2005 in the United States

Events from the year 2005 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government

President: George W. Bush
[Vice President of the United States|President of the United States|Vice President]: Dick Cheney
Chief Justice:
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert
Senate Majority Leader: Bill Frist
Congress: 108th, 109th

Events

January

January 1 – President George W. Bush delivers a radio address on the Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts.
January 3 – President George W. Bush is joined by former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the Roosevelt Room as he announces that the two former presidents will be involved with the humanitarian response to the tsunami across the region of South and Southeast Asia.
January 6 – The US Congress certifies the victory of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney despite the objection of Ohio's electoral votes by Ohio congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and California senator Barbara Boxer. It was the first objection to a state's electoral votes since 1969.
January 12 – Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta II rocket.
January 20 – President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney begin their second term.
January 22 - FoxBox, Fox's Saturday morning programming block owned by 4Kids Entertainment, is rebranded as 4Kids TV.
January 26 – Glendale train crash: Two trains derail in Glendale, California, killing 11 and injuring 200.
January 30 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Royal Rumble pay-per-view event from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
January – Mosdeux, a deaf owned film studio is established.

February

February 2 – State of the Union Address.
February 6
* Super Bowl XXXIX: The New England Patriots win their second consecutive Super Bowl title, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 24–21 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville.
* American Dad! debuts on FOX, right after Super Bowl XXXIX.
February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.
February 14 – The Internet site YouTube goes online.
February 16 – The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia.
February 20 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its No Way Out pay-per-view event from the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
February 21 – Avatar: The Last Airbender premieres on Nickelodeon.
February 24 – David Hernandez Arroyo goes on a shooting rampage at the Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, Texas. He kills two, including his ex-wife, and injures four people, before being killed in a police chase.
February 25 – Wichita, Kansas police apprehend the "BTK" serial killer Dennis Rader, 31 years after his first murder.
February 27 – The 77th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, are held at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, with Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby winning Best Picture and Best Director, Eastwood's second win for both. Martin Scorsese's The Aviator wins five awards out of 11 nominations. The telecast garners over 42.1 million viewers.

March

March 1 – Roper v. Simmons: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes before the age of 18.
March 4 – The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of one passenger and injuring two more.
March 11 – Three people, including a judge, are murdered in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia; the main suspect, Brian Nichols, surrenders to police the next day.
March 12 – Terry Ratzmann opens fire during a church sermon in New Berlin, Wisconsin, killing seven and injuring four before taking his own life.
March 21 – Ten are killed in the Red Lake shootings in Minnesota by teenager Jeff Weise, who commits suicide after a shootout with police. It is the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre.
March 23 – The United States' 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to stop the euthanasia of Terri Schiavo, who has been in a vegetative state since 1990, by not ordering the reinsertion of her feeding tube.
March 24 - The Office debuts on NBC.
March 31 – Terri Schiavo dies at the age of 41 in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Monsters of Rock band is formed in California.

April

April 3 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds WrestleMania 21 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
April 8 – Fever Pitch, a film starring Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore documenting the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series run, is released.
April 9 – Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many of them supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, march through Baghdad denouncing the U.S. occupation of Iraq, two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and rally in the square where his statue was toppled in 2003.
April 30 – Newsweek alleges that American interrogators and guards have desecrated the Qur'an in attempts to rattle Islamic detainees.

May

May 1 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Backlash pay-per-view event from the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
May 8 – Two Denver Police Department officers are shot by a Mexican national, leading to an international incident over the extradition of the shooter.
May 10 – A hand grenade ostensibly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 100 feet from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but the explosive malfunctions and does not detonate.
May 13
* The United States Department of Defense issues a list of bases to be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process.
* Serial killer Michael Bruce Ross becomes the first person executed in New England in 45 years.
May 16 – George Galloway appears before a United States Senate committee to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Programme.
May 19 - Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is released in theaters.
May 21 - Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure opens to the public, becoming the fastest and tallest roller coaster in the world at the time.
May 22 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Judgment Day pay-per-view event from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
May 25 – Carrie Underwood wins season 4 of American Idol
May 27 – Madagascar is released in theaters.
May 31 – W. Mark Felt reveals himself to be the Watergate scandal whistleblower called "Deep Throat."

June

June 2 – The construction of Northrop Grumman X–47B, the world's first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers, begins.
June 12 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York.
June 13 – Michael Jackson is found not guilty of child molestation.
June 17 – Because of "quadruple-witching" options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record. 704 million shares are traded between 9:30–10:30 a.m..
June 23
* The social news site Reddit launches.
* The San Antonio Spurs win their third NBA Championship after defeating the Detroit Pistons, 81-74, in Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals.
June 24 – A Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft fails 83 seconds after its launch, destroying the spacecraft.
June 26 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Vengeance pay-per-view event from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
June 30 – The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement is passed by the United States.

July

July 4
* The Italy–USA Foundation is established in Rome, Italy.
* NASA's "Copper bullet" from the Deep Impact spacecraft hits Comet Tempel 1, creating a crater for scientific studies.
July 8 - Fantastic Four, directed by Tim Story, is released as the first film in the Fantastic Four film series.
July 10 – Hurricane Dennis strikes near Navarre Beach, Florida as a Category 3 storm. The storm kills 88 people and causes $4 billion in damages.
July 19 – President Bush nominates John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill a vacancy that would be left by the resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
July 24
* World Wrestling Entertainment holds its The Great American Bash pay-per-view event from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.
* Lance Armstrong wins a record 7th straight Tour de France before his scheduled retirement. In 2012 he will be disqualified from each of those races and banned from cycling for life for doping offenses by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
July 26 – STS–114 launches as the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.

August

August 2 – The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement is signed into law in the United States.
August 4 – It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres on FX.
August 9 – Space Shuttle Discovery returns to Edwards Air Force Base at 0814 EDT, completing STS–114, "Return to Flight".
August 12 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched.
August 21 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its SummerSlam event from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
August 23 – Hurricane Katrina forms over the Bahamas.
August 29– At least 1,836 are killed, and [Hurricane Hurricane Katrina|Katrina effects by region|severe damage] is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama, and travels up the entire state of Mississippi, affecting most of eastern North America. Katrina becomes the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with $108 billion in damages. The New Orleans Saints football team will play their entire 2005 season on the road due to the effects of the hurricane.

September

September – The largest evacuation in Houston history takes place as millions evacuate from Hurricane Rita.
September 1 – Oil prices rise sharply following the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.
September 3 – Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies at 80 of anaplastic thyroid cancer, creating a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
September 5 – John Roberts is nominated by President George W. Bush for Chief Justice of the United States, replacing William Rehnquist, who had died two days previously. Roberts was previously nominated to fill the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but given the circumstances of Rehnquist's death, O'Connor remains on the Court until her successor is confirmed.
September 14–16 – The largest UN World Summit in history is held in New York City.
September 18 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Unforgiven pay-per-view event from the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
September 20 – The NFL sees the groundbreaking ceremony for two new stadiums, the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys' temporarily named Cowboys Stadium.
September 23 – Convicted bank thief and Boricua Popular Army leader, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, is killed in his home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico when members of the FBI attempt to serve an arrest warrant.
September 24
* Worldwide protests occur against the Iraq War, with over 150,000 protesters in Washington, D.C..
* Hurricane Rita hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, devastating areas near Beaumont, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Ninth Ward of New Orleans re-floods since Katrina, and Mississippi and Alabama are also affected. The storm kills 120 people and causes $12 billion in damages.
September 26
* U.S. Army Reservist Lynndie England is convicted by a military jury on six of seven counts in connection with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
* Sprout is launched by a joint venture between PBS, Comcast, HIT Entertainment, and Sesame Workshop. The new network replaces PBS Kids, allowing for an initial reach of 16.5 million subscribers.
* DT Racer is released on the PlayStation 2, developed by Axis Entertainment and published by XS Games.
September 28 – United States House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy by a Texas grand jury.
September 29 – John Roberts is confirmed and sworn in as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States.

October

October 1
* An Australian photojournalist in Afghanistan, Stephen Dupont, films U.S. soldiers burning two dead Taliban militias' bodies.
* The United States housing bubble begins to burst, causing home prices to stop rising unexpectedly and begin to decline.
October 2
* The first regular-season NFL game played outside of the United States pits the San Francisco 49ers against the Arizona Cardinals at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico. The Cardinals win by a score of 31–14.
* A tour boat capsizes on Lake George, New York killing 20 of 47 aboard.
October 3
* U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Harriet Miers to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
* St. Tammany Parish schools reopen in Louisiana, just over a month after Hurricane Katrina.
October 9 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its No Mercy pay-per-view event from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
October 15
* In college football, the USC Trojans narrowly defeat heavy underdogs Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an illegal play known as the Bush Push.
* A riot occurs in Toledo, Ohio during a neo-Nazi rally on racial issues; 114 are arrested.
October 17 – Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride are tough acts to follow.
October 16 – U.S. helicopters and warplanes bomb two villages near Ramadi in western Iraq, killing about 70 people.
October 19 – The Houston Astros win their first National League Championship by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, advancing to their first World Series in franchise history.
October 24
*Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in southwestern Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. There are 23 direct dead, 39 indirect dead and $29.1 billion in damages.
*Civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who made headlines when she refused to give up her seat in a Montgomery bus, dies of natural causes at the age of 92 in Detroit. She becomes the first woman to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda.
October 25 – The Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros 7–5 in 14 innings in the first World Series game in the State of Texas to extend their lead to 3–0, putting them within one win of the Series. The game, which takes 5 hours and 41 minutes to complete, is the longest postseason game by time.
October 26
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros in four games to win their first World Series since 1917.
* The U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000.
October 27 – After issues arise of her competency to adjudicate United States constitutional law, Harriet Miers withdraws her name from consideration for the Supreme Court of the United States.
October 28 – Vice presidential adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigns after being charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making a false statement in the CIA leak investigation.
October 31
* U.S. President George W. Bush nominates federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
* Astronomers announce the discovery of two additional moons orbiting the Pluto/Charon system. Subsequently, named Nix and Hydra, the moons have been found in images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

November

November 1
* United States Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats force a closed session of the Senate over the Lewis Libby indictment.
* The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive in the United States for a state visit, their first overseas tour since their marriage.
* World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view event from the iPayOne Center in San Diego, California.
November 4
* The U.S. and Uruguay governments sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty.
* Walt Disney Pictures' 46th feature film, Chicken Little, Disney's first fully computer-animated film, is released to stronger box office success than most of the studio's most recent output, though it is one of their biggest critical flops.
November 6 – Evansville Tornado of November 2005: A tornado hits western Kentucky and southwestern Indiana, killing 25 with $92 million in damages.
November 20 – The Washington Post rebukes journalist Bob Woodward over his conduct in the CIA leak probe.
November 27 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Survivor Series pay-per-view event from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

December

December – The unemployment rate falls below 5% for the first time since August 2001; it will remain below 5% until December 2007.
December 7 – A U.S. federal air marshal fatally shoots Rigoberto Alpizar on a jetway at Miami International Airport in Florida.
December 8 – Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 overshoots the runway at Chicago Midway Airport, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring 11 other people.
December 16 – The 43rd Mersenne prime is found, 2^30,402,457 − 1. It was discovered with the GIMPS project by Dr. Curtis Cooper and Dr. Steven Boone, professors at Central Missouri State University.
December 18 – World Wrestling Entertainment holds its Armageddon pay-per-view event from the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
December 19 – Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 crashes into the PortMiami moments after takeoff on a leg from Miami, Florida to North Bimini, The Bahamas, killing all 18 on board. The cause of the accident was revealed to be an in-flight breakup due to metal fatigue.
December 20
*2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike for three days, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
*Angela Johnson becomes the first woman in 50 years to be sentenced to death by the United States federal government. She is convicted of five murders in Iowa, receiving the death penalty for four of them.
December 23 – U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces the first in an expected series of troop drawdowns following the Iraqi elections.

Undated

Ten years after reaching the million mark, the U.S. prison population reaches 2.5 million inmates.

Ongoing

Births

July

August

August 5 - Obed Vargas, soccer player
August 8 - Alysa Liu, figure skater
August 9 - Caylee Anthony, murder victim
August 10 - Sunny Suljic, actor

September

September 17 - Olivia Moultrie, soccer player
September 26 - Jack Hoffman, notable brain cancer patient
September 29 - Gabrielle Gutierrez, actress

October

October 1 - Rosalie Chiang, actress
October 7 - Lulu Wilson, actress
October 15 - Jarin Stevenson, South Korean professional basketball player

November

November 3 - Lara Raj, singer and dancer
November 9 - Diego Rosales, soccer player
November 19 - Gitanjali Rao, scientist
November 20 - Curtis Ofori, soccer player

December

December 2 - Gisele Thompson, soccer player
December 10 - Kyliegh Curran, actress
December 14 - Mia Sinclair Jenness, actress

Unknown

Connor Michalek, WWE fan who died of cancer

Deaths

January

January 1
* Shirley Chisholm, American politician, educator and author
* Eugene J. Martin, American artist
* Bob Matsui, Japanese-American politician
January 2
* Arnold Denker, American chess player
* Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist
January 3 – Will Eisner, American cartoonist, writer and entrepreneur
January 4
* Guy Davenport, writer, artist and scholar
* Robert Heilbroner, writer
* Alton Tobey, artist
January 7 – Rosemary Kennedy, socialite
January 10 – James Forman, civil rights activist
January 11 – Spencer Dryden, rock drummer
January 15 – Ruth Warrick, singer, actress and political activist
January 17 – Virginia Mayo, actress
January 19 – Lamont Bentley, actor and rapper
January 20 – Roland Frye, theologian and critic
January 21 – Adrianne Leigh Reynolds, murder victim
January 22 – Rose Mary Woods, secretary to Richard Nixon
January 23 – Johnny Carson, television host and comedian
January 25 – Philip Johnson, architect
January 28 – Lucien Carr, key member of the original New York City circle of the Beat Generation in the 1940s
January 29 – Bill Shadel, radio and television anchor

February

February 1 – John Vernon, Canadian actor
February 3 – Ernst Mayr, German-American evolutionary biologist
February 4 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, poet, playwright, author and activist
February 5 – Bob Brannum, American basketball player
February 6
* Elbert N. Carvel, politician
* Merle Kilgore, singer and songwriter
February 8
* Mike Bishop, American basketball player
* George Herman, American journalist
* Keith Knudsen, drummer
* Jimmy Smith, jazz musician
February 10 – Arthur Miller, playwright and husband of Marilyn Monroe
February 11 – Jack L. Chalker, American author and writer
February 12
* Brian Kelly, American actor
* Sammi Smith, American country music singer-songwriter
February 13 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player
February 14 – Dick Weber, American boxer
February 14 – F. M. Busby, American author
February 15 – Samuel T. Francis, American Radical right columnist and writer.
February 17 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor
February 20
* Sandra Dee, actress
* John Raitt, actor and singer
* Hunter S. Thompson, journalist
February 24 – Hugh Nibley, American scholar and prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints
February 25 – Ben Bowen, child cancer patient
February 26 – Jef Raskin, computer scientist

March

March 6
* Hans Bethe, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
* Teresa Wright, actress
March 9 – Chris LeDoux, rodeo performer and singer
March 13 – Lyn Collins, R&B singer
March 15 – Don Durant, actor and singer
March 17
* George F. Kennan, diplomat and political advisor
* Andre Norton, writer
March 19 – John DeLorean, car maker
March 21
* Barney Martin, actor
* Bobby Short, pianist and singer
* Jeff Weise, American teenage mass murderer and spree killer
March 29
* Howell Heflin, politician and U.S. senator
* Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer
* Mitch Hedberg, American stand-up comedian
March 30
* Robert Creeley, American poet
* Mitch Hedberg, American comedian
* Fred Korematsu, Japanese-American civil rights activist
March 31
* Frank Perdue, businessman
* Terri Schiavo, right-to-die cause célèbre

April

April 1 – Jack Keller, songwriter and producer
April 5
* Saul Bellow, writer
* Debralee Scott, actress
April 6 – Anthony F. DePalma, orthopedic surgeon and professor
April 14 – Saunders Mac Lane, American mathematician
April 16 – Marla Ruzicka, activist, founder of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict
April 19 – Ruth Hussey, actress
April 22 – Philip Morrison, physicist
April 26
* Mason Adams, actor
* Hasil Adkins, singer-songwriter
April 28 – Chris Candido, professional wrestler

May

May 5 – Elisabeth Fraser, actress
May 7 – Peter Wallace Rodino, politician
May 8 – Lloyd Cutler, attorney and presidential advisor
May 13 – George Dantzig, mathematician
May 14 – Jimmy Martin, musician
May 16 – Eliza Jane Scovill, AIDS victim
May 17 – Frank Gorshin, American actor, impressionist and comedian
May 20
* J. D. Cannon, actor
* Joseph Levis, Olympic fencer
May 21 – Howard Morris, actor
May 22 – Thurl Ravenscroft, voice actor
May 26 – Eddie Albert, actor

June

June 1 – George Mikan, basketball player
June 4 – Ronald F. Marryott, admiral
June 6
* Maurice Rabb Jr., ophthalmologist
* Dana Elcar, actor
* Anne Bancroft, actress and wife of Mel Brooks
June 7 - Terry Long, American football player
June 8 – Ed Bishop, actor
June 13 – Lane Smith, American actor
June 20
* Charles David Keeling, climate scientist
* Jack Kilby, electronics engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
June 24 – Paul Winchell, ventriloquist, comedian, actor, voice artist, humanitarian and inventor
June 25
* Domino Harvey, British-American bounty hunter
* John Fiedler, actor
June 27
* Shelby Foote, American historian and novelist
* John T. Walton, veteran and son of Walmart founder Sam Walton
June 28
* Danny Dietz, American naval officer
* Erik S. Kristensen, American naval officer
* Michael P. Murphy, American naval officer
* Stephen C. Reich, American 160th SOAR officer

July

July 1
* Renaldo "Obie" Benson, soul and R&B singer and songwriter
* Luther Vandross, singer, songwriter and record producer
July 4
* June Haver, actress and singer
* Hank Stram, football coach
July 5 – James Stockdale, admiral and vice presidential candidate
July 6
* Bruno Augenstein, German-American mathematician and physicist
* L. Patrick Gray, FBI director
* Ed McBain, screenwriter and crime fiction writer
July 9 – Kevin Hagen, television actor
July 11 – Frances Langford, radio and film actress and singer
July 14 – Joe Harnell, pianist and composer
July 16 – John Ostrom, paleontologist
July 17 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish actress
July 18 – William Westmoreland, general
July 20 – James Doohan, Canadian actor
July 22 – Eugene Record, singer-songwriter
July 21 – Lord Alfred Hayes, English wrestler, manager, and commentator
July 23 – Myron Floren, accordionist
July 25 – Ford Rainey, actor
July 26 – Jack Hirshleifer, economist
July 29 – Pat McCormick, actor and comedy writer

August

August 1 – John Alevizos, businessman
August 2 – Jay Hammond, politician
August 4 — Ilen Getz, actress
August 7 – Peter Jennings, journalist
August 8
* Barbara Bel Geddes, actress
* John H. Johnson, businessman and publisher.
August 9 – Matthew McGrory, screen actor noted for his height
August 11 – Ted Radcliffe, baseball player
August 16 – Joe Ranft, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor
August 17 – John Norris Bahcall, astrophysicist
August 21 – Robert Moog, pioneer of electronic music
August 23 – Brock Peters, actor

September

September 1 – R.L. Burnside, American blues singer
September 2 – Bob Denver, American actor
September 3
* William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States.
* James Rossi, Olympic cyclist.
September 11 – Chris Schenkel, sportscaster
September 14 – Robert Wise, American film director
September 16 – Constance Moore, singer and actress
September 24 – Tommy Bond, actor, director, producer, and writer
September 25
* Don Adams, American actor
* Urie Bronfenbrenner, Russian-born American professor of psychology

October

October 2 – Nipsey Russell, actor and comedian
October 3 – Henry Howard Sr., politician
October 7 – Charles Rocket, actor, comedian, musician, and reporter
October 9 – Louis Nye, actor
October 12 – Jack White, journalist and reporter
October 13 – Vivian Malone Jones, one of the first two black students at the University of Alabama
October 16 – Eugene "Porky" Lee, child actor
October 18 – Bill King, sports broadcaster
October 20 – Shirley Horn, jazz singer and pianist
October 21
* Tara Correa-McMullen, actress
* Alvin Neelley, murderer
October 22 – Arman, French-American artist
October 24 – Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
October 28 – Richard Smalley, chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
October 29 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian actor

November

November 1
* Skitch Henderson, pianist, conductor, and composer
* Michael Piller, American screenwriter and producer
November 4 – Sheree North, American actress, dancer and singer
November 12 – James Fyfe, criminologist and instructor
November 13
* Eddie Guerrero, Mexican-American professional wrestler
* Ruth Siems, American home economist
November 15 – Adrian Rogers, religious leader
November 16
* Ralph Edwards, host and producer
* Henry Taube, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
November 18
* Harold J. Stone, American actor
* Elias Syriani, Jordanian-born American convicted murderer
November 23 – Constance Cummings, American-British actress
November 24 – Pat Morita, American actor
November 26 – Stan Berenstain, writer and illustrator
November 29 – Wendie Jo Sperber, actress

December

December 2
* William P. Lawrence, admiral and pilot
* Nat Mayer Shapiro, painter
December 10
* Eugene McCarthy, politician and writer
* Mary Jackson, actress
* Richard Pryor, actor and comedian
December 14 – Stew Bowers baseball player
December 16 – John Spencer, actor
December 17 – Jack Anderson, newspaper columnist
December 20 – Bradford Cannon, Boston plastic surgeon
December 21 – Elrod Hendricks, baseball player and coach
December 24 – Michael Vale, actor
December 26 – Vincent Schiavelli, actor
December 31
* Sanora Babb, writer
* Enrico Di Giuseppe, operatic tenor