1948 in the United States
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Events from the year 1948 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal Government
- President: Harry S. Truman (D–Missouri)
- Vice President: vacant
- Chief Justice: Fred M. Vinson (Kentucky)
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph William Martin, Jr. (R–Massachusetts)
- Senate Majority Leader: Wallace H. White, Jr. (R–Maine)
- Congress: 80th
Events
January
- January 17th – The latest New Jersey State Constitution goes into effect.
- January 29 – Plane crash at Los Gatos Creek, California kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a song by Woody Guthrie.
February
- February 1 – The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.
- February 21 – The stock car racing organization NASCAR is founded by Bill France Sr. with other drivers meeting at the Streamline Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida.[1]
March
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- March 8 – McCollum v. Board of Education: The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.
- March 17 – The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.
- March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program.
April
- April 3:
- President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $15 billion in aid for 16 countries.[2]
- Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a concert featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.
- April 22 – WTVR begins television services. WTVR is the first TV station south of Washington D.C., giving it the nickname "The South's First Television station".
- April 30 – 21 American countries sign the Charter of the Organization of American States establishing the Organization of American States (in effect December 1, 1951).
May
- May 14 – The United States recognizes Israel as a country.
- May 19 – Mundt–Nixon Bill of 1948 passes the House (but soon after fails to reach a Senate vote. In 1950, the Mundt–Ferguson Communist Registration Bill also fails to pass both chambers–but many parts go into the McCarran Internal Security Act, which passed in 1950)
- May 26 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
- May 27 – Walt Disney Productions' tenth feature film, Melody Time, is released. It is Disney's fifth of six package films to be released through the 1940s.
- May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes: 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
June
- June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.
- June 11 – The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.
- June 12:
- MCWR renamed Women Marines.
- Women in the Air Force (WAF) created.
- June 17 – A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
- June 20 – The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. D.C. time (to be shortly interrupted by Truman's recall from Congressional recess for July 20, 1948).
- June 21-25 – 1948 Republican National Convention (Philadelphia)
- June 24 – The Berlin Blockade begins; in response, the U.S. orders the launch of Operation Vittles, the U.S. action of the Berlin Airlift.
- June 28 – David Lean's Oliver Twist, based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged anti-Semitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.
July
- July 12–14 – 1948 Democratic National Convention (Philadelphia)
- July 17 – Dixiecrat National Convention (Birmingham)
- July 20 – Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).
- July 23–25 – 1948 Progressive National Convention (Philadelphia)
- July 26:
- U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
- Turnip Day Session – Truman exhorts 80th United States Congress to pass legislation
- July 31:
- At Idlewild Field in New York City, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
- Elizabeth Bentley testifies before HUAC
August
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- August 1 – The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
- August 3 – In an appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), Whittaker Chambers, a senior editor at Time magazine and a former Communist, accuses Alger Hiss of having been a member of "an underground organization of the United States Communist Party".
- August 25 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
September
- September 29 – Laurence Olivier's Hamlet opens in the United States.
October
- October 1 – National Guard Bureau made a Bureau of the Depart. of the United States Army and an Agency of the Dept. of the Air Force.
- October 11 – The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.
- October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.
- October 26 – Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.
November
- November 2 – 1948 United States presidential election: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and 'Dixiecrat' Strom Thurmond.
December
- December 4 – The 6.3 ML Desert Hot Springs earthquake affected Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing minor damage and several injuries.
- December 10 – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.
- December 15 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss on two counts of perjury.
Undated
- The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens in Staten Island, New York.
- The first of the Kinsey Reports, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, is published.
- Charles Lazarus starts Children's Supermart, the predecessor of Toys "R" Us, in Washington, D.C. as a baby-furniture retailer.
Ongoing
- Cold War (1947–1991)
- Second Red Scare (1947–1957)
- Marshall Plan (1948–1951)
Births
January
- January 1 – Joe Petagno, American illustrator
- January 2
- Joyce Wadler, American journalist and author
- Judith Miller, American journalist and author
- January 5 – Ted Lange, African-American actor, director (The Love Boat)
- January 7 – Kenny Loggins, American rock singer
- January 10
- Donald Fagen, American rock keyboardist (Steely Dan)
- Teresa Graves, African-American actress and comedian (Get Christie Love) (d. 2002)
- January 11 – Larry Harvey, American co-founder of Burning Man (d. 2018)
- January 14
- T Bone Burnett, American record producer, musician
- John Lescroart, American author and screenwriter
- Carl Weathers, African-American actor, football player (Rocky IV, Action Jackson)
- January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
- January 16 – John Carpenter, American film director, producer, screenwriter and composer
- January 18 – M. C. Gainey, American actor
- January 20 – Jerry L. Ross, United States Air Force Officer, engineer and NASA Astronaut
- January 23
- Katharine Holabird, American writer
- Anita Pointer, American singer-songwriter (The Pointer Sisters)
- January 24 – Elliott Abrams, American attorney and conservative policy analyst
- January 31 – Paul Jabara, American actor, singer and songwriter (d. 1992)
February
- February 1 – Rick James, African-American urban singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer (d. 2004)
- February 2 – Ina Garten, American cooking author
- February 4
- Alice Cooper, American hard rock singer and musician
- Rod Grams, American politician (d. 2013)
- February 5
- Christopher Guest, American actor, screenwriter, director and composer
- Barbara Hershey, American actress (Beaches)
- February 7 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Three Dog Night) (d. 2015)
- February 8 – Dan Seals, American musician (d. 2009)
- February 9 – Greg Stafford, American game designer, publisher (d. 2018)
- February 11 – Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian
- February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor, author
- February 13 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American film actress
- February 14
- Jackie Martling, American comedian, radio personality
- Raymond Teller, American illusionist and magician, one half of the duo Penn & Teller
- February 15
- Ron Cey, American baseball player and sportscaster
- Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (d. 2019)
- February 20 – Jennifer O'Neill, American model, actress
- February 22
- John Ashton, American actor
- Leslie H. Sabo Jr., American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1970)
- February 28
- Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- Mike Figgis, American director, screenwriter and composer
- Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer
- Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
- February 29
- Ken Foree, American actor
- Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer
March
- March 2 – R. T. Crowley, American pioneer of electronic commerce
- March 4
- James Ellroy, American writer
- Tom Grieve, American baseball player
- Leron Lee, American baseball player
- Brian Cummings, American voice actor
- March 5 – Leslie Marmon Silko, Native American author
- March 6 – Anna Maria Horsford, African-American actress
- March 9 – Jeffrey Osborne, African-American singer (On the Wings of Love)
- March 11 – Kent Conrad, American politician
- March 12 – James Taylor, American singer, songwriter (Fire and Rain)
- March 14
- Tom Coburn, American politician
- Billy Crystal, American actor, comedian
- March 17 – William Gibson, American/Canadian writer
- March 20 – John de Lancie, American actor
- March 22 – Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist (CNN)
- March 25 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
- March 26 – Steven Tyler, American rock singer, songwriter (Aerosmith)
- March 28
- Jayne Ann Krentz, American novelist
- Dennis Unkovic, American author
- Dianne Wiest, American actress
- March 29
- Mike Heideman, American basketball coach (d. 2018)
- Bud Cort, American actor (Harold and Maude)
- March 31
- Al Gore, American politician, 45th Vice President of the United States
- Rhea Perlman, American actress (Cheers)
April
- April 2 – Bob Lienhard, American basketball player (d. 2018)
- April 4
- Squire Parsons, American gospel singer, songwriter
- Dan Simmons, American fantasy, science fiction author
- Berry Oakley, American musician (d. 1972)
- April 5 – Neil Portnow, American President of The Recording Academy (NARAS)
- April 7 – John Oates, American rock singer, guitarist (Hall & Oates)
- April 12 – Don Fernando, American pornographic film actor, director
- April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- April 20 – Paul Milgrom, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 21 – Paul Davis, American singer, songwriter (Cool Night) (d. 2008)
- April 27
- Frank Abagnale, American con man, imposter
- Si Robertson, American reality star, preacher, hunter, outdoorsman, and U.S. Army veteran
- April 28 – Marcia Strassman, American actress, singer (Welcome Back, Kotter) (d. 2014)
May
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- May 2 – Larry Gatlin, American singer, songwriter
- May 3
- William H. Miller, American maritime historian
- Chris Mulkey, American actor
- May 4 – Tanya Falan, American singer
- May 5
- Joe Esposito, American singer, songwriter
- Richard Pacheco, American pornographic actor
- May 8 – Steve Braun, American baseball player and coach
- May 9
- Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist, author
- Calvin Murphy, American basketball player, analyst
- May 12 – Lindsay Crouse, American actress
- May 17 – Penny DeHaven, American country singer (d. 2014)
- May 18
- Olivia Harrison, American author and film producer
- Tom Udall, American politician
- May 21 – D'Jamin Bartlett, American musical theatre actress
- May 26 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
June
- June 1
- Powers Boothe, American actor (d. 2017)
- Tom Sneva, American race car driver and sportscaster[3]
- June 2
- Jerry Mathers, American actor
- Jack Pierce, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
- June 4 – David Haskell, American actor (d. 2000)
- June 9 – Gary Thorne, American play-by-play announcer
- June 11 – Dave Cash, American baseball player
- June 14 – Laurence Yep, American author
- June 19 – Phylicia Rashad, African-American actress (The Cosby Show)
- June 21 – Greg Hyder, American professional basketball player
- June 22
- Sue Roberts, American professional golfer
- Todd Rundgren, American rock singer, record producer (Hello It's Me)
- Curtis Johnson, American football cornerback
- June 23
- Larry Coker, American football player, coach
- Jim Heacock, American defensive coordinator
- Luther Kent, American blues singer
- Clarence Thomas, African-American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- June 25
- Kenn George, American businessman
- Michael Lembeck, American actor, television and film director
- June 27 – Camile Baudoin, American rock guitarist
- June 28 – Kathy Bates, American actress
- June 29 – Fred Grandy, American actor, politician
- June 30 – Raymond Leo Burke, American cardinal, prelate
July
- July 5
- Tony DeMeo, American football coach, player
- Dave Lemonds, American baseball player
- July 6
- July 7 – Jerry Sherk, American football defensive tackle
- July 10 – Rich Hand, American professional baseball player
- July 12
- Ben Burtt, American movie sound designer
- Richard Simmons, American television personality, fitness expert
- Jay Thomas, American actor (d. 2017)
- July 13 – Daphne Maxwell Reid, African-American actress
- July 14 – Tom Latham, American politician
- July 16 – Jeff Van Wagenen, American professional golfer
- July 17 – Doug Berry, American-Canadian football coach
- July 20 – Muse Watson, American actor
- July 21
- Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
- Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist (Doonesbury)
- July 22 – Susan Eloise Hinton, American author
- July 25
- Tony Cline, American football player (d. 2018)
- Steve Goodman, American Grammy Award-winning folk music singer, songwriter (d. 1984)
- July 27 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
- July 28
- Gerald Casale, American director, singer (Devo)
- Georgia Engel, American actress (d. 2019)
- Sally Struthers, American actress, spokeswoman (All in the Family)
August
- August 1 – Jim Carroll, American author, poet and musician (d. 2009)
- August 2 – Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host, author
- August 7 – James P. Allison, American immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018
- August 13 – Kathleen Battle, African-American soprano
- August 17 – Edward Lazear, American economist (d. 2020)
- August 19
- Tipper Gore, Second Lady of the United States as wife of Al Gore
- Elliot Lurie, singer-songwriter and guitarist
- Gerald McRaney, actor, director, and producer
- Deana Martin, American singer and actress
- August 20 – Barbara Allen Rainey (b. Barbara Ann Allen), American aviator, first female pilot in the U.S. armed forces (d. 1982)
- August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
- August 30
- Lewis Black, American comedian
- Fred Hampton, African-American activist (d. 1969)
- August 31 – Cyril Jordan, American musician
September
- September 1 – James Rebhorn, American actor (d. 2014)
- September 2
- Christa McAuliffe, American teacher, astronaut (Challenger Disaster) (d. 1986)
- Nate Archibald, American basketball player
- Terry Bradshaw, American football player, sportscaster
- September 3 – Don Brewer, American drummer (Grand Funk Railroad)
- September 4 – Michael Berryman, American actor
- September 7 – Susan Blakely, American actress
- September 10
- Bob Lanier, American basketball player
- Charlie Waters, American football player
- September 13 – Nell Carter, African-American singer, actress (Gimme a Break!) (d. 2003)
- September 16 – Ron Blair, American bassist (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
- September 17 – John Ritter, American actor and comedian (d. 2003)
- September 18
- Lynn Abbey, computer programmer and author
- Ken Brett, baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2003)
- September 20 – George R. R. Martin, American novelist and short-story writer
- September 22 – Jim Byrnes, American voice actor, blues musician and actor
- September 27 – A Martinez, American actor, singer
- September 29
- Mark Farner, American rock guitarist, singer (Grand Funk Railroad)
- Bryant Gumbel, African-American television broadcaster (The Today Show)
- Burton Richardson, American game show announcer
October
- October 1 – Mark Landon, American actor (d. 2009)
- October 2
- Avery Brooks, American actor, musician
- Chris LeDoux, American singer, rodeo star (d. 2005)
- Donna Karan, American fashion designer
- October 4 – Meg Bennett, American soap opera writer
- October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist
- October 8 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (Ramones) (d. 2004)
- October 9 – Jackson Browne, American rock musician (Running on Empty)
- October 11
- Margie Alexander, American gospel, soul singer (d. 2013)
- Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer
- October 13
- John Ford Coley, American rock musician (I'd Really Love to See You Tonight)
- Ted Poe, American politician
- October 14 – David Ruprecht, American actor, writer (Supermarket Sweep)
- October 16 – Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
- October 17
- Robert Jordan, American novelist (d. 2007)
- Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress, director, and activist (d. 2018)
- George Wendt, American actor (Cheers)
- October 18 – Ntozake Shange, African-American playwright, poet (d. 2018)
- October 19 – Patrick Simmons, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)
- October 21
- Tom Everett, American actor
- Allen Vigneron, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit
- October 22
- Lynette Fromme, would-be assassin of President Gerald Ford
- Debbie Macomber, American author
- October 25
- Dave Cowens, American basketball player, coach
- Dan Gable, American wrestler, coach
- October 26 – Toby Harrah, American baseball player
- October 28 – Telma Hopkins, African-American actress, singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
- October 29 – Kate Jackson, American actress (Charlie's Angels)
November
- November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress
- November 5
- Charles Bradley, African-American singer (d. 2017)
- Bob Barr, American politician
- Dallas Holm, American Christian musician
- William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist, singer (The Eagles) (d. 2016)
- November 7 – Jim Houghton, American actor, director
- November 9 – Kelly Harmon, American actress and model
- November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005)
- November 12
- Skip Campbell, American politician (d. 2018)
- Cliff Harris, American football player
- Richard Roberts, American evangelist, son of Oral Roberts
- November 14
- Robert Ginty, American actor, director (d. 2009)
- Dee Wallace, American actress
- November 16 – Chi Coltrane, American musician (Thunder and Lightning)
- November 17 – Howard Dean, American politician
- November 20
- Harlee McBride, American actress
- John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., National Security Advisor
- Barbara Hendricks, American singer
- Richard Masur, American actor, director and president of the Screen Actors Guild
- November 21 – Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz drummer (d. 2016)
- November 23 – Ron Bouchard, American NASCAR driver (d. 2015)
- November 24 – Joe Howard, American actor
- November 26 – Gayle McCormick, American singer (Smith) (d. 2016)
December
- December 2 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer
- December 3 – Rick Cua, American singer, evangelist
- December 6
- Don Nickles, American politician
- JoBeth Williams, American actress, director
- December 7
- Gary Morris, American country singer, actor
- Tony Thomas, American television producer
- December 9 – Gray H. Miller, Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas[4]
- December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock drummer
- December 12 – David K. Karnes, American politician
- December 13 – Ted Nugent, American musician, singer, songwriter and political activist
- December 16 – Pat Quinn, Lawyer and 41st governor of Illinois
- December 18 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
- December 21 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
- December 22
- Flip Mark, American child actor
- Lynne Thigpen, African-American actress (Godspell) (d. 2003)
- December 23 – Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, composer, educator, author and music journalist
- December 25 – Barbara Mandrell, American country singer, musician, and actress
- December 27 – Ronnie Caldwell, American soul music, rhythm and blues musician (d. 1967)
- December 28 – Mary Weiss, American singer (The Shangri-Las)
- December 31
- Joe Dallesandro, American model, actor
- Donna Summer, African-American singer, actress (Love to Love You Baby) (d. 2012)
Deaths
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2011) |
- January 30 – Orville Wright, pioneer aviator (born 1871)
- July 4 – Albert Bates, criminal (born 1893)
- July 5
- Charles Fillmore, Protestant mystic (born 1854)
- Carole Landis, film actress (born 1919)
- July 11 – Franz Weidenreich, anatomist (born 1873 in Germany)
- July 23 - D. W. Griffith, film director (born 1875)
- August 16 – Babe Ruth, baseball player (born 1895)
- August 17 – Mariette Rheiner Garner, Second Lady of the United States as wife of John Nance Garner (born 1869)
- August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (born 1862)
- June 9 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States and Second Lady of the United States as wife of Theodore Roosevelt (born 1861)
- November 24 – Anna Jarvis, social activist (born 1864)
See also
References
- ^ "History of NASCAR". NASCAR. 2010-08-17. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- ^ "On This Day", New York Times, retrieved 24 August 2016
- ^ "Driver Tom Sneva Career Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
- ^ "Miller, Gray Hampton - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
External links
Media related to 1948 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons
