Year retrospective · 1940s

1946

1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1940s decade.

Recorded events

10

top entries

Notable births

30

Notable deaths

30

Decade

1940s

Timeline

Defining events of 1946

  1. 1946 The 8.6 Mw  Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands resulting in dozens of deaths, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii.

    Earthquake near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

    The 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska on April 1, 1946. 4. It had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong).

  2. 1946 The Malayan Union is established. Protests from locals led to the establishment of the Federation of Malaya two years later.

    Post-war federation of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca

    The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. Following opposition by the ethnic Malays, the union was reorganised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

  3. 1946 The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.

    Public holiday in Syria

    Independence Day is Syria's National Day commemorating the evacuation of the last French soldier at the end of the French mandate of Syria on 17 April 1946 after Syria's proclamation of full independence on 27 September 1941.

  4. 1946 The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.

    Judicial organ of the United Nations

    The International Court of Justice, or colloquially the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by other UN organs and specialized agencies. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law.

  5. 1946 Jackie Robinson makes his regular season debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League, to make them the first integrated modern professional baseball team.

    American baseball player (1919–1972)

    Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.

  6. 1946 The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.

    Intergovernmental organisation (1920–1946)

    The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. The main organisation ceased operations on 18 April 1946 when many of its components were relocated into the new United Nations (UN) which was created in the aftermath of the Second World War.

  7. 1946 The U.S. Weather Bureau records that a tornado which struck Timber Lake, South Dakota was 4 miles (6.4 km), among the widest tornadoes on record.
  8. 1946 Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
  9. 1946 The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convenes and indicts former Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo and 28 former Japanese leaders for war crimes.
  10. 1946 Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.

Arrivals

Born in 1946

Hayley Mills 1946– English actress and singer (born 1946)
Tim Curry 1946– British actor (born 1946)
Steven L. Bennett 1946– US Air Force officer and posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor
Paul Davies 1946– English physicist, writer and broadcaster (born 1946)
Louise Harel 1946– Canadian politician (born 1946)
Archy Kirkwood 1946– British politician
Nicholas Stern 1946– British economist and academic (born 1946)
John Waters 1946– American filmmaker (born 1946)
John Wood 1946– Australian actor (born 1946)
Tony Levin 1946– American bassist (born 1946)
Zbigniew Seifert 1946– Polish jazz violinist
Graham Henry 1946– New Zealand sportsman

Farewells

Died in 1946

Mae Busch Australian-born American actress (1891–1946)
John Maynard Keynes British economist (1883–1946)
José Streel Journalist, Rexist (1911–1946)
Morris Alexander South African Jewish politician (1877–1946)
Gerhart Hauptmann German author (1862–1946)
Ferenc Szálasi Fascist leader of Hungary from 1944 to 1945, dictator
Werner von Blomberg German military commander (1878–1946)
Seán McCaughey Irish militant and Republican activist
Herbert Macaulay Nigerian politician (1864–1946)
Mae Busch Australian-born American actress (1891–1946)
John Maynard Keynes British economist (1883–1946)
José Streel Journalist, Rexist (1911–1946)

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