January: United Nations General Assembly first meets in The Methodist Central Hall Westminster. 51 nations are represented.

February: Trygve Lie elected first Secretary General of the United Nations, a result of a compromise between the major powers.

March: Agreement recognizing Vietnam as autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation & French Union signed by Ho Chi Minh.

April: John Maynard Keynes one of the founders of modern macroeconomics & the most influential economist of the 20th century dies.

May: Dr. Louis Slotin working at the Los Alamos Laboratory, accidentally begins a fission reaction receiving a fatal dose of radiation.

June: A referendum held in Italy declares the country a republic. King Humbert II leaves the country for exile in Portugal.

July: Modern bikinis go on sale in Paris. The swimsuit is named after Bikini Atoll, where atomic bomb testing had taken place.

August: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission is established. Beginning the transfer of the control of atomic energy from military to civilian.

September: Cathay Pacific founded in Hong Kong by American Roy Farrell & Australian Sydney de Kantzow. Cathay is the ancient name for China.

October: 10 Nazi War criminals are executed. Hermann Goering commits suicide with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before.

November: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) a specialized agency of the U.N. is formed.

December: It's a Wonderful Life produced & directed by Frank Capra is released. The film will eventually be regarded a classic.