date: June 25

text: June 25 – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is published for the first time as Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 14 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944 ("The Annex: Diary Notes from 14 June 1942 – 1 August 1944") in Amsterdam, two years after the writer's death in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.


date: July 9

section: Culture & Society

text: July 9 – King George VI of the United Kingdom announces the engagement of his daughter Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten.

source_section: Events › July


date: September 22

text: September 22 – The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Cominform) is founded by the International Communist Movement.

source_section: Events › September


date: November 6

text: November 6 – The television program Meet the Press makes its debut, on the NBC-TV network in the United States.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Wataru Misaka makes the roster of the New York Knicks to become the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Misaka has led the Utah Utes to the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Arturo Toscanini conducts a concert performance of the first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello, for a broadcast on NBC Radio in the United States. The second half of the opera is broadcast a week later.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is officially inaugurated in Madrid, and hosts its first Association football match.


date: January 8

section: Births

text: January 8 – David Bowie, English singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2016)

source_section: Births › January


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (Mickey Mouse) (d. 2009)

source_section: Births › February


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Mitt Romney, American businessman, politician, Governor of Massachusetts, 2012 presidential candidate, and US Senator (R-UT)

source_section: Births › March


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines, daughter of president Diosdado Macapagal

source_section: Births › April


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, African-American basketball player, actor (Airplane!)


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Punjabi saint, Sikh theologian, military leader (d. 1984)

source_section: Births › June


text: July 9 – O. J. Simpson, African-American football player and actor (d. 2024)

source_section: Births › July


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Queen Camilla, Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms since 2022 as the wife of Charles III


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American actor, bodybuilder and 38th Governor of California


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Stephen King, American writer and novelist, specializing in the horror genre

source_section: Births › September


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Sheikh Hasina, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Hillary Clinton, American politician, First Lady, US Senator (D-Ny.), Secretary of State, and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate

source_section: Births › October


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Greg Lake, English musician, producer (King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer) (d. 2016)

source_section: Births › November


text: December 14 – Dilma Rousseff, 36th President of Brazil

source_section: Births › December


date: January 20

section: Deaths

text: January 20 – Josh Gibson, African-American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1911)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: March 28

text: March 28 – Johnny Evers, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1881)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Paul I becomes King of Greece, aged 45, following the death of his brother, King George II.

source_section: Events › April


text: April 16 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp (executed) (b. 1900)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak politician, Roman Catholic priest, 1st Prime Minister of Slovakia and President of Slovakia (executed) (b. 1887)


date: May 17

text: May 17 – George Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Frederick Russell Burnham, American Scout, father of the international Scouting movement (b. 1861)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Traian Brăileanu, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian sociologist and politician (b. 1882)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Frances Cleveland, First Lady of the United States (b. 1864)


date: November 25

text: November 25 – The new Pakistan Army and Pashtun mercenaries overrun Mirpur in Kashmir, resulting in the death of 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs.

source_section: Events › November


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American president of Columbia University, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1862)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Alfred North Whitehead, British mathematician, philosopher (b. 1861)


date: January 1

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: January 1 – The current Constitutions of Italy and of New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) go into effect.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the 'Union of Burma', with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu its first Prime Minister.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – British foreign secretary Ernest 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.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Ceylon (later known as Sri Lanka) becomes an independent country, within the British Commonwealth adopting King George VI as the King of Ceylon.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 18

text: February 18 – Éamon de Valera, Irish head of government from 1918 to 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach by President Seán T. O'Kelly, until 1960.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – The 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India convenes in Calcutta.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – The Round Table Conference convenes in The Hague, Netherlands, to prepare the decolonization process for the Caribbean island of Aruba and the other Dutch Colonies. Aruba presents the mandate of the Aruban People for Aruba to become an independent country, under the sovereignty 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.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 3

text: April 3 – United States President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Italian general election, 1948: The first democratic general election with universal suffrage is held in Italy. The Christian Democracy party achieves a majority over the Popular Democratic Front Communist-Socialist coalition.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – The Israeli Declaration of Independence is made. David Ben-Gurion becomes the first prime minister, a provisional position that will become formalized on February 14, 1949.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 18

text: May 18 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanjing.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – The United States Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – The Dominion of Newfoundland votes to join Canada, after a referendum.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 26

text: July 26 – U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.


date: July

text: 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)


date: August 10

text: August 10–23 – The Herrenchiemsee convention prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The southern half of Korea is established as the Republic of Korea (South Korea).


date: August 18

text: August 18 – The Danube Commission is created by the Belgrade Convention (enters into force 11 May 1949).


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Margaret Chase Smith of Maine is elected United States Senator, becoming the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

source_section: Events › September


date: November 2

text: November 2 – 1948 United States presidential election: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey, "Dixiecrat" Strom Thurmond and Progressive party candidate Henry A. Wallace.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's 12th prime minister.


date: December 9

text: December 9 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Genocide Convention.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 10

text: December 10 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.


date: January 12

section: Conflict & Security

text: January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is shot by Nathuram Godse in New Delhi.


date: February 11

text: February 11 – General Douglas Gracey becomes Commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état: Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia, cedes control of the country to the Communist Party, a day celebrated by that regime as "Victorious February" (; ) until November 1989.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Haganah launches Operation Nachshon, provoking the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.


date: April 9

text: April 9 – The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in British Mandatory Palestine.


date: April 22

text: April 22 – Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Battle of Haifa – Jewish paramilitary group Haganah captures Haifa from the Arab Liberation Army.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – 1948 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 after declaring war.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Malayan Emergency: A state of emergency is declared in the Federation of Malaya, due to a communist insurgency.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.


date: July 14

text: July 14 – The attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, results in numerous strikes all over the country.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – American defector Elizabeth Bentley, previously working on behalf of the Soviet Union, appears under subpoena before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of the United States House of Representatives regarding Communist espionage; she implicates Whittaker Chambers.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Babrra massacre: About 600 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are shot dead on the orders of the Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri, on Babrra ground in the Hashtnagar region of Charsadda District, North-West Frontier Province (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Toho strikes: A sitdown strike at Toho film studio in Tokyo ends after the studio is surrounded by 2,000 police and a platoon of U.S. Eighth Army soldiers.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Lee Pressman, Nathan Witt and John Abt, represented by Harold I. Cammer, plead the Fifth Amendment, in response to allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers before the HUAC.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Whittaker Chambers states that Alger Hiss was a communist on Meet the Press radio.


date: September 13

text: September 13–18 – Indian annexation of Hyderabad ("Operation Polo"): The princely state of Hyderabad is invaded by the Indian Armed Forces in a "police action", in the aftermath of Pakistani leader Jinnah's death. The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his state, which is amalgamated into the newly independent Dominion of India; thousands are killed as a result of this event.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Lehi members, also known as the Stern Gang, assassinate Swedish count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator in Palestine, in Jerusalem.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War: Massacres of Palestinian Arab villagers by the Israel Defense Forces:

source_section: Events › October


date: November 1

text: November 1 – A boiler and ammunition explosion aboard merchant ship Xuan Huai evacuating troops of the Republic of China Army from Yingkou, China for Taiwan causes thousands of deaths.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do so.


date: December 11

text: December 11–12 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Scots Guards shoot 24 Chinese villagers in Malaya.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive Egyptians from the Negev.


date: August 17

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: August 17 – The HUAC holds a private session between Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers.


date: March 8

section: Religion & Belief

text: March 8 – McCollum v. Board of Education: The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) is founded at Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo 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.


date: August 23

text: August 23 – The World Council of Churches is established in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – The city of Rabwah is established in Pakistan.


text: November 1 – Athenagoras I is elected the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.


text: November 17 – Whittaker Chambers produces secret government papers, handwritten and typewritten by Alger Hiss, during pretrial examination.


date: January 1

section: Economy & Finance

text: January 1 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – The United States stock car racing organization NASCAR is founded by Bill France Sr. with other drivers.


date: April 16

text: April 16 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is founded, as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC).

source_section: Events › April


date: April

text: April – Children's Bargain Town, a predecessor of toy and child-related retailer Toys "R" Us, is founded in Washington, D.C., United States.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – The Deutsche Mark becomes the official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Lotte Group, a global conglomerate in Northeast Asia (South Korea and Japan), is founded.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – American economist and former State Department official and spy for the Soviet Union Laurence Duggan falls to his death, from the 16th story window of his Manhattan office.


section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: January 1 – The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British Railways.


date: January

text: Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game).


date: February 1

text: February 1 – The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – The American Broadcasting Company (otherwise known as ABC) begins television services, on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (later WPVI-TV).


date: April 22

text: April 22 – WTVR begins television services. WTVR is the first TV station south of Washington D.C., giving it the nickname "The South's First Television station".


date: April 30

text: April 30 – The English-built Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Australian cricket team in England in 1948: The touring Australians set an all-time first-class record, by scoring 721 runs in a day against Essex.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Columbia Records introduces its rpm long playing phonograph format.


text: June 21 – The Manchester Baby in England becomes the first stored-program computer to successfully execute a program.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – The ship brings more than 800 Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury near London, the start of a large wave of immigration to Britain.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.


text: June 28 – The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.


date: July 5

text: July 5 – The National Health Service in the United Kingdom begins functioning, giving the right to universal healthcare, free at point of use.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – The world's first Air Car-ferry service is flown by a Bristol Freighter of Silver City Airways, from Lympne to Le Touquet across the English Channel.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – The HUAC holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – An inaugural motor race is held at Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex, England.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Alger Hiss files a slander suit against Whittaker Chambers, for his August 27 radio statement in the United States.


text: Inspired by World War II fighter planes, Cadillac introduces the first automobile to sport tailfins.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.


text: The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens on Staten Island, New York.


text: The Vielha Tunnel is opened, giving access to the Val d'Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees; at this time it is the longest road tunnel in the world.


date: February 16

section: Science & Discovery

text: February 16 – Miranda, innermost of the large moons of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Physicists Ralph Asher Alpher and George Gamow publish the Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper, about the Big Bang.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948: An annular solar eclipse is visible in Japan and South Korea, and is the 32nd solar eclipse of Solar Saros 137. This eclipse is very short, lasting just 0.3 seconds. The path width is just about 200 meters wide (approximately 218 yards).


date: May 29

text: May 29 – The Casimir effect is predicted by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.


text: June 26 – The Berlin Airlift begins.


date: July

text: July–October – Claude E. Shannon publishes "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" in Bell System Technical Journal (US), regarded as a foundation of information theory and all modern digital communications, which also leads to the adoption of the term bit.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – 1948 Ashes series: Australian batsman Don Bradman, playing his last Test cricket match, against England at The Oval, is bowled by Eric Hollies for a duck (leaving his career Test batting average at 99.94); however, "The Invincibles" win the match by an innings and 149 runs, and The Ashes 4–0.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – The International Union for the Protection of Nature (later known as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN) is established in Fontainebleau, France.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – The R-1 missile on test becomes the first Soviet launch to enter space.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Operation Magic Carpet to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Richard Nixon displays microfilm from the "Pumpkin Papers" to the press.


text: Charles Warrell creates the first I-Spy books in the United Kingdom.


text: The last recorded sighting is made of the Caspian tiger, in Kazakh SSR.


date: April 7

section: Health & Medicine

text: April 7– The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – The first World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization is held in Geneva.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Donora Smog of 1948: A killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.


date: January 26

section: Crime & Justice

text: January 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.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – The murder of June Anne Devaney a 3-year-old girl in Blackburn, England. To solve the crime, officers take 46,253 sets of fingerprints before identifying her murderer.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – The first London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous is founded.


text: Eugene Dennis, William Z. Foster and ten other Communist Party USA leaders are arrested and charged under the Alien Registration Act.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Whittaker Chambers appears under subpoena before the HUAC and alleges that several former U.S. Federal officials were communists, including Harry Dexter White and Alger Hiss.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Alger Hiss appears before the HUAC, to deny the allegations of Whittaker Chambers.


date: August 13

text: August 13 – Harry Dexter White and Donald Hiss refute allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers, before the HUAC.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other CPUSA leaders begins, in New York City.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss, on two counts of perjury.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.


date: January 7

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: January 7 – Mantell UFO incident: Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of an unidentified flying object.


date: January 29

text: January 29 – A DC-3 aircraft crash at Los Gatos Creek, near Coalinga, California, kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a protest song ("Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)") by Woody Guthrie.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Pan American World Airways flight 1-10 crashes on approach to Shannon Airport in Ireland, killing all but one of the thirty-one passengers and crew.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – New York City Fire Department Rescue 5 is founded for Staten Island.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon, within minutes; 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing 43 and injuring 84 people on board.


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Three armed men hijack the Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes, killing 26 of 27 people on board.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Around 200 die in an explosion at a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Gozo luzzu disaster: A luzzu fishing boat overloaded with passengers capsizes and sinks in the Gozo Channel off Qala, Gozo, Malta, killing 23 of the 27 people on board.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Chinese liner sinks after an explosion occurs at the stern, which is thought to have been caused by a Japanese mine from World War 2, killing up to 3920 people.


date: June 28

section: Climate & Environment

text: June 28 – The 6.8 Fukui earthquake strikes Fukui, Japan; 3,769 are killed, 22,203 injured.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Beaver drop, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game program to relocate beavers from Northwestern Idaho to the Chamberlain Basin in Central Idaho. The program involves parachuting beavers into the Chamberlain Basin.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – 1948 Ashgabat earthquake: A 7.3 earthquake near Ashgabat, Soviet Turkmenistan kills 10,000–110,000.


date: December 2

text: December 2 – The United States House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenas and retrieves the "Pumpkin Papers" from the farm of Whittaker Chambers.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – The 1948 Winter Olympics open in St Moritz, Switzerland.


date: January

text: The first Kinsey Report, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, is published.


date: February 19

text: February 19 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program in the United States.


text: March 20 – The 20th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in Los Angeles. Gentleman's Agreement wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a series of concerts featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the United States. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – First National Games of Pakistan held in Karachi.


date: May

text: May – The RAND Corporation is established, as an independent nonprofit policy research and analysis institution, in the United States.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Puma, a global sports goods brand, is founded in Bavaria, West Germany, by Rudolf Dassler, having split from his brother "Adi".


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Chinese newspaper Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) is first published in Pingshan County, Hebei.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – David 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 antisemitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London, the first since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Juliana is formally inaugurated to succeed her mother as queen regnant of the Netherlands.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Laurence Olivier's film of Hamlet opens in the U.S.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – Presidents North Carolina Gave the Nation, a monument honoring three presidents of the United States, was dedicated at the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Brandeis University is formally founded in Massachusetts.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – The University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes) is founded in Bogotá, Colombia.


date: November 27

text: November 27 – The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before 20,013 fans at Toronto's Varsity Stadium, to win their first Grey Cup and complete the only perfect season to date in Canadian football.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – In the American National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7–0, to win the championship.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – The musical Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances in New York City.


text: Rev. W. Awdry's third book, James the Red Engine, is published in the United Kingdom.


text: The inaugural 6 Hours of Watkins Glen sports car endurance race is held in the United States.


text: The last edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum is published in the Vatican.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Alice Cooper, American hard rock singer and musician (School's Out)

source_section: Births › February


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Raúl Grijalva, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (d. 2025)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Al Gore, American politician and environmentalist, 45th Vice President of the United States

source_section: Births › March


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist, politician and 53rd President of Mexico (1988–1994)

source_section: Births › April


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Nam Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Stevie Nicks, American rock singer, songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)

source_section: Births › May


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian writer of literary reportage, Nobel Prize laureate


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Steve Goodman, American Grammy Award-winning folk music singer, songwriter (d. 1984)

source_section: Births › July


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Christa McAuliffe, American teacher and astronaut (d. in Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 1986)

source_section: Births › September


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Olivia Newton-John, English-born Australian singer, actress (d. 2022)


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Persis Khambatta, Indian actress, model (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) (d. 1998)

source_section: Births › October


date: November 20

text: November 20 – John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., National Security Advisor

source_section: Births › November


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Ozzy Osbourne, British heavy metal singer (Black Sabbath) (d. 2025)

source_section: Births › December


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Edgar de Wahl, Estonian educator and inventor of Interlingue (b. 1867)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900)


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino statesman, 5th President of the Philippines (b. 1892)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Unity Mitford, British socialite; friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1914)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: July 23

text: July 23 – D. W. Griffith, American film director (The Birth of a Nation) (b. 1875)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Joe Tinker, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1880)


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, mistress of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (b. 1891)


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of the United States, 1916 Republican presidential candidate (b. 1862)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Edvard Beneš, Czech politician, 4th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and 2-time President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1884)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder, first Governor General of Pakistan (b. 1876)


text: September 11 – 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 nationwide.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Florence Merriam Bailey, American ornithologist, birdwatcher, and writer (b. 1863)


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (b. 1861)


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Hack Wilson, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1900)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: January 2

text: January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 16

text: January 16 – Şemsettin Günaltay forms the new government of Turkey. It is the 18th government, last single party government of the Republican People's Party.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) is established by the Soviet Union and other communist nations.


text: January 25 – In the first Israeli elections, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – António Óscar Carmona is re-elected president of Portugal, for lack of an opposing candidate.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first president of Israel.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The former British colony of Newfoundland joins Canada, as its 10th province.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 4

text: April 4 – The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 28

text: April 28 – The 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference issues the London Declaration, enabling India (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth' (held by the ruling British monarch), and renaming the organization, from the 'British Commonwealth' to the 'Commonwealth of Nations'.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) is officially established (until 1990).

source_section: Events › May


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first Thai female member of Thailand's Parliament.

source_section: Events › June


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Rhodesia beats the New Zealand national rugby union team (the All Blacks) 10–8, in an exhibition match in Bulawayo, the only non-Test nation ever to achieve this feat.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 8

text: August 8 – Bhutan signs a Treaty of Friendship with newly independent India, agreeing non-interference in internal affairs, but allowing India to "guide" its foreign policy (similar to the previous arrangements with the British administration in India).

source_section: Events › August


date: August 24

text: August 24 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is established.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – The first Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany convenes in Bonn. They will elect Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor while the Federal Convention, a constitutional body consisting of the Bundestag members and a same number of representatives of the States, elect the liberal Theodor Heuss as President of Germany on 12 September.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference approves a design for the flag of the People's Republic of China.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) established its first diplomatic and friendly relations with newly proclaimed Communist China (PRC) between the two nations.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is officially established (until 1990).


date: November 26

text: November 26 – The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Winston Churchill makes a landmark speech in support of the idea of a European Union, at Kingsway Hall, London - but does not see UK as part of it, "The British Government have rightly stated that they cannot commit this country to entering any European Union without the agreement of the other members of the British Commonwealth".


date: November 30

text: November 30 – 1949 New Zealand general election: The New Zealand National Party, led by Sidney Holland defeats the incumbent New Zealand Labour Party, led by Peter Fraser.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is established as a United Nations agency.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 10

text: December 10 – 1949 Australian federal election: The Liberal/Country Coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats the Labor government, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. Menzies is sworn in on December 19, his second stint as prime minister; he will hold the office for over 16 years until his retirement in 1966 and Labor will not win office again until 1972, under Gough Whitlam.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – The Treaty of The Hague ends the Indonesian National Revolution by recognizing transfer of the sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies from Queen Juliana of the Netherlands to the United States of Indonesia; the Susanto Cabinet takes office in the Republic of Indonesia.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2026


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Forces from the Chinese Communist Party enter Beijing.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Revolutionary Communist Party of India stages attacks at Dum Dum.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.


date: March 30

text: March 30 – A military coup in Syria ousts President Shukri al-Quwatli.


text: March 30 – An anti-NATO riot in Iceland takes place, prompted by the decision of the Icelandic parliament to join the newly formed NATO.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Royal Navy frigate HMS 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 mi km upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat Simon raises the crew's morale.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Chinese Communist troops take Nanjing.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Former First Lady of the Philippines 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.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Captain Kerans of 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.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Kemi Bloody Thursday: two protesters die in the scuffle between the police and the strikers' protest procession in Kemi, Finland.


date: August 31

text: August 31 – Six of the last sixteen surviving veterans of the Union Army, in the American Civil War, meet in Indianapolis.


text: August 31 – The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece to Albania, after its defeat at Mount Gramos, marks the end of the Greek Civil War.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to Germany.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Albert Guay affair: A dynamite bomb destroys Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-3, in Quebec.


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Albanian Subversion: First Anglo-American attempt to infiltrate guerillas into Albania; the operation is fatally flawed, by being under the control of double agent Kim Philby.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Greek Civil War ends with a communist surrender.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Chinese communist troops take Guangzhou.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Battle of Kuningtou: Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy; their advance towards Taiwan is halted.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan finishes, and it declares Taipei its temporary capital city, a status it will retain more than 50 years later.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Pamir is the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, under sail alone.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Oil is discovered beneath the Caspian Sea, off the coast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – With the passage of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act by the Indian government, Mahabodhi Temple is restored to partial Buddhist control.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – The Vatican announces that bones uncovered in its catacombs could be those of the apostle Peter; 19 years later, Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first pope.


date: August 29

text: August 29 – The Council of Europe meets for the first time.


date: September 25

text: September 25 – U.S. Christian evangelist Billy Graham starts his Los Angeles Crusade, his first great evangelistic campaign. It runs for eight weeks during which Graham speaks to 350,000 people and the event is subsequently described as the greatest revival since the time of Billy Sunday. After this, Graham becomes a national figure in the United States.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – The Tokyo Stock Exchange resumes operations, after a four-year shutdown.


date: June 7

text: June 7–25 – Dock workers strike in the United Kingdom.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalize the merger that will create the National Basketball Association.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – The United Kingdom government devalues the pound sterling from $4.03 to $2.80, leading to many other currencies being devalued.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – China People's Insurance Corporation, as predecessor of China Life was founded.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States.


date: January 17

text: January 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 are sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff the car has no future in the U.S. (The Type 1 goes on to become an automotive phenomenon.)


date: March 20

text: March 20 – The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, Denver and 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 Vistadome cars as regular equipment.


date: May 6

text: May 6 – EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge University.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA) is established.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Glenn Dunaway wins the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series 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.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, airs on NBC in the United States.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – the Avro Canada C102 Jetliner makes its first flight; it is the first jet airliner to fly in North America.


text: August 29 – The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, RDS-1 ("Joe 1"). Its design imitates the American plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – The ski resort in Squaw Valley, Placer County, California officially opens.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut, becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – English astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term Big Bang (although describing the model as "unsatisfactory") during a BBC Third Programme radio broadcast.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Nereid, a moon of Neptune, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey aboard U.S. Hermes project V-2 rocket Blossom IVB, becomes the first primate to enter space. He is killed on impact at return.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet-powered airliner, makes its first flight, in England.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – The Volkswagen Type 2 panel van is unveiled in Germany.


text: D. R. Kaprekar discovers the convergence property of the number 6174.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: January

text: c. January 28 – Stalin and antisemitism: The media in the Soviet Union resume a propaganda campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans", a euphemism for Soviet Jews, accusing them of being pro-Western and antisocialist.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Operation Priboi: An extensive deportation campaign begins in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltic states to remote areas of the Soviet Union.


text: May 20 – The Kuomintang regime declares martial law in Taiwan, which lasts until 1987.


date: May 22

text: May 22 – After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital, James Forrestal commits suicide under suspicious circumstances.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Apartheid: The South African Citizenship Act suspends the granting of citizenship to Commonwealth of Nations immigrants after 5 years, and imposes a ban on mixed marriages.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Legal aid is introduced in England and Wales.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Deportivo Saprissa enters Costa Rican soccer's first division.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – The first trial of Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York City, with Whittaker Chambers as principal witness for the prosecution.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Second Red Scare in the United States: Celebrities including Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named as Communist Party members in a Federal Bureau of Investigation report.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir Parabellum P.08 pistol, to become America's first single-episode mass murderer.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Notorious World War II veteran Edwin Alonzo Boyd commits his first career bank robbery, in Toronto.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – László Rajk, ex-foreign minister of Hungary, is sentenced to death.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino is found guilty in the United States of broadcasting for Japan as "Tokyo Rose" at the end of World War II.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – The Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other leaders of the Communist Party USA ends in New York City (the longest trial in U.S. history to this date); all defendants are found guilty and all but one sentenced to five years of prison.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The second trial of Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York, again with Whittaker Chambers as principal witness.


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Traicho Kostov, who until March was acting president of the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria, is sentenced to death for anti-Communist Party activity.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II (under Captain James Gallagher) lands in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Superga air disaster: A Fiat G.212 airliner of Avio Linee Italiane, carrying the entire Torino F.C. football team, crashes into the back wall of the Basilica of Superga, killing all 31 on board.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – 1949 Bombay KLM Constellation crash


date: July 15

text: July 15 – In an explosion at Prüm in Germany, the town is badly damaged and 12 people die. The explosion crater is one of the largest ever recorded.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – The Salvatore Giuliano Gang explodes mines under a police barracks, outside Palermo, Sicily.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Canadian steamship burns in Toronto Harbour, with the loss of over 118 lives.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – 1949 Air France Lockheed Constellation crash: An Air France flight from Paris to New York crashes in the Azores on São Miguel Island, killing all aboard. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu, and French boxer Marcel Cerdan.


date: July 24

text: July 24 (St John's Day) – Eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma begins.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – In Ecuador, the 6.8 Ambato earthquake kills more than 5,000, and destroys a number of villages.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – The 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake is Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Severe flooding hits Guatemala.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – A typhoon strikes a fishing fleet off Korea, killing several thousand.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – The 21st Academy Awards Ceremony is held. The movie Hamlet wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – First issue of weekly magazine Paris Match published in France.


date: March 26

text: March 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.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opens on Broadway, and goes on to become Rodgers and Hammerstein's second longest-running musical. It becomes an instant classic of the musical theatre. The score's biggest hit is the song "Some Enchanted Evening".


date: April 14

text: April 14 – The N'Ko alphabet is completed by Solomana Kante.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is published in London.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is established.


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Film noir The Third Man, with screenplay by Graham Greene and set in Allied-occupied Vienna, is released in the United Kingdom; it wins the 1949 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.


text: September 17 – Warner Bros. cartoon, "Fast and Furry-ous" is released. It also marks the debut of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The director is Chuck Jones (credited as Charles M. Jones).


date: October 24

text: October 24 – The cornerstone of the Headquarters of the United Nations on Manhattan is laid.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – In the American National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Los Angeles Rams 14–0, to win the championship.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin's 70th Birthday is Held in Moscow.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Smouha SC (sports club) is founded in Alexandria, Egypt, by Joseph Smouha, a Mizrahi Iraqi Jew.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Niki Lauda, Austrian triple Formula 1 world champion (d. 2019)

source_section: Births › February


text: March 24 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, 9th President of Sri Lanka, 10th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

source_section: Births › March


text: April 7 – Mitch Daniels, American academic administrator, businessman, author, and politician

source_section: Births › April


date: April 30

text: April 30 – António Guterres, Prime Minister of Portugal, 9th secretary-general of the United Nations


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Ann Druyan, American popular science writer, wife of Carl Sagan

source_section: Births › June


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Elizabeth Warren, American academic and politician, U.S. Senator (D-Mass.) since 2013


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Kgalema Motlanthe, South African politician, President of South Africa

source_section: Births › July


date: July 26

text: July 26 – Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand and businessman


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer, songwriter (Born in the USA)

source_section: Births › September


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Caitlyn Jenner, American transgender track and field athlete, reality star

source_section: Births › October


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Sebastián Piñera, Chilean businessman, politician and 36th and 38th president of Chile (d. 2024)

source_section: Births › December


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-born British rock musician (Bee Gees) (d. 2003)


text: December 22 – Robin Gibb, Manx-born British rock musician (Bee Gees) (d. 2012)


date: December 26

text: December 26 – José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize


date: March 7

text: March 7 – Bradbury Robinson, American who threw the first forward pass in American football history (b. 1884)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Sir Fabian Ware, British founder of the Imperial War Graves Commission (b. 1869)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (b. 1862)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: May 22

text: May 22 – James Forrestal, U.S. Secretary of Navy and Defense (b. 1892)


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Robert Ripley, American creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Douglas Hyde, Irish academic, linguist and scholar, 1st president of Ireland (b. 1860)

source_section: Deaths › July


text: July 19 – Frank Murphy, American politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1890)


date: August 9

text: August 9 – G. E. M. Skues, British inventor of nymph fly fishing (b. 1858)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Husni al-Za'im, Syrian military man, politician, 23rd prime minister of Syria and 9th president of Syria (b. 1897)


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With the Wind) (b. 1900)


date: September 13

text: September 13 – August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Pandeli Evangjeli, Albanian politician, 7th prime minister of Albania (b. 1859)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Antoni Ponikowski, Polish academician, politician and 7th prime minister of Poland (b. 1878)

source_section: Deaths › December


text: Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius.

source_section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


text: In China, the Xiongnu federation crosses the Great Wall and establishes itself in Shanxi Province.

source_section: Events › By place › China


text: The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annex the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establishes his headquarters and the colonies there.


text: King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians.


text: Last (2nd) year of the Xingping era during the Han Dynasty.


text: Clodius Albinus, who had been proclaimed emperor in Britain, crosses into Gaul with his legions, while at the same time recruiting new soldiers. He is soon the head of an army of 150,000 men, according to Cassius Dio. Severus, still in Mesopotamia, hastily returns to Rome.


text: Lucius Septimius Bassianus (or Caracalla), age 7, changes his name to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, to solidify connections with the family of Marcus Aurelius, and is given the title Caesar.


text: The denarius is devalued by Severus. The coin now contains only 50% precious metal.


text: Cao Biao (or Zhuhu), Chinese imperial prince (d. 251)

source_section: Births


text: Wang Su, Chinese official and Confucian scholar (d. 256)


text: He Yan (or Pingshu), Chinese official and philosopher (d. 249)


text: Gong Lu (or Dexu), Chinese official and politician (d. 225)


text: Xu Shao (or Zijiang), Chinese official (b. 150)

source_section: Deaths


text: Lu Kang (or Jining), Chinese politician (b. 126)


text: Liu Yao, Chinese warlord and governor (b. 157)


text: Fan Chou, Chinese general and politician


text: Zhang Miao, Chinese warlord and official


text: Ze Rong, Chinese warlord and Buddhist leader


text: Zhu Jun, Chinese general and official


text: Huangfu Song (or Yizhen), Chinese general


date: January 6

text: January 6 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 9

text: January 9 – The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.


date: January 26

text: 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.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Chiang Kai-shek is re-elected as president of the Republic of China.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 6

text: February 6 – In India, the first Cabinet Secretary (N. R. Pillai) is appointed.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi is re-elected president of Finland.


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany, to begin reunification.


date: February 23

text: 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.


date: February

text: 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.


date: March 1

text: 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_section: Events › March


date: March 12

text: 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.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating the races.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 9

text: 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_section: Events › May


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Celâl Bayar becomes the third president of Turkey and Adnan Menderes of the DP forms the new government of Turkey (19th government).


date: July 17

text: July 17 – The Suppression of Communism Act (passed on June 26 by the Parliament of South Africa) comes into force in South Africa.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Royal question: King Leopold III of Belgium publicly announces that he will abdicate in favor of his son, Baudouin.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 8

text: August 8 – Winston Churchill supports the idea of a pan-European army, allied with Canada and the U.S.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – France announces the introduction of a government-guaranteed minimum wage.


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Getúlio Vargas is elected president of Brazil for a 5-year term.

source_section: Events › October


date: November 4

text: November 4 – The United Nations ends the diplomatic isolation of Spain.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 18

text: November 18 – The United Nations accepts the formation of the Libyan National Council.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations.


date: January 24

text: 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.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Nainital wedding massacre: A mass stabbing occurs at Nainital in India, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Cazin rebellion in Bosnia against Communist agrarian reforms.


date: May 17

text: 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.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 25

text: 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.


date: June

text: Bodo League massacre begins: South Korean armed forces and police summarily execute at least 100,000 suspected North Korean sympathizers.


date: July 14

text: 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.


date: July 20

text: 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.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Royal question in Belgium: King Leopold III returns from exile, provoking a general strike, particularly in Wallonia.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – 4 workers striking over the "Royal question" in Belgium are shot dead by the Gendarmerie, at Grâce-Berleur near Liège.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – 2 Squadron SAAF departs from South Africa to take part in the Korean War.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre – 75 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Korean War: Hill 303 massacre – 39 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.


date: August 23

text: 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.


date: September 15

text: 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_section: Events › September


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces is repelled at the Battle of Nam River.


date: October 7

text: 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.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Jayuya Uprising is started by Puerto Rican Nationalists against the United States-supported government.


date: November 1

text: 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.


date: November 8

text: 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.


date: November 26

text: 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.


date: December 2

text: 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_section: Events › December


text: President Harry Truman sends United States military advisers to Vietnam, to aid French forces.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: May 29

text: May 29 – St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.


date: June 3

text: 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.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia comes into effect.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – In Turkey, the Adhan (call to prayer) in Arabic is permitted by law after a ban of 18 years.


text: 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.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – The Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary is founded in Tagbilaran City, Philippines.


text: 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").


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Tenzin Gyatso, 15, is formally enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama, becoming temporal ruler of Tibet.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is founded.


date: February 13

text: 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.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – The United States Maritime Administration is formed (under the Department of Commerce).


date: February 8

text: February 8 – A payment is first made by Diners Club card, in New York, United States (the first use of a charge card).


date: February 12

text: February 12 – The European Broadcasting Union is founded.


date: February 21

text: 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.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – The first Volkswagen Type 2 (also known as the Microbus) rolls off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Egypt demands that Britain remove all its troops from the Suez Canal zone.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, begins operations.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel is formally opened to traffic in New York City.


date: June

text: Hangang Bridge bombing: The South Korean army, in an attempt to defend Seoul, blows up the Hangang Bridge while it is crowded with refugees.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – American Florence Chadwick swims the English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes, beating the women's record for the crossing.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Rede Tupi, the first television broadcast network in South America, is founded in Brazil.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Agate Pass Bridge opens for traffic in Washington State.


date: October 11

text: 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).


text: IBM Israel begins operating in Tel Aviv.


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Influential British adventure comic Eagle is launched.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – The Huntsville Times runs the headline "Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon."


date: October 2

text: October 2 – The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven U.S. newspapers.


date: October

text: October – Turing test published.


date: November 10

text: 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).


text: Canadians Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen and Frank Plomp introduce the plastic bin bag, for garbage collection.


date: January 7

text: January 7 – A fire in the St Elizabeth's Ward of Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, United States, kills 41 patients.


date: January 31

text: 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.


date: February 9

text: 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.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – West Germany decides to purge communist officials.


text: Myxomatosis is introduced into Australia, in an attempt to control the escalating rabbit population.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – In the United States, suspected spy Alger Hiss is convicted on two counts of perjury.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – The Stasi is founded in East Germany, and acts as a secret police until 1990.


date: March 1

text: 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.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Tollund Man is unearthed in Denmark.


date: May 11

text: May 11 – The Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime begin.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – The President of Venezuela, Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, is kidnapped and murdered in Caracas.


text: Raid Pyrénéen, a French timed bicycle challenge, is first staged.


date: January 5

text: 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.


date: January 12

text: January 12 – British submarine collides with Swedish oil tanker Divina in the Thames Estuary and sinks; 64 die.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – In West Virginia, 372,000 coal miners strike (they remain out until March 3).


date: March 12

text: March 12 – A plane carrying returning rugby fans from Ireland to Wales crashes near Llandow, with the loss of 80 lives.


date: August 5

text: 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.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – The Knockshinnoch Disaster in Scotland kills 13 coal miners; 116 are rescued.


text: November 13 – A Curtiss Reid Flying Services plane crashes while en route to Paris from Rome, killing all 52 on board.


date: November 24

text: 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.


date: February

text: February – The Ad Hoc Committee on Slavery of the United Nations is formally inaugurated with its first meeting at Lake Success in February 1950.


date: June 1

text: June 1–23 – Mauna Loa in Hawaii starts erupting.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The 8.6 Assam–Tibet earthquake shakes the region, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing about 4,800 people.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – The 22nd Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood. All the King's Men (1949 film) is Best Picture.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), king of Thailand since 1946, is crowned, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – The first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship in automobile racing is held, at Silverstone, England.


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Recorded premiere of Four Last Songs (1948) by German composer Richard Strauss (d. 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.


date: May 29

text: 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.


date: June 16

text: 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.


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Uruguay beats Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup, the match dubbed the Maracanazo.


date: September 3

text: 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.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Torcida Split is founded, in support of the Association football club HNK Hajduk Split, in SFR Yugoslavia.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – The inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring automobile endurance race is held in Florida.


text: Summer – The first newspaper for the Romanian minority in modern Hungary, Foaia Românească ("The Romanian Sheet"), is founded.


text: Knox's Translation of the Vulgate Old Testament (commissioned by the Catholic Church) is published.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya, Hindu religious leader

source_section: Births › January


date: February 13

text: February 13 – Peter Gabriel, British rock musician, original lead singer of Genesis

source_section: Births › February


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Néstor Kirchner, 49th President of Argentina (d. 2010)


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Rick Perry, American politician, 14th U.S. Secretary of Energy, 47th Governor of Texas

source_section: Births › March


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

source_section: Births › April


date: April 20

text: April 20 − N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Debbie Stabenow, former United States Senator from Michigan (2001-2025)


date: May 14

text: May 14 – Jill Stein, American politician, activist, and 2016 Green Party presidential candidate

source_section: Births › May


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American composer, artist, and singer (Devo)


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Simone Gbagbo, ICC criminal, former Ivorian politician and First Lady

source_section: Births › June


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Steve Wozniak, American inventor, engineer, programmer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur

source_section: Births › August


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Anne, Princess Royal, British royal, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Arthur Bremer, American attempted assassin of George Wallace


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech economist, political scientist (b. 1883)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Henry H. Arnold, American general and aviation pioneer (b. 1886)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – George Orwell, British author (b. 1903)


date: March 2

text: March 2 – Rosli Dhobi, Malay Sarawakian nationalist (b. 1932)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Joe Yule, British entertainer, father of Mickey Rooney (b. 1894)


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish military officer, statesman and Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1876)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal (b. 1883)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 4

text: June 4 – George Cecil Ives, German-born British poet, writer, penal reformer and early gay rights campaigner (b. 1867)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Henry L. Stimson, United States Secretary of State (b. 1867)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Al Jolson, American musician, actor (The Jazz Singer) (b. 1886)


date: November 2

text: November 2 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies), MLB Hall of Fame member (b. 1887)


date: November 27

text: November 27 – T. Sathasiva Iyer, Ceylon Tamil scholar, Tamil language writer (b. 1882)


date: December 12

text: December 12 – Peter Fraser, New Zealand political figure, 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand, leader of World War II (b. 1884)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: February 1

text: February 1–2 – The 1951 Nepalese revolution leads to agreement for a democratic constitution.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 12

text: February 12 – The seven-nation Commonwealth Consultative Committee meets to discuss the Colombo Plan for south and south-east Asia.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.


date: February

text: February – The Convention People's Party wins national elections in Gold Coast (British colony).


date: April 11

text: April 11 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of his Far Eastern commands.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 18

text: April 18 – The Treaty of Paris (1951) is adopted, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S Truman.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Tibetan government signs the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – A formal peace agreement between Canada and Germany is signed.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 16

text: July 16 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favour of his son Baudouin, who on July 17 takes the oath as king of Belgium.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a multilateral treaty of the United Nations, is signed at a special conference in Geneva, defining the status of refugees and setting out the basis for granting right of asylum, coming into force on 22 April 1954.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of France.

source_section: Events › August


date: September 1

text: September 1 – The United States, Australia and New Zealand all sign a mutual defense pact, the ANZUS Treaty.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 2

text: September 2 – The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which allows United States Armed Forces to be stationed in Japan even after the end of the occupation of Japan, is signed by Japan and the United States.


text: September 8 – Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, 48 representatives out of 51 attending sign a peace treaty with Japan, formally ending the Pacific War; the delegations of the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia do not sign the treaty, instead favoring separate treaties.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – NATO accepts Greece and Turkey as members.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – The Organization of Central American States (Organización de Estados Centroamericanos, ODECA) is formed.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The state of war between the United States and Germany is officially ended.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Winston Churchill is re-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (a month before his 77th birthday) in a general election which sees the defeat of Clement Attlee's Labour government, after 6 years in power.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – King Farouk I of Egypt declares himself king of the Sudan, with no international recognition or support.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Juan Perón is re-elected president of Argentina.

source_section: Events › November


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Libya becomes independent from Britain and France; Idris I is proclaimed King.

source_section: Events › December


date: January 4

text: January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).

source_section: Events › January


date: January 11

text: January 11 – In the U.S., a top secret report is delivered to U.S. President Truman by his National Security Resources Board, urging Truman to expand the Korean War by launching "a global offensive against communism" with sustained bombing of Red China and diplomatic moves to establish "moral justification" for a U.S. nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The report will not be declassified until 1978.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – The United Nations General Assembly declares that China is an aggressor in the Korean War, in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 498.


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Korean War: Operation Ripper – For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.

source_section: Events › March


date: March

text: March – The Israeli government organizes Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, a mass airlift of Jews out of Iraq.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – A military coup occurs in Bolivia.


date: May 25

text: May 25–26 – British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean leave the United Kingdom to defect to the Soviet Union.


date: July 2

text: July 2 — The cremated remains of Mary Reeser are found at her home in Saint Petersburg, Florida. She is believed to have been a victim of spontaneous human combustion. The FBI believes that the near total consumption of her body by the fire was caused by the Wick effect.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem. He is succeeded by his son, King Talal.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Chinese Communist forces move into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The United Kingdom begins an economic boycott of Iran.


date: October 3

text: October 3–8 – Korean War: First Battle of Maryang-san – United Nations (primarily Australian) forces drive back the Chinese.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Malayan Emergency: Communist insurgents kill British commander Sir Henry Gurney.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan is assassinated.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Desert Rock exercises, the first military exercises for nuclear war, with infantry troops included, are held in the Nevada desert.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – A state of emergency is declared in Egypt, due to increasing riots.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – After its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaces at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.


date: January 9

text: January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – The Marshall Plan expires, after distributing more than $13.3 billion US in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.


text: IBM (United Kingdom) is formed.

source_section: Events › Unknown dates


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Operation Greenhouse: The first thermonuclear weapon is tested in the "George" test on Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands by the United States.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Operation Greenhouse: The first atomic bomb "boosted" by the inclusion of tritium is tested in the "Item" test on Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands by the United States.


date: July 4

text: July 4 – William Shockley of Bell Labs in the United States announces the invention jointly with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of the grown-junction transistor. Also this year, General Electric and RCA develop the alloy-junction transistor.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – Vuoristorata, one of the oldest still-operating wooden roller coasters in Europe, is opened at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland.


date: August 31

text: August 31 – The first Volkswagen Type 1 rolls off the production line in Uitenhage, South Africa.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Television in the Netherlands commences with the first broadcast from NTS; also television in Denmark from DR1.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – On television, the situation comedy I Love Lucy airs its first episode on CBS in the U.S.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – 6,000 British troops are flown into Egypt to quell unrest in the Suez Canal zone.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Direct dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – LEO runs the world's first commercial computer program, bakery valuations, for J. Lyons and Co.'s tea shops in the U.K.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-1), the world's first (experimental) nuclear power plant, opens in Idaho, United States.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Soviet space dogs Dezik and Tsygan become the first to enter space, in a 15-minute sub-orbital spaceflight in an R-1 rocket, being safely parachuted back to earth.


date: September 26

text: September 26–28 – A blue sun is seen over Europe: the effect is due to ash coming from the Canadian forest fires 4 months previously.


text: December 20 – The World Meteorological Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.


text: October 15 – Norethisterone, the progestin used in the combined oral contraceptive pill, is synthesized by Luis E. Miramontes in Mexico.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – A storm in southern Italy kills over 100.


text: The continental United States becomes malaria-free.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – In a criminal court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment.


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Jean Lee becomes the last woman hanged in Australia, when she and her two pimps are hanged for the murder and torture of a 73-year-old bookmaker.


date: March 6

text: March 6 – The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for conspiracy to commit espionage begins in the United States.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Second Red Scare: In the United States, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. On April 5 they are sentenced to death.


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Nazi war criminal Otto Ohlendorf is hanged at Landsberg Prison, Bavaria.

source_section: Events › June


date: July 26

text: July 26 – The first birch bark manuscript is discovered in Novgorod.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Woodbridge train wreck: A Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, killing 85 people and injuring over 500, in one of the worst rail disasters in American history.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Sakuragichō train fire: in Yokohama, Japan, a fire on a train kills more than 100.


date: June 15

text: June 15–July 1 – In New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, thousands of acres of forests are destroyed in fires.


date: December 13

text: December 13 – A water storage tank collapses in Tucumcari, New Mexico, United States, resulting in 4 deaths and 200 buildings destroyed.


text: December 20 – A chartered Curtiss C-46 Commando crash-lands in Cobourg, Ontario Canada; all on board survive.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – The Po River floods in northern Italy.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – We Charge Genocide, a petition describing genocide against African Americans, is delivered to the United Nations.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel Journey Through the Night (Reis door de nacht), set during World War II.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Muhammad Reza Shah marries Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – The first Pan American Games open in Buenos Aires.


text: March 29 – The 23rd Academy Awards Ceremony is held; All About Eve wins the Best Picture award and five others.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – The National Olympic Committee of the Soviet Union is formed. The USSR will first participate in the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – The opera house of Geneva, Switzerland is almost destroyed in a fire.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – King George VI opens the Festival of Britain in London, including the Royal Festival Hall.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Charlotte Whitton becomes mayor of Ottawa and Canada's first woman mayor of a major city.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – East China Normal University is founded in Shanghai, China.


text: October 16 – Judy Garland begins a series of concerts in New York's Palace Theatre.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – The National Ballet of Canada performs for the first time in Eaton Auditorium, Toronto.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Lebanese University is founded in Lebanon.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Gian Carlo Menotti's 45-minute opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, premieres live on NBC in the United States, becoming the first opera written especially for television.


date: December

text: c. December – The Institute of War and Peace Studies is established by Dwight D. Eisenhower at Columbia University in New York (of which he is President) with William T. R. Fox as first director.


text: An 18-year-old sailor is fined for kissing in public in Stockholm, Sweden. The law court calls his actions "obnoxious behavior repulsive to the public morals".


date: January 12

text: January 12 – Rush Limbaugh, American conservative radio personality (d. 2021)

source_section: Births › January


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Gordon Brown, Scottish-born Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

source_section: Births › February


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Enda Kenny, 13th Taoiseach of Ireland

source_section: Births › April


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States

source_section: Births › June


date: August 8

text: August 8 – Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian politician, 5th President of Egypt (d. 2019)

source_section: Births › August


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland

source_section: Births › September


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Volodymyr Melnykov, Ukrainian poet, writer, songwriter and composer


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistani politician and businessman, Prime Minister of Pakistan (2022-present)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Mark Hamill, American actor, known for his role in Star Wars


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian politician, businessman, retired honorary army general, 8th President of Indonesia.

source_section: Births › October


date: October 22

text: October 22 – William David Sanders, American victim of the Columbine High School massacre (d. 1999)


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Rodger Bumpass, American voice actor known for his role as Squidward Tentacles on SpongeBob SquarePants

source_section: Births › November


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: February 19

text: February 19 – André Gide, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: March 12

text: March 12 – Alfred Hugenberg, German businessman and politician (b. 1865)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 23

text: April 23 – Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)

source_section: Deaths › April