1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. [edit] Events of 1949 [edit] January
[edit] February - 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 & Quincy, Denver & 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 Vista Dome cars as regular equipment.
- March 25 – An extensive deportation campaign is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.
- 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.
- March 29 – The 21st Academy Awards ceremony is held.
- March 31 – The former British colony of Newfoundland and Labrador joins Canada as its 10th province.
[edit] August [edit] September - September 5 – Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir Luger to become America's first single-episode mass murderer.
- September 6 – 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
- September 13 – The Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership for Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal.
- September 17 – The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
- September 19 – The United Kingdom government devalues the pound sterling from $4.03 to $2.80, leading to many other currencies being devalued.
- September 24 – Laszlo Rajk, ex-foreign minister of Hungary, is sentenced to death.
- September 29
[edit] October [edit] November [edit] December [edit] Undated - The Malta Labour Party is founded.
- The Vatican announces that bones uncovered in its subterranean catacombs could be the apostle Peter; 19 years later, Pope Paul VI announces confirmation that the bones belong to this first saint.[2]
- The first 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun prototypes are completed.
- Samuel Putnam publishes his new translation of Don Quixote, the first in what we would consider modern English. It is instantly acclaimed and, in 2008, is still in print.
- 1949 was the first year in which no African-American was lynched in the USA. [3]
- Joseph Stalin launches a savage verbal attack on Soviet Jews, accusing them of being pro-Western and antisocialist.
[edit] Ongoing [edit] Births [edit] January–February - January 2 – Christopher Durang, American playwright
- January 3 – Sylvia Likens, American murder victim (d. 1965)
- January 7 – Chavo Guerrero Sr., former professional wrestler
- January 8 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian chef
- January 10
- January 11 – Kalev Ots, Estonian statesman
- January 12
- January 13 – Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
- January 14 – Lawrence Kasdan, American director and screenwriter
- January 17 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (d. 1984)
- January 18 – Philippe Starck, French designer
- January 19
- January 20 – Göran Persson, former Prime Minister of Sweden
- January 22 – Steve Perry, American rock singer (Journey)
- January 24 – John Belushi, American actor and comedian (d. 1982)
- January 28 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball coach
- January 30 – Peter Agre, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- January 31
- February 2
- February 3 – Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist
- February 6 – Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
- February 7
- February 8 – Brooke Adams, American actress
- February 9 – Judith Light, American actress
- February 10
- February 15 – Ken Anderson, American NFL player
- February 16 – Lyn Paul, English singer
- February 17 – Dennis Green, American football coach
- February 18 – Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
- February 19 – Dan Bunten, American computer game designer (d. 1998)
- February 21 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer
- February 22 – Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver
- February 25 – Ric Flair, American professional wrestler
[edit] March–April - March 2
- March 3 – Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player
- March 6
- March 7 – Ghulam Nabi Azad, Indian politician
- March 9 – Tapani Kansa, Finnish singer
- March 10 – Larry Wall, American computer programmer
- March 12 – Natalia Kuchinskaya, Soviet gymnast
- March 13 – Julia Migenes, American soprano
- March 16
- March 17
- March 18 – Alex Higgins, Irish snooker player
- March 21 – Eddie Money, American rock singer
- March 22 – Fanny Ardant, French actress
- March 23 – Ric Ocasek, American rock musician (The Cars)
- March 24 – Nick Lowe, English musician
- March 26
- March 29 – Michael Brecker, American jazz musician (d. 2007)
- March 30
- April 1
- April 3 – Richard Thompson, English musician and songwriter
- April 6 – Horst Ludwig Störmer, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 7 – John Oates, American rock singer and guitarist (Hall & Oates)
- April 10 – Daniel Mangeas, French bicycle commentator
- April 14 – John Shea, American actor
- April 15
- April 16 – Sandy Hawley, Canadian jockey
- April 18 – Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
- April 20 – Jessica Lange, American actress
- April 21 – Patti Lupone, American actress
- April 24 – Veronique Sanson, French singer and songwriter
- April 28 – Bruno Kirby, American actor (d. 2006)
[edit] May–June - May 2 – Alan Titchmarsh, English gardener
- May 3 – Leopoldo Luque, Argentine soccer player
- May 4 – John Force, American race car driver
- May 9 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- May 13 – Zoë Wanamaker, English-American actress
- May 18
- May 19
- May 20 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor and comedian (SCTV)
- May 24 – Tomaž Pisanski, Slovenian mathematician
- May 25 – Prahladananda Swami, ISKCON religious leader
- May 26
- May 29 – Francis Rossi, English rock guitarist/singer (Status Quo)
- May 31 – Tom Berenger, American actor (Platoon)
- June 2 – Heather Couper, British astronomer
- June 4 – Mark B. Cohen, Pennsylvania legislative leader
- June 8 – Emanuel Ax, Polish-born pianist
- June 13 – Ann Druyan, American popular science writer
- June 14 – Harry Turtledove, American historian and novelist
- June 15 – Jim Varney, American actor (Ernest Goes To Camp) (d. 2000)
- June 17 – Andrei Fursenko, Russian politician, scientist and businessman
- June 18
- June 21 – Jane Urquhart, Canadian author
- June 22
- June 25 – Kene Holliday, American actor
- June 27 – Vera Wang, American fashion designer
[edit] July–August - July 2 – David Eaton, American composer/conductor/producer
- July 3
- July 7 – Shelley Duvall, American actress (Popeye)
- July 11
- July 15
- July 16 – Dennis Young, American skier
- July 17 – Charlie Steiner, American sportscaster
- July 22 – Alan Menken, American composer
- July 26 – Roger Taylor, English rock musician (Queen)
- August 4 – John Riggins, American football player
- August 6 – Alan Campbell, Northern Irish clergyman
- August 7 – Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze
- August 12
- August 15 – Beverly Lynn Burns, American pilot, first woman in the world to captain the Boeing 747
- August 20 – Philip Lynott, Irish rock musician (d. 1986)
- August 21 – Loretta Devine, American actress
- August 23
- August 25
- August 28 – Svetislav Pešić, Serbian basketball player and coach
- August 31
[edit] September–October - September 1 – P.A. Sangma, Indian politician
- September 3 – Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria (d. 2004)
- September 7
- September 9
- September 10 – Bill O'Reilly, American conservative radio and television commentator
- September 13 – John Henry, American foreign exchange advisor, Boston Red Sox owner
- September 14 – Eikichi Yazawa, Japanese singer
- September 15 – Joe Barton, American politician
- September 17 – Cassandra Peterson, American actress ("Elvira")
- September 18
- September 19 – Twiggy Lawson, English model
- September 23 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer and songwriter
- September 26 – Jane Smiley, American novelist
- September 27 – Mike Schmidt, American baseball player
- October 1 – Isaac Bonewits, American author and occultist
- October 2
- October 4 – Armand Assante, American actor
- October 7 – Ronnie Mund, American television personality
- October 8 – Sigourney Weaver, American actress (Alien)
- October 12
- October 14
- October 17 – Bill Hudson, American musician
- October 20 – Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete
- October 21 – Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
- October 22 – Arsene Wenger, French football (soccer) manager
- October 26 – Antonio Carpio, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
[edit] November–December - November 2 – Simon Augustini, Albanian politician
- November 3 – Larry Holmes, American World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
- November 5
- November 6 – Nigel Havers, British actor
- November 7
- November 8 – Bonnie Raitt, American country singer and guitarist
- November 19 – Ahmad Rashad, American sports host and commentator
- November 15 – David Rubinstein, American pianist and composer
- November 19 – Ahmad Rashad, American sportscaster and television personality
- November 22 @ndash; Shaun Garnett, English footballer and coach
- November 24 – Nick Ainger, British politician
- November 25 – Kerry James O'Keeffe, Australian cricketer and commentator
- November 26
- November 28
- November 29
- December 1 – Kurt Schmoke, American Dean, Howard Law School, Mayor of Baltimore
- December 3 – John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler (d. 1997)
- December 4
- December 7
- December 8 – Mary Gordon, American writer
- December 11 – Teri Garr, American actress (The Sonny and Cher Show)
- December 12 – Rajinikanth, Indian actor
- December 13
- December 14 – Bill Buckner, American baseball player
- December 15 – Don Johnson, American actor
- December 16 – Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)
- December 17 – Paul Rodgers, British rock singer
- December 19 – Sebastian, Danish musician
- December 22
- December 24 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician
- December 25
- December 25 – Joe Louis Walker, American musician
- December 26 – José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- unknown date
[edit] Deaths [edit] January–June - January 6 – Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883)
- January 11 – Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (b. 1889)
- January 14
- January 28 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- February 1 – Herbert Stothart, American composer (b. 1885)
- February 12 – Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
- February 17 – Ellery Harding Clark, American athlete (b. 1874)
- February 21 – Tan Malaka, Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader (b. 1894)
- March 7 – Bradbury Robinson, American who threw the first forward pass in American football history in 1906 (b. 1884)
- March 11 – Henri Giraud, French general (b. 1879)
- March 17 – Felix Bressart, German-American actor (b. 1892)
- March 25 – Jack Kapp, president of the U.S. branch of Decca Records (b. 1901)
- March 28 – Grigoraş Dinicu, Romanian composer (b. 1889)
- March 30
- April 6 – Seymour Hicks, British actor (b. 1871)
- April 8 – Kathy Fiscus, girl who became famous after falling down a well in San Marino, California (b. 1945)
- April 15 – Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)
- April 18 – Will Hay, English comedian and actor (b. 1888)
- April 19 – Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877)
- April 22 – Charles B. Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
- April 28 – Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (shot) (b. 1888)
- May 6 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- May 9 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (b. 1870)
- May 22
- May 23 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter (b. 1872)
- May 27 – Robert Ripley, American creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)
- June 10 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
- June 14 – Russell Doubleday, American author and publisher (b. 1872)
- June 19 – Syed Zafarul Hasan, Indian/Pakistani Muslim philosopher (b. 1885)
- June 25 – Buck Freeman, American baseball player (b. 1871)
[edit] July–December - July 9 – Fritz Hart, English-born composer (b. 1874)
- July 12 – Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland (b. 1860)
- July 18 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (b. 1870)
- July 26 – Linda Arvidson, American actress (b. 1884)
- August 9
- August 16 – Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With The Wind) (b. 1900)
- August 17 – Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist & politician (b. 1891)
- August 18 – Paul Mares, American musician (b. 1900)
- August 23 – Domingo Díaz Arosemena, President of Panama (b. 1875)
- August 30 – Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- September 7 – José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (b. 1883)
- September 8 – Richard Strauss, German composer (Also Sprach Zarathustra) (b. 1864)
- September 10 – Wiley Rutledge, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1894)
- September 13 – August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)
- September 14 – Gottfried Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen, German Resistance figure (b. 1901)
- September 18 – Frank Morgan, American actor, The Wizard of Oz (b. 1890)
- September 19
- September 20 – Richard Dix, American actor (b. 1893)
- September 22 – Sam Wood, American director (b. 1883)
- October 1 – Buddy Clark, American singer (b. 1911)
- October 14 – Fritz Leiber, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
- October 15 – Elmer Clifton, American actor (b. 1890)
- October 27
- October 31 – Edward Stettinius, Jr., U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1900)
- November – Maria Josepha Sophia de Iturbide, head of the Imperial House of Mexico (b. 1872)
- November 2
- November 3 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American philanthropist (b. 1861)
- November 5 – Abdolhossein Hazhir, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1899)
- November 15 (executed):
- November 25 – Bill Robinson, American dancer (b. 1878)
- November 30 – Irene Vanbrugh, English actress (b. 1872)
- December 3 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian actress (b. 1876)
- December 6 – Leadbelly, American blues musician (b. 1888)
- December 11 – Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya, Indian philosopher (b. 1875)
- December 16 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873)
- December 28 – Hervey Allen, American author (b. 1889)
- December 28 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b. 1910)
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