Events 
 March 3 – In Sweden, a time bomb destroys the office of Norrskenflamman newspaper of Swedish communists – 5 dead
 March 5- Members of Soviet politburo: Stalin, Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Mikhail Kalinin, Kliment Voroshilov and Lavrenty Beria himself, signed execution order prepared by Beria & Stalin. Over 25700 Polish intelligentsia, including over 22000 Polish POW, known also as Katyn massacre were slaughtered.
 March 12 – Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War. Finns, and the World opinion, shocked by the harsh terms.
 March 18 – World War II: Axis powers – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
 March 21 - Édouard Daladier resigns as prime minister of France. He is replaced by Paul Reynaud.
 April 4 – Prime minister of Greece, Aleksandros Korizis, shoots himself – initial official explanation is "heart attack"
 April 7 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
 April 9 – World War II: Germany invades Denmark and Norway in operation Weserübung. The British campaign in Norway is simultaneously commenced.
 April 23 – Rhythm Night Club burns in Natchez, Mississippi – 198 dead.
 May 4 – Nazi Germany opens Auschwitz concentration camp
 May 10 - World War II: Germany invades the Netherlands and Belgium.
 May 10 - Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
 May 10 - World War II: British troops land on Iceland.
 June 4 - World War II: British troops are evacuated from Dunkirk.
 August 20 - Leon Trotsky is wounded with an ice pick, dying the next day.
 November 5 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a record third term as President of the United States.
 December 30 – California opens the first freeway.

Births 
 January 2 - Jim Bakker, American televangelist
 January 4 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born French writer
 January 21 - Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
 January 22 - John Hurt, British actor
 January 24 - Joachim Gauck, President of Germany
 January 28 - Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman
 February 2 - David Jason, British actor
 February 6 - Tom Brokaw, American television journalist
 February 7 - Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore
 February 9 - J. M. Coetzee, South African writer
 February 10 - Kenny Rankin, pop and jazz singer and songwriter
 February 17 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
 February 19 - Smokey Robinson, American singer
 February 19 - Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
 February 20 - Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
 February 23 – Peter Fonda, American actor (d. 2019)
 February 27 - Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
 February 28 - Mario Andretti, Italian-born racing driver
 March 2 - Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer
 March 7 - Rudi Dutschke, German student leader (d. 1979)
 March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor
 March 12 - Al Jarreau, American musician
 March 16 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian movie director
 March 24 – Bob Mackie, clothing designer
 March 26 - Nancy Pelosi, American politician
 March 26 - James Caan, American actor
 March 28 - Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2013)
 April 1 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental and political activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 2011)
 April 12 - Herbie Hancock, American musician
 April 15 - Jeffrey Archer, British politician and writer
 April 16 – Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark
 April 18 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist
 April 20 - James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
 April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor
 April 26 - Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
 May 4 - Sean Barrett, English actor
 May 8 - Peter Benchley, American writer (d. 2006)
 May 8 - Toni Tennille, American singer (Captain & Tennille)
 May 9 - James L. Brooks, American producer and writer
 May 20 – Stan Mikita, Retired Slovakian-Canadian professional ice hockey player
 May 20 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
 May 21 - Tony Sheridan, English musician (d. 2013)
 May 24 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian writer (d. 1996)
 May 26 - Levon Helm, American musician and actor (The Band) (d. 2012)
 May 28 - Maeve Binchy, Irish writer (d. 2012)
 May 29 - Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan (d. 2010)
 June 7 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer
 June 8 - Nancy Sinatra, American singer
 June 23 - Adam Faith, British singer (d. 2003)
 June 28 - Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner
 July 2 - Kenneth Clarke, British politician
 July 3 – Jerzy Buzek, Polish politician
 July 3 - Fontella Bass, American singer (d. 2012)
 July 7 – Ringo Starr, British musician, actor (The Beatles)
 July 13 - Patrick Stewart, British actor
 July 15 - Robert Winstone, British scientist
 July 27 - Pina Bausch, German choreographer (d. 2009)
 August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
 August 16 - Bruce Beresford, Australian director
 August 26 - Don LaFontaine, American actor (d. 2008)
 September 5 - Raquel Welch, American actress
 September 7 - Abdurrahman Wahid, President of Indonesia (d. 2009)
 September 20 - Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
 September 21 - Rick May, Canadian-American voice actor (d. 2020)
 September 29 – John Miszuk, retired Polish professional ice hockey player
 October 9 – John Lennon, British musician (The Beatles) (died 1980)
 October 14 - Cliff Richard, British singer (Cliff Richard And The Shadows)
 October 19 - Michael Gambon, British actor
 October 21 - Manfred Mann, musician (Manfred Mann)
 October 23 - Pele, Brazilian footballer
 November 5 - Anthony Rolfe Johnson, British tenor (d. 2010)
 November 10 - Screaming Lord Sutch, British musician and politician (d. 1999)
 November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor
 November 18 - Qaboos, Sultan of Oman (d. 2020)
 November 21 - Doctor John, American musician
 November 22 – Terry Gilliam, American-born British animator, movie maker
 November 27 - Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1973)
 November 29 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer and musician (The Mamas & the Papas) (d. 2007)
 December 1 – Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
 December 12 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
 December 18 - Bram Morrison, Canadian singer and musician (Sharon, Lois & Bram)
 December 21 - Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
 December 26 – Phil Spector, music producer
 December 28 - Don Francisco, Chilean television host

Deaths 
 January 4 – Flora Finch, English-born actress and comedienne (b. 1869)
 January 18 – Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (b. 1865)
 January 27 – Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)
 February 11 – John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
 March 10 – Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer (b. 1891)
 March 16 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
 March 20 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
 March 31 – Tinsley Lindley, English footballer (b. 1865)
 April 26 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
 May 15 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch writer (b. 1902)
 May 20 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
 May 25 – Joe De Grasse, Canadian movie director (b. 1873)
 May 28 – Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)
 June 10 – Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born publisher, entrepreneur, and black nationalist (b. 1887)
 June 17 – Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
 June 21 – Smedley Butler, U.S. general (b. 1881)
 June 29 – Paul Klee, Swiss artist (b. 1879)
 July 15 – Robert Pershing Wadlow, tallest man in the world (infection) (b. 1918)
 August 8 – Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinettist (b. 1892)
 August 18 – Walter Chrysler, American automobile pioneer (b. 1875)
 August 21 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1879)
 August 22 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (b. 1860)
 August 30 – J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
 October 10 – Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)
 November 9 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869)
 December 5 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (b. 1880)
 December 19 – Kyösti Kallio, President of Finland (b. 1873)
 December 21 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)
 December 25 – Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)

Movies released 
 Pinocchio

Hit songs 
 "When You Wish Upon A Star" – by Neil Washington and Leigh Harline, from the movie Pinocchio, won the Academy Award for the best song.