The following events occurred in February 1949:
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- South Korea formally applied for membership in the United Nations.[2]
- Golfer Ben Hogan suffered a fractured pelvis and broken collarbone in a head-on collision between his Cadillac and a bus east of Van Horn, Texas. Ben's wife Valerie suffered minor injuries.[3]
- Born: Duncan Bannatyne, entrepreneur, in Clydebank, Scotland; Brent Spiner, actor, comedian and singer, in Houston, Texas
- Died: Pedro Paulo Bruno, 60, Brazilian painter, singer, poet and landscaper[4]
- US President Harry S. Truman stated at his weekly press conference that he would only meet with Joseph Stalin if the Soviet leader came to Washington as his personal guest. The president reiterated the determination of the United States to not enter negotiations with the Soviet Union outside of the framework of the United Nations.[5]
- Hungarian Cardinal József Mindszenty and six co-defendants went on trial in Budapest for treason and other crimes against the state.[6]
- Born: Hennie Kuiper, racing cyclist, in Denekamp, Netherlands
- Died: William Rust, 45, British newspaper editor and communist activist
- The three-day trial of Cardinal Mindszenty ended. The Primate of Hungary admitted guilt "in principle" to most of the charges against him but denied plotting to overthrow the Hungarian government.[10]
- The Soviet Union offered Norway a non-aggression pact and warned that country not to join the proposed North Atlantic alliance.[11]
- The Communist Tudeh Party of Iran was banned amid the government crackdown following an attempt on the Shah's life.[8]
- Born: Kate Braverman, American novelist, in Philadelphia (d. 2019)
- Premier of the Republic of China Sun Fo said that his government's "principal task is to realize an honorable peace" and maintained that the Civil War would continue until the Communists dropped their demand for punishment of war criminals.[12]
- The Oldsmobile company introduced the Oldsmobile 88, blending affordability with a powerful V8 engine that has led it to be widely cited as the auto industry's first muscle car.[13]
- Born: Jim Sheridan, playwright and filmmaker, in Dublin, Ireland; Manuel Orantes, former Spanish tennis player and titles for 1975 US Open and 1976 Commercial Union Assurance Masters, (predecessor as ATP Finals) in Granada, Andalusia, Spain.[citation needed]
- Died: Hiroaki Abe, 59, Japanese admiral
- The metropolitan police in Seoul announced the arrest of three Communists implicated in a plot to assassinate the members of the United Nations Commission on Korea as well as top Korean government officials.[21]
- Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent arrived in Washington for a three-day visit to confer with President Truman on various issues affecting the United States and Canada.[22]
- The London Mozart Players performed their first concert at Wigmore Hall.
- Died: Giovanni Zenatello, 72, Italian opera singer
- The Sacred Constitorial Congregation excommunicated and declared "infamous" all persons who took part in the Cardinal Mindszenty trial.[23]
- 30 people were killed and 40 injured in a train derailment 40 miles west of Tarragona, Spain. Railway officials blamed the accident on sabotage of the tracks.[24]
- Died: Hassan al-Banna, 42, Egyptian imam and founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (assassinated by the Egyptian secret police)
- Israel's first Constituent Assembly was sworn in by acting president Chaim Weizmann in Jerusalem. The United States, Britain and France boycotted the ceremony, protesting Israel's refusal to recognize the UN declaration of Jerusalem as an international city.[27][28]
- The Asbestos strike began in and around Asbestos, Quebec.
- Died: Fernand Desprès, 69, French anarchist and Communist activist
- The Soviet Union denounced allegations that up to 14 million people were working as slave laborers in Russia and dying in large numbers because of inhumane treatment. Soviet UN delegate Semyon K. Tsarapkin said that any proposal to send a special commission to investigate the alleged slave labor camps was merely a ruse to let American spies into the USSR.[29]
- Argentina diplomatically recognized Israel.[30]
- Born: Ken Anderson, NFL quarterback, in Batavia, Illinois
- Died: Charles L. Bartholomew, 80, American editorial cartoonist; Patricia Ryan, 27, American actress (cerebral hemorrhage)
- The Israeli constituent assembly adopted an interim constitution setting limits on presidential authority and making the prime minister and his cabinet answerable to parliament. The Assembly also confirmed Chaim Weizmann as President.[28]
- Thailand declared a state of emergency and closed its Malayan border to hinder the movement of Malayan guerrillas.[28]
- The defense presented its opening argument in the Mildred Gillars trial with the statement that treason cannot be committed by "mere words."[33]
- The film noir Caught starring James Mason, Barbara Bel Geddes and Robert Ryan premiered in New York.
- Born: Dennis Green, NFL coach, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 2016)
- President Truman reactivated the United Service Organizations (USO).[35]
- Ezra Pound was named the winner of the first annual Bollingen Prize for Poetry for his book The Pisan Cantos. Anticipating controversy for giving the award to a man under indictment for broadcasting Fascist propaganda during the war, the judges accompanied the announcement with the statement: "To permit other considerations than that of poetic achievement to sway the decision would destroy the significance of the award and would in principle deny the validity of that objective perception of value on which any civilized society must rest."[36]
- Born: Danielle Bunten Berry, computer game designer and programmer, in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1998)
- Died: Fidelio Ponce de León, 54, Cuban painter
- Mildred Gillars took the stand in her treason trial. During her testimony she admitted to having signed an oath of allegiance to Nazi Germany, but claimed she only did so "in order to live."[42]
- Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis declared the Asbestos strike illegal and dispatched a battalion of provincial police to the area.[43]
- Israel and Egypt signed a general armistice agreement at the UN mediation headquarters on the island of Rhodes.[44]
- The flag of Samoa was adopted.
- Paraguay's second coup in a month ousted Raimundo Rolón as provisional president in favor of Felipe Molas López.[48]
- The Dutch government announced that it would transfer sovereignty over Indonesia before the July 1, 1950 deadline set by the UN.[48]
- Italian Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti echoed Maurice Thorez' recent remarks by declaring that Italian Communists would be duty-bound to assist the Red Army if it should invade Italy in pursuit of an aggressor.[48]
- Grady the Cow was freed by rubbing her with grease, putting her on a greased platform and pushing her back out the same small opening she had bolted through.[49]
- Born: Simon Crean, politician and trade unionist, in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2023)
Currivan, Gene (February 2, 1949). "Israel Assumes Rule in Modern Jerusalem; Decision Winds Up Military Governorship". The New York Times: 15.
"Hogan Reported in 'Fair' Condition At Texas Hospital After Collision". The New York Times: 29. February 3, 1949.
"Pedro Bruno". Enciclopedia Itau Cultural (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 November 2022.
Leviero, Anthony (February 4, 1949). "Truman Bars Negotiations With Soviet Outside U. N.; Still Would Receive Stalin". The New York Times: 1.
"Mindszenty Denies Plot But Affirms Guilt In Principle". The New York Times: 1. February 4, 1949.
"Ruler of Iran Is Wounded Slightly By Two Bullets Fired by Assassin". The New York Times: 1. February 5, 1949.
Shearer, Stephen (2006). Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. University of Kentucky Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780813171364.
"Midszenty Death Asked By Hungary; He Prays At Trial". The New York Times: 1. February 6, 1949.
Frumkin, Mitch (2002). Classic Muscle Car Advertising: The Art of Selling Horsepower. Krause Publications. p. 5. ISBN 9780873493369.
Drebinger, John (February 4, 1949). "DiMaggio Reported All-Time Top-Salaried Player With $90,000 Contract". The New York Times: 33.
"Mindszenty Is Found Guilty; Court Gives Life Sentence; Flood of Protests Rising". The New York Times: 1. February 8, 1949.
Pak, Chi Young (2000). Korea and the United Nations. The Hague: Kluwer Law International. p. 67. ISBN 9789041113825.
Rosenthal, A. M. (February 11, 1949). "Arms Count Loses In U. N. As Truman Bars Atomic Data". The New York Times: 1.
Johnston, Richard J. H. (February 12, 1949). "Koreans Nip Plot to Kill U.N. Group". The New York Times: 1, 4.
Cortesi, Arnaldo (February 13, 1949). "All Taking Part in Case Are Excommunicated". The New York Times: 1.
"'Mars Raiders' Cause Quito Panic; Mob Burns Radio Plant, Kills 15". The New York Times: 1. February 14, 1949.
Currivan, Gene (February 15, 1949). "Israeli Assembly Opens With Tears And Party Debates". The New York Times: 1, 9.
Leonard, Thomas M. (1977). Day By Day: The Forties. New York: Facts On File, Inc. p. 872. ISBN 0-87196-375-2.
Barrett, George (February 16, 1949). "Soviet Denies Slave Charge; Bars U. N. Inquiry in Camps". The New York Times: 1.
Rosenthal, A. M. (February 17, 1949). "U. N. Rejects Bid By North Korea". The New York Times: 3.
Middleton, Drew (February 19, 1949). "Berlin Receives Its Millionth Ton Of Supplies Under Western Airlift". The New York Times: 1.
"Pound, in Mental Clinic, Wins Prize For Poetry Penned in Treason Cell". The New York Times: 1, 14. February 20, 1949.
"A Pact of Amity Between Central American Republics". The New York Times: 17. February 22, 1949.
"1949". coldwar.hu. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
Warren, Lansing (February 22, 1949). "Thorez Threatens War Aid to Soviet". The New York Times: 1, 8.
Brewer, Sam Pope (February 25, 1949). "Simple Ceremony at Rhodes Marks an End to Long period of Negotiation". The New York Times: 1.
Handler, M. S. (February 26, 1949). "Two Sofia Clerics Enter Guilty Plea As Spy Trial Opens". The New York Times: 1.
Yust, Walter, ed. (1950). 1950 Britannica Book of the Year. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. p. 3.
"Grady the Cow, Captive in Silo, Saved; Grease and Brawn Overcome Tight Exit". The New York Times: 34. February 27, 1949.
"Plotters Revolt in Siam; Announce Premier's Fall". The New York Times: 6. February 28, 1949.
"Stalin Decrees Sweeping Price Cuts In Food, Clothing, Consumer Goods". The New York Times: 1. March 1, 1949.