What Happened in 1950 — Events, Births & Deaths

In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.

British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.

Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

The Great Brink's Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in Boston.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.

American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.

The Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as the first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.

The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.

The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.

Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.

General elections are held in the United Kingdom.

Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.

The iconic Volkswagen Type 2 "Bus" begins production.

The Llandow air disaster kills 80 people when the aircraft they are travelling in crashes near Sigingstone, Wales. At the time this was the world's deadliest air disaster.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium".

The Nainital wedding massacre occurs, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.

The Tollund Man is discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg, Denmark.

Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.

The inaugural Formula One World Championship race takes place at Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina, who would go on to become the inaugural champion that year.

A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.

The Linnanmäki amusement park is opened for the first time in Helsinki.

The St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Declaration of Conscience speech, by U.S. Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith, is delivered in response to Joseph R. McCarthy's speech at Wheeling, West Virginia.

The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.

Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.

An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 46 people.

An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 40 people. This came two days after another Air France DC-4 crashed in the same location.

Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating races.

The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.

The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.

Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers (between 60,000 and 200,000) are executed in the Bodo League massacre.

Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow North Korea's offensive. The city falls later that day.

Korean War: The Korean People's Army kills almost a thousand doctors, nurses, inpatient civilians and wounded soldiers in the Seoul National University Hospital massacre.

Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman authorizes a sea blockade of Korea.

Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.

Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.

The Knesset of Israel passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to the Land of Israel.

Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.

Korean War: beginning of the Battle of Taejon.

Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.

Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo.

Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.

After a month-long campaign, the majority of North Korea's Air Force was destroyed by anti-communist forces.

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.

Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.

Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act.

Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.

Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.

Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war are massacred by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.

Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated. The Party newspaper blames royalists and Rexists.

Edith Sampson becomes the first black U.S. delegate to the United Nations.

To avert a threatened strike during the Korean War, President Truman orders Secretary of the Army Frank Pace to seize control of the nation's railroads.

Korean War: British Commonwealth Forces Korea arrives to bolster the US presence.

TWA Flight 903 crashes near Itay El Barud, Egypt, killing all 55 aboard.

"Nino" Farina becomes the first Formula One Drivers' champion after winning the 1950 Italian Grand Prix.

Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.

Korean War: The U.S. X Corps lands at Inchon.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps (Then known as the PLAAF 1st Ground Forces Brigade) is founded.

The Republic of India formally recognised the State of Israel.

Korean War: U.S. Eighth Army and United Nations forces break out of the Pusan Perimeter in southeast Korea.

TV Tupi Difusora, the first television station to broadcast in Brazil, begins transmissions on Channel 3 in São Paulo.

Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River.

Korean War: The Battle of Hill 282 is the first US friendly-fire incident on British military personnel since World War II.

The eastern United States is covered by a thick haze from the Chinchaga fire in western Canada.

Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces.

Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity.

The Goyang Geumjeong Cave massacre in Korea begins.

CBS's field-sequential color system for television is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

China defeats the Tibetan Army at Chambo.

Korean War: The Battle of Pyongyang ends in a United Nations victory. Hours later, the Chinese Army begins crossing the border into Korea.

Iran becomes the first country to accept technical assistance from the United States under the Point Four Program.

Korean War: Heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces and North Koreans during the Battle of Yongju.

Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China: The People's Liberation Army ceases all military operations in Tibet, ending the Battle of Chamdo.

Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.

Air India Flight 245 crashes into Mont Blanc while on approach to Geneva Airport, killing all 48 people on board.

Korean War: British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade successfully halted the advancing Chinese 117th Division during the Battle of Pakchon.

Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.

General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.

Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted.

US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe.

The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars).

Korean War: Communist Chinese troops launch a massive counterattack (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir) against United Nations and South Korean forces.

Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea.

Korean War: Jesse L. Brown (the 1st African-American Naval aviator) is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Korean War: Associated Press photographer Max Desfor photographs hundreds of Korean refugees crossing a downed bridge in the Taedong River: 1951 Pulitzer Prize winner Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea.

Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.

Korean War: General Walton Walker dies in a jeep accident and is replaced by General Matthew Ridgway in the Eighth United States Army.

The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.