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Donald Neilson

Donald Neilson

Donald Neilson (born Donald Nappey on 1 August 1936, nicknamed the Black Panther) was a jobbing builder who turned to crime when his business failed to make money—and became a murderer, kidnapper and Britain's most wanted man. By the time Neilson kidnapped a teenage heiress from her home in Shropshire in 1975, he was already a multiple murderer, having previously supplemented his meagre earnings as a builder by robbing Post Offices at gunpoint. A decade of robberies had led to three postmasters being fatally shot, others being wounded and amounts of money taken, but little of the publicity which Neilson craved was generated from them.

A history of crime

Criminal Beginnings

Neilson married at the age of 19 and became a father to a daughter, Kathryn, in 1960—it was at this point he changed his surname from Nappey because he had been teased about it while at school and while doing national service, and did not want his daughter to suffer the same humiliation. Neilson had no criminal history in his youth, but in 1965 he had turned to burglary and then robbery when his carpentry and building business hit hard times. He developed a technique that was to become familiar to the Yorkshire Constabulary, using a brace and bit to drill a hole in the window frame and using a screwdriver or coat hanger to open the catch. Because of this, they called him the 'Brace and Bit Robber'. Although he became extremely skilled at getting in and out of houses, he never managed to hit the jackpot, and the proceeds from this activity remained small. While combining dishonesty with running his business, Neilson became obsessed with the discipline and routine of army life. He had relished his statutory national service when he was a teenager and, though persuaded by his wife not to join the services permanently, continued his passion for the military by forcing his wife and daughter to take part in games of 'soldiers'. In 1967, he branched out into robbing sub-Post Offices. The logic of this was that these smaller Post Offices were usually only lightly defended and therefore easier to rob, and with over 23,000 in the UK, there was almost an infinite choice of targets, but of course, by the same logic, they would not have as much cash on the premises as main Post Offices, either. He first raided a sub-Post Office in Nottingham and eventually 18 others in Lancashire and Yorkshire, between 1967 and 1974. On 16th February 1972, Neilson broke into a sub-Post Office in Heywood, Lancashire. The owner, Leslie Richardson, had woken up and was wandering out of his bedroom when suddenly confronted by a hooded man. A struggle ensued, and the man spoke to him with a West Indian accent. During the struggle, the shotgun Neilson was carrying went off, making a hole in the ceiling. Mr. Richardson managed to remove the hood and get a good look at Neilson. Neilson managed to escape out the rear of the building. Mr. Richardson helped the police put together a photofit picture of the intruder; the first one of six, none of which managed to resemble any of the others or Neilson. 1. MURDER OF DONALD SKEPPER: Two years later, Neilson targeted a sub-Post Office owned by Donald and Johanna Skepper, in Harrogate. Neilson entered using his usual method, and crept upstairs. He went into the Donalds' 18-year-old son's bedroom, and Richard Skepper was shaken awake to find a hooded man pointing a shotgun at him. Neilson demanded to know where the keys for the safe were and, after being told they were in the stair cupboard, bound Richard with tape. Neilson returned after a few minutes, unable to find the keys. He then forced Richard into his parents' bedroom to look in there for the keys. As the pair entered the bedroom, Donald and Johanna woke up and turned the light on to see who was there. Neilson shouted to Donald to turn the light off, but at that moment, Donald yelled 'Lets get him' and leapt out of bed and onto Neilson. Neilson shot Donald Skepper as he flew at him. Neilson fled. Richard managed to call Emergency Services at 5.25 A.M., but Donald died in his wife's arms. Police flooded the area, but Neilson had already returned home, living only 30 minutes drive away. By the following September, more than 30,000 people had been interviewed in the search for what the Media was calling 'The Black Panther'. 2. MURDER OF DEREK ASTIN: Neilson laid low, but eventually knew he was clear and restarted his raids on 6th September 1974, when he broke into the sub-Post Office at Higher Baxindale, Accrington, at 4 A.M. The owner, Derek Astin, woke to find an intruder in the bedroom and began a tussle with him, waking his wife. She tried to assist her husband as the fight spilled out onto the landing, and then there was a loud 'crack' as the shotgun went off, causing massive injuries to Derek. Neilson fell down the stairs, recovered and fled. Astin died in hospital shortly after. Neilson had cut the telephone lines, preventing the family from calling an ambulance in time. Police quickly established that this was the same perpetrator as the Skepper killing. The same method of entry, the same clothes, and a bullet and cases matched the ones from the earlier murder. 3. MURDER OF SIDNEY GRAYLAND: The next attack was 11th November 1974. Sidney Grayland entered his storeroom at his sub-Post Office in Langley, West Midlands, when he heard a knock at the rear door. When he opened it, things again did not go as planned. Neilson had taped a bottle of ammonia to his torch, to squirt into the occupants eyes, but when Sidney saw the hooded man in front of him, he grabbed Neilson's torch, causing the bottle of ammonia to squirt into Neilson's eyes instead. Neilson's gun went off, hitting Sidney, and Neilson had to rip the ammonia soaked hood off. At that point Sidney's wife entered. Guessing that Mrs. Grayland had seen his face, he attacked her, fracturing her skull and leaving her in a pool of blood. Then he removed £800 in Postal Orders from the safe. Police did not discover the Graylands for another 4 hours, by which time Sidney was dead and his wife barely alive. However, the police recovered another bullet and some more cartridge cases, all of which were matched up to the previous two murders.

The kidnap and murder of Lesley Whittle

By 1972, Neilson had decided he needed to step up his criminal activity if he was to gain the big payout he wanted and receive the publicity he craved. He then read an article in the Daily Express about Lesley Whittle, a teenage schoolgirl who had been left a five-figure sum by her deceased father, George, in his will. Mr. Whittle had run a successful coach company. Neilson plotted to kidnap Whittle and hold her to ransom, and put together a meticulous plan which he then carried out in January 1975. As she slept, Neilson silently broke into the 17-year-old's bedroom at the family home in Highley and abducted her. There was neither struggle nor noise, and he allowed Lesley to put on a dressing gown and slippers. On the lounge table, Neilson left a ransom demand which he'd punched out on roll of Dymo-tape. The ransom demand read: :NO POLICE £50000 RANSOM TO BE READY TO DELIVER WAIT FOR TELEPHONE CALL AT SWAN SHOPPING CENTRE TELEPHONE BOX 6 PM TO 1 PM IF NO CALL RETURN FOLLOWING EVENING WHEN YOU ANSWER GIVE NAME ONLY AND LISTEN YOU MUST FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS WITHOUT ARGUMENT FROM TIME YOU ANSWER YOU ARE ON A TIME LIMIT IF POLICE OR TRICKS DEATH :SWAN SHOPPING CENTRE KIDDERMINSTER DELIVER £50000 IN A WHITE VAN :£50000 IN ALL OLD NOTES £25000 IN £1 NOTES AND £25000 IN £5 THERE WILL BE NO EXCHANGE ONLY AFTER £50000 HAS BEEN CLEARED WILL VICTIM BE RELEASED Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Booth of West Mercia CID rushed over to the Whittle home once they had raised the alarm. Ronald Whittle was in the process of raising the ransom, although at that point Booth wasn’t sure it was a genuine kidnap. However, Booth was a follower of FBI techniques and agreed that co-operation was the best strategy at this point. Booth immediately set up a tap on the Whittle phone and the phone box referred to in the ransom note. Booth also accepted the offer of 12 experts on kidnap from Scotland Yard to assist him, but the relationship between West Mercia CID and Scotland Yard quickly deteriorated. They all agreed that Whittle should take the ransom as directed. Meanwhile, Neilson had taken Lesley to a disused drainage shaft in beauty spot [http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&X=383500&Y=353500&scale=10000&width=700&height=400&gride=383702&gridn=353335&lang=&db=pc Bathpool Park], in the town of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. However, during the next few hours, a freelance reporter had gotten wind that a major ransom incident was happening and appeared at the scene in Kidderminster. As a result, the police withdrew Whittle just before 9:30 P.M. The phone in the phone box rang at just before midnight, but there was no one to answer it. The next night, a hoax call sent Ronald Whittle on a wild goose chase to a false rendezvous. It was the same night that Neilson shot and killed the security guard Gerald Smith, attempting to raid a Security depot. In the hurry to escape the scene, Neilson left his stolen green Morris 1300 just a few hundred yards from Smith’s body. The police failed to notice the car for eight days. Eventually a policeman noticed that the car's registration plates did not match the number on the tax disc and checked the car. When the car was searched, it revealed some important clues. There was a tape recording of Leslie’s voice, apparently intended for the abortive ransom attempt the previous week. Also inside the car were tape recorders, torches, a gun and ammunition and a foam mattress. Meanwhile, on the third night of the kidnap, Ronald Whittle waited at home, and when the phone rang, Leonard Rudd, the Transport Manager for Whittles Coaches answered, and a recording of Lesley’s voice told him to go and wait by a phone box in Kidsgrove. Whittle drove to Bridgnorth police station, where he was briefed by Detective Chief Superintendent Lovejoy of Scotland Yard. At this point police had not realised the connection between the Black Panther (who did the Post Office murders) and this kidnap, and so Scotland Yard were in charge of the Whittle kidnap investigation. They did not think to exchange information with each other. Whittle then drove to Kidsgrove, followed by several unmarked police cars. Whittle twice got lost, and it was nearly 3:00 A.M. when he finally got to the location, and then another 30 minutes to locate the hidden message. The message instructed him to go to Bathpool Park and wait for a flashlight signal. He did so, and waited, but no signal came. The problem was that Neilson had driven the route and worked out that Whittle should arrive at Bathpool Park at 2:30 A.M. A couple in a car had already arrived and were baffled by the flashing light they saw. The couple also said they saw a police car in the car park, a claim strenuously denied by local police. Neilson had watched all the comings and goings and, convinced that Whittle was cooperating in a police trap, fell into a rage and went to where Leslie Whittle was held and killed her.

The Grim Discoveries

Previously, senior crime officers from Scotland Yard had discounted a full search of Bathpool Park, claiming there would be nothing to find. However, on the discovery of the Morris 1300, and the fact that Lesley had been missing for more than 9 days and was probably dead, a search was immediately ordered. The shaft was found where Lesley's naked body was discovered hanging from a wire cable. It is believed that in his frustration at the lack of progress with the ransom money, Neilson pushed Lesley over the edge. Her feet were only a few inches from the ground. Almost two months had passed since the day she was abducted, though the post-mortem suggested she had been killed within 48 hours of her capture. Had the police conducted a search when Neilson issued his first demand, Lesley may well have been found alive. As a result, there were recriminations within the two police forces investigating the kidnapping of Lesley—not least the demotion back to uniformed beat officer of the detective in charge of the case, who had failed to order a Press blackout (Neilson had warned the Whittle family that Lesley would be killed if he suspected police involvement). Certainly Ronald Whittle, in an interview he gave outside the police station after being informed that Lesley's body had been found, laid the blame for his sister's death squarely on the considerable publicity garnered by the kidnap.

Arrest

Neilson remained at large for much of 1975 and returned to Post Office robberies. He was finally arrested at the end of the year On December 11, two uniformed police officers were patrolling the streets of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, when they spotted a man in black outside a post office, carrying a holdall and moving suspiciously. They called him over to their car and asked him what he was doing. Keeping calm and friendly, Neilson said he was on his way home from work and gave a false name. One of the policemen asked Neilson to write his name down. At this point, Neilson produced a sawn off shotgun. Neilson forced one officer into the backseat and then got into the front passenger seat. He pointed the shotgun at the policeman driving and told him to drive to Blidworth, about six miles away. At one point, the rear seated officer spotted that the gun was pointing away from the driver and lunged at the gun, pulling the muzzle up. At the same time, the driver slammed on the brakes, and the gun went off into the roof of the car. The car stopped outside a chip shop, and as the two policemen fought with Neilson, two customers in the shop joined in. The four men struggled with Neilson, who fought like a wild animal, but eventually was subdued and handcuffed to a handrail. It was only when Neilson's home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was searched that police realised that the man who had violently struggled against them was the Black Panther, responsible for the murder of Lesley and three postmasters. All his Army accessories were discovered, along with a range of knives, guns and ammunition, some wire which matched that used to strangle Lesley, and even a model of a black panther. Under questioning, Neilson admitted after 12 hours to kidnapping Lesley but said her death was an accident. He also claimed that he never intended to kill any of the postmasters. 5. MURDER OF GERALD SMITH: Gerald Smith, whom Neilson shot during the hunt for Lesley, died as a result of his injuries and the after-effects of the incident. However, Neilson could not be charged with his murder under UK law at the time, which declared that a murder charge could not be brought in respect of a victim who dies more than a year and a day after the incident which brings about their death. The law has since been changed.

Trial

Victims


- 1. Donald Skepper, husband and parent—shot—February 15, 1974
- 2. Derek Astin, husband and owner of a sub-Post Office—shot—September 6, 1974
- 3. Sidney Grayland, husband and owner of a sub-Post Office—shot—November 11, 1974
- 4. Lesley Whittle, teenage schoolgirl—strangled—January 17, 1975
- 5. Gerald Smith, security guard—shot—January 15, 1975 (died March 1976)

Conviction

Neilson's trial at Oxford Crown Court, which started on June 14, 1976, was a massive public event, with queues stretching out on to the street as people tried to catch a glimpse of him. On July 1, Neilson was unanimously convicted. He was given a life sentence for each murder committed—four in total, plus another life term for causing grievous bodily harm to the wife of one of the postmasters he killed. He was also convicted of kidnapping, blackmail, making threats to kill, burglary and possessing firearms with intent to endanger life. The shooting of the security guard was ordered to lie on file. He was acquitted on two charges of attempted murder. The trial judge told him that in his case, life must mean life; only great age or infirmity should be used as reasons to release him. The judge also sympathised with the jury over the amount of evidence they were forced to hear and sift through before reaching their verdict—he later recommended to the Home Office that each of the jurors should be declared exempt from further jury service for the next ten years. Donald Neilson became one of Britain's most notorious and infamous criminals and remains incarcerated in a high-security prison to this day. Neilson has never appealed against any of his convictions and has never tried to gain his freedom. He is of above average intelligence and highly obsessional. Psychaiatrists and psychologists who have examined him all agree that he is probably paranoid, psychotic and psychopathic. The Lord Chief Justice set a 30-year minimum term for Neilson soon after his conviction, but successive Home Secretaries imposed a whole life tariff. Neilson could be free in 2006 because the Home Secretary was stripped of his powers to set minimum terms in November 2002. As the 30th anniversary of Lesley's abduction approached in 2005, the decision on Neilson's future had still to be made. He is approaching 70 and, although details of his prison record, conduct and current location are firmly under wraps, it is understood that he is in good health as he nears the end of his recommended tariff.

Press Opinion

Retrospective documentaries on the capture of Neilson would later lay heavy blame on the police, who didn't take Neilson's initial demands and threats seriously enough to order a press blackout, or thoroughly search Bathpool Park when Neilson first ordered a ransom drop-off there. There is a distinct irony that by the time Lesley's body was found and Neilson had vanished, the police still did not know who the Black Panther was and had to rely entirely on random chance and sheer luck when he was eventually arrested. Had Neilson decided to end his criminal activity after Lesley's death, it is possible he would never have been caught.

See also


- Murderers Neilson, Donald Neilson, Donald Neilson, Donald

1 August

August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining.

Events


- 527 - Justinian I becomes Byzantine Emperor.
- 607 - Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607).
- 1291 - The Swiss Confederation is formed.
- 1492 - Ferdinand and Isabella drive the Jews out of Spain.
- 1461 - Edward IV is crowned king of England.
- 1498 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit Venezuela.
- 1619 - First African slaves arrive in Jamestown, Virginia.
- 1664 - The Ottoman Empire is defeated in the Battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár.
- 1774 - The element oxygen is discovered by Carl Wilhelm and Joseph Priestley.
- 1776 - Formal signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.
- 1798 - Battle of the Nile starts between French and British fleets.
- 1820 - London's Regent's Canal opens.
- 1831 - London Bridge opens.
- 1832 - The Black Hawk War ends.
- 1834 - Slavery is abolished in the British Empire.
- 1838 - Slaves in Trinidad and Tobago are emancipated.
- 1864 - The Elgin Watch Company is founded in Elgin, Illinois
- 1876 - Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.
- 1894 - The First Sino-Japanese War erupts between Japan and China over Korea.
- 1902 - The United States buys the rights to the Panama Canal from France.
- 1907 - First Scout camp opens on Brownsea Island.
- 1914 - Germany declares war on Russia at the opening of World War I.
- 1927 - The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Communist Party of China. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.
- 1936 - The Berlin Olympic Games open.
- 1937 - Tito reads the resolution "Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH" to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor.
- 1941 - The first Jeep is produced.
- 1944 - Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary.
- 1944 - Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland.
- 1945 - Mel Ott becomes the third member of the 500 home run club with a home run at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York.
- 1946 - The Japanese Federation of Trade Unions is formed.
- 1948 - The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
- 1957 - The United States and Canada form the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
- 1960 - Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France
  - Communist PAI is banned in Senegal.
- 1961 - Six Flags Over Texas, the first Six Flags park, opens.
- 1965 - Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands announces her engagement to Claus von Amsberg.
- 1966 - Charles Whitman kills 15 people shooting from a tower at the University of Texas in Austin before being killed by the police.
- 1966 - Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official People's Republic of China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1967 - Israel annexes East Jerusalem.
- 1970 - Powder Ridge Rock Festival
- 1971 - George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in New York City features, among others, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.
- 1975 - CSCE Final Act creates the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
- 1977 - Frank H.T. Rhodes is elected President of Cornell University, a post he would hold for 18 years.
- 1981 - First broadcasts by MTV. The first video played was "Video Killed The Radio Star" by the Buggles.
- 1994 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley confirm rumors that they had married eleven weeks earlier.
- 1996 - Olympic Games: Michael Johnson wins the 200-meter dash in 19.32 seconds, beating the old world record by over 0.3 seconds.
- 2001 - An agreement is reached on the position of the minority Albanian language in the Republic of Macedonia.
- 2001 - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia join the European Environment Agency.
- 2001 - Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a 2-1/2 ton Ten Commandments monument installed in the rotunda of the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office.
- 2004 - A supermarket fire kills 215 people and injures 300 in Asunción, Paraguay.
- 2005 - German spelling reform of 1996 is formally implemented
- 2005 - Disneyland Resort Line of the Hong Kong MTR opens to public.

Births


- 10 BC - Claudius, Roman Emperor (d. AD 54)
- 126 - Pertinax, Roman Emperor (d. 193)
- 1313 - Emperor Kogon of Japan (d. 1364)
- 1377 - Emperor Go-Komatsu of Japan (d. 1433)
- 1545 - Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and religious reformer (b. 1622)
- 1555 - Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (d. 1597)
- 1579 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer (d. 1644)
- 1630 - Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, English statesman (d. 1673)
- 1713 - Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1780)
- 1714 - Richard Wilson, Welsh painter (d. 1782)
- 1744 - Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (d. 1829)
- 1770 - William Clark, American explorer (d. 1838)
- 1779 - Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and lyricist (d. 1843)
- 1779 - Lorenz Oken, German naturalist (d. 1851)
- 1815 - Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer, politician, and author (d. 1882)
- 1818 - Maria Mitchell, American astronomer (d. 1889)
- 1819 - Herman Melville, American writer (d. 1891)
- 1858 - Hans Rott, Austrian composer (d. 1884)
- 1885 - George de Hevesy, Hungarian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
- 1891 - Karl Kobelt, Swiss politician (d. 1968)
- 1921 - Jack Kramer, American tennis player
- 1922 - Pat McDonald, Australian actress (d. 1990)
- 1924 - Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1925 - Ernst Jandl, Austrian writer (d. 2000)
- 1927 - Raymond Leppard, English conductor
- 1930 - Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (d. 2002)
- 1931 - Tom Wilson, American cartoonist
- 1932 - Meir Kahane, American orthodox rabbi and founder of the Jewish Defense League (d. 1990)
- 1933 - Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian
- 1936 - Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer
- 1937 - Al D'Amato, U.S. Senator from New York
- 1942 - Jerry Garcia, American guitarist, lyricist, and singer (The Grateful Dead) (d. 1995)
- 1945 - Douglas D. Osheroff, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1946 - Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist
- 1949 - Kurmanbek Bakiyev, President of Kyrgyzstan
- 1950 - Jim Carroll, American poet and actor
- 1952 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2003)
- 1953 - Robert Cray, American singer
- 1955 - Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer
- 1956 - Tom Leykis, American radio personality
- 1959 - Joe Elliott, English musician (Def Leppard)
- 1960 - Chuck D, American rapper (Public Enemy)
- 1960 - Richard Roeper, American newspaper columnist and film critic
- 1962 - Robert Clift, British field hockey player
- 1963 - Coolio, American rapper
- 1965 - Sam Mendes, British stage and film director
- 1970 - David James, English footballer
- 1973 - Tempestt Bledsoe, American actress
- 1978 - Edgerrin James, American football player

Deaths


- 371 - St Eusebius of Vercelli, Italian bishop
- 1137 - King Louis VI of France (b. 1081)
- 1227 - Shimazu Tadahisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1179)
- 1402 - Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of Edward III of England (b. 1341)
- 1457 - Lorenzo Valla, Italian humanist
- 1464 - Cosimo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1386)
- 1541 - Simon Grynaeus, German theologian (b. 1493)
- 1546 - Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1506)
- 1557 - Olaus Magnus, Swedish writer (b. 1490)
- 1580 - Albrecht Giese IV, German politician and diplomat (b. 1524)
- 1589 - Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (b. 1567)
- 1598 - Abraham Ortelius, Belgian cartographer (b. 1527)
- 1714 - Queen Anne of Great Britain (b. 1665)
- 1787 - Alphonsus Liguori, Italian founder of the Redemptionist order (b. 1696)
- 1796 - Robert Pigot, British army officer (b. 1720)
- 1798 - François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (killed in battle) (b. 1853)
- 1851 - William Joseph Behr, German writer (b. 1775)
- 1917 - Frank Little, American labor organizer (lynched) (b. 1879)
- 1918 - John Riley Banister, American cowboy and Texas Ranger (b. 1854)
- 1920 - Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist leader (b. 1856)
- 1964 - Johnny Burnette, American singer (b. 1934)
- 1967 - Richard Kuhn, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1970 - Frances Farmer, American actress (b. 1913)
- 1970 - Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
- 1973 - Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer (b. 1882)
- 1977 - Gary Powers, American spy plane pilot (b. 1929)
- 1981 - Paddy Chayefsky, American writer (b. 1923)
- 1989 - John Ogdon, English pianist (b. 1937)
- 1990 - Norbert Elias, German sociologist (b. 1897)
- 1990 - Graham Young, British serial killer (b. 1947)
- 1996 - Frida Boccara, French singer (b. 1940)
- 1996 - Tadeus Reichstein, Polish chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1897)
- 1999 - Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Indian-born writer (b. 1897)
- 2001 - Korey Stringer, American football player (b. 1974)
- 2003 - Guy Thys, Belgian football coach (b. 1922)
- 2003 - Marie Trintignant, French actress (b. 1962)
- 2004 - Philip Hauge Abelson American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Al Aronowitz, American music journalist (b. 1928)
- 2005 - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Wibo, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances


- Orthodox Christianity - Procession of the Cross
- Angola - Armed Forces Day
- Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago - Emancipation Day
- Benin - National Day
- People's Republic of China - Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Liberation Army
- Democratic Republic of Congo - Parent's Day
- Nicaragua - Fiesta Day
- Rastafari movement - Celebration of the liberation of Haile Selassie from slavery
- Switzerland - National Day
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Kamál (Perfection) - First day of the eighth month of the Bahá'í Calendar
- Lughnasadh - Lá Lúnasa, the traditional first day of Autumn in Ireland.
- Lammas - Neopagan festival of Lammas
- Lebanon - Army's Day (Eid al-Jaysh)
- Yorkshire, United Kingdom - Yorkshire Day
- Civic Holiday in Canada (2005, the first Monday of August)
- Citizenship Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/1 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050801.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- July 31 - August 2 - July 1 - September 1 -- listing of all days als:1. August ko:8월 1일 ms:1 Ogos ja:8月1日 simple:August 1 th:1 สิงหาคม

Britain

:This article deals with the history of the word Britain. For clarification of terminology and an overview of articles about Britain and Ireland see British Isles (terminology). The word Britain is an informal term used to refer to
- the island of Great Britain which consists of the nations of England, Scotland and Wales.
- the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or UK,
- sometimes the Roman province called "Britain" or "Britannia" The word British generally means belonging to or associated with Britain in one of the first two senses above (i.e. the United Kingdom or the island of Great Britain). However, the term has a range of related usages, as described in this article. Etymologically, these words are closely related to Brittany, the name of the western French peninsula, and its adjective Breton.

Earliest attested references


- Pretaniké; Pretanikai nesoi (Pretanic isles) - 325 BC
- Britannia - 55 BC (Julius Caesar, Roman invasion of Britain)
- Breten - 855 (Old English Chronicle, introduction)
- Brittisc - 855 (OED)
- Grate Briteigne - 1548 (OED)
- British isles - 1550 (in Latin; map of Sebastian Munster cited in British Isles article)

Etymology

The etymology of the name Britain is thought to derive from a Celtic word, Pritani, "painted people/men", a reference to the inhabitants of the islands' use of body-paint and tattoos. If this is true, there is an interesting parallel with the name Pict, connected with a Latin word of the same meaning. The modern Welsh name for Britain is Prydain. The Q-Celtic form was Cruithin, showing that the Common Celtic singular form was qr[ui]tanos. The root is presumably that of the modern Gaelic/Irish word cruth 'shape, form'. It has also been postulated that Britain may derive from the Celtic goddess Brigid; the form of the word, however, is against this postulation. In 325 BC the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia visited a group of islands which he called Pretaniké, the principal ones being Albionon (Albion) and Ierne (Erin). The records of this visit date from much more recent times, so there is room for these details to be disputed, but it does seem to attest pre-Roman use of the name by Celtic-speaking inhabitants of the islands - or the names used by the Phoenecians Pytheas went with. The Roman geographer Ptolemy called the larger island Megale Brettania (Great Britain), and the smaller island Micra Bretannia (Little Britain).

Britain and Brittany

The original reference seems to have been to the territory in which the Brythonic languages were spoken, which more or less coincided with the Roman province of Britannia, an area equivalent to modern England, Wales and southern Scotland. In the Early Middle Ages speakers of a Brythonic language which later evolved into Breton migrated from Cornwall to Armorica, Western France, possibly because of pressure from Saxon invasions. This is why different forms of the same name apply to insular Britain and continental Brittany. In French the similarity is even more obvious: Bretagne and Grande Bretagne. Geoffrey of Monmouth used the names Britannia minor to refer to the Armorican region and Britannia major for the island. The element great in the term Great Britain thus simply means large, to make the distinction from Brittany.

Historical evolution of the term Britain

The kingdoms established on the island of Great Britain were perceived to be dominant over the whole archipelago, which thus came to be known as the British Isles. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the queen's astrologer and alchemist, John Dee, wrote mystical volumes predicting a British Empire and using the terms Great Britain and Britannia. After Elizabeth's death in 1603 the kingdoms shared one King, James VI of Scotland and I of England. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine" (thus including Wales and also avoiding the cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland"). This title was eventually adopted formally in 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed. Politically, then, British has been used to described someone or something from the United Kingdom, in its various forms, since 1707. Briton or Brit are also used colloquially in this form, though the use of Briton here is incorrect. Since its formation, the kingdom was enlarged in 1801 by the addition of the island of Ireland - already ruled by the British monarchy - to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was then reduced in 1922 by the independence of the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. The name of the kingdom changed accordingly, in 1927 becoming The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. British was also used to describe members of nations that formed part of the British Empire. This use now, however, could be seen as justifying the colonial era, even if only applied historically.

Modern use of the term 'British'

The modern use of the term 'British' is as an adjective to describe someone or something from the United Kingdom. It is officially used as the term to describe the nationality of a citizen of the United Kingdom. Irish Nationalists may reject this term as offensive, as it is used to describe Irish people in Northern Ireland. Many people from England, Scotland and Wales also dislike the term, preferring to define themselves as natives of their own particular country. It is also frequently used to describe residents of the United Kingdom's current colonies. This may still offend some people, though since the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 all residents of the United Kingdom's remaining colonies have been eligible for British citizenship, making the term more apt. British occurs in the legal term British Islands . This was coined to describe all of the islands of the British Isles, exlcuding those that form part of the Republic of Ireland, when they act together as a political whole. Geographically, the term can be used in various ways:
- To describe someone from the island of Great Britain
- In the term British Isles, the traditional term for the entire archipelago of islands that lie off the north west coast of France, of which Great Britain and Ireland are the two biggest. Note that this is not intended to imply that all of these islands are part of the United Kingdom, for many of them are part of the Republic of Ireland. However, confusion caused by this term can lead to offense.
- The term has historically been used to describe someone or something from the British Isles. Due to the above mentioned potential for offense, this rarely happens today. For example the British Lions a rugby team which draws players from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland has been renamed to the British and Irish Lions.
- Sometimes British applies to an area or territory currently or formerly governed by or a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, for example the British Virgin Islands, the British Indian Ocean Territory, or British Columbia which is now a province of Canada.

Brutus of Troy

In keeping with the mediaeval penchant for etymologising country names in terms of eponomous heroes, English historians of the late mediaeval and early modern periods charted the history of the nation from Brutus of Troy, supposedly a hero of the Trojan war who founded Britain just as Aeneaus' descendant Romulus founded Rome, Frankus France, and so forth. The life of Brutus, anglicised as Brute, was recorded in the literary tradition of the Prose Brute. This was long accepted as the etymology of Britain.

See also


- List of country name etymologies
- List of United Kingdom topics
- British Isles
- United Kingdom
- Great Britain
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Constitutional status of Cornwall The Cornish question
- Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 merging the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales
- Act of Union 1707 merging Scotland and England to form Great Britain
- History of Britain
- History of Wales
- History of Scotland
- History of England
- British Kings
- List of British monarchs

Sources and further reading


- A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3000 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002
- The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0195134427
- Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0140233237
- Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English by Eric Partridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1966

External links


- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ British History Online] Category:British Isles Category:History of Britain Category:Europe simple:Britain

1975

1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar).

Events

January


- January 1 - Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up
- January 2 - The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by Congress
- January 5 - The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
- January 7 - OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%.
- January 8 - Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States who did not succeed her husband
- January 10 - Japanese soldier Teruo Nakamura surrenders on the Indonesian Island of Morota
- January 14 - 17 year old heiress Lesley Whittle is kidnapped from her home in Shropshire, England by the Black Panther.
- January 20 - Michael Ovitz founds Creative Artists Agency
- January 29 - Weather Underground bombs US State Department main office in Washington D.C.
- January - Altair 8800 is released, sparking the era of the microcomputer

February


- February 4 - The first successfully predicted earthquake occurred in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
- February 9 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
- February 11 - Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the UK Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.
- February 21 - Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to between 30 months and 8 years in prison
- February 23 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States.
- February 26 - a fleeing IRA terrorist shoots dead off-duty London police officer Stephen Tibble, 22, as he gives chase
- February 27 - Movement 2 June kidnaps West German politician Peter Lorenz. He is released on March 4 after most of the kidnappers' demands are met
- February 28 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people.
- February 28 - In Lomé, the capital of Togo, the European Economic Community and 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries sign a financial and economic treaty, known as the first Lomé Convention.

March


- March 1 - Color television transmissions begin in Australia
- March 4 - Charlie Chaplin is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
- March 6 - Algiers Accord - Iran and Iraq announce a settlement over their border dispute.
- March 6 - A bomb explodes in the Paris offices of the Springer Press. The "6 March Group" (connected to the Red Army Faction) demands amnesty for the "Baader-Meinhof Group"
- March 7 - The body of teenage heiress Lesley Whittle, kidnapped seven weeks earlier by the Black Panther is discovered in Staffordshire, England
- March 8 - United Nations begin sponsoring the International Women's Day.
- March 9 - Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins
- March 10 - Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thout, South Vietnam, on their way to capturing Saigon.
- March 15 - In Brazil, the Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara) merges with the state of Rio de Janeiro, under the name of Rio de Janeiro. The state's capital moves from the city of Niterói to the city of Rio de Janeiro.
- March 25 - King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by a nephew with a history of mental illness - the killer is beheaded on June 18.
- March 28 - A fire in the maternity wing at Kucic Hospital in Rijeka, Yugoslavia, kills 25 babies

April-May


- April 3 - Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title.
- April 4 - Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff killing 138 on board; 176 survive the crash.
- April 13 - An attack by Phalangists on a Palestinian bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon sparks over 15 years of civil war.
- April 17 - Pol Pot proclaims the "Democratic Republic of Kampuchea" in Cambodia and becomes its Prime Minister (1975–1979).
- April 24 - Six Red Army Faction terrorists take over West German embassy in Stockholm, take 11 hostages and demand the release of the group's jailed members. Shortly after they are captured by Swedish police.
- April 25 - Vietnam War: As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
- April 30 - Vietnam War: The Vietnam War ends as Communist forces take Saigon and South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally.
- May 5 - The Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park opens in Virginia.
- May 12 - Mayaguez incident: Khmer Rouge forces in Cambodia seize the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
- May 15 - Mayaguez incident: The American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued by U.S. Navy and Marines. 38 Americans are killed.
- May 16 - India annexes Sikkim.
- May 16 - Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- May 28 - 15 West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
- May 30 - 1972 Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine dies in a car accident.

June-July


- June 5 - The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War
- June 5 - The United Kingdom votes yes in a referendum on staying in the European Community
- June 9 - Order of Australia (OA) awarded for 1st time
- June 19 - Lord Lucan found guilty in absentia of the murder of the nanny Sandra Rivett
- June 25 - Mozambique gains independence from Portugal
- June 26 - Two FBI agents and one member of AIM die in a shootout in Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota
- July 1 - Postmaster-General's Department is disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission (trading as Telecom Australia) and the Australian Postal Commission (trading as Australia Post).
- July 4 - Sydney newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen disappears, and is presumed to have been murdered.
- July 5 - Cape Verde gains independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule
- July 6 - The Comoros declare their independence from France
- July 9 - The National Assembly of Senegal passes a law that will pave way for a (albeit highly restricted) multi-party system.
- July 12 - São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal
- July 17 - Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with each other in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations
- July 31 - In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.

August


- August 8 - The Banqiao Dam, in China's Henan Province, fails after a freak typhoon. Over 200,000 people perish.
- August 8 - Samuel Bronfman, son of the president of Seagrams, is kidnapped in Purchase, New York
- August 11 - British Leyland comes under British government control
- August 11 - Mário Lemos Pires, Governor of Portuguese Timor, abandons the capital Dili following UDT coup and outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
- August 15 - Birmingham Six wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment
- August 15 - Mujibur Rahman, president of Bangladesh, is killed during a coup
- August 20 - Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars
- August 24 - Officers responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 are sentenced to death in Athens. The sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment

September


- September 5 - In Sacramento, California, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.
- September 14 - Rembrandt's painting "The Night Watch" is slashed a dozen times at a gallery in Amsterdam.
- September 15 - The French department of Corse, comprising the entire island of Corsica, is divided into two departments: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.
- September 20 - End of term for Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah as the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 21 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra, Sultan of Kelantan becomes the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 22 - President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt, this time by Sara Jane Moore
- September 30 - Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing IDS) AH-64 Apache made its first flight.

October


- October 9 - A bomb explosion outside Green Park tube station near Piccadilly in London kills 1 and injures 20.
- October 16 - Five Australian-based journalists are killed at Balibo by Indonesian forces during an incursion into Portuguese Timor.
- October 27 - – 18-year-old Robert Poulin begins shooting in St. Pius X High School in Ottawa, Canada and then shoots himself, killing 1 and wounding 5.
- October 29 - Peter Sutcliffe (the "Yorkshire Ripper") commits his first murder, Wilma McCann.
- October 30 - Prince Juan Carlos becomes acting Head of State of Spain after dictator Francisco Franco concedes that he is too ill to govern.

November

Francisco Franco
- November 3 - An independent audit of Mattel, of the United States largest toy manufacturers, reveals that company officials fabricated press releases and financial information to "maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth."
- November 3 - First oil pipeline opens from Cruder Bay to Grangemouth
- November 6 - Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara
- November 10 - United Nations Resolution 3379: With a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), the United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution provokes an outcry among Jews around the world.
- November 10 - The 729-foot-long freighter (then, the largest ship on the Great Lakes) SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board
- November 11 - Angola becomes independent from Portugal (a deadly civil war soon erupts)
- November 11 - Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam and commissions Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister
- November 11 - First annual Vogalonga rowing "race" in Venice, Italy
- November 14 - Spain abandons Western Sahara
- November 22 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
- November 25 - Suriname gains independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands
- November 25 - Irish Republican Army outlawed in Britain
- November 25 - Surinam gains independence from the Netherlands
- November 27 - Ross McWhirter, the co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, is shot dead by the PIRA for offering reward money to informers
- November 28 - Portuguese Timor declares its independence from Portugal as East Timor
- November 29 - The name "Micro-soft" (for microcomputer software) is used by Bill Gates in a letter to Paul Allen for the first time (Microsoft became a registered trademark on November 26, 1976).

December


- December 7 - East Timor invaded by Indonesia.
- December 21 - Left-wing terrorists, including Carlos (the Jackal), kidnap delegates of an OPEC conference in Vienna. They kill three hostages, extort $5 million ransom and escape into the Middle East.
- December 29 - A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport killing 11.

Unknown dates


- In New Zealand, Maori leader Whina Cooper leads a march of 5000 people in support of Maori claims to their land
- The Third Cod War between UK and Iceland lasted between November 1975 - June 1976
- Government of Colombia announces finding of Ciudad Perdida
- Spanish army quits Spanish (Western) Sahara. Saharaui Republic (RASD) is created. Morocco invades ex-Spanish Western Sahara.
- First use of the term fractal
- Victoria (Australia) abolishes capital punishment
- South Australia becomes first Australian state to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults
- Self-proclaimed time traveller John Titor arrives to acquire an IBM 5100 for use in 2036
- MIND opens
- In May, rock singer Peter Gabriel announces that he is leaving British progressive rock band Genesis after their successful The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour.
- Jehovah's Witnesses claimed that Armageddon would happen in 1975 and many of them sold their houses and businesses to prepare for the new world of paradise on earth which they believe will exist when Jesus comes back.
- BACCHUS Network, American college alcohol peer-education network established.
- The Rock and Roll band KISS releases their Alive! album, catapulting them into record success. The album goes 4x platinum. Kiss was having trouble with record sale until then, as they sounded much different live then they did on record. They solved this problem by creating live albums.

Births

January-April


- January 2 - Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
- January 3 - Danica McKellar, American actress
- January 5 - Bradley Cooper, American actor
- January 13 - Shazia Mirza, British comedienne
- January 20 - Mark Allan Robinson, Canadian recall leader
- January 22 - Balthazar Getty, American actor
- January 25 - Tim Montgomery, American athlete
- January 29 - Sara Gilbert, American actress
- February 2 - Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player
- February 2 - Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
- February 4 - Natalie Imbruglia, Australian musician
- February 5 - Adam Carson, American drummer (AFI)
- February 17 - Wish Bone, American rapper
- February 20 - Brian Littrell, American musician (Backstreet Boys)
- February 22 - Drew Barrymore, American actress
- March 5 - Jolene Blalock, American actress
- March 5 - Niki Taylor, American model
- March 9 - Roy Makaay, Dutch football player
- March 15 - Eva Longoria, American actress
- March 15 - Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian chess player
- March 17 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
- March 27 - Stacy Ferguson, American singer (Black Eyed Peas)
- April 4 - Scott Rolen, baseball player
- April 4 - Delphine Arnault, billionaire French businesswoman LVMH
- April 7 - Ronde Barber, American football player
- April 7 - Tiki Barber, American football player
- April 9 - Robbie Fowler, British footballer
- April 14 - Amy Dumas, American professional wrestler
- April 22 - Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)

May-August


- May 1 - Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
- May 2 - David Beckham, English footballer
- May 3 - Kimora Lee Simmons, American fashion designer
- May 3 - Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist
- May 8 - Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-born singer
- May 10 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- May 12 - Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player
- May 14 - Hunter Burgan, American bassist (AFI)
- May 15 - Ray Lewis, American football player
- May 19 - London Fletcher, American football player
- May 25 - Lauryn Hill, American singer
- May 27 - Jamie Oliver, British chef and television personality
- June 4 - Angelina Jolie, American actress
- June 17 - Chloe Jones, American actress
- June 9 - Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer
- June 18 - Martin St. Louis, Canadian hockey player
- June 25 - Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player
- June 27 - Tobey Maguire, American actor
- July 6 - 50 Cent, American rapper
- July 11 - Lil' Kim, American rapper
- July 17 - Konnie Huq, English television presenter
- July 18 - Torii Hunter, baseball player
- July 18 - Daron Malakian, American guitarist and singer (System of a Down)
- July 22 - Erol Spencer Hofmans, Dutch political scientist
- July 24 - Torrie Wilson, American professional wrestler and model
- July 27 - Shea Hillenbrand, baseball player
- July 27 - Alex Rodriguez, baseball player
- July 30 - Graham Nicholls, British artist
- August 7 - Charlize Theron, South African actress
- August 15 - Kara Wolters, American basketball player
- August 24 - Hayato Sakurai, Japanese martial artist

September-December


- September 17 - Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
- September 17 - Constantine Maroulis, American singer
- September 20 - Rikki Lee Travolta, Italian-American actor
- September 23 - Chris Hawkins, British radio personality
- September 25 - Matt Hasselbeck, American football player
- October 2 - Michel Trudeau, son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau, ( d.1998)
- October 5 - Kate Winslet, British actress
- October 23 - Odalys Garcia, Cuban-born actress
- November 10 - Markko Märtin, Estonian race car driver
- November 17 - Diane Neal, American actress
- November 18 - David Ortiz, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- November 19 - Sushmita Sen, Indian beauty queen and actress
- November 20 - Dierks Bentley, American singer and musician
- November 20 - Timea Vagvoelgyi, Hungarian erotic star
- November 20 - Davey Havok, American singer (AFI)
- November 24 - Lee Wan Wah, Malaysian badminton player
- December 5 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, British snooker player
- December 13 - Tom Delonge, American guitarist and singer (blink-182)
- December 14 - Justin Furstenfeld, American guitarist and singer (Blue October)
- December 17 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian actress and model
- December 18 - Masaki Sumitani, Japanese television performer
- December 18 - Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler and fitness model
- December 23 - Sky Lopez, American actress
- December 27 - Heather O'Rourke, American actress (d. 1988)
- December 30 - Tiger Woods, American golfer

Deaths

Unknown date


- Will Mastin, American vaudevillian

January-March


- January 8 - Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
- January 19 - Thomas Hart Benton, American artist (b. 1889)
- January 24 - Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)
- January 27 - Bill Walsh, American film producer and writer (b. 1913)
- February 4 - Louis Jordan, American musician (b. 1908)
- February 8 - Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- February 10 - Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet and writer (stroke) (b. 1910)
- February 13 - André Beaufre, French general (b. 1902)
- February 14 - Julian Huxley, British biologist (b. 1887)
- February 14 - P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)
- February 16 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (b.