The following events occurred in January 1948:

January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
, 1948 (Thursday)

*Nationalization of British railways and canals took effect under the 1947 Transport Act. *The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came into effect. *A nationwide ban on music recording took effect in the United States by order of American Federation of Musicians President

James Petrillo James Caesar Petrillo (March 16, 1892 – October 23, 1984) was the leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada. Biography Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois, United ...

. The ban was aimed at a provision in the Taft-Hartley Act which criminalized a union's collection of money directly from employers "for services that are not performed or not to be performed," which made the AFM's recording fund to support unemployed musicians illegal. *King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

bestowed the

1948 New Year Honours The 1948 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1948 for the Briti ...

. *In

college bowl games The following is a list of current, defunct, and proposed college football bowl games. Three bowl games are currently part of the College Football Playoff, a selection system that creates bowl matchups involving four of the top-ranked teams in t ...

across the United States, the Michigan Wolverines shut out the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

49-0 in the Rose Bowl, the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wrec ...

beat the Kansas Jayhawks 20-14 in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

, the Miami (Ohio) Redskins edged the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raider ...

in the Sun Bowl and the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

defeated the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

27-7 in the Sugar Bowl, while the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

ended in a 13-13 tie between the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

and

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...

. *Died:

Edna May Edna May Pettie (September 2, 1878 – January 1, 1948), known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Life and career May was ...

, 69, American actress and singer

January 2, 1948 (Friday)

*Indian Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

threatened to invade Pakistan to stop Muslim attacks in Kashmir. *The government of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

sent a note to the United States demanding the release of $60–70 million worth of Yugoslav funds which had been deposited with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York prior to the German invasion in 1941. Washington had frozen these assets pending the settlement of various debts and claims. *The Gongzhutun Campaign began in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

. * White House Press Secretary Charlie Ross unveiled plans to add a second-floor balcony to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

at a projected cost of $15,000. The idea would prove to be controversial, as the White House mail room would soon be flooded with protest letters demanding that the historic building be left unaltered. *Born:

Judith Miller Judith Miller (born January 2, 1948) is an American journalist and commentator known for her coverage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion, which was later discovered to have been based on ...

, journalist, in New York City; Joyce Wadler, journalist, in the United States;

Deborah Watling Deborah Patricia Watling (2 January 1948 – 21 July 2017) was an English actress who played the role of Victoria Waterfield, a companion of the Second Doctor in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1967 to 1968. She began her career a ...

, actress, in

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

, England (d. 2017) *Died:

Vicente Huidobro Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He promoted the avant-garde literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of the literary m ...

, 54, Chilean poet

January 3, 1948 (Saturday)

*British Prime Minister Clement Attlee made his strongest and most specific attack on communism to date when he declared that "today in eastern Europe the Communist Party, while overthrowing the economic tyranny of landlordism and capitalism, has renounced the doctrines of individual freedom and political democracy and rejected the whole spiritual heritage of western Europe." *A large TNT shipment bound for Palestine was seized at Jersey City, New Jersey after a box fraudulently marked as industrial machinery was accidentally dropped. Police said there was little doubt that the explosives were intended for use in the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine.

January 4, 1948 (Sunday)

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

formally gained independence from the United Kingdom.

Sao Shwe Thaik Sao Shwe Thaik ( shn, ၸဝ်ႈၶမ်းသိူၵ်ႈ, ''Tsaw³ Kham⁴soek³''; my, စဝ်ရွှေသိုက်, ; 16 October 1895 – 21 November 1962) was a Burmese politician who served as the first president of the U ...

became the country's first president and

U Nu Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...

its first prime minister. *The

Al-Wathbah uprising The Al-Wathbah uprising ( ar, انتفاضة الوثبة) or simply Al-Wathbah ( ar, الوثبة), which means The Leap in Arabic, was the term that came to be used for the urban unrest in Baghdad in January 1948. The protests were sparked by th ...

began in Iraq when students from

al-Karkh Karkh or Al-Karkh (Arabic: الكرخ) is historically the name of the western half of Baghdad, Iraq, or alternatively, the western shore of the Tigris River as it ran through Baghdad. The eastern shore is known as Al-Rasafa.Al-Adhamiyah secondary schools went on a march in protest of a statement attributed to foreign minister Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali suggesting that the monarchy may renew the Anglo- Iraqi Treaty of 1930. Many students were wounded when the police attempted to break up the protest. *An

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

car bomb blew up a government complex in Jaffa, killing 26 Arabs.

January 5 Events Pre-1600 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1601–1900 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French a ...
, 1948 (Monday)

*The Interim Committee of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

held its opening session and elected Luis Padilla Nervo of Mexico as its chairman. *

Semiramis Hotel bombing A terrorist attack was carried out by the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah on the Christian-owned Semiramis Hotel in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. After suspecting that the Semiram ...

: Members of Haganah blew up a hotel in west

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, killing 24-26 civilians. *''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' by Dr.

Alfred Kinsey Alfred Charles Kinsey (; June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) was an American sexologist, biologist, and professor of entomology and zoology who, in 1947, founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Insti ...

was published. This landmark book about human sexuality, together with 1953's ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'', are commonly referred to as the

Kinsey Report The Kinsey Reports are two scholarly books on human sexual behavior, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953), written by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and (for ''Sexual Behavi ...

. *The novel '' Raintree County'' by Ross Lockridge Jr. was published. *Born: Wally Foreman, sports administrator and commentator, in Kalgoorlie, Australia (d. 2006);

Charlie Hough Charles Oliver Hough (; born January 5, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) knuckleball pitcher and coach who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Florida Marlins from 1970 to 1994. Pla ...

, baseball player, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

;

Ted Lange Theodore William Lange III (; born January 5, 1948) is an American actor, director and screenwriter best known for his roles as bartender Isaac Washington in the TV series '' The Love Boat'' (1977-1986), and Junior in '' That's My Mama'' (1974- ...

, actor and director, in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

*Died:

Mary Dimmick Harrison Mary Dimmick Harrison ( Mary Scott Lord; April 30, 1858 – January 5, 1948) was the second wife of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States. She was nearly 25 years younger than Harrison, and was the niece of his first wif ...

, 89, second wife of US President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

January 6, 1948 (Tuesday)

*The

Ministries Trial __NOTOC__ The Ministries Trial (or, officially, the ''United States of America vs. Ernst von Weizsäcker, et al.'') was the eleventh of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg af ...

began in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. Twenty-one officials of various ministries of the Third Reich went on trial, facing an assortment of charges for their roles in atrocities committed by the Nazis. *The adventure drama film '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' starring Humphrey Bogart was released.

January 7, 1948 (Wednesday)

*US President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

delivered the annual State of the Union address to Congress. Truman outlined five goals for the future: " to secure fully the essential human rights of our citizens," "to protect and develop our human resources," "to conserve and use our natural resources so that they can contribute most effectively to the welfare of our people," "to lift the standard of living for all our people by strengthening our economic system and sharing more broadly among our people the goods we produce," and "to achieve world peace based on principles of freedom and justice and the equality of all nations." *An

bomb attack at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem killed 25 Arabs. *The Gongzhutun Campaign ended in Communist victory. *

Mantell UFO incident On January 7, 1948, 25-year-old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died in the crash of his P-51 Mustang fighter plane near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying obje ...

: Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas F. Mantell died in the crash of his

F-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

fighter plane after being sent in pursuit of an

unidentified flying object An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

. *Born:

Shobhaa De Shobha De ('' née'' Rajadhyaksha, formerly Kilachand; born 7 January 1948) is an Indian novelist and columnist. She is best known for her depiction of socialites and sex in her works of fiction, for which she has been referred to as the "Jackie ...

, columnist and novelist, in Satara,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

;

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

, singer-songwriter, in

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

;

Ichirou Mizuki , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for anime and tokusatsu. For over 50 years, he had recorded over 1,200 songs for Japanese film, televisio ...

, musician and actor, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(d. 2022)

January 8, 1948 (Thursday)

*German officials accepted a US-British offer to assume responsibility for a new economic government in the Bizone, to be called the Bizonal Economic Administration. *US Secretary of State

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

appeared before the Senate to make the case for Truman's request for $6.8 billion to cover the first 15 months of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

, warning that US failure to help rebuild Europe's economy would turn the continent into "the dictatorship of police states." *Died: Edward Stanley Kellogg, 77, United States Navy Captain and 16th Governor of American Samoa;

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, Constructivism (art), constructivism, surrealism ...

, 60, German artist

January 9, 1948 (Friday)

*A record Chinese budget of 96 trillion yuan (about $427 million US) for the first six months of 1948 was announced in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. *The US Navy Department announced the transfer of four large submarines and eleven other naval vessels to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and six submarines to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

January 10, 1948 (Saturday)

*The US State Department designated radar equipment as "arms" so it could not be exported without a license after concerns were raised that some such equipment was going to the Soviet Union and its satellite states. *Born: Donald Fagen, musician ( Steely Dan), in Passaic, New Jersey;

Teresa Graves Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series '' Get Ch ...

, actress and singer, in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

(d. 2002);

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky ( lv, Miša Maiskis, he, מישה מייסקי, russian: Миша Майский; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, har ...

, cellist, in Riga, Latvian SSR

January 11 Events Pre-1600 * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. * 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muha ...
, 1948 (Sunday)

*The acting president of the American University of Beirut announced the development of the most complete and effective cholera serum known to science. *Born:

Larry Harvey Larry Harvey (January 11, 1948 – April 28, 2018) was an American artist, philanthropist and activist. He was the main co-founder of the Burning Man event, along with his friend Jerry James. Early life Born in San Francisco, Harvey grew up in ...

, artist, activist and co-founder of the Burning Man event, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California (d. 2018); Danne Larsson, Swedish musician

January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. * 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...
, 1948 (Monday)

*President Truman presented Congress with a $39.7 billion budget, the second-largest in peacetime history. *The US Supreme Court decided ''

Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma ''Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma'', 332 U.S. 631 (1948), is a ''per curiam'' United States Supreme Court decision involving racial segregation toward African Americans by the University of Oklahoma and the application of ...

'', ruling that black students were entitled to the same education as whites. *Born: Kenny Allen, footballer, in

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

, England; Anthony Andrews, actor, in Finchley,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England

January 13, 1948 (Tuesday)

*Fistfights broke out in the French National Assembly. The Communists broke up the session by shouting and fighting in the aisles after the Assembly rejected their demand that Jacques Duclos be re-elected first vice-president. *

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

began fasting for a "reunion of hearts" between the Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs of India. *Died:

Solomon Mikhoels Solomon (Shloyme) Mikhoels ( yi, שלמה מיכאעלס lso spelled שלוימע מיכאעלס during the Soviet era russian: Cоломон (Шлойме) Михоэлс, – 13 January 1948) was a Latvian born Soviet Jewish actor and the ar ...

, 57, Soviet Jewish actor and director of the

Moscow State Jewish Theater The Moscow State Jewish (Yiddish) Theatre (Russian: Московский Государственный Еврейский Театр; Yiddish: Moskver melukhnisher yidisher teater), also known by its acronym GOSET (ГОСЕТ), was a Yiddish theat ...

(assassinated on the orders of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

in a hit-and-run car crash)

January 14, 1948 (Wednesday)

*US Secretary of State Marshall rejected Yugoslavia's request for the return of its funds until all outstanding claims were settled, including the concern of the two American planes shot down over Yugoslavia in August 1946. *The Battle of 3 Shevat was fought when Arab forces attacked

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...

but were repulsed with heavy casualties. *The

American Communist Party The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

held two rallies in New York City to mark the twenty-fourth anniversary of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

's death. National chairman William Z. Foster hailed the presidential candidacy of Henry A. Wallace, telling his followers that millions of Americans believe that "the Wallace movement is the one movement that has the possibility to put a halt to this drive to a new war." A combined total of about 5,000 people attended the two rallies. *Born:

T Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

, music producer and guitarist, as Joseph Burnett III in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri;

Valeri Kharlamov The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

, ice hockey player, in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, USSR (d. 1981);

Muhriz of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir (born 14 January 1948) is the eleventh Yamtuan Besar, Yang di-Pertuan Besar (Grand Ruler) of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Early life Tunku Muhriz is the only son out of six children of the late Munawir ...

, eleventh Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, in

Kuala Pilah Kuala Pilah (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Kolo Pilah''), or simply Pilah, is a town in Kuala Pilah District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Townscape Kuala Pilah is an old valley town with many of the pre-war Chinese shop houses still fronting the ...

, Malayan Union;

Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in '' Predator'' (1987), Action Ja ...

, actor and football player, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana

January 15, 1948 (Thursday)

*A spokesman for the Arab League in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

said that regular armies of the Arab countries would occupy all of Palestine as soon as the British withdrew, and that any intervention by an international police force or large contingent of foreign troops "will be considered an unfriendly act by the Arab states, and the Council of the League, which is always in session, will take steps to meet the emergency." *General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Vice Chief of Staff,

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

, approved a policy calling for the development of earth

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

s at the proper time. *Born:

Ronnie Van Zant Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the older brother of current ...

, singer and founding member of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Florida (d. 1977) *Died: Josephus Daniels, 85, American newspaper editor and publisher and United States Secretary of the Navy during World War I

January 16, 1948 (Friday)

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n leader Georgi Dimitrov signed a pact of mutual assistance with

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. Speaking before several hundred thousand in Victory Square in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Dimitrov made reference to the civil war in Greece as he declared, "We united our forces today not as aggressors but to protect our people from a new fire that may be kindled there and spread to our countries." * 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine:

was shaken just after midnight by a massive explosion on the roof of a food store near the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

. Later in the day in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, seven Arab children were killed when a house was blown up by Haganah. *The

Convoy of 35 The Convoy of 35 (or the Lamed He, which stands for "thirty five" in Hebrew numerals), was a convoy of Haganah fighters sent during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on a mission to reach by foot and resupply the blockaded kibbutz ...

, a convoy of Haganah fighters sent on foot to resupply the blockaded kibbutzism of

, was destroyed by Arab villagers and militiamen. *New York Governor and failed 1944 Republican presidential candidate

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

formally entered the race for the Republican nomination for president, announcing through an aide that he "cannot actively seek the nomination of his party for President, but if nominated he would accept." *The film noir ''

I Walk Alone ''I Walk Alone'' is a 1947 film noir directed by Byron Haskin and starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott, with a supporting cast featuring Wendell Corey and Kirk Douglas. This was the first of five films that Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas ...

'' starring Burt Lancaster,

Lizabeth Scott Lizabeth Virginia Scott (born Emma Matzo; September 29, 1921 – January 31, 2015) was an American actress, singer and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, known for her "smoky voice" and being "the most beautiful face of film noir durin ...

and Kirk Douglas was released. *Born:

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

, filmmaker, in

Carthage, New York Carthage is a village in the town of Wilna in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 3,747 at the 2010 census. The village is named after the historic city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia. The village of Carthage is a ...

; Gregor Gysi, attorney and politician, in East Berlin, Germany;

Cliff Thorburn Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...

, professional snooker player, in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

, Canada;

Tsuneo Horiuchi is a former professional baseball player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and a politician. A right-handed pitcher, in he was voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball career Horiuchi played for the Yomiuri Giants his ...

, baseball player, in

Kōfu is the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 187,985 in 90,924 households, and a population density of 880 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Overview Toponymy Kōfu's name means " ...

, Japan

January 17 Events Pre-1600 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
, 1948 (Saturday)

Renville Agreement The Renville Agreement was a United Nations Security Council-brokered political accord between the Netherlands, which was seeking to re-establish its colony in South East Asia, and Indonesian Republicans seeking for Indonesian independence durin ...

: A UN-brokered ceasefire in the Indonesian conflict was signed between Dutch and Indonesian representatives aboard the US Navy transport ship '' Renville'' off the Java coast. *Manchester United got the fourth highest home attendance recorded in English football. *Born:

Davíð Oddsson Davíð Oddsson (pronounced ; born 17 January 1948) is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-serving prime minister of Iceland, in office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he served as foreign minister. Previously, he was Mayor of Reykjav ...

, 21st Prime Minister of Iceland, in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

;

January 18 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. * 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chi ...
, 1948 (Sunday)

*Mahatma Gandhi ended his five-day fast after leaders of the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities presented a pledge signed by 200,000 persons promising peace. "If today's solemn pledge is fulfilled," Gandhi said, "it will revive with doubled force my intense wish to live a full span of life doing service to humanity." Gandhi said that by a full span he meant "at least 125 years, or as some say 133 years." *Born: M. C. Gainey, actor, in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...
, 1948 (Monday)

*About 150 people drowned when the steamship ''Cautin'' sank near

Puerto Saavedra Saavedra () is a commune of Chile in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. The principal community and administrative centre of the commune is the town of Puerto Saavedra. The commune is named after the Chilean soldier General Cornelio Saavedra Ro ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. *The US Supreme Court decided ''

Oyama v. California ''Oyama v. State of California'', 332 U.S. 633 (1948), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that specific provisions of the 1913 and 1920 California Alien Land Laws abridged the rights and privileges guaranteed by the Four ...

'', ruling that Fred Oyama, an American citizen of Japanese descent, owned land in California purchased by his Japanese father despite the state's Alien Land Law. *The novel '' Other Voices, Other Rooms'' by

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

was published. *Born:

Frank McKenna Francis Joseph McKenna (born January 19, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006 ...

, businessman, politician and diplomat, in Apohaqui, New Brunswick; Michael J. Jackson, actor, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England;

Mal Reilly Malcolm John Reilly OBE (born 19 January 1948) is an English former rugby league player and coach. He played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, ...

, English rugby league footballer

January 20, 1948 (Tuesday)

*The UN Security Council voted 9–0 to establish a three-member commission to mediate the Indo-Pakistani dispute over Kashmir. *Republican politician John Foster Dulles accused the Soviet Union of trying "by every art short of war" to ruin Europe. Dulles urged Congress to set up a European aid plan that would bind western Europe into a mutual defense pact to contain the Soviets. *

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

announced that he would retire as

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

after the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

held a national convention in the summer to select a new leader.

January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when ...
, 1948 (Wednesday)

*First Lord of the Admiralty Viscount Hall announced the scrapping of the battleships , , and and the cruiser . Hall said at the press conference that even if the British government could afford to keep the five big ships that "they would be of very little value in any future war." *The

flag of Quebec The flag of Quebec, called the (), represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis. It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada and was originally sh ...

became the first provincial flag to be officially adopted in Canada. *Born: M. R. S. Rao, scientist, in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, India (d. 2023) *Died:

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays ...

, 72, Italian composer and teacher;

Gertrude Bustill Mossell Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill Mossell (July 3, 1855 – January 21, 1948) was an African-American journalist, author, teacher, and activist. She served as the women's editor of the ''New York Age'' from 1885 to 1889, and of the '' Indianapolis World ...

, 92, African-American journalist, author, teacher and activist

January 22, 1948 (Thursday)

*The Congress of Industrial Organizations voted 33-11 in favor of a resolution declaring it "politically unwise to inject a

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...

into the political scene in 1948." *The historical drama film ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' starring Vivien Leigh premiered in London. *Died:

Ludwig Plagge Ludwig Plagge (13 January 1910 – 24 January 1948) was an SS-''Oberscharführer'' and member of staff at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, and Majdanek concentration camps. He was prosecuted at the Auschwitz Trial, and executed for war crime ...

, 37, German SS officer (hanged for crimes against humanity)

January 23 Events Pre-1600 * 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. * 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. *1264 & ...
, 1948 (Friday)

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

definitively renounced any attempt to draft him to run for president by publicizing a letter declaring that he could not accept the nomination "even under the remote circumstances that it were tendered me." *Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister

Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...

sent a note informing the United Nations that its Korea commission would not be allowed to enter the Soviet-controlled zone of Korea. *Born:

Katharine Holabird Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the ''Angelina Ballerina'' series, illustrated by Helen Craig, and the ''Twinkle'' series, illustrated by Sharon Williams. Early life and education B ...

, author, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

; Mitoji Yabunaka, politician, in Japan

January 24 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. *1438 – The Cou ...
, 1948 (Saturday)

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and

signed a 20-year friendship and military treaty. *Died:

Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

, 57, American Western film actor;

Charles Dudley Rhodes Charles Dudley Rhodes (February 10, 1865 – January 24, 1948) was a United States Army major general. He was a prominent commander of cavalry units from the Indian Wars through World War I, and was a lecturer and author. Early life The son of M ...

, 82, United States Army Major General

January 25, 1948 (Sunday)

*The Lady Caycay earthquake struck

Panay Island Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City ...

in the Philippines, causing an estimated 50 casualties. *The French government announced that it would devalue the

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

, revising the exchange rate from 119 francs to the US dollar to 214.392, and allow free market trading in gold. The announcement came over the formal objection of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

whose statutes forbade any member country to "engage in multiple-currency practices" without the authorization of the Fund.

January 26 Events Pre-1600 * 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Tren ...
, 1948 (Monday)

*An international manpower conference opened in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with representatives of sixteen countries participating in the

. The main issue under consideration was that of redistributing manpower from countries that had an excess of workers to countries that had a shortage. *At a branch of Imperial Bank in

, a man masquerading as a doctor fatally poisoned 12 bank employees and then robbed the bank of all the money he could find. Tempera painter

Sadamichi Hirasawa was a Japanese tempera painter. He was convicted of mass poisoning and sentenced to death. Due to strong suspicions that he was innocent, no justice minister ever signed his death warrant. Teigin case On January 26, 1948, a man calling himself ...

was later arrested and charged with the crime, but was never executed because of doubts about his guilt. *

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

signed a trade agreement worth more than $1 billion US. *Died:

Georg Bruchmüller Georg Bruchmüller (11 December 1863 – 26 January 1948) was a German artillery officer who greatly influenced the development of modern artillery tactics. He was nicknamed ''Durchbruchmüller'', a combination of the German word ''Durchbruch'' ...

, 84, German artillery officer

January 27, 1948 (Tuesday)

*The cabinet of Iraqi Prime Minister

Salih Jabr Sayyid Salih Jabr ( ar, سيد صالح جبر; 1896–1957) was an Iraqi statesman who served as the prime minister of Iraq from March 1947 to January 1948. He was the first Shi'ite to become prime minister. In the 1930s and 1940s, Salih atten ...

resigned after 24 hours of rioting over a British-Iraqi treaty of friendship and mutual military aid that had yet to be ratified. 70 people were reported killed and 300 wounded in the rioting. *Born: Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer, choreographer and actor, in Riga, Latvian SSR

January 28 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. * 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession ...
, 1948 (Wednesday)

* 1948 Los Gatos DC-3 crash: A Douglas DC-3 crashed in the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

west of

Coalinga, California Coalinga ( or ) is a city in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas. It was formerly known as ''Coaling Station A'', ''Coalingo'', and ''Coalinga Station''. The ...

. All 29 passengers, mostly Mexican farm workers, and 3 crew were killed. The crash would later be commemorated in the

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

protest song "

Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" is a protest song with lyrics by Woody Guthrie and music by Martin Hoffman detailing the January 28, 1948 crash of a plane near Los Gatos Canyon, west of Coalinga in Fresno County, California, United Stat ...

". *The 400-ton Japanese freighter ''Joo Maru'' struck a mine in the Inland Sea and sank. As many as 316 of the 425 persons aboard were believed drowned. *Born: Charles Taylor, 22nd President of Liberia, in

Arthington, Liberia Arthington is a small town in Montserrado County, Liberia, located along the Saint Paul River northeast of the capital city of Monrovia. It is mainly known as the hometown of former President Charles Taylor, the country's 22nd president. Histor ...

January 29 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. * 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, rul ...
, 1948 (Thursday)

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta (; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman and nationalist who served as the country's first vice president. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indone ...

became 3rd Prime Minister of Indonesia after

Amir Sjarifuddin Amir Sjarifuddin Harahap (Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, EVO: Amir Sjarifoeddin Harahap; 27 April 1907 – 19 December 1948) was an Indonesian politician and journalist who served as the second prime minister of Indonesia from 1947 until 19 ...

resigned following a backlash over the Renville Agreement. *The

Pakistan Socialist Party The Pakistan Socialist Party was a political party in Pakistan. It was formed out of the branches of the Indian Socialist Party in the areas ceded to the new state of Pakistan. The PSP failed to make any political breakthrough in Pakistani polit ...

was founded in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. * Muhammad as-Sadr became the new Prime Minister of Iraq. *Born:

Marc Singer Marc Singer (born January 29, 1948) is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the '' Beastmaster'' film series, as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series '' V'', and as Matt Cantrell in ''Dallas''. Early life Singer wa ...

, actor, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia *Died:

Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (''Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino''; 9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948) was a prince of Italy's reigning House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. The second son of Prince Emanu ...

, 47

January 30, 1948 (Friday)

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at age 78 in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in central New Delhi. His assassin was Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Chitpavan Brahmin from Pune, Maharashtra, ...

: At 5:17 p.m.

Indian Standard Time Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and avi ...

was assassinated by

Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu nationalist from Maharashtra who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in B ...

on the steps of the

Birla House Birla may refer to: * Birla family * Members of the Birla family: ** Aditya Vikram Birla ** Ananya Birla ** Basant Kumar Birla ** G. D. Birla ** K. K. Birla ** C. K. Birla ** Kumar Mangalam Birla See also * Burla (disambiguation) Burla may refer ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. *The

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

, the first to be held after World War II, opened in St. Moritz, Switzerland. * BSAA ''Star Tiger'' disappearance: An Avro Tudor of British South American Airways disappeared while flying from the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

with 31 on board. Speculation about what happened to the flight helped develop the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. *Born:

Paul Magee Paul "Dingus" Magee (born 30 January 1948) is a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who escaped during his 1981 trial for killing a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) in 1980. After servin ...

, Provisional Irish Republican Army member, in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

*Died:

Nigel De Brulier Nigel De Brulier (born Francis George Packer; 8 August 1877 – 30 January 1948) was an English stage and film actor who began his career in the United Kingdom before relocating to the United States. Biography De Brulier was born in Frenchay, a ...

, 70, English film actor; Arthur Coningham, 53, Australian RAF officer (presumed dead in the ''Star Tiger'' disappearance);

, 78, Indian independence leader (assassinated);

Herb Pennock Herbert Jefferis Pennock (February 10, 1894 – January 30, 1948) was an American professional baseball pitcher and front-office executive. He played in Major League Baseball from 1912 through 1933, and is best known for his time spent with the ...

, 53, American baseball player (cerebral hemorrhage); Orville Wright, 76, American inventor and aviation pioneer

January 31 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
, 1948 (Saturday)

*Gandhi's body was carried in a five-hour procession through the streets of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

to the bank of the

Jumna River The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ba ...

where it was cremated on a funeral pyre of

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

logs strewn with flowers. An estimated one million Indians witnessed the procession and cremation ceremony. *Soviet finance minister Arseny Zverev presented a record budget to a joint session of the Supreme Soviet, estimating revenue at 428 billion rubles and expenditure at 387.9 billion rubles in 1948. *Born:

Paul Jabara Paul Jabara, also known as Paul Frederick Jabara, (January 31, 1948 – September 29, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry, born in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning " Last Dance" from ...

, actor, singer and songwriter, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York (d. 1992);

Muneo Suzuki Muneo Suzuki (鈴木宗男 ''Suzuki Muneo'', born 31 January 1948), commonly known simply as "Muneo" due to his common last name, is a Japanese Russophilic politician from Ashoro, Hokkaidō, currently serving as a member of the House of Cou ...

, politician, in

Ashoro, Hokkaido is a town located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 7,150 and a density of 5.1 persons per km2. The total area is 1,408.09 km2. It was the largest municipality in Ja ...

, Japan *Died: John T. Daniels, 74, American amateur photographer who took the photograph of the Wright brothers' first flight

References

{{Events by month links 1948 *1948-01 *1948-01

January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ..., 1948 (Thursday)