A parliamentary assembly tasked with writing a provisional constitution for western Germany formally convened at Bonn. Christian Democratic leader Konrad Adenauer was elected Assembly President.[1]
44 people, most of them circus performers, as well as an assortment of circus animals drowned off the coast of Colombia in the sinking of the Honduran ship Euzkera. 12 survived.[2]
A German appeals court acquitted Hjalmar Schacht of charges that he had been a major Nazi offender and ordered him released from prison.[3]
Died:Tancred Borenius, 63, Finnish art historian and diplomat; Sylvanus Morley, 65, American archaeologist, scholar and World War I spy
The World Council of Churches called on its 150 member bodies to denounce anti-Semitism as "absolutely irreconcilable with the profession and practice of the Christian faith" and a "sin against God and man."[5]
Died:Richard C. Tolman, 67, American mathematical physicist and physical chemist
Juliana was sworn in as Queen of the Netherlands in a forty-five minute ceremony attended by many royal guests including Prince Gustav Adolf and Princess Louise of Sweden, Prince Olaf and Princess Märtha of Norway, Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha of Denmark and Princess Margaret of Britain.[7]
The government of French Prime Minister Robert Schuman was toppled after just two days in power when it lost a narrow confidence vote in the National Assembly, 295 to 289.[9]
Henry A. Wallace spoke in front of 48,000 supporters in Yankee Stadium, declaring that "Mr. Truman has demonstrated that he could not fill the shoes of Roosevelt," and that Wall Street corporations were keeping the South divided to multiply their profits.[13]
CIO International Fur Workers Union President Ben Gold confirmed he was a member of the Communist Party during testimony before a House Labor subcommittee.[16]
Diplomat Folke Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem when members of the Jewish Zionist group Lehi opened fire on a UN convoy. Bernadotte and French UN observer André Serot were transported to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus but were found to have died instantly.[17]
Died:Ruth Benedict, 61, American anthropologist and folklorist; Folke Bernadotte, 53, Swedish diplomat and nobleman (assassinated by members of Lehi); Emil Ludwig, 67, German-Swiss author; André Serot, 52, French military officer (killed in the Bernadotte assassination)
200 arrests were made in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in connection with the assassination of Count Bernadotte.[18]
The armed conflict known as the Madiun Affair between the Indonesian government and the left-wing People's Democratic Front began in Madiun, East Java.
The Soviet Union published a statement announcing that it would withdraw all Soviet troops from North Korea by the end of the year and expressing its hope that the United States would do likewise to the American troops in South Korea.[19][20]
The Israeli government enacted emergency anti-terrorist legislation, allowing for imprisonment of 5 to 25 years for taking an active part in terrorist acts and 1 to 5 years for membership in a terrorist organization.[21]
Count Bernadotte's final report to the United Nations was published posthumously. It called for recognition of Israel but advocated transfer of the Negev area to Arabs, incorporation of all of Galilee into Israel and placing Jerusalem under UN control.[22]
In Paris, H. V. Evatt was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly in the first UN session ever held in Europe.[23]
The Irgun dissolved and handed over its arms to the Israeli government in response to an ultimatum to either disband or be labeled a terrorist organization.[24]
As a last-ditch effort to settle the Berlin dispute in a framework of four-party talks, identical notes from Britain, the United States and France were dispatched to the Soviet Union demanding a clear-cut statement on Soviet intentions.[26]
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted for a legislative compromise that would allow President Truman's name to be listed on the state's general ballot in the November election, but not as a Democratic candidate.[29]
African-American actor Rex Ingram was arrested on charges of violating the Mann Act with a 15-year old white girl from Kansas.[30]
At a United Nations address in Paris, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Vyshinsky called upon the five great powers to reduce their armed forces by one-third as a first step toward disarmament.[31]
Through an authorized broadcast on TASS, the Soviet Union replied to the three-power note on Berlin by naming its price for settlement of the dispute: control of all land and air traffic between Berlin and western Germany.[32] The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain and France replied that further negotiations were impossible and that they intended to refer the matter to the UN Security Council.[33]
Defense Ministers of Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg announced from Paris an agreement to establish a permanent common defense organization for Western Europe.[37]
Died:Gregg Toland, 44, American cinematographer (coronary thrombosis)
The United States, Britain and France delivered identical notes to UN Secretary General Trygve Lie accusing the USSR of violating Article 2 of the United Nations Charter in which all members pledge to settle their international disputes "by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered."[38]
Berlin Communists moved into the official chambers of the elected City Assembly in the Soviet zone and conducted business there over the protests of the regular City Assembly.[40]
Died:Edith Roosevelt, 87, First Lady of the United States 1901–09
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