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December 21, 1946

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from December 21, 1946

ARMY REINFORCES DIVISION'S POWER TO MEET ATOM AGE; Size, Fire-Strength of Infantry and Armored Units Among Revolutionary Changes ALL COULD BE AIRBORNE Devers Says Giant Transports Are Being Developed to Fly Troops, Guns and Tanks

By Sidney Shalett Special To the New York Times

Gen Devers announces revolutionary changes in infantry and armored divs armament firepower and mobility; details

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ATOM BOARD VOTES U.S. PLAN BUT SEEKS TO RECONCILE VETO; THE RUSSIAN DELEGATE ADDRESSING THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION

By Thomas J. Hamilton Special To the New York Times

Atomic Energy Comm sessions

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1,000 Feared Dead in Japan As Quake, Tidal Wave Strike; Water, Rising Seven Feet, Inundates Cities on Shikoku, Wiping Out Hundreds of Homes --Honshu Is Also Heavily Damaged

By Unknown Author

Quake and tidal wave strikes southern Japan; 1,000 feared dead; 7-foot wave reptd wiping out 200 families on Shikoku, other cities inundated; devastation in other areas described; world seismographs rept on quake; map

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British Offer a Free Burma On Same Terms as India's; Delegation Is Invited to London to Discuss Details--Churchill Condemns 'Evil Process' of Empire's Dissolution

By Herbert L. Matthews Special To the New York Times

Prime Min Attlee announces Brit offer of independence on same terms as India; invites Burmese delegation to London; W Churchill scores announcement, charging Labor destruction of Brit Empire; U Aung San expected to head group; Thakin Than Tun and U Saw to be delegates

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Sleet and Slush Disrupt Traffic, Dim Chance of White Christmas; TRAFFIC IS SLOWED BY SNOW AND SLEET

By Unknown Author

Adler, H, NYC

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Notable Births

1946Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter^[†]

The AVN Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995. The individuals inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame have "made significant contributions to the adult industry" and have had "a minimum of 10 years in the industry" to be considered for induction.

1946Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)^[†]

Carl Dean Wilson was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's de facto leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.

Historical Events

1946An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.^[†]

The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. Mw  was defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local magnitude/Richter scale (ML ) defined by Charles Francis Richter in 1935, it uses a logarithmic scale; small earthquakes have approximately the same magnitudes on both scales. Despite the difference, news media often use the term "Richter scale" when referring to the moment magnitude scale.