1949

January 5 - U.S. President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
January 11 - Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall .
January 25 - The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
January 25 - In the first Israeli election, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.
January 26 - Australian Citizenship comes into being.
February 8 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary is sentenced to life inprisonment for treason against the Hungarian Communist government.
February 12 - The Vatican announces the excommunication of all persons involved in the trial and conviction of Cardinal Mindszenty.
February 14 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.
February 19 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
March 2 - The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II lands in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight.
March 3 - The Tucker automobile Corporation folds.
March 28 - United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.
April 1 - Newfoundland joins Canada.
April 1 - Southern Ireland leaves the Commonwealth and becomes the Republic of Ireland
April 4 - NATO is formed.
April 18 - Eire formally became the Republic of Ireland.
June - EDSAC, the first stored-program computer, begins operation at Cambridge University.
May 9 - Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.
May 11 - Israel is admitted to the U.N as its 59th member.
May 11 - Siam changes its name to Thailand.
May 12 - Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.
May 20 - The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA) is established.
May 22 - After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital, James Forrestal commits suicide, under circumstances that seem suspicious to many.
May 23 - The Federal Republic of Germany is established.
August 5 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000.
August 8 - Bhutan becomes independent
August 29 - Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb.
September 6 - Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to German control.
September 29 - First Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves design for the Flag of the People's Republic of China.
September 29 - Mrs. Iva Toguri D'Aquino is found guilty of brodcasting for Japan as "Tokyo Rose" during World War II.
October 1 - Birth of the People's Republic of China.
November 26 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution. [1]
December 27 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.
The Fourth Geneva Convention is signed.

Year in topic

1949 in film
- February 10 - Death of a Salesman opens (Morosco Theatre in New York City).
- All the King's Men
- Twelve O'Clock High
- Sands of Iwo Jima starring John Wayne
1949 in literature
1949 in music
1949 in sports
- March 1 - World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis announces his retirement from boxing.
- A form of drag racing, using a hand-held stop watch for timing, begins on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
- Red Byron won the inaugural NASCAR Championship.
1949 in television
- January 3 - Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
- January 11 - A 2 hour special on all networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable
- January 17 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs.
- January 31 - The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcasted on television from Los Angeles
- May - The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours
- August 25 - RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
- December 29 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

Births

January 8 - Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef
January 10 - George Foreman, boxer
January 10 - James Lapine, stage director
January 10 - Linda Lovelace, pornographic film actress (+ 2002)
January 12 - Wayne Wang, director
January 13 - Brandon Tartikoff, television executive (+ 1997)
January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan, director, screenwriter
January 17 - Andy Kaufman, comedian (+ 1984)
January 18 - Philippe Starck, French designer
January 19 - Robert Palmer, singer, guitarist
January 20 - G�ran Persson, prime minister of Sweden.
January 24 - John Belushi, actor (+ 1982)
February 11 - Charlie Hargrett, rock guitarist.
February 18 - Gary Ridgway, accused of being the Green River Killer
February 19 - Dan Bunten, software developer (+ 1998)
February 22 - Niki Lauda, Formula One driver
March 2 - Eddie Money, singer
March 13 - Julia Migenes, soprano
March 16 - Erik Estrada, actor
March 17 - Patrick Duffy, actor
March 22 - Fanny Ardant, actress
March 23 - Ric Ocasek, musician ("The Cars")
March 24 - Nick Lowe, musician
March 26 - Patrick S�skind, writer (The Perfume)
March 30 - Lene Lovich, singer
April 1 - Gil Scott-Heron, musician, composer
April 3 - Richard Thompson, musician, songwriter
April 7 - John Oates, musician ("Hall and Oates")
April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey
May 9 - Billy Joel, American musician
May 18 - Rick Wakeman, musician ("Yes"), composer
May 18 - Bill Wallace, musician The Guess Who, Winnipeg
May 26 - Philip Michael Thomas, actor
May 26 - Hank Williams Jr, singer
May 31 - Tom Berenger, actor
June 21 - Jane Urquhart, Canadian author
July 15 - Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden.
August 12 - Mark Knopfler, musician
August 15 - Richard Deacon, sculptor
August 25 - Martin Amis, novelist
September 7 - Lee McGeorge Durrell author, television presenter, zookeeper
September 7 - Gloria Gaynor, singer
September 23 - Bruce Springsteen, singer, songwriter
October 1 - Isaac Bonewits, author, occultist.
November 6 - Arturo Sandoval, Jazz preformer
November 24 - Nicholas Richard Ainger, British politician
December 3 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler
December 4 - Jeff Bridges, actor
December 4 - Pamela Stephenson, Comedienne, actress and singer
December 7 - Tom Waits, singer, composer, actor
December 22 - Maurice Gibb, musician (The Bee Gees) (+ 2003)
December 22 - Robin Gibb, musician (The Bee Gees)
Judi Bari, activist (+ 1997)
Tomaž Pisanski, mathematician

Deaths

January 6 - Victor Fleming, director
January 11 - Nelson Doubleday, U.S. book publisher
January 14 - Joaqu�n Turina, composer
January 28 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver
May 9 - Louis II of Monaco
May 22 - James Forrestal, US secretary of Navy, Defense
June 10 - Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author
July 12 - Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland
July 18- Vitezslav Nov�k, composer
October 27 - Marcel Cerdan, World Champion Boxer
December 16 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director
Bhattacharya, K C

Nobel Prizes

The Nobel Prize in 1949 was approx. $ 30,000

Physics - Hideki Yukawa
Chemistry - William Francis Giauque
Medicine - Walter Rudolf Hess, Antonio Caetano De Abreu Freire Egas Moniz
Literature - William Faulkner?
Peace - Lord John Boyd Orr of Brechin

1949

Events

Year in topic

Births

Deaths

Nobel Prizes