WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO AUGUST 1949
Find out what all happened May to August 1949

Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time. The name had been in use since 1939 but was reverted in 1945. (11. May 1949)

The celebrities Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members. (8. June 1949)

Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco. (9. May 1949)

The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: the Federal Republic of Germany. (12. May 1949)

In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established. (20. May 1949)

Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner. (27. July 1949)

The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty. (21. July 1949)

The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin. (12. May 1949)

Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war. (20. July 1949)

The Treaty of London establishes the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as the first European institution working for European integration. (5. May 1949)

In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000. (5. August 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 Federal Republic of Germany is established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is proclaimed. (23. May 1949)

The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd. (24. June 1949)

The treaty creating NATO goes into effect. (24. August 1949)

Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V2 rocket to an altitude of 134 km (83 mi), thereby becoming the first monkey in space. (14. June 1949)

The Mann Gulch fire kills 13 firefighters in Montana. (5. August 1949)

EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation. (6. May 1949)

The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy. (4. May 1949)

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