Mexico City's government-owned Hotel del Prado opened without the traditional blessing of Catholic Archbishop Luis María Martínez due to the inclusion of a controversial mural painted by Diego Rivera depicting 19th century atheist writer Ignacio Ramírez holding an open book with the words "God does not exist." Rivera suggested that the Archbishop "bless the hotel but condemn my mural."[3]
The UN Security Council decided that both Israel and the Arab states had accepted unconditionally its demand for a four-week truce despite reservations by both sides, and asked the UN mediator Folke Bernadotte to set a time for the ceasefire order to go into effect.[4]
About 3,500 people attended a rally at the Washington Monument organized by followers of Henry A. Wallace to urge enactment of civil rights legislation and protest the Mundt-Nixon Communist Control Bill.[6]
A referendum was held in the Dominion of Newfoundland to decide its political future. None of the three options (join Canada, regain independence or remain under British rule) achieved the required 50% approval, so a second referendum was scheduled for July 22 with the least popular option (remain with Britain) dropped.
Operation Pleshet ended in Egyptian tactical victory when the Israeli attack was repulsed.
Ohio's State Secretary ruled that the group supporting Henry A. Wallace for president was not entitled to appear on the state's ballot, calling attention to the fact that the group's original affidavit failed to include a statement that it was not directed by a foreign government. Wallace said that his party would fight the ruling in court.[9]
Buckingham Palace announced that Princess Elizabeth would be undertaking no public engagements after the end of June, indirectly confirming rumors that she was due to have a baby in the fall.[10]
Another pastoral letter from Primate József Mindszenty was read in Hungarian Catholic churches, telling parishioners to stop consuming government-controlled radio and newspapers.[13]
The first vehicle to bear the Porsche name was registered: the Porsche 356 sports car.[16]
NBC's Texaco Star Theater made the jump from radio to television. It would be one of the earliest hit TV shows and give host Milton Berle the nickname of "Mister Television".[17]
Israel and the Arab League agreed to observe the four-week ceasefire beginning Friday at 6 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time.[18]
US President Harry S. Truman began a whirlwind two-day tour of the state of Washington that was described as "non-political" but nevertheless served as a tune-up for the upcoming presidential campaign.[19] During his first speech in Spokane, Truman denounced the 80th United States Congress for having what he famously called a "do-nothing" record.[20]
By a vote of 78–10, the US Senate passed a selective draft bill authorizing up to 250,000 men aged 19 to 25 to be called for up to two years of military service.[21]
In Puerto Rico Law 53, better known as the Gag Law, was signed into law with the goal of suppressing the independence movement in Puerto Rico. The law would remain in force until 1957.
President Truman made a foreign policy speech in Berkeley, California declaring that his country would not allow the world to be split into two spheres of influence dominated by the US and the Soviet Union.[28]
1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania: Riots broke out between the Arab and Jewish communities of Tripoli, resulting in the deaths of 13-14 Jews and 4 Arabs and destruction of 280 Jewish homes.
In the first immigration case since the Arab-Israeli truce began, the liner Kedmah anchored in Tel Aviv from Marseille carrying 420 people. Under the truce terms, all men between the ages of 14 and 45 were to be interned in a refugee camp if they immigrated to Israel during the four-week truce period.[30]
Russian authorities in Germany halted shipment of coal from the British occupation zone to Berlin and closed the Elbe River bridge on the main Berlin-Helmstedt highway, allegedly for "repairs."[32]
Half of London's dockworkers began a wildcat strike in protest of eleven dockers being punished for refusing to handle a "dirty" cargo of zinc oxide unless they were paid more.[33][34]
A prototype of TV Guide appeared on newsstands in New York, originally called TeleVision Guide. The first cover subject was Gloria Swanson, who at the time was starring in a short-lived television series, The Gloria Swanson Hour.[35]
US Congress overturned a presidential veto for the third time in four days. By a vote of 297–102, the House overrode Truman's veto of the Reed-Bulwinkle Bill exempting railway rate agreements from antitrust laws.[38]
The US Senate shelved the controversial Mundt-Nixon bill after deciding there was not enough time left to consider it during that congressional session. The bill would be revived in 1950 as the Mundt–Ferguson Communist Registration Bill.[39]
Died:Earl Carroll, 54, American theatrical producer, director, songwriter and composer (killed on United Airlines Flight 624); Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, 36, Malayalam poet (tuberculosis); Beryl Wallace, 39?, American dancer, singer and actress (killed on United Airlines Flight 624)
UN mediator Folke Bernadotte arrived on Rhodes to begin negotiations with Jewish and Arab delegations for a permanent peace settlement in Palestine.[41]
After a 19-hour overnight filibuster in the US Senate, the House passed a stop-gap bill for the induction of 21 months of military service for men aged 19 through 25.[42]
US Congress completed a marathon 44 hour and 15 minute session passing a whirlwind of legislation, including a foreign aid bill appropriating over $6 billion for global relief. It was the second-longest Senate session in history, surpassed only by one in 1915 that lasted 54 hours 10 minutes.[43]
The first of the series of Cairo bombings occurred, killing 22 Jews.
The TV variety program The Ed Sullivan Show premiered on CBS under its original title, Toast of the Town. The program would run until 1971, airing 1,068 episodes.
Thomas E. Dewey entered a commanding position at the Republican National Convention when Pennsylvania Senator Edward Martin withdrew from consideration and threw his support to Dewey.[47]
After having funded the project, the U.S. Department of Defense decided against imposing secrecy restrictions on the development of the transistor by Bell Laboratories. The date and its significance were noted 10 years later by Dr. J. P. Molnar, who said that the decision allowed rapid development of the electronics industry. [49]
The Republican National Convention unanimously adopted a party platform.[50] Pledges included a reduction of public debt, promotion of small business, "eventual statehood for Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico," a foreign policy "which welcomes co-operation but spurns appeasement," and "a vigorous enforcement of existing laws against Communists."[51]
The British government called in soldiers to begin unloading food supplies tied up in the 10-day dockworker's strike.[34]
The Berlin Blockade began. Russian authorities cut off electricity to Berlin's western zones and halted rail transport between western Germany and the city as well, claiming "technical difficulties." Britain retaliated by banning the shipment of Ruhr coal and steel to the Soviet occupation zone.[52][53]
Thomas E. Dewey was unanimously chosen Republican nominee for president on the third ballot at the National Convention.[54] "I thank you with all my heart for your friendship and confidence," Dewey said in his acceptance speech. "I am profoundly sensible of the responsibility that goes with it. I accept your nomination. In all humility, I pray God that I may deserve this opportunity to serve our country."[55]
Folke Bernadotte reported to the UN Security Council that Egypt had acted contrary to the "letter and spirit" of the ceasefire by halting an unarmed Israeli food convoy.[57]
The Berlin Airlift began with 32 flights by US C-47s in West Germany to the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. 80 tons of provisions were delivered on the first day.[60]
Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph called for a civil disobedience campaign to resist the new draft law until President Truman issued an executive order against segregation in the military.[61]
King George VI proclaimed a state of emergency throughout the United Kingdom as the London dock strike threatened to spread to other ports. Prime Minister Clement Attlee gave a radio address telling the strikers, "This is not a strike against capitalists or employers. It is a strike against your mates; a strike against the housewife; a strike against the common people who have difficulties enough."[64]
Folke Bernadotte submitted proposals to both sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict that he hoped would "lay a basis for a solution of the Palestine question."[65]
Tito–Stalin Split: A Cominform Resolution accused the Communist Party of Yugoslavia of departing from communism by "undertaking an entirely wrong policy on the principal question of foreign and internal politics."[66] Following the resolution, the Party was expelled from Cominform and the Informbiro period began in Yugoslavia.
The Central Committee of Yugoslavia's Communist Party defied the Cominform by issuing a point-by-point refutation of the Cominform's charges and making it clear that Yugoslavia would not be dictated to by the Soviet Union and other Cominform powers and would only discuss the dispute in a "basis of equality."[68]
London dock workers voted to end their 16-day strike and go back to work rather than face the government's threat to invoke its broad emergency powers.[69]
The body of Mary Jane Reed, 17, was found in Oregon, Illinois. Her murder is still unsolved.[62]
A federal court in Boston sentenced Robert Henry Best to life in prison for broadcasting Nazi propaganda during the war.[70]
A Bulgarian Junkers Ju 52 flying from Varna to Sofia with 17 passengers aboard was hijacked by seven anti-Communists who killed the pilot and radio operator, then flew the plane to Istanbul where they sought political asylum.[71][72]
The last British soldiers left Palestine through the port of Haifa.[73]
^Pattison, Mark; Ragin, David (2002). Detroit Tigers Lists and More: Runs, Hits, and Eras. Wayne State University Press. p. 13. ISBN9780814330401.
^"Hungary Votes Rule Over Church Schools". The New York Times: 20. June 17, 1948.
^Morris, John D. (June 18, 1948). "Third Veto Upset in 4 Days; Rail Bill Repassed in House". The New York Times: 1.
^Hamilton, Mary A. (2007). Rising from the Wilderness: J.W. Gitt and His Legendary Newspaper: The Gazette and Daily of York, Pa. York, Pennsylvania: York County Heritage Trust. pp. 173–174. ISBN9780979291517.
^Browne, Mallory (June 19, 1948). "Charter of Rights Is Adopted in U. N.". The New York Times: 1, 4.
