- International communist conference members in Prague arrange create International Brigades to help the Republican Government in the Spanish Civil War
- Cuban pirate radio station's first transmission in Santiago de Cuba
- US Syncom 2, the first geosynchronous communications satellite, launches
- Republic of Maldives gains independence from Britain (National Day)
- 11th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel
- Auguste Beernaert, 14th Prime Minister of Belgium (1884-94) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1909, born in Ostend, Belgium (d. 1912)
- Vivian Vance [Jones], American stage and screen actress (I Love Lucy - "Ethel Mertz"; The Lucy Show - "Viv"), born in Cherryvale, Kansas (d. 1979)
- Bertil Nordahl, Swedish soccer midfielder and manager (15 caps; Atalanta; Olympic gold 1948), born in Hörnefors, Sweden (d. 1998)
- Rimantas Stankevičius, Lithuanian cosmonaut, born in Marijampolė, Lithuania (d. 1990)
- Jonty Rhodes, South African cricket batsman (brilliant fielder), born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa