* 1955 – Rob Epstein, American filmmaker and journalist

* 1955 – Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian serial killer

* 1955 – Cathy Jones, Canadian comedian

* 1955 – Blind Mississippi Morris, American blues musician

* 1955 – Michael Rooker, American actor

* 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.

* 1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist

* 1955 – Dimitra Liani, Greek air hostess, widow of Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou

* 1955 – Laura Fygi, Dutch singer

* 1955 – Robert Richardson, American cinematographer

* 1955 – Diana Scarwid, American actress

* 1956 – After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.

* 1868 – Paul Claudel, French poet ( d. 1955 )

* 1881 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1955 )

* 1955 – Gregory Bryant-Bey, American convicted murderer ( d. 2008 )

* 1955 – Peter Schmuck, American columnist

* 1955 – John E. Sweeney, American politician

* 1955 – Keith Ahlers, English race car driver

* 1955 – Hideo Fukuyama, Japanese race car driver

* 1955 – Paul Greengrass, English director

* 1865 – John Radecki, Australian artist ( d. 1955 )

* 1955 – Caleb Carr, American author and historian

* 1955 – Tim Dunigan, American actor

* 1955 – Tony Godden, English footballer

The movie ends with Rocky's biker family, Rusty, Gar and Dozer, visiting his grave, leaving flowers and some 1955 Brooklyn Dodger baseball cards by his headstone.

* Rusty Kuntz ( born 1955 ), American baseball player

* Rusty Magee ( 1955 – 2003 ), American composer

He returned home in May 1953, and although he was not present at the Congress of the People in 1955 he assisted Lionel " Rusty " Bernstein draw up the Freedom Charter that was adopted there.

He went on to act in The Relapse 1950 ( Sir Tunbelly Clumsey ); The Taming of the Shrew 1951 ( Grumio ); The Way of the World 1954 ( Petulant ); The Carefree Tree 1955 ( The Sixth Son ); King Lear 1956 ( Duke of Cornwall ); Mister Johnson 1956 ( Gollup ); Saint Joan 1956 ( The Inquisitor ); Protective Custody 1956 ( Dr. Steidl ); Oscar Wilde 1957 ( Oscar Wilde ); The Golden Six 1958 ( Tiberius ); A Man for All Seasons 1961 ( Cardinal Wolsey ); Andorra 1963 ( pub keeper ); The Seagull 1964 ( Sorin ); The Crucible 1964 ( Danforth ); Baker Street 1965 ( Moriarty ); The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1965 ( Miguel Estete ); Ring Round the Moon 1966 ( Messerchann ); Those That Play the Clowns 1966 ( Henning ); Breakfast at Tiffany's 1966 ( Rusty Trawler ); The Sorrows of Frederick 1967 ; The Bench 1968 ( Phillipi ); Uncle Vanya 1971 ( Serebryakov ); The Jockey Club Stakes 1973 ( Sir Dymock Blackburn ); The Dogs of Pavlov 1974.

Mr. Reama, who retired as vice president of the American Screw Co. in 1955 said, `` Both parties in the last election told us that we need a five per cent growth in the gross national product -- but neither told us how to achieve it ''.

* Mark Mendoza ( born 1955 ), American bass player nicknamed " The Animal "

* 1955 – Corey Burton, American voice actor

* 1866 – Matthew Henson, American explorer ( d. 1955 )

* 1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager

* 1882 – Marion Bauer, American composer, writer, and critic ( d. 1955 )

* 1868 – Bernarr Macfadden, American bodybuilder, author, and publisher, founded Macfadden Publications ( d. 1955 )

* 1955 – Ann M. Martin, American author

* 1955 – Terry Taylor, American wrestler

* 1955 – Peter Gallagher, American actor, singer, and writer

* 1955 – Ned Yost, American baseball player and manager

* 1955 – Black teenager Emmett Till is murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.

* 1920 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer ( d. 1955 )