5 Jan 1949: U.S. President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
17 Jan 1949: The first Volkswagen Beetle to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought over to New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models will be sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff that the car has no future in the U.S. (The VW Beetle goes on to become the greatest automobile phenomenon in American history.)
25 Jan 1949: Forces from the Communist Party of China enter Beijing.
25 Jan 1949: In the first Israeli election, David Ben-Gurion becomes Prime Minister
26 Jan 1949: Australian citizenship comes into being.
1 Mar 1949: Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch
1 Apr 1949: Bernardus Wilhelmus Hendrikus Nijhuis is born in Almelo (Bornsestraat) , Overijssel, Nederland
1 Apr 1949: Éire leaves the British Commonwealth and becomes the Republic of Ireland
4 Apr 1949: The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance
20 Apr 1949: The Royal Navy frigate HMS Amethyst (U16) goes up the Yangtze River to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of Mao's communist forces. Under heavy fire it runs aground off Rose Island. After an aborted rescue attempt on April 26 it anchors 10 miles upstream. Negotiations with the communist forces to let the ship leave drag on for weeks.
28 Apr 1949: India issues the London Declaration, enabling it (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the British Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth', and renaming the organisation as the 'Commonwealth of Nations'
5 May 1949: The Council of Europe is founded by the signing of the Treaty of London.
11 May 1949: Israel is admitted to the U.N. as its 59th member
23 May 1949: The Federal Republic of Germany is established
24 May 1949: Bieuwkje Jannes Lodenstein passes away in Emmen, Drenthe, Nederland.
29 Jun 1949: Apartheid: The South African Citizenship Act suspends the granting of citizenship to British Commonwealth immigrants after 5 years and imposes a ban on mixed marriages
20 Jul 1949: Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their 19-month war
29 Jul 1949: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, code named "Joe 1." Its design imitates the American plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.
28 Aug 1949: The last 6 surviving veterans of the American Civil War meet in Indianapolis.
6 Sep 1949: Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to Germany
7 Sep 1949: The Federal Republic of Germany is officially founded. Konrad Adenauer is the first federal chancellor
13 Sep 1949: The Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership for Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal
29 Sep 1949: The First Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves a design for the Flag of the People's Republic of China
1 Oct 1949: The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed
7 Oct 1949: The Democratic Republic of Germany DDR is established officially
15 Nov 1949: Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte are executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi
10 Dec 1949: Robert Gordon (Bob) Menzies elected in Australia
16 Dec 1949: Sukarno is elected president of the Republic of Indonesia
27 Dec 1949: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty
1847 - 1931 (83 years)
