1948 Newspapers

1948 Newspapers

An important year worldwide, 1948 news included numerous events that defined the decade. Recovering from the aftermath of the Second World War, countries across the globe were beginning to rebuild their economies. Newspapers captured the social and political landscape of the time. Reading a 1948 newspaper today allows the individual to see how the world has progressed, what values have changed and why we must never forget how prominent years such as this shaped the world, for the better, or for the worse. Of the four million newspapers in our archive, we have an impressive variety of dates and newspaper titles available for anyone with an interest in this particular year and its history.

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Day

Month

Year

FROM £19.99

A Summary of 1948 Newspaper Headlines

1st January 1948
Railways are nationalised to form British Railways.

30th January 1948
Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

4th February 1948
Ceylon, later renamed Sri Lanka, becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. King George VI becomes King of Ceylon.

7th April 1948
The World Health Organisation is established by the United Nations.

30th April 1948
The Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.

4th May 1948
Laurence Olivier’s film version of “Hamlet” makes its world premiere in London.

22nd June 1948
The ship ‘Empire Windrush’ brings the first group of several hundred black immigrants to Tilbury near London from the Caribbean countries. This is the start of multiculturalism in Britain.

28th June 1948
David Lean’s “Oliver Twist“, based on Charles Dickens’ famous novel, premieres in the United Kingdom. The film is banned for three years in the United States due to alleged anti-Semitism in the depiction of Fagin.

29th July 1948
The 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London. The Olympic Games had previously been on a twelve-year hiatus due to the Second World War.

9th September 1948
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is formally declared, with Kim Il-sung as Prime Minister.

5th October 1948
The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 100,000 people in the Soviet Union.

2nd November 1948
Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats Republican Thomas E. Dewey and ‘Dixiecrat’ Strom Thurmond in the 1948 United States presidential election.

12th November 1948
In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, for their roles in the Second World War. One of those executed is General Hideki Tojo.

14th November 1948
Birth of Prince Charles, heir to the throne.

Our 1948 newspaper headlines feature notorious events that are now instantly associated with this year. The World Health Organisation was established to promote healthy practices all over the world and in a similar vein, the NHS is established, providing free healthcare to all UK citizens. A defining moment, the United Nations came together to create the United Declaration of Human Rights after the atrocities of WWII, stating all humans are entitled to fair treatment, dignity and human rights regardless of personal characteristics.

Not found what you’re looking for? If you want an exact newspaper about particular events or persons, you can contact research@historic-newspapers.co.uk for in-depth articles.

Gandhi Assassination Newspaper Coverage
Despite the promise of economic change, the year also witnessed its share of sadness. The Gandhi assassination newspaper became a major headline of the year, where Mahatma Gandhi, the pacifist and activist leader of the Indian Independence movement against British rule, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. These are some of the major events that made the headlines during this year.

More from this Decade
1940 Newspapers
1941 Newspapers
1942 Newspapers
1943 Newspapers
1944 Newspaper
1945 Newspaper
1946 Newspaper
1947 Newspaper
1949 Newspaper

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These aren’t replicas. They’re the actual newspapers that sat on newsstands up to 125 years ago. The one you buy could be the last copy in existence.

Prices can vary for several reasons, like popularity of a specific day, whether the paper is local or national, the paper’s age, and the number of copies left.

Missing papers give us a window into history. If a paper isn’t available for the date you’re after, it could be because that newspaper was on strike during the period.

FLYING OFF THE NEWSSTANDS

Bestsellers leave public ‘clamouring for copies’, reports suggest.