1948

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1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar).

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Events

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January

January 1 - Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways. Arab militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. First day of the Italian republican constitution, first day of the New Jersey State Constitution.
January 4 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
January 5 - Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl).
January 17 - Truce between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in Java
January 26 - Teigin poison case - Man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 out of 15 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced for the crime.
January 30 - Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is murdered by a Hindu extremist.
January 30 - 1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

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February

February 1 - Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.
February 4 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. King George VI becomes King of Ceylon.
February 18 - Eamon de Valera, head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach of Éire (formerly called the Irish Free State) by President O'Kelly.
February 24 - The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia.

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March

March 8 - The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution.
March 10 - Czech foreign minister Jan Masaryk killed in fall from a window of his apartment in Prague. Later communist government rules it "suicide".
March 17 - Hell's Angels founded in California
March 20 - First elections in Singapore

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April

April 3 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
April 7 - The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
April 7 - Buddhist monastery burns in Shanghai - 20 monks dead
April 9 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia (La violencia).
April 9 - The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in Palestine.

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May

Image:Flag of Israel.svg

May 1 - 213 communists executed in Greece.
May 2 - Hour of Charm's last broadcast.
May 11 - Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.
May 14 - Israel is declared as an independent state.
May 14 - The murder of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn, England leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
May 15 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel.
May 16 - Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.
May 18 - The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
May 26 - The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
May 30 - A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

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June

June 3 - Palomar Observatory telescope finished in California.
June 16 - Communist guerillas kill three rubber planters in Malaya.
June 16 - Three armed men hijack Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot. The plane crashes - one of 27 survives
June 17 - A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
June 18 - State of Emergency declared in Malaysia for communist insurgency - Malayan Emergency begins.
June 20 - U.S.Congress: Commencement of Congressional Recess for the remainder of 1948 after an overtime session closed on this Saturday at 0700 D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).
June 21 - The Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.
June 24 - Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.
June 25 - U.S.Congress or Not at all ?: United States Codes : U.S.C. Title 3 (The President), Title 18 (Crimes) and Title 28 (Judiciary) mysteriously, and rather dubiously passed by an absent Congress NO LONGER IN SESSION since June 20 (see USCodes History).
June 28 - Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and Soviet/Yugoslav split.

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July

July 5 - British National Health Service Act enacted.
July 13 - The Coptic and Ethiopian Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.
July 15 - Attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, incites number of strikes all over the country.
July 15 - First London, England chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous
July 20 - Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).
July 24 - Great oil fire in the harbor of Naantali, Finland
July 26 - U.S. President signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
July 29 - 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London.
July 31 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

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August

August 1 - The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
August 12 - USA recognizes the government of South Korea.
August 19 - Soviet troops fire at German demonstrators that protest against the Berlin Blockade.
August 23 - World Council of Churches established.

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Undated

Literature In the spring, playwright Arthur Miller writes "Death of a Salesman." He completes Act I in less than a day. Act II and the Requiem are completed in the next six weeks. He writes his new play in a small, freshly built studio that he constructed himself on his property in Roxbury, CT.
Empire Windrush immigrant ship arrives in Britain
Civil war in Costa Rica
Civil war in Colombia
Rope (film) released

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Unknown date

Porsche is founded.
Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.
Casimir effect discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.
Tunnel of Vielha is opened in Val d'Aran, Spanish Pyrenees.
Fresh Kills, world's largest landfill, opens in Staten Island, New York.
The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is founded.
Brandeis University is founded.
Oakridge Transit Centre opened in Vancouver, British Columbia.
a Slovak city's name was changed from Gúta to Kolárovo
Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd, Franklin Roosevelt's lover, died

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Births

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January

January 2 - Mary Archer, British scientist
January 2 - Deborah Watling, British actress
January 7 - Kenny Loggins, American singer
January 10 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist
January 10 - Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
January 14 - T-Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician
January 14 - Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
January 15 - Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (d. 1977)
January 16 - John Carpenter, American film director and composer
January 17 - Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
January 19 - Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador
January 27 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born dancer
January 28 - Charles Taylor, Liberian president
January 29 - Marc Singer, Canadian actor
January 31 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

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February

February 1 - Elisabeth Sladen, British actress
February 3 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
February 4 - Alice Cooper, American musician
February 5 - Christopher Guest, American actor, writer, director, and composer
February 6 - Jack Conway, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
February 6 - V. Alexander Stefan, American physicist, educator, and writer
February 14 - Teller, American magician
February 14 - Jackie Martling, American comedian and radio personality
February 24 - J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician
February 25 - Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
February 28 - Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
February 28 - Mike Figgis, American director, writer, and composer
February 28 - Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
February 28 - Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

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March

March 1 - Burning Spear, Jamaican singer and musician
March 2 - R. T. Crowley, pioneer of electronic commerce
March 2 - Jeff Kennett, Australian politician
March 9 - Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
March 11 - Dominique Sanda, French actress
March 12 - James Taylor, American musician
March 15 - Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
March 17 - William Gibson, Canadian writer
March 20 - John de Lancie, American actor
March 20 - Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player
March 22 - Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
March 22 - Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer
March 26 - Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)
March 28 - Dianne Wiest, American actress
March 31 - Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States
March 31 - Rhea Perlman, American actress

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April

April 1 - Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician
April 4 - Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor
April 15 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
April 29 - Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)

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May

May 8 - Felicity Lott, English soprano
May 11 - Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician
May 12 - Steve Winwood, English singer
May 14 - Bob Woolmer, British cricket coach
May 15 - Brian Eno, English musician and record producer
May 19 - Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
May 21 - Leo Sayer, English musician
May 26 - Stevie Nicks, American singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
May 29 - Michael Berkeley, British composer
May 31 - John Bonham, British drummer (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)

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June

June 13 - Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and scout
June 17 - Dave Concepcion, Venezuelan baseball player
June 19 - Phylicia Rashad, American actress
June 20 - Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
June 21 - Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
June 21 - Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
June 22 - Todd Rundgren, American singer and record producer

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July

July 8 - Raffi Cavoukian, Egyptian-born singer
July 16 - Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
July 18 - Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
July 21 - Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
July 21 - Cat Stevens, English musician
July 21 - Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
July 23 - John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
July 25 - Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
July 28 - Sally Struthers, American actress
July 30 - Jean Reno, French actor

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August

August 2 - Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
August 3 - Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France
August 13 - Kathleen Battle, American soprano
August 15 - Uschi Digard, American erotic actress and figure model
August 20 - Robert Plant, English singer (Led Zeppelin)
August 30 - Lewis Black, American comedian

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September

September 4 - Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer
September 5 - Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician
September 10 - Bob Lanier, American basketball player
September 10 - Margaret Trudeau, Estranged wife of former Prime Minister of Canada
September 13 - Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d. 2003)
September 17 - John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
September 22 - Denis Burke, Australian politician
September 24 - Heinz Chur, German composer
September 27 - Michele Dotrice, English actor
September 29 - Bryant Gumbel, American television broadcaster

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October

October 1 - Sir Peter Blake New Zealand yachtsman (d. 2001)
October 2 - Avery Brooks, American television actor
October 2 - Chris LeDoux, American singer and rodeo star (d. 2005)
October 6 - Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician
October 8 - Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (d. 2004)
October 9 - Jackson Browne, American musician
October 13 - Ted Poe, American politician
October 17 - George Wendt, American television actor

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November

November 1 - Jim Steinman, American songwriter and producer
November 5 - William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
November 10 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)
November 14 - Charles, Prince of Wales
November 16 - Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer
November 17 - Howard Dean, American politician
November 20 - John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN
November 20 - Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano

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December

December 3 - Ozzy Osbourne, British singer
December 6 - Keke Rosberg, Finnish Formula One Champion
December 6 - JoBeth Williams, American actress
December 10 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)
December 21 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
December 21 - Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist
December 27 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor

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Unknown date

Ciaran Carson, Northern Irish poet and novelist
Maurizio Gucci, Italian business man and murder victim (d. 1995)
Edward Rutherfurd, British novelist

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Deaths

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January

January 21 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
January 30 - Mohandas Gandhi, Indian independence movement leader (assassinated) (b. 1869)
January 30 - Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b. 1871)