Stories from 1946
Browse a timeline of top world events from 1946. Or, use Proust to tell your life story and share personal
moments from any year in history.
Share your own story from 1946
February 1, 1946
•
Norway
The first United Nations Secretary General was Trygve Lie of Norway, who served a five-year term.
May 2, 1946
•
San Francisco, California
The most famous Alcatraz escape attempt by prisoners took place over two days in May.
July 5, 1946
•
Paris, France
Bikinis, designed by Louis Reard, made their first appearance in Paris on showgirl Micheline Bernardini. Reard named the swimming suit after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the United States conducted an atomic test.
December 11, 1946
The U.N. established the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to help children of countries that were destroyed in World War II and would later more broadly protect children's rights.
December 20, 1946
An angel saves finance-stricken George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, co-written and directed by Frank Capra. It starred James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell. The film typically airs on television every year around Christmastime.
