1946 Essays

Events

January

* January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones.
* January 10
** The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London.
** ''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age.
* January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister.
* January 16 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the French provisional government.
* January 17 - The United Nations Security Council holds its first session, at Church House, Westminster in London.
* January 19
** The Bell XS-1 is test flown for the first time (unpowered), with Bell's chief test pilot Jack Woolams at the controls.
** General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, to try Japanese war criminals.
* January 20 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.
* January 22
** Iran crisis of 1946: Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad, at the Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president, Haji Baba Sheikh is the prime minister.
** The National Intelligence Authority, and its operational arm, the Central Intelligence Group, are established in the United States; these become part of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947.

* January 28 – The Canadian schooner ''Bluenose'' found on a Haitian reef.
* January 31
** The last session of the Permanent Court of International Justice occurs.
** Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes 6 constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).

February

* February 1
** Trygve Lie of Norway is selected, as the first United Nations Secretary-General.
** The Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union.
* February 14 - ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), an early general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania; it weighs 60,000 pounds (over 27 tons), and occupies a big room.
* February 15 – The Gouzenko Affair: Canada announces the shocking discovery of a ring of Canadian communist spies based at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, passing atomic bomb secrets to Russia.
* February 20 – An explosion kills more than 400 coal miners in Bergkamen, West Germany.
* February 24 – Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.

March

* March 2
** British troops withdraw from Iran according to treaty; the Soviets do not.
** Ho Chi Minh is elected President of North Vietnam.
* March 4 – C. G. E. Mannerheim resigns as president of Finland.
* March 5 – In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about the ''Iron Curtain''.
* March 6 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France, which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
* March 7 – The 18th Academy Awards Ceremony is held. Best Picture goes to '' The Lost Weekend''.
* March 9 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi becomes the 7th President of Finland.
* March 19
** The Soviet Union and Switzerland resume diplomatic relations.
** French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas ''départements'' of France.
* March 22 – The United Kingdom grants the British protectorate of the Emirate of Transjordan (later known as Jordan) its independence by the Treaty of London.
* March 29 – The Gold Coast has an African majority in its parliament.

April

* April 1
** The 8.6 Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (''Strong''). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands, resulting in many deaths, mostly in Hilo. Between 165 and 173 are killed.
** The Malayan Union is formed.
** Singapore becomes a Crown colony.
* April 3 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines, for leading the Bataan Death March.
* April 5 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
* April 10 – In Japan, women vote for the first time, during elections for the House of Representatives of the 90th Imperial Diet.
* April 14 – ''Sh'erit ha-Pletah'' members of Nakam, the "Jewish Avengers", poison with arsenic bread baked in Nuremberg for SS prisoners of war, held at Stalag XIII-D by the Americans.
* April 17 – Syria's independence from France is officially recognized.
* April 18
** The inaugural session of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) takes place at The Hague.
** The League of Nations, in its last meeting, transfers its mission to the United Nations and disbands itself.
** The United States recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia.
* April 28 – ''Kinderdorf Pestalozzi'' (Pestalozzi Children's Village) is established at Trogen, Switzerland to accommodate and educate orphans of World War II, according to Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi's principles.
* April 29 – Trials against war criminals begin in Tokyo; the accused include Hideki Tōjō, Shigenori Tōgō and Hiroshi Ōshima.

May

* May 1 – At least 800 Indigenous Australian pastoral workers walk off the job in Northwest Western Australia, starting one of the longest industrial strikes in Australia.
* May 7 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed ''Sony'') is founded, with about 20 employees.
* May 9 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Umberto II.
* May 10
** Jawaharlal Nehru is elected leader of the Congress Party in India.
** The first V-2 rocket to be successfully launched in the United States is fired from White Sands Missile Range.
* May 21 – Manhattan Project physicist Dr. Louis Slotin accidentally triggers a fission reaction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States and, although saving his coworkers, gives himself a lethal dose of hard radiation, making him the second victim of a criticality accident in history (the incident is initially treated as classified information).
* May 25 – The Emirate of Transjordan becomes the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan when its parliament makes the ruling amir Abdullah their king on the day it ratifies the Treaty of London.
* May 26 – 1946 Czechoslovak parliamentary election: Communists win with (38%), in the last election before communists take power.
* May 31 – A Greek referendum supports the return of the monarchy.

June

* June 1
** Ion Antonescu, prime minister and "Conducator" (Leader) of Romania during World War II, is executed; he was found guilty of betraying the Romanian people for benefits of Germany and sentenced to death by the Bucharest People's Tribunal.
** D'Argenlieu, French High Commissioner for Indo-China, recognizes an autonomous "Republic of Cochin-China" in violation of the March 6 Ho–Sainteny agreement, opening the way for conflict between the Viet Minh and France.
* June 2 – 1946 Italian institutional referendum: Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a republic. In the simultaneous 1946 Italian general election, the first since the end of World War II and also the first in which women are allowed to vote, the Christian Democracy party, led by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi, wins most seats in the Constituent Assembly of Italy and forms a coalition government. Christian Democracy leads the Italian government continuously until 1981.
* June 3 – Interpol is re-founded; the telegraphic address "Interpol" is adopted.
* June 8 – In Indonesia, Sukarno incites his supporters to fight Dutch colonial occupation.
* June 9 – In Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) accedes to the throne after the death of his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII). He will reign until his death on October 13, 2016.
* June 10 – Italy is declared a republic.
* June 13 – Umberto II of Italy leaves the country and goes into exile in Portugal; Alcide De Gasperi becomes head of state.
* June 14 – The Baruch Plan is proposed to the United Nations.
* June 17 – Formal ratification of the Treaty of London grants independence to the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan.
* June 23
** The 7.5 Vancouver Island earthquake affects the island, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). Two people are killed.
** 1946 French India municipal election: The National Democratic Front wins a landslide victory.
* June 25 – The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (World Bank) begins operations.
* June 30 – The War Relocation Authority, which has administered the internment of Japanese Americans, is abolished.

July

* July 1 – Nuclear testing: Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in Micronesia, is initiated by the detonation of ''Able'' at an altitude of 520 feet (158 m).

* July 4
** After more than 48 years of American dominance, the Philippines attains full independence as the 3rd Republic; Manuel A. Roxas is 5th President of the Philippines.
** The Kielce Pogrom.
* July 5 – The bikini is first modeled in Paris.
* July 16 – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the Department of the Interior is formed by the merger of the Grazing Service and General Land Office.
* July 21 – An Irgun bomb explodes in Jerusalem, due to secretive talks between Jews and Britain to consolidate the state of Israel.
* July 22 – King David Hotel bombing: The Irgun bombs the King David Hotel (headquarters of the British civil and military administration) in Jerusalem, killing 90.
* July 25
** Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, when the United States detonates the ''Baker'' device during Operation Crossroads.
** At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
** In the last mass lynching in the United States, a mob of white men shoot and kill two African-American couples, near Moore's Ford Bridge in Georgia.

August

* August 1 - The Scandinavian Airlines System is founded as a consortium of the flag carriers of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
* August 3 – Santa Claus Land opens to the public at Santa Claus, Indiana. It becomes the first themed park, preceding Disneyland by 9 years, and is later renamed Holiday World.
* August 4 – The 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake (magnitude 8.0) hits the northern Dominican Republic, killing 100 and leaving 20,000 homeless.
* August 7 – The Soviet Union escalates the Turkish Straits crisis through a diplomatic demand to Turkey.
* August 16
** Direct Action Day: Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta begins "The Week of the Long Knives", which leaves 3,000 dead.
** The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad, India.
** The Kurdistan Democratic Party is founded in South Kurdistan.
* August 18 – The Vergarola explosion of ordnance in Croatia kills 70.
* August 30 – Bell's chief test pilot, Jack Woolams, dies in a plane crash while flying the P-39 "Cobra I" over Lake Ontario preparing for an air race the following day.

September

* September 1 – 1946 Turin Grand Prix, the first official Formula One ''Grand Prix'', is held in Italy.
* September 2 – The Interim Government of India takes charge, with Jawaharlal Nehru as vice president, as part of the transition from the British Raj to full independence for India and Pakistan.
* September 4 – Street violence between Muslims and Hindus erupts in Bombay.
* September 8 – Bulgaria is declared a People's Republic after a referendum; King Simeon II leaves.
* September 19 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.
* September 24 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, by American Roy Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow.
* September 28
** 1946 Australian federal election: Ben Chifley's Labor Government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/ Country Coalition led by former Prime Minister Robert Menzies. This is the first occasion where a Labor government successfully wins two elections in a row on a federal level, albeit with a swing against them; among the casualties are former Prime Minister Frank Forde. This is also the first election contested by the newly formed Liberal Party, which had replaced the United Australia Party as the main centre-right political party in Australia.
** George II of Greece returns to Athens.

October

* October 1 – Mensa, an international organization for people with a high intelligence quotient (IQ), is founded by Roland Berrill, an Australian-born lawyer, and Dr Lancelot Ware, an English biochemist and lawyer, in Oxford.
* October 2 – Communists take over in Bulgaria.
* October 6 – Sweden's Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson dies in office of a heart attack.
* October 10 – The Noakhali genocide of Hindus in Bengal begins, at the hands of Muslim mobs.
* October 11 – After a few days of vacancy, the Swedish premiership is taken over by Tage Erlander.
* October 13 – France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
* October 14 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
* October 15 – Nuremberg trials: Hermann Göring, founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, poisons himself two hours before his scheduled execution.
* October 16
** The remaining ten Nazi war criminals sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials are executed by hanging, in a gymnasium in the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.
** The United Nations' first meeting in Long Island is held.
* October 23 – The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
* October 24 – November 11 – 1946 Bihar riots: Hindu mobs target Muslim families in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in anywhere between 2,000 and 30,000 deaths.

November

* November 4 – UNESCO is established, as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
* November 10 – At least 1,400 people are killed in an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter magnitude scale, in the Ancash Region and Quiches District in Peru.
* November 12
** A truce is declared between Indonesian nationalist troops and the Dutch army, in Indonesia.
** In Chicago, a branch of the Exchange National Bank (now part of the LaSalle Bank) opens the first 10 drive-up teller windows.
* November 15 – The Netherlands recognizes the Republic of Indonesia.
* November 19
** Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
** 1946 Romanian general election: The Romanian Communist Party wins 79.86% of the vote, through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud.
* November 23
** Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. The French cruiser ''Suffren'' opens fire, killing 6,000 Vietnamese.
** The Workers' Party of South Korea is founded.
* November 27 – 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."
* November 29 – The All Indonesia Centre of Labour Organizations (SOBSI) is founded in Jakarta.

December

* December 1 – Miguel Alemán Valdés takes office as President of Mexico.
* December 2 – The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is signed in Washington, D.C., to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry" through establishment of the International Whaling Commission.
* December 7 – A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, United States, kills 119.
* December 11 – UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund) is founded.
* December 12
** The United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain, and recommends that member countries sever diplomatic relations.
** Léon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France.
** Iran crisis of 1946: Iranian troops recapture the Azerbaijan province.
* December 14
** The International Labour Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.
** Proposed United States purchase of Greenland from Denmark: An offer is made through diplomatic channels.
** Aspen Skiing Company opens Aspen Mountain (ski area) in Colorado with Ski Lift No. 1, at the world's longest chairlift at this time.
* December 15
** The first French India Representative Assembly election is held.
** Iran crisis of 1946: Iranian troops recapture the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad.
* December 16 – Siam joins the United Nations (changes its name to Thailand in 1949).
* December 19 – Viet Minh forces begin a war against French occupying forces in Vietnam, succeeding in 1954 with France's surrender at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
* December 20 – 1946 Nankai earthquake; At least 1,362 people are killed in an earthquake and associated tsunami in Japan.
* December 22 – The Havana Conference begins between U.S. organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba.
* December 24 – France's Fourth Republic is founded.
* December 25 – The first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in Europe is initiated, within the Soviet (Russian) nuclear reactor F-1.
* December 31 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.

Date unknown

* The cancelled 1946 FIFA World Cup.
* 8. March Female suffrage is enacted in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and the Canadian province of Quebec.
* The first female police officers are hired in Korea and Japan.
* The Chinese Civil War intensifies between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party.
* The British government takes emergency powers to deal with the balance-of-payments crisis.
* Eva Perón tours Spain, Italy and France on behalf of Argentina, a circuit called the Rainbow Tour.
* The 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun contract is released.
* The Casio company is founded by engineer Tadao Kashio in Japan.

Births

January

* January 1
** Alfonso Caruana, Italian mobster
** Roberto Rivelino, Brazilian football player
* January 3
** John Paul Jones, English rock bassist (Led Zeppelin, Them Crooked Vultures)
** Cissy King, American dancer, singer
* January 4 – Diana Ewing, American actress
* January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, film director (''Annie Hall'')
* January 6 – Syd Barrett, English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter (Pink Floyd) (d. 2006)
* January 8 – Robby Krieger, American rock musician (The Doors)
* January 9
** Levon Ter-Petrosyan, President of Armenia
** Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician
* January 10
** Kalidas Karmakar, Bangladeshi artist
** Ha Yu, Hong Kong actor
* January 12 – George Duke, African-American musician (d. 2013)
* January 14
** Feró Nagy, Hungarian singer
** Harold Shipman, British serial killer (d. 2004)
* January 16
** Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
** Michael Coats, American astronaut
** Katia Ricciarelli, Italian singer
* January 18
** Paul Shmyr, Canadian former National Hockey League player (d. 2004)
** Joseph Deiss, Swiss Federal Councillor
* January 19
** Julian Barnes, English novelist
** Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist
* January 20 – David Lynch, American film director
* January 22
** Malcolm McLaren, English singer, songwriter, musician and music manager (d. 2010)
** Serge Savard, Canadian hockey player, executive
* January 23 – Arnoldo Alemán, President of Nicaragua
* January 24 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor (''The Rookies'')
* January 25 – Géza Bereményi, Hungarian writer, screenwriter and film director
* January 26
** Gene Siskel, American film critic (''Sneak Previews'') (d. 1999)
** Michel Delpech, French singer, songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
* January 27 – Nedra Talley, African-American singer (The Ronettes)
* January 29 – Bettye LaVette, African-American soul singer, songwriter
* January 31 – Terry Kath, American rock musician ( Chicago) (d. 1978)

February

* February 1 – Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (d. 2011)
* February 2
** Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea
** Blake Clark, American actor, comedian
* February 5 – Charlotte Rampling, British actress
* February 6
** Kate McGarrigle, Canadian singer, songwriter (d. 2010)
** Jim Turner, American politician
* February 7
** Sammy Johns, American country music singer, songwriter (d. 2013)
** Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
* February 9 – Seán Neeson, Northern Irish politician
* February 13
** Joe Estevez, American actor
** Colin Matthews, British composer
* February 14
** Bernard Dowiyogo, 7-time President of Nauru (d. 2003)
** Gregory Hines, African-American dancer, actor (d. 2003)
* February 16 – Marvin Sease

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