Events 1 - 200 of 427
- Jan 1 Dutch government raises all wages 5%, minimally fl. 5 per week
Ho Chi Minh Begins Offensive
Jan 1 Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indo China
- Jan 1 The state of Ajaigarh is ceded to the Government of India.
- Jan 5 Carson McCuller's "Member of the Wedding" premieres in NYC
- Jan 6 Britain recognizes Communist government of China
- Jan 7 Hank Snow's 1st appearance on "Grand Ole Opry"
- Jan 7 Mental health wing of Mercy Hospital burns, kills 41 in Davenport, Iowa
- Jan 12 Swedish tanker rams British submarine Truculent in Thames, 64 die
- Jan 12 USSR re-introduces death penalty for treason, espionage & sabotage
- Jan 14 US recalls all consular officials from China
- Jan 15 4,000 attend National Emergency Civil Rights Conference in Washington, D.C.
Sawchuk's 1st Shutout
Jan 15 Red Wings' rookie goalie Terry Sawchuk records his first of 115 career NHL shutouts, as Detroit beats the New York Rangers, 1-0 at Madison Square Garden
Feller Takes Pay Cut
Jan 18 Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes $20,000 salary cut to $45,000; pay cut is Feller's own suggestion
- Jan 19 Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Canada CF-100 military plane
- Jan 20 1950 NFL Draft: Leon Hart from University of Notre Dame first pick by Detroit Lions
- Jan 20 Suriname becomes independent part in Realm of Netherlands
- Jan 21 New York jury finds former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury
"The Cocktail Party"
Jan 21 T. S. Eliot's play "The Cocktail Party" premieres in NYC
- Jan 23 3rd edition of Joseph Kane's Famous 1st Facts published
- Jan 23 AP picks "Miracle Braves" of 1914 as greatest sports upset
- Jan 23 Israeli Knesset resolves Jerusalem is capital of Israel
- Jan 23 NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense)
- Jan 23 Rebel army of Dutch military officer Raymond Westerling occupies Bandung, Java
Robinson's Record Contract
Jan 24 Jackie Robinson signs highest contract ($35,000) in Dodger history
- Jan 25 73°F (23°C) highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in January
India's 1st President
Jan 26 Constitution of independent India comes into effect; Rajendra Prasad elected India's first president
Truman Supports Hydrogen Bomb
Jan 31 US President Harry Truman publicly announces support for the development of a hydrogen bomb
Curly Lambeau Resigns
Feb 1 Green Bay Packers founder, player and coach Curly Lambeau resigns after 31 seasons and 6 NFL titles to his credit
- Feb 1 Urko Kekkonen elected Prime Minister of Finland
Call to Condemn Emperor Hirohito
Feb 1 USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes
- Feb 2 1st broadcast of "What's My Line" on CBS-TV
Fuchs Arrested for Spying
Feb 3 Nuclear physicist Klaus Fuchs arrested on spying charges
McCarthy's Red Scare
Feb 9 Senator Joseph McCarthy charges State Department infested with 205 communists
- Feb 11 "Rag Mop" by The Ames Brothers hits #1
- Feb 11 4th British Empire Games close in Auckland, New Zealand
- Feb 11 Englishman Jack Holden wins Empire Games marathon in Auckland, New Zealand in 2:32:57; runs last 9 miles barefoot after his shoes fell apart during the race
Event of Interest
Feb 12 Albert Einstein warns against the hydrogen bomb
Cinderella Premieres
Feb 15 Walt Disney's animated film "Cinderella" premieres in Boston. Massachusetts
Film & TV History
Feb 15 William Inge's stage drama "Come Back, Little Sheba", starring Shirley Booth and Sidney Blackmer, opens at the Booth Theatre, NYC; runs for 190 performances, and wins 2 Tony Awards
- Feb 15 WSYR (now WSTM) TV channel 3 in Syracuse, New York (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 16 Longest-running prime-time game show, "What's My Line" begins on CBS
- Feb 16 Writers fail to elect anyone to Baseball's Hall of Fame
- Feb 17 Two Long Island Rail Road trains collide head-on, killing 32 near Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York
- Feb 19 Groundbreaking ceremony held for Mississippi Vocational College (later Mississippi Valley State University)
Event of Interest
Feb 20 Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour
Your Show of Shows
Feb 25 "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC. Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
Music History
Feb 26 Jerome Robbin's ballet choreographed to Leonard Bernstein's "Age of Anxiety" premieres at the New York City Center Theater
Chiang Kai-shek Resumes Presidency
Mar 1 Chiang Kai-shek resumes the presidency of the Republic of China on Taiwan
- Mar 1 Klaus Fuchs sentenced in London to 14 years for atomic espionage
- Mar 1 USSR issues golden roubles
- Mar 3 National-American Football League reverts to calling itself the NFL after 3 months
- Mar 6 Silly Putty goes on sale in the US
- Mar 7 Ice Pairs Championship at London won by K Kennedy & P Kennedy (USA)
- Mar 7 Men's Figure Skating World Championship in London won by Dick Button (USA)
- Mar 8 1st woman medical officer assigned to naval vessel (BR Walters)
Sutton Robs Manufacturers Bank
Mar 9 Willie Sutton robs Manufacturers Bank of $64,000 in NYC
- Mar 12 Belgium votes (58%) for return of King Leopold III
GM's Record Earnings
Mar 13 General Motors Corporation reports record net earnings of $656,434,232
Belgian Constitutional Crisis
Mar 17 Belgian government of Gaston Eyskens resigns due to constitutional crisis
22nd Academy Awards
Mar 23 22nd Academy Awards: "All The King's Men", Broderick Crawford and Olivia De Havilland win
- Mar 23 Actress Frances Farmer is released from Western State Hospital
- Mar 23 Sophocles Venizelos forms liberal Greek government
- Mar 23 UN World Meteorological Org established
Erroll Garner Concert
Mar 27 Jazz pianist Erroll Garner performs a solo recital at Cleveland Music Hall, a venue for traditionally classical concerts, in Cleveland, Ohio
- Mar 27 Netherlands recognizes People's Republic of China
- Mar 27 WHAS TV channel 11 in Louisville, Kentucky (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Mar 30 Bell Telephone Laboratories announces invention of the phototransistor in Murray Hill, New Jersey
- Apr 2 WTAR (now WTKR) TV channel 3 in Norfolk, VA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Apr 4 Dirk Stikker becomes chairman of OES
- Apr 5 Prague espionage trial against bishops & priests begins
Special Advisor Dulles
Apr 6 John Foster Dulles becomes advisor to US Secretary of State Acheson with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region
- Apr 9 4th Tony Awards: "The Cocktail Party" (play) & "South Pacific" (musical) win
Prince Rainier III
Apr 11 Prince Rainier III becomes ruler of Monaco
- Apr 11 US B-29 bomber shot down over Latvia
- Apr 14 1st edition of British comic "Eagle"
- Apr 14 Doorne's Auto factory opens in Netherlands
Film & TV History
Apr 17 Priscilla Presley's surname legally changed from Wagner to Beaulieu
- Apr 18 1st opening night-game, Cards beat Pirates, 4-2
- Apr 18 Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations
- Apr 18 Sam Jethroe is 1st African American to play for Boston Braves
- Apr 18 Yankees win 15-10 after trailing Red Sox 9-0 in 6th
- Apr 23 1st major league day game completed under lights (Phils 6, Braves 5)
- Apr 23 Nationalist China evacuates Hainan Island
- Apr 23 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Pete Babando scores Cup-winning goal in double overtime of Game 7 as Detroit Red Wings beat NY Rangers, 4-3 for a 4-3 series win
- Apr 24 Independent republic of South Molukkas declared
- Apr 24 Jordan formally annexes the West Bank
- Apr 24 US President Harry Truman denies there are communists in the US government
- Apr 25 Chuck Cooper becomes the 1st African American to be drafted into the NBA (for Boston Celtics)
- Apr 25 Republik Maluku Selatan (also known as the Republic of the South Moluccas) declared on Ambon
- Apr 26 Last horse race at Havre de Grace Track in Md, is run
- Apr 26 U of Miami ends William & Mary straight tennis match victories at 82
- Apr 27 South Africa passes Group Areas Act segregating races
- May 1 Gwendolyn Brooks is the first African American awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for "Annie Allen"
- May 1 Mayor of Brussels reluctantly bans May Day parade
- May 1 New marriage laws enforced in People's Republic of China
Music History
May 1 Pulitzer prize awarded to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for the musical "South Pacific"
- May 1 WJIM (now WLNS) TV channel 6 in Lansing, MI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- May 2 Carlo Terron's comedy "Giuditta" premieres in Milan
- May 2 Dutch 1st Chamber accept Laws on immigration
- May 2 Dutch PM Malan recognizes South-Africa but not People's Republic of China
King Rama IX of Thailand
May 5 Bhumibol Adulyadej crowned King Rama IX of Thailand in the Royal Palace in Bangkok
- May 8 President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek asks the US for weapons
- May 8 Tollund Man, an early Iron Age bog body found hanged as a human sacrifice, discovered by men digging for peat in Jutland, Denmark [1]
- May 9 French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman calls for European community EGKS
- May 9 Norman Dello Joio's opera, "The Triumph of St. Joan", premieres in Bronxville, New York
- May 10 1st Netherlands-US telex sent
- May 11 Belgium mine disaster at Borinage, 39 die
La Cantatrice Chauve
May 11 Eugene Ionesco's first play "La Cantatrice Chauve" (The Bald Soprano) premieres in Paris
Bolivar
May 12 Darius Milhaud's opera "Bolivar" premieres in Paris
- May 13 Diner's Club issues its 1st credit cards
- May 13 First ever race of the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship is run at Silverstone, England and won by Giuseppe Farina of italy in an Alfa Romeo
- May 14 Pitts Johnny Hopp goes 6 for 6 including 2 HRs
- May 15 Adnan Menderes elected Prime Minister of Turkey in the country's first democratic elections [1]
- May 18 MLB St. Louis Cardinals baseman Tommy Glaviano makes 3 consecutive errors on grounders
- May 19 NY Times reports of worlds smallest & dumbest mechanical brain
- May 21 Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attack Cambodia
- May 22 Celal Bayar elected President of Turkey
- May 22 Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg wins PC Hooft prize
4 Last Songs
May 22 Richard Strauss' "4 Last Songs" (4 letzte Lieder) premieres in London
Carter Family Debut
May 29 The Carter Family debut on the Grand Ole Opry with Chet Atkins
- Jun 1 WKZO (now WWMT) TV channel 3 in Kalamazoo, MI (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Jun 2 St Louis Browns pitcher Harry Dorish swipes home vs Washington Senators
- Jun 3 French expedition reaches top of Himalayan peak of Annapurna in Nepal
- Jun 4 CVP wins Belgian parliamentary election
- Jun 4 Dutch cyclist Wim van Est wins Bordeaux-Paris (586 km in 17:25)
- Jun 5 US Supreme Court undermines legal foundations of segregation
- Jun 6 German DR & Poland sign treaty about Oder-Neisse border
- Jun 6 Turkey: The Adhan in Arabic is legalized.
- Jun 8 Boston Red Sox rout St Louis Browns, 29-4 at Fenway Park; set 6 MLB records including runs scored and most total bases, 60
- Jun 8 Jean Duvieusart becomes Belgian premier
- Jun 8 Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history.
Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin Debut
Jun 8 Test Cricket debut of famous West Indian spin twins Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin in 1st Test v England at Manchester; Valentine takes 8-104 on Day 1 but WI lose by 202 runs
Connie Mack Honored
Jun 12 Following his retirement announcement after 49 years as Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack is named Honorary Manager of the MLB All-Star Game
- Jun 13 South African parliament accept "Groups Area Act"
- Jun 15 Dutch police seize condoms
- Jun 17 1st kidney transplant (Chicago)
- Jun 17 Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia & Syria sign security pact
- Jun 18 Cleveland Indians score an American League record 14 runs in 1st inning; beat Philadelphia A's, 21-2 at Cleveland Stadium
- Jun 20 Dutch Air Force base Tjililitan given to Indonesia
DiMaggio's 2,000th Hit
Jun 21 Joe DiMaggio gets his 2,000th hit, a 7th-inning single off Chick Pieretti, in a 8-2 victory over Cleveland
- Jun 23 Indians' Luke Easter hits longest ball in Cleveland Stadium history, 477 feet, into upper deck, Section 4
- Jun 23 New York Yankees (6) & Detroit Tigers (5) hit record 11 HRs at Briggs Stadium; Tigers win, 10-9
- Jun 23 Swiss parliament refuses voting rights for women
- Jun 24 French government led by prime Minister Georges Bidault resigns
LPGA Western Open
Jun 24 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Cherry Hills CC: Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins her 4th Western Open; beats Peggy Kirk, 5 & 3
- Jun 24 New York Giants outfielder Wes Westrum hits 3 HRs & a triple in a 12-2 rout of the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds V
- Jun 25 Israeli airline El Al begins service
- Jun 25 Johnny Pramesa of the Cincinnati Reds and Hank Thompson of the New York Giants each hit inside the park homeruns in 6-4 Reds win at the Polo Grounds, NYC
Korean War Begins
Jun 25 North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War
- Jun 26 President Gottwald of Czechoslovakia confirms Milada Horakova's death sentence
- Jun 27 North Korean troops reach Seoul, causing the UN to ask member states to aid South Korea. Harry Truman orders the US Air Force and Navy into the Korean conflict.
- Jun 27 South Africa heeds United Nations call to assist Korea
- Jun 27 US sends 35 military advisers to South Vietnam
- Jun 28 North Korean forces capture Seoul, South Korea in opening phase of the Korean War
- Jun 29 Striker Joe Gaetjens heads US to an upset, 1-0 win over England in a FIFA World Cup group match in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Americans next win over England: 1994
- Jun 29 West Indies dismiss England for 274 to win 2nd cricket Test at Lord's by 326 runs thanks to rookie spinners Sonny Ramadhin (6/86) & Alf Valentine (3/79)
Event of Interest
Jun 30 US General MacArthur visits front in South Korea, asks for US troops
- Jul 1 1st 407 US soldiers flown to South Korea
- Jul 1 NYC bus fare rises to 10 cents equal to subway fare, combo fare at 15 cents
- Jul 1 WHBF TV channel 4 in Rock Island, IL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jul 2 Cleveland Indians' pitcher Bob Feller wins his 200th MLB game, 5-3 over Detroit Tigers
- Jul 2 Henri Queuille is elected the seventh Prime Minister of the Fourth French Republic
- Jul 2 Kinkaku-ji, a Zen Buddihst temple in Kyoto, Japan, burns down
- Jul 4 Boston Braves slugger Sid Gordon ties MLB season grand slam record (4) with a bases loaded hit vs Phillies
- Jul 4 Harry Truman signs public law 600 (Puerto Ricans write own constitution)
- Jul 4 The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe.
- Jul 5 Law of Return passes, guarantees all Jews right to live in Israel
- Jul 5 US forces enter combat in the Korean War for the first time, in the Battle of Osan
- Jul 6 German DR recognizes Oder-Neisse borders with Poland
- Jul 7 1st Farnborough airshow held
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