9921945January ampampndash American troops cross the Siegfried Line into Germany.enyear1945/01/01 Germany begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''Luftwaffe'' to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countriesenyear1945/01/05 Australia recognizes the Polish Committee of National Liberation as the government of Poland.enyear1945/01/07 British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference at Zonhoven describing his supporting role at the Battle of the Bulge.enyear1945/01/12 WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vistula-Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe against the Germans.enyear1945/01/13 WWII: A day after beginning the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the Soviets launch the East Prussian Offensive to eliminate German forces in East Prussia.enyear1945/01/13WWII: A Soviet patrol arrests Raoul Wallenberg in Hungary.enyear1945/01/13WWII: The Soviet Union occupies Warsaw, Poland.enyear1945/01/13The Holocaust: The evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp begins.enyear1945/01/13Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States. No president before, or since, has ever reached a third term in office.enyear1945/01/23 Hungary drops out of WWII, agreeing to an armistice with the Allies.enyear1945/01/26http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/audie_murphy.html |title=ANC-AMurphy |publisher=Arlingtoncemetery.org |date= |accessdate=2012-01-16}}]]>enyear1945/01/27 The Holocaust: The Red Army liberates the Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps.enyear1945/01/28 WWII: Supplies begin to reach China over the newly reopened Burma Road.enyear1945/01/28The ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', with over 10,000 mainly civilian Germans from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in the Gdansk Bay, is sunk by three torpedoes from the ''Soviet submarine S-13'' in the Baltic Sea up to 9,400 are thought to have died – the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking in war action in history.enyear1945/01/28Raid at Cabanatuan: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American POWs from the Japanese-held camp at Cabanatuan City, Philippines.enyear1945/01/31 Eddie Slovik is executed by firing squad for desertion, the first American soldier since the American Civil War, and last to date to be executed for this offense.enyear1945/02/03 WWII:enyear1945/02/03Battle of Manila: United States forces enter the outskirts of Manila to capture it from the Japanese Imperial Army, starting the battle.enyear1945/02/03The Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific War against Japan once hostilities against Germany are concluded.enyear1945/02/04February 11 ampndash WWII: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin hold the Yalta Conference.enyear1945/02/06 French writer Robert Brasillach is executed for collaboration with the Germans.enyear1945/02/07 WWII: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.enyear1945/02/07Walter Ulbricht becomes leader of the German Communists in Moscow.enyear1945/02/07WWII: ampquotBlack Fridayampquot: A force of Allied Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffers heavy casualties in an unsuccessful attack on German destroyer ''Z33'' and escorting vessels sheltering in Førde Fjord, Norway.enyear1945/02/10 WWII: The ''SS General von Steuben'' is sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13.enyear1945/02/13 WWII:enyear1945/02/13Soviet forces capture Budapest, Hungary from the Nazis.enyear1945/02/13Royal Air Force bombing of Dresden, Germany.enyear1945/02/14 Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru join the United Nations.enyear1945/02/16 WWII:enyear1945/02/16American and Filipino ground forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.enyear1945/02/16Combined American and Filipino forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.enyear1945/02/19February 20 ampndash 980 Japanese soldiers die as a result of a killing spree by long saltwater crocodiles in Ramree, Burma.{{cite book|title=Guinness Book of World Records|year=2008|page=137}}enyear1945/02/19 WWII ampndash Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.enyear1945/02/21 The last V-2-rocket is launched from Peenemünde.enyear1945/02/22 Uruguay declares war on Germany and Japan.enyear1945/02/23 WWII:enyear1945/02/23Battle of Iwo Jima: A group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo, ''Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' (taken by Joe Rosenthal), later wins a Pulitzer Prize.enyear1945/02/23The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.enyear1945/02/23The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops.enyear1945/02/23American and Filipino troops enter Intramuros, Manila.enyear1945/02/23The German garrison in Poznań capitulates to Red Army and Polish troops.enyear1945/02/23Turkey joins the war on the allies side.enyear1945/02/24 The Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.enyear1945/02/28 In Bucharest, a violent demonstration takes place, during which the ''bolşevic'' group opens fire on the army and protesters. In response, Andrei Y. Vishinsky, USSR vice commissioner of foreign affairs and president of the Allied Control Commission for Romania, travels to Bucharest to compel Nicolae Rădescu to resign as premier.enyear1945/02/28March ampampndash Anne Frank, dies in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Lower Saxony, Germany, of typhus.enyear1945/03/01 Franklin D. Roosevelt gives what will be his last address to a joint session of Congress, reporting on the Yalta Conference.enyear1945/03/02 Former U.S. Vice-President Henry A. Wallace starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, serving under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.enyear1945/03/02 The Bachem Ba 349 Natter is launched from Stetten am kalten Markt. The Natter is the first manned rocket, developed as anti-aircraft weapon. The launch fails and the pilot dies.quotYear by Year 1945quot ampndash History Internationalenyear1945/03/03 WWII:enyear1945/03/03Finland declares war on the Axis powers.enyear1945/03/03United States and Filipino troops take Manila, Philippines.enyear1945/03/03A possible experimental atomic test blast occurs at the Nazis' Ohrdruf military testing area.{{Dubious|date=February 2011}}enyear1945/03/03The RAF accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.enyear1945/03/04 In the United Kingdom, The Princess Elizabeth, later to become Queen Elizabeth II, joins the British Army's Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service as a truck driver/mechanic.enyear1945/03/04 Football club FC Red Star (in Serbian: ''FK Crvena Zvezda'') formed in Belgrade, Yougoslavia.enyear1945/03/04A Communist-led government is formed in Romania under Petru Groza following Soviet intervention.enyear1945/03/04Resistance fighters ambush and attempt to execute SS general Hanns Albin Rauter, the arch-persecutor of the Dutch.enyear1945/03/07 WWII: American troops seize the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany and begin to cross.enyear1945/03/07Josip Broz Tito forms a government in Yugoslavia.enyear1945/03/07The Nazi authorities kill 117 Dutch men in reprisal for the attempted murder Hanns Albin Rauter.enyear1945/03/09 The film ''Les Enfants du Paradis'' premieres in Paris.enyear1945/03/09March 10 ampndash WWII: American B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs the city is fire-bombed, killing 100,000 citizens.enyear1945/03/12 Swinemünde is destroyed by the USAAF killing an estimated 8,000 to 23,000 civilians, mostly refugees saved by Operation Hannibalenyear1945/03/15 The 17th Academy Awards ceremony is held, broadcast via radio for the first time. Best Picture goes to ''Going My Way''.enyear1945/03/16 WWII: The Battle of Iwo Jima unofficially ends, with pockets of guerrilla resistance persisting until the official conclusion of the battle.enyear1945/03/17 WWII: Kobe, Japan is fire-bombed by 331 B-29 bombers, killing over 8,000 people.enyear1945/03/18 WWII: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.enyear1945/03/19 WWII:enyear1945/03/19Adolf Hitler orders that all industries, military installations, machine shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.enyear1945/03/19Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the aircraft carrier USS ''Franklin'', killing about 800 of her crewmen and crippling the ship.enyear1945/03/21 WWII: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.enyear1945/03/22 The Arab League is formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt.enyear1945/03/22WWII ampampndash Operation Varsity: Two airborne divisions capture bridges across the Rhine River to aid the Allied advance.enyear1945/03/22Sylvester the cat, a cartoon character, debuts in ''Life with Feathers''enyear1945/03/26 WWII: The Battle of Iwo Jima officially ends, with the destruction of the remaining areas of Japansese resistance.enyear1945/03/29 The quotClash of Titansquot: George Mikan and Bob Kurland duel at Madison Square Garden. OSU defeats DePaul 52–44.enyear1945/03/30 WWII:enyear1945/03/30The Red Army pushes most of the Axis forces out of Hungary and into Austria.enyear1945/03/30Alger Hiss congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing positions of Western powers and the USSR closer to each other at the Yalta Conference.enyear1945/04/01 WWII ampndash Battle of Okinawa: The U.S. 10th Army lands on Okinawa.enyear1945/04/04 WWII: American troops liberate their first Nazi concentration camp, Ohrdruf death camp in Germany.enyear1945/04/04The Red Army enters Bratislava and pushes to the outskirts of Vienna, taking it on April 13 after several days of intense fighting.enyear1945/04/06 WWII: Sarajevo is liberated from the Nazi Germany and Nazi Croatia (German puppet state) by the Yugoslav Partisans.enyear1945/04/07 WWII:enyear1945/04/07The only flight of the German ramming unit known as the Sonderkommando Elbe takes place, resulting in the loss of some 24 B-17s and B-24s of the United States Eighth Air Force.enyear1945/04/07The Japanese battleship ''Yamato'' is sunk {{convert|200|mi|km}} north of Okinawa while enroute on a suicide mission.enyear1945/04/07Kantarō Suzuki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.enyear1945/04/07WWII: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends.enyear1945/04/07Abwehr conspirators Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster and Hans Dohanyi are hanged at Flossenberg concentration camp, along with pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.enyear1945/04/10 WWII:enyear1945/04/10The Allied Forces liberate the Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald.enyear1945/04/10Visoko is liberated by the 7th, 9th and 17th Krajina Brigades from the Tenth Division of Yugoslav Partisan forces.enyear1945/04/12 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies suddenly at Warm Springs, Georgia Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd President.enyear1945/04/14http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/western-europe/western-europe-index-1945.htm]]>enyear1945/04/15 The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.enyear1945/04/15April 15 ampampndash WWII: The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in northern Holland and captures Arnhem.enyear1945/04/16 WWII: The ''Goya'' is sunk by the ''Soviet submarine L-3''.enyear1945/04/16April 16 ampampndash WWII: The Canadians take Harlingen, and occupies Leeuwarden and Groningenenyear1945/04/16April 16 ampampndash WWII: Battle of Berlin begins.enyear1945/04/17 Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German forces.enyear1945/04/18 American war correspondent Ernie Pyle is killed by Japanese machine gun fire on the island of Ie Shima off Okinawa.enyear1945/04/19 Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Carousel'', a musical play based on Ferenc Molnár's ''Liliom'', opens on Broadway and becomes their second long-running stage classic.enyear1945/04/19Heinrich Himmler, through Count Bernadotte, puts forth an offer of German surrender to the Western Allies, but not the Soviet Union.enyear1945/04/19Adolf Hitler concedes defeat in his underground Berlin bunker after learning Felix Steiner could not mobilize enough men to launch a counterattack on the Soviets who had just broken through Germany.enyear1945/04/24 Retreating German troops destroy all the bridges over the Adige in Verona, including the historical Ponte di Castelvecchio and Ponte Pietra.enyear1945/04/24April ampampndash The British/Canadian front enters Breman.enyear1945/04/24Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.enyear1945/04/24WWII ampampndash Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops link up at the Elbe River, cutting Germany in two.enyear1945/04/2526 ampndash WWII: Last major strategic bombing raid by RAF Bomber Command, the destruction of the oil refinery at Tønsberg in southern Norway by 107 Avro Lancasters.enyear1945/04/26 WWII: Battle of Bautzen: The last quotsuccessfulquot German panzer-offensive in Bautzen ends with the city recaptured.enyear1945/04/26April 26 ampampndash WWII: The Nazis surrender to the British/Canadian front who now control the Swiss border from Basle to Lake Constance.enyear1945/04/26U.S. Ordnance troops find the coffins of Frederick Wilhelm I, Frederick the Great, Paul von Hindenburg, and his wife.enyear1945/04/26The Western Allies flatly reject any offer of surrender by Germany other than unconditional on all fronts.enyear1945/04/28 Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are executed by Italian partisans as they attempt to flee the country. Their bodies are then hung by their heels in the public square of Milan.enyear1945/04/28April 28 ampampndash The Canadian First Army captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven.enyear1945/04/28Operation Manna: British Lancaster bombers drop food into the Netherlands to prevent the starvation of the civilian population.enyear1945/04/28Brazilian forces liberate the commune of Fornovo di Taro, Italy, from German forces.enyear1945/04/28Adolf Hitler marries his longtime mistress Eva Braun in a closed civil ceremony in the Berlin Führerbunker.enyear1945/04/30 Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day, Eva Braun, commit suicide as the Red Army approaches the Führerbunker in Berlin. Karl Dönitz succeeds Hitler as President of Germany Joseph Goebbels succeeds Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.enyear1945/04/30May ampampndash For all practical purposes the ICPC ceases to exist (recreated on June 3, 1946).enyear1945/05/01 WWII:enyear1945/05/01Hamburg Radio announces that Hitler has died in battle, ampquotfighting up to his last breath against Bolshevism.ampquotenyear1945/05/01Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide after killing their six children. Karl Dönitz appoints Count Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the new Chancellor of Germany.enyear1945/05/01Troops of the Yugoslav 4th Army, together with the Slovene 9th Corpus NOV, enter Trieste.enyear1945/05/01Mass suicide in Demmin.enyear1945/05/02 WWII:enyear1945/05/02The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the Red flag over the ''Reich Chancellery''.amp!-- Red Flag over the Reichstag was 29 Apil --ampthumb|Prague liberated by Red Army in May 1945.enyear1945/05/02Troops of the New Zealand Army 2nd Division enter Trieste a day after the Yugoslavs the German Army in Trieste surrenders to the New Zealand Army.enyear1945/05/02Lübeck is liberated by the British Army.enyear1945/05/03 WWII:enyear1945/05/03The prison ships ''Cap Arcona'', ''Thielbek'' and ''Deutschland'' are sunk by the RAF in Lübeck Bay.enyear1945/05/03Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to U.S. forces (later going on to help to start the U.S. space program).enyear1945/05/03German Protestant theologian Gerhard Kittel is arrested by the French forces in Tübingen, Germany.enyear1945/05/04 WWII:enyear1945/05/04The concentration camp ''Neuengamme'' near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.enyear1945/05/04The North German army surrenders to Marshal Bernard Montgomery.enyear1945/05/04http://www-lib.usc.edu/~anthonya/war/lib.htm |title=Liberatione |publisher=Lib.usc.edu |date=1945-05-04 |accessdate=2012-01-16}}ampamp German forces officially surrender one day later.]]>enyear1945/05/04http://www.befrielsen1945.dk/tidslinje/index.html |title=Befrielsen 1945 - Tidslinje |publisher=Befrielsen1945.dk |date=2012-01-02 |accessdate=2012-01-16}}ampamp German forces officially surrender one day later.]]>enyear1945/05/05 WWII:enyear1945/05/05Prague rises up against the Nazis.enyear1945/05/05Ezra Pound, the poet and author, is arrested by American soldiers in Italy for treason.enyear1945/05/05The US 11th Armored Division liberates the prisoners of Mauthausen concentration camp, including Simon Wiesenthal.thumb||American soldiers fighting in the Pacific War|Pacific theater listen to radio reports of Victory in Europe Day on May 8, 1945.enyear1945/05/05Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation.enyear1945/05/05Admiral Karl Dönitz orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.enyear1945/05/05A Japanese balloon bomb kills five children and a woman, Elsie Mitchell, near Bly, Oregon, when it explodes as they drag it from the woods. They are the only people killed by an enemy attack on the American mainland during WWII.enyear1945/05/06 WWII: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (the first was on December 11, 1941).enyear1945/05/07 WWII: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.enyear1945/05/08 WWII:enyear1945/05/08V-E Day (Victory in Europe, as Nazi Germany surrenders) commemorates the end of WWII in Europe, with the final surrender being to the Soviets in Berlin, attended by representatives of the Western Powers.enyear1945/05/08Canadian troops move into Amsterdam, after German troops surrender.enyear1945/05/08Surrender of the Dodecanese is signed in Symi.enyear1945/05/08The British 8th Army, together with Slovene partisan troops and a motorized detachment of the Yugoslav 4th Army, arrives in Carinthia and Klagenfurt.enyear1945/05/0829 ampndash Sétif massacre: In Algeria, thousands die as French troops and released Italian POWs kill an estimated 6,000 to 40,000 Algerian citizens.enyear1945/05/09 WWII:enyear1945/05/09The Soviet Union marks V-E Day.enyear1945/05/09Hermann Göring is captured by the United States Army.thumb|right|alt=a black and white image of two Marines in their combat uniforms. One Marine is providing cover fire with his Tommy gun|M1 Thompson submachinegun as the other with a Browning Automatic Rifle, prepares to break cover to move to a different position. There are bare sticks and rocks on the ground.|Marines of 1st Marine Division fighting on Okinawa, May 1945.enyear1945/05/09The Norwegian resistance movement in Oslo, Norway, arrests the traitor Vidkun Quisling.enyear1945/05/09The Red Army enters Prague.enyear1945/05/09General Alexander Löhr, Commander of German Army Group E near Topolšica, Slovenia, signs the capitulation of German occupation troops.enyear1945/05/09The German occupation of the Channel Islands ends with the liberation by British troops.enyear1945/05/09Alderney, an annex of the concentration camp ''Neuengamme'', is liberated.enyear1945/05/09Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the ''Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne'' dissolved.enyear1945/05/09Rev. W. V. Awdry's children's book ''The Three Railway Engines'', first of The Railway Series, is published in England.enyear1945/05/1415 ampndash WWII ampndash Battle of Poljana: The last battle of the War in Europe is fought at Poljana near Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia.enyear1945/05/23 President of Germany Karl Dönitz and Chancellor of Germany Count Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by British forces at Flensburg. They are respectively the last German Head of state and Head of government until 1949.enyear1945/05/23 Heinrich Himmler, former head of the Nazi SS, commits suicide in British custody.enyear1945/05/28 William Joyce (quotLord Haw-Hawquot) is captured. He is later charged with high treason in London for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio, convicted, and then hanged in January 1946.enyear1945/05/28German communists, led by Walter Ulbricht, arrive in Berlin.enyear1945/05/28Dutch painter Han van Meegeren is arrested for collaboration with the Nazis, but the paintings he had sold to Hermann Göring (Koch) are later found to be his fakes.enyear1945/05/30 The Iranian government demands that all Soviet and British troops leave the country.enyear1945/06/01 The British take over Lebanon and Syria.enyear1945/06/05 The Allied Control Council, military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.enyear1945/06/06 King Haakon VII of Norway returns to Norway.enyear1945/06/06William Lyon Mackenzie King is re-elected as Canadian prime minister.enyear1945/06/06http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/timeline/1940/1945.htm {{dead link|date=January 2012}}ampamp]]>enyear1945/06/12 The Yugoslav Army leaves Trieste, leaving the New Zealand Army in control.enyear1945/06/21 WWII: The Battle of Okinawa ends.enyear1945/06/24 WWII: A victory parade is held in Red Square in Moscow.enyear1945/06/25 Seán T. O'Kelly is elected the second President of Ireland.enyear1945/06/26 The United Nations Charter is signed.enyear1945/06/29 Czechoslovakia cedes Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviet Union.enyear1945/07/01 WWII: Germany is divided between the Allied occupation forces.enyear1945/07/05 Australian Prime Minister John Curtin dies of a heart attack at age 60.enyear1945/07/05 WWII: The Philippines are declared liberated.enyear1945/07/08 WWII: Harry S. Truman is informed that Japan will talk peace if it can retain the reign of the Emperor.ref name=quotnuclearfiles1940quot/enyear1945/07/09 A forest fire breaks out in the Tillamook Burn (the third in that area since 1933).enyear1945/07/14 Italy declares war on Japan.enyear1945/07/15 The Scott Morrison Award of Minor Hockey Excellence was first given out to recipient Gordie Howeenyear1945/07/16 The Trinity Test, the first of an atomic bomb, using about six kilograms of plutonium, succeeds in unleashing an explosion equivalent to that of 19 kilotons of TNT.enyear1945/07/16 WWII: A train collision near Munich, Germany kills 102 war prisoners.enyear1945/07/17August 2 ampndash WWII ampndash Potsdam Conference: At Potsdam, the three main Allied leaders hold their final summit of the war.enyear1945/07/21 WWII: President Harry S. Truman approves the order for atomic bombs to be used against Japan.ref name=quotnuclearfiles1940quot/enyear1945/07/23 WWII: French marshal Philippe Pétain, who headed the Vichy government during WWII, goes on trial for treason.enyear1945/07/26http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393271.stm | work=BBC News | title=1945: Labour landslide buries Churchill | date=April 5, 2005}}]]>enyear1945/07/26 The Potsdam Declaration demands Japan's unconditional surrender Article 12 permitting Japan to retain the reign of the Emperor has been deleted by President Truman.ref name=quotnuclearfiles1940quot/enyear1945/07/28 An U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building, killing 14 people, including all on board.enyear1945/07/28 WWII: Japan ambiguously rejects the Potsdam Declaration.ref name=quotnuclearfiles1940quot/enyear1945/07/29 The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched, aimed at mainstream light entertainment and music.enyear1945/07/30 WWII: The heavy cruiser USS ''Indianapolis'' is hit and sunk by torpedoes from the ''Japanese submarine I-58'' in the Philippine Sea. Some 900 survivors jump into the sea and are adrift for up to four days. Nearly 600 die before help arrives. Captain Charles B. McVay III of the cruiser is later court-martialed and convicted.enyear1945/08/06 WWII: Atomic bombing of Hiroshima: A United States B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, drops an atomic bomb, codenamed quotLittle Boyquot, on Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15 a.m. (local time).enyear1945/08/07 President Harry Truman announces the successful bombing of Hiroshima with the atomic bomb, while returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser {{USS|Augusta|CA-31}} in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.enyear1945/08/07The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States Senate, and this nation becomes the third one to join the new international organization.enyear1945/08/07The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.enyear1945/08/09 WWII:enyear1945/08/09A United States B-29 Bomber, ''Bockscar'', drops an atomic bomb, codenamed ampquotFat Manampquot, on Nagasaki, Japan, at 11:02 a.m. (local time).enyear1945/08/09http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/RMF.htm |title=The Soviet Army Offensive: Manchuria, 1945 |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date= |accessdate=2012-01-16}}ampamp]]>enyear1945/08/10 WWII: Japan offers to surrender to the Allies, quotprovided this does not prejudice the sovereignty of the Emperorquot.enyear1945/08/11 WWII: The Allies reply to the Japanese surrender offer by saying that Emperor Hirohito will be subject to the authority of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.enyear1945/08/1125 ampndash Soviet troops complete occupation of Sakhalin.enyear1945/08/13 The Zionist World Congress approaches the British government to discuss the founding of the country of Israel.enyear1945/08/14 WWII: Emperor Hirohito accepts the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.enyear1945/08/14Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization founded as a specialized agency of the United Nations.enyear1945/08/14WWII: Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender on the radio. The United States calls this day V-J Day (Victory in Japan). This ends the period of Japanese expansionism and begins the period of Occupied Japan.enyear1945/08/14WWII: Korea gains independence following Japan's surrender.enyear1945/08/14President José P. Laurel issues an Executive Proclamation putting an end to the Second Philippine Republic, thus putting an end to his term as President of the Philippines.enyear1945/08/14Indonesian nationalists Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta declare the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, with Soekarno as president. Dutch colonial authorities do not approve.enyear1945/08/14The novel ''Animal Farm'' by George Orwell is first published by Fredric Warburg in London.enyear1945/08/19 Chinese Civil War: Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek meet in Chongqing to discuss an end to hostilities between the Communists and the Nationalists.enyear1945/08/31 WWII: Allied troops arrest German field marshal Walther von Brauchitsch.enyear1945/08/31Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita surrenders to Filipino and American forces at Kiangan, Ifugao.enyear1945/08/31WWII ends: The final official surrender of Japan is accepted by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States, and delegates from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, China, and others from a Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, on board the American battleship USS ''Missouri'' in Tokyo Bay.enyear1945/09/04 WWII: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their country's surrender.enyear1945/09/04Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist ampquotTokyo Roseampquot, is arrested in Yokohama.enyear1945/09/04The Russian code clerk Igor Gouzenko comes forward with numerous documents implicating the Soviet Union in numerous spy rings in North America: both in the United States and in Canada.enyear1945/09/04American troops occupy southern Korea, while the Soviet Union occupies the north, with the dividing line being the 38th parallel of latitude. This arrangement proves to be the indirect beginning of a divided Korea.enyear1945/09/04Hideki Tōjō, Japanese prime minister during most of WWII, attempts suicide to avoid facing a war crimes tribunal.enyear1945/09/09 The first case of a computer bug is found: a moth lodged in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at the Naval Weapons Center in Dahlgren, Virginia.enyear1945/09/09''Radio Republik Indonesia'' starts broadcasting.enyear1945/09/09The Batu Lintang camp in Sarawak, Borneo is liberated by Australian forces.enyear1945/09/12 The Japanese Army formally surrenders to the British in Singapore.enyear1945/09/18 Typhoon Makurazaki in Japan kills 3,746 people.enyear1945/09/20 Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru demand that all British troops depart India.enyear1945/09/20October ampampndash Arthur C. Clarke puts forward the idea of a communications satellite in a ''Wireless World'' magazine article.enyear1945/10/01October 15 ampndash Operation Backfire: Three A4 rockets are launched near Cuxhaven in order to show Allied forces the rocket with liquid fuel.enyear1945/10/02 George Albert Smith becomes president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsenyear1945/10/03October 10 ampndash The Detroit Tigers win the World Series against the Chicago Cubs - the Cubs have not returned to the World Series since.enyear1945/10/04 The Partizan Belgrade sports society is founded in Belgrade, Serbia.enyear1945/10/05 A strike by the Set Decorator's Union in Hollywood results in a riot.enyear1945/10/15 WWII: Pierre Laval, the former premier of Vichy France, is shot to death by a firing squad for treason against France.enyear1945/10/16 FAO established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.enyear1945/10/17 A massive number of people, headed for CGT, gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to demand Juan Perón's release. This is known to the Peronists as the ''Día de la lealtad'' (Loyalty Day). It is considered the founding day of Peronism.enyear1945/10/18 Isaías Medina Angarita, president of Venezuela, is overthrown by a military coup.enyear1945/10/21 Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.enyear1945/10/23 Jackie Robinson signs a contract with the Montreal Royals.enyear1945/10/23ICJ (ampquotWorld Courtampquot) established by the United Nations Charter.enyear1945/10/23The United Nations is founded.enyear1945/10/23The Norwegian Nazi leader Vidkun Quisling is shot to death by a firing squad for treason against Norway.enyear1945/10/27 Indonesian separatists riot and fight Dutch and British security forces.enyear1945/10/27Getúlio Vargas resigns as the president of Brazil.enyear1945/10/27At Gimbels Department Store in New York City, the first ballpoint pens go on sale at $12.50 each.enyear1945/10/30 The undivided country of India joins the United Nations. Pakistan is formed and joins later.enyear1945/10/30International Labour Organization (ILO) In 1945, the organisation's new constitution came into effective.enyear1945/10/30John H. Johnson publishes the first issue of the magazine ''Ebony''.enyear1945/10/30Telechron introduces the model 8H59 ampquotMusalarmampquot, the first clock radio.enyear1945/11/09 Soo bahk do Moo Duk Kwan is founded.enyear1945/11/13 Charles De Gaulle is elected head of a French provisional governmentenyear1945/11/15 Harry S. Truman, Clement Attlee, and Mackenzie King call for a U.N. Atomic Energy Commission.ref name=quotnuclearfiles1940quot/enyear1945/11/15Cold War: The United States controversially imports 88 German scientists to help in the production of rocket technology.enyear1945/11/15The motion picture ''The Lost Weekend'', starring Ray Milland, is released. The most realistic film portrayal of alcoholism up to that time, it wins several Oscars in the following year.enyear1945/11/15Yeshiva College is founded.enyear1945/11/20 The Nuremberg Trials begin: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals of WWII start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.enyear1945/11/28 An earthquake in Balochistan (Pakistan) causes a tsunami and kills 4,000.enyear1945/11/28The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is declared (this day is celebrated as Republic Day until the 1990s). Marshal Tito is named president.enyear1945/11/28Assembly of the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), is completed. It covers {{convert|1800|sqft|m2}} of floor space. The first set of calculations is run on the computer.enyear1945/11/28General Eurico Gaspar Dutra is elected president of Brazil.enyear1945/11/28French banks (Banque de France, BNCI, CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais, and Société Générale) nationalized.enyear1945/12/03 Communist demonstrations in Athens presage the Greek Civil War.enyear1945/12/04 By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves the entry of the United States into the United Nations.enyear1945/12/05 A flight of US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers known as Flight 19 disappears on a training exercise.enyear1945/12/21 General George S. Patton dies from injuries sustained in a car accident on December 9.enyear1945/12/21Twenty-eight nations sign an agreement creating the World Bank.enyear1945/12/21Terror strikes are carried out against British military bases in Palestine.enyear1945/12/21http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v36_1_03/article_02.shtml|accessdate=2011-06-16}}ampamp]]>enyear1945/12/21Raymond Libby develops the oral penicillin antibiotic.enyear1945/12/21American Cyanamid discovers folic acid, a vitamin abundant in green leafy vegetables, liver, kidney, and yeast.ampampHoffbrand, AV Weir, DG (2001). ampquotThe history of folic acid.ampquot Br J Haematol 113 (3): 579–589. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2141.2001.02822.x.ampampenyear1945/12/21The first geothermal milk pasteurization is done in Klamath Falls, Oregon.enyear1945/12/21Some time in August, Korea splits into two nations with the North being communist and the South being capitalist.enyear1946/01/06 A revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's ''Show Boat'' opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre.enyear1946/01/07 The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with 1937 borders, and divide the country into 4 occupation zones.enyear1946/01/07The first meeting of the United Nations is held in London.enyear1946/01/07''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proving that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the space age.enyear1946/01/07Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister.enyear1946/01/07Porfirio Barba-Jacob's ashes go back to Colombia.enyear1946/01/16 Charles de Gaulle resigns as a head of a French provisional government.enyear1946/01/16The UN Security Council holds its first session.enyear1946/01/16Senator Dennis Chavez (D-NM) calls for a vote on an FEPC bill which calls for an end to discrimination in the workplace. A filibuster prevents it from passing.enyear1946/01/19 The Bell X-1 is launched for the first time.enyear1946/01/20 Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.enyear1946/01/22 Iran: Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at the Chuwarchira Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president, Hadschi Baba Scheich is the prime minister.enyear1946/01/25 The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.enyear1946/01/28 The Canadian schooner ''Bluenose'' founders on a Haitian reef.enyear1946/01/29 The Central Intelligence Group is established (the CIA in 1947).enyear1946/01/29The last session of the Permanent Court of International Justice occurs.enyear1946/01/29Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes 6 constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).enyear1946/01/29Trygve Lie of Norway is selected as the first United Nations Secretary General.enyear1946/01/29The Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic.enyear1946/01/29The Bank of England is nationalized.enyear1946/01/29ENIAC (for ampquotElectronic Numerical Integrator and Computerampquot), an early general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.enyear1946/02/15 Canada indicts 22 communist agents.enyear1946/02/20 An explosion kills more than 400 coal miners in West Germany.enyear1946/02/24 Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.enyear1946/02/28 In Philadelphia, General Electric strikers and police clash.enyear1946/02/28British troops withdraw from Iran according to treaty the Soviets do not.enyear1946/02/28Ho Chi Minh is elected President of North Vietnam.enyear1946/03/04 C.G.E. Mannerheim resigns as president of Finland.enyear1946/03/05 In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about the ''Iron Curtain''.enyear1946/03/06 Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.enyear1946/03/07 The 18th Academy Awards ceremony is held.enyear1946/03/07Juho Kusti Paasikivi becomes president of Finland.enyear1946/03/07Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England, 33 killed and hundreds amongst the injuredenyear1946/03/10 British troops begin withdrawing from Lebanon.enyear1946/03/15 Clement Attlee promises independence to India as soon as they can agree on a constitution.enyear1946/03/15The Soviet Union and Switzerland resume diplomatic relations.enyear1946/03/15French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France.enyear1946/03/22 The United Kingdom grants Transjordan, as it is then known, its independence 3 years later the country changes its name to Jordan.quotYear by Year 1946quot – History Channel Internationalenyear1946/03/29 The Gold Coast has an African majority in its parliament.enyear1946/03/29A 14-meter high tsunami strikes Hilo and Laupāhoehoe on the Big Island of Hawaii 173 are killed, thousands injured.enyear1946/03/29The Malayan Union is formed.enyear1946/03/29Singapore becomes a Crown colony.enyear1946/04/03 Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila, the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.enyear1946/04/10 In Japan, women vote for the first time, during elections for the House of Representatives of the 90th Imperial Diet.enyear1946/04/17 Syria's independence from France is officially recognized.enyear1946/04/17The inaugural session of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) occurs.enyear1946/04/17The United States recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia.enyear1946/04/17The League of Nations, in its last meeting, transfers its mission to the United Nations and disbands itself.enyear1946/04/23 The Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League (Which is now the CBA) is founded.enyear1946/04/27 FA Cup: Derby County beat Charlton Athletic in the first FA Cup final since the end of the warenyear1946/04/28http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001442/144223eb.pdf|first=Fritz|last=Wezel|title=Pestalozzi Children Village at Trogen|publisher=UNESCO|date=1948-10-01|accessdate=2010-11-23}}]]>enyear1946/04/29 Trial against war criminals begin in Tokyo the accused include Hideki Tōjō, Shigenori Tōgō and Hiroshi Ōshima.enyear1946/05/01 At least 800 Indigenous Australian pastoral workers walk off the job in Northwest Western Australia, starting one of the longest industrial strikes in Australia.enyear1946/05/02 Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from Alcatraz Prison. A riot occurs, the so-called quotBattle of Alcatrazquot.enyear1946/05/07 Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed ''Sony'') is founded with about 20 employees.enyear1946/05/09 King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Humbert II.enyear1946/05/09Nehru is elected leader of the Congress Party in India.enyear1946/05/09The first V-2 rocket is successfully launched at the White Sands Missile Range.enyear1946/05/20 The British House of Commons decides to nationalize mines.enyear1946/05/21 At the Los Alamos Laboratory, Dr. Louis Slotin saves his coworkers but receives a fatal dose of ionizing radiation (the incident is initially classified).enyear1946/05/22 The Kingdom of Transjordan is founded.enyear1946/05/25 The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.enyear1946/05/26 Czechoslovak parliamentary election, with Communist victory (38%), last before communist take powerenyear1946/05/31 A Greek referendum supports the return of the monarchy.enyear1946/06/01 Ion Antonescu, prime minister and quotConducatorquot (Leader) of Romania during World War II is executed he was found guilty of betraying the Romanian people for benefits of Germany and sentenced to death by the Bucharest People's Tribunal.enyear1946/06/02 In a referendum, Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a republic. Women vote for the first time.enyear1946/06/03 The Interpol organization re-founded, telegraphic address “Interpol” adopted.enyear1946/06/06 The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.enyear1946/06/08 In Indonesia, Sukarno incites his supporters to fight Dutch colonial occupation.enyear1946/06/09 In Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) accedes the throne after the mysterious death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII).enyear1946/06/10 Italy is declared a republic.enyear1946/06/13 Humbert II of Italy leaves the country and goes into exile in Portugal Alcide de Gasperi becomes head of state.enyear1946/06/14 The Baruch Plan is proposed to the United Nationsenyear1946/06/14A tornado on the Detroit River kills 17.enyear1946/06/14Laurence Olivier's ''Henry V'' opens in the United States nearly 2 years after its release in England. It is the first Shakespeare film in color, and critics hail it as the finest film of a Shakespeare play ever made.enyear1946/06/23 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake.enyear1946/06/25 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (World Bank) begins operations.enyear1946/06/30 The War Relocation Authority is abolished.enyear1946/07/01 Nuclear testing: Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in Micronesia, is initiated by detonation of ''Able'' at an altitude of 520ampnbspfeet (158ampnbspm).enyear1946/07/01Ankara University is founded in Turkey.enyear1946/07/01After over 381 years of Western dominance, the Philippines attains full independence.enyear1946/07/05 Bikinis go on sale in Paris.enyear1946/07/05Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American saint to be canonized.enyear1946/07/05Howard Hughes nearly dies in a test flight of the Hughes XF-11 and crashes it in a suburban Beverly Hills neighborhood because of a propeller malfunction.enyear1946/07/16 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within Department of the Interior (formed by merger of Grazing Service and General Land Office).enyear1946/07/21 An Irgun bomb explodes in Jerusalem because of secretive talks between Jews and Britain to consolidate the state of Israel.enyear1946/07/22 King David Hotel bombing: The Irgun bombs the King David Hotel (headquarters of the British civil and military administration) in Jerusalem, killing 90.enyear1946/07/22Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus USS ''Saratoga'' is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, when the United States detonates the ''Baker'' device during Operation Crossroads.enyear1946/07/22At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.enyear1946/07/22In the last mass lynching in the United States, a mob of white men shoot and kill two African-American couples near Moore's Ford Bridge in Georgia.enyear1946/07/22The Atomic Energy Commission is established.enyear1946/07/22The Hungarian Forint is introduced in Hungary by the government, ending the world's biggest hyperinflation in the country.enyear1946/08/03 Holiday World, originally called ''Santa Claus Land'', opens to the public. It became the 1st themed park preceding Disneyland by 9 years.enyear1946/08/04 The 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake (magnitude 8.0) hits the northern Dominican Republic, killing 100, and leaving 20,000 homeless.enyear1946/08/16he Kurdistan Democratic Party is founded in South Kurdistan.enyear1946/08/18 The Vergarolla explosion in Croatia kills 70.enyear1946/08/19 Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta leaves 3,000 dead.enyear1946/08/25 Ben Hogan wins the PGA Championship.enyear1946/09/02 Interim Government of India takes charge with Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice President.enyear1946/09/04 Street violence between Muslims and Hindus erupts in Bombay.enyear1946/09/08 Bulgaria is declared a People's Republic after a referendum King Simeon II leaves.enyear1946/09/24 Cathay Pacific Airways is founded by Roy C Farrell and H de Kantzow.enyear1946/09/28 George II of Greece returns to Athens.enyear1946/10/01 Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom.enyear1946/10/02 Communists take over in Bulgaria.enyear1946/10/10 Commencement of the Noakhali genocide of Hindus in Bengal at the hands of Muslim mobs.enyear1946/10/13 France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.enyear1946/10/14 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded.enyear1946/10/15 Nuremberg Trials: Hermann Göring, founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution.enyear1946/10/15Nazi War criminals convicted in the Nuremberg Trials are executed by hanging in a gymnasium in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice premises.enyear1946/10/15The United Nations' first meeting in Long Island is held.enyear1946/11/01 In the first Basketball Association of America game, the New York Knicks defeat the Toronto Huskies 68–66 at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.enyear1946/11/04 UNESCO established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.enyear1946/11/05 Senate and House elections in the United States both give majorities to the Republicans.enyear1946/11/05At least 1,400 people are killed in an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale, in the Ancash Region and Quiches District in Peru.enyear1946/11/05The Slimbridge Wetland Reserve opens in England.enyear1946/11/05A truce is declared between Indonesian nationalist troops and the Dutch army in Indonesia.enyear1946/11/05In Chicago, a branch of the ''Exchange National Bank'' (now part of the LaSalle Bank) opens the first 10 drive-up teller windows.enyear1946/11/15 The Netherlands recognizes the Republic of Indonesia.enyear1946/11/17 Eight British servicemen are killed in Jerusalem by Jewish nationalists.enyear1946/11/17Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.enyear1946/11/17Romanian general election, 1946: The Romanian Communist Party wins 79.86% of the vote through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud.enyear1946/11/22 Tony Benn is elected as Treasurer of the Oxford Union.enyear1946/11/22Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. The French cruiser ''Suffren'' opens fire, killing 6,000 Vietnamese.enyear1946/11/22The Workers Party of South Korea is founded.enyear1946/11/27 Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would quotsave humanity from the ultimate disaster.quotenyear1946/12/01 Miguel Alemán Valdés takes office as President of Mexico.enyear1946/12/02he International Whaling Commission was signed in Washington to quotprovide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industryquot.enyear1946/12/07 A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, United States kills 119.enyear1946/12/11 UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund) is founded.enyear1946/12/11The United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain and recommends that member countries sever diplomatic relations.enyear1946/12/11Léon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France.enyear1946/12/11Iranian troops recapture the Azerbaijan province and the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, both of which had seceded earlier in the year.enyear1946/12/14 The International Labour Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.enyear1946/12/16 Siam joins the United Nations (changes name to Thailand in 1949).enyear1946/12/19 Viet Minh forces begin a war against French occupying forces in Vietnam, succeeding in 1954 with France's surrender at Dien Bien Phu.enyear1946/12/19Frank Capra's ''It's a Wonderful Life'', featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York.enyear1946/12/19At least 1,362 people are killed in an earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan.enyear1946/12/22 The Havana Conference begins between U.S. organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba.enyear1946/12/24 France's Fourth Republic is founded.enyear1946/12/25 The first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in Europe was initiated within the Soviet (Russian) nuclear reactor F-1.enyear1946/12/25The Flamingo Hotel opens on the Las Vegas Strip.enyear1946/12/25David Lean's ''Great Expectations'', based on the Charles Dickens novel, and featuring John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, Jean Simmons, and Finlay Currie, is released to great acclaim in the UK.enyear1946/12/31 President Harry Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.enyear1946/12/31The 20ampampnbspmm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun contract is released.enyear1946/12/31Female suffrage is enacted in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and the Canadian province of Quebec.enyear1946/12/31The first female police officers are hired in Korea and Japan.enyear1946/12/31The Chinese Civil War intensifies between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China.enyear1946/12/31The first ''Tupperware'' is sold in department and hardware stores.enyear1946/12/31The British government takes emergency powers to deal with the balance-of-payments crisis.enyear1946/12/31Eva Perón tours Spain, Italy and France on behalf of Argentina, a circuit called the Rainbow Tour.enyear1946/12/31The NFL team San Francisco 49ers is formed.enyear1946/12/31The Casio Company is founded by engineer Tadao Kashio.enyear1946/12/31Binghamton University is founded.enyear1947British coal mines are nationalized.enyear1947Nigeria gains limited autonomy.enyear1947The Canadian Citizenship Act comes into effect.enyear1947/01/03 Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.enyear1947/01/10 The United Nations takes control of the free city of Trieste.enyear1947/01/15 Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the quotBlack Dahliaquot, is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The case remains unsolved to this day.enyear1947/01/16 Vincent Auriol is inaugurated as president of France.enyear1947/01/19 A shipwreck near Athens, Greece kills 392.enyear1947/01/24 Dimitrios Maximos founds a monarchist government in Athens.enyear1947/01/25 A Philippine plane crashes in Hong Kong, with $5 million worth of gold and money.enyear1947/01/30February 8 ampndash A heavy blizzard in Canada buries towns from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Calgary, Alberta.enyear1947/01/31 The Communists take power in Poland.enyear1947/01/31The lowest air temperature in North America (-63 degrees Celsius) is recorded in Snag, Yukon Territory.enyear1947/01/31Percival Prattis becomes the first African-American news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives and Senate press galleries.enyear1947/01/31Bolesław Bierut becomes the President of Poland.enyear1947/01/31The Government of the United Kingdom announces the £25 million Tanganyika groundnut scheme for cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory.ampamp{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Alan|title=The Groundnut Affair|publisher=Bodley Head|year=1950|location=London|oclc=1841364}}ampampenyear1947/02/06 South Pacific Commission (SPC) founded.enyear1947/02/08 A dance hall fire in Berlin, Germany, kills over 80 people.enyear1947/02/10 In Paris, France, peace treaties are signed between the World War II Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland. Italy cedes most of Istria to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.enyear1947/02/10A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.enyear1947/02/10Christian Dior introduces The ampquotNew Lookampquot in women's fashion, in Paris.enyear1947/02/17 Cold War: The ''Voice of America'' begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.enyear1947/02/17An explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company in Los Angeles, California, leaves 17 dead, 100 buildings damaged, and a {{convert|22|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} crater in the ground.enyear1947/02/17U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hermes project V-2 rocket ''Blossom I'' launched into space carrying plant material and fruitflies, the first animals to enter space.enyear1947/02/21 In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first quotinstant cameraquot, his Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.enyear1947/02/22 ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon ''Cat Fishin''', is released.enyear1947/02/23 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.enyear1947/02/23John C. Hennessy, Jr., brings the first Volkswagen Beetle to the United States. He purchased the 1946 VW from the U.S. Army Post Exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army. The Beetle was shipped from Bremerhaven, arriving in New York this day.ampampCopies of the bill of sale as well as the shipping documents and a letter from the Port of New York confirming the arrival of the VW can be found in Hennessy’s book ''The Bride and the Beetle''.ampampenyear1947/02/23The state of Prussia officially ceases to exist.enyear1947/02/23The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.enyear1947/02/23The United States grants France a military base in Casablanca.enyear1947/02/23In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with large loss of civilian lives.enyear1947/02/23The International Monetary Fund begins to operate.enyear1947/02/23Wernher von Braun marries his first cousin, the 18-year-old Maria von Quirstorp.enyear1947/03/04 Treaty of Dunkirk (coming into effect 8 September) signed between the United Kingdom and France providing for mutual assistance in the event of attack.enyear1947/03/06 USS ''Newport News'', the first completely air-conditioned warship,{{citation needed|date=February 2011}}!--what does that make wartime submarines...?-- is launched in Newport News, Virginia.enyear1947/03/09 Carrie Chapman Catt dies in New Rochelle.enyear1947/03/12 The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.enyear1947/03/14 The River Thames overruns its banks.enyear1947/03/15 Hindus and Muslims clash in Punjab.enyear1947/03/19 The 19th Academy Awards ceremony is held. The movie ''Best Years of Our Lives'' wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with several other Academy Awards.enyear1947/03/25 A coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois, kills 111 miners.enyear1947/03/28 A World War II Japanese booby trap explodes on Corregidor island, killing 28 people.enyear1947/03/29 A rebellion against French rule erupts in Madagascar.enyear1947/03/31 The leaders of the Kurdish People's Republic of Mahabad, the second Kurdish state in the history of Iran, are hanged at the Chuwarchira Square in Mahabad after that country had been overrun by the Iranian army.enyear1947/03/31Jackie Robinson, the first African American in modern Major League Baseball,amp!--recall Moses ampamp Welday Walker in 1884--amp signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.enyear1947/03/31King George II of Greece is succeeded by his brother King Paul I.enyear1947/04/04 International Civil Aviation Organizationenyear1947/04/09 Multiple tornadoes strike Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas killing 181 people and injuring 970.enyear1947/04/15 Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play modern Major League Baseball.!--recall Moses amp Welday Walker in 1884--enyear1947/04/16 Texas City Disaster: the ammonium nitrate cargo of former Liberty ship SS ''Grandcamp'' explodes in Texas City, Texas, killing 552, injuring 3,000, causing 200 lost,{{clarify|date=February 2011}} and destroying 20 city blocks.enyear1947/04/18 Royal Navy detonates 6,800 tons of explosives in an attempt to demolish the fortified island of Heligoland, Germany, thus creating one of the largest man-made non-nuclear explosions in history.enyear1947/04/26 Academy-Award winning ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon, ''The Cat Concerto'', is released to theatres.enyear1947/05/01 The Salvatore Giuliano Gang opens fire on a labor parade near Portella Della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 30.enyear1947/05/02 The movie ''Miracle on 34th Street'', a Christmastime classic, is first shown in theaters.enyear1947/05/03 The new post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.enyear1947/05/12 The animated cartoon film ''Rabbit Transit'', directed by Friz Freleng, is released.enyear1947/05/12The Cold War begins: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine. This Act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.enyear1947/05/12David Lean's film ''Great Expectations'', based on the novel by Charles Dickens, opens in the United States. Critics call it the finest film ever made from a Charles Dickens novel.enyear1947/05/25 An airliner of the Flugfelag Íslands crashes into a mountainside, killing 25 people.enyear1947/06/05 U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the Marshall Plan for American reconstruction and relief aid to Europe.enyear1947/06/07http://www.fcsteaua.ro/index/section/articles/article/5826/ History of FC Steaua.]]>enyear1947/06/10 SAAB produces its first automobile.enyear1947/06/11http://www.llangollen.com/eist3.html|publisher=Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod|accessdate=2012-05-08}}]]>enyear1947/06/15 The Portuguese government orders 11 military officers and 19 university professors who were accused of revolutionary activity to resign.enyear1947/06/15Seaman Harold Dahl claims to have seen six UFOs near Maury Island in Puget Sound, Washington. On the next morning, Dahl reports the first modern so-called ampquotMen in Blackampquot encounter.enyear1947/06/15The Canadian Parliament votes unanimously to pass several laws regarding displaced foreign refugees.enyear1947/06/23 The United States Senate follows the House of Representatives in overriding President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act.enyear1947/06/24 Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely-reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.enyear1947/07/07 A supposedly downed extraterrestrial spacecraft is reportedly found in the Roswell UFO incident, near Roswell, New Mexico, which was written about by Stanton T. Friedman.enyear1947/07/10 Princess Elizabeth announces her engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.enyear1947/07/11 ''The Exodus'' leaves France for Palestine, with 4,500 Jewish Holocaust survivor refugees on board.enyear1947/07/17 The Indian passenger ship ''Ramdas'' is capsized by a cyclone at Mumbai, India, with 625 people killed.enyear1947/07/17Following wide media and UNSCOP coverage, ''The Exodus'' is captured by British troops and refused entry into Palestine at the port of Haifa.enyear1947/07/17President Harry S. Truman signs the Presidential Succession Act into law, which places the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate next in the line of succession after the Vice President.enyear1947/07/26 Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.enyear1947/07/29 After being shut down on November 9, 1946, for a refurbishment, the ENIAC computer, the world's first electronic digital computer, is turned back on again. It next remains in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.enyear1947/08/05 The Netherlands stops all political actions in Indonesia.enyear1947/08/05Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the ''Kon-Tiki'', smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could hypothetically have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America.enyear1947/08/05The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).enyear1947/08/05The Muslim majority region formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and adopts the name '''Pakistan'''. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.enyear1947/08/05Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first Governor General of Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan takes office as the first Prime Minister of Pakistanenyear1947/08/05The greater Indian subcontinent with a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims,Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, etc. formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and retains the name '''India'''.enyear1947/08/05Louis Mountbatten becomes the first Governor General of India. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.enyear1947/08/16 In Greece, General Markos Vafiadis takes over the government.enyear1947/08/23 The Prime Minister of Greece, Dimitrios Maximos, resigns.enyear1947/08/27 When the French government lowers the daily bread ration to 200ampnbspgrams, causing riots in Verdun and in Le Mans.enyear1947/08/30 A fire at a movie theater in Rueil, a suburb of Paris, France kills 87 people.enyear1947/08/31 The communists seize power in Hungary.enyear1947/09/10 Hasan Saka forms the new government of Turkey. (16 th government)enyear1947/09/13 Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru suggests the exchange of four million Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan.enyear1947/09/17September 21 ampndash The 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane in southeastern Florida, and also in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, causes widespread damage and kills 51 people.enyear1947/09/17National Security Act of 1947 becomes effective on this day creating the United States Air Force, National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.enyear1947/09/17War Department becomes the Department of the Army, a branch of the new Department of Defense.enyear1947/09/22 Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Communist Information Bureau) (quotCominformquot) is founded.enyear1947/09/30 Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations.enyear1947/10/05 President Harry S. Truman delivers the first televised White House address speaking on the world food crises.enyear1947/10/14 The United States Air Force test pilot, Captain Chuck Yeager, flies a Bell X-1 rocket plane faster than the speed of sound, the first time it has been accomplishedenyear1947/10/20 A war begins in Kashmir, along the border between India and Pakistan, leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 in the following year. Also, Pakistan established diplomatic relations with the United States of America.enyear1947/10/24 The first Azad Kashmir Government is established by the Freedom Fighters within Pakistan, headed by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as its first President supported by the government of Pakistan.enyear1947/10/30 The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is established.enyear1947/10/30In Long Beach, California, the designer and airplane pilot Howard Hughes carries out the one and only flight of the ''Hughes H - 1 Hercules seaplane'', the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built and flown. This flight only lasted eight minutes.enyear1947/10/30An earthquake in the Chilean Andes kills 233 people.enyear1947/11/06 The program ''Meet the Press'' makes its television debut on the NBC-TV network in the United States.enyear1947/11/09 Junagadh is invaded by the Indian army.enyear1947/11/10 The arrest of four steel workers in Marseille begins a French communist riot that also spreads to Paris.enyear1947/11/10International Telecommunication Union becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.enyear1947/11/10Universal Postal Union (UPU) becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations (effective 1 July 1948).enyear1947/11/10In Brussels, 15,000 people demonstrate against the relatively-short prison sentences of Belgian Nazi criminals.enyear1947/11/10Great Britain began withdrawing its troops from Palestine.enyear1947/11/18 The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 people.enyear1947/11/18The Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), the daughter of George VI, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom.enyear1947/11/18Paul Ramadier resigns as the Prime Minister of France. He is succeeded by Robert Schuman, who calls 80,000 army reservists to quell rioting miners in France.enyear1947/11/21 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment begins in Havana, Cuba. This conference ends in 1948, when its members finish the Havana Charter.enyear1947/11/24 Red Scare: The U.S. House of Representatives votes 346 – 17 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10, after the ten men refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of communist influences in the movie business. (The ten men are blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios on the following day.)enyear1947/11/25 The Parliament of New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster, and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.enyear1947/11/27 In Paris, France, police occupy the editorial offices of the communist newspapers.enyear1947/11/29 The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arab and Jewish regions, which results in the creation of the State of Israel.enyear1947/11/29French communist strikers derail the Paris-Tourcoing express train because of false rumors that it was transporting soldiers. 21 people are killed.enyear1947/11/29http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1804]]>enyear1947/12/04 The French Interior Minister, Jules S. Moch, takes emergency measures against his country's rioters after six days of violent arguments in the National Assembly.enyear1947/12/06http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Apr04/Verdi_otello_toscanini.htm]]>enyear1947/12/09 French labor unions call off the general strike and re-commence negotiations with the French government.enyear1947/12/12 The Iranian Royal Army takes back power in the Azerbaijan province.enyear1947/12/1221 December - 400,000 slaughtered during mass migration of Hindus and Muslims into the new states India and Pakistan.enyear1947/12/12The Italian Constituent Assembly votes to accept the new Constitution of Italy.enyear1947/12/12The first practical electronic transistor is demonstrated by Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley of the United States.enyear1947/12/30 King Michael of Romania abdicates.enyear1947/12/30The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is introduced.enyear1947/12/30The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigations into communism in Hollywood.enyear1947/12/30Cambridge University begins to admit women as full students.enyear1947/12/30Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 assault rifle is accepted as the standard small arm of the Soviet military.enyear1947/12/30Raytheon produces the first commercial microwave oven.enyear1947/12/30Women's suffrage is granted in Argentina.enyear1947/12/30In a cave in and around the Wadi Qumran (near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea), several tall pottery jars containing leather scrolls are discovered, which later become known as the '''Dead Sea scrolls'''.ampampampquotYear by Year 1947ampquot ampampndash History Channel Internationalampampenyear1947/12/30By the discovery of promethium in the products of nuclear fission, the last remaining gap of the periodic table is closed.enyear1948General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) inaugurated.enyear1948UK railways are nationalized to form British Railways.enyear1948The Italian republican constitution goes into effect.enyear1948The latest New Jersey State Constitution goes into effect.enyear1948/01/04 Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.enyear1948/01/05 Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (''Tournament of Roses Parade'' and the ''Rose Bowl'').enyear1948/01/12 Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop the communal violence during the Partition of India.enyear1948/01/17 A truce is declared between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in Java.enyear1948/01/22 British foreign secretary Bevin proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France and the Benelux countries to stand up against the Soviet Union. The Treaty of Brussels is signed March 17 as a consequence, a predecessor to NATO.enyear1948/01/26 Teigin poison case: A man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 of 16 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced to death for the crime, but is never executed.enyear1948/01/29 Plane crash at Los Gatos Creek, California kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a song by Woody Guthrie.enyear1948/01/29Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse.enyear1948/01/291948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.enyear1948/01/31 The British crown colony of the Malayan Union, Penang and Malacca form the Federation of Malaya.Cabinet Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies (UK). 21 February 1956. {{sourcetext|source=Federation of Malaya Agreement}}enyear1948/02/01 The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.enyear1948/02/04 Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) becomes an independent kingdom within the British Commonwealth.enyear1948/02/16 Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.Moore, P. (1995) ''The Guinness book of astronomy (5th ed.)'' Enfield, UK: Guinness Publishing. p. 110.enyear1948/02/18 Éamon de Valera, Irish head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach by President O'Kelly.enyear1948/02/21 The stock car racing series Nascar is founded by Bill France Sr. and William France, Sr.enyear1948/02/25 The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia, a day celebrated by that regime as quotVictorious Februaryquot (Czech:quot''Vítězný únor''quot Slovak:quot''Víťazný Február''quot) until November 1989.enyear1948/03/08 ''McCollum v. Board of Education'': The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.enyear1948/03/16http://thebramptonguardian.com/brampton/news/article/44736|title=Brampton's largest flood left its watery mark|date=2008-03-10|accessdate=2008-03-10|publisher=The Brampton Guardian}}{{dead link|date=June 2011}}]]>enyear1948/03/16Treaty of Brussels signed by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, providing for economic, social and cultural collaboration and collective self-defence.enyear1948/03/16The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.enyear1948/03/18 The Round Table Conference in The Hague, Netherlands for the preparation of the decolonization process for Aruba and the other Dutch Colonies. Aruba presents the mandate of the Aruban People for Aruba to become an Independent Country, under the souvereignty of the House of Orange, based on Aruba's first state constitution presented officially since August 1947, and a (4th) Member State of the future Dutch Commonwealth.enyear1948/03/18Singapore holds its first elections.enyear1948/03/18Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program.enyear1948/03/18Aprilenyear1948/03/18Scientists Ralph Alpher and George Gamow publish the Alpher-Bethe-Gamow paper about the big bang.enyear1948/03/18President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.enyear1948/03/18Ludwig van Beethoven's ''Ninth Symphony'' is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a concert featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.enyear1948/03/18Jeju Uprising, Jeju residents revolt on Jeju island, South Korea.enyear1948/04/05 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Haganah launches Operation Nahshon beginning of the 1948 Palestinian exodus.enyear1948/04/05The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.enyear1948/04/05A fire in a Buddhist monastery Shanghai kills 20 monks.enyear1948/04/05Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the ''Bogotazo''), and a further 10 years of violence in all of Colombia (''La Violencia'').enyear1948/04/05The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in British Mandate of Palestine.enyear1948/04/13 The Hadassah medical convoy massacre takes place in British Mandate of Palestine.enyear1948/04/16 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is founded as the OEEC.enyear1948/04/18 The first democratic general election with universal suffrage is held in Italy.enyear1948/04/19 Burma joins the United Nations.enyear1948/04/24 The Costa Rican Civil War ends.enyear1948/04/30 Organization of American States (OAS) founded.enyear1948/04/30 The Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.enyear1948/04/30May ampampndash The RAND Corporation is established as an independent nonprofit policy research and analysis institution.enyear1948/05/04 Laurence Olivier's film version of ''Hamlet'' makes its world premiere in London.enyear1948/05/11 Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.enyear1948/05/14he Declaration of Independence of Israel is made.enyear1948/05/141948 Arab-Israeli War: The British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated expeditionary forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria and Iraq invade Israel and clash with Israeli forces.enyear1948/05/14http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-brutal-murder-begins-an-unusual-investigationampamp]]>enyear1948/05/16 Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.enyear1948/05/18 The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.enyear1948/05/22 The Soviets launched the largest Lithuanian deportation to Siberia.enyear1948/05/25 The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) was founded on this date at Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila, Philippines.enyear1948/05/26 The U.S. Congress passes ''Public Law 557'', which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.enyear1948/05/28 Daniel Francois Malan defeats Jan Smuts and becomes Prime Minister of South Africa, ushering in the era of apartheid, which is finally dismantled by F W de Klerk in 1994.enyear1948/05/30 A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes: 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.enyear1948/06/03 The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.enyear1948/06/10 Hasan Saka forms the new government of Turkey. (17th government Hasan Saka had served twice as a prime minister)enyear1948/06/11 The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.enyear1948/06/11Communist guerrillas kill 3 rubber planters in Malaya.enyear1948/06/11Three armed men hijack the Cathay Pacific passenger plane ''Miss Macao'' and shoot the pilot the plane crashes, killing 26 of 27 people on board.enyear1948/06/17 A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.enyear1948/06/18 Malayan Emergency: A state of emergency is declared in the Malayan Union due to a communist insurgency.enyear1948/06/18 LP record ampndash Columbia Records introduced it's long playing 33 sup1/sup/sub3/sub rpm phonograph format.enyear1948/06/20 The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).enyear1948/06/21 The Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.enyear1948/06/22 The ship ''Empire Windrush'' brings a large group of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury near London, the start of a large wave of immigration to Britain.enyear1948/06/22Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.enyear1948/06/22The first World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization is held in Geneva.enyear1948/06/26 William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.enyear1948/06/26The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.enyear1948/06/26David Lean's ''Oliver Twist'', based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged anti-Semitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.enyear1948/06/261948 Fukui earthquake strikes Fukui, Japan. 3,769 dead, 22,203 injured.enyear1948/07/05 The National Health Service Acts are enacted in United Kingdom.enyear1948/07/06 The world's first Air Car-ferry service is flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways from Lympne to Le Touquet.enyear1948/07/13 The Coptic and Ethiopian Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.enyear1948/07/13The attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, incites numerous strikes all over the country.enyear1948/07/13The first London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous is founded.enyear1948/07/20 Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).enyear1948/07/22 The Dominion of Newfoundland votes to join Canada after a referendum.enyear1948/07/24 A great oil fire breaks out in the harbor of Naantali, Finland.enyear1948/07/26 U.S. President Truman signs ''Executive Order 9981'', ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.enyear1948/07/28 Around 200 die in explosion at a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.enyear1948/07/29 The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first since the 1936 Summer Olympicsenyear1948/07/31 At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.enyear1948/08/01 The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.enyear1948/08/10 August 23 ampndash The Herrenchiemsee Convent prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.enyear1948/08/14 1948 Ashes series: The Australian batsman Don Bradman, playing his last Test cricket match, against England at The Oval, is bowled by Eric Hollies for a duck however, quotThe Invinciblesquot win the match by an innings and 149 runs, and The Ashes 4-0.enyear1948/08/15 The Republic of Korea is established.enyear1948/08/18 Danube Commission created by Belgrade Convention (enters into force 11 May 1949).enyear1948/08/23 The World Council of Churches is established.enyear1948/08/24http://www.accj.or.jp/history]]>enyear1948/08/25 The House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring quotConfrontation Dayquot between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.enyear1948/09/04 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.enyear1948/09/05 Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.enyear1948/09/06 Juliana becomes Queen of the Netherlands.enyear1948/09/09 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is formally declared, with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.enyear1948/09/11 Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder and first Governor General of Pakistan, dies. Pakistan is in a state of shock as it mourns the departure of the father of the nation. The day is a public holiday nation-wide.enyear1948/09/12 The State of Hyderabad is invaded by the Indian Army on the day after Pakistani leader Jinnah's death, to assist damage control. Operation Polo leads to the independence of Hyderabad state and its amalgamation into the Indian union.enyear1948/09/17 Lehi members assassinate Swedish count Folke Bernadotte.enyear1948/09/20 Establishment of the city Rabwah.enyear1948/09/29 Laurence Olivier's ''Hamlet'' opens in the United States.enyear1948/10/06 The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000.enyear1948/10/10 R-1 missile on test becomes the first Soviet launch to enter space.enyear1948/10/11 The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.enyear1948/10/16 The 57th Street Art Fair, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.enyear1948/10/26 Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.enyear1948/10/28 The massacre of Dawaymeh begins.enyear1948/11/02 United States presidential election, 1948: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and 'Dixiecrat' Strom Thurmond.enyear1948/11/12 In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences 7 Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.enyear1948/11/15 Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's 12th prime minister.enyear1948/11/15''Operation Magic Carpet'' to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.enyear1948/11/15The University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes) is founded in Bogotá, Colombia.enyear1948/11/17 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.enyear1948/11/20 Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.enyear1948/11/24 In Venezuela, president Rómulo Gallegos is ousted by a military junta.enyear1948/11/27 The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before 20,013 fans at Toronto's Varsity Stadium to capture their first Grey Cup and complete the only perfect season to date in Canadian Football.enyear1948/12/01 José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do soenyear1948/12/10 The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsenyear1948/12/1112 ampndash Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Scots Guards shoot 24 Chinese villagers in Malayaenyear1948/12/15 The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss on two counts of perjuryenyear1948/12/26 The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Koreaenyear1948/12/28 A Muslim Brotherhood member assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashienyear1948/12/30 The musical ''Kiss Me, Kate'' opens for the first of 1,077 performancesenyear1948/12/31 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive the Egyptians from Negevenyear1948/12/31Brandeis University is founded.enyear1948/12/31The Casimir effect is discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.enyear1948/12/31The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens on Staten Island, New York.enyear1948/12/31The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.enyear1948/12/31The Slovak city Gúta is renamed Kolárovo.enyear1948/12/31The Tunnel of Vielha is opened in the Aran Valley, Spanish Pyrenees.enyear1948/12/31Last recorded sighting of the Caspian Tiger in Kazakhstan.enyear1948/12/31A pack of wolves kills about 40 children in Darovskoy District, in Russia.ampamp{{cite book|title=Guinness book of world records|year=2008|page=137}}ampampenyear1948/12/31Charles Warrell creates the first I-Spy books.enyear1948/12/31Rev.W.Awdry's third book James the Red Engine is published.enyear1948/12/31Last edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum is published in the Vatican.enyear1948/12/31Kinsey Report, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', is published.enyear1949/01/01 UN sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which is still continuing as of 2012.enyear1949/01/02 Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.enyear1949/01/04 RMS ''Caronia'' of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage.enyear1949/01/04ampampampnbsp– February 22 ampndash Series of winter storms in Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado and Nevada ampndash winds of up to 72ampnbspmph ampndash tens of thousands of cattle and sheep perish.enyear1949/01/05 U.S. President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.enyear1949/01/05Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall.enyear1949/01/05KDKA-TV becomes the first local, on-air television station in the US.enyear1949/01/16 Şemsettin Günaltay forms the new government of Turkey. (18th government, last single party government of CHP)enyear1949/01/17 The first VW Type 1 to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought to New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models were sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff the car had no future in the U.S. (The Type 1 went on to become an automotive phenomenon.)enyear1949/01/19 The Poe Toaster first appears at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe.enyear1949/01/20 U.S. President Harry S. Truman begins his full term.enyear1949/01/20Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) established by Soviet Union and other communist nations.enyear1949/01/20The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.enyear1949/01/20In the first Israeli election, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.enyear1949/01/26 Australian citizenship comes into being and Constitution of India was prepared.enyear1949/01/31 Forces from the Communist Party of China enter Beijing.enyear1949/02/01 Rationing of clothes ends in Britain.enyear1949/02/10 ''Death of a Salesman'' opens in the Morosco Theatre and runs for 742 performances.enyear1949/02/13 António Óscar Carmona is re-elected president of Portugal for lack of an opposing candidate.enyear1949/02/19 Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.enyear1949/02/19Cincinnati Gardens opens in Cincinnati.enyear1949/02/19Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow, gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention in the United States.enyear1949/02/19World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires.enyear1949/02/19Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.enyear1949/03/02 The B-50 Superfortress ''Lucky Lady II'' under Captain James Gallagher lands in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).enyear1949/03/17 The Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas, owned by oil tycoon Glenn McCarthy, has its grand opening.enyear1949/03/20 The Chicago, Burlington amp Quincy, Denver amp Rio Grande Western, and Western Pacific railroads inaugurate the ''California Zephyr'' passenger train between Chicago and Oakland, California, as the first long distance train to feature Vista Dome cars as regular equipment.enyear1949/03/25 An extensive deportation campaign is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.enyear1949/03/26 The first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Aida'', conducted by legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert (i.e. no scenery or costumes), is telecast by NBC, live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. The second half is telecast a week later. This is the only complete opera that Toscanini ever conducts on television.enyear1949/03/26United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.enyear1949/03/26 News|accessdate=2008-12-07| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081208220913/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1503721.stm| archivedate= 8 December 2008 amp!--DASHBot--amp| deadurl= no}}ampampampamp{{cite book|last=Croswell|first=Ken|year=1995|chapter=Chapter 9|title=The Alchemy of the Heavens|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=0-385-47213-7}}ampampampamp{{cite book|last=Mitton|first=Simon|year=2005|title=Fred Hoyle: a Life in Science|page=127|publisher=Aurum Press|isbn=1-85410-961-8}}ampamp]]>enyear1949/03/29 The 21st Academy Awards ceremony is held.enyear1949/03/31 The former British colony of Newfoundland joins Canada as its 10th province.enyear1949/03/31Éire leaves the British Commonwealth and becomes the Republic of Ireland.enyear1949/03/31The Tokyo Stock Exchange is founded.enyear1949/04/04 The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.enyear1949/04/07 Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''South Pacific'', starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opens on Broadway and goes on to become RampH's second longest-running musical. It becomes an instant classic of the musical theatre. The score's biggest hit is the song quotSome Enchanted Eveningquot.enyear1949/04/08 Kathy Fiscus, 3½ years old, dies from falling down an abandoned well in San Marino, California.enyear1949/04/14 The day the N'Ko alphabet is held to have been completed by Solomana Kante.enyear1949/04/18 Éire formally becomes the Republic of Ireland.enyear1949/04/20 The Royal Navy frigate ''Amethyst'' goes up the Yangtze River to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of Mao's Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on April 26, she anchors 10 miles upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks.enyear1949/04/23 Chinese Communist troops take Nanjing.enyear1949/04/27 British Commonwealth of Nations renamed The Commonwealth.enyear1949/04/27India issues the London Declaration, enabling it (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the British Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth', and renaming the organisation as the 'Commonwealth of Nations'.enyear1949/04/27Former Philippine First Lady Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband her daughter and 10 others are also killed.enyear1949/04/29 The ''News Review'' reveals neither Selhurst College nor its headmaster H. Rochester Sneath exist.!--This is newsworthy why, exactly?--enyear1949/05/01 Nereid, a moon of Neptune, is discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper.enyear1949/05/05 The Council of Europe is founded by the signing of the Treaty of London.enyear1949/05/06 EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge University.{{cite journal|title=Pioneer computer to be rebuilt|journal=Cam|volume=62|date=Lent 2011|page=5}}enyear1949/05/09 Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Louis II.enyear1949/05/09Israel is admitted to the United Nations as its 59th member.enyear1949/05/09Siam officially changes its French name to ampquotThaïlandeampquot (English name to ampquotThailandampquot), having officially changed its Thai name to ampquotPrated Thaiampquot since 1939.enyear1949/05/12 Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.enyear1949/05/12The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA) is established.enyear1949/05/12The Kuomintang regime declares Taiwan under martial law.enyear1949/05/22 After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital, James Forrestal commits suicide, under circumstances that seem suspicious to many.enyear1949/05/23 The Federal Republic of Germany is established.enyear1949/06/02 Transjordan becomes the Kingdom of Jordan.enyear1949/06/05 Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first Thai female member of Thailand's Parliament.enyear1949/06/06 With the passage of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act by the Indian government, Mahabodhi Temple is restored to partial Buddhist control.enyear1949/06/06Red Scare: Celebrities including Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.enyear1949/06/06George Orwell's book ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' is published.enyear1949/06/14 Albert II, a rhesus monkey, becomes the first primate to enter space, on U.S. Hermes project V-2 rocket ''Blossom IVB'', but is killed on impact at return.enyear1949/06/19 Glenn Dunnaway wins the inaugural NASCAR race at Charlotte Speedway, a 3/4 mile oval in Charlotte, North Carolina, but is disqualified due to illegal springs. Jim Roper is declared the official winner.enyear1949/06/24 The first television western, ''Hopalong Cassidy'', airs on NBC.enyear1949/06/24Dock workers strike in the UK.enyear1949/06/24Apartheid: The ''South African Citizenship Act'' suspends the granting of citizenship to British Commonwealth immigrants after 5 years and imposes a ban on mixed marriages.enyear1949/07/01 The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India was establishedenyear1949/07/11 ''Pamir'' is the last ''commercial'' sailing ship to round Cape Horn under sail alone.enyear1949/07/19 The Kingdom of Laos is officially formed but is not independent from the French Army.enyear1949/07/20 Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their 19-month war.enyear1949/07/27 The de Havilland Comet, the Worlds First Jet-Powered Airliner, makes its first flight.enyear1949/07/30 Birth of legal aid in England and Wales.enyear1949/07/31 Captain Kerans of the ''HMS Amethyst'' decides to make a break after nightfall, under heavy fire from the Chinese People's Liberation Army on both sides of the Yangtze River, and successfully rejoins the fleet at Woosung the next day.enyear1949/08/05 A 6.75 Richter scale earthquake in Ecuador kills 6,000 and destroys 50 towns.enyear1949/08/08 Bhutan becomes independentenyear1949/08/12 The Fourth Geneva Convention is agreed to.enyear1949/08/12The Salvatore Giuliano Gang explodes mines under a police barracks outside Palermo, Sicily.enyear1949/08/12A military coup in Syria ousts the president.enyear1949/08/21 Deportivo Saprissa enters Costa Rica ampndash soccer's first division.enyear1949/08/22 The Queen Charlotte earthquake is Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.enyear1949/08/24 North Atlantic Treaty Organization established.enyear1949/08/28 The last 6 surviving veterans of the American Civil War meet in Indianapolis.enyear1949/08/28The Council of Europe meets for the first time.enyear1949/08/28The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, code named ampquotJoe 1ampquot. Its design imitates the American plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.enyear1949/08/31 The retreat of the Greek Democratic Army in Albania after its defeat at Mount Grammos marks the end of the Greek Civil War.enyear1949/08/31Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills thirteen neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir Luger to become America's first single-episode mass murderer.enyear1949/08/31Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to Germany.enyear1949/09/07 The Federal Republic of Germany is officially founded. Konrad Adenauer is the first federal chancellor.enyear1949/09/07Albert Guay affair: A dynamite bomb destroys Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-3 in Quebec.enyear1949/09/07Notorious World War II veteran Edwin Alonzo Boyd commits his first career bank robbery in Toronto.enyear1949/09/13 The Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership for Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal.enyear1949/09/17 The Canadian steamship ''SS Noronic'' burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.enyear1949/09/19 The United Kingdom government devalues the pound sterling from $4.03 to $2.80, leading to many other currencies being devalued.enyear1949/09/23 U.S. Harry S. Truman announced that the USSR had the atomic bombenyear1949/09/24 Laszlo Rajk, ex-foreign minister of Hungary, is sentenced to death.enyear1949/09/24The First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference approves a design for the Flag of the People's Republic of China.enyear1949/09/24Iva Toguri D'Aquino is found guilty of broadcasting for Japan as ampquotTokyo Roseampquot during World War II.enyear1949/10/01 The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed.enyear1949/10/07 The Democratic Republic of Germany DDR is established officiallyenyear1949/10/13 Severe flooding hits Guatemala.enyear1949/10/16 Civil war ends in Greece with a communist surrender.enyear1949/10/17 Chinese communist troops take Guangzhouenyear1949/10/17Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy in the Battle of Kuningtou their advance towards Taiwan is halted.enyear1949/10/17An airliner flying from Paris to New York crashes in the Azores island of São Miguel. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu and French boxer Marcel Cerdan.enyear1949/11/15 Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mohandas Gandhi.enyear1949/11/24 The ski resort in Squaw Valley, California officially opens.enyear1949/11/26http://lawmin.nic.in/coi.htm.]]>enyear1949/11/27 Indonesia is recognized.enyear1949/11/28http://www.ena.lu/address_given_winston_churchill_london_28_november_1949-020002899.html|title=Address given by Winston Churchill (London, 28 November 1949)|date=28 November 1949|publisher=european navigator The first digital library on the history of Europe|accessdate=2009-08-15}}]]>enyear1949/12/07 The government of the Republic of China finishes its evacuation to Taiwan, and declares Taipei its temporary capital city.enyear1949/12/08 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) established as a UN agency.enyear1949/12/10 Robert Menzies elected prime minister of Australia.enyear1949/12/14 Traicho Kostov, ex-vice prime minister of Bulgaria, is sentenced to death.enyear1949/12/15 A typhoon strikes a fishing fleet off Korea, killing several thousand.enyear1949/12/16 Sukarno is elected president of the Republic of Indonesia.enyear1949/12/17 Burma recognizes the People's Republic of China.enyear1949/12/27 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.enyear1949/12/30 India recognizes the People's Republic of China.enyear1949/12/30The Malta Labour Party is founded.enyear1949/12/30The Vatican announces that bones uncovered in its subterranean catacombs could be the apostle Peter 19 years later, Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first pope.ampampampquotYear by Year 1949ampquot – History Channel International.ampampenyear1949/12/30The first 20ampampnbspmm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun prototypes are completed.enyear1949/12/301949 was the first year in which no African-American was reported lynched in the USA.ampamp''From Harding to Hiroshima'' by Barrington Boardman (1988), p. 14. ISBN 0-934878-94-3ampampenyear1949/12/30Joseph Stalin launches a savage attack on Soviet Jews, accusing them of being pro-Western and antisocialist.enyear1949/12/30Samuel Putnam publishes his new translation of ''Don Quixote'', the first in what we would consider modern English. It is instantly acclaimed and, in 2008, is still in print.enyear1949/12/30Fernand Braudel's ''La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l'Epoque de Philippe II'' is published.enyear1950/01/01 The International Police Association (IPA) ampndash the largest police organization in the world ampndash is formed.enyear1950/01/05 U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of organized crime in the U.S.enyear1950/01/06 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.enyear1950/01/07 A fire consumes Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, killing 39 patients.enyear1950/01/09 The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.enyear1950/01/11 Huk guerrillas manhandle the town of Hermosa, Bataan in the Philippines.enyear1950/01/11The British submarine ''Truculent'' collides with a Swedish oil tanker in the Thames Estuary and sinks 64 die.enyear1950/01/11Cold War: U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson delivers his 'Perimeter Speech', outlining the boundary of U.S. security guarantees.enyear1950/01/13 Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.enyear1950/01/17 Great Brinks Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from the Brink's armored car company headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.enyear1950/01/21 Accused communist spy Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.enyear1950/01/23 The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.enyear1950/01/24 Cold War: Klaus Fuchs, German émigré and physicist, confesses to an MI5 interrogator that he is a Soviet spy: for 7 years, he passed top secret data on U.S. and British nuclear weapons research to the Soviet Union. Fuchs is formally charged on February 2. Christopher Andrew, ''Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5'' (Random House Digital, 2009) pp387-388enyear1950/01/26 India promulgates its constitution, forming a republic, and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.enyear1950/01/29 Lord Balfour criticizes the fact that rationing is still in force in Britain.enyear1950/01/29President Harry S. Truman orders the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949.ampref name=ampquotHCIampquotampampquotYear by Year 1950ampquot – History Channel Internationalampampenyear1950/01/29The last Kuomintang troops surrender in mainland China.enyear1950/02/01 Chiang Kai-shek is re-elected as a president of the Republic of China.enyear1950/02/04 Ingrid Bergman's illegitimate child arouses ire in the U.S.enyear1950/02/06 First Cabinet Secretary N.R.Pillai appointed in India.enyear1950/02/08 Payment first made by Diners Club card, in New York, first use of a charge card.enyear1950/02/09 Second Red Scare: In his speech to the Republican Women's Club at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with 205 Communists.enyear1950/02/09Two Viet Minh battalions attack a French base in French Indochina.enyear1950/02/09Finland recognizes Indonesia.enyear1950/02/09Pro-communist riots erupt in Paris.enyear1950/02/09The European Broadcasting Union is founded.enyear1950/02/09Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.enyear1950/02/09The U.S. Army begins to deploy anti-aircraft cannons to protect nuclear stations and military targets.enyear1950/02/09British Columbia B-36 crash - The U.S. Air Force loses a Convair B-36 bomber that carried an Mark 4 nuclear bomb off the west coast of Canada, and produces the world's first Broken Arrow.{{citation needed|date=February 2011}}amp!--Was this term, in fact, used in 1950? Does it really qualify, as the core was a lead training dummy?--ampenyear1950/02/14 Cold War:enyear1950/02/14The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.enyear1950/02/14In an election speech at Edinburgh, Winston Churchill proposes ampquota parley at the summitampquot with Soviet leaders, first use of term ampquotsummitampquot for such a meeting.ampref name=ampquotKynastonampquotamp{{cite book|first=David|last=Kynaston|title=Austerity Britain 1945-51|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7475-7985-4|page=385}}ampampenyear1950/02/14Juho Kusti Paasikivi is re-elected president of Finland.enyear1950/02/14Walt Disney releases his 12th animated film, ''Cinderella'' in Hollywood.enyear1950/02/19 Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany to begin unification.enyear1950/02/21 Cunard liner RMS Aquitania arrives at the scrapyard in Faslane at the end of a 36 year career, the longest of any in the 20th Century.enyear1950/02/23 United Kingdom general election, 1950 : The Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee remains in office but the Tories, led by Winston Churchill increase their seats in the House of Commons.enyear1950/02/23Klaus Fuchs is convicted in London of spying against both Britain and the United States for the Soviet Union, by giving to the latter top secret atomic bomb data.enyear1950/02/23Acting Chinese President Li Tsung-jen ends his term in office.enyear1950/02/23Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as Chinese president after moving his government to Taipei, Taiwan.enyear1950/03/03 Poland states that it intends to exile all Germans.enyear1950/03/03The Soviet Union claims to have an atomic bomb.enyear1950/03/03The first Volkswagen Type 2 (also known as the Microbus) rolls off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany.enyear1950/03/12 A plane carrying returning rugby fans from Ireland to Wales crashes near Llandow, with the loss of 80 lives.enyear1950/03/12March 13 ampndash In Belgium, the referendum over the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of King Léopold III, 42.3% against.enyear1950/03/14 The ship ''Cygnet'' hits a mine off the Dutch coast.enyear1950/03/17 University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they have named quotcaliforniumquot.enyear1950/03/18http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/18/newsid_2840000/2840237.stm | work=BBC News | title=1950: Government falls as Belgians vote for king | date=March 18, 1950}}]]>enyear1950/03/20 The Polish government decides to confiscate the property of the Polish Catholic Church.enyear1950/03/22 Egypt demands that Britain remove all its troops in the Suez Canal.enyear1950/03/22The 22nd Academy Awards ceremony is held.enyear1950/03/22World Meteorological Organization (WMO)enyear1950/03/22Influential British comic ''Eagle'' is launchedenyear1950/03/22NSC-68 is issued by the United States National Security Councilenyear1950/04/15 Belgian King Leopold III announces that he is ready to abdicate in favor of his son Baudouin.enyear1950/04/24 Jordan formally annexes the West Bank.enyear1950/04/24Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating the races.enyear1950/04/24Britain formally recognises Israel.enyear1950/05/01 UNRWA operations begin.enyear1950/05/01The town of Cazin (Bosnia) rises up against Communist agrarian reforms.enyear1950/05/01Tollund Man is unearthed in Denmark.enyear1950/05/01Robert Schuman presents his proposal for the creation of a pan-European organisation, which he believes to be indispensable to the maintenance of permanently peaceful relations between the different nations of the continent. This proposal, known as the ampquotSchuman declarationampquot, is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.enyear1950/05/01L. Ron Hubbard publishes ''Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health''.enyear1950/05/11 The Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime begin.enyear1950/05/13 The first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone, England.enyear1950/05/14 The Huntsville Times runs the headline, quot''Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon.''quotenyear1950/05/17Celal Bayar becomes the third president of Turkey.enyear1950/05/17Adnan Menderes of DP forms the new government of Turkey (19th government)enyear1950/05/24 Maritime Administration (under Department of Commerce).enyear1950/05/25 The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is formally opened to traffic.enyear1950/05/29 ''St. Roch'', the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.enyear1950/06/01June 23 ampndash Mauna Loa in Hawaii starts erupting.enyear1950/06/03 Annapurna I, 10th highest mountain in the world, is first ascended.enyear1950/06/06 Turkey: The Adhan in Arabic is legalized.enyear1950/06/08 Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history.enyear1950/06/25 Korean War begins: North Korean troops cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.enyear1950/06/26 The South African Parliament passes the Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950.enyear1950/06/27 Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman orders American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea.enyear1950/06/28 Korean War: North Korean forces capture Seoul.enyear1950/06/28 Korean War: Hangang Bridge bombing.enyear1950/06/28 Korean War: Seoul National University Hospital Massacre.enyear1950/07/16 Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1 to win the 1950 World Cup.enyear1950/07/17 The Suppression of Communism Act, passed on June 26, comes into force in South Africa.enyear1950/07/17Florence Chadwick swims across the English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes.enyear1950/07/17A bomb-laden B-29 Superfortress crashes into a residential area in California 17 are killed, 68 injured.enyear1950/08/06 Monarchist demonstrations lead to a riot in Brussels.enyear1950/08/08 Winston Churchill supports idea of a pan-European army allied with Canada and the U.S.enyear1950/08/12 Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre.enyear1950/08/12 In his encyclical ''Humani Generis'', Pope Pius XII declares evolution to be a serious hypothesis that did not contradict essential Catholic teachings.enyear1950/08/15 An earthquake and floods in Assam, India kill 574 and leave 5,000,000 homeless.enyear1950/08/17 Korean War: Hill 303 massacre.enyear1950/08/22 The Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary is founded in Tagbilaran City, Philippines.enyear1950/08/23 Legendary singer-actor Paul Robeson, whose passport had recently been revoked because of his alleged Communist affiliations, meets with U.S. officials in an effort to get it reinstated. He is unsuccessful, and it is not reinstated until 1958.enyear1950/08/23Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.enyear1950/08/23The comic strip ''Beetle Bailey'' is created by Mort Walker.enyear1950/08/23A coal mine collapse in New Cumnock, Scotland, kills 13 miners 116 are rescued.enyear1950/08/23The game show ''Truth or Consequences'' debuts on television.enyear1950/09/08 The Defense Production Act is enacted into law in the U.S., shaping American military contracting for the next 60 years.enyear1950/09/09 The U.S. state of California celebrates its centennial anniversary.enyear1950/09/12 Communist riots erupt in Berlin.enyear1950/09/15 Korean War ampndash Battle of Inchon: Allied troops commanded by Douglas MacArthur land in Inchon, occupied by North Korea, to begin a U.N. counteroffensive.enyear1950/09/19 West Germany decides to purge communist officials.enyear1950/09/22 World Dance Council inaugurated.enyear1950/09/26 Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations.enyear1950/09/30 NSC-68 is enacted by President Truman, setting U.S. foreign policy for the next 20 years.enyear1950/10/02 The comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven U.S. newspapers.enyear1950/10/03 Getúlio Dornelles Vargas is elected president of Brazil for a 5-year term.enyear1950/10/05 The Indonesian government quells riots in the Moluccas.enyear1950/10/05The 1950-1951 invasion of Tibet by People's Republic of China begins.enyear1950/10/05The Agate Pass Bridge opens for traffic in Washington State.enyear1950/10/09 Goyang Geumjeong Cave Massacre started.enyear1950/10/11 The Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).enyear1950/10/11The second Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens.enyear1950/10/11In East Germany, the Communists win 99.7% of the vote.enyear1950/10/19 Korean War: The People's Republic of China enters the conflict by sending thousands of soldiers across the Yalu Riverenyear1950/10/20 Australia passes the Communist Party Dissolution Act, which is later struck down by the High Court.enyear1950/10/28 Torcida Split is founded.enyear1950/10/30 The Jayuya Uprising is started by Puerto Rican Nationalists against the United States.enyear1950/10/30Pope Pius XII witnesses ampquotThe Miracle of the Sunampquot at the Vaticanampamp{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Pelletier|title=The Sun Danced at Fatima|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York|year=1983|pages=150, 151}}ampamp and defines a new dogma of Roman Catholicism, the Munificentissimus Deus, which says that God took Mary's body into Heaven after her death (the ampquotAssumption of the Blessed Virgin Maryampquot).enyear1950/10/30Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who is staying at the Blair-Lee House in Washington, D.C. during White House repairs.enyear1950/11/04 The United Nations ends the diplomatic isolation of Spain.enyear1950/11/08 Korean War: While in an F-80, United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown intercepts 2 North Korean MiG-15s near the Yalu River and shoots them down in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history.enyear1950/11/10 A U.S. Air Force B-50 Superfortress bomber, experiencing an in-flight emergency, jettisons and detonates a Mark 4 nuclear bomb over Quebec, Canada (the device lacked its plutonium core).enyear1950/11/11 The Mattachine Society is founded in Los Angeles as the first gay-liberation organization.enyear1950/11/11Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud is kidnapped and murdered in Caracas.enyear1950/11/11A Curtiss Reid Flying Services plane crashes while enroute to Paris from Rome, killing all 52 on board.enyear1950/11/18 The United Nations accepts the formation of the Libyan National Council.enyear1950/11/20 T. S. Eliot speaks against television in the UK.enyear1950/11/20Anti-British riots erupt in Egypt.enyear1950/11/20Shirley Temple announces her retirement from show business.enyear1950/11/24 A phenomenal winter storm ravages the northeastern United States, brings 30 to 50ampnbspinches of snow, temperatures below zero, and kills 323 people.enyear1950/11/26 Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launched a massive counterattack against South Korean and United Nations forces at the Ch'ongch'on River and the Chosin Reservoir, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.enyear1950/11/26Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asiaenyear1950/11/26Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations.enyear1950/11/29 The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is founded.enyear1950/11/30 Douglas MacArthur threatens to use nuclear weapons in Korea.enyear1950/11/30Korean War: General Walton Walker orders United Nations forces to evacuate North Korea.enyear1950/11/30Mt. Etna erupts in Sicily.enyear1950/12/11December 13 ampndash The Maria Hertogh riots occur in Singapore, leaving 18 dead and 173 injured.enyear1950/12/12 Paula Ackerman becomes the first woman in the United States to serve a congregation as a Rabbi.enyear1950/12/16 The Office of Defense Mobilization is established in the United States.enyear1950/12/24December 25 ampndash Scottish nationalists take the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey.enyear1950/12/28 The Peak District becomes Britain's first National Park.enyear1950/12/28The first pagers are developed.enyear1950/12/28The first TV remote control, Zenith Radio's ''Lazy Bones'', is marketed.enyear1950/12/28Canadians Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen and Frank Plomp introduce the plastic bin bag for garbage collection.enyear1950/12/28Myxomatosis is introduced into Australia in an attempt to control the escalating rabbit population.enyear1950/12/28IBM Israel begins operating in Tel Aviv.enyear1950/12/28President Harry Truman sends United States military advisers to Vietnam to aid French forces.enyear1950/12/28France institutes a government-guaranteed minimum wage.enyear1950/12/28Knox's Translation of the Vulgate Old Testament (commissioned by the Catholic Church) is published.enyear1950/12/28The Pathet Lao is formed from an unknown insurgency in Laos to overthrow the French Army within the nation and Laos enters the First Indochina War.enyear1950/12/28Total world population:enyear1950/12/28Africa: 221,214,000enyear1950/12/28Asia: 1,398,488,000enyear1950/12/28Europe: 547,403,000enyear1950/12/28Latin America: 167,097,000enyear1950/12/28North America: 171,616,000enyear1950/12/28Oceania: 12,812,000.enyear