page_title: 1949 in the United States
section_title: January–March
hierarchical_section_title: 1949 in the United States / Events / January–March
caption_attribution_description: Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) English: Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972), 1945 – 1953 the thirty-third President of the United States Deutsch: Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), 1945 bis 1953 33. Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten ไทย: แฮร์รี เอส. ทรูแมน (2427 – 2515), ประธานาธิบดีสหรัฐอเมริกา คนที่ 33 ระหว่าง พ.ศ. 2488 - 2496
context_page_description: Events from the year 1949 in the United States.
context_section_description: January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
  January 4 – RMS Caronia (1947) of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York City on her maiden voyage.
  January 4–February 22 – Series of winter storms in Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado and Nevada – winds of up to 72 mph – tens of thousands of cattle and sheep perish.
  January 5 – President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
  January 11 – Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall.
  January 17 – The first Volkswagen Beetle to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought to New York City by Dutch businessman Ben Pon.  Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses.  Only two 1949 models will be sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff that the car has no future in the U.S. (The VW Beetle goes on to become the greatest automobile phenomenon in American history.)
  January 19 – The Poe Toaster first appears at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe.
  January 20 – President Harry S. Truman begins his full term.
  January 25 – The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
  February 10 – Arthur Miller's tragedy Death of a Salesman opens at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway in New York City with Lee J. Cobb in the title rôle of Willy Loman and runs for 742 performances.
  February 19 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
  February 22 – Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow, gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention.
  March 2 – The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II under Captain James Gallagher lands in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight (it was refueled in flight 4 times).
  March 17 – The Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas, owned by oil tycoon Glenn McCarthy, has its grand opening.
  March 20 – The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads inaugurate the California Zephyr passenger train between Chicago and Oakland, California, as the first long distance train to feature Vista Dome cars as regular equipment.
  March 26 – The first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, conducted by legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert (i.e. no scenery or costumes), is telecast by NBC, live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. The second half is telecast a week later. This is the only complete opera that Toscanini ever conducts on television.
  March 28 – United States Secretary of Defense James Forrestal resigns suddenly.
  March 29 – The 21st Academy Awards ceremony is held.
caption: Harry S. Truman, the President of the United States, began his full term on January 20
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