1946 was an important year. The baby boom began with the birth of 3,400,000 babies. It was a year that helped develop our culture and our country’s outlook as a whole. We were building ranch houses in the suburbs. It was full of progressive events that affect our lives today. It was full of many firsts like the first general-purpose computer. Proctor & Gamble introduces Tide. Mobster Bugsy Siegel built the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Richard Byrd heads an expedition to the North Pole.

• The first meeting of the United Nations starts on January 10.

• TWA begins transatlantic flights on February 5. The plane was the Lockheed Constellation and flew the New York-Gander-Shannon-Paris route.

• On March 5 Winston Churchill delivered his historic Iron Curtain Speech in Fulton, Missouri.

• On April 27, Japanese war crimes trial for the Far East opens in Tokyo, Japan. It will continue for more than two years.

• On June 3 segregation on Interstate Buses is ended after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional after the Morgan vs. Commonwealth of Virginia case.

• The International War Crimes Tribunal announces the verdict at the Nuremberg Trials.

• On October 15, Hermann Goering, head of the German Luftwaffe (air force) commits suicide while waiting to be hung.

• On October 16, ten high-ranking Nazi's are hung for their crimes after being convicted at the Nuremberg Trials.

• The Atomic Energy Commission established the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 on December 5, 1945.

• Baskin-Robbins ice cream store opens its doors.

• Bikini atoll, here the United States tested nuclear weapons in December.
• Sugar Ray Robinson wins the world welterweight boxing title on December 20, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• The skimpy two-piece bikini is invented by Louis Reard, a French courier. It is modeled in a fashion show in Paris. It doesn't come to American beaches until the 1960's.
• The first general-purpose computer ENIAC (Electric Numerical Integrator and Computer) was created at the University of Pennsylvania and was made.
• Tupperware is invented but doesn't become popular until the 50's.
• The electric blanket is manufactured.
• The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock is published.
• Ford introduces the first automated production line in Detroit.
• Fender guitar manufactures the first electric guitar.

19^th Annual Oscar Awards:
Oscar for Best Picture: The Best Days of Our Live|
Oscar for Best Actor: Fredric March for The Best Days of Our Lives
Oscar for Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland for To Each His Own

1940   1941   1942   1943   1944   1945   1946   1947   1948   1949

1940s

e-mail us at thongell@pocanticohills.org
last updated 12/04/05