Golfer Ben Hogan suffered a fractured pelvis and broken collarbone in a head-on collision between his Cadillac and a bus east of Van Horn, Texas. Ben's wife Valerie suffered minor injuries.[3]
US President Harry S. Truman stated at his weekly press conference that he would only meet with Joseph Stalin if the Soviet leader came to Washington as his personal guest. The president reiterated the determination of the United States to not enter negotiations with the Soviet Union outside of the framework of the United Nations.[5]
Hungarian Cardinal József Mindszenty and six co-defendants went on trial in Budapest for treason and other crimes against the state.[6]
Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was shot in the back and mouth during an unsuccessful assassination attempt. As the Shah was getting out of his car on the steps of Tehran University, a journalist pretended to take his picture but instead fired five shots at point blank range. The Shah's aides and the police pounced on the assailant and beat him to the point that he would die of his injuries in hospital.[7][8]
The three-day trial of Cardinal Mindszenty ended. The Primate of Hungary admitted guilt "in principle" to most of the charges against him but denied plotting to overthrow the Hungarian government.[10]
The Soviet Union offered Norway a non-aggression pact and warned that country not to join the proposed North Atlantic alliance.[11]
The Communist Tudeh Party of Iran was banned amid the government crackdown following an attempt on the Shah's life.[8]
Premier of the Republic of China Sun Fo said that his government's "principal task is to realize an honorable peace" and maintained that the Civil War would continue until the Communists dropped their demand for punishment of war criminals.[12]
Joe DiMaggio signed a new contract with the New York Yankees paying him a reported $90,000 for the upcoming season, making him the highest-salaried player in baseball.[14]
Cardinal Mindszenty was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mindszenty's six co-defendants were also given prison sentences ranging from three years to life.[15]
German dynamite teams under Soviet orders began demolishing the heavily damaged remains of the Reich Chancellory in Berlin.[16]
The metropolitan police in Seoul announced the arrest of three Communists implicated in a plot to assassinate the members of the United Nations Commission on Korea as well as top Korean government officials.[21]
Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent arrived in Washington for a three-day visit to confer with President Truman on various issues affecting the United States and Canada.[22]
30 people were killed and 40 injured in a train derailment 40 miles west of Tarragona, Spain. Railway officials blamed the accident on sabotage of the tracks.[24]
Israel's first Constituent Assembly was sworn in by acting president Chaim Weizmann in Jerusalem. The United States, Britain and France boycotted the ceremony, protesting Israel's refusal to recognize the UN declaration of Jerusalem as an international city.[27][28]
The Soviet Union denounced allegations that up to 14 million people were working as slave laborers in Russia and dying in large numbers because of inhumane treatment. Soviet UN delegate Semyon K. Tsarapkin said that any proposal to send a special commission to investigate the alleged slave labor camps was merely a ruse to let American spies into the USSR.[29]
The Israeli constituent assembly adopted an interim constitution setting limits on presidential authority and making the prime minister and his cabinet answerable to parliament. The Assembly also confirmed Chaim Weizmann as President.[28]
Thailand declared a state of emergency and closed its Malayan border to hinder the movement of Malayan guerrillas.[28]
The defense presented its opening argument in the Mildred Gillars trial with the statement that treason cannot be committed by "mere words."[33]
Ezra Pound was named the winner of the first annual Bollingen Prize for Poetry for his book The Pisan Cantos. Anticipating controversy for giving the award to a man under indictment for broadcasting Fascist propaganda during the war, the judges accompanied the announcement with the statement: "To permit other considerations than that of poetic achievement to sway the decision would destroy the significance of the award and would in principle deny the validity of that objective perception of value on which any civilized society must rest."[36]
Costa Rica and Nicaragua signed a friendship pact to end their dispute over Costa Rica's charge that Nicaraguan armed forces had invaded Costa Rican territory in December 1948.[38]
Rioting broke out in the British sector of Berlin between Jews and police outside a movie theatre screening the film Oliver Twist. Demonstrators protested that the portrayal of Fagin in the film was anti-Semitic.[39]
French Communist Party leader Maurice Thorez suggested that French workers should aid the Red Army in the event of a war between the USSR and the West. French political leaders demanded that the government consider taking legal action against Thorez.[41]
Mildred Gillars took the stand in her treason trial. During her testimony she admitted to having signed an oath of allegiance to Nazi Germany, but claimed she only did so "in order to live."[42]
Fifteen Bulgarian Protestant churchmen went on trial before a Sofia court on charges of espionage. Two defendants read confessions in the opening session.[45]
The Dutch government announced that it would transfer sovereignty over Indonesia before the July 1, 1950 deadline set by the UN.[48]
Italian Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti echoed Maurice Thorez' recent remarks by declaring that Italian Communists would be duty-bound to assist the Red Army if it should invade Italy in pursuit of an aggressor.[48]
Grady the Cow was freed by rubbing her with grease, putting her on a greased platform and pushing her back out the same small opening she had bolted through.[49]
Palace Rebellion: Confused fighting between Thai soldiers and sailors broke out in the streets of Bangkok after rebels seized a government radio station and attempted to start a coup by falsely reporting that Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram had resigned. At least 50 people were killed in the fighting.[50][51]
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio serial Blue Hills premiered. The show would run until September 30, 1976 and air a total of 5,795 episodes, making it at one time the longest-running radio serial in the world.