1948
1948 (
MCMXLVIII) was a
leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar).
January
*
January 1 -
Nationalisation of
UK railways to form
British Railways. Arab
militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of
Jerusalem. First day of the
Italian republican constitution, first day of the
New Jersey State Constitution.
*
January 4 -
Burma gains its independence from the
United Kingdom.
*
January 5 -
Warner Brothers shows the first color
newsreel (
Tournament of Roses Parade and the
Rose Bowl).
*
January 17 -
Truce between nationalist
Indonesian and Dutch troops in
Java*
January 26 -
Teigin poison case - A man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 of 15 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist
Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced for the crime.
*
January 30 -
Indian pacifist and leader
Mahatma Gandhi is murdered by Nathuram Godse.
*
January 30 -
1948 Winter Olympics open in
St. Moritz,
Switzerland.
February
*
February 1 - Soviet Union begins to jam
Voice of America broadcasts.
*
February 4 -
Ceylon (later renamed
Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the
British Commonwealth. King
George VI becomes King of Ceylon;
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier),
hard rock singer and
musician born.
*
February 18 -
Eamon de Valera, head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition.
John A. Costello is appointed
Taoiseach of
Éire (formerly called the
Irish Free State) by President
O'Kelly.
*
February 24 - The
Communist Party seizes control of
Czechoslovakia.
March
*
March 8 - The
United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the
Constitution.
*
March 10 -
Czech foreign minister
Jan Masaryk killed in fall from a window of his apartment in
Prague. Later communist government rules it "suicide".
*
March 17 -
Hells Angels founded in
California*
March 20 - First elections in
SingaporeApril
*
April 3 -
President Harry Truman signs the
Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
*
April 7 - The
World Health Organization is established by the
United Nations.
*
April 7 -
Buddhist monastery burns in
Shanghai - 20 monks dead
*
April 9 -
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in
Bogotá (the
Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of
Colombia (
La violencia).
*
April 9 - The
Deir Yassin massacre takes place in
Palestine.
*
April 12 -
Ian Cullen (Musician), Australian piano composer and musician, born.
May
|
Flag of the newly created state of Israel |
*
May 1 - 213 communists executed in
Greece.
*
May 2 -
Hour of Charm's last broadcast.
*
May 11 -
Luigi Einaudi becomes
President of the Italian Republic.
*
May 14 -
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel*
May 14 - The
murder of a three-year-old girl in
Blackburn,
England leads to the
fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
*
May 15 -
1948 Arab-Israeli War:
Egypt,
Transjordan,
Lebanon,
Syria,
Iraq and
Saudi Arabia attack
Israel.
*
May 16 -
Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first
President of Israel.
*
May 18 - The First
Legislative Yuan of the
Republic of China officially convenes in
Nanking.
*
May 26 - The
U.S. Congress passes
Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the
Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the
United States Air Force.
*
May 29 -
Wisconsin celebrates its 100th anniversary of being admitted to the
United States as the 30th State in
1848.
*
May 30 - A dike along the
Columbia River breaks, obliterating
Vanport, Oregon within minutes. 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
June
*
June 3 -
Palomar Observatory telescope finished in
California.
*
June 16 - Communist guerillas kill three rubber planters in
Malaya.
*
June 16 - Three armed men hijack
Cathay Pacific passenger plane
Miss Macao and shoot the pilot. The plane crashes - one of 27 survives
*
June 17 - A
Douglas DC-6 carrying
United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near
Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
*
June 18 -
State of Emergency declared in
Malaysia for communist insurgency -
Malayan Emergency begins.
*
June 18 - First democratic
general election with
universal suffrage in
Italy*
June 20 -
U.S.Congress: Commencement of Congressional Recess for the remainder of 1948 after an overtime session closed on this Saturday at 0700 D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).
*
June 21 - The
Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the future
Federal Republic of Germany.
*
June 22- The ship
Empire Windrush brings the first group of several hundred black immigrants to
Tilbury near
London from the
Caribbean countries. This would be the start of
multiculturalism in Britain.
*
June 24 -
Cold War: The
Berlin Blockade begins.
*
June 24 - The first
World Health Assembly of
World Health Organisation was held in Geneva.
*
June 25 -
U.S.Congress or Not at all ?: United States Codes : U.S.C. Title 3 (The President), Title 18 (Crimes) and Title 28 (Judiciary) mysteriously, and rather dubiously passed by an absent Congress NO LONGER IN SESSION since June 20 (see USCodes History).
*
June 28 -
Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the
Informbiro period in
Yugoslavia and Soviet/Yugoslav split.
July
*
July 5 -
British National Health Service Act enacted.
*
July 13 - The
Coptic and
Ethiopian Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous
Patriarchate. Five
bishops are immediately consecrated by the
Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to
Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.
*
July 15 - Attempted assassination of
Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the
Italian Communist Party, incites number of strikes all over the country.
*
July 15 - First
London,
England chapter of
Alcoholics Anonymous*
July 20 -
Cold War: President
Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime
military draft in the
United States amid increasing tensions with the
Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).
*
July 24 - Great oil fire in the harbor of
Naantali,
Finland*
July 26 - U.S. President signs
Executive Order 9981, ending
racial segregation in the
United States Armed Forces.
*
July 29 -
1948 Summer Olympics begin in
London.
*
July 31 - At Idlewild Field in
New York, New York International Airport (later renamed
John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
August
*
August 1 - The
U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
*
August 12 - USA recognizes the government of
South Korea.
*
August 19 - Soviet troops fire at German demonstrators that protest against the
Berlin Blockade.
*
August 23 -
World Council of Churches established.
September
*
September 4 - Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
*
September 5 -
Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.
*
September 6 -
Juliana becomes Queen of the
Netherlands.
*
September 17 -
Stern Gang assassinates count
Folke Bernadotte.
October
*
October 11 -
Cleveland Indians defeat the
Boston Braves to win the
World Series, four games to two.
November
*
November 2 -
U.S. presidential election, 1948:
Harry S. Truman defeats
Thomas E. Dewey for the
US presidency.
*
November 12 - In
Tokyo, an international
war crimes tribunal sentences seven
Japanese military and government officials to death, including General
Hideki Tojo, for their roles in
World War II.
*
November 15 -
Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes
Canada's twelfth
prime minister.
*
November 16 -
Operation Magic Carpet to transport
Jews from
Yemen to
Israel begins.
*
November 17 -
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess
Fawzia of Egypt.
*
November 20 -
Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the
TakahÄ", last seen 50 years ago, near
Lake Te Anau,
New Zealand.
*
November 24 - In
Venezuela, president
Rómulo Betancourt is ousted by a
military coup. A
military junta takes over the government.
December
*
December 7 -
Gary Morris, singer and actor
*
December 7 -
Mads Vinding, Danish bassist
*
December 10 -
United Nations General Assembly adopts
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
*
December 26 - Last
Soviet troops withdraw from
North Korea.
*
December 28 - Member of
Muslim Brotherhood assassinates
Egyptian Prime Minister
Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi.
*
December 30 - The play
Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances.
*
December 31 -
1948 Arab-Israeli War:
Israeli troops drive
Egyptians from
Negev.
Undated
*
Literature In the spring, playwright Arthur Miller writes "Death of a Salesman." He completes Act I in less than a day. Act II and the Requiem are completed in the next six weeks. He writes his new play in a small, freshly built studio that he constructed himself on his property in Roxbury, CT.
*
Empire Windrush immigrant ship arrives in Britain
*
Civil war in
Costa Rica* Civil war in
Colombia*
Rope (film) released
*
Porsche is founded.
*
Miranda, the innermost
moon of
Uranus, is discovered by
Gerard Kuiper.
*
Casimir effect discovered by Dutch physicist
Hendrik Casimir.
* Tunnel of Vielha is opened in
Val d'Aran, Spanish
Pyrenees.
*
Fresh Kills, world's largest
landfill, opens in
Staten Island, New York.
* The law firm of
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is founded.
*
Brandeis University is founded.
* Oakridge Transit Centre opened in
Vancouver, British Columbia.
* a Slovak city's name was changed from Gúta to
KolárovoJanuary
*
January 2 -
Mary Archer, British scientist
*
January 2 -
Deborah Watling, British actress
*
January 7 -
Kenny Loggins, American singer
*
January 10 -
Donald Fagen, American keyboardist
* January 10 -
Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
*
January 12 -
Kenny Allen, English footballer
*
January 14 -
T-Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician
*
January 14 -
Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
*
January 15 -
Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (d.
1977)
*
January 16 -
John Carpenter, American film director and composer
*
January 17 -
DavÃð Oddsson,
Prime Minister of Iceland*
January 19 -
Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador
*
January 27 -
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born dancer
*
January 28 -
Charles Taylor, Liberian president
*
January 29 -
Marc Singer, Canadian actor
*
January 31 -
Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
February
*
February 1 -
Elisabeth Sladen, British actress
*
February 3 -
Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize*
February 4 -
Alice Cooper, American musician
*
February 5 -
Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish Football Manager
*
February 5 -
Christopher Guest, American actor, writer, director, and composer
*
February 6 -
Jack Conway, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
*
February 14 -
Teller, American magician
*
February 14 -
Jackie Martling, American comedian and radio personality
*
February 17 -
José José, Mexican singer and actor
*
February 24 -
J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician
*
February 25 -
Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
*
February 28 -
Steven Chu, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
February 28 -
Mike Figgis, American director, writer, and composer
*
February 28 -
Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
*
February 28 -
Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
March
*
March 1 -
Burning Spear, Jamaican singer and musician
*
March 2 -
R. T. Crowley, pioneer of electronic commerce
*
March 2 -
Jeff Kennett, Australian politician
*
March 9 -
Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
*
March 11 -
Dominique Sanda, French actress
*
March 12 -
James Taylor, American musician
*
March 15 -
Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d.
2003)
*
March 17 -
William Gibson, Canadian writer
*
March 20 -
John de Lancie, American actor
*
March 20 -
Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player
*
March 22 -
Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
*
March 22 -
Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer
*
March 26 -
Steven Tyler, American singer (
Aerosmith)
*
March 28 -
Dianne Wiest, American actress
*
March 31 -
Al Gore, former
Vice President of the United States*
March 31 -
Rhea Perlman, American actress
April
*
April 1 -
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician
*
April 4 -
Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor
*
April 13 -
Nam Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the
Republic of Korea Navy*
April 15 -
Michael Kamen, American composer (d.
2003)
*
April 29 -
Michael Karoli, German musician (d.
2001)
May
*
May 8 -
Felicity Lott, English soprano
*
May 11 -
Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician
*
May 12 -
Steve Winwood, English singer
*
May 14 -
Bob Woolmer, British cricket coach
*
May 15 -
Brian Eno, English musician and record producer
*
May 19 -
Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
*
May 21 -
Leo Sayer, English musician
*
May 26 -
Stevie Nicks, American singer and songwriter (
Fleetwood Mac)
*
May 27 -
Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant
*
May 29 -
Michael Berkeley, British composer
*
May 31 -
John Bonham, British drummer (
Led Zeppelin) (d.
1980)
June
*
June 13 -
Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and scout
*
June 15 -
Paul Michiels, Belgian singer-songwriter
*
June 17 -
Dave Concepcion, Venezuelan baseball player
*
June 19 -
Phylicia Rashad, American actress
*
June 20 -
Ludwig Scotty,
President of Nauru*
June 21 -
Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
*
June 21 -
Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
*
June 22 -
Todd Rundgren, American singer and record producer
July
*
July 8 â€"
Raffi, Egyptian-born children's entertainer
*
July 16 â€"
Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
*
July 18 â€"
Hartmut Michel, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
July 21 â€"
Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
*
July 21 â€"
Cat Stevens, English musician
*
July 21 â€"
Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
*
July 23 â€"
John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
*
July 25 â€"
Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
*
July 28 â€"
Sally Struthers, American actress
*
July 30 â€"
Jean Reno, French actor
*
July 31 â€"
Jonathan Dollimore, famous author and professor
August
*
August 2 -
Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
*
August 3 -
Jean-Pierre Raffarin,
Prime Minister of France*
August 13 -
Kathleen Battle, American soprano
*
August 15 -
Uschi Digard, American erotic actress and figure model
*
August 20 -
Robert Plant, English singer (
Led Zeppelin)
*
August 24 -
Kim Sung-Il, Chief of Staff of the
Republic of Korea Air Force*
August 30 -
Lewis Black, American comedian
September
*
September 4 -
Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer
*
September 5 -
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician
*
September 10 -
Bob Lanier, American basketball player
*
September 10 -
Margaret Trudeau, Estranged wife of former Prime Minister of Canada
*
September 13 -
Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d.
2003)
*
September 17 -
John Ritter, American actor (d.
2003)
*
September 22 -
Denis Burke, Australian politician
*
September 24 -
Heinz Chur, German composer
*
September 27 -
Michele Dotrice, English actor
*
September 29 -
Bryant Gumbel, American television broadcaster
October
*
October 1 -
Sir Peter Blake New Zealand yachtsman (d.
2001)
*
October 2 -
Avery Brooks, American television actor
*
October 2 -
Chris LeDoux, American singer and rodeo star (d.
2005)
*
October 6 -
Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician
*
October 8 -
Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (
The Ramones) (d.
2004)
*
October 9 -
Jackson Browne, American musician
*
October 13 -
Ted Poe, American politician
*
October 13 -
John Ford Coley, American musician
*
October 16 -
Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
*
October 17 -
George Wendt, American television actor
November
*
November 1 -
Jim Steinman, American songwriter and producer
*
November 5 -
William Daniel Phillips, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
November 10 -
Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d.
2005)
*
November 14 - Prince Charles of Edinburgh, now
Prince of Wales*
November 16 -
Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer
*
November 17 -
Howard Dean, American politician
*
November 20 -
John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN
*
November 20 -
Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano
December
*
December 3 -
Ozzy Osbourne, British singer
*
December 6 -
Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One Champion
*
December 6 -
JoBeth Williams, American actress
*
December 10 -
Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d.
2004)
*
December 21 -
Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
*
December 21 -
Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist
*
December 22 -
Noel Edmonds, British TV presenter
*
December 27 -
Gérard Depardieu, French actor
*
December 28 -
Dick Siegel, American songwriter
Unknown date
*
Ciaran Carson, Northern Irish poet and novelist
*
Maurizio Gucci, Italian business man and murder victim (d.
1995)
*
Edward Rutherfurd, British novelist
January - March
*
January 5 -
Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of President
Benjamin Harrison (b.
1858)
*
January 21 -
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b.
1876)
*
January 30 -
Mohandas Gandhi, Indian independence movement leader (assassinated) (b.
1869)
*
January 30 -
Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b.
1871)
*
February 2 -
Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b.
1894)
*
February 11 -
Sergy Eisenstein, Russian film director (b.
1898)
*
February 23 -
John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b.
1866)
*
March 4 -
Antonin Artaud, Playwrite, Actor and Director (b.
1896)
*
March 6 -
Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (suicide) (b.
1914)
*
March 10 -
Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia (b.
1886)
*
March 31 -
Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist and author (b.
1885)
April - August
*
April 9 -
George Carpenter, the 5th General of
The Salvation Army (b.
1872)
* April 9 -
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b.
1903)
*
April 17 -
Suzuki Kantaro,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1867)
*
May 15 - Father
Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder of Boys Town (b.
1886)
*
May 28 -
Unity Mitford, British friend of Hitler (b.
1914)
*
June 25 -
William C. Lee, American general (b.
1895)
*
July 5 -
Georges Bernanos, French writer (b.
1888)
*
July 15 -
John J. Pershing, American general (b.
1860)
*
July 23 -
David Wark Griffith, American film director (b.
1875)
*
July 31 -
Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd,
Franklin Roosevelt's lover (b.
1891)
*
August 12 -
Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel (b.
1871)
*
August 16 -
Babe Ruth, baseball player (b.
1895)
*
August 27 -
Charles Evans Hughes,
Chief Justice of the United States (b.
1862)
September - December
*
September 2 -
Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy (b.
1883)
*
September 5 -
Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist (b.
1881)
*
September 11 - Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder and first Governor General of
Pakistan (b.
1876)
*
September 30 -
Edith Roosevelt,
First Lady of the United States (b.
1861)
*
October 24 -
Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b.
1870)
*
November 28 -
D.D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b.
1873)
*
December 23 - Japanese war leaders (hanged):
**
Kenji Doihara, spy (b.
1883)
**
Koki Hirota,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1878)
**
Iwane Matsui, general (b.
1878)
**
Itagaki Seishiro, military officer (b.
1885)
**
Hideki Tojo, general (b.
1884)
*
December 31 -
Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and water racer (b.
1885)
*
Physics -
Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett*
Chemistry -
Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius*
Medicine -
Paul Hermann Müller*
Literature -
T. S. Eliot*
Peace - not awarded
