In the year 1949, VW Beetle Type 1 enters the American scene, but the future automotive phenomenon goes yet unrecognized (Jan 17), Australian citizenship comes into being (Jan 26), astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term Big Bang (Mar 28), NATO is founded (Apr 4), the Republic of Ireland comes into being (Apr 18), Siam changes its name to Thailand (May 11), George Orwell’s 1984 is published (Jun 8), West Germany is established (Sep 7), the People’s Republic of China is officially proclaimed (Oct 1), East Germany is established (Oct 7), the cornerstone of the UN Headquarters is laid (Oct 24), Winston Churchill makes a landmark speech in support of the idea of a European Union (Nov 28) - and all these fine people were born:

1949-0101 1949-0106 Stefan Soltész* Hungarian-Austrian conductor - Nyíregyháza, Hungary (2022/73) 1949-0110 George Foreman* boxer/ author/entrepreneur - Marshall, TX USA 1949-0116 Rodney Graham* artist/ musician - Abbotsford, BC Canada (2022/73) 1949-0117 Anita Borg* computer scientist - Chicago, IL USA (2003/54) 1949-0117 Andy Kaufman* entertainer/ performance artist - New York, NY USA (1984/35) 1949-0118 Philippe Starck* industrial architect/designer - Paris, France 1949-0120 Göran Persson* politician - Vingåker, Södermanland, Sweden 1949-0121 Trương Tấn Sang* politician/P of Vietnam - Đức Hòa District, French Indochina 1949-0126 David Strathairn* actor - San Francisco, CA USA 1949-0128 Kari Lumikero* journalist/ foreign correspondent - Kemi, Finland 1949-0131 1949-0201 1949-0202 Brent Spiner* actor/ musician/singer - Houston, TX USA 1949-0203 Rick Hautala* horror writer/screenwriter/of Finnish descent - Rockport, MA USA (2013/64) 1949-0206 Matti Kyllönen* sports broadcaster - Savitaipale, Finland 1949-0209 Judith Light* actress - Trenton, NJ USA 1949-0210 1949-0211 George Winston* pianist - Hart, MI USA (2023/74) 1949-0212 Pentti Kouri* economist/ venture capitalist - Kemijärvi, Finland (2009/59) 1949-0215 Anneli Saaristo* singer/ actress - Jokioinen, Finland 1949-0216 1949-0218 Gary Ridgway* serial killer - Salt Lake City, UT USA 1949-0220 Ivana Trump* (b Zelníčková) Czech-American model/fashion designer/businesswoman - Gottwaldow, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (2022/73) 1949-0222 Niki Lauda* racing driver/WC/aviation entrepreneur - Vienna, Austria (2019/70) 1949-0228 1949-03xx Bosco Hogan* actor/voice artist - Drogheda, Ireland 1949-0301 Tomas Laustiola* Swedish-Finnish actor/ director/alcohol therapist - Mölndal, Västra Götaland, Sweden 1949-0303 Ron Chernow* writer/ biographer - New York, NY USA 1949-0305 1949-0309 Tapani Kansa* singer - Hamina, Finland (2025/76) 1949-0310 Barbara Corcoran* businesswoman/ speaker/investor (Shark Tank) - Edgewater, NJ USA 1949-0311 1949-0312 Patrick Pillay* Seychellois politician - Seychelles (2024/75) 1949-0313 Jutta Braband* German politician - Barth, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Soviet Occupation Zone 1949-0315 John Duttine* actor (Heartbeat) - Barnsley, WR of Yorkshire, England 1949-0316 Victor Garber* actor/singer - London, ON Canada 1949-0317 Patrick Duffy* actor - Townsend, MT USA 1949-0318 Hannu Siitonen* athlete (javelin)/OS - Parikkala, Finland 1949-0320 Marcia Ball* pianist/ blues singer - Orange, TX USA 1949-0324 Ranil Wickremesinghe* Sri Lankan politician/P - Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon 1949-0325 Jean Potvin* hockey player/radio broadcaster - Ottawa, ON Canada (2022/72) 1949-0327 Russ Conway* journalist/ writer/auto racing promoter - Haverhill, MA USA (2019/70) 1949-0328 Josephine Chaplin* actress/ daughter of Charlie Chaplin - Santa Monica, CA USA 1949-0401 Paul Manafort* attorney/ political consultant/convicted fraudster - New Britain, CT USA 1949-0402 1949-0404 Delia Owens* zoologist/ conservationist/author (Where the Crawdads Sing) - Thomasville, GA USA 1949-0405 Judith Resnik* engineer/ astronaut/Challenger disaster victim - USA (1986/36) 1949-0409 William O’Neal* FBI informant - Chicago, IL USA (1990/40) 1949-0410 1949-0414 John Shea* actor/film producer/stage director - Nort Conway, NH USA 1949-0415 Alla Pugacheva* singer - Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union 1949-0415 Matti Savolainen* literary researcher - Savitaipale, Finland (2012/63) 1949-0416 Pirkko Saisio* author/ actress/director - Helsinki, Finland 1949-0418 Bengt Holmström* economist/ active in the U.S. - Helsinki, Finland 1949-0419 Paloma Picasso* fashion designer/businesswoman/daughter of Pablo Picasso - Vallauris, France 1949-0420 Veronica Cartwright* actress - Bristol, England 1949-0420 Jessica Lange* actress/of Finnish descent - Cloquet, MN USA 1949-0420 Alexander Maltsev* hockey player/OG - Kirovo-Chepetsk, Soviet Union 1949-0421 1949-0424 Peter Friedman* actor - New York, NY USA 1949-0424 Paschalis Terzis* singer - Pylaia, Greece 1949-0425 Rea Mauranen* actress - Helsinki, Finland 1949-0428 Paul Guilfoyle* actor - Boston, MA USA 1949-0428 Bruno Kirby* actor/ son of Bruce Kirby (same birthday) - New York City, NY USA (2006/57) 1949-0430 António Guterres* diplomat/UN Secretary-General - Lisbon, Portugal 1949-0513 Sam Anderson* actor - Wahpeton, ND USA 1949-0519 Dusty Hill* musician/the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top - Dallas, TX USA (2021/72) 1949-0520 1949-0523 Alan García* politician/P - Lima, Peru (2019/69) 1949-0524 Jim Broadbent* actor - Holton cum Beckering, Lincolnshire, England 1949-0526 Ward Cunningham* computer programmer/inventor of the wiki - Michigan City, IN USA 1949-0526 Pam Grier* actress - Winston-Salem, NC USA 1949-0528 Wendy O. Williams* singer/songwriter/actress - Webster, NY USA (1998/48) 1949-0529 Cotter Smith* actor - Washington, D.C. USA 1949-0530 1949-0531 Tom Berenger* actor - Chicago, IL USA 1949-0601 Déwé Gorodey* teacher/ writer/political activist - Ponérihouen, New Caledonia, France (2022/73) 1949-0605 Ken Follett* author of thrillers and historical novels - Cardiff, Wales 1949-0606 Nano Riantiarno* Indonesian actor/playwright/director - Cirebon, State of Pasundan (2023/73) 1949-0608 David Meirhofer* serial killer - Manhattan, MT USA (1974/25) 1949-0611 Richard Misrach* photographer - Los Angeles, CA USA 1949-0618 Han Duck-soo* 한덕수 economist/politician/PM - Chonju, South Korea 1949-0620 1949-0622 Alan Osmond* singer (The Osmonds) - Ogden, UT USA 1949-0622 Meryl Streep* actress - Summit, NJ USA 1949-0622 Elizabeth Warren* politician - Oklahoma City, OK USA 1949-0624 François Heisbourg* French political scientist/advisor at IISS/author - London, England 1949-0625 Patrick Tambay* racing driver/commentator/politician - Paris, France (2022/73) 1949-0630 1949-0701 1949-0702 Miina Äkkijyrkkä* artist/controversialist - Iisalmi, Finland 1949-0705 Jill Murphy* writer and illustrator of children’s books - London, England 1949-0707 Shelley Duvall* actress - Houston, TX USA (2024/75) 1949-0708 Steve Worster* Am. football player - Rawlings, WY USA (2022/73) 1949-0709 John Lithgoe* TV-producer - Wirral, England 1949-0713 Helena Fibingerová* athlete (shotput)/OB - Vicemerice, Czechoslovakia 1949-0715 Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum* reforming Sheikh/Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai - Dubai, Trucial States 1949-0722 Lasse Viren* long-distance runner/OG - Myrskylä, Finland 1949-0731 Jukka Mäkelä* painter/visual artist - Jyväskylä, Finland (2018/68) 1949-0808 Keith Carradine* actor - San Mateo, CA USA 1949-0810 Elisabeth Estensen* actress - Stockton-on-Tees, Durham England 1949-0813 Bobby Clarke* hockey player (NHL 100)/GM - Flin Flon, MB Canada 1949-0813 Philippe Petit* high-wire artist - Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, France 1949-0820 Patrick Kilpatrick* actor - Orange, VA USA 1949-0821 Lindsey Davis* historical novelist - Birmingham, England 1949-0821 Loretta Devine* actress - Houston, TX USA 1949-0823 Leslie Van Houten* member of the Manson Family - Altadena, CA USA 1949-0825 John Savage* actor - Old Bethpage, Long Island, NY USA 1949-0831 Richard Gere* actor - Philadelphia, PA USA 1949-0902 Marianne Mörck* singer/actress/ director - Gothenburg, Sweden 1949-0904 Adolf “Dado” Topić* Croatian singer/musician - Nova Gradiška, Croatia, Yugoslavia 1949-0904 Tom Watson* golf player - Kansas City, MO USA 1949-0906 1949-0907 Lee McGeorge Durrell* (b McGeorge) naturalist/ zookeeper/television presenter - Memphis, TN USA 1949-0907 Jukka Toivola* long-distance runner/chemistry teacher - Liperi, Finland (2011/61) 1949-0910 Bill O’Reilly* journalist/television host - New York, NY USA 1949-0916 Ed Begley Jr.* actor - Los Angeles, CA USA 1949-0917 Matei-Agathon Dan* economist/ politician - Bucharest, Romania (2023/73) 1949-0918 Beth Grant* actress - Gadsden, AL USA 1949-0919 Barry Scheck* lawyer/co-founder of the Innocence Project - Queens, NY USA 1949-0920 Maija-Liisa Lahtinen* (b Flinck) wife of Urpo Lahtinen - Helsinki, Finland 1949-0922 Hamida Djandoubi* agricultural worker/the last person executed by guillotine in France - French Tunisia (1977/27) 1949-0923 Bruce Springsteen* singer/songwriter/musician - Long Branch, NJ USA 1949-0923 Kostas Tournas* Κώστας Τουρνάς singer/composer - Tripoli, Greece 1949-0925 Pedro Almodóvar* film director - Calzada de Calatrava, Spain 1949-0927 Jahn Teigen* singer/ musician/comedian - Tønsberg, Norway (2020/70) 1949-0930 1949-1001 1949-1003 Lindsey Buckingham* guitarist/singer (Fleetwood Mac) - Palo Alto, CA USA 1949-1003 Haunani-Kay Trask* activist/leader of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement/author - California, USA (2021/71) Civil Beat 1949-1004 Armand Assante* actor - New York, NY USA 1949-1004 Stephen Gyllenhaal* film director/poet - Cleveland, OH USA 1949-1007 Alice Walton* heiress (Walmart)/art collector - Newport, AR USA 1949-1008 Sigourney Weaver* actress - New York, NY USA 1949-1009 Shera Danese* (b Kaminski) actress/second wife of Peter Falk - Hartsdale, NY USA 1949-1009 Steve Palermo* baseball umpire - Worcester, MA USA (2017/67) 1949-1010 1949-1012 Richard Price* novelist/ screenwriter - The Bronx, NY USA 1949-1016 Steve Schneider* Branch Davidian/“lieutenant” to David Koresh - Madison, WI USA (1993/43) 1949-1017 Owen Arthur* politician/PM - Barbados (2020/70) 1949-1020 George Harris* Grenadian-British actor - Grenada 1949-1021 Benjamin Netanyahu* politician/PM - Tel Aviv, Israel 1949-1022 Arsène Wenger* football player/manager - Strasbourg, France 1949-1023 Nick Tosches* journalist/ novelist/biographer - Newark, NJ USA (2019/69) 1949-1026 Penelope Plummer* Miss World 1968 - Melbourne, Australia 1963-1028 1949-1030 Leon Rippy* actor - Rock Hill, SC USA 1949-1031 Lúcia Petterle* Miss World 1971/physician - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1949-1101 Jeannie Berlin* actress/ screenwriter - Los Angeles, CA USA 1949-1103 Larry Holmes* boxer - Cuthbert, GA USA 1949-1106 Brad Davis* actor - Tallahassee, FL USA (1991/41) 1949-1108 Russell Mittermeier* primatologist/ herpetologist/author - The Bronx, NY USA 1949-1109 1949-1110 Brad Ashford* politician/ Swedish heritage - Omaha, NE USA (2022/72) 1949-1114 Gary Grubbs* actor - Amory, MS USA 1949-1120 Juha Mieto* cross-country skier/OG - Kurikka, Finland 1949-1123 Marcia Griffiths* singer - Kingston, Jamaica 1949-1128 Paul Shaffer* musician/ musical director - Fort William, ON Canada 1949-1129 Garry Shandling* stand-up comedian/actor/producer - Chicago, IL USA (2016/66) 1949-1130 1949-1201 Pablo Escobar* drug lord/narcoterrorist - Rionegro, Colombia (1993/44) 1949-1204 Jeff Bridges* actor/singer/producer - Los Angeles, CA USA 1949-1206 Janet Anderson* politician - Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England (2023/73) 1949-1207 Tom Waits* singer-songwriter/musician - Pomona, CA USA 1949-1208 1949-1209 Nando Parrado* survivor of the Andes airplane crash/businessman/motivational speaker - Montevideo, Uruguay 1949-1209 Khawaja Muhammad Sharif* lawyer/judge - Lahore, Pakistan (2021/71) 1949-1212 Moses Lim* actor/ television host/food critic - Colony of Singapore, British Empire (2025/75) 1949-1212 Bill Nighy* actor/voice artist - Caterham, Surrey, England 1949-1215 Don Johnson* actor/singer/director - Flat Creek, MO USA 1949-1220 1949-1222 Maurice Gibb* British singer/songwriter/producer (Bee Gees) - Douglas, Isle of Man (2003/53) 1949-1222 Robin Gibb* British singer/songwriter/producer (Bee Gees) - Douglas, Isle of Man (2012/62) 1949-1225 Sissy Spacek* actress - Quitman, TX USA 1949-1226 José Ramos-Horta* politician/P/N - Dili, Portuguese Timor 1949-1231 1949-0 1949-0 1949-0 Updated 2025-0428 Helsinki-Stockholm Search for another year here