Dashed left edge = started before October 1946 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond October 1946
Events in October 1946 4
1893 – 1946Hermann Goering (1893-1946)Died 15 October 1946, aged 53Goering was Adolf Hitler's designated successor and commander of the Luftwaffe, convicted at Nuremberg of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He took a smuggled cyanide capsule in his cell hours before his scheduled execution.
1946First Cannes Film Festival HeldFrench resort hosts inaugural international film festivalThe first Cannes Film Festival opened on the French Riviera after being postponed from its planned 1939 debut by the outbreak of war. Films from nineteen countries were screened, and the event quickly grew into one of the most prestigious festivals in world cinema.
1946Nuremberg Trials ConcludeInternational Military Tribunal delivers verdicts and executionsThe International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg convicted senior Nazi leaders of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace. Ten defendants, including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Wilhelm Keitel, were hanged on 16 October after Hermann Goering took his own life the night before his scheduled execution. The trials established precedents in international law that are still cited today.
1946 – 2026J. Craig Venter (1946-2026)Died 29 April 2026, aged 79American geneticist who pioneered new sequencing techniques and led Celera Genomics in the race to map the human genome.