istoryworld
All Events
French designer Christian Dior introduces the 'New Look', a lavish feminine style of dress welcomed by all after wartime austerity
US artist Jackson Pollock's drip paintings cause a stir in New York
Muslims proclaim an independent state in west Kashmir, defying the wishes of the maharaja
Italian author Primo Levi publishes If This Is a Man, based on his experiences in Auschwitz
Violent sectarian division in Kashmir results in war between India and Pakistan in support of the rival sides
The UN puts forward a plan for the partition of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states
Stafford Cripps becomes Britain's chancellor of the Exchequer in the Attlee government
Jean-Louis Barrault and his wife Madeleine Renaud establish their own company at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris
An Arab boy, herding goats in the Qumran desert, finds the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The first transistor is produced in the Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey
Ham House is donated by Sir Lyonel Tollemache and his son to the National Trust
U Saw, a political rival of Aung San in Burma, is hanged for having plotted his assassination
Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated at a Delhi prayer meeting by a Hindu extremist, Nathuram Godse
US zoologist Alfred Charles Kinsey publishes some unexpected findings in his Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male
An armed coup, led by Klement Gottwald, imposes single-party Communist rule in Czechoslovakia
The British government advertises in Jamaica for people to come and work in Britain
The Cello Sonata by US composer Elliott Carter introduces 'metric modulation'
Norman Mailer has immediate succes with his first novel, The Naked and the Dead, based on his military service in the Pacific
US poet Theodore Roethke publishes The Lost Son, his second collection
British dancer Robert Helpmann choreographs the ballet scenes in the film The Red Shoes, featuring Moira Shearer
Australia, aiming for a 2% population increase each year, takes steps to encourage European immigration
The Morris Minor is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes one of Britain's best-selling cars
Britain brings to a formal end the country's mandate in Palestine and on the following day the last British troops withdraw
Israel declares its independence as a Jewish state, with David Ben-Gurion as prime minister
Six Arab states attack Israel in support of the Palestinians, starting the first Arab-Israeli war
