October 8, 1955

1955Bill Elliott, American race car driver^[†]

William Clyde Elliott Sr., also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience part-time in 2022. His accolades include the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnering 44 wins in that series, including crown jewel victories in two Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s, one Winston 500 (1985), and one Brickyard 400 (2002). Elliott achieved a NASCAR record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986, and 7 wins overall, the most at any one racetrack in his career. Elliott also won an additional six exhibition (non-points) races in his career, including one Winston All-Star Race win in 1986, one Busch Clash win in 1987, and four Daytona Duel wins in 1985, 1986, 1992, and 2000.

1955Alain Ferté, French race car driver^[†]

Alain Serge Ferté is a French professional racing driver. He is the elder brother of Michel Ferté, who was also a professional racing driver.

1955Darrell Hammond, American comedian and actor^[†]

Darrell Clayton Hammond is an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and announcer. He was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014.

1955Paul Lennon, Australian politician, 42nd Premier of Tasmania^[†]

Paul Anthony Lennon is a Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 until officially resigning on 27 May 2008. He left office abruptly after his preferred premier rating fell to 17%, largely as a result of perceptions of corruption in his government's fast-tracked approval of the Gunns Bell Bay Pulp Mill proposal, which had effectively bypassed normal planning procedure.