- January 10
- British stop ships Independence and In-Gathering from landing in Israel. [1]
- January 16
- Vincent Aurial elected President of France. [1]
- January 17
- Muiden Netherlands ammunition factory explodes, 16 die. [1]
- January 18
- Small river steamer sinks on Yangtze River, killing 400. [1]
- January 19
- Greek steamer Himara strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard. [1]
- January 26
- Swedish Prince Gustaf Adolf dies in an airplane crash at Kastrup, Sweden. [1] [7]
- KLM Dakota crashes near Copenhagen, 22 die. [1]
- January 28
- Bay Psalm book auctioned for a record US$151,000. [1]
- February 1
- Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of Christian-democrats and communists. [1]
- NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established. [1]
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- February 5
- Bolewet Beirut becomes President of Poland. [1]
- Ganzefles, Dutch Nazi spy/Jew hunter, executed. [1]
- February 7
- Arabs and Jews reject British proposal to split Palestine. [1]
- February 10
- Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia. [1]
- Netherlands Radio Union forms. [1]
- Province of Petsamo returned to Soviet Union by Finland. [1]
- In Paris, France, representatives of 21 nations sign five peace treaties with Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Finland. [1] [10]
- February 12
- In Sikhote Alin, Vladivostok, Russia, an iron meteor of estimated weight 70-300 tons breaks up about 4.5km above the earth and rains iron meteorites, producing about 200 craters up to 26.6m in diameter and 6m deep, over an area 12km by 4km. A total of 8000 iron meteorites weighing 28-29 tons are recovered. The meteor is projected to ave originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. [1] [521] [523.33] [526.xix,58]
- February 17
- Dutch Roman Catholic bishops publish manifest against "godless communism". [1]
- Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR. [1]
- February 18
- 24 die in a train crash in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. [1]
- February 20
- Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42 blocks in Los Angeles, California, USA. [1]
- Lord Mountbatten appointed as last viceroy of India. [1]
- February 23
- American General Dwight Eisenhower opens drive to raise US$170 million in aid for European Jews. [1]
- February 25
- The Allied Control Council of Germany issues Law No. 46, disbanding Prussia. [10]
- February 27
- Paul-Emile Victor French polar expeditions organized. [1]
- February 28
- Anti Kuomintang demonstration on Taiwan. [1]
- March 1
- International Monetary Fund begins operations. [1]
- J Boogaard, Nazi collaborator, executed. [1]
- March 12
- Belgian government of Huysmans resigns. [1]
- March 19
- Belgian government of Spaak forms. [1]
- Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek conquers Jenan. [1]
- March 21
- Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fulgens radiatur. [1]
- March 24
- John D Rockefeller Junior donates New York City East River site to the United Nations. [1]
- March 25
- Agreement of Linggadjati ratified in Batavia. [1]
- Coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois, claims 111 lives. [1]
- April 1
- First Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat. [1]
- George II, king of Greece, dies at age 56. [1]
- April 4
- United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization established. [1]
- April 8
- Largest recorded sunspots (7,000) observed. [1]
- April 9
- Atomic Energy Commission is formed. [1]
- Tornadoes striking West Texas and Oklahoma kill 169, injuring 1,300. [1]
- April 10
- King Frederik IX of Denmark crowned. [1]
- April 15
- Operations begin at Radio Netherlands World radio. [1]
- April 16
- Explosions and fire on French ship Grandcamp. [1]
- Lens to provide zoom effects demonstrated (New York City, New York). [1]
- The term "Cold War" is coined by Bernard Baruch. [5]
- Massive explosion and fire kills 500 in Texas City, Texas, USA. [1]
- April 19
- French ship explodes in Texas City harbor, kills about 522. [1]
- April 20
- Christian X, King of Denmark (1912-47), dies at age 76. [1]
- Frederik IX becomes King of Denmark. [1]
- April 28
- Thor Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki sail from Peru to Polynesia. [1]
- May 1
- Radar for commercial and private planes first demonstrated. [1]
- Sanner, leader of Norger blood bath, executed. [1]
- May 3
- Japan forms a constitutional democracy. [1]
- May 5
- Mississippi Valley flooding kills 16 and causes $850 million in damage. [1]
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men). [1]
- May 6
- A British court condemns German former Army Commander-in-Chief Albert Kesslering to death. [10]
- May 7
- US General Douglas MacArthur approves Japanese constitution. [1]
- Paraguayian Government unleashes contra revolt. [1]
- May 11
- BF Goodrich manufactures first tubeless tire, in Akron, Ohio, USA. [1]
- Laos accepts constitution for parliamentary democracy. [1]
- May 22
- "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece. [1]
- First US ballistic missile fired. [1]
- May 23
- PC Hooft prize forms for literature. [1]
- May 31
- Communists grab power in Hungary. [1]
- Eastern DC-4 crashes between Port Deposit and Perryville Maryland, kills 53. [1]
- Italian Government of Gasperi forms. [1]
- June 5
- American Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Marshall announces the European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall Plan. (Over three years, US$13.3 billion is spent on economic assistance to European countries.) [1] [10]
- June 10
- Swedish aircraft company Saab introduces its first car, the Saab 92. It features front-wheel drive, two doors, green paint. [5] [7]
- June 16
- Soviet news service Pravda denounces American Marshall Plan. [1]
- June 17
- First round-the-world civil air service leaves New York City. [1]
- June 19
- First plane (F-80) to exceed 600 mph (1004 kph)-Albert Boyd, Muroc, California. [1]
- June 24
- Flying saucers sighted over Mount Rainier, Washington state, by pilot Ken Arnold. [1] [5]
- July 1
- British Dominion Affairs office becomes Commonwealth Relations office. [1]
- July 4
- In the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico, USA, an alien flying craft (allegedly) crashes. [12.2,10]
- July 7
- In New Mexico, USA, a secret operation is begun to recover wreckage of disc-shaped craft from crash site 75 miles north-west of Roswell Army Air Base, and four small human-like beings found dead 2 miles east of the crash site. (According to documents released anonymously in 1984, three months after death of last person named in Majestic 12 documents.) [861.164]
- July 8
- Demolition begins in New York City for United Nations headquarters in New York City. [1]
- July 9
- Official announcement of upcoming marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. [1] [1731.40]
- July 10
- 200 die when train derails and falls into a river in Canton, China. [1]
- July 18
- The United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands becomes effective, creating seven administrative districts of over 2000 islands in the Pacific Ocean liberated from Japanese occupation and control: Kosrae, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Ponape, Truk, and Yap. [1] [1005.44]
- July 22
- -8 degrees F (-13 degrees C), Charlotte Pass, New South Wales (Australian record). [1]
- July 26
- National Security Act establishes the US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- July 29
- Gas leak explodes in a beauty parlor, ten women die in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA. [1]
- August 7
- Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7000-km (4375-mile) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America. [1] [5]
- August 15
- The Dominion of India is proclaimed. [700.47A] [1841.853]
- The Dominion of Pakistan is proclaimed. [700.47A] [1841.853]
- August 18
- Naval torpedo and mine factory explodes at Cadiz, Spain, killing 168, injuring 4000. [1] [250.4]
- August 20
- Turner Caldwell in D-558-I sets aircraft speed record, 1131 kph. [1]
- September 15
- Paris peace treaty is ratified between Allies and Italy. [969.156]
- September 16
- John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 394.2 MPH. [1]
- September 18
- US President Harry Truman signs National Security Act, creating Central Intelligence Agency. [1096.170]
- October 1
- US relinquishes control of Haitian customs and governmental revenue. [1] [1166.247]
- October 2
- Revised International Telecommunication Convention adopted. [1]
- October 3
- First telescope lens 200 inches (508cm) in diameter completed. [1]
- Bahawalpur becomes an autonomous state within Pakistan. [1566.66]
- October 14
- US Captain Charles Yeager breaks the sound barrier, piloting a Bell X-1 rocket plane to a speed of Mach 106. [1575.24] [1839.8]
- October 20
- The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigating Communist influence in Hollywood. [1] [129]
- October 23
- NAACP petition on racism, "An Appeal to the World" presented to United Nations. [1]
- October 26
- Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir accedes to India. [1]
- November 1
- United Nations trusteeship for Nauru granted to Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom. [1]
- November 2
- Off California, the Hughes Flying Boat, nicknamed the Spruce Goose for its birch and spruce construction, the largest aircraft ever built (320-foot wingspan, eight propellor engines), is piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight. The float plane is flown 70 feet above the water for a mile. [1] [5] [129]
- November 20
- At Westminster Abbey in London, England, Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, former prince of Greece and Denmark. He takes the title Duke of Edinburgh. [1] [129] [626.218] [1731.40]
- November 25
- New Zealand accedes to Statute of Westminster, becomes a dominion. [1]
- November 29
- The United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution recommending the partition of Palestine and the creation of the independent state of Israel. [1] [129] [407.18] [861.139]
- November 30
- Day after United Nations decree for Israel, Jewish settlements attacked. [1]
- December 4
- USSR joins International Amateur Athletic Union. [1]
- December 10
- USSR and Czechoslovakia sign trade agreement. [1]
- December 18
- Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Optissima Pax. [1]
- December 22
- Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution. [1]
- December 23
- Three scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the USA, William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen demonstrate their new invention of the point-contact transistor amplifier. The name transistor is short for "transfer resistor". [1] [4]
- December 25
- Taiwan passes Human Rights laws (Day of Earth Law). [1]
- December 26
- British transfer Heard and McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean) to Australia. [1]
- December 29
- Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine. [1]
- December 30
- King Michael of Romania is forced by communists to abdicate his throne. [1]
- Romanian republic proclaimed. [1]
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