1950 CE

The Korean War begins as North Korea invades the South in the Battle of Inchon; the Annexation of Tibet by China brings Tibet under Chinese control; the 1950 FIFA World Cup ends with Uruguay’s Maracanazo upset over Brazil; McCarthyism drives anti-communist hysteria in the U.S.; the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake causes massive destruction; the Treaty of Zgorzelec confirms the Oder–Neisse border; the Jayuya Uprising challenges U.S. rule in Puerto Rico; Typhoon Jane devastates Japan; and King Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned.

In the 1950s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 6 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.source
  • January 9 – The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.source
  • January 13 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.source
  • January 23 – The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.source
  • January 26 – India promulgates its constitution, forming a republic, and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president. The Kingdom of Mysore is merged into the new republic.source
  • February 1 – Chiang Kai-shek is re-elected as president of the Republic of China.source
  • February 6 – In India, the first Cabinet Secretary (N. R. Pillai) is appointed.source
  • February 14 – In an election speech at Edinburgh, Winston Churchill proposes "a parley at the summit" with Soviet leaders, the first use of the term "summit" for such a meeting.source
  • February 15 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi is re-elected president of Finland.source
  • February 19 – Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany, to begin reunification.source
  • February 23 – 1950 United Kingdom general election: 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.source
  • March 1 – Acting President of the Republic of China Li Zongren ends his term in office and Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as president, after moving the government of the Republic to Taipei, Taiwan.source
  • 1 March – Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as Chinese president after moving his government to Taipei, Taiwan.Taiwansource
  • March 12 – Royal question: 1950 Belgian monarchy referendum – In Belgium, a referendum on the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of King Leopold III from exile to resume exercise of his constitutional powers, 42.3% against. The King has said he would abdicate if he did not receive 55% support, and that the final decision would be for the federal parliament.source
  • March – Estonian Communist Party was gone under Moscow control. Many intellectuals were fired and replaced by "leading workers". These "leading workers" were imported from USSR.Estoniasource
  • 2 April – Liaquat Ali Khan visits Delhi for meetings with Indian Prime Minister Nehru.Pakistansource
  • April 27 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating the races.source
  • May 9 – Robert 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 "Schuman Declaration", is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what becomes the European Union.source
  • May 22 – Celâl Bayar becomes the third president of Turkey and Adnan Menderes of the DP forms the new government of Turkey (19th government).source
  • 28 May - 1950 Albanian parliamentary election: the Democratic Front won the election with 99.4% of votesAlbaniasource
  • June 15 – Cagayan de Oro in the province of Misamis Oriental becomes a city through Republic Act 521 and ratified on the same day.Philippinessource
  • 21 June – The port of Eilat on the Red Sea is inaugurated with the arrival a ship from Aden containing Torah scrolls and religious articles transferred from the Jewish community of Yemen to Israel.Israelsource
  • July 6 - Treaty of Zgorzelec was signed between the Republic of Poland and East Germany (GDR).Germanysource
  • July 17 – The Suppression of Communism Act (passed on June 26 by the Parliament of South Africa) comes into force in South Africa.source
  • August 1 – Royal question: King Leopold III of Belgium publicly announces that he will abdicate in favor of his son, Baudouin.source
  • 7 August – Laureano Gómez of the Conservative Party becomes the 18th President of Colombia.Colombiasource
  • August 8 – Winston Churchill supports the idea of a pan-European army, allied with Canada and the U.S.source
  • August 22 – France announces the introduction of a government-guaranteed minimum wage.source
  • October 3 – Getúlio Vargas is elected president of Brazil for a 5-year term.source
  • November 4 – The United Nations ends the diplomatic isolation of Spain.source
  • November 18 – The United Nations accepts the formation of the Libyan National Council.source
  • November 28 – Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations.source
  • Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan : Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku MuhammadMalayasource

Conflict & Security

  • January 24 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs, German émigré physicist, confesses to a British MI5 interrogator that he is a Soviet spy: for seven 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.source
  • February 11 – Two Viet Minh battalions attack a French base in French Indochina.source
  • April 21 – Nainital wedding massacre: A mass stabbing occurs at Nainital in India, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.source
  • May 6 – Cazin rebellion in Bosnia against Communist agrarian reforms.source
  • May 17 – Israeli Air Force Spitfires intercept a British Royal Air Force Short Sunderland when it inadvertently crosses into Israeli airspace, forcing it to land at Lod Airport. The Sunderland's crew have been issued maps that do not depict Israel, as Britain had not recognized the Jewish state at the time they were issued.source
  • 17 May – A Royal Air Force Short Sunderland is confronted by Israeli Air Force Spitfires and is forced to land at Lod Airport after it inadvertently crosses into Israeli airspace and overflies Ramat David Airbase. The Sunderland's crew had been issued maps that did not depict Israel, as Britain had only recently recognized the country.Israelsource
  • 24 May - Clashes between Albanian forces and Greek forces in Gramos killed six Albanian soldiers and left seven more injured.Albaniasource
  • June 8 – Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history.source
  • June 25 – The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People's Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.source
  • 25 June – The Korean War begins. Luxembourg pledges its support to the United Nations. Soldiers from Luxembourg will form a platoon of A Company, Belgian United Nations Command.Luxembourgsource
  • June 28 – Bodo League massacre begins: South Korean armed forces and police summarily execute at least 100,000 suspected North Korean sympathizers.source
  • By 7:30 pm, the 9th Regiment of the North Korean Army's Third Division had reached the suburbs of Seoul, the South Korean capital; by 9:30 pm, sixty-seven hours after the attack had started, North Korean tanks had arrived at the gardens of the Changdeokgung Palace.North Koreasource
  • July 14–21 – Korean War: Battle of Taejon – North Korean forces capture the city held by the U.S. 24th Infantry Division, but the delay allows establishment of the Pusan Perimeter.source
  • July 20 – Air Battle of South Korea: After a month-long campaign, the majority of North Korea's People's Air Force is destroyed by anti-communist forces.source
  • July 22 – Royal question in Belgium: King Leopold III returns from exile, provoking a general strike, particularly in Wallonia.source
  • July 30 – 4 workers striking over the "Royal question" in Belgium are shot dead by the Gendarmerie, at Grâce-Berleur near Liège.source
  • August 5 – 2 Squadron SAAF departs from South Africa to take part in the Korean War.source
  • 16 August - Prince Souphanouvong joins the Viet Minh in Hanoi and becomes the leader of the Pathet Lao.Laossource
  • August 23 – Legendary African American singer-actor Paul Robeson, whose passport has 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.source
  • 6 September - General Mohammad Ayub Khan, becomes the first Pakistani as Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.Pakistansource
  • September 15 – Korean War: Battle of Inchon – Allied troops commanded by Douglas MacArthur land in Inchon, occupied by North Korea, to begin a U.N. counteroffensive.source
  • September 19 – Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces is repelled at the Battle of Nam River.source
  • October 7 – Battle of Chamdo: The Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, begins with the Chinese People's Liberation Army invading across the Jinsha River. By October 19 they will have taken the border town of Chamdo, and the Tibetan army will have surrendered.source
  • October 9 – The Goyang Geumjeong Cave massacre begins in South Korea.source
  • October 30 – The Jayuya Uprising is started by Puerto Rican Nationalists against the United States-supported government.source
  • November 1 – Puerto 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.source
  • November 8 – 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.source
  • 20 November – The International Court of Justice hands down their decision on Colombia v. Peru or the Asylum case, siding with Peru. This allows Peru to deny Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, leader of the American People's Revolutionary Alliance, safe passage to political asylum in Colombia.Colombiasource
  • November 26 – Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and United Nations forces at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.source
  • December 2 – Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with the Chinese People's Volunteer Army expelling United Nations forces from North Korea.source
  • 11–13 December – The Maria Hertogh riots took place a few days after the verdict, worsened by inflammatory news coverage. The riots left eighteen people dead and 173 injured.Singaporesource
  • President Harry Truman sends United States military advisers to Vietnam, to aid French forces.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • 22 February – Halvor Møgster, Olympic sailor (born 1875)Norwaysource
  • 28 February – An airport is opened at Eilat.Israelsource
  • 8 May – The Tollund Man is discovered.Denmarksource
  • May 29 – St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.source
  • May 29 - The St. Roch becomes the first vessel to circumnavigate North AmericaCanadasource
  • June 3 – Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, of the French Annapurna expedition, become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.source
  • November 2 – South African Airways inaugurates daily services between Johannesburg and Bulawayo and between Johannesburg and Cape Town.South Africasource
  • November 28 – The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia comes into effect.source
  • Margaret Rintoul takes line honours and Nerida wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht RaceAustraliasource
  • New Zealand Trotting Cup – ChamferNew Zealandsource
  • American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith visits the UK to take photographs of working-class life; three of those published are of the South Wales valleys.Walessource

Religion & Belief

  • The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, originally known as the Diocese of Karachi, erected on 20 May 1948, was elevated as the Archdiocese of Karachi on 15 July 1950.Pakistansource
  • June 4: The Diocese of Toluca is erected.Mexicosource
  • June 6 – In Turkey, the Adhan (call to prayer) in Arabic is permitted by law after a ban of 18 years.source
  • 16 July – Ezan (call for prayer) which had been translated into Turkish during the CHP governments was restored to traditional Arabic.Turkeysource
  • August 12 – In his encyclical Humani generis, Pope Pius XII requires Catholic theologians to defer to the teachings of the Church as a whole but declares evolution to be a serious hypothesis that does not contradict essential Catholic views.source
  • August 22 – The Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary is founded in Tagbilaran City, Philippines.source
  • 23 October – Wirtgen Ferdinand is appointed to the Council of State.Luxembourgsource
  • October 29 – Upon the death of Gustaf V of Sweden, he is succeeded as king by his 68-year-old son Gustaf VI Adolf.source
  • November 1 – Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" at the Vatican 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 "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary").source
  • November 17 – Tenzin Gyatso, 15, is formally enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama, becoming temporal ruler of Tibet.source
  • 19 November – Alexandru Todea is secretly consecrated bishop of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.Romaniasource
  • November 29 – The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is founded.source
  • The founding of kibbutz Ein HaShloshaIsraelsource
  • Sultan of Kedah : Sultan BadlishahMalayasource
  • The Grace Assembly of God is founded.Singaporesource

Economy & Finance

  • Food and fuel shortages and the Tzena (Austerity program) leads to a growing black market.Israelsource
  • February 13 – British Columbia B-36 crash: The U.S. Air Force loses a Convair B-36 bomber that carried a Mark 4 nuclear bomb off the west coast of Canada, and produces the world's first Broken Arrow.source
  • April 30 - The last Ration stamps (for sugar) expire in West Germany; In the GDR, food stamps were still in use until 1958.Germanysource
  • May 24 – The United States Maritime Administration is formed (under the Department of Commerce).source
  • 19 June – Empresa Nacional del Petróleo is created.Chilesource
  • 2 September – François Simon replaces Aloyse Hentgen as Minister for Economic Affairs and Agriculture.Luxembourgsource
  • September 26 – Sasol (Suid-Afrikaanse Steenkool, Olie en Gaskorporasie Bpk.) is registered as a company.South Africasource
  • December 12: Hayato Ikeda, future Prime Minister of Japan, remarks in the National Diet that "the poor should eat barley".Japansource
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by NorwoodAustraliasource
  • Increase since 31 December 1949: 35,600 (1.88%).New Zealandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 8 – A payment is first made by Diners Club card, in New York, United States (the first use of a charge card).source
  • February 12 – The European Broadcasting Union is founded.source
  • February 21 – Cunard liner Aquitania arrives at the scrapyard in Faslane at the end of a 36-year career, the longest of any in the 20th Century.source
  • 6 March – A new postal district system dividing Singapore into 28 districts is launched, making it the first ever system.Singaporesource
  • March 8 – The first Volkswagen Type 2 (also known as the Microbus) rolls off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany.source
  • 11 March – The radio station Kol Zion Lagolah (The Voice of Zion to the Diaspora) begins broadcasting in English, French and Yiddish.Israelsource
  • March 22 – Egypt demands that Britain remove all its troops from the Suez Canal zone.source
  • May 1 – UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, begins operations.source
  • May 25 – The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel is formally opened to traffic in New York City.source
  • June 28 – Hangang Bridge bombing: The South Korean army, in an attempt to defend Seoul, blows up the Hangang Bridge while it is crowded with refugees.source
  • June 28 - As invading North Korean troops advanced toward bridges over the Han River, engineers of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army of South Korea had rigged explosives. In the meantime, South Korean civilians and soldiers were fleeing across to avoid being trapped behind enemy lines. Detonation of the bombs at the main bridge, at Hangang, had been set for 1:30 a.m. General Kim Pak Il, the ROK Deputy Chief of Staff, delayed the blast for 45 minutes, but at 2:15 a.m., the blast order was given, destroying two spans of the Hangang Bridge and dropping thousands of persons in a 75-foot plunge to the river, killing at least 500 people; a railroad bridge across the river remained standing, however. The ROK Chief Engineer, Choi Chang-sik, would be blamed for the mistake and executed. North Korean forces captured Seoul at noon, three days and eight hours after the invasion began.North Koreasource
  • 3 July – Ulster Transport Authority closes the Ballycastle Railway and the Ballymena and Larne Railway.Northern Irelandsource
  • August 8 – American Florence Chadwick swims the English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes, beating the women's record for the crossing.source
  • On August 26, about 300–400 Huks launch an early morning raid of Santa Cruz, Laguna, loot the provincial capitol and even burn buildings, release 20 prisoners and kidnap 9 guards from the provincial jail, and kill at least seven—including three policemen; a battle ensues as Huks destroy two bridges in neighboring towns.Philippinessource
  • September 18 – Rede Tupi, the first television broadcast network in South America, is founded in Brazil.source
  • September: The Viaducto Miguel Alemán is opened.Mexicosource
  • October 7 – The Agate Pass Bridge opens for traffic in Washington State.source
  • October 11 – The Federal Communications Commission in the United States issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).source
  • IBM Israel begins operating in Tel Aviv.source
  • Unknown – Goodyear tyre factory is opened at Colmar-Berg.Luxembourgsource
  • Menteri Besar of Pahang : Mahmud MatMalayasource

Science & Discovery

  • 4 January – A decree is passed amending petroleum law.Colombiasource
  • April 2 — Drifting ice station North Pole-2 is established.Soviet Unionsource
  • April 14 – Influential British adventure comic Eagle is launched.source
  • May 14 – The Huntsville Times runs the headline "Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon."source
  • 24 September – The airlift of some 50,000 Jews from Yemen and Aden to Israel, called Operation Magic Carpet, is completed.Israelsource
  • October 2 – The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven U.S. newspapers.source
  • October – Turing test published.source
  • November 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 lacks its plutonium core).source
  • Canadians Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen and Frank Plomp introduce the plastic bin bag, for garbage collection.source
  • Grey Boots wins the Caulfield CupAustraliasource
  • Ulrich Becher - Brasilianischer Romanzero (published in Vienna)Brazilsource
  • Unknown date – The Evidence Act 1950 was enacted.Malayasource
  • Auckland Trotting Cup – Victory GlobeNew Zealandsource
  • W. Gibb and H.J. van Zyl – Silver, pairsSouth Africasource

Health & Medicine

  • January 7 – A fire in the St Elizabeth's Ward of Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, United States, kills 41 patients.source
  • January 31 – United States President 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.source
  • January 31 – President 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.United Statessource
  • February 9 – In Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin makes a speech that claims to have 205 communists in the U.S. State Department.source
  • 11 February – Anders Sandvig, dentist and ethnologist (born 1862)Norwaysource
  • February 12 – Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.source
  • 20 February – Romania withdraws from the World Health Organization.Romaniasource
  • 4 June – Butter rationing, introduced in October 1943, is abolished.New Zealandsource
  • 31 July – The austerity program is broadened to include rationing of clothing and shoes.Israelsource
  • 31 July – Warwickshire's Eric Hollies beats Nobby Clark's record of 65 innings without reaching double figures when dismissed for 7 against Worcestershire. Hollies will eventually make it 71 before scoring 14 against Nottinghamshire on 16 August.United Kingdomsource
  • September 19 – West Germany decides to purge communist officials.source
  • 22 October – Census (population 20,947,188)Turkeysource
  • Myxomatosis is introduced into Australia, in an attempt to control the escalating rabbit population.source
  • St. Margaret's Hospice in Clydebank, the first modern hospice in Scotland, is begun by the Sisters of Charity.Scotlandsource

Crime & Justice

  • January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.source
  • January 21 – In the United States, suspected spy Alger Hiss is convicted on two counts of perjury.source
  • February 8 – The Stasi is founded in East Germany, and acts as a secret police until 1990.source
  • March 1 – Klaus 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.source
  • 28 March – Bodies of three children from 'Abasan, killed by members of Battalion 22 on 16 March, are found in Israel.Israelsource
  • 19 April – With the Decree 92, a huge number of private houses and lands are confiscated.Romaniasource
  • May 8 – Tollund Man is unearthed in Denmark.source
  • May 11 – The Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime begin.source
  • 31 May – Vic Toweel defeats World Bantamweight Champion Manuel Ortiz on points over 15 rounds at Wembley Stadium and becomes the first South African world boxing champion.South Africasource
  • June 13 - The three North Korean "peace representatives", who had crossed into South Korea on Saturday, were arrested.North Koreasource
  • October 18 – Combined forces of the Military Intelligence Service and the Manila Police Department launch 22 simultaneous raids, resulting to the capture of the entire Huk Politburo in the city.Philippinessource
  • November 13 – The President of Venezuela, Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, is kidnapped and murdered in Caracas.source
  • Raid Pyrénéen, a French timed bicycle challenge, is first staged.source
  • Caraça, Porta do Céu, directed by Theodor Luts, starring José Álvaro Morais.Brazilsource
  • Residents-Commissioner : Arthur Vincent AstonMalayasource
  • Algodoneros del Unión Laguna win the Mexican League.Mexicosource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 aboard are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.source
  • January 5 — 1950 Sverdlovsk air disasterSoviet Unionsource
  • January 12 – British submarine HMS Truculent collides with Swedish oil tanker Divina in the Thames Estuary and sinks; 64 die.source
  • February 6 – In West Virginia, 372,000 coal miners strike (they remain out until March 3).source
  • 8 February – Petrol rationing ends, nearly ten years after it was introduced during World War II.Australiasource
  • March 12 – A plane carrying returning rugby fans from Ireland to Wales crashes near Llandow, with the loss of 80 lives.source
  • 12 March – Llandow air disaster: 83 people die when a plane carrying Welsh rugby fans home from Belfast crashes in South Wales.Northern Irelandsource
  • 16 April – An apartment building in Jaffa collapses, killing ten and injuring dozens more.Israelsource
  • July 7: Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto is burned to the ground by a 22-year-old novice monk.Japansource
  • 28 July: A Constellation plane crashes into Morro do Chapéu, near Porto Alegre airport, killing 50 people.Brazilsource
  • August 5 – 1950 Fairfield-Suisun Boeing B-29 crash: A bomb-laden Boeing B-29 Superfortress crashes into a residential area in California, United States, killing 17 people and injuring 68.source
  • August 22 – August 30 - Rail workers strike shuts down much of the Canadian economyCanadasource
  • September 7 – The Knockshinnoch Disaster in Scotland kills 13 coal miners; 116 are rescued.source
  • 3 November - Air India Flight 245 crashed near Mont Blanc, France.Indiasource
  • November 13 – A Curtiss Reid Flying Services plane crashes while en route to Paris from Rome, killing all 52 on board.source
  • November 24 – A phenomenal winter storm ravages the northeastern United States, brings 30–50 inches of snow and temperatures below zero, and kills 323 people.source

Climate & Environment

  • February – The Ad Hoc Committee on Slavery of the United Nations is formally inaugurated with its first meeting at Lake Success in February 1950.source
  • 5–6 February - Snow falls for two days throughout the country, in a rare meteorological phenomenon for the coastal plain and the Negev desert.Israelsource
  • June 1–23 – Mauna Loa in Hawaii starts erupting.source
  • 5 June – Bihar High Court struck down Bihar Management of Estates and Tenures Act, 1949 as unconstitutional.Indiasource
  • August 15 – The 8.6 Mw Assam–Tibet earthquake shakes the region, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing about 4,800 people.source
  • September 4: Typhoon Jane, tidal wave and flash flood hit around Osaka Bay, official death toll was 539 persons, with 26,062 persons were wounded, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.Japansource
  • 9 December - An intraplate earthquake of magnitude 8.2 occurs inside the Department of Loa, near CalamaChilesource
  • Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve is proclaimed a protected state forest.South Africasource
  • date unknown - After being grounded because of a shortage of equipment, the airline Transportes Aéreos Bandeirantes is sold to Lóide Aéreo Nacional.Brazilsource
  • Heiðmörk was proclaimed a municipal conservation area of Reykjavík.Icelandsource
  • Sultan of Johor : Sultan Ibrahim Al-MasyhurMalayasource

Culture & Society

  • 17 March – 1950 Campeonato Profesional: The División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (DIMAYOR) announces that all teams in the tournament must wear jersey numbers and follow the predetermined times for matches from now on.Colombiasource
  • March 23 – The 22nd Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood. All the King's Men (1949 film) is Best Picture.source
  • 28 April - His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej married Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara in Lausanne.Thailandsource
  • May 5 – Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), king of Thailand since 1946, is crowned, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok.source
  • May 13 – The first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship in automobile racing is held, at Silverstone, England.source
  • 18 May - Peshawar University is established.Pakistansource
  • May 22 – Recorded premiere of Four Last Songs (1948) by German composer Richard Strauss (died 1949) given by the composer's choice of soloist, Norwegian-born soprano Kirsten Flagstad, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler at the Royal Albert Hall in London, sponsored by Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, Sultan of Mysore.source
  • May 29 – The pilot series of the world's longest-running radio soap opera, The Archers, is first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in the U.K. It will still be running more than 75 years later.source
  • June 16 – Maracanã Stadium, which becomes a well-known sports venue of Brazil, opens in Rio de Janeiro, in advance of the opening of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in the country on June 24.source
  • 3 July – The Singapore Tiger Standard was founded by millionaire Aw Boon Haw.Singaporesource
  • July 16 – Uruguay beats Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup, the match dubbed the Maracanazo.source
  • 1 August–14 August – In protest against the rationing policy of the Austerity program, shopkeepers begin a two-week strike.Israelsource
  • 17 August – Princess Alix marries Antoine Maria Joachim Lamoral, 14th Prince of Ligne.Luxembourgsource
  • September 3 – Italian racing driver Giuseppe Farina becomes the first winner of the FIA Formula One World Championship, being the only driver to win the championship in his home country.source
  • October 28 – Torcida Split is founded, in support of the Association football club HNK Hajduk Split, in SFR Yugoslavia.source
  • December 31 – The inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring automobile endurance race is held in Florida.source
  • Summer – The first newspaper for the Romanian minority in modern Hungary, Foaia Românească ("The Romanian Sheet"), is founded.source
  • Knox's Translation of the Vulgate Old Testament (commissioned by the Catholic Church) is published.source
  • CS Mindelense won the Cape Verdean Football ChampionshipCape Verdesource
  • 4–11 February - Malaya competed for the first time in the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand. The Malaya team had most success in weightlifting, with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.Malayasource

Births

Deaths

  • January 15 – Henry H. Arnold, American general and aviation pioneer (born 1886)source
  • January 21 – George Orwell, British author (born 1903)source
  • 1 February – Pierre Prüm, politician and Prime MinisterLuxembourgsource
  • March 30 – Léon Blum, French statesman, 2-time Prime Minister of France (born 1872)source
  • April 8 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Soviet ballet dancer, choreographer (born 1889)source
  • 12 April - Pal Mëlyshi - LANÇ activist and Sigurimi memberAlbaniasource
  • April 14 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage and jivanmukta (born 1879)source
  • May 24 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal (born 1883)source
  • May 25 – Yong Yit Lin, former President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (born 1897).Singaporesource
  • July 22 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canadian political leader, 10th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1874)source
  • August 12 – Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre – 75 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.source
  • August 17 – Korean War: Hill 303 massacre – 39 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.source
  • September 11 – Jan Smuts, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (born 1870)source
  • October 23 – Al Jolson, American musician, actor (The Jazz Singer) (born 1886)source
  • November 2 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856)source
  • December 5 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru (born 1872)source
  • December 15 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian political leader (born 1875)source
  • date unknown – Arturo Acevedo Vallarino, film director (born 1873).Colombiasource