May 1948

[May 1], 1948 (Saturday)

• The Korean People's Committee in the Soviet-controlled northern zone of Korea announced the establishment of a "People's Republic", claiming jurisdiction over all of Korea and adopting a Soviet-style constitution. US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, commander of the southern zone of Korea, immediately issued a message indicating that he did not recognize the People's Committee as a legitimate government and did not intend to negotiate with it.
• The Ein al-Zeitun massacre occurred at the Palestinian Arab village of Ein al-Zeitun when the Palmach destroyed the village and killed between 23 and 70 Arab prisoners.
• Greek Justice Minister Christos Ladas was assassinated in Athens by a man who hurled a grenade from a car window. The assassin, who was shot and captured by police, was identified as a member of the Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle, a Communist-affiliated paramilitary group.
• Pope Pius XII promulgated Auspicia quaedam, an encyclical on worldwide public prayers for peace and a solution to the Palestine problem.
• Citation won the Kentucky Derby.
• Wigan defeated Bradford Northern 8–3 in rugby's Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. It was the first rugby match ever televised.

  [May 2], 1948 (Sunday)

• Dwight D. Eisenhower formally retired from the US Army in a ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia.
• Born: Larry Gatlin, country and gospel singer and songwriter, in Seminole, Texas
• Died: Wilhelm von Opel, 76, co-founder of the German automobile manufacturer Opel

  [May 3], 1948 (Monday)

• In Jerusalem, Operation Yevusi ended incomplete due to the ceasefire imposed by the British Army.
• Colombia broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The rupture had been anticipated since Colombian President Mariano Ospina Pérez had blamed international communism for the Bogotazo.
• The U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., ruling that the existing movie distribution scheme was in violation of antitrust laws, as well as Shelley v. Kraemer, which struck down racially restrictive housing covenants.
• The 31st Pulitzer Prizes were awarded. Recipients included Tennessee Williams receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire, James A. Michener in Fiction for Tales of the South Pacific, Walter Piston in Music for Symphony No. 3 and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the Public Service category for its coverage of the Centralia mine disaster.
• Born: Denis Cosgrove, geographer, in Liverpool, England ; Chris Mulkey, actor, in Viroqua, Wisconsin; Peter Oosterhuis, golfer and golf analyst, in Lambeth, London, England
• Died: Howard C. Lilly, 31-32, NACA research pilot ; Ernst Tandefelt, 62, Finnish nobleman and assassin of Interior Minister Heikki Ritavuori in 1922

  [May 4], 1948 (Tuesday)

• A firing squad outside Athens executed 24 leftists accused of murders during the Dekemvriana in December 1944.
• The drama film Hamlet starring Laurence Olivier based on the William Shakespeare play was released.
• Born: George Tupou V, King of Tonga, in Tongatapu, Tonga

  [May 5], 1948 (Wednesday)

• Soviet-licensed press in Berlin published new postal regulations prohibiting the mailing of food, liquor and precious metals from Berlin to western Germany.
• Born: Joe Esposito, singer-songwriter, in the United States; Bill Ward, drummer and founding member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, in Aston, Birmingham, England

  [May 6], 1948 (Thursday)

• Four-power talks in London on an Austrian peace treaty were adjourned indefinitely after delegates reached an impasse over Yugoslavia's claim for territory in Carinthia and Styria in addition to reparations.
• The novel The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer was published.

  [May 7], 1948 (Friday)

• The Hague Congress met in the Congress of Europe in The Hague, bringing together about 600 delegates representing a broad political spectrum. Winston Churchill delivered a speech appealing to Europeans to forget "the hatreds of the past" and create a united Europe centered on "the idea of a Charter of Human Rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law."
• The United States, Britain and France told the UN Atomic Energy Commission to abandon its efforts to devise an international control plan, blaming the Soviet Union for the impasse.

  [May 8], 1948 (Saturday)

• Haganah forces launched Operation Maccabi to drive out the Arab forces and Palestinian irregulars occupying the road to Jerusalem. Over the next eight days the Givati and Harel Brigades would capture the villages of Bayt Mahsir, Abu Shusha, Al-Na'ani, al-Qubab and Dayr Ayyub.
• José Figueres Ferrer became 32nd President of Costa Rica.
• Born: Stephen Stohn, American-born Canadian lawyer and television producer, in Denver, Colorado
• Died: U Saw, 47 or 48, Prime Minister of British Burma

  [May 9], 1948 (Sunday)

• The Ninth-of-May Constitution came into effect in Czechoslovakia.
• The Haganah launched Operation Barak with the goal of capturing villages north of Gaza in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian Army.
• Born: Steven W. Mosher, social scientist and activist, in Scotia, California; Calvin Murphy, basketball player, in Norwalk, Connecticut
• Died: Viola Allen, 80, American stage actress

  [May 10], 1948 (Monday)

• Constituent Assembly elections were held in the US-occupied southern zone of Korea with supervision from the United Nations. The National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence achieved a plurality by winning 55 of 200 seats.
• US President Harry S. Truman thwarted an imminent nationwide railroad strike by issuing an executive order taking over the country's railroads and directing the Secretary of the Army to operate them in the name of the US government. "It is essential to the public health and to the public welfare generally that every possible step be taken by the Government to assure to the fullest possible extent continuous and uninterrupted transportation service," Truman explained in a statement. "A strike on our railroads would be a nationwide tragedy, with worldwide repercussions."
• The Golani Brigade of the Haganah launched Operation Gideon with the objective of capturing Beisan, clearing the surrounding area and blocking one of the possible entry routes for Transjordanian forces.

  [May 11], 1948 (Tuesday)

• Luigi Einaudi was elected President of Italy in a joint session of parliament.
• Third-party presidential candidate Henry A. Wallace gave a speech before 19,000 people at Madison Square Garden that was also broadcast over radio and television. Wallace used the speech to publicize an open letter to Joseph Stalin featuring a six-point plan to end the Cold War: A general reduction of armaments, stopping all foreign exports of weapons, unrestricted trade between the two countries, freedom of movement between the two countries, free exchange of scientific information and the establishment of an UN agency for international relief.
• Born: Shigeru Izumiya, poet, folk singer and actor, in Aomori, Japan

  [May 12], 1948 (Wednesday)

• 1948 Sabena DC-4 Crash: A Douglas DC-4 of the Belgian airline Sabena crashed near Libenge, Congo, killing 31 of the 32 aboard.
• Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands announced that she would be abdicating the throne in favor of her daughter Juliana in September after the celebration of her Golden Jubilee.
• The Hebei–Rehe–Chahar Campaign began during the Chinese Civil War.
• The thriller film The Iron Curtain starring Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney was released.
• Born: Lindsay Crouse, actress, in New York City; Steve Winwood, musician, in Handsworth, West Midlands, England

  [May 13], 1948 (Thursday)

• Jewish forces in Jerusalem launched Operations Shfifon and Kilshon.
• The Kfar Etzion massacre took place after a two-day battle in which Jewish Kibbutz residents and Haganah militia defended Kfar Etzion from Arab forces. 129 Jews were killed and the kibbutz was looted and razed to the ground.
• Born : Daniel Russo, French actor
• Died: Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, 28, American socialite

  [May 14], 1948 (Friday)

• The Israeli Declaration of Independence was proclaimed, announcing that the State of Israel would come into effect upon termination of the British Mandate for Palestine the following day.
• Eleven minutes after Israel declared independence, President Truman issued a memo that concisely read: "This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel."
• The RAND Corporation was formed.
• FC Dinamo Bucharest was founded in Romania.
• Born: Bob Woolmer, cricketer and coach, in Kanpur, India

  [May 15], 1948 (Saturday)

• The British mandate in Palestine expired at midnight. The Arab–Israeli War began as a coalition of Arab states attacked under the overall command of King Abdullah of Transjordan. The Battle of Nirim was fought, with Egyptian forces failing to take the kibbutz of Nirim, and the Battles of the Kinarot Valley began.
• The murder of June Anne Devaney occurred when a 3-year 11-month-old girl was abducted from her cot at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire, raped, and murdered. Her killer would eventually be arrested, convicted and hanged following the first mass fingerprinting exercise to solve a murder in UK history.
• Australian cricket team in England in 1948: In a game against Essex, the touring Australian cricket team broke the record for the most runs scored in a first-class match in a day by scoring 721 runs.
• Citation won the Preakness Stakes.
• "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole hit #1 on the Billboard singles charts.
• Born: Yutaka Enatsu, baseball player, in Nara Prefecture, Japan; Brian Eno, musician and record producer, in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
• Died: Edward J. Flanagan, 61, Irish-born American Catholic priest and founder of the Boys Town orphanage