The following events occurred in February 1946: February 1, 1946 (Friday) Trygve Lie was sworn in as the first Secretary General of the United Nations. Syria and the Soviet Union secretly signed a treaty for military advisers to come to Syria. A treaty between the USSR and Lebanon was signed two days later. Zoltán Tildy was sworn into office as the first President of Hungary, and Ferenc Nagy succeeded Tildy as Prime Minister. Both were forced out by the Communist party within two years. February 2, 1946 (Saturday) The Soviet Union formally annexed the Japanese Kuril Islands. Two unusually large sunspots disrupted radio communication between North America and Europe between and EST. A fire in a retirement home in Garfield Heights, Ohio, killed 33 people. The popular quiz show Twenty Questions, hosted by Fred van Deventer, premiered on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network and began a nine-year run on radio and later on the DuMont and ABC television networks. Born: Isaias Afwerki, first, and thus far, only President of Eritrea since the east African nation became independent in 1991; in Asmara Alpha Oumar Konaré, third President of Mali (1992–2002), in Kayes Blake Clark, American actor and comedian, in Macon, Georgia Died: Rondo Hatton, 51, American horror movie star February 3, 1946 (Sunday) NBC Radio commentator Drew Pearson broke the news of what would become known as the "Gouzenko Affair": a Soviet spy ring had been operating in Canada, and that the spy agency GRU had been transmitting American atomic secrets from Ottawa to Moscow. Died: Friedrich Jeckeln, 51, SS commander during the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union, was hanged in public at Pobeda Square in Riga, along with five of his officers. Jeckeln oversaw the deaths of more than 250,000 people, mostly Jewish, during the Second World War. February 4, 1946 (Monday) National weather forecasts returned to American newspapers after four years. Publication of maps had ceased on December 15, 1941, a week after the United States entered World War II. February 5, 1946 (Tuesday) The first scheduled Trans-Atlantic commercial airplane flight was made when the "Star of Paris", a TWA Constellation, took off at from New York's La Guardia airport. The plane landed in Paris 14 hours and 48 minutes later. Plaza México, the world's largest (55,000 seats) bullring, was opened in Mexico City. The Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge was established in Oklahoma by order of President