1946
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
Years: 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 - 1946 - 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951
Events:
- January 4 – In Britain, Theodore Schurch becames the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940
- January 10 - First meeting of the United Nations
- January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the people's republic of Albania with himself as dictator.
- January 20 – Charles De Gaulle resigns from the post of French president
- February 2 – Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic.
- February 14 – Bank of England is nationalized.
- February 15 - Canada indicts 22 communist agents.
- February 24 – Juan Peron is elected a president of Argentina
- March 2 – British troops retreat from Iran – Soviet troops do not.
- March 5 – In his speech in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about Iron Curtain.
- March 15 – Clement Attlee promises independence to India as soon as they can agree on constitution
- March 19 – Soviet Union and Switzerland reform diplomatic relations.
- April 1 14-meter high tsunami strikes Hilo, Hawaii - 173 dead, thousands injured.
- April 1 - Singapore becomes a Crown colony
- April 10 – In Japan, women vore for the first time in parliamentarian elections
- April 18 – USA recognizes Josip Broz Tito’s government
- April 18 – Last meeting of League of Nations – its transfers its mission to United Nations.
- April 29 – War crimes trial begins in Tokyo – accused include Hideki Tojo, Shegenori Togo and Hiroshi Oshima.
- May 10 – Nehru elected to lead Indian Congress Party
- May 20 - In Britain, [[House of Commons]9 decides to nationalize mines.
- May 22 – Kingdom of Transjordan founded.
- [[May31[[ - Monarchism wiins in Greek elections.
- June 2 - Italy becomes a republic, after a plebiscite. Women vote for the first time.
- June 9 – In Thailand, king Rama IX accedes the throne.
- June 13 – Umberto II the king of Italy leaves the country – Alcide de Gasperi becomes head of state.
- July 21 – Bomb of Irgun Zwai Leum explodes in Jerusalem.
- August 19 – Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta – 3000 dead.
- September 4 – Street violence between Muslims and Hindus in Bombay.
- September 8 – Bulgaria declared a People's Republic after a referendum – King Simeon II leaves.
- October 23 – United Nations’ first meeting in Long Island.
- November 8 – Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. French cruiser Suffren opens fire. 6000 Vietnamese killed.
- November 12 – Truce between Indonesian nationalist troops and Dutch army in Indonesia.
- November 15 – Netherlands recognized Republic of Indonesia.
- November 19 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden joins the United Nations
- December 11 – UNICEF founded.
- December 24 - France's Fourth Republic founded
- December 26 – Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
- Phantom rockets over Sweden
- The 20mm Vulcan gatling gun is invented
- Devil's Island penal colony closes permanently
- Female suffrage in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and Canadian province of Quebec. First female police officers in Korea and Japan.
- Battles erupt again between Kuomingtang and Chinese communists.
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1946 in film
- The Best Years of Our Lives
- Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart
- Henry V
- The Razor's Edge
- Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious starring Cary Grant
- The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- 1946 in literature
- The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
- Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
- Animal Farm by George Orwell – becomes book of the year in USA
- All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
- 1946 in music
- 1946 in sports
- 1946 in television
- February 4 – RCA demonstrates all-electronic color television system.
- February 18 - The first Washington-New York telecast through AT&T coaxial cable is termed success by engineers and viewers.
- April 22 - CBS color television program is successfully transmitted over a 450-mile coaxial cable link from New York to Washington
- May 9 - The first variety show premieres, Hour Glass, on NBC.
- June 19 - The first televised heavyweight title fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn is broadcast from Yankee Stadium. The fight was seen by 141,000 people, the largest television audience to see a fight.
- October 2 - The first TV network soap opera, Faraway Hill, airs on the DuMont network.
- December 24 - The first church service is telecast, Grace Episcopal Church in New York, on WABD.
- ToKyo Tushin Kogyo founded, which would later become Sony
- Zoomar introduces the first professional zoom lens
Science:
- Benjamin Spock – Baby and child care
Births:
- January 3 - John Paul Jones, bassist from Led Zeppelin
- January 5 - Diane Keaton, actress
- January 6 - Syd Barrett, guitarist and singer
- January 8 - Robby Krieger, musician ("The Doors")
- January 11 - Naomi Judd, country music singer
- January 12 - George Duke, musician
- January 20 - David Lynch, film director
- February 11 - M C Walker, CEO of Iceland Frozen Foods.
- February 11 - Timothy Chambers, pediatrician.
- March 12 – Lisa Minelli
- April 30 - Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Swedish monarch (1973- )
- May 20 - Cher, American singer
- June 14 - Harold Frederick Shipman, British serial killer
- July 22 - Mireille Mathieu, French singer
- August 3 - Jack Straw, British politician
- August 19 - Bill Clinton, American president (1993-2000)
- September 5 - Freddie Mercury, British singer
- September 7 - Francisco Varela, biologist
- September 15 - Oliver Stone, American film director
- November 5 - Herman Brood, Dutch rock 'n' roll artist
- November 5 - Gram Parsons, country music/rock musician
- November 24 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer
- December 31 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II.
Deaths:
- March 23 - Gilbert N. Lewis, physical chemist.
- March 24 - Alexander Alekhine, chess champion
- June 1 – Ion Antonescu
- June 10 - Jack Johnson, African-American boxer
- August 13- H.G. Wells, science fiction writer
- October 15 - Hermann Göring, prominent Nazi leader, marshall of the Third Reich, head of the Airforce (suicide)
- October 16 - Artur Seuss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi leader, governor of The Netherlands during the German occupation (1940-1945) (executed)
- Arlene Feynman, wife of Richard Feynman