WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1949
Find out what all happened January to December 1949

U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the Department of War with the United States Department of Defense. (10. August 1949)

The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs for the first time. (17. January 1949)

A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States. (5. April 1949)

Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. (29. August 1949)

The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece in Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War. (31. August 1949)

The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. (2. November 1949)

The Communist Party of China writes the Common Programme for the future People's Republic of China. (29. September 1949)

The 26 counties of the Irish Free State become Ireland. (1. April 1949)

Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (4. April 1949)

The Government of Canada repeals Japanese Canadian internment after seven years. (1. April 1949)

Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") is condemned to prison for treason. (8. March 1949)

The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York. (4. September 1949)

The first "networked" television broadcasts take place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming. (11. January 1949)

KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule. (29. December 1949)

The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family. (1. July 1949)

Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and 10 others are also killed. (28. April 1949)

Long-Haired Hare, starring Bugs Bunny, is released in theaters. (25. June 1949)

The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. (13. December 1949)

Israel joins the United Nations. (11. May 1949)

Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls. (15. February 1949)