1949 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season

Events

January

* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
* January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States.
* January 16 – Şemsettin Günaltay forms the new government of Turkey. It is the 18th government, last single party government of the Republican People's Party.

* January 17 – The first VW Type 1 to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought to New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models are sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff the car has no future in the U.S. (The Type 1 goes on to become an automotive phenomenon.)
* January 20 – Harry S. Truman is sworn in for a full term, as President of the United States.
* January 25
** The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) is established by the Soviet Union and other communist nations.
** In the first Israeli elections, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister.
* January 26
** Australian citizenship comes into being.
* c. January 28 – Stalin and antisemitism: The media in the Soviet Union resume a savage propaganda campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans", a euphemism for Soviet Jews, accusing them of being pro-Western and antisocialist.
* January 31 – Forces from the Chinese Communist Party enter Beijing.

February

* February 10 – Arthur Miller's tragedy ''Death of a Salesman'' opens at the Morosco Theatre in New York City, and runs for 742 performances.
* February 11 – The London Mozart Players perform their first concert at the Wigmore Hall, London.
* February 13 – António Óscar Carmona is re-elected president of Portugal, for lack of an opposing candidate.
* February 17 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term, as the first President of Israel.
* February 19 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry, by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
* February 22 – Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow, gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma, and garners national media attention in the United States.
* February 26 – The Revolutionary Communist Party of India stages attacks at Dum Dum.

March

* March 1
** World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires.
** Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
* March 2 – The B-50 Superfortress ''Lucky Lady II'' (under Captain James Gallagher) lands in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).
* March 17 – The Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas, owned by oil tycoon Glenn McCarthy, has its grand opening.
* March 20 – The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, Denver and Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads inaugurate the ''California Zephyr'' passenger train between Chicago and Oakland, California, as the first long-distance train to feature Vistadome cars as regular equipment.
* March 21 – WTVJ signs on the air in Miami, Florida, as the first station in the state.
* March 24 – The 21st Academy Awards Ceremony is held. The movie ''Hamlet'' wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.
* March 25
** Operation Priboi: An extensive deportation campaign begins in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltic states to remote areas of the Soviet Union.
** A first issued of weekly magazine Paris Match published in France.
* March 26 – The first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Aida'', conducted by legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert (i.e. no scenery or costumes), is telecast by NBC, live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. The second half is telecast a week later. This is the only complete opera that Toscanini ever conducts on television.
* March 28
** United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.
** English astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term ''Big Bang'' during a BBC Third Programme radio broadcast.
* March 30 – The anti-NATO riot takes place, prompted by the decision of the Icelandic parliament to join the newly formed NATO.
* March 31 – The former British colony of Newfoundland joins Canada, as its 10th province.

April

* April 4 – The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.
* April 7 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's '' South Pacific'', starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opens on Broadway, and goes on to become Rodgers and Hammerstein's second longest-running musical. It becomes an instant classic of the musical theatre. The score's biggest hit is the song "Some Enchanted Evening".
* April 8 – Kathy Fiscus, 3 years old, dies from falling down an abandoned well in San Marino, California.
* April 14 – The N'Ko alphabet is completed by Solomana Kante.
* April 15 – KPFA, the flagship station of the Pacifica Foundation, begins broadcasting in Berkeley, California.
* April 18 – The Republic of Ireland formally becomes a republic, and leaves the British Commonwealth.
* April 20 – Royal Navy frigate HMS ''Amethyst'' goes up the Yangtze River, to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of Mao's Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on April 26, she anchors upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat Simon raises the crew's morale.
* April 23 – Chinese Communist troops take Nanjing.
* April 26 – Transjordan changes its name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
* April 28
** The 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference issues the London Declaration, enabling India (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth' (held by the ruling British monarch), and renaming the organization, from the 'British Commonwealth' to the 'Commonwealth of Nations'.
** Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and 10 others are also killed.

May

* May 1 – Nereid, a moon of Neptune, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.
* May 4 – Superga air disaster: A Fiat G.212 airliner of Avio Linee Italiane, carrying the entire Torino F.C. football team, crashes into the back wall of the Basilica of Superga, killing all 31 on board.
* May 5 – The Council of Europe is founded, by the signing of the Treaty of London.
* May 6 – EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge University.
* May 9 – Rainier III becomes Prince of Monaco, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Louis II.
* May 11
** Israel is admitted to the United Nations, as its 59th member.
** Siam officially changes its French name to "Thaïlande" (English name to "Thailand"), having officially changed its Thai name to "Prated Thai" since 1939.
* May 12 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade.
* May 16 – The Tokyo Stock Exchange resumes operations, after a four-year shutdown.
* May 20
** The AFSA (predecessor of the NSA) is established.
** The Kuomintang regime declares Taiwan under martial law, which lasts until 1987.
* May 22 – After two months in Bethesda Naval Hospital, James Forrestal commits suicide, under circumstances that seem suspicious to many.
* May 23 – The Federal Republic of Germany is established.
* May 31 – The first trial of Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York City, with Whittaker Chambers as principal witness for the prosecution, but will end in a jury deadlock (8 for, 4 against).

June

* June 5 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first Thai female member of Thailand's Parliament.
* June 6 – With the passage of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act by the Indian government, Mahabodhi Temple is restored to partial Buddhist control.
* June 7– 25 – Dock workers strike in the United Kingdom.
* June 8
** Second Red Scare in the United States: Celebrities including Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in a Federal Bureau of Investigation report, as Communist Party members.
** George Orwell's dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' is published in London.
* June 14 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, becomes the first primate to enter space, on U.S. Hermes project V-2 rocket ''Blossom IVB'', but is killed on impact at return.
* June 19 – Glenn Dunaway wins the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Speedway, a 3/4 mile oval in Charlotte, North Carolina, but is disqualified due to illegal springs. Jim Roper is declared the official winner.
* June 24 – The first television western, ''Hopalong Cassidy'', airs on NBC in the United States.
* June 29 – Apartheid: The ''South African Citizenship Act'' suspends the granting of citizenship to Commonwealth of Nations immigrants after 5 years, and imposes a ban on mixed marriages.

July

* July 1 – The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is established.
* July 11 – ''Pamir'' is the last ''commercial'' sailing ship to round Cape Horn, under sail alone.
* July 15 – In an explosion at Prüm in Germany, the town is badly damaged and 12 people die. The explosion crater is one of the largest ever recorded.
* July 19 – The Kingdom of Laos is officially formed, but is not independent from the French Army.
* July 20 – Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their 19-month war.
* July 24 (St John's Day) – Eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma begins.
* July 27
** The de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet-powered airliner, makes its first flight, in England.
** Rhodesia beats the New Zealand national rugby union team (the All Blacks) 10–8, in an exhibition match in Bulawayo, the only non-Test nation ever to achieve this feat.
* July 30 – Legal aid in England and Wales begins.
* July 31 – Captain Kerans of HMS ''Amethyst'' decides to make a break after nightfall, under heavy fire from the Chinese People's Liberation Army on both sides of the Yangtze River, and successfully rejoins the fleet at Woosung the next day.

August

* August 3 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalize the merger that will create the National Basketball Association.
* August 5 – In Ecuador, the 6.8 Ambato earthquake kills more than 5,000, and destroys a number of villages.
* August 8 – Bhutan signs a Treaty of Friendship with newly independent India, agreeing non-interference in internal affairs, but allowing India to "guide" its foreign policy (similar to the previous arrangements with the British administration in India).
* August 10 – the Avro Canada C102 Jetliner makes its first flight; it is the first jet airliner to fly in North America.
* August 12 – The Fourth Geneva Convention is agreed to.
* August 14
** The Salvatore Giuliano Gang explodes mines under a police barracks, outside Palermo, Sicily.
** A military coup in Syria ousts the president.
* August 21
** The Vatican announces that bones uncovered in its catacombs could be those of the apostle Peter; 19 years later, Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first Pope.
**Deportivo Saprissa enters Costa Rican soccer's first division.
** The 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake is Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
* August 24 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is established.
* August 29
** The Council of Europe meets for the first time.
** The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, RDS-1 ("Joe 1"). Its design imitates the American plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.
* August 31
** The retreat of the Greek Democratic Army to Albania, after its defeat at Mount Grammos, marks the end of the Greek Civil War.
** Six of the last sixteen surviving veterans of the Union Army, in the American Civil War, meet in Indianapolis.

September

* September 2 – Film noir ''The Third Man'', with screenplay by Graham Greene and set in Allied-occupied Vienna, is released in the United Kingdom; it wins the 1949 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
* September 6
** Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir Parabellum P.08 pistol, to become America's first single-episode mass murderer.
** Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to Germany.

* September 7 – The Federal Republic of Germany is officially founded. Konrad Adenauer is the first federal chancellor.
* September 9
** Albert Guay affair: A dynamite bomb destroys Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-3, in Quebec.
** Notorious World War II veteran Edwin Alonzo Boyd commits his first career bank robbery, in Toronto.
* September 13 – The Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership for Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal.
* September 17
** Canadian steamship burns in Toronto Harbour, with the loss of over 118 lives.
** Warner Bros. cartoon, "Fast and Furry-ous" is released. It also marks the debut of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The director is Chuck Jones (credited as Charles M. Jones).
* September 19 – The United Kingdom government devalues the pound sterling from $4.03 to $2.80, leading to many other currencies being devalued.
* September 23 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces that the Soviet Union has tested the atomic bomb.
* September 24 – László Rajk, ex-foreign minister of Hungary, is sentenced to death.
* September 25 – U.S. Christian evangelist Billy Graham starts his Los Angeles Crusade, his first great evangelistic campaign. It runs for eight weeks during which Graham speaks to 350,000 people and the event is subsequently described as the greatest revival since the time of Billy Sunday. After this, Graham becomes a national figure in the United States.
* September 26 – Samuel Putnam publishes his new translation of ''Don Quixote'', the first in contemporary English. It is instantly acclaimed and is still in print as of 2008.
* September 29
** The First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference approves a design for the Flag of the People's Republic of China.
** Iva Toguri D'Aquino is found guilty in the United States of broadcasting for Japan as "Tokyo Rose" at the end of World War II.

October

* October 1 – The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed.
* October 2 – The Soviet Union recognizes the People's Republic of China.
* October 3 – Albanian Subversion: First Anglo-American attempt to infiltrate guerillas into Albania; the operation is fatally flawed, by being under the control of double agent Kim Philby.
* October 7 – The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is officially established.
* October 13 – Severe flooding hits Guatemala.
* October 14 – The Foley Square trial of Eugene Dennis and ten other leaders of the Communist Party USA ends in New York City (the longest trial in U.S. history to this date); all defendants are found guilty and all but one sentenced to five years of prison.
* October 16 – Greek Civil War ends with a communist surrender.
* October 17 – Chinese communist troops take Guangzhou.
* October 20 – China People's Insurance Corporation, as predecessor of China Life was founded.
* October 24 – The cornerstone of the Headquarters of the United Nations on Manhattan is laid.
* October 27
** Battle of Kuningtou: Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy; their advance towards Taiwan is halted.
** 1949 Air France Lockheed Constellation crash: An Air France flight from Paris to New York crashes in the Azores on São Miguel Island, killing all aboard. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu, and French boxer Marcel Cerdan.

November

* November 7 – Oil is discovered beneath the Caspian Sea, off the coast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
* November 12 – The Volkswagen Type 2 panel van is unveiled in Germany.
* November 15 – Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.
* November 17 – The second trial of Alger Hiss for perjury begins in New York, again with Whittaker Chambers as principal witness.
* November 24 – The ski resort in Squaw Valley, Placer County, California officially opens.
* November 26 – The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution.
* November 28 – Winston Churchill makes a landmark speech in support of the idea of a European Union, at Kingsway Hall, London - but does not see UK as part of it, "''The British Government have rightly stated that they cannot commit this country to entering any European Union without the agreement of the other members of the British Commonwealth"''.

December

* December 7
** Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan finishes, and it declares Taipei its temporary capital city, a status it will retain more than 50 years later.
** The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is established as a United Nations agency.
* December 10 – 1949 Australian federal election: The Liberal/Country Coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats the Labor Government, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. Menzies is sworn in on December 19, his second stint as Prime Minister; he will hold the office for over 16 years until his retirement in 1966 and Labor will not win office again until 1972, under Gough Whitlam.
* December 13 – The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
* December 14 – Traicho Kostov, who until March was acting President of the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria, is sentenced to death for anti-Communist Party activity.
* December 15 – A typhoon strikes a fishing fleet off Korea, killing several thousand.
* December 16 – Sukarno is elected president of the Republic of Indonesia.
* December 17 – Burma recognises the People's Republic of China.
* December 18 – In the American National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Los Angeles Rams 14–0, to win the championship.
* December 27 – The Treaty of The Hague ends the Indonesian National Revolution by recognising transfer of the sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies from Queen Juliana of the Netherlands to the United States of Indonesia; the Susanto Cabinet takes office in the Republic of Indonesia.
* December 29
** KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut, becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
** Smouha SC (sports club) is founded in Alexandria, Egypt, by Joseph Smouha, a Mizrahi Iraqi Jew.
* December 30 – India recognizes the People's Republic of China.

Date unknown

* The Malta Labour Party is founded.
* The first 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun prototypes are completed.
* This is the first year in which no African-American is reported lynched in the United States.
* Fernand Braudel's ''La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l'Epoque de Philippe II'' is published.
* The Currywurst is invented in Berlin.
* D. R. Kaprekar discovers the convergence property of the number 6174.
* Liebherr, a multinational equipment manufacturer, is founded in Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, to build the mobile tower crane devised by Hans Liebherr.

Births

January

* January 1
** Ali Kadhim, Iraqi football striker (d. 2018)
** Vehbi Akdağ, Turkish wrestler (d. 2020)
** Max Azria, French fashion designer (d. 2019)
* January 2
** Nikolai Pankin)
** Christopher Durang, American playwright
* January 3 – Sylvia Likens, American murder victim (d. 1965)
* January 7 – Chavo Guerrero Sr., American professional wrestler (d. 2017)
* January 8 – Anne Schedeen, American actress
* January 9 – Mary Roos, German singer
* January 10
** George Foreman, African-American boxer
** Linda Lovelace, American porn actress, later anti-porn activist ('' Deep Throat'') (d. 2002)
* January 11 – Daryl Braithwaite, Australian singer
* January 12
** Ottmar Hitzfeld, German football player, coach
** Haruki Murakami, Japanese author
** Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born film director
* January 13 – Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
* January 14 – Lawrence Kasdan, American director, screenwriter
* January 15 – Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor
* January 16 – Caroline Munro, English actress, model
* January 17
** Gyude Bryant, Liberian politician (d. 2014)
** Andy Kaufman, American comedian, actor (''Taxi'') (d. 1984)
** Mick Taylor, English musician
* January 18 – Philippe Starck, French designer
* January 19
** Robert Palmer, British rock singer (" Addicted to Love") (d. 2003)
** Dennis Taylor, Irish snooker player
* January 20 – Göran Persson, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
* January 22 – Steve Perry, American rock singer (Journey)
* January 23 – Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Indonesian politician and former Minister of Social Affairs
* January 24
** John Belushi, American actor, comedian (''Saturday Night Live'') (d. 1982)
** Nikolaus Brender, German television journalist
* January 25 – Paul Nurse, English geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* January 26
**Nebiha Gueddana, doctor and Tunisian politician
**David Strathairn, American actor (''Good Night, and Good Luck'')
* January 27 – Djavan, Brazilian singer, songwriter
* January 28
** Gregg Popovich, American basketball coach
** Mike Moore, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2020)
* January 29
** Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer (Ramones) (d. 2014)
** Tommi Salmelainen, Finnish hockey player
* January 30 – Peter Agre, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* January 31
** Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer, sports journalist
** Ken Wilber, American philosopher

February

* February 1 – Joan Burton, Irish politician
* February 2
** Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur
** Brent Spiner, American actor, comedian and singer ('' Star Trek: The Next Generation'')
* February 3 – Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist
* February 4 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian military chief of staff and convicted war criminal (d. 2010)
* February 6 – Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
* February 7 – Joe English, American drummer
* February 8
** Brooke Adams, American actress
** Florinda Meza, Mexican actress, television producer, and screenwriter (best known as Doña Florinda in ''El Chavo del Ocho'')
* February 9 – Judith Light, American actress
* February 10 – Maxime Le Forestier, French singer
* February 15 – Ken Anderson, American NFL player
* February 16 – Lyn Paul, English singer
* February 17 – Dennis Green, American football coach (d. 2016)
* February 18
**Pat Fraley, American voice actor, voice-over teacher
** Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
* February 19 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American computer game designer (d. 1998)
* February 21
** Jerry Harrison, American songwriter
** Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer (d. 2022)
* February 22 – Niki Lauda, Austrian triple Formula 1 world champion (d. 2019)
* February 25 – Ric Flair, American professional wrestler
* February 26 – Simon Crean, Australian politician
* February 28 – Ilene Graff, American actress, singer

March

* March 2
** Gates McFadden, American actress, choreographer
** J.P.R. Williams, Welsh rugby player
* March 3
** Elijah Harper, Canadian Aboriginal activist (d. 2013)
** Gloria Hendry, African-American actress
** Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player (d. 2011)
* March 4 – Helen Frost, American writer
* March 5 – Franz Josef Jung, German politician
* March 6
** Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan
** Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer
* March 7
** Rex Hunt, Australian television and radio personality
** Ghulam Nabi Azad, Indian politician
* March 8 – Cho Yang-ho, South Korean businessman (d. 2019)
* March 9
** Kalevi Aho, Finnish composer
** Tapani Kansa, Finnish singer
* March 10
** Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman, investor, and television personality
** Nobu Matsuhisa, Japanese chef
* March 11 – Georg Schramm, German psychologist, Kabarett artist
* March 12
** Rob Cohen, American film director, producer and writer
** Natalia Kuchinskaya, Soviet gymnast
** Mike Gibbins, Welsh drummer (d. 2005)
* March 13 – Julia Migenes, American soprano
* March 16
** Erik Estrada, American actor, police officer (''CHiPs'')
** Victor Garber, Canadian actor (''Godspell'', ''Alias'')
** Elliott Murphy, American singer, songwriter
* March 17
** Patrick Duffy, American actor (''Dallas'')
** Pat Rice, Irish footballer, football manager
* March 18 – Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player (d. 2010)
* March 19
**Hirofumi Hirano, Japanese politician, Chief Cabinet Secretary
** Valery Leontiev, Soviet and Russian actor and singer
* March 20 – Marcia Ball, American blues musician
* March 21
** Eddie Money, American rock guitarist, singer (''Two Tickets to Paradise'') (d. 2019)
** Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian philosopher
* March 22 – Fanny Ardant, French actress
* March 24 – Nick Lowe

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