- Saint Colette of Corbie, French abbess and reformer (Poor Clares), born in Corbie, County of Amiens, Duchy of Burgundy (d. 1447)
- Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish-French mystic, born in Lille (d. 1680)
- Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist, Director-General of the Department of Munitions in WWII, born in Burra, South Australia (d. 1961)
- George Gurdjieff, Armenian-Greek mystic who established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, born in Alexandropol, Armenia, Russian Empire (d. 1949) disputed date
- Jeff Morrow [Leslie Irving Morrow], American actor (Robe, Union Pacific, Temperatures Rising), born in New York City (d. 1993)
- Ian Hendry, British actor (The Avengers, The Lotus Eaters), born in Ipswich, Suffolk (d. 1984)
- Drew Abbott, American rock guitarist (Silver Bullet Band, 1974-83), born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Rakesh Sharma, Indian cosmonaut (Soyuz T-11), first Indian in space, born in Patiala, India
- The Act of Multipliers is passed by the English Parliament forbidding alchemists to use their knowledge to create precious metals (it was feared that if any alchemist should succeed it would bring ruin upon the state)
- US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king
- South Africa cricket team's 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide
- YMCA files libel suit against Village People's "Y.M.C.A." song
- President Mário Soares of Portugal re-elected
- Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer, born in Congreve, England (d. 1808)
- Karl Bleibtreu, German author (Revolution of Literature), born in Berlin (d. 1928)
- Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1978)
- Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter (The Messengers), born in Adelaide, South Australia
- Bill Bailey, British comedian (Black Books, QI), born in bath, England