July 1949

Month of 1949

The following events occurred in July 1949:

The government of Yugoslavia claimed that "gross violations" of the Italian Peace Treaty by the US, Britain and Italy had compelled it to incorporate the Yugoslavian occupation area of the Free Territory of Trieste into the Yugoslavian economy. Born: Jan Smithers, actress, in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; Johnnie Wilder Jr., lead vocalist of the R&B/funk group Heatwave, in Dayton, Ohio (d. 2006)

The treason trial of "Tokyo Rose" Iva Toguri D'Aquino began in San Francisco with jury selection. Shimoyama incident: Japanese National Railways president Sadanori Shimoyama disappeared on his way to work. His body was found the next day but the cause of death remains a mystery.

The Khait earthquake in Tajikistan triggered a massive landslide that killed an estimated 7,200 people.

King George VI gave the British government emergency powers to deal with the strike of London dock workers. The four masted barque Pamir became the last windjammer to carry a commercial load around Cape Horn. The first sitting of the Newfoundland and Labrador General Assembly after the province joined the Canadian federation. Anna Lucasta a 1949 America drama film, directed by Irving Rapper, starring Paulette Goddard, Oscar Homolka, and John Ireland was released. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, an electrical generation and distribution cooperative, was founded. Died: Corneliu Dragalina, 52, Romanian World War II general; Beauford H. Jester, 56, 36th Governor of Texas (heart attack aboard a train)

The Vatican warned that all Catholics who "defend and spread the materialistic and anti Christian doctrine of the Communists" would be excommunicated. The drama film The Great Gatsby starring Alan Ladd and based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name was released.

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia issued a manifesto maintaining that there would be no compromise in the fight against the church, which it characterized as "our greatest enemy."

Israel and Syria signed an armistice agreement in which both sides agreed to keep their military forces behind their international borders and to establish demilitarized zones in contested areas.

The House of Lords vetoed the government's steel nationalization bill by voting 103 to 29 to restore an amendment delaying the nationalization date until after the next general election. Daniel Chanis Pinzón became President of Panama. Born: Vida Blue, baseball player, in Mansfield, Louisiana (d. 2023)