British India is partitioned into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan, accompanied by mass migration and violence.
At Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill declares that an "iron curtain" has descended across Europe, a symbolic marker of the early Cold War.
The Union of Burma becomes independent from Britain, choosing not to join the Commonwealth.
Gandhi is shot dead in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist.
Ceylon becomes an independent dominion within the Commonwealth, ending British colonial rule.
The United States enacts a large-scale economic aid programme to rebuild Western European economies after the Second World War.
The Soviet Union blocks road and rail access to West Berlin; the Western Allies respond by supplying the city through an airlift for almost a year.