1948 (
MCMXLVIII) was a
leap year starting on
Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the
Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1948
January
February
March
April
May
June
- June 3 – The Palomar
Observatory
telescope is finished in
California
.
- June 10 – Hasan
Saka forms the new government of Turkey. (17th government;
Hasan Saka had served twice as a prime minister)
- June 11 – The first monkey astronaut,
Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.
- June 16
- Communist guerrillas kill 3 rubber planters in Malaya.
- Three armed men hijack the Cathay
Pacific passenger plane Miss
Macao and shoot the pilot; the plane crashes, killing 26
of 27 people on board.
- 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
- June 20 – The U.S. Congress
recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session
closes at 7:00 a.m. 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 22- The ship
Empire Windrush a large
group of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury
near London
, the start
of a large wave of immigration to Britain.
- June 24
- June 26 – William Shockley files the original patent
for the grown junction
transistor, the first bipolar junction
transistor.
- June 28
July
August
September
October
November
- November 2 – United States
presidential election, 1948: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and 'Dixiecrat' Strom Thurmond.
- November 12 – In
Tokyo
, an international war
crimes tribunal sentences 7 Japanese
military and government officials to death,
including General Hideki Tojo, for their
roles in World War II.
- November 15 –
Louis Stephen St. Laurent
becomes Canada
's 12th
prime minister.
- November 16 –
Operation Magic
Carpet to transport Jews from Yemen
to
Israel
begins.
- November 17 – Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.
- November 20 – Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near
Lake Te
Anau
, New
Zealand
.
- November 24 – In
Venezuela
, president Rómulo
Betancourt is ousted by a military
junta.
- November 27 – The
Calgary Stampeders defeat the
Ottawa Rough Riders 12–7 before
20,013 fans at Toronto
's Varsity
Stadium
to capture their first Grey
Cup and complete the only perfect
season to date in Canadian
Football.
December
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January–February
- January 2
- January 5
- January 7 – Kenny Loggins, American rock singer
(Footloose)
- January 10
- January 12 – Kenny Allen, English
footballer
- January 14
- January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician
(Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
- January 16
- January 17 – Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
- January 19 – Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and
Canadian Ambassador
- January 23 – Mitoji Yabunaka, Japanese politcian
- January 27 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born
dancer
- January 28 – Charles Taylor, Liberian president
- January 29 – Marc Singer, Canadian actor (V)
- January 30 – Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army
member
- January 31 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- February 1
- February 2 – Ina Garten, American cooking author
- February 3
- February 4
- Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon
Furnier), American hard rock singer and musician
- Roedy Green, Canadian programmer and
LGBT activist
- February 5
- February 6 – Jack Conway, American musician,
composer, arranger, and guitarist
- February 7 – Tony Iommi, English rock guitarist (Black Sabbath)
- February 10 – John Magnier, Irish businessman and
thoroughbred racehorse breeder
- February 11 – Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian
- February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and
author
- February 14
- February 17 – José José, Mexican singer and actor
- February 19 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician and author (d.
2002)
- February 24
- February 25 – Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
- February 28 – Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 28
March–April
- March 2
- March 4
- March 5 – Elaine
Paige, English singer and actress
- March 9 – Jeffrey Osborne, African-American singer
(On The Wings Of Love)
- March 11 – Dominique Sanda, French actress
- March 12 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter
- March 14 – Billy Crystal, American actor and
comedian
- March 15 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello,
Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
- March 17 – William Gibson, American/Canadian writer
- March 20
- March 22
- March 26 – Steven Tyler, American rock singer
(Aerosmith)
- March 28
- March 29 – Bud
Cort, American actor (Harold and Maude)
- March 31
- April 1 – Jimmy
Cliff, Jamaican singer and actor
- April 4 – Squire Parsons, American gospel
singer/songwriter
- April 12 – Jeremy Beadle, English TV presenter (d.
2008)
- April 12 – Don
Fernando, director and actor of pornographic films
- April 13 – Nam
Hae-il, 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy
- April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- April 27 – Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese
politician
- April 29 – Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)
May–June
- May 2 – Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer
- May 4 – Tanya
Falan, American singer (The Lawrence Welk Show)
- May 5 – Richard
Pacheco, American pornographic actor
- May 6 – Richard
Bryant, African-American pastor
- May 8
- May 9 – Calvin
Murphy, American basketball player and analyst
- May 11 – Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician
- May 12 – Steve
Winwood, English rock singer (Higher Love)
- May 14 – Bob
Woolmer, British cricket coach (d. 2007)
- May 15
- May 19 – Grace
Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
- May 20 – Tessho
Genda, Japanese seiyu
- May 21 – Leo
Sayer, English rock musician (You Make Me Feel Like
Dancing)
- May 25 – Nand Huyghe, Flemish sculptor
(P.Nand.R)
- May 25 – Klaus Meine, German singer
(Scorpions)
- May 26 – Stevie
Nicks, American rock singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
- May 27 – Wubbo
de Boer, Dutch civil servant
- May 29 – Michael Berkeley, British composer
- May 31 – John
Bonham, British rock drummer (Led
Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
- June 2 – Jerry
Mathers, American actor (Leave It To Beaver)
- June 4 – Bob
Champion, English jump jockey
- June 13 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and
scout (d. 2001)
- June 15 – Paul
Michiels, Belgian singer-songwriter
- June 17 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball
player
- June 19
- June 20 – Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
- June 21
- June 22 – Todd
Rundgren, American rock singer and record producer (Hello
It's Me)
- June 28 – Kathy
Bates, American actress (Misery)
- June 29 – Fred
Grandy, American actor and politician (The Love
Boat)
- June 30 – Vladimir Yakunin, Russian official, head of
state-run Russian Railways
company
July–August
- July 1 – John Ford , Best known for penning
Part of the Union whilst in
Strawbs.
- July 3 – Tarmo
Koivisto, Finnish comics artist
- July 6 – Wadih
Saadeh, Lebanese-Australian poet and journalist
- July 8 – Raffi, Egyptian-born children's
entertainer
- July 12 – Richard Simmons, American television
personality and fitness expert
- July 15 – Richard Franklin, Australian
film director (d. 2007)
- July 16 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
- July 18 – Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 20 – Muse
Watson, American actor
- July 21
- July 22 – Susan Eloise Hinton, American
author
- July 23 – John
Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
- July 25 – Steve
Goodman, Grammy Award-winning
folk music singer and songwriter (d.
1984)
- July 27 – Peggy
Fleming, American figure skater
- July 28 – Sally Struthers, American actress (All
In The Family)
- July 30 – Jean
Reno, French actor
- July 31 – Jonathan Dollimore, British author and
professor
- August 2
- August 3 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France
- August 13 – Kathleen Battle, American soprano
- August 15 – George Ryton, British Formula One engineer
- August 18 – Joseph Marcell, English actor
- August 20 – Robert Plant, English rock singer (Led Zeppelin)
- August 24 – Kim
Sung-Il, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force
- August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter,
American professional wrestler
- August 30 – Lewis Black, American comedian
September–October
- September 2
- September 3 – Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian president ( d.
2008 )
- September 4 – Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer
- September 5 – Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian
diplomat and politician
- September 8 – Great Kabuki, Japanese professional
wrestler
- September 10
- September 13 – Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d.
2003)
- September 17 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
- September 19 –
Nadezhda Tkachenko, former
Soviet
pentathlete
- September 20 – George R.R. Martin, American speculative fiction author
- September 22 – Denis Burke, Australian
politician
- September 24
- September 25 – Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Russian oligarch
- September 26 – Olivia Newton-John, Australian singer and
actress
- September 27 – Michele Dotrice, English actress
- September 29
- October 1 – Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand
yachtsman (d. 2001)
- October 2
- October 6 – Gerry Adams, Northern Irish politician
- October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and
essayist
- October 8 – Johnny Ramone, American rock guitarist
(The Ramones) (d. 2004)
- October 9 – Jackson Browne, American rock musician
(Runnin' On Empty)
- October 11 – Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer
- October 13
- October 14 –
Engin Arık, Turkish
nuclear physicist
(d. 2007)
- October 16 – Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
- October 17
- October 18 – Hans Köchler, Austrian philosopher
November–December
- November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress
- November 3 – Lulu, Scottish singer and actress
- November 5
- November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist and singer
(The Eagles)
- November 7 – James Houghton, American actor and
director
- November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d.
2005)
- November 13 – Lockwood Smith, New Zealand politician
- November 14
- November 15 – James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor
(d. 2007)
- November 16 – Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer
- November 17 – Howard Dean, American politician
- November 20
- November 21 – Michel Suleiman, current President of
Lebanon
- November 24 – Joe Howard, American actor
- November 27 – James Avery, American actor
- December 2 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer
- December 3
- December 6
- December 7
- December 10 – Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation
Front (d. 2004)
- December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock
drummer
- December 13
- December 14
- December 19 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey
player
- December 21
- December 22
- December 27 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor
- December 28 – Dick Siegel, American songwriter
- December 31
- date unknown
Deaths
January–March
- January 1 – Edna
May, American actress (b. 1878)
- January 5 – Mary Dimmick Harrison, wife of
President Benjamin Harrison (b.
1858)
- January 21 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer
(b. 1876)
- January 24 – Bill Cody, American actor (b. 1891)
- January 29 – Tomislav II of Croatia, (Aimone 4th
Duke of Aosta), king (b. 1900)
- January 30
- February 1 – Jatindramohan Bagchi, Indian (Bengali)
poet (b. 1878)
- February 2 – Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)
- February 11 – Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film director
(b. 1898)
- February 23 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of
shorthand (b. 1866)
- March 4 – Antonin Artaud, French playwright, actor and
director (b. 1896)
- March 6 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist
(suicide) (b. 1914)
- March 10
- March 24 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian religious and
political philosopher (b. 1874)
- March 31 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist and
author (b. 1885)
- May 9 – Viola
Allen, stage actress, (b. 1869)
April–June
- April 9
- April 15 – Manuel Roxas, President of the Philippines
(b. 1892)
- April 17 – Kantarō Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)
- April 20 – Mitsumasa Yonai, 37th Prime Minister of
Japan (b. 1880)
- April 24 – Manuel Ponce, Mexican composer (b.
1882)
- May 13 – Kathleen Kennedy
Cavendish, American daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1920)
- May 15 – Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder
of Boys Town (b. 1886)
- May 21 – Jacques Feyder, French filmmaker (b. 1885)
- May 28 – Unity
Mitford, British friend of Adolf
Hitler (b. 1914)
- May 29 – May
Whitty, British actress (b. 1865)
- May 30 – József Klekl, Slovene politician in Hungary
(b. 1874)
- June 6 – Louis Lumière, French film
pioneer (b. 1864)
- June 13 – Osamu
Dazai, Japanese writer (b. 1909)
- June 25 – William C. Lee,
American general (b. 1895)
- June 26 – Lilian
Velez, Filipino actress (murder) (b. 1924)
July–September
- July 2 – Baba
Sawan Singh, Indian saint known as "The Great Master," (b.
1858)
- July 5
- July 9 – James
Baskett, American actor (b. 1904)
- July 11 – King
Baggot, American actor (b. 1879)
- July 15 – John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)
- July 18 – May
Moss, Australian women's rights activist (b. 1869)
- July 21 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-born painter (b.
1904)
- July 23 – David Wark Griffith, American film
director (The Birth Of A Nation) (b. 1875)
- July 27 – Susan Glaspell, American playwright (b.
1882)
- July 31 – Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd,
Franklin Roosevelt's lover (b.
1891)
- August 3 – Tommy
Ryan, American boxing champion (b. 1870)
- August 10
- August 12 – Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless
steel (b. 1871)
- August 16 – Babe
Ruth, American baseball player (b. 1895)
- August 17 – Ettie Garner, Second Lady of the
United States (b. 1869)
- August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the United
States (b. 1862)
- September 1 – Muhammad VII al-Munsif, ruler of
Tunisia 1942–43 (b. 1881)
- September 2 – Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy
(b. 1883)
- September 3 – Edvard Benes, President of Czechoslovakia (b.
1884)
- September 5 – Richard C. Tolman, American mathematical physicist
(b. 1881)
- September 10 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Tsar of
Bulgaria (b. 1861)
- September 11 –
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, founder and first Governor General of Pakistan
(b. 1876)
- September 17 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat
(assassinated) (b. 1895)
- September 24 – Warren William, American actor (b. 1894)
- September 26 – Gregg Toland, American cinematographer (b.
1904)
- September 30 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United
States (b. 1861)
October–December
- October 1 – Phraya Manopakorn Nititada, Prime
Minister of Siam (b. 1884)
- October 12- Susan Sutherland Isaacs, British
educational psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1885)
- October 13 – Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (b. 1875)
- October 15 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
- October 21 – Elissa Landi, Italian actress (b. 1904)
- October 24 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b.
1870)
- October 31 – Mary Nolan, American actress (b. 1905)
- November 9 – Edgar Kennedy, American actor (b. 1890)
- November 11 – Fred Niblo, American film director (b. 1874)
- November 28 – D.D. Sheehan, Irish
politician (b. 1873)
- December 2 – Chano Pozo, Cuban percussionist (b. 1915)
- December 20 – C. Aubrey
Smith, British actor (b. 1863)
- December 23 – Japanese war leaders
(hanged):
- December 31 – Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and
water racer (b. 1885)
Nobel Prizes
Notes
railways are nationalized to form British Railways.
) gains its
independence from the United Kingdom
).
, to stop the
communal violence during the Partition of India.
and Dutch troops in Java
.
and the
Benelux countries to stand up against the
Soviet
Union
. The Treaty of
Brussels is signed March 17 as a
consequence, a predecessor to NATO
.
pacifist and
leader Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated
by Nathuram Godse.
, Switzerland
.
) becomes an independent kingdom within the British Commonwealth.
, a day celebrated by that regime as "Victorious February" (Czech:"Vítězný únor"; Slovak:"Víťazný Február") until
November 1989.
rules that religious instruction in public schools
violates the U.S.
Constitution.
, Ontario
occurs.
holds its first elections.
(the
Bogotazo), and a further 10 years
of violence in all of Colombia
(La
Violencia).
takes place in British Mandate of
Palestine.
.
joins the
United Nations.
, England
leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the
city in an attempt to find the murderer.
, Transjordan
, Syria
and Iraq
enter
Israel
officially convenes in Nanking
.
within minutes: 15 people die and tens of thousands
are left homeless.
due to a communist insurgency.
and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.
because of
alleged anti-Semitism in depicting
master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.
strikes Fukui, Japan
to Le Touquet
.
, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union
, Finland
.
, Germany
.
, New York International Airport (later renamed
John F. Kennedy International
Airport
) is dedicated.
prepares the draft for the Basic Law for the
Federal Republic of Germany.
is established.
is established.
.
is
formally declared, with Kim Il-sung as
prime minister.
.
.
begins.
, making it the first country in history to do
so.
.
is founded.
, the world's largest, opens in Staten
Island, New York
.
.
, Spanish Pyrenees
.
.
.
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