1948 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal Government">Federal government of the United States">Federal Government

• President: Harry S. Truman
• Vice President: vacant
• Chief Justice: Fred M. Vinson
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph William Martin, Jr.
• Senate Majority Leader: Wallace H. White, Jr.
• Congress: 80th

  Governors

Lieutenant Governors

Events

January

• January 17th – The latest New Jersey State Constitution goes into effect.
• January 29 – Plane crash at Los Gatos Creek, California kills 4 US citizens and 28 deportees, commemorated in a song by Woody Guthrie.

  February

• February 1 – The Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.
• February 21 – The stock car racing organization NASCAR is founded by Bill France Sr. with other drivers meeting at the Streamline Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida.

  March

• March 8 – McCollum v. Board of Education: The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution.
• March 17 – The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is founded in California.
• March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program.

  April

• April 3:
• *President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, which authorizes $15 billion in aid for 16 countries.
• *Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played on television in its entirety for the first time, in a concert featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.
• April 22 – WTVR begins television services. WTVR is the first TV station south of Washington D.C., giving it the nickname "The South's First Television station".
• April 30 – 21 American countries sign the Charter of the Organization of American States establishing the Organization of American States.

  May

• May 14 – The United States recognizes Israel as a country.
• May 19 – Mundt–Nixon Bill of 1948 passes the House
• May 26 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
• May 30 – A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes: 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

  June

• June 3 – The Palomar Observatory telescope is finished in California.
• June 11 – The first monkey astronaut, Albert I, is launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico.
• June 12:
• *MCWR renamed Women Marines.
• *Women in the Air Force created.
• June 17 – A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
• June 20 – The U.S. Congress recesses for the remainder of 1948, after an overtime session closes at 7:00 a.m. D.C. time.
• June 21-25 – 1948 Republican National Convention
• June 24 – The Berlin Blockade begins; in response, the U.S. orders the launch of Operation Vittles, the U.S. action of the Berlin Airlift.
• June 28 – David Lean's Oliver Twist, based on Charles Dickens's famous novel, premieres in the UK. It is banned for 3 years in the U.S. because of alleged anti-Semitism in depicting master criminal Fagin, played by Alec Guinness.

  July

• July 12–14 – 1948 Democratic National Convention
• July 17 – Dixiecrat National Convention
• July 20 – Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union.
• July 23–25 – 1948 Progressive National Convention
• July 26:
• *U.S. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
• *Turnip Day Session – Truman exhorts 80th United States Congress to pass legislation
• July 31:
• * At Idlewild Field in New York City, New York International Airport is dedicated.
• * Elizabeth Bentley testifies before HUAC

  August

• August 1 – The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
• August 3 – In an appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Whittaker Chambers, a senior editor at Time magazine and a former Communist, accuses Alger Hiss of having been a member of "an underground organization of the United States Communist Party".
• August 25 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first-ever televised congressional hearing, featuring "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.

  September

• September 29 – Laurence Olivier's Hamlet opens in the United States.

  October

• October 1 – National Guard Bureau made a Bureau of the Depart. of the United States Army and an Agency of the Dept. of the Air Force.
• October 11 – The Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.
• October 16 – The 57th Street Art Fair, the oldest juried art fair in the American Midwest, is founded.
• October 26 – Killer smog settles into Donora, Pennsylvania.

  November

• November 2 – 1948 United States presidential election: Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and 'Dixiecrat' Strom Thurmond.

  December

• December 4 – The 6.3 Desert Hot Springs earthquake affected Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing minor damage and several injuries.
• December 10 – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.
• December 15 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Alger Hiss on two counts of perjury.

  Undated

• The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens in Staten Island, New York.
• The first of the Kinsey Reports, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, is published.
• Charles Lazarus starts Children's Supermart, the predecessor of Toys "R" Us, in Washington, D.C. as a baby-furniture retailer.

  Ongoing

• Cold War
• Second Red Scare
• Marshall Plan

  Births

January

• January 1 – Joe Petagno, American illustrator
• January 2
• * Joyce Wadler, American journalist and author
• * Judith Miller, American journalist and author
• January 5 – Ted Lange, African-American actor, director
• January 7 – Kenny Loggins, American rock singer
• January 10
• * Donald Fagen, American rock keyboardist
• * Teresa Graves, African-American actress and comedian
• January 11 – Larry Harvey, American co-founder of Burning Man
• January 14
• * T Bone Burnett, American record producer, musician
• * John Lescroart, American author and screenwriter
• * Carl Weathers, African-American actor, football player
• January 15 – Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician
• January 16 – John Carpenter, American film director, producer, screenwriter and composer
• January 18 – M. C. Gainey, American actor
• January 23
• * Katharine Holabird, American writer
• * Anita Pointer, American singer-songwriter
• January 24 – Elliott Abrams, American attorney and conservative policy analyst
• January 31 – Paul Jabara, American actor, singer and songwriter

  February

• February 1 – Rick James, African-American urban singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer
• February 2 – Ina Garten, American cooking author
• February 4
• * Alice Cooper, American hard rock singer and musician
• * Rod Grams, American politician
• February 5
• * Christopher Guest, American actor, screenwriter, director and composer
• * Barbara Hershey, American actress
• February 7 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• February 8 – Dan Seals, American musician
• February 9 – Greg Stafford, American game designer, publisher
• February 11 – Chris Rush, American stand-up comedian
• February 12 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor, author
• February 13 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American film actress
• February 14
• * Jackie Martling, American comedian, radio personality
• * Raymond Teller, American illusionist and magician, one half of the duo Penn & Teller
• February 15
• * Ron Cey, American baseball player and sportscaster
• * Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer
• February 20 – Jennifer O'Neill, American model, actress
• February 22
• * John Ashton, American actor
• * Leslie H. Sabo Jr., American Medal of Honor recipient
• February 28
• * Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• * Mike Figgis, American director, screenwriter and composer
• * Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer
• * Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
• February 29
• * Ken Foree, American actor
• * Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer

  March

• March 2 – R. T. Crowley, American pioneer of electronic commerce
• March 4
• * James Ellroy, American writer
• * Tom Grieve, American baseball player
• * Leron Lee, American baseball player
• * Brian Cummings, American voice actor
• March 5 – Leslie Marmon Silko, Native American author
• March 6 – Anna Maria Horsford, African-American actress
• March 9 – Jeffrey Osborne, African-American singer
• March 11 – Kent Conrad, American politician
• March 12 – James Taylor, American singer, songwriter
• March 14
• * Tom Coburn, American politician
• * Billy Crystal, American actor, comedian
• March 17 – William Gibson, American/Canadian writer
• March 20 – John de Lancie, American actor
• March 22 – Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
• March 25 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
• March 26 – Steven Tyler, American rock singer, songwriter
• March 28
• * Jayne Ann Krentz, American novelist
• * Dennis Unkovic, American author
• * Dianne Wiest, American actress
• March 29
• * Mike Heideman, American basketball coach
• * Bud Cort, American actor
• March 31
• * Al Gore, American politician, 45th Vice President of the United States
• * Rhea Perlman, American actress

  April

• April 2 – Bob Lienhard, American basketball player
• April 4
• * Squire Parsons, American gospel singer, songwriter
• * Dan Simmons, American fantasy, science fiction author
• * Berry Oakley, American musician
• April 5 – Neil Portnow, American President of The Recording Academy
• April 7 – John Oates, American rock singer, guitarist
• April 12 – Don Fernando, American pornographic film actor, director
• April 15 – Michael Kamen, American composer
• April 21 – Paul Davis, American singer, songwriter
• April 27
• * Frank Abagnale, American con man, imposter
• * Si Robertson, American reality star, preacher, hunter, outdoorsman, and U.S. Army veteran
• April 28 – Marcia Strassman, American actress, singer

  May

• May 2 – Larry Gatlin, American singer, songwriter
• May 3
• * William H. Miller, American maritime historian
• * Chris Mulkey, American actor
• May 4 – Tanya Falan, American singer
• May 5
• * Joe Esposito, American singer, songwriter
• * Richard Pacheco, American pornographic actor
• May 8 – Steve Braun, American baseball player and coach
• May 9
• * Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist, author
• * Calvin Murphy, American basketball player, analyst
• May 12 – Lindsay Crouse, American actress
• May 17 – Penny DeHaven, American country singer
• May 18
• * Olivia Harrison, American author and film producer
• * Tom Udall, American politician
• May 21 – D'Jamin Bartlett, American musical theatre actress
• May 26 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter

  June

• June 1
• * Powers Boothe, American actor
• * Tom Sneva, American race car driver and sportscaster
• June 2
• * Jerry Mathers, American actor
• * Jack Pierce, American baseball player and coach
• June 4 – David Haskell, American actor
• June 9 – Gary Thorne, American play-by-play announcer
• June 11 – Dave Cash, American baseball player
• June 14 – Laurence Yep, American author
• June 19 – Phylicia Rashad, African-American actress
• June 21 – Greg Hyder, American professional basketball player
• June 22
• * Sue Roberts, American professional golfer
• * Todd Rundgren, American rock singer, record producer
• * Curtis Johnson, American football cornerback
• June 23
• * Larry Coker, American football player, coach
• * Jim Heacock, American defensive coordinator
• * Luther Kent, American blues singer
• * Clarence Thomas, African-American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• June 25
• * Kenn George, American businessman
• * Michael Lembeck, American actor, television and film director
• June 27 – Camile Baudoin, American rock guitarist
• June 28 – Kathy Bates, American actress
• June 29 – Fred Grandy, American actor, politician
• June 30 – Raymond Leo Burke, American cardinal, prelate

  July

• July 5
• * Tony DeMeo, American football coach, player
• * Dave Lemonds, American baseball player
• July 6
• * Jeff Webb, American professional basketball player
• * Sid Smith, American football offensive lineman
• July 7 – Jerry Sherk, American football defensive tackle
• July 10 – Rich Hand, American professional baseball player
• July 12
• * Ben Burtt, American movie sound designer
• * Richard Simmons, American television personality, fitness expert
• * Jay Thomas, American actor
• July 13 – Daphne Maxwell Reid, African-American actress
• July 14 – Tom Latham, American politician
• July 16 – Jeff Van Wagenen, American professional golfer
• July 17 – Doug Berry, American-Canadian football coach
• July 20 – Muse Watson, American actor
• July 21
• * Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
• * Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
• July 22 – Susan Eloise Hinton, American author
• July 25
• * Tony Cline, American football player
• * Steve Goodman, American Grammy Award-winning folk music singer, songwriter
• July 27 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
• July 28
• * Gerald Casale, American director, singer
• * Georgia Engel, American actress
• * Sally Struthers, American actress, spokeswoman

  August

• August 1 – Jim Carroll, American author, poet and musician
• August 2 – Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host, author
• August 7 – James P. Allison, American immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018
• August 13 – Kathleen Battle, African-American soprano
• August 19
• * Tipper Gore, Second Lady of the United States as wife of Al Gore
• * Deana Martin, American singer and actress
• August 20 – Barbara Allen Rainey, American aviator, first female pilot in the U.S. armed forces
• August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
• August 30
• * Lewis Black, American comedian
• * Fred Hampton, African-American activist
• August 31 – Cyril Jordan, American musician

  September

• September 1 – James Rebhorn, American actor
• September 2
• * Christa McAuliffe, American teacher, astronaut
• * Nate Archibald, American basketball player
• * Terry Bradshaw, American football player, sportscaster
• September 3 – Don Brewer, American drummer
• September 4 – Michael Berryman, American actor
• September 7 – Susan Blakely, American actress
• September 10
• * Bob Lanier, American basketball player
• * Charlie Waters, American football player
• September 13 – Nell Carter, African-American singer, actress
• September 16 – Ron Blair, American bassist
• September 17 – John Ritter, American actor and comedian
• September 18
• * Lynn Abbey, computer programmer and author
• * Ken Brett, baseball player, coach, and manager
• September 20 – George R. R. Martin, American novelist and short-story writer
• September 22 – Jim Byrnes, American voice actor, blues musician and actor
• September 27 – A Martinez, American actor, singer
• September 29
• * Mark Farner, American rock guitarist, singer
• * Bryant Gumbel, African-American television broadcaster
• * Burton Richardson, American game show announcer

  October

• October 1 – Mark Landon, American actor
• October 2
• * Avery Brooks, American actor, musician
• * Chris LeDoux, American singer, rodeo star
• * Donna Karan, American fashion designer
• October 4 – Meg Bennett, American soap opera writer
• October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist
• October 8 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist
• October 9 – Jackson Browne, American rock musician
• October 11
• * Margie Alexander, American gospel, soul singer
• * Cynthia Clawson, American gospel singer
• October 13
• * John Ford Coley, American rock musician
• * Ted Poe, American politician
• October 14 – David Ruprecht, American actor, writer
• October 16 – Leo Mazzone, American baseball coach
• October 17
• * Robert Jordan, American novelist
• * Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress, director, and activist
• * George Wendt, American actor
• October 18 – Ntozake Shange, African-American playwright, poet
• October 19 – Patrick Simmons, American musician
• October 21
• * Tom Everett, American actor
• * Allen Vigneron, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit
• October 22
• * Lynette Fromme, would-be assassin of President Gerald Ford
• * Debbie Macomber, American author
• October 25
• * Dave Cowens, American basketball player, coach
• * Dan Gable, American wrestler, coach
• October 26 – Toby Harrah, American baseball player
• October 28 – Telma Hopkins, African-American actress, singer
• October 29 – Kate Jackson, American actress

  November

• November 1 – Anna Stuart, American actress
• November 5
• * Charles Bradley, African-American singer
• * Bob Barr, American politician
• * Dallas Holm, American Christian musician
• * William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• November 6 – Glenn Frey, American guitarist, singer
• November 7 – Jim Houghton, American actor, director
• November 9 – Kelly Harmon, American actress and model
• November 10 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor
• November 12
• * Skip Campbell, American politician
• * Cliff Harris, American football player
• * Richard Roberts, American evangelist, son of Oral Roberts
• November 14
• * Robert Ginty, American actor, director
• * Dee Wallace, American actress
• November 16 – Chi Coltrane, American musician
• November 17 – Howard Dean, American politician
• November 20
• * Harlee McBride, American actress
• * John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., National Security Advisor
• * Barbara Hendricks, American singer
• * Richard Masur, American actor, director and president of the Screen Actors Guild
• November 21 – Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz drummer
• November 23 – Ron Bouchard, American NASCAR driver
• November 24 – Joe Howard, American actor
• November 26 – Gayle McCormick, American singer

  December

• December 2 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American writer
• December 3 – Rick Cua, American singer, evangelist
• December 6
• * Don Nickles, American politician
• * JoBeth Williams, American actress, director
• December 7
• * Gary Morris, American country singer, actor
• * Tony Thomas, American television producer
• December 9 – Gray H. Miller, Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• December 11 – Chester Thompson, American rock drummer
• December 12 – David K. Karnes, American politician
• December 13 – Ted Nugent, American musician, singer, songwriter and political activist
• December 18 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
• December 21 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
• December 22
• * Flip Mark, American child actor
• * Lynne Thigpen, African-American actress
• December 23 – Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, composer, educator, author and music journalist
• December 25 – Barbara Mandrell, American country singer, musician, and actress
• December 27 – Ronnie Caldwell, American soul music, rhythm and blues musician
• December 28 – Mary Weiss, American singer
• December 31
• * Joe Dallesandro, American model, actor
• * Donna Summer, African-American singer, actress

  Deaths

• January 30 – Orville Wright, pioneer aviator
• July 4 – Albert Bates, criminal
• July 5
• * Charles Fillmore, Protestant mystic
• * Carole Landis, film actress
• July 11 – Franz Weidenreich, anatomist
• July 23 - D. W. Griffith, film director
• August 16 – Babe Ruth, baseball player
• August 17 – Mariette Rheiner Garner, Second Lady of the United States as wife of John Nance Garner
• August 27 – Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• June 9 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States and Second Lady of the United States as wife of Theodore Roosevelt
• November 24 – Anna Jarvis, social activist