January 1946

The following events occurred in January 1946:

January 1, 1946 (Tuesday) Japan's Emperor Hirohito surprised his subjects with the "Humanity Declaration", a radio broadcast where he admitted that he was not descended from the Shinto Sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, and that "The Emperor is not a living god". He added that his people had to "proceed unflinchingly toward the elimination of misguided practices of the past", including "the false conception that the Emperor is divine and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world". The admission was published in newspapers throughout Japan."Hirohito Stuns Jap People With Rescript", Salt Lake Tribune, January 2, 1946, p1; "JAPAN: Diversion from Divinity", TIME Magazine, January 14, 1946

January 2, 1946 (Wednesday) In León, Mexico, federal troops, called in by the Governor of the State of Guanajuato, fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing at least 40 people.María Emilia Paz, Strategy, Security, and Spies: Mexico and the U.S. as Allies in World War II (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), p242 The U.S. Army partially lifted a ban against marriage between American soldiers and enemy nationals, allowing servicemen to marry Austrian citizens. The ban against marriage of Germans was not lifted until December 11.Peter Schrijvers, The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe During World War II (NYU Pres, 2001) pp185–186

January 3, 1946 (Thursday)

George Woolf, a jockey who had ridden both Seabiscuit and Bold Venture to victory, was thrown from his horse during a race at Santa Anita Park. He died the next day at the age of 35. Woolf, nicknamed "The Ice Man", was in the first group of people admitted to the U.S. Jockey Hall of Fame when it opened in 1955.Edward Zawadzki, The Ultimate Canadian Sports Trivia Book (Dundurn Press, 2001), p120; "Spill at Anita Kills Jockey Woolf", Oakland Tribune, January 4, 1946, p14 At a congressional hearing, Admiral Harold R. Stark testified that more than two months before the United States entered the Second World War, President Roosevelt had ordered American warships to destroy "German and Italian naval, land, and air forces encountered" if requested by British officers."Probers Hear FDR Ordered Atlantic Sea War, Oct. '41", Salt Lake Tribune, January 4, 1946, p1 Poland nationalized its main industries, with passage of a law "on taking public ownership of the basic branches of the national economy".T. M. Podolski, Socialist Banking and Monetary Control: The Experience of Poland (Cambridge University Press, 1973), p76 Born: John Paul Jones (real name John Baldwin), English rock bassist (Led Zeppelin); in Sidcup, Kent Cissy King, American singer on The Lawrence Welk Show; in Trinidad, Colorado Died: William Joyce, 39, nicknamed "Lord Haw Haw" by his British listeners, a U.S.-born citizen of the United Kingdom who had defected to Germany to broadcast Nazi propaganda to Britain during World War II, was hanged at Britain's Wandsworth Prison at for treason."Joyce Executed— Police Precautions Outside Prison", The Guardian, January 4, 1946, p. 3 A foreign correspondent noted that "Joyce's regular wartime broadcasts over the German radio made him one of the most hated and most ridiculed of men.""Lord Haw Haw Dies on British Gibbet— Britain's Despised Traitor Is Hanged After Reaffirming His Nazi Beliefs", The New York Times, January 4, 1946, p. 7

January 4, 1946 (Friday) The United States Department of War announced a slowdown in demobilization of U.S. Army soldiers in the Pacific theater, cutting army discharges by 60 percent, from 800,000 down to 300,000 per month. In the week that followed, American soldiers around the world protested, in the Philippines, France, Guam, Germany, India and the United States. The War Department reversed the decision as a result of pressure from the "'Bring Em Home' Movement".David Cortright, Soldiers in revolt: GI resistance during the Vietnam War (Haymarket Books, 2005), pp150–151; "Army Slows Return of Men to U.S.", Salt Lake Tribune, January 5, 1946, p1 General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) during the occupation of Japan, began a purge of the Japanese government, with the goal of removing "undesirable personnel" from office. Over two and a half years, there were 210,287 people removed or barred from public office.Robert C. Orr, Winning the Peace: An American Strategy for Post-conflict Reconstruction (CSIS Press 2004), p173; "M'Arthur Maps Politics Purge", Salt Lake Tribune, January 4, 1946, p1 The Reichskleinodien, treasures of the Holy Roman Empire which had been taken from Austria after the Anschluss, were returned to Vienna by General Mark Clark. Members of the U.S. Army had located the collection of 30 pieces, some more than 1,000 years old, including a Bible that had been found in the tomb of Charlemagne, and the "Holy Lance"."Nazi-Seized Royal Jewels Returned", Salt Lake Tribune, January 7, 1946, p1 A series of tornadoes swept through east Texas, killing 28 people and injuring 310 in Anderson, Angelina and Nacogdoches counties."Tornadoes Kill 25, Injure 100 in Texas", Salt Lake Tribune, January 5, 1946

January 5, 1946 (Saturday) Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi German architect of the Final Solution, escaped from the American detention camp in Oberdachstetten, where he had eluded detection under the alias of "SS Lt. Otto Eckmann". Eichmann then assumed the name of Otto Neninger and remained in hiding. In 1950, he made his way to Austria, then Italy, and as "Ricardo Klement", started a new life in Argentina. He avoided capture until May 2, 1960, when agents of Israel's Mossad kidnapped him, and was hanged in 1962.Thomas Adam, Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History(ABC-CLIO 2005), p297 A revival of Kern and Hammerstein's 1927 musical Show Boat opened on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and ran for 417 performances.Steven Suskin, Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers (Oxford University Press 2000), p29 Born: Diane Keaton (stage name for Diane Hall), American actress; in Los Angeles (d. 2025)

January 6, 1946 (Sunday) The first democratic elections were held in Vietnam, and the Viet Minh Party, led by Ho Chi Minh, won 230 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.Stein Tønnesson, Vietnam 1946: How the War Began (University of California Press, 2010), p92 Born: Syd Barrett (d. 2006), English rock musician (Pink Floyd); in Cambridge (d. 2006) Died: Slim Summerville, 53, American film comedian

January 7, 1946 (Monday) The Allies restored Austria as a sovereign republic, with the borders it had before its 1938 annexation by Germany, but continued to administer the nation in four occupation zones. The largest cities in each zone were Innsbruck (French), Salzburg (American), Graz (British), and the area around Vienna (Soviet). Vienna itself was occupied by all four powers."Big 4 Recognize Austria, But Allies Will Continue Rule", The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), January 8, 1946, p9 Suzanne Degnan, 6, was murdered by serial killer William Heirens, "The Lipstick Killer" ."Kidnapped Girl Found Slain", Salt Lake Tribune, January 8, 1946, p1; Robert D. Keppel and William J. Birnes, Signature Killers (Simon and Schuster, 1997), p39 Arrested later in 1946, Heirens was sentenced to life imprisonment and remained incarcerated until his death in 2012."Weger denied parole", LaSalle (IL) News Tribune, December 17, 2009 France resumed its protectorate relationship over Cambodia, following an agreement signed by King Norodom Sihanouk. Under the pact, France would manage all of Cambodia's foreign affairs and grant autonomy to the Cambodian people.D.R. SarDesai, Southeast Asia: Past & Present (Westview Press, 2004), p201 Born: Michele Elliott, U.S.-born British author, psychologist and founder of child protection charity Kidscape;; in St. Petersburg, Florida Jann Wenner, co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, in New York City

January 8, 1946 (Tuesday) Germany's Hereditary Health Court (Erbgesundheitsgericht) system was formally abolished by the Allied powers. From 1934 through 1945, the courts ordered surgery for the sterilization of 400,000 persons with hereditary defects such as mental retardation, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. The system provided for an appellate court (Erbgesundheitobergericht), but the orders were upheld 97% of the time.Robert Proctor, Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis (Harvard University Press, 1988), pp107, 109, 298 The last Japanese prisoners of war in the United States departed, on board a ship from Angel Island (California), for repatriation.James W. Hamilton and William J. Bolce, Gateway to Victory: The Wartime Story of the San Francisco Army Port of Embarkation (Stanford University Press, 1946) p149 Born: Robby Krieger, American rock musician and songwriter (The Doors); in Los Angeles Stanton Peele, American psychologist and author (The Diseasing of America) Died: Dion Fortune, 51, Welsh occultist and author

January 9, 1946 (Wednesday) László Bárdossy, who had served as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1941 and 1942, and later collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary, was executed by hanging in Budapest."De Bardossy is Hanged", New York Times, January 11, 1946, p9 Harold Cole, a British sergeant called by some "the worst traitor of World War II",Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Betrayal and Treason: Violations of Trust and Loyalty (Westview Press, 2001), p130 was killed in a shootout with police in Paris. Sergeant Cole had landed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, then deserted in 1941, betraying more than 150 people to the German Gestapo, fifty of whom were executed."Elusive Spy Killed", The Age (Sydney), January 10, 1946, p1 Died: Countee Cullen, 42, American poet

January 10, 1946 (Thursday) The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly convened, with delegates from 51 nations meeting in London. British Prime Minister Clement Attlee opened the session. In secret voting for the first President of the UNGA, Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium won the post, 28–23, over Trygve Lie of Norway. Lie would be selected for a more powerful post as first Secretary-General of the United Nations."Belgian Diplomat Elected as First President of UNO", Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 1946, p1 Conducted from a laboratory in Belmar, New Jersey, by the Evans Signal Laboratory, Project Diana bounced radar waves off the Moon for the first time, measuring its exact distance from the Earth (a mean of 238,857 miles or 384,403 kilometers), and proving that communication is possible between Earth and outer space."Army's Scientists Achieve Radar Contact With Moon", Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1946, p1" 1/25/46 Died: Matti Turkia, 74, Finnish politician and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, 1906-1918 Harry Von Tilzer, 73, American songwriter known for writing the melody for "A Bird in a Gilded Cage"

January 11, 1946 (Friday)

The People's Republic of Albania was proclaimed at noon (1100 GMT), with Communist leader Enver Hoxha as the nation's prime minister. Two months later, a new constitution proclaimed Hoxha's Communist Party of Albania to be the sole political party, and Marxism–Leninism as the ideology, of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.William B. Simons, The Constitutions of the Communist World (Sijthoff and Noordhoff, 1980), p2; "Albania Is Proclaimed A 'Popular Republic'", Charleston (WV) Gazette, January 12, 1946, p1 Élie Lescot was overthrown as President of Haiti in a coup led by Colonel Paul Magloire, who then installed Franck Lavaud as the new president.Brenda Gayle Plummer, Haiti and the United States: The Psychological Moment (University of Georgia Press, 1992), p148; "Junta Takes Over Haiti", San Antonio Light, January 12, 1946, p1