Historical Events in March 1949

Mar 1 Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires with a 66-3-0 record including 52 KOs; defended the title a record 25 times

Mar 4 Andrei Vishinsky succeeds Molotov as Soviet Foreign minister

Mar 5 Bradman plays his last innings in 1st-class cricket, gets 30

Mar 5 The Jharkhand Party is founded in India.
Mar 8 WAGA TV channel 5 in Atlanta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 8 WBAP-FM, Fort Worth Texas, begins broadcasting
Mar 9 Brigadier General Edwin K Wright, USA, ends term as deputy director of CIA
Mar 9 England beat South Africa by scoring 174 runs in 94 minutes
Mar 10 Detroit Tiger pitcher Art Houtteman is critically injured in an auto accident but recovers to win 15 games in 1949
Mar 12 Ireland retains Five Nations Rugby Championship & Triple Crown with a 5-0 win over Wales at St. Helen's Ground, Swansea
Mar 13 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Yvonne C Sherman

Mar 13 US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
Mar 15 WICU TV channel 12 in Erie, PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 15 WLWD (now WDTN) TV channel 2 in Dayton, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 15 Cricket's master batsman Don Bradman receives his knighthood from the Governor-General of Australia, the Rt Hon. WJ McKell at the investiture in Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne
Mar 16 KFMB TV channel 8 in San Diego, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting

Mar 16 6th Golden Globes: Johnny Belinda, Laurence Olivier, & Jane Wyman win

Mar 18 WGAL TV channel 8 in Lancaster, PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 19 1st museum devoted exclusively to atomic energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Mar 20 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Amateur Peggy Kirk wins her only major title by 2 strokes from Patty Berg and Dorothy Kirby
Mar 21 WTVJ TV channel 4 in Miami, FL (NBC/CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 23 Sidney Kingsley's "Detective Story" premieres in NYC

Mar 24 21st Academy Awards: "Hamlet", Laurence Olivier & Jane Wyman win, Walter & John Huston become 1st father-and-son team to win awards

Mar 24 SS police chief in the Netherlands Hanns Albin Rauter's request for a pardon denied, executed by firing squad
Mar 25 The Soviet Union begins Operation Pribioi, the mass deportation of 90,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians to inhospitable areas in the Soviet Union
Mar 26 11th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Oklahoma State, 46-36; Wildcats' back-to-back titles; center Alex Groza MOP
Mar 26 103rd Grand National: Leo McMorrow aboard 66/1 outsider Russian Hero wins by a comfortable 8 lengths ahead of Roimond
Mar 29 Turkey recognizes Israel
Mar 30 Riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO
Mar 31 Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province