1946

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s

Years: 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 - 1946 - 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951

• January 4 - In Britain, Theodore Schurch becames the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940
• January 10 - First meeting of the United Nations
• January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the people's republic of Albania with himself as dictator.
• January 17 - The UN Security Council holds its first session
• January 20 - Charles De Gaulle resigns from the post of French president
• January 25 - The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor
• January 28 - Bluenose founders on a Haitian reef
• January 31 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
• February 1 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
• February 2 - Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic.
• February 14 - The Bank of England is nationalized.
• February 14 - ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania
• February 15 - Canada indicts 22 communist agents.
• February 24 - Juan Peron is elected a president of Argentina
• March 2 - British troops retreat from Iran – Soviet troops do not.
• March 2 - Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.
• March 5 - In his speech in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about Iron Curtain.
• March 6 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
• March 15 - Clement Attlee promises independence to India as soon as they can agree on constitution
• March 19 - Soviet Union and Switzerland reform diplomatic relations.
• March 19 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France
• April 1 - 14-meter high tsunami strikes Hilo, Hawaii - 173 dead, thousands injured.
• April 1 - Singapore becomes a Crown colony
• April 3 - Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
• April 10 - In Japan, women vote for the first time in parliamentarian elections
• April 18 - USA recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government
• April 18 - Last meeting of League of Nations – its transfers its mission to United Nations.
• April 29 - War crimes trial begins in Tokyo – accused include Hideki Tojo, Shegenori Togo and Hiroshi Oshima.
• May 7 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with about 20 employees.
• May 9 - King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Humbert II.
• May 10 - Nehru elected to lead Indian Congress Party
• May 20 - In Britain, the House of Commons decides to nationalize mines.
• May 22 - Kingdom of Transjordan founded.
• May 25 - The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.
• May 28 - K. Satchidanandan Malayalam poet
• May 29 - Fernando Buesa, Basque politician (+2000)
• May 31 - Monarchism wins in Greek elections.
• June 2 - Italy becomes a republic, after a plebiscite. Women vote for the first time.
• June 9 - In Thailand, king Rama IX accedes the throne.
• June 13 - Humbert II of Italy leaves the country – Alcide de Gasperi becomes head of state.
• July 4 - After over 400 years, the Philippines achieves full independence.
• July 5 - The bikini is introduced.
• July 7 - Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
• July 21 - Bomb of Irgun Zvai Leumi explodes in Jerusalem.
• July 22 - King David Hotel bombing: Irgun bombs King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration killing 90.
• July 25 - Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus USS Saratoga is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean when the United States detonates the "Baker Day" device.
• July 25 - At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
• August 19 - Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta – 3000 dead.
• September 4 - Street violence between Muslims and Hindus in Bombay.
• September 8 - Bulgaria declared a People's Republic after a referendum – King Simeon II leaves.
• October 13 - France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
• October 15 - Nuremberg Trials: Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Goering, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution.
• October 23 - United Nations' first meeting in Long Island.
• November 8 - Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. French cruiser Suffren opens fire. 6000 Vietnamese killed.
• November 12 - Truce between Indonesian nationalist troops and Dutch army in Indonesia.
• November 15 - Netherlands recognized Republic of Indonesia.
• November 19 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden joins the United Nations
• December 11 - UNICEF founded.
• December 24 - France's Fourth Republic founded
• December 26 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
• December 31 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II.

• Phantom rockets over Sweden
• The 20mm M61 Vulcan gatling gun is invented
• Devil's Island penal colony closes permanently
• Female suffrage in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and Canadian province of Quebec. First female police officers in Korea and Japan.
• Civil war erupts in China between Kuomintang and communists.
• First Tupperware sold in department and hardware stores

• 1946 in film
  • The Best Years of Our Lives
  • Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart
  • Henry V
  • The Razor's Edge
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious starring Cary Grant
  • The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
• 1946 in literature
  • The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
  • Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell – becomes book of the year in USA
  • All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
• 1946 in music
• 1946 in sports
• 1946 in television
  • February 4 – RCA demonstrates all-electronic color television system.
  • February 18 - The first Washington-New York telecast through AT&T coaxial cable is termed success by engineers and viewers.
  • April 22 - CBS color television program is successfully transmitted over a 450-mile coaxial cable link from New York to Washington
  • May 9 - The first variety show premieres, Hour Glass, on NBC.
  • June 7 - The BBC begins broadcasting again and reshows the Mickey Mouse cartoon, that had been interrupted seven years earlier at the start of the World War II.
  • June 19 - The first televised heavyweight title fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn is broadcast from Yankee Stadium. The fight was seen by 141,000 people, the largest television audience to see a fight.
  • October 2 - The first TV network soap opera, Faraway Hill, airs on the DuMont network.
  • December 24 - The first church service is telecast, Grace Episcopal Church in New York, on WABD.
  • ToKyo Tushin Kogyo founded, which would later become Sony
  • Zoomar introduces the first professional zoom lens

• Benjamin Spock – Baby and child care

• January 3 - John Paul Jones, bassist from Led Zeppelin
• January 5 - Diane Keaton, actress
• January 6 - Syd Barrett, guitarist and singer
• January 8 - Robby Krieger, musician ("The Doors")
• January 11 - Naomi Judd, country music singer
• January 12 - George Duke, musician
• January 16 - Kabir Bedi, actor
• January 16 - Ronnie Milsap, singer
• January 16 - Katia Ricciarelli, opera singer
• January 19 - Dolly Parton, singer, actress
• January 20 - David Lynch, film director
• January 24 - Michael Ontkean, actor
• January 26 - Gene Siskel, film critic (+ 1999)
• January 31 - Terry Kath, musician (+ 1978)
• February 11 - M C Walker, CEO of Iceland Frozen Foods.
• February 11 - Timothy Chambers, pediatrician.
• February 14 - Gregory Hines, dancer, actor
• February 20 - Jerome Geils of the J Geils band
• February 20 - Brenda Blethyn, actress
• February 21 - Tyne Daly, actress
• February 21 - Alan Rickman, actor
• February 24 - Barry Bostwick, actor
• February 25 - Franz Xaver Kroetz, dramatist
• February 28 - Robin Cook, British politician
• March 3 - Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
• March 6 - David Gilmour, musican ("Pink Floyd")
• March 7 - Peter Wolf, musician ("J Geils Band")
• March 12 - Lisa Minelli
• March 22 - André Heller, artist
• April 30 - Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Swedish monarch (1973- )
• May 7 - Thelma Houston, singer
• May 9 - Candice Bergen, actress
• May 10 - Donovan Leitch, musician
• May 10 - Dave Mason, musician ("Traffic")
• May 11 - Robert Jarvik, physicist, inventor
• May 17 - Udo Lindenberg, musician
• May 18 - Reggie Jackson, Baseball Hall of Famer
• May 19 - André the Giant, wrestler (+ 1993)
• May 20 - Cher, American singer
• May 22 - George Best, footballerer
• May 23 - David Graham, golf champion
• May 26 - Mick Ronson, guitarist (+ 1993)
• June 14 - Harold Frederick Shipman, British serial killer
• July 6 - George W. Bush, American president (2000-)
• July 6 - Sylvester Stallone, actor
• July 22 - Mireille Mathieu, French singer
• August 3 - Jack Straw, British politician
• August 19 - Bill Clinton, American president (1993-2000)
• September 5 - Freddie Mercury, British singer
• September 7 - Francisco Varela, biologist
• September 15 - Oliver Stone, American film director
• September 24 - Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland
• October 1 - Tim O'Brien, American author
• November 5 - Herman Brood, Dutch rock 'n' roll artist
• November 5 - Gram Parsons, country musi/rock musician November 24Ted BundyAmericanserial killer

• January 29 - Harry Hopkins, politician
• February 5 - George Arliss, actor
• March 23 - Gilbert N. Lewis, physical chemist.
• March 24 - Alexander Alekhine, chess champion
• April 1 - Noah Beery, actor
• April 22 - Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States
• May 19 - Booth Tarkington, American novelist
• June 1 - Ion Antonescu
• June 10 - Jack Johnson, African-American boxer
• July 8 - Orrick Glenday Johns, poet & playwright
• August 13- H.G. Wells, science fiction writer
• October 15 - Hermann Göring, prominent Nazi leader, marshall of the Third Reich, head of the Airforce (suicide)
• October 16 - Artur Seuss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader, governor of The Netherlands during the German occupation (1940-1945) (executed)
• Arlene Feynman, wife of Richard Feynman
• August - Alfred Stock German chemist

• Physics - Percy Williams Bridgman
• Chemistry - James Batcheller Sumner, John Howard Northrop, Wendell Meredith Stanley
• Medicine - Hermann Joseph Muller
• Literature - Hermann Hesse
• Peace - Emily Greene Balch John Raleigh Mott