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Vietnam holds first presidential election.
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The Allies restored Austria as a sovereign republic
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"Would-Be Gentleman" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 77 performances.
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UN General Assembly meets for the first time in London.
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The first UN Security Council veto was made, as the Soviet Union killed a resolution concerning the withdrawal of British and French forces from Syria and Lebanon.
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Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain speech".
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The 167 residents of the Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, were evacuated from their South Pacific island in order for atomic testing to begin.
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A tsunami, generated by an 8.6 magnitude earthquake near Alaska, killed 159 people in Hawaii.
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A U.S. Army C-45 transport plane crashed into the 58th floor of the 70-story Bank of Manhattan building on Wall Street, killing all five persons aboard. The accident happened at eight in the evening, and most of the 5,000 persons who normally would have been in the building had left for the day.
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President Truman signed Executive Order 9727 for the government to seize and operate the railroads.
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Penicillin first went on sale to the general public in the United Kingdom. ...
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The Social Security Administration was established to replace the three member Social Security Board that had been created in 1935.
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The Calcutta Riots of 1946, also known as the “Great Calcutta Killing,” were four days of massive Hindu-Muslim riots in the capital of Bengal, India, resulting in 5,000 to 10,000 dead, and some 15,000 wounded
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An Air France plane bound for London crashed moments after takeoff, when it failed to clear the roof of a factory at Le Bourget, killing 20 persons.
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On 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal, meeting in Nuremberg, delivers its verdict. Of the 22 leaders of Nazi Germany accused of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, 12 are sentenced to death, 7 receive prison sentences and 3 are acquitted.
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The United Nations Organization admitted its first new members since 1945, with Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden bringing the total to 102.
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December 21 – 1946 Nankai earthquake; At least 1,362 people are killed in an earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan.
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Britain and the United States merged their German occupation zones to form Bizonia.
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The first of several severe cold spells began in the United Kingdom, bringing large drifts of snow to the country that blocked roads and railways.
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The Panglong Agreement was reached between the Burmese Government and the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples.
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US President Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, telling Congress that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
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Westminster, affirming a district court ruling that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" in Orange County, California was unconstitutional. It was the first ruling in the United States in favor of desegregation.
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The Acre Prison break occurred in Acre, Palestine when the Irgun broke through the prison's walls and freed 28 incarcerated Irgun and Lehi members.
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Jun 4 Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders' musical "Louisiana Lady" closes at Century Theater, NYC, after 4 performances.
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The Roswell incident centers on the recovery, in 1947, of metallic and rubber debris from a military balloon that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.
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Huge fires raged in Lahore following a full day of arson, killings and other crimes on the eve of the announcement of how the Punjab boundary commission would partition the province. At least 100 people died in the violence.
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Sep 18 US Air Force created as a separate military service by passing of the National Security Act.
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The New York State Court of Appeals ruled that a false charge of a person being a Communist or a communist sympathizer was basis for a libel action.
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The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
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President Harry Truman sent Congress a message that followed Marshall's ideas to provide economic aid to Europe.
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Semiramis Hotel bombing: Members of Haganah blew up a hotel in west Jerusalem, killing 24-26 civilians.
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Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: At 5:17 p.m. Indian Standard Time, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on the steps of the Birla House in New Delhi.
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The Republican presidential primaries began in New Hampshire, with Thomas E.
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President Truman signed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1948, making the Marshall Plan an actuality.
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An annular solar eclipse occurred on May 9, 1948. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth.
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Israeli forces launched Operation Danny with the goal of capturing territory east of Tel Aviv.
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Earthquake in Ashgabat kills 100,000 in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.
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Nathuram Godse read a 30,000-word statement in Indian court confessing to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and explaining his motivation.
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Operation Assaf ended in Israeli success. The US Supreme Court decided Kimball Laundry Co. v. United States.
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A new ceasefire in the Arab-Israeli War went into effect.
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The program called for a doubling of immigration, development of Jerusalem, encouragement of private investment and the eradication of illiteracy.
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Greece, Turkey and Iceland were approved for admission to the Council of Europe.
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The West Berlin City Assembly called on the western powers to incorporate West Berlin into West Germany.
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The Chinese Nationalist government moved its capital from Chengdu in western China to Taipei, Taiwan.
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Pope Pius XII was leading the Catholic Church.
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U.S. Navy demolition teams had planted explosive charges on the docks, and as the ships sailed away, the bombs were detonated and destroyed the waterfront.