- Leo Castelli, Italian-American art dealer, born in Trieste, Austrian Littoral, Austria-Hungary (d. 1999)
- Stanford Moore, American biochemist (Nobel 1977), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1982)
- Mickey Cohen, American gangster (Cohen crime family), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1976)
- John McCarthy, American computer scientist (coined the term "artificial intelligence," created the Lisp programming language), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2011)
- Antoine Bonifaci, French soccer midfielder (12 caps; OGC Nice, FC Inter Milan, Bologna FC, Torino FC), born in Bezons, France (d. 2021)
- Carlos Timoteo Griguol, Argentine soccer midfielder (Atlanta, Rosario Central) and manager (Ferro Carril Oeste, Real Betis, River Plate), born in Las Palmas, Argentina (d. 2021)
- Judea Pearl, Israeli-American computer scientist (Turing Award), born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
- Khandi Alexander, American dancer, choreographer and actress (Scandal, CSI: Miami), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- English author Beatrix Potter writes the story of Peter Rabbit for a 5-year-old boy
- Jhr. Ch. Ruys de Beerenbrouck becomes the first Dutch Catholic prime minister
- The Beatles record "How Do You Do It" at EMI Studios in London
- Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board
- Jerry Lewis's 2nd Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $1,126,846
- Bernardus Bosch, Dutch vicar and poet, born in Deventer, Netherlands (d. 1803)
- Rudolf Schock, German opera tenor, born in Duisburg, Germany (d. 1986)
- Bill Talbert, American tennis player (9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; US Open singles 1944, 45 runner-up; International Tennis HOF), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1999)
- Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer (Olympic gold 100m freestyle 1956, 60, 64; 4×100m freestyle relay 1956), born in Sydney, Australia
- Beyoncé Knowles, American pop and RandB singer, songwriter, producer and actress (Destiny's Child), born in Houston, Texas