December 1946
Encyclopedia
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— December
The following events occurred in December 1946:
January 1946
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1946.-January 1, 1946 :...
- February
February 1946
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in February 1946.-February 1, 1946 :...
- March
March 1946
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in March, 1946.-March 1, 1946 :...
- April
April 1946
January – February – March - April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in April, 1946:-April 1, 1946 :...
– May
May 1946
January – February – March - April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in May, 1946:-May 1, 1946 :...
- June
June 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in June, 1946:-June 1, 1946 :...
- July
July 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in July 1946:-July 1, 1946 :...
- August
August 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in August 1946:-August 1, 1946 :...
- September
September 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in September 1946:-September 1, 1946 :...
- October
October 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in October 1946:-October 1, 1946 :...
- November
November 1946
January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - November - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1946:-November 1, 1946 :...
— December
The following events occurred in December 1946:
December 1, 1946 (Sunday)
- Miguel Alemán ValdésMiguel Alemán ValdésMiguel Alemán Valdés served as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952.-Life:Alemán was born in Sayula in the state of Veracruz as the son of General Miguel Alemán González and Tomasa Valdés Ledezma...
was sworn into office as the 46th President of Mexico and as the nation's first civilian president since Venustiano CarranzaVenustiano CarranzaVenustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
's death in 1920.
December 2, 1946 (Monday)
- The International Whaling CommissionInternational Whaling CommissionThe International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which was signed in Washington, D.C...
was created by the signing, in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, of the International Convention for the Regulation of WhalingInternational Convention for the Regulation of WhalingThe International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is an international environmental agreement signed in 1946 in order to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry"...
to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry". The 15 parties signing represented Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Africa, the USSR, the UK, and the US. - U.S. Secretary of State James F. ByrnesJames F. ByrnesJames Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...
, and British Foreign Secretary Ernest BevinErnest BevinErnest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
jointly announced the "economic fusion" of the American and British occupation zones of Germany, to take place effective January 1, 1947, declaring that "The two zones shall be treated as a single area for all economic purposes." Nicknamed "Bizonia", the Anglo-American occupation zone contained the German states of Schleswig-Holstein, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Niedersachsen, Bavaria, Hesse, and Württemberg-Baden (which later became part of Baden-Württemberg). The French zone would join the merger on April 8, 1949, and the three zones would then become West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
on May 24 of the same year. - Born: Gianni VersaceGianni VersaceGianni Versace was an Italian fashion designer and founder of Gianni Versace S.p.A., an international fashion house, which produces accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings as well as clothes. He also designed costumes for the theatre and films, and was a friend of Madonna, Elton John,...
, Italian fashion designer, in Reggio CalabriaReggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
December 3, 1946 (Tuesday)
- Notre Dame1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football teamThe 1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1946 college football season. The Irish, coached by Frank Leahy, ended the season with 8 wins and 1 tie, winning the national championship. The 1946 team became the fifth Irish team to win the...
won the unofficial championship of the 1946 college football season1946 college football seasonThe 1946 college football season finished with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame crowned as the national champion in the AP Poll, with the United States Military Academy the runner up...
, as the final AP PollAP PollThe Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
ranked the Fighting Irish #1, with 1731½ points overall (and 100 first-place votes). In second place was ArmyArmy Black Knights footballThe Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
, with 1,659½ points and 48 first-place votes. GeorgiaGeorgia Bulldogs footballThe Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
(1,448) and UCLAUCLA Bruins FootballThe UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in college football as members of the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll...
(1,141) were third and fourth. All four teams were unbeaten in 1946; Notre Dame and Army were unbeaten, but not untied, having played a 0-0 game on November 9November 1946January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - November - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1946:-November 1, 1946 :...
. - Born: Marjana LipovšekMarjana LipovšekMarjana Lipovšek is an opera and concert singer. The daughter of composer Marijan Lipovšek, she was born on December 3, 1946 in Ljubljana, Slovenia....
, Yugoslavian/Slovenian opera mezzo soprano, in LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
and Joop ZoetemelkJoop ZoetemelkHendrik Gerardus Jozef "Joop" Zoetemelk is a retired professional racing cyclist from the Netherlands who has emigrated to France. He started the Tour de France 16 times and finished every time, a record. He won the race in 1980 and also came eighth, fifth, fourth and second...
, Dutch cyclist, Tour de France winner 1980, in
December 4, 1946 (Wednesday)
- U.S. District Judge T. Alan Goldsborough found the United Mine WorkersUnited Mine WorkersThe United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
and its president, John L. LewisJohn L. LewisJohn Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...
, in contempt of court and fined both for continuing the nationwide coal miners strike. Lewis was fined $10,000 personally, and the union was fined $3,500,000 (equivalent to 35 million dollars in 2011). Judge Goldsborough commented that the defiance of an injunction against continuing the strike "is an evil, demoniac, monstrous thing that means hunger and cold and unemployment and destitution and disorganization of the social fabric... if actions of this kind can be successfully persisted in, the government will be overthrown, and the government that would take its place would be a dictatorship, and the first thing the dictatorship would do would be to destroy the labor unions." - Born: Sherry AlberoniSherry AlberoniSherry Alberoni is an American actress and voice artist. Alberoni got her start as a Mouseketeer on the weekday ABC television program The Mickey Mouse Club. As an adult, she became a voice artist for Hanna-Barbera Productions...
, American voice actress, in Cleveland; and Yō Inoue, Japanese voice actress, in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
(d. 1956)
December 5, 1946 (Thursday)
- U.S. President Truman issued Executive Order 9808, creating the 16-member Presidential Committee on Civil Rights, chaired by General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
President Charles E. WilsonCharles E. WilsonCharles Edward Wilson was a CEO of General Electric. He left school at age 12 to work as a stock boy at Sprague Electrical Works, which was acquired by General Electric, taking night classes and working up to president in 1939.During World War II he served on the War Production Board as executive...
. Ten months later, the committee would deliver its report, To Secure These Rights. - Airport Homes Race RiotsAirport Homes Race RiotsThe Airport Homes Race Riots were a series of riots in 1946 in the West Elsdon community of Chicago. It was the worst episode of racial inspired violence that the city faced in some thirty years....
: When the Chicago Housing AuthorityChicago Housing AuthorityThe Chicago Housing Authority is a municipal corporation established by the State of Illinois in 1937 with jurisdiction for the administrative oversight of public housing within the City of Chicago...
attempted to bring in the families of two distinguished veterans in an attempt to integrate all-white housing for World War II veterans, a crowd of 200 neighborhood residents rioted, attacking the movers who were bringing in the family furniture. Order was restored after 400 city police moved in, but the next day, demonstrators attacked the police. The project remained all-white. - U.S. Secretary of State Byrnes announced that, at the request of the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had agreed to repatriate German war prisoners as soon as possible, and that he was awaiting an answer from France, where most of the 674,000 POWs had been held since World War II.
- The French submarine 2326, converted to use by the French Navy after its capture from Germany as Unterseeboot U-2326, disappeared in the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
with 18 men on board, after performing test dives near ToulonToulonToulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
. It was believed that the sub had struck a sea mine set adrift following a storm. - The Korean Central News AgencyKorean Central News AgencyThe Korean Central News Agency is the state news agency of North Korea and has existed since December 5, 1946. KCNA is headquartered in the capital city of Pyongyang...
(KCNA), state news organ for North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, was established. Its stated mission was "to turn all members of society into juche communist revolutionaries unconditionally loyal to the Great Leader". - Born: José CarrerasJosé CarrerasJosep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
, Spanish Catalan opera singer, and one of The Three TenorsThe Three TenorsThe Three Tenors is a name given to the Spanish singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and the Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti who sang in concert under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s. The trio began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla, in...
; in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... - Died: Louis DewisLouis DewisLouis Dewis was a Belgian Post-Impressionist painter, who lived most of his adult life in France.-Early life:Dewis was born Isidore Louis Dewachter in Mons, Belgium, the son of Isidore Louis Dewachter and Eloise Desmaret Dewachter...
, 74, BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Post-Impressionist painterPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
December 6, 1946 (Friday)
- The final attempt at resolving the question of the independence of British India, as a single nation, failed. A four day conference had been held at 10 Downing Street in London with Jawaharlal Nehru of the Congress Party, Muslim League president Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Sikh leader Sardar Baldev Singh being hosted by Britain's Prime Minister Attlee. "The conversations held by His Majesty's Government... came to an end this evening as Pandit Nehru and Sardar Baldev Singh are returning to India tomorrow morning," the Prime Minister's office began in a press release, closing, "Should the constitution come to be framed by a Constituent Assembly in which a large section of the Indian population had not been represented, His Majesty's Government could not, of course, contemplate— as the Congress have stated they would not contemplate— forcing such a constitution upon any unwilling parts of the country." British India became independent as the separate nations of India and Pakistan (which in turn split in 1971 between Pakistan and Bangladesh).
- The first known reference to the sport of wheelchair basketballWheelchair basketballWheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee as the sole...
was published in the Framingham, MassachusettsFramingham, MassachusettsFramingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
News, in a story entitled "Cushing Wins Over Celtics In Wheel-Chair Basketball". The demonstration took place at the Boston GardenBoston GardenThe Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
, with players from the Cushing Veterans Hospital going up against the Boston CelticsBoston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, who were sitting in wheelchairs as well. The Celtics lost, 18-2. In the regular game, before 2,509 fans, the Celtics lost to the Detroit Falcons, 65-61. - Born: Nancy BrinkerNancy BrinkerNancy Goodman Brinker is the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer in 1980 at age 36. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from...
, American diplomat and activist, in Peoria, IllinoisPeoria, IllinoisPeoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
December 7, 1946 (Saturday)
- An early-morning fire at the Winecoff HotelWinecoff HotelThe Winecoff Hotel, today the Ellis Hotel, is located at 176 Peachtree Street NW, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Designed by William Lee Stoddart, the 15-story building opened in 1913...
in Atlanta killed 119 people. The fire broke out on the third floor of the 15-story building, in front of Room 326, before spreading to the floors above. The Atlanta Fire Department received the first call at 3:42 a.m. Atlanta Fire Department report, from Firefighter411.com. Built before strict fire codes were put in place, the luxurious Winecoff Hotel had no alarms, no sprinklers, and no fire escape. Final records concluded that 46 people died of their burns, 40 died of smoke inhalation, and 31 others jumped from the building to their deaths. - The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
emblem was approved by the General Assembly's Resolution 92 ("a map of the world representing an azimuthal equidistant projection centred on the North Pole, inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree, in gold on a field of smoke-blue with all water areas in white. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles"). The flag, which has the emblem in white against a light blue background, was adopted on October 20, 1947. - Facing a huge fine for contempt of court, United Mine WorkersUnited Mine WorkersThe United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
President John L. LewisJohn L. LewisJohn Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...
called an end to a walkout of 400,000 coal miners that he had called on November 20November 1946January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - November - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1946:-November 1, 1946 :...
. - Died: Laurette TaylorLaurette TaylorLaurette Taylor was an American stage and silent film actress.-Personal life:Laurette Taylor was born in New York City of Irish extraction as Loretta Helen Cooney.-Personal life:...
, 62, American actress; and Sada YaccoSada YaccoSada Yacco or was a Japanese actress and dancer.Born in Tokyo as Sada Koyama, Sadayakko was trained as a geisha and came to the attention of the prominent Japanese politician Itō Hirobumi, who took an interest in furthering her education. In 1894 she married the actor Otojiro Kawakami, to whom she...
, 75, Japanese stage actress
December 8, 1946 (Sunday)
- The French liner SS Liberté, formerly the German liner SS Europa, was accidentally sunk, not long after it had been captured from Germany as part of the spoils of World War II. The 49,746 ton ship, third largest ocean liner in the world broke loose from its moorings, collided with the wreckage of thesunken liner Paris, and went down in the harbor at Le Havre. It was finally put back into service on August 2, 1950.
- Isma'il SidqiIsma'il SidqiIsma'il Sidqi was an Egyptian politician who served as Prime Minister of Egypt from 1930 to 1933 and again in 1946.-Life and career:...
resigned as Prime Minister of Egypt following a failure to guarantee that the SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
would remain part of the territory administered from CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
upon full independence of the Anglo-Egyptian SudanAnglo-Egyptian SudanAnglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
. He was succeeded by Mahmoud an-Nukrashi PashaMahmoud an-Nukrashi PashaMahmoud Fahmi an-Nukrashi Pasha was an Egyptian political figure. He served as the prime minister of Egypt between 1945 and 1946 and again from 1946 and 1948. He was assassinated by a 21 year-old student and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, disguised as a police official, while in office....
. - Born: Sharmila TagoreSharmila TagoreSharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
, Indian film actress, in Hyderabad ;John RubinsteinJohn RubinsteinJohn Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
, American actor, in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
; and Jacques BourboulonJacques BourboulonJacques Bourboulon is a French photographer, specializing in nude photography. In 1967 he started as a fashion photographer, publishing in Vogue and working for the fashion designers Dior, Féraud, and Carven. In the mid-1970s he switched to nude photography.Bourboulon's pictures were shot with a...
, French photographer
December 9, 1946 (Monday)
- At 11:00 am, in New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, the first Constituent Assembly of India convened, with 323 of the 389 members present. Boycotting the session were the 76 Muslim League members. - The Nuremberg Doctors' TrialDoctors' TrialThe Doctors' Trial was the first of 12 trials for war crimes that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg, Germany after the end of World War II. These trials were held before U.S...
opened with 23 defendants, 16 of whom would be convicted. - The first powered flight of the Bell X-1Bell X-1The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was a joint NACA-U.S. Army/US Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft. Conceived in 1944 and designed and built over 1945, it eventually reached nearly 1,000 mph in 1948...
experimental plane was made, by Slick Goodlin, who took off from Edwards Air Force BaseEdwards Air Force BaseEdwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
in California. - Born: Sonia GandhiSonia GandhiSonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
, President of the Indian National CongressIndian National CongressThe Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
Party; as Edvige Antonia Albina Maino in LusianaLusianaLusiana is a small town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is west of SP72. Lusiana had an estimated population of 2,926....
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
December 10, 1946 (Tuesday)
- Alger HissAlger HissAlger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
resigned from the U.S. Department of State, less than two years before he was accused of espionage for the Soviet Union. - Born: Douglas KenneyDouglas KenneyDouglas C. Kenney was an American writer and actor who co-founded National Lampoon magazine in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material.-Childhood:...
, co-founder of the National Lampoon, in West Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
(killed 1980); Thomas LuxThomas Lux-Biography:Thomas Lux was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, son of a milkman and a Sears & Roebuck switchboard operator, neither of whom graduated from high school. Lux was raised in Massachusetts on a dairy farm. He was, according to those who knew him in high school, very good at baseball,...
, American poet, in Northampton, MassachusettsNorthampton, MassachusettsThe city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
; and Gloria LoringGloria LoringGloria Loring is an American singer and actress.- Career :Loring began her music career at age 14, singing with a folk group known as "Those Four". Gloria Loring released her first album in 1968. It was titled "Gloria Loring, Today" on MGM Records...
, American singer, as Gloria Jean Goff, in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - Died: Walter JohnsonWalter JohnsonWalter Perry Johnson , nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Washington Senators...
, 59, American baseball player; and Damon RunyonDamon RunyonAlfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
, 66, American writer
December 11, 1946 (Wednesday)
- UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, was founded as the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 57 (I).
- With December 11 as the deadline for the United Nations to have a permanent site, real estate developer William ZeckendorfWilliam ZeckendorfWilliam Zeckendorf, Sr. was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp – for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 – he developed a significant portion of the New York City urban landscape.-Career:Zeckendorf's...
agreed to sell 17 acres of land in Manhattan to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who, in turn would donate the land to the UN. Zeckendorf made the deal, through architect Wallace Harrison, at 2:00 in the morning while he and his wife were celebrating their wedding anniversary at the Club Monte Carlo. - Rajendra PrasadRajendra PrasadDr. Rajendra Prasad was an Indian politician and educator. He was one of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution and serving as the first president of independent India...
, who would, in 1950, become the first President of IndiaPresident of IndiaThe President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
, was elected the first President of the Constituent Assembly.
December 12, 1946 (Thursday)
- The collapse of an adjacent building killed 37 people at a six-story apartment building, on 2545 Amsterdam Avenue in New York City's Washington Heights section. The afternoon before, two boys, aged 13 and 10, had started a fire on the roof of an abandoned ice house on West 184th Street, and bragged about it to their friends. Firefighters put out the flames on the roof and then left, not realizing that a fire continued to smolder in the wooden beams beneath the roof.
- Iranian troops marched into TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, retaking control of the Azerbaijan People's GovernmentAzerbaijan People's GovernmentThe Azerbaijan People's Government was a short-lived, Soviet-backed client state in northern Iran. Established in Iranian Azerbaijan, the APG's capital was the city of Tabriz...
that had been created in November, 1945, with the backing of occupying Soviet troops. - Socialist and anti-colonialist Léon BlumLéon BlumAndré Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
took office as the new Prime Minister of FrancePrime Minister of FranceThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
. Historian Stein TønnessonStein TønnessonStein D. Tønnesson is a Norwegian historian. He was the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo from 2001 to 2009, when he was replaced by Kristian Berg Harpviken...
would later theorize that in the seven days between Blum's entry into office and the Viet Minh's date for launching an attack against the French, war in Vietnam might have been averted. - The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly voted to bar SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
from membership so long as Francisco FrancoFrancisco FrancoFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
was in power, and to urge member nations to withdraw their ambassadors from Madrid. - The first meeting of South Korea's Interim Legislative Assembly was held, with 45 appointed members and 45 elected ones, most of whom were right-wing.
- Born: Emerson FittipaldiEmerson FittipaldiEmerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...
, Brazilian Formula One (world champion 1972 and 1974) and Indy car racer (Indianapolis 500 winner 1989 and 1993); in São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
; and Diana PalmerDiana Palmer (author)Susan Kyle, née Susan Eloise Spaeth is an award winning American writer well-known as Diana Palmer, who has published romantic novels since 1979. She has also written romances as Diana Blayne, Katy Currie, and under her married name Susan Kyle and a science fiction novel as Susan S...
, American romance novelist, as Susan Spaeth in Cuthbert, GeorgiaCuthbert, GeorgiaCuthbert is a city in, and the county seat of, Randolph County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,731 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cuthbert is located at 31º46'15" North, 84º47'37" West .... - Died: Renee Falconetti, 54, French actress
December 13, 1946 (Friday)
- The United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
approved creation of eight trust territories, to be administered by member nations, with the ten-member UN Trusteeship Council to "safeguard the interests of non-self-governing peoples and to try to see that they eventually achieve full independence." The eight territories, which had been League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
mandates, were New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
(under mandate of Australia); Western Samoa (New Zealand); Ruanda-UrundiRuanda-UrundiRuanda-Urundi was a Belgian suzerainty from 1916 to 1924, a League of Nations Class B Mandate from 1924 to 1945 and then a United Nations trust territory until 1962, when it became the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.- Overview :...
, which later split as the nations of RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and BurundiBurundiBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
(Belgium); TanganyikaTanganyikaTanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
, later merged with Zanzibar as TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
(United Kingdom); and the CameroonsCameroonsBritish Cameroons was a British Mandate territory in West Africa, now divided between Nigeria and Cameroon.The area of present-day Cameroon was claimed by Germany as a protectorate during the "Scramble for Africa" at the end of the 19th century...
(CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
) and TogolandTogolandTogoland was a German protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana. The colony was established during the period generally known as the "Scramble for Africa"...
(TogoTogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
), under a British and French mandate. The full trusteeship committee had approved the eight mandates 35-8 the day before. - Employees at the Gigant cinema in the Soviet city of OmskOmsk-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
discovered the corpses of 13 young boys. Horrified police investigators found the bodies of an additional seven children at a factory on the outskirts of town, and determined that the murders had been carried out by a gang of juvenile delinquents, whose motive was to steal shoes and jackets.
December 14, 1946 (Saturday)
- The International Labour OrganizationInternational Labour OrganizationThe International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...
(ILO), the United Nations Economic and Social CouncilUnited Nations Economic and Social CouncilThe Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
(UNESCO) and the Food and Agriculture OrganizationFood and Agriculture OrganizationThe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
, became the first three UN specialized agencies on the same day. - The United Nations voted 46-7 to accept the offer by John D. Rockefeller Jr. of $8,500,000 for purchase of the 17 acres of Manhattan real estate bounded by 42nd Street, Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, 48th Street, and First Avenue, for its permanent location.
- Born: Patty DukePatty DukeAnna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
, American actress, in QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York; and Sanjay GandhiSanjay GandhiSanjay Gandhi was an Indian politician. The younger son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi, he was a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family...
, Indian politician, in New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
(killed in plane crash, 1980)
December 15, 1946 (Sunday)
- The Chicago BearsChicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
scored 10 points in the fourth quarter of the 1946 NFL Championship Game to defeat the New York GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, 24-14. The game was watched by a record title game crowd of 58,346 at the Polo Grounds. Earlier in the day, the news broke that Giants' quarterback Frankie Filchock and running back Merle HapesMerle HapesMerle Alison Hapes was a professional American football fullback in the National Football League. He played two seasons for the New York Giants .-External links:...
had been offered bribes (which they did not accept, but also failed to report) conditioned on the Bears winning by more than ten points. Hapes was suspended before the game, and Filchock allowed to play. Both were banned from the NFL. - Three days after retaking its Azerbaijan province, Iran's troops marched into the city of MahabadMahabad-Culture:Muhammad Qazi translated more than 70 important literary works into Persian. Other writers and poets have hailed from Mahabad in the 19th and 20th century including Wafaei , Hejar , Hêmin , Abdorrahamn Zabihi and Giw Mukriyani...
, putting an end to the Kurdish Republic of MahabadRepublic of MahabadThe Republic of Mahabad , officially known as Republic of Kurdistan and established in Iranian Kurdistan, was a short-lived, Kurdish government that sought Kurdish autonomy within the limits of the Iranian state. The capital was the city of Mahabad in northwestern Iran...
that had been created on January 22January 1946January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1946.-January 1, 1946 :...
. - VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
's President Ho Chi MinhHo Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
sent a cable to FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's interim Prime Minister, Leon BlumLéon BlumAndré Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
, asking for negotiations to avert fighting between the two nations. Delivery of the message was delayed, and Blum did not receive it until December 26, after a French ultimatum and a Vietnamese attack had begun what would become a war of more than seven years.
December 16, 1946 (Monday)
- SiamThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
joined the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
as its 55th member nation. It would change its name to ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
in 1949). - The Third String QuartetString Quartet No. 3 (Shostakovich)Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 3 in F major was composed in 1946 after his Symphony No. 9 was censured by Soviet authorities. It was premiered in Moscow by the Beethoven Quartet, to whom it is dedicated, in December 1946. The work was furiously denounced due to the horrors the music...
of Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
was first performed, in Moscow. The piece proved to be controversial and was withdrawn from public performance as part of Andrei Zhdanov's campaign against artistic works deemed to be "anti-Soviet", with questions even about whether the musical notes had a subversive message. - Born: Benny AnderssonBenny AnderssonGöran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
(Göran Bror Andersson), Swedish musician and one of four founders of ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
, in StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
; and Trevor PinnockTrevor PinnockTrevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
, English orchestra conductor, in CanterburyCanterburyCanterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour.... - Died: Lewis J. ValentineLewis J. ValentineLewis Joseph Valentine was the New York City Police Commissioner from 1934 to 1945, under Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia during the Murder, Inc. era. He was the author of an autobiography Night stick: The autobiography of Lewis J...
, 64, reform-minded NYPD Commissioner from 1934 to 1945, who fired 300 officers, and reprimanded or fined 11,000 others.; and Sulayman al-Murshed, Syrian religious leader who claimed divinity and had 50,000 followers in and around LatakiaLatakiaLatakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
; by hanging
December 17, 1946 (Tuesday)
- A new American altitude record was set as a captured German V-2 rocket, No. 17, was launched to an altitude of 116 miles. The mark was unbroken until February 24, 1949, when a two stage rocket more than doubled the height, to 250 miles.
- Born: Eugene LevyEugene LevyEugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
, Canadian film and TV comedian, in Hamilton, OntarioHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
December 18, 1946 (Wednesday)
- The International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
established its first par values and exchange rates, pegged against gold and the U.S. dollar, for the currencies of 32 of its member nations, with the 39 nations to pay in their subscriptions before March 1, 1947, for the privilege of borrowing from the World Bank. The Canadian and U.S. dollars were at a 1 to 1 ratio, and the British pound was worth US $4.03. - Born: Steven SpielbergSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, American film director and producer, in Cincinnati; and Steve BikoSteve BikoStephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
, South African anti-apartheid activist, in King William's TownKing William's TownKing William's Town is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 40 minutes' motorway drive WNW of the Indian Ocean port of East London...
(d. 1977) - Died: Aline BarnsdallAline BarnsdallLouise Aline Barnsdall was an American oil heiress, best known as Frank Lloyd Wright's client for the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park.- Biography :...
, 64, American heiress and philanthropist - Born: Steven SpielbergSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, American film director and producer, in Cincinnati; and Steve BikoSteve BikoStephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
, South African anti-apartheid activist, in King William's TownKing William's TownKing William's Town is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 40 minutes' motorway drive WNW of the Indian Ocean port of East London...
(d. 1977)
December 19, 1946 (Thursday)
- Battle of HanoiBattle of HanoiOn December 19, 1946 Vietnamese nationalists fighting for the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh detonated explosives in Hanoi, and the ensuing battle, known as the Battle of Hanoi marked the opening salvo of the First Indochina War. The explosives, set off at 20:03...
: At 8:03 pm local time, electric power to the city of HanoiHanoiHanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
was cut off as a force of 30,000 Viet MinhViet MinhViệt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
soldiers launched an attack against French army units in the city. The attack followed a directive made by General Louis Morlière for the Viet soldiers to disarm. Co-ordinated by General Vo Nguyen GiapVo Nguyen GiapVõ Nguyên Giáp is a retired Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People’s Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War...
, the attackers used mortars, artillery and machine guns in a battle that failed, but began the First Indochina WarFirst Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. Over seven and a half years, the French and their allies lost 172,708 people, more than 500,000 Vietminh soldiers died, and 150,000 Vietnamese civilians were killed. - Born: Robert UrichRobert UrichRobert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
, American television actor, in Toronto, OhioToronto, OhioToronto is the 2nd largest city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,676 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area....
(d. 2002); and Miguel PiñeroMiguel PiñeroMiguel Piñero was a Puerto Rican playwright, actor, and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was a leading member of the Nuyorican literary movement.-Early years:...
, Puerto Rican playwright, in GuarboGurabo, Puerto RicoGurabo is a municipality in eastern Puerto Rico located in the central eastern region, north of San Lorenzo; south of Trujillo Alto; east of Caguas; and west of Carolina and Juncos. Gurabo is spread over 9 wards and Gurabo Pueblo... - Died: Paul LangevinPaul LangevinPaul Langevin was a prominent French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the 6 February 1934 far right riots...
, 74, French theoretical physicist who invented a method for generating ultrasonic waves.
December 20, 1946 (Friday)
- Frank CapraFrank CapraFrank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
's It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
, with Jimmy StewartJames StewartJames Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
returning to film after completing his World War II service, was released in New York. Despite its Christmas setting, it was not released generally until January 7, and was a money loser in its theatrical release. A failure to renew the copyright in 1974 led to the film being run frequently on television afterward, turning it into one of the most popular Christmas films ever. - A team of American cryptanalystsVenona projectThe VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
, led by Meredith GardnerMeredith GardnerMeredith Knox Gardner was an American linguist and codebreaker. Gardner worked in counter-intelligence, decoding Soviet intelligence traffic regarding espionage in the United States, in what came to be known as the Venona project.-Early life and career:Gardner was born in Okolona, Mississippi and...
, decoded a secret cable that had been sent in 1944 to Moscow, and found it contained a list of scientists working on the Manhattan Project, the first of many disclosures that there had been a Soviet espionage operating along atomic bomb researchers at Los Alamos. - British Prime Minister Clement AttleeClement AttleeClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
announced to the House of Commons that the United Kingdom was prepared to offer Burma its independence. Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
denounced the move by the Labour Party government as hastening "the process of the decline and fall of the British Empire". - Sugar Ray RobinsonSugar Ray RobinsonSugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
won the first of six boxing titles, becoming the world welterweight champion with a decision over Tommy Bell. In 1951, he won the world middleweight title, retired, then won and lost the title several more times between 1955 and 1961. - Born: Uri GellerUri GellerUri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
, Israeli psychic and magician, in Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
; Lesley JuddLesley JuddLesley Judd is an English dancer and TV presenter, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme Blue Peter. She was educated at the independent Royal Ballet School...
, British TV host (Blue Peter), in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; John SpencerJohn Spencer (actor)John Spencer was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award in 2002.-Early life:Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and...
, American TV actor (The West Wing), in Paterson, New JerseyPaterson, New JerseyPaterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
(d. 2005); and Dick WolfDick WolfRichard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
, American TV producer (Law and Order), in New York City.
December 21, 1946 (Saturday)
- 1946 Nankaidō earthquake1946 Nankaido earthquakeThe 1946 Nankaidō earthquake was a great earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan. It occurred on December 20, 1946 at 19:19 UTC. The earthquake measured between 8.1 and 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and was felt from Northern Honshū to Kyūshū...
: At least 1,362 people were killed in Japan as a result of an 8.1 magnitude scale earthquake and the tsunami that followed. The quake registered at 4:19 in the morning local time (1919 hrs UTC), and at 5:30 am, a wall of water struck the islands of Shikoku and Honshū, followed by five more waves over the next three hours. The town of KushimotoKushimoto, Wakayama-Demographics:The population of Kushimoto is 20,618, consisting of 9,561 men and 11,057 women. There are a total of 9,397 families.-Junior high schools:*Kushimoto Junior High School*Kushimoto-Nishi Junior High School*Nishi-Mukai Junior High School...
, with 10,000 residents, was reported washed away. - The 142 residents of the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall IslandsMarshall IslandsThe Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
were relocated by the United States government to the Ujelang AtollUjelang AtollUjelang Atoll is a coral atoll of 30 islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon of...
, in order for Enewetak (spelled at the time Eniwetok) to be used for nuclear testing. - Born: Carl WilsonCarl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
, American rock guitarist for The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, in Hawthorne, CaliforniaHawthorne, CaliforniaHawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
(d. 1998); Brian Davison, Rhodesian-born cricketer, in BulawayoBulawayoBulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland... - Died: Eugene TalmadgeEugene TalmadgeEugene Talmadge was a Democratic politician who served two terms as the 67th Governor of Georgia from 1933 to 1937, and a third term from 1941 to 1943. Elected to a fourth term in 1946, he died before taking office...
, 62, who had been elected in November to a four year term as Governor of Georgia, died less than a month before he was scheduled to take office. Both his running mate, Lieutenant Governor-elect Melvin E. ThompsonMelvin E. ThompsonMelvin Ernest Thompson was an American educator and politician from Millen in the U.S. state of Georgia.Thompson was born in Millen, Georgia to Henry J. And Eva Thompson. He graduated from Emory University in 1926 and earned a Master of Arts from the University of Georgia in 1935. He also earned...
and Talmadge's son, Herman TalmadgeHerman TalmadgeHerman Eugene Talmadge was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. He served as governor of Georgia briefly in 1947 and again from 1948 to 1955. His term was marked by his segregationist policies. After leaving office Talmadge was elected to the U.S...
, sought to become Governor on the expiration of Governor Ellis ArnallEllis ArnallEllis Gibbs Arnall was an American politician, a progressive Democrat who served as the 69th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1943 to 1947.-Education:...
's term. Under various interpretations of the state constitution at the time, Governor Arnall could have continued in office (though he declined to do so), Thompson could take office after being sworn in as Lieutenant Governor, or the legislature could select someone to serve the term. The legislature selected Herman Talmadge, who moved into the Governor's office while Thompson filed suit and maintained his own office as the rightful Governor. Thompson won the suit and was sworn in in March.
December 22, 1946 (Sunday)
- The Havana ConferenceHavana ConferenceThe Havana Conference of 1946 was an historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by...
, a summit of American organized crimeOrganized crimeOrganized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
bosses was held at the Hotel Nacional in HavanaHavanaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, owned by Meyer Lansky. The occasion was the return of Lucky Luciano from Italy, where he had been deported in February. Luciano, most powerful American mobster, accepted expensive tributes from the visitors, brokered a truce between Albert AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
and Vito GenoveseVito GenoveseVito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
, discussed establishing a new route for the trafficking of heroin, and planned the fate of rival boss Bugsy SiegelBugsy SiegelBenjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
. Siegel would be murdered on June 20, 1947. - The Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
won the very first All-America Football ConferenceAll-America Football ConferenceThe All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
championship, defeating the New York Yankees (AAFC)New York Yankees (AAFC)The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn...
, 14-9, before a home crowd of 40,469. The Browns trailed, 9-7, with less than five minutes left in the game. - The Prinz EugenGerman cruiser Prinz EugenPrinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
, the only German warship to survive World War II, capsized and sank in the Kwajalein Lagoon after being towed and set adrift. The battleship withstood the Able and Baker atomic bomb tests of Operation CrossroadsOperation CrossroadsOperation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
in July 1946July 1946January - February - March - April – May - June - July - August - September - October - November - DecemberThe following events occurred in July 1946:-July 1, 1946 :...
, but was heavily irradiated and no longer useful. It went down at 12:43 pm.
December 23, 1946 (Monday)
- A record was set for the most persons to ride the New York City SubwayNew York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
in a single day, with almost nine million (8,872,244) persons passing through the turnstiles—a number, notes one author, "not likely ever to be broken, by New York or any other city". - The University of Tennessee men's basketball team, in Pennsylvania to play Duquesne University, refused to go through with the game because Duquesne's coach would not agree to bench its African-American freshman, Chuck Cooper. Only three days earlier, Cooper had scored the winning basket in a game in Louisville, Kentucky, against Morehead Teachers CollegeMorehead State UniversityMorehead State University is a public, co-educational university located in Morehead, Kentucky, United States in the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Rowan County, midway between Lexington, Kentucky, and Huntington, West Virginia. The 2012 edition of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S...
. - The German scientific publisher Akademie VerlagAkademie VerlagAkademie Verlag is a German scientific and academic publishing company, originally founded in 1946 in the Soviet-occupied Eastern part of divided Berlin to facilitate the publication of works by and for the German Academy of Sciences Berlin....
was founded at the German Academy of Sciences in East Berlin, functioning as the largest publisher in East Germany during that nation's existence from 1949 to 1990, and was later privately acquired. - Born: Susan LucciSusan LucciSusan Victoria Lucci is an American actress and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the daytime drama All My Children. The character is considered an icon, and Lucci has been called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by TV Guide, with New York Times and Los Angeles Times citing her as the...
, American TV actress (All My Children), in Scarsdale, New YorkScarsdale, New YorkScarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...
; and Edita GruberováEdita GruberováEdita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...
, Slovak opera soprano, in BratislavaBratislavaBratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava... - Died: John A. SampsonJohn A. SampsonJohn Albertson Sampson was a gynecologist who studied endometriosis.Sampson was born near Troy, New York and graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1899. After completing his training in gynecology, he settled in Albany, New York...
, 69, American gynecologist
December 24, 1946 (Tuesday)
- Fourth RepublicFrench Fourth RepublicThe French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
of FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
came into existence at 3:11 pm in Paris as the new Council of the Republic, replacing the former French Senate under the new constitution, convened. Jules Gasser, who had been senior member of the Senate that had existed until the Nazi occupation in 1940, presided over the opening session, which lasted 25 minutes. The Fourth Republic, which followed the First (1793–94), Second (1848–52), Third (1871–1940), lasted until 1958, when it was supplanted by the current Fifth Republic. - Born: Brenda HowardBrenda HowardBrenda Howard was an American bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. Howard was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement.- Biography :...
, American lesbian rights activist, in the Bronx
December 25, 1946 (Wednesday)
- The Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
first achieved a self-sustaining and controlled nuclear chain reaction, at the F-1 uranium-graphite nuclear reactor at Moscow, at 6:00 pm local time. The team was guided by Soviet physicist Igor KurchatovIgor KurchatovIgor Vasilyevich Kurchatov , was a Soviet nuclear physicist who is widely known as the director of the Soviet atomic bomb project. Along with Georgy Flyorov and Andrei Sakharov, Kurchatov is widely remembered and dubbed as the "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" for his directorial role in the...
, and the reactor still operates at the Kurchatov InstituteKurchatov InstituteThe Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov....
, renamed in his honor. The first controlled reaction had been achieved four years earlier, on December 2, 1942, at the University of Chicago. Soviet control of nuclear energy was followed by the successful test of its first nuclear bomb on August 29, 1949. - The new Constitution of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in Nanjing, where the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
was operating during the Chinese Civil War, and is still in effect for the Republic on the island of TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. - Born: Jimmy BuffettJimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, American singer ("Margaritaville"), in Pascagoula, MississippiPascagoula, MississippiPascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
; and Larry CsonkaLarry CsonkaLarry Richard Csonka is a former collegiate and professional American football fullback.-Childhood:One of six children, Csonka was born in Stow, Ohio where he was raised on a farm by his Hungarian family...
, American NFL player, in Stow, OhioStow, OhioStow is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 32,139 at the 2000 census and 33,899 as of 2008. It is a suburban community that is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Stow is located adjacent to several other suburban communities in Summit and Portage Counties... - Died: W.C. Fields, 66, American actor and comedian, passed away at 12:03 pm at the Los Encinas sanitarium in Pasadena, California, where he had been hospitalized for 14 months.
December 26, 1946 (Thursday)
- The Pink Flamingo Hotel and CasinoFlamingo Las VegasThe Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
opened on the Las Vegas StripLas Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, the first of a new type of luxurious gambling resort that would transform Las Vegas. Mobster Bugsy SiegelBugsy SiegelBenjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
, who went millions of dollars over budget on money borrowed from other organized criminals in building the Flamingo, scheduled the opening for the day after Christmas, but most of the hotel rooms were not ready to be occupied, and most of the celebrities, scheduled to fly in for the inaugural event, were kept away by rainstorms in Los Angeles. During the first few weeks, the casino lost $300,000 more money than it took in. Siegel, who had already offended many of his fellow mobsters, was murdered less than six months later. - Ernie Adamson, lead counsel for the U.S. House Un-American Activities CommitteeHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeThe House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC), released a report that he had made to the committee, charging that 17 of the labor unions of the Congress of Industrial OrganizationsCongress of Industrial OrganizationsThe Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
(CIO) were dominated by Russian agents and that plans were being made for Communist revolution in the United States. Adamson charged further that the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
was "a haven for aliens and foreign-minded Americans". The HUAC had not yet read, let alone approved the report, which did not have specific information, and fired Adamson. - The Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI)(Italian Social Movement), a political party advocating the goals of Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's National Fascist PartyNational Fascist PartyThe National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
, was founded by Giorgio Almirante.
December 27, 1946 (Friday)
- 1946 Davis Cup1946 Davis CupThe 1946 Davis Cup was the 35th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. The trophy and tournament were renamed for the founder, Dwight F. Davis, upon his death in 1945. This was the first edition since the end of World War II...
: At Melbourne, the United States won the finals of the very first Davis CupDavis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
tournament, and the first edition of what had been the International Lawn Tennis Challenge since 1939, when the competition had been halted by World War II. The U.S. team of Jack Kramer and Ted Schroeder beat Australia's John Bromwich and Adrian Quist in straight sets (6-2, 7-5, 6-4). - Bisons became hawks as the National Basketball LeagueNational Basketball LeagueNational Basketball League may mean:* National Basketball League , the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia* National Basketball League * National Basketball League of Canada...
's Buffalo Bisons announced that they were moving, only 13 games into their inaugural season, to Moline, IllinoisMoline, IllinoisMoline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
, where they would become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. The Blackhawks joined the NBA in 1949, and subsequently became (1951) the Milwaukee Hawks, (1955) the St. Louis Hawks, and, in 1968, the Atlanta HawksAtlanta HawksThe Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
. - Born: Janet Street-PorterJanet Street-PorterJanet Street-Porter is a British media personality, journalist and television presenter. She was editor for two years of The Independent on Sunday. She relinquished the job to become editor-at-large in 2002...
, British newspaper editor and TV news presenter; as Janet Bull, in London
December 28, 1946 (Saturday)
- From China, General George C. Marshall notified U.S. President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
that his mission to negotiate a ceasefire between the Nationalist and Communist factions had failed. - The government of RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
acquired state ownership of the National Bank of Romania, which had been a private institution since its founding in 1880. - Chilean poet Ricardo Reyes Basoalto legally changed his name at the age of 42, becoming Pablo NerudaPablo NerudaPablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
. - Born: Edgar WinterEdgar WinterEdgar Holland Winter is an American musician. He is famous for being a multi-instrumentalist. He is a highly skilled keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist. He often plays an instrument while singing. He was most successful in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, notably with their...
, American rock musician, in Beaumont, TexasBeaumont, TexasBeaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
, composer of the 1972 hit instrumental "Frankenstein" - Died: Carrie Jacobs-BondCarrie Jacobs-BondCarrie Minetta Jacobs-Bond was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter who composed some 175 pieces of popular sheet music from the 1890s through the early 1940s....
, 82, American singer and songwriter, including the 1901 hit song "I Love You TrulyI Love You TrulyI Love You Truly, written by Carrie Jacobs Bond, is a parlor song. The song has been used at weddings since its release. It was the first song written by a woman to sell one million copies of sheet music...
"
December 29, 1946 (Sunday)
- Ornithologist Edmund JaegerEdmund JaegerEdmund Carroll Jaeger, D.Sc. was an American biologist known for his works on desert ecology. He was born in Nebraska and moved to California in 1906...
discovered that the Common PoorwillCommon PoorwillThe Common Poorwill is a nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. It is found from British Columbia and southeastern Alberta, through the western United States to northern Mexico...
(Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) hibernates in the winter, the only species of bird to do so. Jaeger and two assistants found a poorwill in a crevice in the Chuckwalla MountainsChuckwalla MountainsThe Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California.-Geography:...
of California. The discovery wasn't entirely new. The traditional Hopi Indian name for the bird is holchko, "the sleeping one". - Born: Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
, British singer and songwriter, in London; and Laffit Pincay, Jr.Laffit Pincay, Jr.Laffit Alejandro Pincay, Jr. is a flat racing's all-time winningest jockey. He competed primarily in the United States.-Career:...
, winningest (9,530 races) jockey in horse racing history, in Panama City, Panama
December 30, 1946 (Monday)
- The day after a British prison in PalestinePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
gave 18 lashes to punish 17-year-old bank robbery suspect Benjamin Kimchin of the Zionist group Irgun, the group retaliated by kidnapping British Army Major Paddy Brett and three non-commissioned officers from the Metropole Hotel at Nathanya. The three non-coms were whipped 18 times, and Major Brett 20, before being released. The perpetrators were captured and punished, but the British forces never used corporal punishment against the Irgun again. - Born: Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, American singer and songwriter ("Because the Night"), in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; and Berti VogtsBerti VogtsHans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts is a German former footballer. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach and won the World Cup with West Germany in 1974. He later managed Germany , Scotland and Nigeria...
, West German footballer, in Büttgen
December 31, 1946 (Tuesday)
- President Harry Truman delivered Presidential Proclamation 2714Proclamation 2714Presidential Proclamation 2714 was signed by President Harry S. Truman on December 31, 1946 to officially declare the cessation of all hostilities in World War II...
, which officially ended American hostilities in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The declaration, cited in statutes and regulations concerning the definition of World War II service for purposes of veterans benefits, noted that "a state of war still exists". Treaties ended the war with Germany on October 19, 1951, and with Japan on April 28, 1952, roughly 6 1/2 years after each nation had surrendered. - Born: Diane von FürstenbergDiane von FürstenbergDiane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...
, Belgian-born fashion designer, as Diane Halfin, in BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...