What happened in 1950

World1

• Nov 28The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia comes into effect.

North America7

• Feb 8A payment is first made by Diners Club card, in New York, United States (the first use of a charge card).
• Feb 13British Columbia B-36 crash: The U.S. Air Force loses a Convair B-36 bomber that carried a Mark 4 nuclear bomb off the west coast of Canada, and produces the world's first Broken Arrow.
• Mar 23The 22nd Academy Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood. All the King's Men (1949 film) is Best Picture.
• May 24The United States Maritime Administration is formed (under the Department of Commerce).
• May 25The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel is formally opened to traffic in New York City.
• Oct 2The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven U.S. newspapers.
• Nov 29The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is founded.

Europe18

• Jan 1The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
• Feb 8The Stasi is founded in East Germany, and acts as a secret police until 1990.
• Feb 12The European Broadcasting Union is founded.
• Feb 19Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany, to begin reunification.
• Mar 12Royal question: 1950 Belgian monarchy referendum – In Belgium, a referendum on the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of King Leopold III from exile to resume exercise of his constitutional powers, 42.3% against. The King has said he would abdicate if he did not receive 55% support, and that the final decision would be for the federal parliament.
• May 9Robert Schuman presents his proposal for the creation of a pan-European organisation, which he believes to be indispensable to the maintenance of permanently peaceful relations between the different nations of the continent. This proposal, known as the "Schuman Declaration", is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what becomes the European Union.
• May 13The first race in the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship in automobile racing is held, at Silverstone, England.
• May 29The pilot series of the world's longest-running radio soap opera, The Archers, is first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in the U.K. It will still be running more than 75 years later.
• Jul 22Royal question in Belgium: King Leopold III returns from exile, provoking a general strike, particularly in Wallonia.
• Jul 304 workers striking over the "Royal question" in Belgium are shot dead by the Gendarmerie, at Grâce-Berleur near Liège.
• Aug 1Royal question: King Leopold III of Belgium publicly announces that he will abdicate in favor of his son, Baudouin.
• Aug 12In his encyclical Humani generis, Pope Pius XII requires Catholic theologians to defer to the teachings of the Church as a whole but declares evolution to be a serious hypothesis that does not contradict essential Catholic views.
• Sep 3Italian racing driver Giuseppe Farina becomes the first winner of the FIA Formula One World Championship, being the only driver to win the championship in his home country.
• Oct 29Upon the death of Gustaf V of Sweden, he is succeeded as king by his 68-year-old son Gustaf VI Adolf.
• Nov 1Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" at the Vatican and defines a new dogma of Roman Catholicism, the Munificentissimus Deus, which says that God took Mary's body into Heaven after her death (the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary").

3 more in the app

USSR / Russia1

• Jan 5Sverdlovsk plane crash: Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 aboard are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.

Asia20

• Jan 6The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
• Jan 13Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
• Jun 25The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People's Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.
• Jun 27Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman orders American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea.
• Jun 28Korean War:
• Jun 28Bodo League massacre begins: South Korean armed forces and police summarily execute at least 100,000 suspected North Korean sympathizers.
• Jul 14Korean War: Battle of Taejon – North Korean forces capture the city held by the U.S. 24th Infantry Division, but the delay allows establishment of the Pusan Perimeter.
• Aug 12Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre – 75 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.
• Aug 17Korean War: Hill 303 massacre – 39 U.S. soldiers are executed after being captured in battle by North Korea.
• Sep 15Korean War: Battle of Inchon – Allied troops commanded by Douglas MacArthur land in Inchon, occupied by North Korea, to begin a U.N. counteroffensive.
• Sep 19Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces is repelled at the Battle of Nam River.
• Oct 19Korean War: The People's Republic of China enters the conflict, by sending thousands of soldiers across the Yalu River.
• Nov 8Korean War: While in an F-80, United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown intercepts 2 North Korean MiG-15s near the Yalu River and shoots them down, in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history.
• Nov 26Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and United Nations forces at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.
• Dec 2Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with the Chinese People's Volunteer Army expelling United Nations forces from North Korea.

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Middle East4

• Jan 9The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.
• Jan 23The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
• Apr 24Jordan formally annexes the West Bank.
• May 1UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, begins operations.

Latin America4

• Jun 16Maracanã Stadium, which becomes a well-known sports venue of Brazil, opens in Rio de Janeiro, in advance of the opening of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in the country on June 24.
• Jul 16Uruguay beats Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup, the match dubbed the Maracanazo.
• Sep 18Rede Tupi, the first television broadcast network in South America, is founded in Brazil.
• Nov 13The President of Venezuela, Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, is kidnapped and murdered in Caracas.

Africa3

• Jul 17The Suppression of Communism Act (passed on June 26 by the Parliament of South Africa) comes into force in South Africa.
• Aug 52 Squadron SAAF departs from South Africa to take part in the Korean War.
• Nov 18The United Nations accepts the formation of the Libyan National Council.