1949

1949 is a common year starting on Saturday.

Events

January-February

• January 4 - RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage
• January 4 - February 22 - Series of winter storms in Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado and Nevada - winds of up to 72 mph - tens of thousands of cattle and sheep perish
• January 5 - U.S. President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
• January 11 - Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall.
• January 25 - The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
• January 25 - In the first Israeli election, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.
• January 26 - Australian Citizenship comes into being.
• February 1 - Rationing of clothes ends in Britain
• February 8 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary is sentenced to life imprisonment for treason against the Hungarian Communist government.
• February 12 - The Vatican announces the excommunication of all persons involved in the trial and conviction of Cardinal Mindszenty.
• February 14 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.
• February 14 - Antonio Carmona re-elected president of Portugal for lack of opposing candidate
• February 19 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• February 22 - Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention.

March-April

• March 1 - World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires
• March 1 - Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch
• March 2 - The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II under Captain James Gallagher lands in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight. It was refueled in flight four times.
• March 3 - The Tucker automobile Corporation folds.
• March 12 - The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads inaugurate the California Zephyr passenger train between Chicago and Los Angeles, CA as the first train to feature Vista Dome cars as regular equipment.
• March 28 - United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.
• March 31 - Newfoundland joins Canada.
• April 1 - Southern Ireland leaves the Commonwealth and becomes the Republic of Ireland
• April 4 - NATO is formed.
• April 18 - Éire formally became the Republic of Ireland.
• April 23 - Chinese communist troops take Nanking

May-June

• May 5 - The Council of Europe is founded by the signing of the Treaty of London.
• May 9 - Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.
• May 11 - Israel is admitted to the U.N. as its 59th member.
• May 11 - Siam changes its name to Thailand.
• May 12 - Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.
• May 20 - The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA) is established.
• May 22 - After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital, James Forrestal commits suicide, under circumstances that seem suspicious to many.
• May 23 - The Federal Republic of Germany is established.
• EDSAC, the first stored-program computer, begins operation at Cambridge University.
• June 2 - Transjordan becomes kingdom of Jordan
• June 6 - With the passage of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act by the Indian government, Mahabodhi Temple is restored to partial Buddhist control.
• June 8 - Red Scare: Such celebrities as Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.
• June 29 - Last US troops withdraw from South Korea
• June 29 - Dock strike in the UK
• June 29 - Beginning of Apartheid - The South African Citizenship Act suspends the granting of citizenship to British Commonwealth immigrants after five years and imposes a ban on mixed marriages

August

• August 5 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 8000
• August 8 - Bhutan becomes independent
• August 14 - Gang of Salvatore Giuliano explodes mines under police barracks outside Palermo, Sicily
• August 14 - Military coup in Syria ousts the president
• August 28 - Last surviving veterans of the United States Civil War meet in Indianapolis - all six
• August 29 - First meeting of the Council of Europe
• August 29 - Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb.

September

• September 6 - Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to German control.
• September 7 - Federal Republic of Germany officially founded. Konrad Adenauer is the first federal chancellor
• September 9 - Dynamite bomb destroys Canadian Pacific Airlines Dakota near Quebec
• September 13 - Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership of Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal
• September 17 - Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbor with the loss of over 118 lives.
• September 24 - Laszlo Rajk, ex-foreign minister of Hungary, is sentenced to death.
• September 29 - First Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves design for the Flag of the People's Republic of China.
• September 29 - Mrs. Iva Toguri D'Aquino is found guilty of broadcasting for Japan as "Tokyo Rose" during World War II.

October-December

• October 1 - Birth of the People's Republic of China.
• October 7 - Democratic Republic of Germany DDR established officially
• October 13 - Severe flooding in Guatemala
• October 16 - Civil war ends in Greece - communist troops surrender
• October 17 - Chinese communist troops take Canton,_China
• October 27 - An airliner flying from Paris to New York crashes near the Azores. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu and boxer Marcel Cerdan.
• November 24 - Opening day at the ski resort Squaw Valley California.
• November 26 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution. [1]
• December 8 - Nationalist Chinese finish their evacuation to Taiwan.
• December 10- Robert Gordon (Bob) Menzies elected.
• December 14 - Traicho Kostov, ex-vice prime minister of Bulgaria, is sentenced to death.
• December 15 - Typhoon strikes fishing fleet off Korea - several thousand reported dead.
• December 16 - Sukarno elected president of Republic of Indonesia.
• December 17 - Burma recognizes People's Republic of China.
• December 27 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.
• December 30 - India recognizes People's Republic of China.

An Unknown Date

• The Fourth Geneva Convention is signed.

Year in topic

• 1949 in film
  • February 10 - Death of a Salesman opens (Morosco Theatre in New York City).
  • All the King's Men
  • Twelve O'Clock High
  • Sands of Iwo Jima starring John Wayne
  • Riso amaro by Giuseppe di Santis
• 1949 in literature
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
• 1949 in music
• 1949 in rail transport
  • General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD GP7.
• 1949 in sports
  • March 1 - World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis announces his retirement from boxing.
  • A form of drag racing, using a hand-held stop watch for timing, begins on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
  • Red Byron won the inaugural NASCAR Championship.
• 1949 in television
  • January 3 - Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
  • January 11 - A 2 hour special on all networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable
  • January 17 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs.
  • January 31 - The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcasted on television from Los Angeles
  • May - The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours
  • August 25 - RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
  • December 29 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

Births

January

• January 2 - Christopher Durang, American playwright
• January 7 - Steven Williams, American actor
• January 8 - Wolfgang Puck, Austrian celebrity chef
• January 10
  • George Foreman, American boxer
  • James Lapine, American stage director and librettist
  • Linda Lovelace, pornographic film actress (d. 2002)
• January 11 - Kalev Ots, Estonian statesman
• January 12 - Wayne Wang, director
• January 13 - Brandon Tartikoff, television executive (d. 1997)
• January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan, American director and screenwriter
• January 17 - Andy Kaufman, American comedian (d. 1984)
• January 18 - Philippe Starck, French designer
• January 19 - Robert Palmer, English musician (d. 2003)
• January 20 - Göran Persson, prime minister of Sweden
• January 24 - John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)
• January 31 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher

February

• February 2 - Brent Spiner, American actor
• February 11 - Charlie Hargrett, rock guitarist
• February 15 - Ken Anderson, American football quarterback
• February 18 - Gary Ridgway, accused of being the Green River Killer
• February 19 - Dan Bunten, software developer (d. 1998)
• February 22 - Niki Lauda, Formula One driver

March

• March 2 - Gates McFadden, American actress
• March 2 - Eddie Money, singer
• March 2 - JPR Williams, Welsh rugby player
• March 3 - Jesse Jefferson, Major League Baseball pitcher
• March 6 - Shaukat Aziz, politician
• March 6 - Martin Buchan, Scottish football (soccer) player
• March 7 - Ghulam Nabi Azad, Indian politician
• March 10 - Larry Wall, programmer, linguist, author, creator of Perl
• March 12 - Bill Payne, musician ("Little Feat")
• March 13 - Julia Migenes, soprano
• March 16 - Erik Estrada, actor
• March 16 - Victor Garber, actor
• March 17 - Patrick Duffy, actor
• March 22 - Fanny Ardant, actress
• March 23 - Ric Ocasek, musician ("The Cars")
• March 24 - Nick Lowe, musician
• March 26 - Patrick Süskind, writer
• March 30 - Marcia Ball, blues musician
• March 30 - Lene Lovich, singer
• March 31 - Bethel Enproe Adam, second Angam Baby

April-June

• April 1 - Gil Scott-Heron, musician, composer
• April 3 - Richard Thompson, musician, songwriter
• April 6 - Horst Ludwig Störmer, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• April 7 - John Oates, musician (Hall and Oates)
• April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey
• April 18 - Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
• May 4 - John Force, drag racer
• May 9 - Billy Joel, American musician
• May 18 - Rick Wakeman, musician and songwriter (Yes)
• May 18 - Bill Wallace, Canadian musician (The Guess Who)
• May 19 - Archie Manning, American football player
• May 24 - Tomaž Pisanski, mathematician
• May 26 - Philip Michael Thomas, actor
• May 26 - Hank Williams Jr., singer
• May 31 - Tom Berenger, actor
• June 13 - Ann Druyan, writer
• June 14 - Jimmy Lea, musician (Slade)
• June 14 - Harry Turtledove, historian and novelist
• June 21 - Jane Urquhart, Canadian author
• June 26 - Lewis Koch, artist and photographer

July-September

• July 3 - Jan Smithers, actress (WKRP in Cincinnati)
• July 15 - Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden
• July 17 - Charlie Steiner, sports anchor
• July 22 - Alan Menken, composer
• July 26 - Roger Taylor, musician(Queen)
• August 6 - Alan Campbell, British-Israelite pastor in Ulster
• August 7 - Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze
• August 12 - Mark Knopfler, musician
• August 15 - Richard Deacon, sculptor
• August 23 - Shelley Long, actress
• August 25 - Martin Amis, novelist
• August 31 - Richard Gere, actor
• August 31 - H. David Politzer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• September 1 - P.A. Sangma, Indian politician
• September 7 - Lee McGeorge Durrell author, television presenter, and zookeeper
• September 7 - Gloria Gaynor, singer
• September 14 - Eikichi Yazawa, Japanese rock singer
• September 15 - Joe Barton, American politician
• September 23 - Bruce Springsteen, American singer and songwriter
• September 27 - Mike Schmidt, Baseball Hall of Famer

October-December

• October 1 - Isaac Bonewits, author, occultist
• October 2 - Lorraine Bracco, actress
• October 8 - Sigourney Weaver, actress
• October 14 - Katy Manning, British actress
• October 20 - Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete
• October 22 - Stiv Bators, American musician, punk rock singer with The Dead Boys (d. June 3, 1990)
• November 5 - Armin Shimerman, actor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• November 6 - Arturo Sandoval, Jazz performer
• November 7 - Aiswarya, Queen of Nepal (d. 2001)
  • Judi Bari, activist
• November 24 - Nicholas Richard Ainger, British politician
  • Linda Tripp, figure in Lewinsky scandal
• November 26 - Juanin Clay, American actress (d. 1995)
• November 29 - Alexander Godunov
• December 3 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler (d. 1997)
• December 4 - Jeff Bridges, American actor
  • Pamela Stephenson, comedienne, actress, and singer
• December 7 - Tom Waits, singer, composer, actor
• December 12 - Bill Nighy, actor
• December 14 - Bill Buckner, baseball player
• December 15 - Don Johnson, American actor
• December 22 - Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
  • Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
• December 24 - Randy Neugebauer, American politician
• December 25 - Joe Louis Walker, blues musician

Unknown Date

• William Hope, Canadian movie actor (Aliens)

Deaths

• January 6 - Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883)
• January 11 - Nelson Doubleday, U.S. book publisher
• January 14 - Joaquín Turina, Spanish composer (b. 1882)
• January 28 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver
• February 12 - Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian Islamist and founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
• March 30 - Friedrich Bergius, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
• April 19 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877)
• May 9 - Louis II of Monaco (b. 1870)
• May 22 - James Forrestal, US secretary of Navy, Defense
• May 22 - Klaus Mann, German writer (b. 1906)
• June 10 - Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author
• June 14 - Russell Doubleday, U.S. author and publisher
• July 9 - Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born Australian composer (b. 1874)
• July 12 - Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland
• July 18- Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (b. 1870)
• August 18 - Paul Mares, jazz musician (b. 1900)
• September 8 - Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864)
• September 19 - Will Cuppy, humorist (b. 1884).
• October 27 - Marcel Cerdan, French world champion boxer )air crash) (b. 1916)
• October 27 - Ginette Neveu, French violinist (air crash) (b. 1919)
• December 6 - Leadbelly, blues musician
• December 11 - Bhattacharya, K C
• December 16 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director
• December 28 - Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete
• December 28 - Hervey Allen, U.S. author

Nobel Prizes

The Nobel Prize in 1949 was approx. $ 30,000

• Physics - Yukawa Hideki
• Chemistry - William Francis Giauque
• Medicine - Walter Rudolf Hess, Antonio Caetano De Abreu Freire Egas Moniz
• Literature - William Faulkner
• Peace - John Boyd Orr