January 17 – The first
VW Type 1 to arrive in the
United States, a 1948 model, is brought to
New York by Dutch businessman
Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models are sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman
Heinrich Nordhoff the car has no future in the U.S. (The Type 1 goes on to become an automotive phenomenon.)
March 2 – The
B-50 SuperfortressLucky Lady II (under Captain James Gallagher) lands in
Fort Worth, Texas, United States, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).
March 26 – The first half of
Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, conducted by legendary conductor
Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert (i.e. no scenery or costumes), is telecast by
NBC, live from
Studio 8H at
Rockefeller Center. The second half is telecast a week later. This is the only complete opera that Toscanini ever conducts on television.
April 20 –
Royal NavyfrigateHMS Amethyst goes up the
Yangtze River, to evacuate
British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of
Mao's
Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on
April 26, she anchors 10 miles (16 km) upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat
Simon raises the crew's morale.
May 4 –
Superga air disaster: A Fiat G.212 airliner of Avio Linee Italiane, carrying the entire Torino F.C. football team, crashes into the back wall of the Basilica of Superga, killing all 31 on board.
Siam officially changes its French name to "Thaïlande" (English name to "
Thailand"), having officially changed its Thai name to "Prated Thai" since 1939.
May 31 – The first trial of
Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York City, with
Whittaker Chambers as principal witness for the prosecution, but will end in a jury deadlock (8 for, 4 against).
July 31 – Captain Kerans of
HMS Amethyst decides to make a break after nightfall, under heavy fire from the Chinese
People's Liberation Army on both sides of the
Yangtze River, and successfully rejoins the fleet at
Woosung the next day.
August 8 –
Bhutan signs a
Treaty of Friendship with newly independent India, agreeing non-interference in internal affairs, but allowing India to "guide" its foreign policy (similar to the previous arrangements with the British administration in India).
The
Vatican announces that
bones uncovered in its
catacombs could be those of the apostle
Peter; 19 years later,
Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first
Pope.[6]
Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir
Parabellum P.08 pistol, to become America's first single-episode
mass murderer.
Allied military authorities relinquish control of former
Nazi Germany assets back to Germany.
September 25 – U.S. Christian evangelist
Billy Graham starts his
Los Angeles Crusade, his first great evangelistic campaign. It runs for eight weeks during which Graham speaks to 350,000 people and the event is subsequently described as the greatest revival since the time of
Billy Sunday. After this, Graham becomes a national figure in the United States.
October 3 –
Albanian Subversion: First Anglo-American attempt to infiltrate guerillas into
Albania; the operation is fatally flawed, by being under the control of double agent
Kim Philby.
October 14 – The
Foley Square trial of
Eugene Dennis and ten other leaders of the
Communist Party USA ends in New York City (the longest trial in U.S. history to this date); all defendants are found guilty and all but one sentenced to five years of prison.
November 28 –
Winston Churchill makes a landmark speech in support of the idea of a European Union, at
Kingsway Hall, London - but does not see UK as part of it, "The British Government have rightly stated that they cannot commit this country to entering any European Union without the agreement of the other members of the British Commonwealth".[8]
^"Janet Ågren". British Film Institute. Archived from
the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
^Wilby, Peter (16 December 2011).
"Christopher Hitchens obituary". The Guardian.
Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019. Hitchens was ... a liberal studies professor at the New School in New York and, for a time, visiting professor at Berkeley in California
^"OWEN ARTHUR: From St Peter to Barbados". NationNews Barbados. Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados: The Nation Publishing Co. Limited. 27 July 2020. Archived from
the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
January 17 – The first
VW Type 1 to arrive in the
United States, a 1948 model, is brought to
New York by Dutch businessman
Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models are sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman
Heinrich Nordhoff the car has no future in the U.S. (The Type 1 goes on to become an automotive phenomenon.)
March 2 – The
B-50 SuperfortressLucky Lady II (under Captain James Gallagher) lands in
Fort Worth, Texas, United States, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).
March 26 – The first half of
Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, conducted by legendary conductor
Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert (i.e. no scenery or costumes), is telecast by
NBC, live from
Studio 8H at
Rockefeller Center. The second half is telecast a week later. This is the only complete opera that Toscanini ever conducts on television.
April 20 –
Royal NavyfrigateHMS Amethyst goes up the
Yangtze River, to evacuate
British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of
Mao's
Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on
April 26, she anchors 10 miles (16 km) upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat
Simon raises the crew's morale.
May 4 –
Superga air disaster: A Fiat G.212 airliner of Avio Linee Italiane, carrying the entire Torino F.C. football team, crashes into the back wall of the Basilica of Superga, killing all 31 on board.
Siam officially changes its French name to "Thaïlande" (English name to "
Thailand"), having officially changed its Thai name to "Prated Thai" since 1939.
May 31 – The first trial of
Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York City, with
Whittaker Chambers as principal witness for the prosecution, but will end in a jury deadlock (8 for, 4 against).
July 31 – Captain Kerans of
HMS Amethyst decides to make a break after nightfall, under heavy fire from the Chinese
People's Liberation Army on both sides of the
Yangtze River, and successfully rejoins the fleet at
Woosung the next day.
August 8 –
Bhutan signs a
Treaty of Friendship with newly independent India, agreeing non-interference in internal affairs, but allowing India to "guide" its foreign policy (similar to the previous arrangements with the British administration in India).
The
Vatican announces that
bones uncovered in its
catacombs could be those of the apostle
Peter; 19 years later,
Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first
Pope.[6]
Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir
Parabellum P.08 pistol, to become America's first single-episode
mass murderer.
Allied military authorities relinquish control of former
Nazi Germany assets back to Germany.
September 25 – U.S. Christian evangelist
Billy Graham starts his
Los Angeles Crusade, his first great evangelistic campaign. It runs for eight weeks during which Graham speaks to 350,000 people and the event is subsequently described as the greatest revival since the time of
Billy Sunday. After this, Graham becomes a national figure in the United States.
October 3 –
Albanian Subversion: First Anglo-American attempt to infiltrate guerillas into
Albania; the operation is fatally flawed, by being under the control of double agent
Kim Philby.
October 14 – The
Foley Square trial of
Eugene Dennis and ten other leaders of the
Communist Party USA ends in New York City (the longest trial in U.S. history to this date); all defendants are found guilty and all but one sentenced to five years of prison.
November 28 –
Winston Churchill makes a landmark speech in support of the idea of a European Union, at
Kingsway Hall, London - but does not see UK as part of it, "The British Government have rightly stated that they cannot commit this country to entering any European Union without the agreement of the other members of the British Commonwealth".[8]
^"Janet Ågren". British Film Institute. Archived from
the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
^Wilby, Peter (16 December 2011).
"Christopher Hitchens obituary". The Guardian.
Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019. Hitchens was ... a liberal studies professor at the New School in New York and, for a time, visiting professor at Berkeley in California
^"OWEN ARTHUR: From St Peter to Barbados". NationNews Barbados. Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados: The Nation Publishing Co. Limited. 27 July 2020. Archived from
the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.