Famous birthdays, deaths and events of 1949
Birthdays January 1 - Daniel E Gawthrop, American composer January 2 - Christopher Durang, American playwright January 5 - George Brown, American drummer (Kool & The Gang) January 7 - Marshall Chapman, American singer/songwriter January 7 - Anne Schedeen, American actress January 7 - Steven Williams, American actor January 10 - George Foreman , American boxer January 10 - James Lapine, American stage director January 10 - Linda Lovelace, American pornographic actress (d. 2002) January 11 - Daryl Braithwaite , Australian rock singer January 12 - Kentaro Haneda, Japanese composer (d. 2007) January 12 - Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist January 12 - Michael W. Vannier, American radiologist January 12 - Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born American film director January 13 - Rakesh Sharma, first Indian and 138th man to visit space January 14 - Paul Chubb, Australian actor (d. 2002) January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan , American director January 14 - Mary Robison, American writer January 15 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 1987) January 15 - Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor January 17 - Mick Taylor, British musician (The Rolling Stones) January 17 - Andy Kaufman , American comedian (d. 1984) January 19 - Robert Palmer , English singer and guitarist (d. 2003) January 19 - Dennis Taylor, Northern Irish snooker player January 22 - Mike Caldwell, American baseball player January 22 - Phil Miller, English guitarist (National Health January 22 - Steve Perry , American singer and musician (Journey) January 24 - John Belushi , American actor (d. 1982) January 25 - John Cooper Clarke, English punk-poet January 26 - Jonathan Carroll, American author January 26 - David Strathairn, American actor January 27 - Ethan Mordden, American author January 30 - Peter Agre, American biologist February 2 - Brent Spiner , American actor February 2 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey) February 3 - Arthur Kane, American musician February 3 - Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist February 4 - Michael Beck, American actor February 6 - Jim Sheridan, Irish film director February 7 - Joe English (musician), American drummer February 8 - Brooke Adams , American actress February 9 - Judith Light , American actress February 10 - Jim Corcoran, Quebec singer and songwriter February 10 - Maxime Le Forestier, French singer February 10 - Nigel Olsson, British musician February 10 - Harold Sylvester, American actor February 12 - Joaquín Sabina, Spanish singer and songwriter February 15 - Ken Anderson, American football player February 17 - Fred Frith, English musician and composer February 19 - William Messner-Loebs, American comics writer February 20 - Ivana Trump, Czech-born American socialite February 21 - Jerry Harrison, American musician February 21 - Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer February 22 - Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player February 23 - Marc Garneau, French Canadian astronaut February 25 - Ric Flair , American professional wrestler February 26 - Elizabeth George, American novelist February 26 - Emma Kirkby, British early music singer March 2 - Alain Chamfort, French singer March 2 - Gates McFadden , American actress March 2 - J. P. R. Williams, Welsh Rugby Union player March 3 - Jüri Allik, Estonian psychologist March 3 - Gloria Hendry, American actress March 3 - Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player March 4 - Carroll Baker , Canadian country singer and songwriter March 6 - Martin Buchan, Scottish soccer player March 8 - Karel Lismont, Belgian athlete March 9 - Tapani Kansa, Finnish singer March 12 - Rob Cohen , American film director March 12 - Moctesuma Esparza, Mexican-American producer and filmmaker March 12 - Natalia Kuchinskaya, Soviet gymnast March 13 - Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese racing driver (d. 1974) March 13 - Julia Migenes, American soprano March 16 - Erik Estrada, Puerto Rican actor March 16 - Elliott Murphy, American Singer-Songwriter March 16 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor March 17 - Patrick Duffy, American actor March 17 - Daniel Lavoie, French Canadian singer and songwriter March 18 - Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player March 18 - Hannu Siitonen, Finnish athlete March 20 - Marcia Ball, American singer and pianist March 21 - Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian sociologist March 21 - Eddie Money, American musician March 22 - Fanny Ardant , French actress March 23 - Ric Ocasek, American musician (The Cars) March 24 - Nick Lowe, British musician March 26 - Vicki Lawrence, American actress and singer March 26 - Patrick Süskind, German writer March 29 - Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2007) March 29 - Dave Greenfield, English Keyboardist of The Stranglers March 30 - Naomi Sims, American fashion model and businesswoman April 1 - Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer April 1 - Gil Scott-Heron, American musician and composer April 2 - Paul Gambaccini, British television presenter April 2 - Pamela Reed, American actress April 2 - Ron Palillo , American actor April 3 - Lyle Alzado, American football player (d. 1992) April 3 - Richard Thompson, English musician and songwriter April 4 - Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (The Wailers) (d. 1999) April 5 - John Berg (actor), American actor (d. 2007) April 5 - Judith Resnik, American astronaut (d. 1986) April 7 - John Oates, American musician (Hall & Oates) April 8 - John Madden , English film director April 8 - Brenda Russell, American singer/songwriter April 11 - Bernd Eichinger, German film producer April 11 - Carl Franklin, American actor April 12 - Scott Turow, American writer April 13 - Ricardo Zuniño, Argentine racing driver April 14 - John Shea, American actor April 15 - Tonio K, American singer April 15 - Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer April 15 - Craig Zadan, American film producer April 16 - Melody Patterson, American actress April 18 - Geoff Bodine, American race car driver April 19 - Paloma Picasso daughter of artist Pablo Picasso, April 19 - Larry Walters, American "lawn chair" pilot (d. 1993) April 20 - Veronica Cartwright , American actress April 20 - Jessica Lange , American actress April 21 - Patti LuPone , American singer and actress April 23 - David Cross, British violinist (King Crimson) April 23 - Joyce DeWitt , American actress April 24 - Véronique Sanson, French singer and songwriter April 25 - Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer April 25 - James Fenton, British poet April 26 - Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer April 26 - Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995) April 26 - Dominic Sena, American film director April 28 - Indian Larry, American stuntsman (d. 2004) April 28 - Bruno Kirby, American actor (d. 2006) May 1 - Tim Hodgkinson, English composer and musician (Henry Cow) May 1 - Paul Teutul, Sr. May 2 - Alan Titchmarsh, English television presenter May 4 - John Force, American race car driver May 4 - Stella Parton, American country music singer May 4 - Graham Swift, British author May 7 - Andrew Clements, American author May 9 - Billy Joel , American musician May 13 - Zoë Wanamaker, English-American actress May 14 - Klaus-Peter Thaler, German cyclist May 17 - Bill Bruford, English musician (Yes) May 18 - Rick Wakeman, English composer and musician (Yes) May 18 - Bill Wallace, Canadian musician (The Guess Who) May 19 - Archie Manning, American football player May 19 - Dusty Hill, American blues rock singer/bassist (ZZ Top) May 20 - Dave Thomas, Canadian comedian & actor May 24 - Jim Broadbent , English actor May 25 - Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist May 26 - Pam Grier , American actress May 26 - Philip Michael Thomas, American actor May 26 - Hank Williams Jr. , American singer May 28 - Wendy O. Williams, American musician (The Plasmatics) (d. 1998) May 29 - Brian Kidd, English footballer May 31 - Tom Berenger , American actor May 31 - Nancy Shade, American soprano June 2 - Frank Rich, American theater critic and columnist June 4 - Gabriel Arcand, French Canadian actor June 5 - Ken Follett, Welsh author June 6 - Robert Englund , American actor June 6 - Holly Near, American folksinger June 8 - Emanuel Ax, Polish-born pianist June 8 - Jeffrey Mylett, American actor (d. 1986) June 11 - Frank Beard, American drummer (ZZ Top) June 11 - Tom Pryce, British racing driver (d. 1977) June 12 - Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player June 12 - John Wetton, English musician (Asia) June 13 - Dennis Locorriere, American singer and guitarist (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show) June 14 - Jimmy Lea, British musician (Slade) June 14 - Harry Turtledove, American author June 14 - Alan White, British drummer (Yes) June 15 - Simon Callow, British actor June 15 - Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer (Air Supply) June 15 - Jim Varney , American actor (d. 2000) June 16 - Paulo César, Brazilian footballer June 17 - Snakefinger, British-born musician (d. 1987) June 18 - Chris Van Allsburg, American author and illustrator June 20 - Lionel Richie, American musician (The Commodores) June 20 - Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass guitarist (Bay City Rollers) June 22 - Meryl Streep , American actress June 22 - Lindsay Wagner , American actress June 22 - Alan Osmond, American singer June 23 - Gordon Bray, Australian sports broadcaster June 24 - John Illsley, English bassist (Dire Straits) July 1 - John Farnham, Australian singer July 2 - Roy Bittan, American musician (E Street Band) July 2 - Hanno Pöschl, Austrian actor July 2 - Robert Paquette, French Canadian singer and songwriter July 3 - Jan Smithers , American actress July 3 - Johnnie Wilder, Jr. July 6 - Phyllis Hyman, American singer (d. 1995) July 7 - Shelley Duvall , American actress July 8 - Frank Delima, American comedian July 8 - Dale Hoganson, Canadian ice hockey player July 8 - Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-born celebrity chef July 10 - Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricketer July 10 - Greg Kihn U.S. pop musician & radio personality., July 10 - John Whitehead, American singer and record producer July 11 - Liona Boyd, English-born musician July 12 - Rick Hendrick, American NASCAR team owner July 15 - Trevor Horn, British music producer July 17 - Terence "Geezer" Butler, British musician and lyricist (Black Sabbath) July 17 - Charlie Steiner, American sports broadcaster July 19 - Ivar Kants, Australian actor July 21 - Al Hrabosky, baseball player July 22 - Alan Menken, American composer July 22 - Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and PM of UAE July 22 - Lasse Virén, Finnish athlete July 23 - Clive Rice, South African cricketer July 24 - Yves Duteil, French singer and songwriter July 24 - Michael Richards , American comedian July 26 - Roger Taylor, English musician (Queen) July 27 - André Dupont, Quebec ice hockey player July 27 - Maureen McGovern, American singer July 28 - Steve Peregrin Took, English singer (d. 1980) July 28 - Vida Blue, American baseball player July 28 - Peter Doyle, Australian singer (The New Seekers) (d. 2001) July 28 - Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and film producer July 29 - Leslie Easterbrook, American actress July 30 - Duck Baker, American guitarist August 3 - Reed Waller, American comic book author August 4 - John Riggins, American football player August 6 - Dino Bravo, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1993) August 8 - Keith Carradine, American actor August 8 - Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver August 9 - Jonathan Kellerman, American writer August 11 - Eric Carmen, American musician August 12 - Mark Knopfler OBE, Scottish guitarist (Dire Straits) August 13 - Bobby Clarke, Canadian ice hockey player August 14 - Bob Backlund, American wrestler August 15 - Beverly Lynn Burns, Americna pilot August 15 - Garry Disher, Australian author August 16 - Scott Asheton, American musician (The Stooges) August 17 - Sib Hashian, American musician (Boston) August 18 - Rudy Hartono, Indonesian badminton player August 20 - Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988) August 20 - Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer August 20 - Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter August 20 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986) August 21 - Loretta Devine, American actress August 22 - Diana Nyad, American swimmer August 22 - Doug Bair, baseball player August 22 - Þórarinn Eldjárn, Icelandic writer August 22 - Alfred Musema, Rwandan genocidaire August 23 - Katiana Balanika, Greek actress and singer August 23 - Geoff Capes, English Strongman August 23 - Shelley Long , American actress August 23 - Rick Springfield , Australian singer and actor August 24 - Joe Regalbuto, American actor August 24 - Charles Rocket, American actor (d. 2005) August 25 - Martin Amis, English novelist August 25 - John Savage, American actor August 25 - Gene Simmons , Israeli-born musician (Kiss) August 25 - Fariborz Lachini, Canadian-Iranian composer August 27 - Jeff Cook, vocals August 28 - Hugh Cornwell, British musician (The Stranglers) August 30 - Peter Maffay, German musician August 30 - Ted Ammon, American financier (d. 2001) August 30 - Christopher Collins, American actor and comedian (d. 1994) August 31 - Richard Gere , American actor September 4 - Dean Pees, National Football League defensive coordinator September 4 - Tom Watson, American golfer September 7 - Gloria Gaynor, American singer September 9 - Garry Maddox, American baseball player September 10 - Don Muraco, professional wrestler September 11 - Bill Whittington, race car driver September 12 - Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater September 14 - Tommy Seebach, Danish musician (d. 2003) September 14 - Eikichi Yazawa, Japanese singer September 14 - Fred "Sonic" Smith, American guitarist (MC5) (d. 1994) September 14 - Steve Gaines, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977) September 14 - Ed King, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) September 16 - Ed Begley, Jr. September 18 - Peter Shilton, English footballer September 18 - Billy Drago, American actor September 18 - Kerry Livgren, American singer (Kansas) September 19 - Sally Potter, English film director and screenwriter September 19 - Twiggy , English model September 20 - Mahesh Bhatt. Indian film director, September 20 - Anthony Denison, American actor September 20 - John W. Henry, American MLB team owner September 21 - Artis Gilmore, American basketball player September 22 - Jim Keith, American conspiracy theorist and author (d. 1999) September 23 - Bruce Springsteen , American singer and songwriter September 26 - Clodoaldo, Brazilian football player September 26 - Jane Smiley, American novelist September 26 - Minette Walters, English novelist September 27 - Mike Schmidt, American baseball player September 27 - Jahn Teigen, Norwegian singer September 29 - George Dalaras , Greek singer October 1 - Isaac Bonewits, American author October 2 - Richard Hell, American musician October 3 - Lindsey Buckingham, American musician (Fleetwood Mac) October 3 - J. P. Dutta, Indian Bollywood film director October 4 - Armand Assante, American actor October 4 - Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director October 5 - Bill James, American baseball writer October 5 - B. W. Stevenson, American singer (d. 1988) October 7 - Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas) October 8 - Sigourney Weaver , American actress October 12 - Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, Venezuelan international terrorist October 12 - Stan Hansen, American professional wrestler October 13 - Tom Mees, American sports broadcaster (d. 1996) October 13 - Patrick Nève, Belgian racing driver October 13 - Marisol Malaret,Miss Universe 1970, October 14 - Katy Manning, English/Australian actress October 14 - Katha Pollitt, American writer October 18 - Joe Egan, British musician (Stealers Wheel) October 18 - George Hendrick, baseball player October 18 - Gary Richrath, American musician (REO Speedwagon) October 19 - Lynn Dickey, American football player October 20 - Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete October 21 - Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1971) October 22 - Stiv Bators, American musician (The Dead Boys) (d. 1990) October 23 - Michael 'Wurzel' Burston, British musician (Motörhead) October 23 - Nick Tosches, American writer October 25 - Réjean Houle, Canadian ice hockey player October 26 - Steve Rogers, Major League Baseball pitcher October 26 - Kevin Sullivan, American professional wrestler October 27 - Garry Tallent, American bass player (E Street Band) October 28 - Bruce Jenner, American athlete October 28 - Tracy Reed, American actress October 29 - James Williamson, American guitarist October 29 - Paul Orndorff, American professional wrestler October 31 - Bob Siebenberg, American drummer (Supertramp) November 1 - Michael D. Griffin, NASA chief administrator November 3 - Larry Holmes , American boxer November 3 - Mike Evans, American actor (d. 2006) November 5 - Armin Shimerman, American actor November 5 - Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984) November 6 - Brad Davis, American actor (d. 1991) November 6 - Arturo Sandoval, Cuban-born trumpeter November 6 - Joseph C. Wilson, Vice Chairman of Jarch Capital November 6 - Nigel Havers, English actor November 7 - Steven Stucky, American composer November 7 - Judy Tenuta, American comedian November 8 - Bonnie Raitt , American singer November 10 - Ann Reinking, American dancer November 13 - Yoshimi Ishibashi, Japanese racing driver November 13 - Terry Reid, English singer November 14 - James Young, American guitarist (Styx) November 19 - Nigel Bennett, English actor November 19 - Ahmad Rashad, American football player and sportscaster November 20 - Jeff Dowd, American film producer November 24 - Shane Bourne, Australian comedian and actor November 26 - Shlomo Artzi, Israeli singer November 26 - Juanin Clay, American actress (d. 1995) November 26 - Martin Lee, November 27 - Masanori Sekiya, Japanese racing driver November 28 - Alexander Godunov, Russian ballet dancer (d. 1995) November 29 - Stan Rogers, Canadian folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983) November 29 - Wayne Cowan, American wrestler November 29 - Jerry Lawler, American wrestler November 29 - Garry Shandling , American comedian December 1 - Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (d. 1993) December 3 - John Akii-Bua, Ugandan athlete (d. 1997) December 3 - Heather Menzies, American actress December 3 - Mickey Thomas, American singer (Jefferson Starship) December 4 - Jeff Bridges , American actor December 4 - Pamela Stephenson, New Zealand-born actress December 5 - Ray Comfort, New Zealand evangelist December 6 - Linda Creed, American songwriter (d. 1986) December 7 - Tom Waits , American singer December 8 - Mary Gordon, American writer December 8 - Nancy Meyers, American film director December 8 - Ray Shulman, English musician December 8 - Robert Sternberg, Proposed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence December 9 - Tom Kite, American golfer December 12 - Bill Nighy , English actor December 13 - Tom Verlaine, American singer/guitarist of Television December 13 - Randy Owen, lead vocals December 13 - Paula Wilcox, English actress December 14 - Bill Buckner, American baseball player December 14 - Cliff Williams, English bassist (AC/DC) December 15 - Don Johnson , American actor December 16 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top) December 17 - Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer December 17 - Paul Rodgers, English singer (Free; Bad Company) December 18 - David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980) December 19 - Nancy Kyes, American actress December 19 - Sebastian, Danish musician December 20 - Cecil Cooper, American baseball player December 22 - Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003) December 22 - Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) December 23 - Adrian Belew, American musician December 24 - Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver December 25 - Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Singer and icon of the Brazilian music December 25 - Sissy Spacek , American actress December 25 - Joe Louis Walker, American musician December 29 - Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player December 29 - David Topliss, rugby league player December 31 - Susan Shwartz, American writer
Deaths January 6 - Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883) January 14 - Joaquín Turina, Spanish composer (b. 1882) January 22 - William Thomas Walsh, American author (b. 1891) January 28 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908) March 7 - Bradbury Robinson, who threw the first forward pass in American football history in 1906 (b. 1884) March 10 - James Rector, American athlete (b. 1884) March 28 - Grigoraş Dinicu, Romanian composer and violinist (b. 1889) April 15 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885) April 18 - Will Hay, English comedian and actor (b. 1888) April 19 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877) May 6 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer May 21 - Klaus Mann, German writer (b. 1906) June 10 - Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer June 25 - Buck Freeman, baseball player (b. 1871) July 7 - Bunk Johnson, American musician (b. 1879 or 1889) July 9 - Fritz Hart, English-born Australian composer (b. 1874) July 16 - Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet (b. 1866) July 18 - Vítìzslav Novák, Czech composer (b. 1870) August 16 - Margaret Mitchell, American novelist (b. 1900) August 18 - Paul Mares, American musician (b. 1900) August 30 - Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (b. 1877) September 8 - Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864) September 13 - August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist September 18 - Frank Morgan, American actor (b. 1890) September 19 - Will Cuppy, American humorist (b. 1884) September 19 - Nikolaos Skalkottas, Greek composer (b. 1901) October 27 - Marcel Cerdan, French boxer (b. 1916) October 27 - Ginette Neveu, French violinist (b. 1919) October 29 - G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872) November 15 - Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, conspirators against Mahatma Gandhi (b. Narayan Apte December 3 - Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born American actress (b. 1876) December 6 - Leadbelly, American musician (b. 1888) December 16 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873) December 28 - Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b. 1910)
Events January 1 - United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly. January 2 - Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. January 11 - First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California. January 15 - The Chinese Communist Party forces took over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government. January 17 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs. January 19 - Cuba recognises Israel. January 25 - At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented. January 25 - The first Israeli election -- David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister. February 8 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced for treason. February 14 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time. February 14 - The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. February 19 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University. March 1 - Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch. March 2 - Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute. March 2 - The first automatic street light was installed in New Milford, Conn.. March 5 - The Jharkhand Party is founded in India. March 25 - The extensive deportation campaign known as March deportation is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deported more than 92,000 people from Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union. March 30 - Riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joined NATO. March 31 - The Dominion of Newfoundland joins Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada. April 1 - Chinese Civil War: Communist Party of China holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Kuomintang in Beijing, after three years of fighting. April 1 - The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland. April 4 - Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. April 5 - Fireside Theater debuts on television. April 5 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements. April 18 - The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force. April 18 - The aircraft carrier USS United States (CVA-58) is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, the United States is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals. April 28 - Former Philippine First Lady Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and 10 others are also killed. May 4 - The entire Torino football (soccer) team (except for one player who did not take the trip due to an injury) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy. May 5 - The Council of Europe in Strasbourg is founded through the Treaty of London as the first European institution working for European integration. Since 1964, May 5 has been designated Europe Day by the Council of Europe and is celebrated since then to commemorate its founding on May 5, 1949. May 9 - Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco. May 11 - Siam officially changes its name to Thailand, a name in use since 1939. May 11 - Israel joins the United Nations. May 12 - The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin. May 12 - The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state May 20 - In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established. May 20 - The Kuomintang regime declares Taiwan is under martial law. May 23 - The Federal Republic of Germany is established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is proclaimed. May 24 - The Soviet Union ends the 11-month Berlin Blockade. June 8 - Celebrities 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 24 - The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd. June 25 - Long-Haired Hare is released in Theaters starring Bugs Bunny. July 20 - Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war. July 21 - The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty. July 27 - Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner. August 3 - National Basketball Association is founded in the United States. August 5 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000. August 8 - Bhutan becomes independent. August 10 - US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense. August 22 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake August 24 - The treaty creating NATO goes into effect. August 29 - Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. September 4 - Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon. September 4 - The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York. September 6 - Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to German control. September 6 - A former sharpshooter in World War II, Howard Unruh kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey, with a souvenir Luger to become the first U.S. single-episode mass murderer. September 17 - The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbor with the loss of over 118 lives. September 27 - The first Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves the design of the Flag of the People's Republic of China. September 30 - The Berlin Airlift ends. October 1 - The People's Republic of China is declared by Mao Zedong. October 7 - German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed. October 14 - Eleven leaders of the U.S. Communist Party are convicted, after a nine-month trial, of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. October 14 - Chinese Red Army occupies Canton (Guangzhou). October 16 - Nikolaos Zachariadis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece, announces a "temporary cease-fire", effectively ending the Greek Civil War. October 16 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and German Democratic Republic are established. November 15 - Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. November 26 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution. December 7 - Chinese Civil War: The government of Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei. December 8 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan. December 10 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan. December 13 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. December 16 - Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden. December 27 - Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. December 29 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
