1946 in the United States

Events from the year 1946 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government">Federal government of the United States">Federal government

President: Harry S. Truman
[Vice President of the United States|President of the United States|Vice President]: vacant
Chief Justice:
[Speaker of the United States United States House election, 1946|House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]: Sam Rayburn
Senate Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley
Congress: 79th

Events

January–March

January 6 - A revised revival of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre.
January 17 - U.S. Senator Dennis Chávez calls for a vote on a Fair Employment Practice Committee bill which calls for an end to discrimination in the workplace. A filibuster prevents it from passing.
January 25 - The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
January 29 - The Central Intelligence Group is established.
February 12 - Isaac Woodard, an African American army veteran, is beaten and blinded by police chief Lynwood Shull in Batesburg, South Carolina, an event which is brought to national attention on Orson Welles's radio show.
February 14 - ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.
February 18 - President Truman signs the Rescission Act of 1946 annulling benefits payable to Filipino troops who fought for the U.S. during World War II.
February 28 - In Philadelphia, General Electric strikers and police clash.
March 5 - In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill popularizes the political metaphor of the Iron Curtain.
March 6 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
March 7 - The 18th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by James Stewart and Bob Hope, is held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, the first ceremony after World War II. Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend wins the most awards with four, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director for Wilder. Leo McCarey's The Bells of St. Mary's receives the most nominations with eight.
March 21 - The Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League, newly relocated from Cleveland, sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in the league since 1933.
March 24 - BBC Home Service radio in the United Kingdom broadcasts Alistair Cooke's first American Letter. As Letter from America, this programme will continue until a few weeks before Cooke's death in 2004.

April–June

April 1 – The 8.6 Aleutian Islands earthquake affects Alaska with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI, causing a destructive basin wide tsunami, leaving 165–173 dead.
April 18 – The United States recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia.
April 20 – Walt Disney's eighth feature film, Make Mine Music, is released. It is Disney's third of six package films to be released through the 1940s.
April 22 – Girouard v. United States, a citizenship case decided in the Supreme Court, overturns the decision in United States v. Schwimmer.
April 23
*The Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League is founded.
*Howard Hughes's Western movie The Outlaw, starring Jane Russell, goes on general release.
May 2 – Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay; a riot occurs, the "Battle of Alcatraz".
May 10 – The first V-2 rocket to be successfully launched in the U.S. is fired from White Sands Missile Range.
May 21 – Manhattan Project physicist Dr. Louis Slotin accidentally triggers a fission reaction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and, although saving his coworkers, gives himself a lethal dose of hard radiation, making him the second victim of a criticality accident in history.
May 23 – Dwarf Grill, predecessor of Chick-fil-A, a fast food chicken restaurant, is founded in Georgia.
June 6 – The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City, later renamed the National Basketball Association.
June 14 – U.S. representative Bernard Baruch presents a proposal to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission for the creation of an international Atomic Development Authority, with the goal of preventing unchecked nuclear proliferation.
June 17
*The 1946 Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario tornado on the Detroit River kills 17.
*Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens in the United States nearly 2 years after its release in the UK. It is the first Shakespeare film in color, and critics hail it as the finest film of a Shakespeare play ever made.

July–September

July 4 - The Philippines is granted independence by the United States.
July 7
* Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
* Howard Hughes nearly dies when a test flight of the Hughes XF-11 crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood due to a propeller malfunction.
July 14 - Benjamin Spock's influential The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care is published.
July 25
*Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, when the United States detonates the Baker device during Operation Crossroads.
*At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
*1946 Georgia lynching: In the last mass lynching in the United States, a mob of white men shoot and kill two African-American couples near Moore's Ford Bridge in Georgia.
August 1
* President Truman signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, which establishes the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
* The Fulbright Program, a system of U.S. international educational exchange scholarships, is established.
August 25 - American golfer Ben Hogan wins the PGA Championship.
September 15 - DuMont Television Network begins broadcasting regularly.
September 22 - Yogi Berra makes his Major League Baseball debut, entering a game for the New York Yankees against the Philadelphia A's and hitting a home run in his first time at bat.
September 24 - White House counsel Clark Clifford presents President Truman with a top secret report authored by George Elsey on American Relations with the Soviet Union which forms the basis of the U.S. policy of containment.

October–December

October 15 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3, to win their 6th World Series.
October 16 - The United Nations' first meeting in Long Island is held.
November 1 - The New York Knicks play against the Toronto Huskies at the Maple Leaf Gardens, in the first Basketball Association of America game. The Knicks win 68–66.
November 6 - Senate and House elections in the United States both give majorities to the Republicans.
November 12 - In Chicago, a branch of the Exchange National Bank opens the first 10 drive-up teller windows.
November 25 - In St. Paul, Minnesota, over a thousand public school teachers go on strike for more than a month.
November 27 - Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."
December 2 - The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is signed in Washington, D.C. to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry" through establishment of the International Whaling Commission.
December 5 - President Truman establishes the President's Committee on Civil Rights to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens.
December 7 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119.
December 14
* Proposed United States purchase of Greenland from Denmark: An offer is made through diplomatic channels.
* Aspen Skiing Company opens Aspen Mountain (ski area) in Colorado with Ski Lift No. 1, at the world's longest chairlift at this time.
December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers and Thomas Mitchell, is released in New York.
December 22 - The Havana Conference begins between U.S. organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba.
December 26 - The Flamingo Hotel opens on the Las Vegas Strip.
December 31 - President Harry S. Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.

Undated

Airport Homes race riots in Chicago.
The 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun contract is released.
The All-America Football Conference team San Francisco 49ers is formed.
The first Tupperware is sold in department and hardware stores in the United States.
Binghamton University is founded in New York (state).

Births

January

January 1
* Rick Hurst, American actor
* Shelby Steele, American journalist, author and director
January 3 – Cissy King, American dancer, singer
January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, film director
January 7
*Michele Elliott, author, psychologist and founder of child protection charity Kidscape
*Michael Roizen, American anesthesiologist and author
January 8
* Robby Krieger, American rock musician
* Stanton Peele, American psychologist
January 11
* Naomi Judd, American country singer
* John Piper, American theologian
January 12 – George Duke, African-American musician
January 16 – Michael Coats, American astronaut
January 19 – Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist
January 20 – David Lynch, American film director
January 21 – Johnny Oates, American baseball player, manager
January 23 – Don Whittington, American race car driver
January 25 – Doc Bundy, American race car driver and technician
January 26
* Deon Jackson, American singer-songwriter
* Gene Siskel, American film critic
January 27 – Nedra Talley, African-American singer
January 29 – Bettye LaVette, African-American soul singer, songwriter
January 31 – Terry Kath, American rock musician

February

February 2 – Blake Clark, American actor, comedian
February 6 – Jim Turner, American politician
February 7
* Tom Hicks, American investor and sports team owner
* Sammy Johns, American singer-songwriter
February 9 – Jim Webb, American politician
February 11 – Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian
February 13
* Richard Blumenthal, American politician
* Joe Estevez, American actor
February 14 – Gregory Hines, African-American dancer, actor
February 16 – Marvin Sease, American blues and soul singer-songwriter
February 19 – Karen Silkwood, American activist
February 20
* Sandy Duncan, American singer, dancer, comedian and actress
* J. Geils, American guitarist
February 21
* Tyne Daly, American actress
* Monica Johnson, American screenwriter
* Jim Ryan, American politician and lawyer
February 25 – Rick Hummel, American sportswriter
February 28
* Don Ciccone, American singer, songwriter
* Don Francisco, American Christian musician
* Syreeta Wright, African-American singer, songwriter

March

March 1 – Lana Wood, American actress, producer
March 7
* John Heard, American actor
* Peter Wolf, American rock musician
March 8 – Randy Meisner, American musician
March 10 – Mike Davis, American scholar
March 12
* Frank Welker, American voice actor, singer
* Liza Minnelli, American singer, actress
March 13 – Yonatan Netanyahu, American-born Israeli soldier
March 15 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player, manager
March 17 – Larry Langford, American politician
March 24 – Kitty O'Neil, speed record holder and stuntwoman
March 26 – Johnny Crawford, American child actor, musician
March 27 – Mike Jackson, American former MLB pitcher

April

April 2 - Dickie Drake, air force veteran and Alabamian politician
April 3 – Rod Gaspar, baseball player
April 7 – Robert Metcalfe, computer scientist and entrepreneur
April 8
* Catfish Hunter, baseball player
* Tim Thomerson, actor, comedian
April 9 – Nate Colbert, baseball player
April 10 – David Angell, television producer
April 11 – Chris Burden, artist
April 12 – Ed O'Neill, actor
April 13 – Al Green, singer, songwriter and record producer
April 15 – Marsha Hunt, actress, singer and novelist
April 16 – Margot Adler, journalist
April 20
* Gordon Smiley, race car driver
* Tommy Hutton, baseball player and sportscaster
April 22 – John Waters, film director
April 24
* Stafford James, bassist and composer
* Phil Robertson, businessman and reality television personality
April 25
* Talia Shire, actress
* Strobe Talbott, journalist and diplomat
April 26 – Richard S. Fuld Jr., banker
April 28 – Larissa Grunig, public relations theorist, feminist
April 30 – Bill Plympton, animator, graphic designer, cartoonist and filmmaker

May

May 2 – Lesley Gore, American rock singer
May 3
* Greg Gumbel, American sportscaster
* Jane LaTour, American activist and journalist
May 5 – Jim Kelly, African-American actor, martial artist and tennis player
May 6
* Larry Huber, American television producer, animator
* Grier Jones, American golfer and coach
May 9 – Candice Bergen, American actress
May 11 – Robert Jarvik, American physicist, artificial heart inventor
May 12 – Richard Bruce Silverman, American chemist
May 14 – Claudia Goldin, American economic historian, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2023
May 18
* Reggie Jackson, African-American baseball player
* Andreas Katsulas, American actor
May 20
* Craig Patrick, American-Canadian hockey player, coach and manager
* Cher, American singer, songwriter and actress
May 25 – Richard Gerald Jordan, American convicted murderer

June

June 3 – Michael Clarke, American drummer
June 4 – Suzanne Ciani, American pianist, electronic composer
June 6 – Thomas DeSimone, gangster
June 7 – Robert Tilton, American televangelist, author
June 13 – Paul L. Modrich, American biochemist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015
June 14 – Donald Trump, American businessman, television producer, politician, 45th and 47th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and since 2025
June 15 – Janet Lennon, American singer
June 16 – Jodi Rell, American politician
June 17 – Marcy Kaptur, American politician
June 18 – Bruiser Brody, American professional wrestler
June 20
* Bob Vila, American television host
* Joseph Waeckerle, American physician and diplomat
* André Watts, American pianist
June 22 – Kay Redfield Jamison, American psychiatrist
June 23 – Ted Shackelford, American actor
June 24
* Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut
* Robert Reich, 22nd United States Secretary of Labor
June 26
* Leo Rossi, American actor
* Ricky Jay, American actor, author and magician
June 27 – Russ Critchfield, American basketball player
June 28 – Gilda Radner, American comedian, actress

July

July 2 – Richard Axel, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
July 4 – Michael Milken, American financier, financial criminal and philanthropist
July 5 – Ed O'Ross, American actor
July 6
* George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009
* Sylvester Stallone, American actor, filmmaker and screenwriter
* Fred Dryer, American football defensive end, actor
* Jamie Wyeth, American painter
July 10
* Sue Lyon, American actress
* Oliver Martin, American cyclist
July 11 – Jack Wrangler, American porn star
July 13 – Cheech Marin, Mexican-American actor, comedian
July 14
* Nick Benedict, American actor and musician
* Vincent Pastore, American actor
July 15 – Linda Ronstadt, singer and songwriter
July 16
* Dave Goelz, puppeteer
* Barbara Lee, politician
* Ron Yary, American football player
July 19
* Suzanne de Passe, American music and screen producer
* Roland Griffiths, American scientist
July 22
* Jim Edgar, American politician, governor of Illinois
* Danny Glover, African-American actor, film director and political activist
July 23
* Sally Flynn, American singer
* Khan Jamal, American musician
July 26 – Nancy Adler, American health psychologist
July 27
* Larry Biittner, American baseball player
* Gwynne Gilford, American actress
July 28 – Jonathan Edwards, American singer, songwriter and guitarist
July 30 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver

August

August 1
* Mike Emrick, American sportscaster
* Sandi Griffiths, American singer
August 5
* Ron Silliman, American poet
* Loni Anderson, American actress
* Shirley Ann Jackson, African American physicist and academic administrator
August 8 – Michael Lippman, American music manager
August 9 – Jim Kiick, American football player
August 13 – Janet Yellen, American Chair of the Federal Reserve
August 14 – Dennis Hof, American brothel owner
August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress, singer
August 17 – Drake Levin, American rock guitarist
August 19
* Charles Bolden, African-American astronaut
* Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001
August 20 – Connie Chung, Asian-American reporter
August 25
* Nancy Blomberg, American art curator
* Rollie Fingers, American baseball player
* Charles Ghigna, American poet, children's author
August 26
* Valerie Simpson, African-American singer
* Mark Snow, American composer
* Swede Savage, American race car driver
August 29 – Bob Beamon, American athlete
August 30
* Francis Davis, American jazz critic and author
* Peggy Lipton, American actress and model
August 31
* Jerome Corsi, American political commentator and conspiracy theorist
* Tom Coughlin, American football player, coach and executive

September

September 2
* Billy Preston, African-American soul musician
* Dan White, American politician, murderer
September 3
* John N. Abrams, American general
* Thomas Anthony Durkin, American attorney
September 4
* Gary Duncan, American rock guitarist
* Greg Elmore, American rock drummer
September 5
* Dennis Dugan, American actor, director
* Loudon Wainwright III, American songwriter, folk singer, humorist and actor
September 7 – Willie Crawford, American baseball player
September 10 – Jim Hines, African-American sprinter
September 14 – Jim Angle, American journalist and television reporter
September 15
* Tommy Lee Jones, American actor and filmmaker
* Oliver Stone, American film director, screenwriter, producer and veteran
September 18
* Peter Alsop, American musician
* Otis Sistrunk, American football player and wrestler
September 19 – Connie Kreski, American model
September 20
* Jere Elliott, American alpine skier
* Dorothy Hukill, American politician
September 21 – Richard St. Clair, American musician, composer
September 25 – Jerry Penrod, American bass player
September 26
* Andrea Dworkin, American feminist, writer
* Christine Todd Whitman, American politician
September 28 – Jeffrey Jones, American actor
September 30 – Diego Cortez, American filmmaker and art curator

October

October 1 – Tim O'Brien, author
October 3
* P. P. Arnold, singer
* Melinda Ledbetter, talent manager
October 4
* Chuck Hagel, politician, 24th United States Secretary of Defense
* Susan Sarandon, actress
October 5 – Heather MacRae, actress
October 6
* Gene Clines, baseball player and coach
* Lloyd Doggett, politician
October 7 – Catharine A. MacKinnon, feminist
October 8 – John T. Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton
October 10 – John Prine, country folk singer
October 11 – Daryl Hall, rock musician
October 12 – Drew Edmondson, politician
October 13
* Dorothy Moore, singer
* Demond Wilson, African-American actor, minister
October 14 – Craig Venter, biotechnologist
October 15
* Richard Carpenter, American pop musician, composer
* John Getz, American actor
October 16 – Suzanne Somers, American actress, singer
October 17 – Bob Seagren, American athlete, actor
October 23 – Mel Martínez, American politician
October 25 – Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, transgender rights activist
October 26 – Pat Sajak, American game-show host
October 29 – Kathryn J. Whitmire, Texas politician, mayor of Houston
October 30
* Lynne Marta, American actress
* Andrea Mitchell, American journalist

November

November 1 – Lynne Russell, American newsreader
November 4
* Laura Bush, former First Lady of the United States
* Les Lannom, American actor, musician
* Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer
November 5
* Loleatta Holloway, American singer
* Gram Parsons, American musician
November 6 – Sally Field, American actress, singer
November 7 – Chrystos, American poet
November 10 – Alaina Reed Hall, American actress
November 11
* Corrine Brown, American politician, fraudster
* Sandy Skoglund, American photographer
November 14 – Sacheen Littlefeather, American actress, model and activist for Native American civil rights
November 16
* Barbara Leigh, American fashion model and film actress in the 1970s
* Terence McKenna, American writer, philosopher, ethnobotanist and shaman
* Jo Jo White, American basketball player
November 17 – Terry Branstad, American politician
November 18 – Alan Dean Foster, American novelist
November 20
* J. Blackfoot, American singer
* Greg Cook, American football player
* Judy Woodruff, American television reporter
* Duane Allman, American rock guitarist, co-founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band
* Samuel E. Wright, American actor and singer
November 23 – Bobby Rush, African-American politician, activist and pastor
November 24
* Ted Bundy, American serial killer
* Jimmy Collins, American basketball player and coach
November 25
* Marc Brown, American author of children's books.
November 27 – Richard Codey, American politician, 53rd Governor of New Jersey
November 29 – Suzy Chaffee, American singer, actress
November 30 – Barbara Cubin, U.S. Congresswoman from Wyoming

December

December 1
* Jonathan Katz, American comedian and actor
* Jimmy McMillan, American founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, political activist, perennial candidate
December 4 – Sherry Alberoni, American actress, voice artist
December 6
* Frankie Beverly, American soul singer-songwriter and producer
* Nancy Brinker, American health activist, diplomat
December 8 – John Rubinstein, American actor, director and composer
December 9 – Dennis Dunaway, American bassist and composer
December 10 – Thomas Lux, American poet and academic
December 11
* Susan Kyle, American writer
* Ellen Meloy, American writer
December 12
* Josepha Sherman, American author, folklorist and anthropologist
* Paula Wagner, American film producer and executive
* Gloria Loring, American singer
* Don Gummer, American sculptor
December 13 – Heather North, American television, voice actress
December 14
* Patty Duke, American actress
* Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress
December 16 – Alice Aycock, American sculptor
December 18 – Steven Spielberg, American film director, screenwriter, producer and executive
December 19
* Candace Pert, American neuroscientist
* Robert Urich, American actor
December 20
* John Spencer, American actor
* Lloyd Mumphord, American football player
* Sonny Perdue, politician, 81st Governor of Georgia
* Dick Wolf, American television producer
December 21 – Carl Wilson, American musician
December 23 – Susan Lucci, American actress
December 24
* Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist
* Jeff Sessions, American politician, United States Attorney General
December 25
* Jimmy Buffett, American rock singer, songwriter
* Larry Csonka, American football player
* Gene Lamont, American baseball player, manager
December 27 – Lenny Kaye, American guitarist
December 28
* Mike Beebe, American politician, attorney
* Tim Johnson, American politician
* Edgar Winter, American rock musician
December 29
* Jackie Bezos, American businesswoman and philanthropist
* Paul S. Trible, Jr., American politician
December 30 – Patti Smith, American poet, singer