Events 1 - 200 of 418
- Jan 1 13th Orange Bowl: #10 Rice beats #7 Tennessee, 8-0
- Jan 1 13th Sugar Bowl: #3 Georgia beats #9 North Carolina, 20-10
- Jan 1 33rd Rose Bowl: #5 Illinois beats #4 UCLA, 45-14
- Jan 1 Benelux agrees to work related issues
- Jan 1 Britain nationalizes its coal industry
- Jan 1 WTTG TV channel 5 in Washington, D.C. (MET) begins broadcasting
Event of Interest
Jan 2 Mahatma Gandhi begins march for peace in East Bengal
Event of Interest
Jan 4 Emilio G. Segrè and Carlo Perrier announce technetium, a previously unknown element and the first artificially synthesized chemical element
- Jan 4 Revival of Victor Herbert's operetta "The Red Mill" closes at 46th Street Theater, NYC, after 531 performances
- Jan 6 Pan American Airlines offers a round-the-world-ticket, the first commercial airline to do so
- Jan 6 Ray Lindwall smashes 100 v England in MCG Test
- Jan 7 Australia v England at MCG drawn in 6 days, 1st cricket draw in Australia since 1882
Event of Interest
Jan 8 General George Marshall becomes US Secretary of State
- Jan 8 Toronto Maple Leaf rookie Howie Meeker scores 5 goals in a game
- Jan 9 "Street Scene" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 148 performances
Event of Interest
Jan 9 Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the black dahlia, is last seen alive.
- Jan 9 Providence Steamrollers guard Dino Martin becomes the first NBA player to ever score 40 points in a game, in a 91-68 win over Cleveland Rebels at Rhode Island Auditorium
- Jan 9 Roger Sessions' 2nd Symphony premieres in San Francisco with Pierre Monteux conducting the San Francisco Symphony,
- Jan 10 "Finian's Rainbow" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 725 performances
- Jan 10 British stop ships Independence & In-Gathering from landing in Israel
- Jan 10 Greek steamer "Himara" strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard
- Jan 15 The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
- Jan 16 Vincent Aurial elected President of France
- Jan 17 Ammunition factory explodes in Muiden, Netherlands, 16 die
Contract of Interest
Jan 18 Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pirates (for $25-35,000)
Music Premiere
Jan 21 Arthur Honegger's 4th Symphony premieres in Basel, Switzerland
Theater Premiere
Jan 29 Arthur Miller's play "All My Sons" premieres in NYC
- Jan 29 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Dinny Pails beats fellow Australian John Bromwich 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 8-6 for his only Grand Slam title
- Jan 29 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton wins 3rd consecutive Australian singles crown; beats Nell Hall Hopman 6-3, 6-2
- Feb 1 Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of christian-dems & communists
Music History
Feb 1 Dmitri Shostakovich named professor at conservatoire of Leningrad
- Feb 1 NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established
- Feb 3 -81°F (-63°C), Snag Yukon (North American record)
- Feb 3 1st black reporter in US Congressional press gallery (Percival Prattis)
Cricket History
Feb 3 Bradman bowled by Alec Bedser for a duck in 4th Test Cricket
Magnum Photos Founded
Feb 6 Magnum Photos founded in Paris by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour
Willie Sutton Escapes
Feb 9 Bank robber Willie Sutton escapes jail in Philadelphia
Event of Interest
Feb 12 French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"
- Feb 12 Record 100.5-kg sailfish caught by C. W. Stewart, near the Galapagos Islands
- Feb 15 "Toplitzky of Notre Dame" closes at Century Theater NYC after 60 performances
- Feb 16 Morton Gould's 3rd Symphony, premieres
- Feb 17 Dutch RC bishops publish manifest against "godless communism"
- Feb 17 Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR
- Feb 18 24 die in a train crash in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania
- Feb 18 Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Telephone" premieres in NYC
- Feb 19 CBS radio premiere of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasilieras No 3"
- Feb 20 Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42 blocks in LA
Appointment of Interest
Feb 20 Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed as last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence
- Feb 20 State of Prussia ceases to exist.
Polaroid Land Camera Model 95
Feb 21 1st instant developing camera demonstrated by Edwin Land at the Optical Society of America in NYC
Pro Wrestling
Feb 21 Whipper Billy Watson beats Bill Longson, to become wrestling champ
Event of Interest
Feb 23 US General Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170M in aid for European Jews
Golden Globes
Feb 26 4th Golden Globes: "The Best Years of Our Lives", Gregory Peck, & Rosalind Russell win
- Feb 27 French explorer Paul-Emile Victor founds French Polar Expeditions to oversee French scientific missions
February 28 Massacre
Feb 28 February 28 Massacre: Anti-government uprising in Taiwan is violently put down by Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang-led Republic of China government with the loss of 18,000-28,000 lives. Marks the beginning of the White Terror.
- Mar 1 International Monetary Fund begins operation
Baseball History
Mar 1 MLB Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck sets up spring training camp in racially tolerant Phoenix, AZ in anticipation of signing team's first black players; Larry Doby is first acquisition later in the season
- Mar 4 WWJ (now WDIV) TV channel 4 in Detroit, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Mar 6 XB-45, 1st US 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc, CA
- Mar 7 The Kuomintang and Communist Party of China resume full-fledged Civil War.
- Mar 9 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
- Mar 9 US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
- Mar 12 "Chocolate Soldier" opens at Century Theater NYC for 69 performances
- Mar 12 Belgian government of Huysmans resigns
Event of Interest
Mar 12 US President Harry Truman introduces Truman-doctrine to fight communism
Event of Interest
Mar 17 Arnold J. Toynbee appears on the front cover of Time magazine
- Mar 19 Belgian government of Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium Socialist Party) forms
Victory in Battle
Mar 19 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek conquers Jenan
- Mar 20 180 tonne blue whale (record) caught in South Atlantic
- Mar 21 Test Cricket debut of Bert Sutcliffe, NZ v England at Christchurch
- Mar 21 US President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have "complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States"
Event of Interest
Mar 24 John D. Rockefeller Jr. donates NYC East River site to the UN
- Mar 24 US Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the presidency
- Mar 25 9th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Holy Cross beats Oklahoma, 58-47; Crusaders' first victory in first title game
- Mar 25 Agreement of Linggadjati ratified in Batavia
- Mar 25 Coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois kills 111
- Mar 25 Last day of Test cricket for Walter Hammond (v NZ, Christchurch)
- Mar 29 "Beggar's Holiday" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 111 performances
- Mar 29 101st Grand National: 100/1 Irish outsider Caughoo ridden by 35-year-old jockey Eddie Dempsey wins by 20 lengths from Lough Conn
Golf Tournament
Mar 30 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins her first of 3 Titleholders titles by 5 strokes ahead of Dorothy Kirby
- Apr 1 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat
- Apr 1 Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island) by Osamu Tezuka published, first manga cartoon in tankōbon form
- Apr 2 Carlo Terron's "Il diamente del profeta" premieres in Rome
- Apr 3 Sidney Lippman and Sylvia Dee's musical farce "Barefoot Boy with Cheek" opens at Martin Beck Theatre, NYC; runs for 108 performances
- Apr 4 Convention on International Civil Aviation goes into effect
- Apr 4 Largest group of sunspots on record
- Apr 4 UN's International Civil Aviation Organization forms
US Masters Golf
Apr 6 11th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Jimmy Demaret wins his 2nd Masters by 2 strokes over Byron Nelson and amateur Frank Stranahan
- Apr 6 1st Tony Awards: Arthur Miller, David Wayne & Patricia Neal win for theatrical achievements
- Apr 8 Largest recorded sunspot ever observed at 40 times the diameter of Earth
- Apr 9 Atomic Energy Commission confirmed
Sports History
Apr 9 Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends Brooklyn Dodger Leo Durocher for 1 year for "association with known gamblers"
- Apr 9 Tornadoes striking West Texas & Oklahoma kill 169, injuring 1,300
Contract of Interest
Apr 10 Jackie Robinson becomes first black player of the 20th century to sign a MLB contract; Brooklyn GM, Branch Rickey announces Dodgers had bought Robinson’s contract from Montreal Royals
- Apr 10 King Frederik IX of Denmark crowned
- Apr 15 Jackie Robinson becomes 1st African-American to play in US major league baseball (Dodgers)
- Apr 15 Operations begin at Radio Netherlands World radio
- Apr 16 -17] Explosions & fire on French ship Grandcamp
- Apr 16 Fire aboard French-flagged cargo ship SS Grandchamp, docked at Port of Texas City, Texas and loaded with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate causes massive explosion and spreads to nearby ships and oil facilities; deadliest industrial accident in US history kills 581, including all but one member of the city's fire departments
- Apr 16 Lens to provide zoom effects demonstrated (NYC)
- Apr 17 Jackie Robinson bunts for his 1st major league hit
- Apr 19 AAU record for a 25-foot rope climb is set in 4.7 seconds
Sports History
Apr 19 After scoring 45 goals during the regular season, Montreal Canadiens' Maurice Richard is named MVP
- Apr 19 England beats France, 6-3 at Twickenham to be level on points with Wales for a share of the Five Nations Rugby Championship; first appearance of France in tournament since 1931
- Apr 19 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Maple Leafs edge Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 for a 4-2 series win; first all-Canadian final since 1935
- Apr 19 Suh Yun Buck wins world record marathon (2:25:39)
- Apr 20 Frederik IX becomes King of Denmark
- Apr 21 51st Boston Marathon won by Yun Bok Soh of Korea in 2:25:39; world best time
- Apr 22 1st Basketball Association of America Finals: Philadelphia Warriors beat Chicago Stags, 83-80 to take inaugural series, 4 games to 2
- Apr 25 Trial against WW II mayor of Amsterdam Edward Voete begins
- Apr 26 "Bless the Bride" musical opens in London
Event of Interest
Apr 28 Thor Heyerdahl and the crew of the "Kon-Tiki" sail from Peru to Polynesia
- Apr 30 Boulder Dam renamed in honor of Herbert Hoover
- May 1 Cleveland Indians abandon League Park (venue for weekday games) to play all MLB games at Municipal Stadium
- May 1 Lt General Hoyt S Vandenberg, USA, ends term as 2nd head of CIA
- May 1 Radar for commercial & private planes 1st demonstrated
- May 1 Rear Admiral Roscoe H Hillenkoetter, USN, becomes 3th director of CIA
- May 3 73rd Kentucky Derby: Eric Guerin aboard Jet Pilot wins in 2:06.8
- May 7 Paraguayian government unleashes contra revolt
- May 8 A movement among Card players to protest its 1st meeting with Jackie Robinson & the Dodgers is aborted by a talk from owner Sam Breadon
Witold Pilecki Arrested
May 8 Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, who had volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to gain information about the Holocaust, is arrested by Polish communist police
- May 10 "Chocolate Soldier" closes at Century Theater NYC after 69 performances
- May 10 72nd Preakness: Doug Dodson aboard Faultless wins in 1:59
- May 11 BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire (Akron Ohio)
- May 11 Laos accepts constitution for parliamentary democracy
- May 13 US Senate approves the Taft-Hartley Act limiting the power of unions
Music History
May 16 Billie Holiday is arrested in her New York apartment for possession of narcotics
- May 17 "Street Scene" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 148 performances
- May 18 MLB Philadelphia A's catcher Warren Rosar catches his 147th game without an error
- May 22 "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece
- May 22 1st US ballistic missile fired
- May 23 PC Hooft prize forms for literature
- May 25 Coal dust explosion rocks Centralia Coal Co's Mine #5 killing 111 in Illinois
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Mauri Rose leads for final 8 laps after confused pit messages with teammate Bill Holland to take the controversial victory; race marred by a 41st lap crash that claims life of Shorty Cantlon
- May 31 79th Belmont: Ruperto Donoso aboard Phalanx wins in 2:29.6
- May 31 Communists seize power in Hungary
- May 31 Eastern DC-4 crashes between Ft Deposit & Perryville, Maryland, kills 53
- May 31 Italian government of Gasperi forms
- Jun 1 OPA, which issued WW II rationing coupons, disbands
- Jun 1 The development of photosensitive glass, which had occurred ten years previously, is announced publicly
- Jun 2 Hungarian premier Ferenc Nagy resigns
- Jun 2 Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders' musical "Louisiana Lady" opens at Century Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
- Jun 3 British Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten visits Pakistan
- Jun 4 Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders' musical "Louisiana Lady" closes at Century Theater, NYC, after 4 performances
- Jun 4 US House of Representatives approves Taft-Hartley act
- Jun 5 US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the "Marshall Plan" to rebuild Western Europe
- Jun 6 Treaty drawn up for establishment of International Patent Institute
- Jun 10 Saab produces its first automobile
Film Release
Jun 11 Perennial Christmas film "Miracle on 34th St" starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by George Seaton is released
US Golf Open
Jun 15 US Open Men's Golf, St. Louis CC: Lew Worsham defeats Sam Snead by 1 stroke in an 18-hole playoff for his only major title
- Jun 16 1st network news-Dumont's "News from Washington"
- Jun 16 Pravda denounces Marshall Plan
- Jun 17 Earnest Reuter becomes mayor of Berlin
- Jun 17 Pan Am Airways' 1st round-the-world civil air service leaves NYC
- Jun 18 Cincinnati Reds pitcher Ewell Blackwell no-hits Boston Braves, 6-0 at Crosley Field, Cincinnati
- Jun 19 1st plane (F-80) to exceed 600 mph (1004 kph)-Albert Boyd, Muroc, California
- Jun 20 US President Harry Truman vetoes Taft-Hartley Act
- Jun 22 12" rain in 42 mins (Holt, MO)
- Jun 22 Ewell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-back no-hitters (9th inn)
- Jun 23 Compton and Bill Edrich make 370 stand for 3rd wkt v South Africa
- Jun 23 US President Truman's veto of Taft-Hartley Act overridden by Congress
- Jun 24 Flying saucers sighted over Mount Rainier by pilot Ken Arnold
- Jun 24 Future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Jackie Robinson steals home for first of 19 times in his career as the Brooklyn Dodgers beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2
- Jun 24 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Plum Hollow CC: Jim Ferrier becomes first Australian to win a major title; beats Chick Herbert, 2 & 1