1950 - Definition and Overview

Events

January

• January 5 - US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA
• January 6 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
• January 9 - The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.
• January 11 - Huk guerillas attack the town of Hermosa in Bataan, Philippines.
• January 12 - Huk guerillas attack the town of Tuyn, kill two and torch the city of Staingnacan.
• January 12 - British submarine Truculent collides with a Swedish oil tanker in River Thames - 64 dead.
• January 13 - Finland forms diplomatic relations to People's Republic of China
• January 17 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car in Boston, Massachusetts
• January 21 - Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury
• January 23 - The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
• January 24 - Cold War: Klaus Fuchs confesses his wartime espionage at Los Alamos to British interrogators - formally charged February 2
• January 26 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.
• January 28 - Somaliland is put under Italian mandate
• January 29 - Lord Balfour criticizes the fact that rationing is still in force in Britain
• January 31 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb
• January 31 - Last Kuomintang troops surrender in continental China

February

• February 1 - Chiang Kai-shek re-elected as a president of the Republic of China
• February 4 - Ingrid Bergman's illegitimate child arouses ire in USA
• February 9 - Red scare: In his speech to the Republican Women's Club at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with 205 Communists.
• February 11 - Two Vietcong battalions attack a French base in Indochina
• February 11 - Finland recognizes Indonesia
• February 12 - Pro-communist riots in Paris
• February 12 - European Broadcasting Union founded
• February 13 - In USA army begins to deploy anti-aircraft cannons to protect nuclear stations and military targets
• February 14 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty
• February 15 - Juho Kusti Paasikivi re-elected president of Finland

• February 19 - Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany to begin unification.
• February 12 - Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction
• February - British Labour Party forms a new government.

March, April

• March 1 - 7.25 PM West South Baptist Church in Bestridge, Nebraska blows up - all the choir is late for rehearsals
• March 1 - Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by giving them top secret atomic bomb data.
• March 1 - Acting Chinese President Li Tsung-jen ends his term in office
• March 1 - Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as Chinese president after moving his government to Taipei, Taiwan
• March 3 - Poland states that it intends to exile all Germans.
• March 8 - The Soviet Union claims to have an atomic bomb.
• March 12-13 - In Belgium, the referendum over the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of king Leopold III, 42.3% against.
• March 14 - Ship Cygnet hits mine off the Dutch coast.
• March 17 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98 which they have named "californium".
• March 20 - Government of Poland decides to confiscate the property of Polish church
• March 22 - Egypt demands that Britain remove all its troops in Suez Canal

• April 15 - King Leopold III of Belgium announces that he is ready to abdicate in favor of his son Baudouin
• April 24 - Jordania formally annexes West Bank
• April 27 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
• April 27 - Britain formally recognizes Israel

May, June

• May 5 - Bhumibol Adulyadej crowned king of Thailand
• May 6 - Tollund Man found
• May 9 - Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman declaration", is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
• May 11 - Kefauver Committee hearings about US organized crime begin
• May 25 - Brooklyn-Battery tunnel is formally opened to traffic
• May 29 - St. Roch, first ship to circumnavigate North America arrives in Halifax Nova Scotia.
• June 3 - First ascent of Annapurna I, 10th highest mountain in the world.
• June 8 - Sir Thomas Blamey becomes the only Field Marshal in Australian history.
• June 10 - French police capture escaped murderer Emile Buisson in Paris restaurant
• June 24 - 58 persons were killed when a commercial airliner crashed into Lake Michigan. The reason for the disaster is unknown. Only fragments of the plane and the bodies of passengers were ever found.
• June 25 - Beginning of Korean War. In the USA, people begun to hoard supplies in case of rationing and shortages.
• June 28 - Korean War - North Korean forces capture Seoul

July

• July 5 - Sicilian bandit leader Salvatore Giuliano killed in a shootout with carabinieri
• July 5 - Korean War: Task Force Smith - First clash between American and North Korean forces.
• July 5 - Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
• July 6 - East Germany agrees with Poland on the Oder-Neisse line - West Germany does not at this time
• July 17 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg arrested
• July 19 - 15 SS-men sentenced to death in East Germany
• July 20 - Tydings committee report to US senate denounces Joe McCarthy - he begins a public attack on members of the committee standing for election in 1950
• July 20 - In Belgium, the United Chambers adopt a decree which reinstates King Leopold III in his royal dignity.
• July 23 - King Leopold III of Belgium returns to Brussels
• July 25 - Walter Ulbricht elected the general secretary of the communist party of East Germany
• July 28 - In Belgium, demonstrations and strikes break out as a result of King Leopold III's return. In Liège, three labourers are shot.

August

• August 5 - Florence Chadwick swims over English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes
• August 5 - A bomb-laden B-29 Flying Fortress crashes into a residential area in California. 17 dead, 68 injured.
• August 6 - Riot in Brussels in monarchist demonstrations
• August 7 - Flying Fortress crashes into a residential area in California
• August 8 - Winston Churchill supports idea of pan-European army allied with Canada and USA
• August 15 - Earthquake and floods in Assam, India - 574 deaths, 5,000,000 believed homeless

September

• September 1 - Hungarian major general Laszlo Viragen defects to Austria and applies for political asylum
• September 7 - Coal mine collapses in New Cumnoch, Scotland - 13 miners dead. 116 rescued.
• September 12 - Communist riots in Berlin
• September 15 - Allied troops land in Inchon, occupied by North Korea, to begin the Battle of Inchon.
• September 19 - West Germany decides to fire all its communist officials
• September 26 - Indonesia admitted to the United Nations

October

• October 2 - The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
• October 5 - Indonesian government quells riots in the Moluccas
• October 11 - The Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).
• October 15 - In East Germany, communists win 99.7% of the vote
• October 20 - Australia declares communist party illegal
• October - Sister Mary Teresa begins her charity work in Calcutta and becomes known as Mother Teresa

November

• November 1 - Pope Pius XII defines a new dogma of Roman Catholicism: that God assumed Mary's body into Heaven after her death.
• November 1 - While staying at the Blair-Lee House in Washington, D.C. during White House repairs, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman.
• November 2 - Oscar Collazzo and Griselio Torresola fail to assassinate president Truman
• November 4 - United Nations ends the diplomatic isolation of Spain
• November 8 - Korean War: While in an F-80, United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown intercepts two North Korean MiG-15s near the Yalu River and shots them down in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history.
• November 11 - The Mattachine Society founded in Los Angeles as the first Gay liberation organization
• November 18 - United Nations accepts the formation of Libyan national council
• November 20 - T. S. Eliot speaks against television in the UK
• November 22 - Anti-British riots in Egypt
• November 22 - Shirley Temple announces her retirement from show business
• November 23 - George Robb was born in Aylth, Scotland
• November 26 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces, ending any thought of a quick end to the conflict.
• November 28 - Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations
• November 29 - Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force a desperate retreat of United Nations forces from North Korea.
• November 30 - Truman threatens to use nuclear weapons in Korea

December

• December 3 - Etna volcano erupts in Sicily
• December 24-25 - Scottish nationalists take the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey
• December 28 - The Peak District becomes Britain's first National Park.

Unknown date

• Ralph Schneider founds Diners Club - it initially only works in 27 restaurants in New York City.
• United Nations building finished.
• First pagers developed.
• Antihistamine discovered.
• First TV remote control, Zenith Radio's Lazy Bones is marketed.
• IBM Israel begins operating in Tel Aviv
• Japanese soldier Yuichi Akitsu surrenders in the Philippines
• President Harry Truman sent United States military personnel to Vietnam to aid French forces.

Births

January, February

• January 12 - Sheila Jackson Lee, American politician
• January 16 - Debbie Allen, actress, dancer, choreographer
• January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian racing driver
• January 21 - Billy Ocean, musician
• January 29 - Jody Scheckter, South African racing driver
• February 2 - Barbara Sukowa, actress
• February 3 - Morgan Fairchild, actress
• February 6 - Natalie Cole, singer
• February 10 - Mark Spitz, Olympic Games swimming gold medalist
• February 11 - Earnest Jim Istook, US-American politician
• February 11 - Johanna E. Beerens, actress
• February 11 - Rochelle Fleming, soul music vocalist
• February 12 - Michael Ironside, US actor
• February 13 - Peter Gabriel, British musician
• February 16 - Peter Hain, British politician
• February 18 - John Hughes, director, producer, writer
• February 22 - Julius Erving, Basketball Hall of Famer
• February 22 - Julie Walters, actress
• February 22 - Miou-Miou, actress
• February 25 - Neil Jordan, director, writer, producer
• February 25 - Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina
• February 26 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

March, April

• March 2 - Karen Carpenter, singer and drummer (d. 1983)
• March 4 - Rick Perry, governor of Texas
• March 5 - Matheisl Willy, German photographer
• March 9 - Doug Ault, Major League Baseball player (d. 2004)
• March 9 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer
• March 11 - Bobby McFerrin, American singer
• March 11 - Jerry Zucker, producer, director, writer
• March 13 - William H. Macy, actor
• March 18 - Brad Dourif, actor
• March 20 - William Hurt, American actor
• March 26 - Teddy Pendergrass, singer
• March 29 - Bud Cort, actor
• March 30 - Robbie Coltrane, British actor, comedian
• April 3 - Sally Thomsett, British actress
• April 4 - Christine Lahti, American actress
• April 5 - Agnetha Fältskog, youngest of Abba
• April 10 - Ken Griffey, Sr., Major League Baseball player
• April 22 - Peter Frampton, musician
• April 25 - Lenora Branch Fulani, New Alliance Party United States Presidential candidate.
• April 28 - Jay Leno, American comedian, late night talk show host

May-September

• May 3 - Howard Ashman, lyricist
• May 7 - Randall 'Tex' Cobb, boxer, actor
• May 12 - Bruce Boxleitner, actor
• May 12 - Gabriel Byrne, actor
• May 13 - Stevie Wonder, singer, pianist, bassist, drummer
• May 16 - Johannes Georg Bednorz, physicist, Nobel Prize in physics 1987
• May 17 - Janez Drnovšek, Slovene politician
• May 17 - Valeria Novodvorskaya, Russian politician and dissident
• May 18 - Mark Mothersbaugh, composer & musician
• May 18 - Thomas Gottschalk, show master
• May 18 - Rodney Milburn, American athlete
• May 22 - Bernie Taupin, songwriter
• June 1 - Tom Robinson, singer, musician, gay icon
• June 3 - Suzi Quatro, singer, actress
• July 17 - Michel Lotito, Frenchman who eats everything
• July 18 - Sir Richard Branson, British entrepreneur
• August 11 - Gennidy Nikonov, designer of the AN-94 assault rifle
• August 15 - HRH Princess Anne of Edinburgh, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II
• August 16 - Hasely Crawford, Trinidad and Tobago athlete
• September 17 - Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat
• September 21 - Charles Clarke, British politician
• September 28 - John Sayles director, screenwriter

October-December

• October 1 - Randy Quaid, actor
• October 12 - Kaga Takeshi, Japanese actor, host of Iron Chef
• October 31 - John Candy, US comedian and actor
• October 31 - Jane Pauley, television broadcaster, journalist
• November 21 - Alberto Juantorena, Cuban athlete
• November 22 - Michael Pawluk, attorney, author, explorer, producer
• December 1 - Keith Thibodeaux producer, writer
• December 5 - Camarón de la Isla, flamenco cantaore
• December 18 - Leonard Maltin, film critic
• December 23 - Michael C. Burgess, American politician

Deaths

• January 21 - George Orwell, author
• March 5 - Matheisl Willy, photographer, Germany
• March 5 - Sid Grauman, owner of Grauman's Chinese Theater
• March 9 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer
• March 19 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, author (b. 1875)
• March 30 - Joe Yule, Scottish-born comedian (b. 1894)

• July 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canadian politician

• September 10 - Raymond Sommer, Grand Prix motor racing driver
• September 11 - Jan Christian Smuts
• September 21 - Arthur Milne, British space physicist
• October 23 - Al Jolson, US movie musician
• October 29 - Gustav V of Sweden
• November 2 - George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born playwright
• November 3 - Koiso Kuniaki, Japanese prime minister
• November 25 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish writer, Nobel prize winner
• December 2 - Dinu Lipatti, pianist
• December 5 - Shri Aurobindo, guru
• December 11 - Leslie Comrie, astronomer and computing pioneer (b. 1893)
• December 27 - Max Beckmann, painter

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Cecil Frank Powell
• Chemistry - Otto Paul Hermann Diels, Kurt Alder
• Medicine - Edward Calvin Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, Philip Showalter Hench
• Literature - Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell
• Peace - Ralph Bunche