1940 births

Delna Jones (born September 4, 1940) is an American politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from the 6th district from 1983 to 1993.

Richard David McCormick (born July 4, 1940) is an American business executive.

Margo Howard (née Lederer; born March 15, 1940) is an American writer and former advice columnist. She is the only child of businessman/innovator Jules Lederer and Eppie Lederer (better known as Ann Landers after her long-time advice column Ask Ann Landers), the niece of Pauline Phillips, and the cousin of Jeanne Phillips (the latter two both better known as Abigail Van Buren and authors of the advice column Dear Abby).

Douglas Franklin Wright (March 25, 1940 – September 6, 1996) was an American serial killer who murdered at least seven people between 1969 and 1991. He was sentenced to death for three of these murders and was executed in 1996 at the Oregon State Penitentiary, becoming the first person to be executed in Oregon since 1962. He was also the first person executed in Oregon by lethal injection.

John Stephen Spray (December 16, 1940 – May 15, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s.
Spray was born in Des Moines, Iowa and reared in Indianola, Iowa. His first big win as an amateur came in the 1958 Iowa Junior Amateur; the next year he gained national fame by winning the Western Junior. Spray attended the University of Iowa initially, but transferred to Eastern New Mexico University where he spent most of his college career. He won the NAIA Championship in 1962 and 1963 while at Eastern New Mexico.
Spray turned professional in 1964 and began play on the PGA Tour in 1965. The highlight of Spray's career came in 1969 with a win at the San Francisco Open Invitational, the last PGA Tour event held at San Francisco's storied Harding Park. His best finish in a major championship was a T-5 at the 1968 U.S. Open. Spray was hampered by injuries during the last years of his PGA career including tendinitis in his left thumb that forced him to change his grip and back surgery that caused him to miss almost all of 1974.After leaving the PGA Tour, Spray began working as the head pro at St. Louis Country Club in 1976 – a position he held for more than 30 years. In 1984, he was honored as the Gateway Section PGA Player of the Year, and was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in May 2009.Spray died in Chesterfield, Missouri on May 15, 2020.

Julian B. Garrett (born November 7, 1940) is an American lawyer and politician and is currently the Senator from the 11th district in the Iowa Senate.

Jacques Ladègaillerie (born 10 January 1940) is a French fencer. He won a gold medal in the individual épée event at the 1967 Mediterranean Games and a silver medal in the individual épée event at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Germán Elías Berríos FMedSci, FRCPsych (17 April 1940) is a professor of Psychiatry at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Philip Louis Cantelon (born 1940) is the co-founder and CEO of History Associates Incorporated and a leading pioneer in the field of applied history. He previously taught contemporary American history at Williams College, and is a founding member of the National Council on Public History and the Society for History in the Federal Government. Cantelon is an expert on oral history, foundations, business and institutional history, as well as the history of deregulation.

Melvin Lee Moeschberger (June 26, 1940 – January 9, 2019) was an American biostatistician.