The almanac
The 1948 Edition
A vintage print: the UN count of births worldwide starts in 1950. About 32 million are still in circulation.
Estimates from the UN World Population Prospects 2024. How we count
What happened in 1948
- Columbia introduced the long-playing recordThe new vinyl LP played up to 30 minutes per side, against three to five minutes before.June · Source: EBSCO Research Starters
- The giant Palomar telescope was dedicatedThe 200-inch Hale Telescope in California was dedicated before nearly 1,000 invited guests.June 3 · Source: Palomar Observatory (Caltech)
- Ed Sullivan's TV variety show beganThen called Toast of the Town, Ed Sullivan's Sunday night variety show made its debut.June 20 · Source: The Ed Sullivan Show (official site)
- The Manchester Baby ran its first programThe small British machine was the first computer to run a program stored in its own memory.June 21 · Source: The Centre for Computing History (Cambridge, UK), Dates in History
- London hosted the first televised OlympicsThe Summer Games were shown on TV for the first time, though only to small local audiences.July 29 · Source: Olympedia
- The Red Shoes opened in US theatersA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her dancing career.October 22 · Source: Box Office Mojo
- Polaroid's Land Camera went on saleThe Land Camera Model 95 sold for $89.75 at Jordan Marsh, a Boston department store.November 26 · Source: Harvard Business School, Baker Library
Famous people born in 1948
- Svetlana AlexievichBelarusian investigative journalist and non-fiction prose writer · born May 31
- George R. R. MartinAmerican writer and television producer · born September 20
- Ozzy OsbourneEnglish musician and television personality · born December 3
- Terry PratchettEnglish fantasy author · born April 28
- Samuel L. JacksonAmerican actor · born December 21
- Ichirō MizukiJapanese singer, voice actor · born January 7
- John de LancieAmerican actor · born March 20
- Jeremy IronsBritish actor · born September 19
From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages write about them. Spotted a mistake?
If you were born in 1948
- Older than PeanutsThe Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz first appeared, in seven US newspapers on October 2, 1950.
- Older than the DNA double helixWatson and Crick's paper describing the double-helix structure of DNA was published in Nature on April 25, 1953.
- Older than the first climb of EverestEdmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.
- Older than the four-minute mileRoger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, in Oxford on May 6, 1954.