The following events occurred in March 1946:
March 1, 1946 (Friday) North Korea's Communist Party leader and future president, Kim Il Sung, was saved from assassination by an alert Soviet officer. Y.T. Novichenko caught a hand grenade that had been thrown at Kim during a rally.Andrei Lankov, From Stalin to Kim Il Sung: The Formation of North Korea, 1945–1960 (Rutgers University Press 2002), p25 Operation Coronet, the greatest amphibious invasion ever planned, had been tentatively scheduled for "Y-Day", March 1, 1946. The invasion by 25 divisions of Allied forces of Honshū, the main island of Japan, would have been resisted by the Japanese in Operation Ketsu-Go, and would have followed the November 1, 1945, invasion of Kyūshū. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, Olympic, Coronet and Ketsu-Go became unnecessary.Philip S. Jowett and Stephen Andrew, The Japanese Army, 1931–45 (Osprey Military, 2002), pp22–23; "Invasion of Japan That Never Happened" Born: Jan Kodeš, Czech tennis player who won the French Open in 1970 and 1971 and Wimbledon in 1973); in Prague
March 2, 1946 (Saturday) The United Nations would not be welcome to locate permanently in Greenwich, Connecticut, the UNO's first choice for a site. In a special referendum, the vote was 4,540 to 2,019 against letting the UNO build in Greenwich and its surrounding area."Greenwich Vote Against UNO", Salt Lake Tribune, March 3, 1946, p1 The U.N. headquarters was built instead in New York City. The British armed forces began to withdraw from Iran following the 1941 Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran after the UK and the Soviet Union had signed a treaty stipulating that withdrawal would take place six months after the end of World War II, which was officially closed on September 2, 1945. However, the Soviet Union refused to join in withdrawing, and, after having set up two Communist republics in Iran, the Azerbaijan People's Government and the Republic of Mahabad.
March 3, 1946 (Sunday) An American Airlines DC-3 crashed into a mountain at PST as it approached San Diego on a flight from Tucson, killing all 27 persons on board."Airliner Crash Kills 27 On Peak Near San Diego", Salt Lake Tribune, March 4, 1946, p1 Flight 6-103 had originated in New York, with multiple stops on the way to San Diego.
March 4, 1946 (Monday) Iran crisis: fifteen Soviet armored brigades invaded Iran's Azerbaijan region, while additional brigades deployed along the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Bulgaria. The U.S. Consul at Tabriz would later opine that "Though not a shot was fired, the Battle of Azerbaijan was as significant in its outcome as Bunker Hill, Bull Run, or the First Battle of the Marne.""The Battle of Azerbaijan", by Robert Rossow, Jr., Middle Eastern Journal (Winter 1956), p17 Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim resigned as President of Finland because of illness, and was succeeded by Prime Minister Juho Passikivi."Mannerheim Quits Finn Presidency", Salt Lake Tribune, March 5, 1946, p1 The U.S., Britain and France joined in asking the Spanish people to depose dictator Francisco Franco, based on the Generalissimo's August 15, 1940, letter to Benito Mussolini. Franco had offered support of the Axis Powers, and signed a secret protocol with Germany on February 10, 1943. Franco remained until his death in 1975."U.S., Britain, France Call For Removal of Franco", Salt Lake Tribune, March 5, 1946, p1 The comic strip Rip Kirby, by Alex Raymond, began a 53-year run in the newspapers as a King Features Syndicate feature. The fictional detective's last strip ran on June 26, 1999. The city of Riverdale, Utah, was incorporated. Born: Michael Ashcroft, British billionaire; in Chichester, West Sussex Harvey Goldsmith, British concert promoter; in Edgware, Middlesex Haile Gerima, Ethiopian filmmaker; in Gondar Died: Bror von Blixen-Finecke, 79, Danish big-game hunter
March 5, 1946 (Tuesday) Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The former British prime minister was accompanied by U.S. president Harry S. Truman, and the speech – which was entitled "The Sinews of Peace" was part of a program that began at CST, after an invocation and introductory remarks by Westminster's president McCluer and by President Truman."Churchill's Fulton Speech on KWOS Tomorrow at 3:30", Jefferson City Post-Tribune, March 4, 1946, p1 Churchill surprised the world with his attack on the spread of Soviet Communism, as he said "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.""Churchill Rips Into Soviet Policies", San Antonio Express, March 6, 1946, p1; text Using the metaphor of an iron curtain (used at theaters for fire protection), to refer to the sealing off of a conquered area, was not invented by Churchill, nor did he first use it at Westminster College."Mr. Churchill's Speech", Milwaukee Sentinel, August 22, 1945, p6 Died: Gertrude Pinsky, David Guzik and eight other persons on a mission for the Jewish relief organization JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) were killed in a plane crash near Prague. One of the few women assigned overseas by JDC, Ms. Pinsky had overseen the aid to thousands of Jewish displaced persons during the Second World War.
March 6, 1946 (Wednesday) Ho–Sainteny Agreement: North Vietnam agreed to allow French troops to return in exchange for recognition as a "free state" within the framework of the French Union. The agreement created a temporary coexistence between the communist-controlled state and the French, strengthening the Viet Minh's position while weakening non-communist nationalist forces. Jackie Robinson became the first African-American in the 20th Century to play in the Major League Baseball system, appearing in a Florida spring training game at Daytona Beach against the Brooklyn Dodgers as a shortstop for the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals."Brooklyn Squad Beats Montreal; Robinson Plays", Spartanburg (SC) Herald, March 7, 1946, p9 The drama film Sentimental Journey starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara premiered in New York City. Born: David Gilmour, English rock musician (Pink Floyd); in Cambridge
March 7, 1946 (Thursday) The 167 residents of the Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, were evacuated from their South Pacific island in order for atomic testing to begin. A report to the U.S. Congress calculated loss-of-use damages fifty years later at $278,000,000."CRS Report for Congress" , August 12, 2005 Five days after the March 2 deadline had passed for Soviet troops to leave Iran, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow served a diplomatic note on the Soviet Foreign Ministry, calling on the Soviets to honor their agreement."U.S. Demands Russ Quit Iran, Charges Violation of Treaty", Salt Lake Tribune, March 8, 1946, p1 Born: John Heard, American actor; in Washington, D.C. (d. 2017) Peter Wolf (stage name for Peter W. Blankfield), American rock musician for The J. Geils Band; in the Bronx, New York
March 8, 1946 (Friday) Helicopters were first approved for civilian use in the United States, when the Civil Aeronautics Board granted a certificate to Bell Helicopter for its Bell 47, a modified version of its H-13 Sioux military chopper.Donald M. Pattillo, A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry (McGraw-Hill, 1998) p66; Helis.com Helicopter History Site Died: Frederick W. Lanchester, 77, British automotive inventor and engineer
March 9, 1946 (Saturday) Thirty-three British football fans were killed, and hundreds injured, when retaining fences at the Burnden Park stadium in Bolton collapsed. A reported 70,000 fans had filled the stadium to watch a FA Cup playoff match between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City. The game, which ended 0–0, halted for 28 minutes and then resumed."33 Die, Scores Hurt in Collapse of British Stadium Barriers", Salt Lake Tribune, March 10, 1946, p1; "Have They Forgotten Bolton?" , by Norman Baker, The Sports Historian (May 1998), pp120–151 "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" by Frankie Carle hit #1 on the Billboard Honor Roll of Hits. Died: John J. Glennon, 81, an Irish native who became the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis, died ten days after he had been elevated by Pope Pius XII to the College of Cardinals. Glennon was in Dublin, where he had stopped on his way home from Rome. The Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital was named in his memory.
March 10, 1946 (Sunday) In a ceremony witnessed by 100,000 followers at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay, the Aga Khan, leader of British India's Shia Ismaili Muslim population, received his weight—248 pounds—in diamonds, in honor of his 60 years (Diamond Anniversary) on the throne. For his golden anniversary in 1936, he had received his weight (238 lb.) in gold."Moslems Give Aga Khan His Weight in Gems", Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 1946, p1 All 25 persons on an Australian National Airways flight were killed when their plane crashed at , shortly after takeoff from Hobart, Tasmania.Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 1946, p1 At a synod, convened in Lviv under pressure from the Soviet government, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church severed its historic ties with the Church in Rome, and its union with the Russian Orthodox Church was proclaimed."Russian Orthodoxy and Western Christianity", by Theodore Pulcini, in Russia and Western Civilization: Cultural and Historical Encounters (Russell Bova, ed.; M.E. Sharpe 2003) p91 Born: Jim Valvano, American college basketball coach who led North Carolina State to the 1983 NCAA championship;, in New York City (d. 1993) Died: Karl Haushofer, 76, German political scientist and proponent of Geopolitik, died by suicide along with his wife.
March 11, 1946 (Monday) Rudolf Höss, the Nazi Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, was located and arrested by British military police near the northern German town of Flensburg, where he had been working on a farm under the alias "Franz Lang". Höss, who confessed to overseeing the murder of millions of prisoners, mostly Jewish, was himself executed at Auschwitz on April 16, 1947.Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz (by Rudolf Höss, edited by Steven Paskuly, Da Capo Press, 1996), pp179, 197 In New York, Sylvia Lawry and 20 neurologists founded the Association for Advancement of Research in Multiple Sclerosis, now the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.T. Jock Murray, Multiple Sclerosis: The History of a Disease (Demos Medical Publishing, 2005), p506
March 12, 1946 (Tuesday) General Draža Mihailović, Chetnik leader who oversaw the massacre of Bosnians and Croatians during the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia, was captured in a mountain cave near Višegrad after two years in hiding. His capture was announced in Belgrade on March 24, and Mihailović was executed on July 17."Chetnik Chief Mihailovic Seized by Tito Forces" Salt Lake Tribune, March 25, 1946, p1; John K. Cox, The History of Serbia (Greenwood Press, 2002), p96 Born: Liza Minnelli, American singer, stage and film actress, winner of a Best Actress Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and two Tony Awards; in Los Angeles as the daughter of film actress Judy Garland and theatrical director Vincente Minnelli; Minnelli was born at Cedars-Sinai near, but not in, Beverly Hills or Hollywood. Dean Cundey, American cinematographer known for the Back to the Future series of films; in Alhambra, California Frank Welker, American voice actor known for voicing the character of Fred in the Scooby-Doo cartoon franchise; in Denver. Died: Ferenc Szálasi, 49, strongman of the "Hungarian State" during the Nazi occupation of Hungary, was executed by hanging for war crimes.
March 13, 1946 (Wednesday) The United Auto Workers strike against General Motors ended after 113 days, as the UAW accepted an cent per hour wage increase for its members."G M Strike Ends; Union Accepts 18.5-Cent Hike", Salt Lake Tribune, March 14, 1946, p1