- January 15
- "Cloud of Death" rolls down Mount Lamington, New Guinea, killing 3,000-5,000. [1]
- January 16
- Viet Minh offensive against Hanoi, Vietnam. [1]
- World's largest gas pipeline opens (Brownsville, Texas, to 134th Street, New York City, New York). [1]
- January 17
- China refuses cease-fire in Korea. [1]
- January 18
- First use of lie detector in Netherlands. [1]
- Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic". [1]
- January 22
- Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Johncrowe Ransom. [1]
- January 24
- Dutch government Drees-van Schaik resigns. [1]
- January 25
- United Nations begins counter-offensive in Korea. [1]
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- January 28
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- January 30
- Belgium refuses to allow communists to make speeches on radio. [1]
- February 1
- First X-ray moving picture process demonstrated. [1]
- The first telecast of an atomic explosion is aired, a US nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. [1] [457]
- Alfred Krupp and 28 other German war criminals freed. [1]
- United Nations condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea. [1]
- February 2
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 6
- "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge, New Jersey, USA, killing 84. [1]
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 10
- Shah of Persia marries 19-year-old Soraja Esfandiara Bakhtiari. [1]
- February 11
- Kwame Nkrumah wins first parliamentary election in Gold Coast (Ghana). [1]
- February 18
- Nepál becomes a constitutional monarchy. [1]
- February 26
- Bread rationing in Czechoslovakia. [1]
- February 28
- French government of Pleven dissolves. [1]
- March 6
- Belgium extends conscription to 24 months. [1]
- Beginning of high-profile trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the USA, on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. [129]
- March 7
- Ali Razmara, Shah of Iran (1950-51), is assassinated. [1]
- March 8
- The Honeymoon Killers (Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez) die in electric chair. [1]
- March 12
- Communist troops driven out of Seoul, Korea. [1]
- March 13
- Second Dutch government of Drees forms. [1]
- Israel demands 6.2 billion Deutsche marks compensation from Germany. [1]
- March 14
- During Korean War, US/UN forces recapture Seoul. [1]
- Earthquake at Euskirchen, Germany. [1]
- March 15
- Persia nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. [1]
- March 20
- Indonesian army offensive against Darul Islam on Java. [1]
- March 23
- Wages in France increase 11 percent. [1]
- March 29
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage. [1]
- March 31
- US tanks cross 38 degrees of latitude in Korea. [1]
- April 5
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for espionage in the USA. [1] [129]
- April 7
- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak. [1]
- April 12
- Israeli Knesset officially designates April 13 as Holocaust Day. [1]
- April 15
- Michael Gorsira is first person in charge of Curaçao. [1]
- April 16
- British submarine Affray sinks in English Channel, killing 75. [1]
- April 17
- The Peak District becomes the first national park established in Great Britain. [1016.88]
- April 18
- Dutch Antilles government of Da Costa Gomez forms. [1]
- France, Federal Republic of Germany and Benelux form European Steel and Coal Community. [1]
- April 19
- In London, England, the first Miss World beauty pagent is held, part of the Festival of Britain. Winner is 21-year-old Kiki Haakonson, Miss Sweden. [7] [55.22]
- April 20
- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak Atoll. [1]
- April 27
- Mohammed Mossadeq chosen premier of Persia. [1]
- April 28
- US-Japan peace treaty takes effect. [1065.1540]
- May 1
- 600,000 march for peace and freedom in Germany. [1]
- May 7
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Conrad Richter (The Town). [1]
- May 8
- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak. [1]
- May 9
- Air raid on Chinese positions at Yalu River. [1]
- May 11
- Jay Forrester patents computer core memory. [1]
- May 12
- First hydrogen bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll. [1]
- May 16
- El Al Israel Airlines begins the first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights between New York and London. [5]
- May 18
- United Nations moves headquarters to New York City. [1]
- US General Collins predicts use of atom bomb in Korea. [1]
- May 19
- United Nations begins counter-offensive in Korea. [1]
- May 24
- US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests). [1]
- May 27
- Chinese Communists force Dalai Lama to surrender his army to Beijing. [1]
- May 31
- Netherlands and South Africa sign cultural accord. [1]
- June 1
- First self-contained titanium plant opened Henderson, Nevada, USA. [1]
- June 11
- Mozambique becomes an overseas province of Portugal. [1]
- June 14
- First commercial computer, Reminton Rand UNIVAC 1, enters service at US Census Bureau in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] [55.44]
- June 23
- British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean flee to USSR. [1]
- Most expensive US hailstorm (US$1.5 million crop damage and US$14 million property - Kansas). [1]
- June 25
- CBS transmits the first commercial color TV broadcast, an hour-long special hosted by Arthur Godfrey, from New York to Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington DC. [1] [457]
- July 5
- Junction transistor invention announced, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. [1]
- July 9
- Official inauguration of first Ferranti Mark I computer at Manchester University, England. [55.44]
- US President Harry Truman asks US Congress to formally end state of war with Germany. [1]
- July 10
- Armistice talks to end Korean conflict begin at Kaesong. [1] [1181.438]
- July 14
- First color telecast of a sporting event (CBS, horse race). [1] [457]
- July 16
- Novel Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger is published. [1]
- July 18
- Uruguay accepts its constitution. [1]
- July 20
- King Abdullah Ibn Hussein I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian in Jerusalem. [1] [626.220]
- July 28
- RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's animated feature film Alice in Wonderland to theaters in the USA. [6]
- August 6
- Typhoon floods kill 4,800 in Manchuria. [1]
- August 7
- Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph. [1]
- August 17
- Hurricane winds drive six ships ashore, at Kingston, Jamaica. [1]
- September 1
- US, Australia and New Zealand sign ANZUS treaty. [1]
- September 4
- The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, California, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference. [1] [5]
- September 8
- Japan signs the San Francisco Peace Treaty with 48 nations, regaining its independence. [1] [10]
- September 20
- First North Pole jet crossing. [1]
- October 6
- Henry Gurney, British high commissioner to Malaya, is assassinated. [1]
- October 16
- Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, assassinated by Said Akbar. [1]
- October 19
- President Harry S Truman formally ends state of war with Germany. [1]
- October 25
- Peace talks aimed at ending Korean War resumed in Panmunjom. [1]
- November 1
- First atomic explosion witnessed by troops, New Mexico, USA. [1]
- November 7
- Constitution of Jordan passes. [1]
- November 25
- Two passenger trains collide in CTC territory at Woodstock, Alabama, USA, killing 15 passengers and two employees. [1]
- November 27
- First rocket to intercept an airplane, White Sands, New Mexico, USA. [1]
- November 29
- First underground atomic explosion, Frenchman Flat, Nevada. [1]
- December 4
- Superheated gases roll down Mount Catarman (Philippines), killing 500. [1]
- December 9
- Voters approve merger of three states to form Baden-Württemberg, Federal Republic of Germany. [1]
- December 17
- Dutch Communist Party members forbidden to be civil servants. [1]
- December 19
- German General Christiansen leaves Netherlands. [1]
- December 23
- Last Belgian communities get electricity. [1]
- December 24
- United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via the United Nations. [1] [1367.500]
- December 31
- First battery to convert radioactive energy to electrical is announced. [1]
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