soldier had been killed by a resident. August 29, 1946 (Thursday) The Workers Party of North Korea was created by a merger of the Communist Party and the New People's Party, with Kim Tu-bong as chairman, and Kim Il-sung and Chu Yong-ha as vice chairmen. Born: Bob Beamon, American athlete who held the world record for the long jump for 23 years, in New York City Dimitris Christofias, President of Cyprus 2008 to 2013, in Dikomo (d. 2019) Died: Grigory Semyonov, 55, who had fled the Soviet Union in 1921 to Korea under Japanese protection, then provided intelligence to the Japanese throughout the World War II. Captured by the Soviets in 1945 after the Japanese surrender, Semyonov was convicted of treason and hanged. August 30, 1946 (Friday) The United States signed an agreement to sell (for $20,000,000) surplus aircraft to the government of Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China effectively ruining negotiations being conducted by General George C. Marshall between Chiang and Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. The German state of Rheinland-Pfalz was created from the northern section of the French occupation zone of Germany by the French Governor, Marie Pierre Kœnig. Died: Jack Woolams, chief test pilot for the X-1, in an unrelated airplane crash at an airshow. Captain Chuck Yeager would break the sound barrier in the X-1-1 on 14 October 1947. August 31, 1946 (Saturday) John Hersey's article "Hiroshima," later to be published as a bestselling book, first appeared in The New Yorker with the stories of six survivors of the blast, filling the entire issue. The last French troops left Lebanon, departing Beirut for Marseilles. References 1946 1946-08 1946-08