The following events occurred in June 1946:
June 1, 1946 (Saturday) Penicillin first went on sale to the general public in the United Kingdom. The antibiotic had been made available at pharmacies in the United States beginning March 15, 1945."Discovery of Penicillin", American Chemical Society Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University's "Marching 100" was founded by the late William P. Foster By a 61–20 vote, the U.S. Senate granted President Truman emergency powers to end strikes. The bill had passed the House the previous week."TRUMAN'S STRIKE BILL PASSED", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 1, 1946, p1
In violation of the Ho–Sainteny agreementFrederick Logevall Embers of War, Random House 2012 p. 137 of March 6, French High Commissioner d'Argenlieu recognized an "Autonomous Republic of Cochin-China" in French Indochina, predecessor state of South Vietnam. Located in the southern part of what is now Vietnam, with a capital at Saigon, the Republic's first head of government was Nguyen Van Thinh, overseen by French administrator Jean Henri Cedile. The announcement followed the creation, in March, of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (later known as North Vietnam) in Hanoi."New Republic Reported Formed", Spokane (WA) Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1946, p15 Died: Ion Antonescu, prime minister and "Conducator" (Leader) of Romania during World War II was executed after being found guilty of betraying the Romanian people to German occupiers. Leo Slezak, 72, German opera tenor
June 2, 1946 (Sunday) By a vote of 12,718,641 to 10,718,502 in the Italian institutional referendum, the monarchy in Italy was abolished, ending the brief reign of King Umberto II, who would go into exile."Monarchy Voted Out; Italian King Leaving", Milwaukee Journal, June 5, 1946, p1 The simultaneous general election, the first since the end of World War II and the Fascist Party dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, and also the first in which women were allowed to vote, determined representation for the Constituent Assembly. The Christian Democracy party, led by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi, won 207 out of 556 seats and formed a coalition government with the Socialists (115) and Communist (104) parties.Guillermo A. O'Donnell, et al.,Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Southern Europe (Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press 1986) p63 The Christian Democracy party would lead the Italian government continuously until 1981. In the French Parliamentary election, the French Communist Party (PCF) lost its plurality (from 159 to 153), and the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) gained 16 seats (from 150 to 166). The Socialist Party dropped from 146 to 128. With 586 seats in Parliament, no party had a majority."Communists Suffer Sharp Setback in French Election", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 3, 1946, p1; Herman Finer, Governments of Greater European Powers (Methuen, 1956) p322 Born: Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer known as the "Yorkshire Ripper"; in Bingley, West Yorkshire (d. 2020) Died: Carrie Ingalls (Caroline Ingalls Swanzey), 75, American newspaper typesetter known from bestselling Little House on the Prairie books written by her older sister, Laura Ingalls Wilder and the subsequent television series.
June 3, 1946 (Monday)
By a 6–1 vote, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Morgan v. Virginia that a Virginia law, requiring segregation of white and African-American bus passengers, was illegal for interstate travel. The suit had been brought by Irene Morgan, who had refused to sit in the negro section of a bus traveling from Gloucester County, Virginia, to Baltimore, Maryland. Died: Mikhail I. Kalinin, 70, former head of state of the U.S.S.R. Ch'en Kung-po, 54, founding member of Chinese Communist Party and collaborator, was executed.
June 4, 1946 (Tuesday) The United States Army recovered a treasure trove of jewelry and manuscripts that had been stolen by a group of American officers from the Friedrichshof Castle in Kronberg, Germany. Women's Army Corps Captain Kathleen Nash Durant had hidden part of the loot at her sister's home in Hudson, Wisconsin, and her husband, Colonel Jack W. Durant, had hidden hundreds of diamonds and other gems in a locker at the Illinois Central railway station in Chicago. The National School Lunch Act was signed into law by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, permanently establishing federal financial support for free or low-cost meals for schoolchildren. The largest solar prominence observed up to that time occurred. The prominence, extending above the surface of the Sun, was seen from the observatory at Climax, Colorado, by astronomer Walter Orr Roberts. The prominence had been measured at only an hour earlier. At its height, the prominence was nearly as long as the Sun's diameter; in a few more hours, it disappeared completely.Drummond, Rachael. "The Story behind Spicules." UCAR. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 March 2011 Juan Perón was inaugurated as the twenty-ninth President of Argentina for a six-year elective term.
June 5, 1946 (Wednesday) A fire at the La Salle Hotel in Chicago killed 57 people. When the blaze broke out at 12:20 am, there were 1,059 guests and 108 employees in the 20-story building. Firefighters were not called until 15 minutes after the flames were spotted, and by 12:35, the blaze had spread from the hotel's Silver Grill Cocktail Lounge throughout the lower floors. Most of the dead were guests on 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th floors of the twenty-story building. At least ten people jumped to their deaths.Cowan, Great Chicago fires: historic blazes that shaped a city (Lake Claremont Press, 2001) p63; "57 Perish, 200 Injured in Chicago Blaze", Milwaukee Journal, June 5, 1946, p1 Died: George A. Hormel, 85, American multi-millionaire and founder of Hormel Foods
June 6, 1946 (Thursday) The Basketball Association of America was formed in New York City. The forerunner of the NBA, the BAA awarded 13 big-city franchises, of which three — the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors (in 1946, the Philadelphia Warriors) — still exist. Other teams were in Chicago (Stags), Detroit (Falcons), Pittsburgh (Ironmen), Providence (Steamrollers), St. Louis (Bombers), Toronto (Huskies) and Washington (Capitols), while franchises in Buffalo and Indianapolis failed to play.Basketball-Reference.com American Research and Development Corporation, the first venture capital firm, was incorporated in MassachusettsInterest Equalization Tax Act", transcript of hearings before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, June 29 to July 2, 1964 (U.S. Senate, 1964) p. 132 by Georges Doriot, Ralph Flanders, Karl Compton and Merrill Griswold. U.S. Treasury Secretary Fred M. Vinson was nominated by President Truman to be the new Chief Justice of the United States. Died: Gerhart Hauptmann, 83, German dramatist, winner of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature
June 7, 1946 (Friday) The BBC Television network went back on the air for the first time since it had abruptly halted broadcasting in September 1939.Albert Abramson, Zworykin, Pioneer of Television (University of Illinois Press, 1995) p193 After setting a Friday evening deadline for walking out on strike two days earlier, the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team voted to go ahead with their scheduled game against the New York Giants. On June 5, the players voted unanimously to walk off the job unless they were allowed to join the American Baseball Guild, a labor union. An unidentified player reported that the vote had been 20 to 17 against a walkout. The team went on to beat the Giants 10–5.Milwaukee Journal: "Baseball's First Union Strike Set for Friday", June 6, 1946, p40; "Pittsburgh Players Insist They Will Go on Strike Tonight", June 7, 1946, p1; "Pirates' 'No Strike' Decision Real Blow to Baseball Guild", Milwaukee Journal, June 8, 1946, p6
June 8, 1946 (Saturday) Thirteen months after V-E Day, the United Kingdom celebrated its victory in World War II with a program that featured "all the pomp and circumstance it had given up during the war" and that was witnessed by "nearly one fourth of England's people" "London Victory Parade: Britain celebrates V-E holiday with pomp and fireworks", LIFE magazine, June 24, 1946, pp31-34 Tens of thousands of uniformed marchers represented the Allied nations in a nine-mile-long procession, while the Royal Air Force flew overhead. Born: Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of Saint Lucia from 1997 to 2017; in Laborie
June 9, 1946 (Sunday)
Ananda Mahidol, the 20-year-old King of Thailand, was found in his bedroom dead, from a single gunshot to his forehead, and with his Colt .45 pistol next to him. He was succeeded by his teenaged brother, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who became King Rama IX"Siam's King Found Dead Of Bullet-- Officials Call Killing Accident; Brother Rules With Regency", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 10, 1946, p1 and ruled until his death in October 2016. Although the death was initially ruled an accidental shooting, and speculated by author Rayne Kruger in The Devil's Discus (Cassell, 1964) to have been a suicide, royal secretary Chaleo Pathumros and two others were executed in 1955 after being convicted of King Ananda's murder.Paul M. Handley, The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej (Yale University Press, 2006) pp76-77 A fire at the Canfield Hotel in Dubuque, Iowa, killed 16 people."16 Dead, 20 Injured in Iowa Hotel Fire", Milwaukee Journal, June 10, 1946, p1
June 10, 1946 (Monday)
Jack Johnson, 68, the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1908 to 1915, and the first African-American to win that title, was killed in an automobile accident. In 1910, Johnson had defended his title in what was called then "The Fight of the Century", matching him against "The Great White Hope", former champion James J. Jeffries. Johnson had been driving from Texas to New York when his car crashed into a light pole near Franklinton, North Carolina.
June 11, 1946 (Tuesday) The Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the rulemaking and judicial functions of all United States government agencies, was signed into law.William F. Funk, et al., Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook (American Bar Association, 2000) p38 The law has been described as "the most important statute affecting the administration of justice in the federal field since the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789".Louis Fisher, American Constitutional Law (Cambridge University Press, 1954) p292
June 12, 1946 (Wednesday) After the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry had unanimously recommended that up to 100,000 European Jews be allowed to immigrate to Palestine, British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin declared that the United Kingdom would reject the plan."Bevin Rejects Plan to Move Jews to Zion", Milwaukee Journal, June 1, 1946, p1 Speaking at the annual conference of Britain's Labour Party, Bevin commented that the motive for American support for a Jewish state was "because they did not want too many of them in New York." Following the rejection of the proposal, Zionist leaders began a campaign of violence against the British government in the future state of Israel.Menahem Kaufman, An Ambiguous Partnership: Non-Zionists and Zionists in America, 1939-1948 (Wayne State University Press, 1991) p203 Died: John H. Bankhead II, 73, U.S. Senator from Alabama since 1931
June 13, 1946 (Thursday) After a reign of 31 days, King Umberto II of Italy elected not to further contest the results of the June 2 referendum that abolished the monarchy, and flew into exile. Earlier in the day, Parliament had granted Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi power to serve as the acting head of state until the election results could be certified."Umberto Yields Throne, Flies To Exile In Lisbon", Miami Daily News, June 14, 1946, p1 Died: Edward Bowes, 72, American creator and host of radio program Major Bowes Amateur Hour Charles Butterworth, 49, American film actor, in an automobile accident