![s]() |
| | Home | The 1940's | 1946 |
 |
 |
1946 A brief history of the events that shaped 1946. |
 |
|
| January |
| 7th |
Allies recognise Austrian republic with 1937 borders - the country is divided into four occupation zones |
| 10th |
First meeting of the United Nations |
| 10th |
Project Diana bounces Radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the earth and the moon and proving that the communication was possible between the earth and outer space, effectively opening the space age |
| 11th |
Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania with himself as prime minister |
| 17th |
The UN Security Council holds its first session |
| 20th |
Charles De Gaulle resigns as president of France |
| 29th |
Central Intelligence Group established, CIA established in 1947 |
| 31st |
Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) |
< Back to the Top
| February |
| 1st |
Trygve Lie of Norway is selected to be the first United Nations Secretary General |
| 1st |
The Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic |
| 14th |
The Bank of England is nationalised |
| 14th |
ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania |
| 20th |
An Explosion kills more than 400 coal miners in West Germany |
| 24th |
Juan Peron elected president of Argentina |
< Back to the Top
| March |
| 2nd |
British troops withdraw from Iran according to treaty whereas the Soviets remain |
| 2nd |
Ho Chi Minh elected the President of North Vietnam |
| 5th |
In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about the Iron Curtain |
| 6th |
Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognises Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union |
| 7th |
The 18th Academy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles, California |
| 10th |
British troops begin withdrawal from Lebanon |
| 15th |
Clement Attlee promises independence to India as soon as they can agree on constitution |
| 19th |
Soviet Union and Switzerland reform diplomatic relations |
| 19th |
French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France |
| 22nd |
The United Kingdom grants Transjordan, as it was then known, its independence. Three years later the country changes its name to Jordan |
< Back to the Top
| April |
| 1st |
A 14 metre high tsunami strikes Hilo and Laupāhoehoe on the Big Island of Hawaii leaving 173 dead and thousands injured |
| 1st |
Singapore becomes a Crown colony |
| 3rd |
Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March |
| 7th |
Syria's independence from France is officially recognised |
| 10th |
In Japan, women vote for the first time during the elections for the House of Representatives of the Ninetieth Imperial Diet |
| 18th |
USA recognises Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia |
| 18th |
Last meeting of League of Nations. It transfers its mission to United Nations and disbands itself |
| 29th |
Trial against war criminals begin in Tokyo – accused include Hideki Tojo, Shigenori Togo and Hiroshi Oshima |
< Back to the Top
| May |
| 2nd |
Six prisoners unsuccessfully try to escape from the Alcatraz prison island |
| 7th |
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with about 20 employees |
| 9th |
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Humbert II |
| 10th |
Football's FA Cup is reintroduced after the end of WW2. The Winners were Derby County |
| 20th |
In Britain, the House of Commons decides to nationalise the Mining industry |
| 25th |
The parliament of newly founded Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king |
| 31st |
Greece referendum supports return of monarchy |
< Back to the Top
| June |
| 1st |
Ion Antonescu, prime minister and "Conducator" (Leader) of Romania during World War II is executed; he was found guilty of betraying Romanian people for benefits of Germany and sentenced to death by Bucharest People's Tribunal |
| 2nd |
In a referendum Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After this referendum, the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia was exiled. Women vote for the first time |
| 8th |
In Indonesia, Sukarno incites his supporters to fight Dutch colonial occupation |
| 9th |
In Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) accedes the throne after the mysterious death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) |
| 9th |
Arthur John "Jack" Johnson, first African-American heavy-weight boxing champion, dies in a car crash |
| 10th |
Italy is declared republic |
< Back to the Top
| July |
| 4th |
After over 381 years of Western dominance, the Philippines achieves full independence.
5th The very first bikinis go on sale in Paris |
| 22nd |
King David Hotel bombing: Irgun bombs King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration killing 90 |
| 25th |
In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus USS Saratoga is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean when the United States detonates the Baker device during Operation Crossroads |
| 25th |
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team |
< Back to the Top
| August |
| 1st |
The Hungarian Forint is introduced in Hungary by the local government this ends the world's biggest hyperinflation in the country |
| 4th |
An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. 100 killed, 20,000 left homeless |
| 19th |
Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta leaves 3000 dead |
< Back to the Top
| September |
| 8th |
Bulgaria declared a People's Republic after a referendum. King Simeon II leaves |
| 24th |
Cathay Pacific Airways is founded by Roy C Farrell and H de Kantzow |
| 28th |
George II of Greece returns to Athens |
< Back to the Top
| October |
| 1st |
Mensa is founded in the United Kingdom |
| 2nd |
Communists take over in Bulgaria |
| 13th |
France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic |
| 15th |
Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Göring, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution |
| 23rd |
United Nations' first meeting in Long Island |
< Back to the Top
| November |
| 8th |
Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. French cruiser Suffren opens fire. 6000 Vietnamese killed |
| 10th |
At least 1,400 people were killed in an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale at the Ancash and Quiches area in Peru |
| 10th |
Opening of the Slimbridge wetland reserve in England |
| 12th |
Truce between Indonesian nationalist troops and Dutch army in Indonesia |
| 15th |
Netherlands recognise the Republic of Indonesia |
| 19th |
Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations |
| 19th |
Romanian general election, carried with 79.86% of the vote by the Romanian Communist Party through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud |
| 27th |
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster." |
< Back to the Top
| December |
| 1st |
Miguel Alemán Valdés takes office as President of Mexico |
| 7th |
A Fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, United States kills 119 |
| 11th |
UNICEF (UNIted nations Children's Emergency Fund) founded |
| 12th |
United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain and recommends the member countries to sever diplomatic relations |
| 12th |
Léon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France |
| 19th |
Martial law in Vietnam |
| 20th |
Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring a cast including James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York |
| 20th |
At least 1,362 people are killed in a earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan |
| 26th |
David Lean's Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, and featuring a cast headed by John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, Jean Simmons, and Finlay Currie, is released to great acclaim in England |
| 31st |
President Harry Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II |
|
|
|
![a]() |