarian Party National Convention is held in Denver, Colorado.
• June 17
  • Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
  • The United States returns Okinawa, occupied and governed since the Battle of Okinawa, to Japan.
  • Main Street Electrical Parade debuts at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Parade was also cloned for other Disney Parks worldwide
• June 23
  • Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
  • President Nixon signs Title IX into law as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibiting gender discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds.
• June 26 – Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-found Atari, Inc.
• June 28 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
• June 29 – Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional, converting all death sentences to life imprisonment.

July

• July – U.S. actress Jane Fonda tours North Vietnam, during which she is photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.
• July 1 – Ms. magazine begins publication.^[4]
• July 1 – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from the IRS.
• July 4 – The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.
• July 8 – The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
• July 10–14 – The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for president. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.
• July 15 – The Pruitt–Igoe housing development is demolished in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• July 20 - The Armstrong Air & Space Museum is dedicated to honor Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon.
• July 21 – Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee, Wisconsin police for public obscenity, for reciting his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" at Summerfest.
• July 23 – The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
• July 25 – U.S. health officials admit that African Americans were used as guinea pigs in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.

August

• August 1 – U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, withdraws from the race after revealing he suffered from depression and had been hospitalized three times for its treatment.^[5]
• August 4
  • Arthur Bremer is jailed for 63 years for shooting U.S. presidential primary candidate George Wallace.^[6]
  • A huge solar flare (one of the largest ever recorded) knocks out cable lines in U.S. It begins with the appearance of sunspots on August 2; an August 4 flare kicks off high levels of activity until August 10.
• August 10 – A brilliant, daytime meteor skips off the Earth's atmosphere due to an Apollo asteroid streaking over the western US into Canada.^[7]
• August 12 – The last U.S. ground troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
• August 13–18 – The Special Olympics World Games take place in Los Angeles.^[8]
• August 20 – One hundred thousand people attended the legendary Wattstax Black music concert in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California.^[9]
• August 21 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.
• August 22 – John Wojtowicz, 27, and Sal Naturile, 18, hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Gravesend, Brooklyn, N.Y, an event later dramatized in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.

September

• September 1 – World Chess Championship 1972 ("Match of the century"): Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American chess champion.
• September 4 – The New Price is Right, a revival of the 1956-65 NBC and ABC game show of the same name premieres on CBS, along with Gambit and The Joker's Wild, overhauling the network's daytime schedule.
• September 12 – Maude, the first in a series of spin-offs from All in the Family, premieres on CBS. Bea Arthur stars as the title character.
• September 17 – The television series M*A*S*H begins its run on CBS.
• September 24 – An F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport fails to become airborne and crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, killing 12 children and 11 adults.^[10]

October

• October 8 – R. Sargent Shriver is chosen to replace Thomas Eagleton as the U.S. vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
• October 12 – USS Kitty Hawk riot: En route to the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk; nearly 50 sailors are injured.
• October 15 – Baker v. Nelson is decided in the Minnesota Supreme Court, affirming that state law preventing same-sex marriage is constitutional.
• October 16
• October 16
  • A plane carrying U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana and three other men vanishes in Alaska. The wreckage has never been found, despite a massive search at the time.^[11]
  • Country singer Loretta Lynn makes history becoming the first female ever to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award. Her signature song, "Coal Miner's Daughter," is pivotal in earning her this award.
• October 22 - The Oakland Athletics defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 3, to win their sixth World Series title in baseball.
• October 25 – The first female FBI agents are hired.
• October 26 – Following a visit to South Vietnam, U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger suggests that "peace is at hand."
• October 27 – Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Gateway National Recreation Area, & Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is established.
• October 30
  • U.S. President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
  • 1972 Chicago commuter rail crash: The accidental tripping of a signal at 27th Street station on the Metra Electric system in Chicago causes an IC Electric express train to telescope another, killing 45 and injuring over 300.

November

• November – At a scientific meeting in Honolulu, Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen conceive the concept of recombinant DNA. They publish their results in November 1973 in PNAS. Separately in 1972, Paul Berg also recombines DNA in a test tube. Recombinant DNA technology has dramatically changed the field of biological sciences, especially biotechnology, and opened the door to genetically modified organisms.
• November 7 – U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).
• November 8 – HBO begins operating as a pay television service.
• November 11 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
• November 14 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
• November 22 – Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
• November 29 – Atari, Inc. kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of Pong, the first game to achieve commercial success.

  

• November 30 – Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States troop withdrawals from Vietnam because troop levels are now down to 27,000.^[12]

December

• December 8
  • United Airlines Boeing 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 onboard and two on the ground.
  • Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
• December 14 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last crewed mission to the Moon of the 20th century.
• December 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.
• December 22 – A peace delegation that includes singer-activist Joan Baez and human rights attorney Telford Taylor visit Hanoi to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war.
• December 23 – The Pittsburgh Steelers win their first ever postseason NFL game, defeating the Oakland Raiders 13–7, on a last-second play that becomes known as the Immaculate Reception.
• December 24 – Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
• December 25 – The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam causes widespread criticism of the U.S. and President Richard Nixon.
• December 26 – Former President Harry S. Truman dies in Kansas City, Missouri.
• December 29 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 176 on board.
• December 31
  • Baseball player Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
  • The US ban on the pesticide DDT takes effect.^[13]

Undated

• The first women are admitted to Dartmouth College.
• Women are allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon for the first time.
• The Environmental Protection Agency bans the use of the pesticide DDT.
• Pettit Marine Paint is established after the unification of three lines of marine paint manufactures.^[14]

Ongoing

• Cold War (1947–1991)
• Space Race (1957–1975)
• Vietnam War, U.S. involvement (1964–1973)
• Détente (c. 1969–1979)
• Watergate scandal (1972–1974)
• Capital punishment suspended by Furman v. Georgia (1972–1976)
• DOCUMERICA photography project (1972-1977)

Births

January

• January 1
  • Sharon Blynn, actress and cancer activist
  • Shane Carruth, director, producer, actor, composer and cinematographer
  • Barron Miles, American-born Canadian football player and coach
• January 5 – Ariel McDonald, basketball player
• January 8
  • Jon Andersen, wrestler
  • Jacob Sager Weinstein, author and humorist
• January 9
  • Mat Hoffman, BMX rider
  • Jay Powell, baseball player
  • Rawson Stovall, video game producer and author
• January 11
  • Jermaine Allensworth, baseball player
  • Amanda Peet, actress
• January 12
  • H. Peter Anvin, Swedish-born computer programmer
  • Zabryna Guevara, actress
• January 13
  • Nicole Eggert, actress
  • Kate Holbrook, historian and writer (d. 2022)
• January 15 – Errol Rajesh Arthur, lawyer and judge
• January 16 – Joe Horn, football player
• January 18
  • Jason Gray, Christian singer/songwriter
  • Mike Lieberthal, baseball player
• January 19
  • Drea de Matteo, actress
  • Jon Fisher, businessman and author
  • Tyrone Wheatley, American football player and college football coach
• January 20 – Nikki Haley, politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina, and 29th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
• January 22
  • Reggie Barlow, football player
  • Gabriel Macht, actor
• January 24 – Beth Hart, singer
• January 28 – Amy Coney Barrett, attorney, jurist, judge, and justice for the U.S. Supreme Court
• January 29
  • Matt Brandstein, writer
  • Lisa Desjardins, journalist for PBS NewsHour
• January 30 – Jill McGill, golfer
• January 31 – Garret Graves, politician

February

• February 4 – Kelvin Anderson, football player
• February 5 – Kristopher Carter, composer
• February 6 – Maurice Clemmons, convicted murderer (d. 2009)
• February 7
  • Essence Atkins, actress
  • Robyn Lively, screen actress
• February 8 – Big Show, wrestler and actor
• February 9
  • Monica Aldama, cheerleader and coach
  • Crispin Freeman, voice actor
• February 11
  • Craig Jones, musician
  • Kelly Slater, surfer
• February 12
  • Sumya Anani, boxer
  • Darrell Asberry, football player
• February 14
  • Drew Bledsoe, football player
  • Angie Craig, politician
  • Rob Thomas, singer/songwriter and frontman for Matchbox Twenty
• February 16
  • Jerome Bettis, football player
  • Sarah Clarke, actress
• February 17
  • Billie Joe Armstrong, punk rock singer/songwriter, guitarist, and frontman for Green Day
  • Taylor Hawkins, drummer for Foo Fighters (d. 2022)
  • Ralphie May, comedian and actor (d. 2017)
• February 18 – Atrios, blogger
• February 20 – Todd Graves, entrepreneur, restauranteur, and founder of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
• February 22 – Michael Chang, tennis player
• February 23
  • Mark Abene, information security expert and entrepreneur
  • Michael Ausiello, journalist, author, and actor
• February 24 – Larry Amar, field hockey player (d. 2020)
• February 26
  • damali ayo, artist and author
  • Keith Ferguson, voice actor
  • Maz Jobrani, Iranian-born actor, comedian, and director
• February 28 – Adrian Autry, basketball player and coach
• February 29
  • Dave Williams, singer and frontman for Drowning Pool (d. 2002)
  • Saul Williams, singer, poet, and actor
  • Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born AIDS activist and television personality (d. 1994)

March

• March 4
  • Bruce Aven, baseball player
  • Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican-born actress, singer/songwriter and record producer
• March 6
  • Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player
  • Jaret Reddick, singer/songwriter
• March 9
  • Jodey Arrington, politician
  • AZ, rapper
  • Travis Lane Stork, emergency room physician and television personality
  • Kerr Smith, actor
  • Jean Louisa Kelly, actress
• March 10
  • Matt Kenseth, race car driver
  • Timbaland, record producer, songwriter, and rapper
• March 11 – David J. Adelman, businessman and entrepreneur, CEO of Campus Apartments
• March 12 – George Arias, baseball player
• March 13
  • Leigh-Allyn Baker, screen and voice actress
  • Common, actor and rapper
  • Trent Dilfer, American football player
• March 15
  • Mark Hoppus, pop-punk singer/songwriter and bassist for blink-182
  • Erik S. Kristensen, U.S. Navy SEAL (d. 2005)
• March 17
  • Mia Hamm, soccer player
  • Paige Hemmis, television personality
  • Sean Price, rapper for Heltah Skeltah (d. 2015)
• March 18
  • Dane Cook, comedian and actor
  • Reince Priebus, politician
• March 20 – Amir Abo-Shaeer, teacher and mechanical engineer
• March 21
  • Kristen Anderson-Lopez, songwriter and lyricist
  • Chris Candido, wrestler (d. 2005)
• March 22
  • Dottie Alexander, keyboardist
  • Houston Alexander, mixed martial artist
  • Shawn Bradley, basketball player
  • Cory Lidle, baseball player (d. 2006)
• March 26 – Leslie Mann, actress
• March 27 – Charlie Haas, wrestler
• March 28 – Tammy Modlin, convicted murderer (d. 2016)
• March 31 – Evan Williams, Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Twitter

April

• April 3
  • LaToya Cantrell, politician, mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana (2018–present)
  • Jennie Garth, actress
• April 5 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, American-born Canadian theoretical physicist
• April 6 – Jason Hervey, actor
• April 8
  • Roderick Anderson, basketball player
  • Paul Gray, bassist and vocalist for Slipknot (d. 2010)
  • Sung Kang, actor
• April 11
  • Balls Mahoney, wrestler (d. 2016)
  • Jason Varitek, baseball player
• April 12 – Wade Allen, director and stuntman
• April 14 – Dean Potter, free climber (d. 2015)
• April 15 – Lou Romano, animator and voice actor
• April 17
  • Tony Boselli, football player
  • Jennifer Garner, actress
• April 20
  • Carmen Electra, model, singer, and actress
  • Stephen Marley, reggae musician
• April 22 – Willie Robertson, television personality, businessman, author, news contributor, and CEO of Duck Commander
• April 24
  • Chad I Ginsburg, guitarist and vocalist for CKY
  • Chipper Jones, baseball player
• April 26
  • Brian Anderson, baseball player
  • Aubrey Ankrum, screenwriter and animator
• April 27 – David Lascher, actor
• April 28 – Violent J, singer, rapper, wrestler, actor and one-half of the Insane Clown Posse

May

• May 1
  • Julie Benz, actress
  • Tracy Hines, racing driver and stunt driver
• May 2 – Dwayne Johnson, actor and wrestler
• May 3 – Reza Aslan, Iranian-born scholar
• May 4
  • Mike Dirnt, rock musician and bassist for Green Day
  • Chris Tomlin, Christian singer/songwriter and worship leader
• May 6 – Kwatsi Alibaruho, flight director for NASA
• May 9
  • Lisa Ann, pornographic actress
  • Dana Perino, political commentator and White House Press Secretary (2005-2007)
• May 10 – Gavin Arroyo, Olympic water polo player
• May 11 – Amanda Freitag, chef
• May 12 – Rhea Seehorn, actress
• May 14 – Kevin Allen, football player
• May 15 – Eric Aubriot, French-born chef
• May 16
  • Derek Mears, actor and stuntman
  • Khary Payton, voice actor
• May 20 – Busta Rhymes, actor and rapper
• May 21 – The Notorious B.I.G., rapper (d. 1997)
• May 22
  • Max Brooks, horror author and screenwriter
  • Alison Eastwood, fashion designer and actress
• May 24 – Leah Andreone, musician
• May 25
  • Jules Jordan, pornographic movie director, actor, and producer
  • Octavia Spencer, actress and author
• May 28 – Christine Drazan, politician
• May 29
  • Laverne Cox, actress and LGBTQ+ advocate
  • M Lamar, composer, performer, and artist
• May 31 – Dave Roberts, baseball player

June

• June 1
  • Cheryl Abplanalp, Olympic handball player
  • Rick Gomez, actor
• June 2
  • Wayne Brady, comedian
  • Wentworth Miller, British-born actor and screenwriter
• June 3
  • Sharyn Alfonsi, journalist and correspondent for 60 Minutes
  • Matt Pike, singer/songwriter and guitarist for Sleep and frontman for High on Fire
• June 4 – Derian Hatcher, ice hockey player
• June 5
  • Chris Afarian, soccer player
  • Mike Bucci, wrestler
• June 6 – Jeanette Nuñez, politician
• June 7 – Ben Ray Luján, politician
• June 8 – Casey Alexander, basketball player and coach
• June 9
  • Alfunction, guitarist
  • Wes Scantlin, singer/songwriter and frontman for Puddle of Mudd
• June 10 – Steven Thomas Fischer, producer and director
• June 12 – Kyle Lake, pastor (died 2005)
• June 15 – Andy Pettitte, baseball player
• June 16 – John Cho, South Korean-born actor
• June 17 – C. H. Greenblatt, animator
• June 18 – Kimberly Potter, cop convicted in the killing of Daunte Wright
• June 19 – Christopher T. Adams, politician
• June 20
  • Yorgo Alexandrou, American-born Armenian Olympic bobsledder
  • Shane Hamman, Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter
• June 21 – Benjamin Byron Davis, actor, writer, director, and acting coach
• June 22 – David Rees, cartoonist and critic
• June 23
  • Louis Van Amstel, Dutch-born ballroom dancer
  • Selma Blair, actress
• June 27
  • Jimmy Adams, race car driver
  • Christian Kane, actor and singer/songwriter
• June 28 – Jon Heidenreich, wrestler
• June 29
  • DJ Shadow, DJ and record producer
  • Samantha Smith, peace activist (d. 1985)
• June 30
  • Garret Anderson, baseball player
  • Tyrone Davis, football player (died 2022)

July

• July 1 – Steve Little, actor and comedian
• July 4 – Donta Abron, football player
• July 5 – Leo Allen, comedian
• July 7
  • Lisa Leslie, basketball player
  • Stoney Case, football player
  • Kirsten Vangsness, actress and writer
• July 8 – Jay Bellamy, football player
• July 10
  • Salman Agah, skateboarder and entrepreneur
  • Sofía Vergara, Colombian-born actress, television producer, comedian, presenter, and model
  • John Viener, actor, voice actor, writer, and comedian
• July 11 – Michael Rosenbaum, actor, producer, singer, and comedian
• July 12
  • Elanna Allen, creator and director
  • Travis Best, basketball player
• July 13 – Sean Waltman, wrestler
• July 14
  • Joe Aska, football player
  • Mark Lamb, law enforcement officer and political candidate, Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona (2017–present)
• July 19 – Daedalus Howell, writer and filmmaker
• July 21 – Kimera Bartee, baseball player (d. 2021)
• July 22
  • Royd Anderson, Cuban-born filmmaker and historian
  • Seth Fisher, comic book artist (d. 2006)
  • Keyshawn Johnson, football player
• July 23 – Marlon Wayans, actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
• July 27
  • Jill Arrington, sportscaster and reporter
  • Maya Rudolph, actress
• July 28
  • Elizabeth Berkley, actress
  • Evan Farmer, television host, actor, and musician
• July 29 – Wil Wheaton, actor
• July 30
  • David Allen, game designer
  • Big B, rapper
  • GloZell, YouTuber
• July 31 – DeAndrey Abron, boxer (d. 2020)

August

• August 1 – D-Von Dudley, wrestler
• August 2
  • Chris Bender, R&B singer (d. 1991)
  • Muriel Bowser, politician, mayor of Washington D.C.
• August 4 – Brian Aker, hacker and scientist
• August 5 – Gabe Aul, engineer for Microsoft (1992-2019) and Facebook (2019–present)
• August 7
  • Heidi Cruz, businesswoman, managing director at Goldman Sachs, and wife of Ted Cruz
  • Karen Disher, director
  • Chip Roy, attorney and politician
• August 9 – Dusty Allen, baseball player
• August 10
  • Peter Adamson, philosopher and intellectual historian
  • Devon Allman, guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer
  • Angie Harmon, actress
• August 11 – Jonathon Prandi, model and actor
• August 12 – Jonathan Coachman, WWE announcer
• August 13
  • Crystal Allen, actress
  • Kevin Plank, entrepreneur and founder of Under Armour
• August 14 – Ed O'Bannon, basketball player
• August 15
  • Ben Affleck, actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
  • Omar Amanat, entrepreneur and filmmaker
• August 16 – Emily Robison, country music performer and member of Dixie Chicks
• August 17 – Jeff Abbott, baseball player
• August 18 – John Albers, politician
• August 20
  • Derrick Alston, basketball player and coach
  • Chaney Kley, actor (d. 2007)
• August 24 – Todd Young, politician
• August 25
  • Andy Abad, baseball player
  • Marvin Harrison, football player
• August 26 – Rufus Blaq, rap artist, singer/songwriter and record producer
• August 27
  • Chris Armas, soccer player and coach
  • Jimmy Pop, rock performer and rapper
• August 30 – Cameron Diaz, actress and model

September

• September 1 – Amy Anderson, South Korean-born comedian, actor, and writer
• September 2 – Eleanor Friedberger, singer/songwriter and lead vocalist for The Fiery Furnaces
• September 3 – Bob Evans, wrestler and trainer
• September 4 – Robert Gregory Bowers, mass murderer
• September 5 – Dirk Copeland, Olympic cyclist
• September 6
  • Tom Ackerman, football player
  • Dylan Bruno, actor and model
  • Anika Noni Rose, actress
• September 7
  • Natasha Adair, basketball player and coach
  • Kevin Aguiar, politician
  • Sarah Anderson, politician
  • Slug, hip-hop musician and one-half of Atmosphere
• September 8
  • Ramon Armendariz, MLB umpire
  • Sonia Arrison, author
  • Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, disc jockey and political satirist
• September 9 – Goran Višnjić, Croatian-born actor
• September 10 – Sara Groves, Christian musician
• September 14 – Don Argott, filmmaker and musician
• September 15
  • Stephen Glass, disgraced journalist known for fabricating numerous stories
  • John Schwab, actor, voice actor, and musician
• September 16 – Mike Doyle, actor
• September 17 – Bobby Lee, actor
• September 18 – Melina Abdullah, academic and civic leader
• September 19 – Cheryl B, poet and performance artist
• September 21
  • Erin Fitzgerald, Canadian-born voice actress
  • Jon Kitna, football player
• September 22
  • Dennis Allen, football player
  • Matt Busch, artist and entertainment illustrator
  • Dana Vespoli, porn actress and director
  • Matthew Rush, gay pornographic actor
• September 26
  • Beto O'Rourke, politician
  • Shawn Stockman, singer and musician for Boyz II Men
• September 27
  • Sylvia Crawley, basketball player
  • Gwyneth Paltrow, actress, singer, and food writer
• September 28 – Dita Von Teese, burlesque dancer
• September 30 – Jamal Anderson, football player

October

• October 3
  • Guy Oseary, Israeli-born businessman
  • Lajon Witherspoon, singer and frontman for Sevendust
• October 5
  • Thomas Roberts, journalist
  • Grant Hill, basketball player
• October 6 – J. J. Stokes, football player
• October 7 – Ben Younger, screenwriter and director
• October 8
  • Willie Adams, baseball player
  • Terry Balsamo, guitarist for Cold and Evanescence
  • Melanie McGuire, mariticide
• October 9
  • Trent Ashby, politician
  • Etan Patz, missing schoolboy
• October 11 – Tamara Gee, vocalist, songwriter, producer, dancer, and model
• October 12 – Karen Jarrett, wrestling manager and executive
• October 13 – Danny Lloyd, actor
• October 14 – Mike Archie, football player
• October 17
  • Brent Anderson, politician
  • Eminem, rapper
• October 20 – Brian Schatz, politician
• October 21
  • Evgeny Afineevsky, Russian-born director, producer, and cinematographer
  • Matthew Friedberger, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and member of The Fiery Furnaces
• October 22
  • Arthur Agee, basketball player
  • D'Lo Brown, wrestler
• October 23 – Patrise Alexander, football player
• October 24
  • T. J. Cunningham, football player (d. 2019)
  • Scott Peterson, convicted murderer
• October 25 – Ellis Avery, writer (d. 2019)
• October 26 – Armando Almanza, baseball player
• October 27 – Brad Radke, baseball player
• October 28
  • Terrell Davis, football player
  • Brad Paisley, country music singer/songwriter
• October 29
  • Tracee Ellis Ross, actress
  • Gabrielle Union, actress
• October 31
  • Jamie Asher, football player
  • Pharoahe Monch, rapper

November

• November 1
  • Derrick Atterberry, football player
  • Jenny McCarthy, television performer
• November 4 – Julissa Gomez, gymnast (d. 1991)
• November 6 – Rebecca Romijn, actress
• November 7
  • Christopher Daniel Barnes, actor and voice actor
  • Jason London, actor
• November 9 – Eric Dane, actor
• November 10
  • DJ Ashba, musician, songwriter, record producer, graphic designer, and guitarist for SixxAM
  • Isaac Bruce, football player
  • Shawn Green, baseball player
  • Greg LaRocca, baseball player
• November 11 – Ibrahim Mohamed Aden, Somali-born Olympic middle-distance runner
• November 12 – Homer Bush, baseball player and financial analyst
• November 13 – Sekou Andrews, actor, writer, producer, and innovator
• November 14
  • Matt Bloom, wrestler
  • Troy Carter, music manager and co-founder of Q&A
  • Josh Duhamel, actor
  • Aaron Taylor, football player and sportscaster
• November 16
  • Olanda Anderson, boxer
  • Missi Pyle, actress and singer
• November 17
  • Pam Altendorf, politician
  • Leonard Roberts, actor
• November 20 – Riddick Parker, football player (d. 2022)
• November 21 – Rain Phoenix, actress
• November 23 – Chris Adler, drummer for Lamb of God and Megadeth
• November 25 – Mark Morton, guitarist for Lamb of God
• November 29 – Brian Baumgartner, actor

December

• December 1 – Stanton Barrett, stock car racing driver
• December 2 – The AstroTwins, astrologers and authors
• December 5
  • Cliff Floyd, baseball player and sportscaster
  • Mike Mahoney, baseball player
  • Duane Ross, hurdler and coach
• December 7
  • Tammy Lynn Sytch, wrestling manager and personality
  • Jason Winer, actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer
• December 9 – Reiko Aylesworth, actress
• December 10
  • Puff Johnson, singer (d. 2013)
  • Brian Molko, musician (Placebo)
• December 11
  • Shane Aguirre, accountant and politician
  • J. D. Allen, jazz musician
  • Dan Henk, artist and writer
  • LaMont Smith, Olympic runner
• December 12
  • Tim Akers, author
  • Brandon Teena, murder victim (d. 1993)
• December 13 – Hilaree Nelson, ski mountaineer (d. 2022)
• December 15 – Rodney Harrison, football player
• December 14 – Eric Anderson, actor and singer
• December 18 – Jason Mantzoukas, actor, comedian, writer, and podcaster
• December 19
  • Rosa Blasi, actress
  • Alyssa Milano, actress
  • Warren Sapp, football player and sportscaster
• December 21
  • Jeff DeWit, businessman and politician
  • LaTroy Hawkins, baseball player
  • Dustin Hermanson, baseball player
• December 22 – Big Tigger, television/radio personality and rapper
• December 25
  • Grady Avenell, musician and singer for Will Haven
  • Patrick Brennan, actor
  • Josh Freese, musician and drummer
• December 27 – Brian Angelichio, football coach
• December 28
  • Jody Adams, basketball player and coach
  • Jennifer McClellan, politician
  • Kevin Stitt, politician, 28th Governor of Oklahoma
  • Adam Vinatieri, football player
• December 30 – Kerry Collins, football player
• December 31 – Joey McIntyre, actor and singer for New Kids on the Block

Full Date unknown

• Tom Abbs, multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker
• Thomas Abt, writer and scientist
• Joe Adamik, musician and composer
• Tom Adams, Swedish-born technology executive
• Glenn Adamson, curator, author, and historian
• Christopher Adler, musician, composer, and music professor
• Rodney Afshari, talent agent
• Anurag Agrawal, professor of ecology, evolutionary biology, and entomology
• Maneesh Agrawala, university professor
• Leeza Ahmady, curator, author, arts administrator, dance instructor, and educator
• Allison E. Aiello, epidemiologist
• Maruthi Akella, Indian-born aerospace engineer
• Tea Alagic, Bosnian-born director and creator
• Jay Alaimo, writer, director, and producer
• Kecia Ali, academic
• Lylah M. Alphonse, journalist
• Natha Anderson, politician, lobbyist, and educator
• Edgar Arceneaux, artist
• Aaron Archer, illustrator and toy designer
• Matthias Aschenbrenner, German-born mathematician
• Noah Ashenhurst, novelist
• Wayne Au, researcher and professor
• Rachel Aukes, novelist
• Victor Axelrod, musician, producer, and audio engineer
• Jennifer Aylmer, opera singer
• Bigg D, record producer
• Natasha D'Schommer, photographer
• Jason Goldberg, producer
• Erik LaRay Harvey, actor

Deaths

• January 7
  • John Berryman, poet and scholar (born 1914)
  • Emma P. Carr, spectroscopist (born 1880)^[15]
• January 8 – Wesley Ruggles, film director (born 1889)
• January 9 – Ted Shawn, dancer (born 1891)
• January 16 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., actor, pianist, singer, songwriter and record producer, creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks (born 1919)
• January 17 – Betty Smith, novelist (born 1896)^[16]
• January 24 – Jerome Cowan, actor (born 1897)
• January 27 – Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer (born 1911)^[17]
• February 2 – Jessie Royce Landis, actress (born 1896)^[18]
• February 3 – John Litel, screen actor (born 1892)^[19]
• February 4 – Orlando Ward, general (born 1891)
• February 5 – Marianne Moore, poet (born 1887)^[20]
• February 7
  • Walter Lang, film director (born 1896)
  • Bob Woodward, screen actor (born 1909)
• February 19 – Lee Morgan, jazz trumpeter (born 1938)
• February 20 – Walter Winchell, journalist (born 1897)
• February 22
  • Dan Katchongva, Native American traditional leader (born 1860)
  • Tedd Pierce, animator (born 1906)
• February 27 – Pat Brady, screen actor (born 1914)
• March 9 – Basil O'Connor, lawyer and chairman of the International Red Cross (born 1892)
• March 11
  • Fredric Brown, science fiction and mystery writer (born 1906)^[21]
  • Zack Wheat, baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers) (born 1888)
• March 13 – Len Ford, American football player (Cleveland Browns) (born 1926)
• March 16 – Pie Traynor, baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates) (born 1898)
• March 20 – Marilyn Maxwell, actress and entertainer (born 1921)
• March 27 – Lorenzo Wright, track and field athlete (born 1926)^[22]
• April 2 – Gil Hodges, baseball player and manager (born 1924)^[23]
• April 3 – Ferde Grofé, composer (born 1892)
• April 4 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., politician (born 1908)^[24]
• May 2 – J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (born 1895)
• May 3 – Bruce Cabot, film actor (born 1904)
• May 4 – Edward Calvin Kendall, chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1886)
• May 5
  • Reverend Gary Davis, blues and gospel singer (b. 1896)
  • Frank Tashlin, animator (born 1913)
• May 11 – Michael Blassie, U.S. Air Force lieutenant (born 1948; killed in action)
• May 13 – Dan Blocker, American actor (Bonanza) (born 1928)
• May 18 – Sidney Franklin, film director (b. 1893)
• May 26 – Edna Goodrich, actress (born 1883)^[25]
• May 31 – Walter Jackson Freeman II, neurologist (born 1895)
• June 8 – Mary van Kleeck, labor activist (born 1883)
• June 13 – Felix Stump, admiral (b. 1894)
• June 20 – Howard Deering Johnson, businessman, founder of Howard Johnson's (born 1897)
• July 27 – Allen J. Ellender, U.S. Senator from Louisiana; President pro tempore during the 92nd Congress (born 1890)
• August 7
  • Joi Lansing, actress (born 1928)
  • Tom Neal, actor (born 1914)
• August 11 – Max Theiler, virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1899 in South Africa)
• August 20 – Harold Rainsford Stark, admiral (born 1880)
• September 8 – Warren Kealoha, Olympic swimmer (born 1903)
• September 14 – Lane Chandler, actor (born 1899)^[26]
• September 22 – Peter Mills, freedman, last known surviving American born into legal slavery, in pedestrian accident (born 1861)^[27]
• September 25 – Max Fleischer, animator (born 1883 in Poland)
• September 29 – Edward Sloman, silent film director, actor, screenwriter and radio broadcaster (born 1886 in the United Kingdom)^[28]
• October 8 – Prescott Bush, banker and politician (born 1895)
• October 16 – Hale Boggs, U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 2nd congressional district and Majority Leader during the 92nd Congress (born 1914)
• October 18 – Edward Cook, Olympic athlete (born 1888)
• October 24 – Jackie Robinson, first African-American in Major League Baseball (born 1919)
• October 29 – Victor Milner, cinematographer (born 1893)^[29]
• November 1 – Ezra Pound, poet (born 1885)^[30]
• November 11 – Berry Oakley, musician (born 1948)^[31]
• November 14 – Martin Dies Jr., lawyer and politician (born 1900)
• November 17 – Thomas C. Kinkaid, admiral (born 1888)^[32]
• November 18 – Danny Whitten, musician (born 1943)^[33]
• November 29 – Carl W. Stalling, composer (born 1891)^[34]
• December 3
  • Mike Brady, golfer (born 1887)
  • Bill Johnson, African American dixieland jazz double-bassist (born 1872)
• December 9 – Louella Parsons, gossip columnist and screenwriter (born 1881)^[35]
• December 12 – Thomas H. Robbins Jr., admiral (born 1900)
• December 15 – Edward Earle, Canadian-born American actor (born 1882 in Canada)^[36]
• December 18 – Neilia Hunter Biden, first wife of 46th US President Joe Biden (born 1942)
• December 23 – Norman Clyde, mountaineer, nature photographer and naturalist (born 1885)
• December 26 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953, 34th Vice President of the United States from January to April 1945 (born 1884)
• December 31 – Roberto Clemente, baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates) (born 1934)