Explore 1392 historical events from 1940–1949.
Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, was a Scottish politician, advocate and athlete. A senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of …
Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician (died 2025)
Zalman King was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.
Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)
Rodney King Thorn is an American basketball executive and a former professional player, coach and Olympic Committee Chairman with a career spanning over 50 years. In 2018, Thorn wa…
Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 69-year career. With…
Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
Patricia Lesley Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, PC, DL was a historian and a Labour member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician (died 2018)
Rudolf Adler was a Czech film director, screenwriter and film educator.
Rudolf Adler, Czech filmmaker: 88
Dame Uta Frith is a German-British developmental psychologist and emeritus professor in cognitive development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College Londo…
Uta Frith, German developmental psychologist
Vladimir Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the leader of the Party of Communists of Moldova (PCRM) since 199…
Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan economist and politician, 3rd President of Moldova
Aldrich Hazen Ames was an American counterintelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency who was convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994.
Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal (died 2026)
James Dobbin was a British politician and microbiologist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood and Middleton from 1997 until his death in 2014.
Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (died 2014)
Eric Clifford Drysdale is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a tennis commentator.
Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
Imants Kalniņš is a Latvian composer, musician and politician. Having studied classical and choral music, he has written seven symphonies, several operas, oratorios, cantatas, choi…
Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
Elizabeth Howland was an American actress known for her work on stage and television. She was best known for playing waitress Vera Gorman in the sitcom Alice.
Beth Howland, American actress and singer (died 2015)
Douglas Keith Scott was an English mountaineer and climbing author, noted for being on the team that made the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1…
Doug Scott, English mountaineer and author (died 2020)
Robert David Simon was an American television correspondent for CBS News. He covered crises, war, and unrest in 67 countries during his career. Simon reported the withdrawal of Ame…
Bob Simon, American journalist (died 2015)
Dame Margaret June Clark, FAAN FLSW was a British nurse and academic who was Professor Emeritus of Community Nursing, at Swansea University in Wales.
June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
Louis Joseph Ignarro is an American pharmacologist. For demonstrating the signaling properties of nitric oxide, he was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicin…
Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
William Dawbney Nordhaus is an American economist. He was a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, best known for his work in economic modeling and climate change, and…
William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Wilmer Dean Chance was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he played in 11 Major League Baseball seasons for the Los Angeles / California Angels, Minn…
Dean Chance, American baseball player and manager (died 2015)
Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent …
Toyo Ito, Japanese architect, designed the Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira
Alexander Valentinovich Zakharov is a Soviet and Russian chief scientist and astronomer serving at the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI).
Alexander V
Walter Stacy Keach Jr. is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and is a prominen…
Stacy Keach, American actor
Louis Vincent Anthony Nanne is a Canadian-born American former National Hockey League defenceman and general manager. He played in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota Nor…
Lou Nanne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
Irène Schweizer was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist.
Irène Schweizer, Swiss jazz pianist (died 2024)