1948
The U.S. Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer rules that federal and state courts may not enforce restrictive covenants, but does not declare the covenants illegal.
1948
President Truman issues Executive Order 9981 directing "equality of treatment and opportunity" in the Armed Forces and creates the Fair Practices Board of the Civil Service Commission to deal with complaints of discrimination in government employment.
1948
Ralph Bunche is confirmed by the U.N. Security Council as Acting U.N. mediator in Palestine.
1948
The California Supreme Court declares the state statute banning racial intermarriage is unconstitutional.
1948
After graduating from Morehouse College, Martin Luther King enters Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.
1948
Solomon Mikhoels, chairman of the Jewish Antifascist Committee, is assassinated by secret agents of Stalin. (Britannica)
1948 January 30
Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian nationalist and spiritual leader is assassinated in Delhi, India, by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.
1948 February 24
The Communist Party gains complete control of Czechoslovakia.
1948 April 10
Otto Ohlendorf is sentenced to death by hanging by the War Crimes Tribunal II at Nuremberg. (Secrets)
1948 April 18
By a two-thirds majority, the first Chinese National Assembly approves temporary provisions granting emergency powers to the president during the ongoing anti-Communist campaign.
1948 April 19
The first Chinese National Assembly elects Chiang Kai-shek as China's first president under a new Constitution, garnering 2,430 out of 2,704 votes.
1948 May
The Congress of Europe is convened by the United Europe Movement in the Hague. It is organized by Jean Monnet with the help of Joseph Retinger, a mysterious Polish socialist. Duncan Sandys is also deeply involved. The seventh and final resolution asserts that the creation of a United Europe must be regarded as an essential step towards the creation of a United World.
1948 May 14
The State of Israel is officially proclaimed by Jewish leader, David Ben Gurion, and Israel is immediately recognized by both the United States and the Soviet Union. Chaim Weizmann becomes its first President. Fighting between Arabs and Jews continues.
1948 May 14
British rule in Palestine comes to an end, and the independent state of Israel is proclaimed at 12:01 the following day. (NY Times)
1948 May 15
Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel is attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
1948 June 2
All seven doctors sentenced to death at the "Doctor's Trial" (Karl Brandt, Karl Gebhart, Rudolf Brandt, Joachim Mrugowsky, Wolfram Sievers, Viktor Brack, and Waldemar Hoven) are hanged at Landsberg prison in Bavaria. The sentences of the remaining defendants are reduced during the appeal process. After Sievers conviction, Friederick Hielscher received permission to accompany Sievers to the gallows as his spiritual advisor, and it was with him that the condemned man said prayers to the mysterious cult, which was never mentioned throughout his trial. Hielscher then returned to obscurity. (Pauwels)
1948 June 7
General Eisenhower is inaugurated as president of Columbia University, New York City.
1948 June 7
The Communists complete their takeover of Czechoslovakia with the resignation of President Edvard Benes.
1948 June 8
The "Texaco Star Theater" makes its debut on NBC TV with Milton Berle as guest host.
1948 June 18
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopts its International Declaration of Human Rights. (NY Times)
1948 June 18
Columbia Records publicly unveils its new long-playing phonograph record in New York City. The new disc turns at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, offering superior sound quality and fewer interruptions than 78 rpm records.
1948 June 20
The variety series "Toast of the Town," hosted by Ed Sullivan, debuts on CBS-TV. Sullivan became so popular that in 1955 the name of the program is changed to "The Ed Sullivan Show."
1948 June 23
The Soviets begin a blockade of Berlin.
1948 June 26
Allied pilots begin the Berlin airlift.
1948 August
Whittaker Chambers, a journalist and self-confessed Communist agent, tells the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee that Alger Hiss, the former, high-ranking State Department official, was his accomplice while in government service. Richard Nixon is highly visible throughout the investigation.
