19 events in the story of civilization
The events of 1948 — Communists Take Over Czechoslavakia; Soviets Recall Advisors From Yugoslavia; Berlin Blockaded.
An Age in History(2/25/48) In a bloodless coup, the Communists seized control of Czechoslovakia. Threatening violence, they created a majority Communist government under Klement Gottwald. Czechoslovakian President Benes resigned, and Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk was found dead a week later, as a reported suicide. 1948
Significant differences developed between Soviet leader Stalin and Yugoslav leader Tito. When compared to other Easter European leaders, Tito was largely independent. He was primarily concerned with the interests of Yugoslavia. Tito was able to maintain this independence, since Russian forces had not been the liberators of Yugoslavia. Rather, the Yugoslav partisans, under Tito, had forced the Germ
(4/1/48) No agreement could be reached with the Soviets on continued control of Germany. When the Allies decided to introduce a new currency into West Germany to counter inflation, the Soviets opposed the move. As a response, and as a means of stopping the reunification of Western Germany, the Soviets imposed a blockade on Berlin, which had been and remained under four-power control. The American
(4/30/48) The Pan American Conference, held in Bogotá, established the OAS as the United Nations' regional grouping for North and South America. 1948
On May 14, as the British Mandate was ending, the Jews of Palestine declared themselves independent. They created the State of Israel, with David Ben-Gurion as the Prime Minister. Immediately, the neighboring Arab nations attacked. Israel succeeded in repulsing the attacks. By the end of the war, the Jewish State was larger than the territory originally assigned to it under the partition plan. In
(5/14/48) After being a supporter of the rights of the Jews to create an independent state, President Truman extended American recognition 14 minutes after the State had been declared in Tel Aviv. Immediately after the State's independence was declared, it was attacked by the surrounding Arab States. 1948
(5/26/48)In a general election, the coalition of United and Labor Parties, under Prime Minister Smuts, was defeated by a Nationalist Afrikaaner bloc, led by Daniel Malan. Malan's new government had been elected on a platform of racial segregation (apartheid), and soon this policy was implemented. The government outlawed marriages between whites and non-whites. It also passed the Group Areas Bill t
(10/30/48) On October 30th, Nationalist troops were defeated in Manchuria after the Communists captured the city of Mukden. Three hundred thousand Nationalist troops were captured. The defeat in Mukden marked the beginning of the end for the Nationalist forces. 1948
Edwin Land developed the first instant camera that developed photos on the spot. The camera became known as the Polaroid Land Camera. 1948
The improved Theory of Quantum Dynamics was developed by Richard Feynman . The theory predicted the effect that electrically charged particles would have on one another. 1948
15- The Soviets introduced their first modern jet fighter: the MIG-15. The plane, borrowing heavily on German designs, was the first in a long series of "MIG" planes developed by the Soviets. 1949 1949
NATO Founded -(4/4/49) The Berlin Blockade provided compelling evidence that, in order to deter the Soviets from further aggression, an alliance was necessary between nations of Western Europe and the United States. On April 4, 1949, the foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States formally
(4/18/49) The Republic of Ireland proclaimed its complete independence from Britain, and left the Commonwealth of Nations. 1949
(5/21/49) The zones of Germany occupied by the US, Great Britain and France were transformed into the Federal Republic of Germany. A new constitution was adopted, and elections were held. The Christian Democratic Party and its ally, the Christian Socialist Party, won a plurality in the first election. Konrad Adenauer became the first Chancellor. 1949
First Commercial Jet Unveiled -(7/27/49) On July 27, De Havilland unveiled the DH-106 Comet aircraft. The plane was a 36-passenger jet aircraft. Its cruising speed was 490 mph. The Comet's service was to be cut short after a number of them crashed in the late 1950's. 1949
Soviets Detonate A-Bomb -(9/23/49) America's monopoly on atomic weapons ended when President Truman announced, on September 23, that the Soviets had successfully detonated an atomic bomb. As a result, the nuclear arms race, that was to last until 1990, was born. 1949
(10/1/49) The Nationalist Army essentially disintegrated after the fall of Tientsin and Peking. By July, the Nationalists announced that they would begin to withdraw to Taiwan. On October 1st, the People's Republic of China was officially proclaimed, with Peking as its capital. 1949
Stratocruiser Goes into Service -The Boeing "Stratocruiser" made its commercial debut on April 1, 1949, when Pan Am began using it on its service between San Francisco and Honolulu. 1949
A US Army Boeing 50-A made a flight around the world. It flew for a total of 94 hours and one minute. It was refueled in the air four times. The plane carried its full crew of 13. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1429421741137-1'); }); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); © 1996-2022