the Midwestern United States. MGM's Technicolor film version of Show Boat, starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner and Howard Keel, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The musical brings overnight fame to bass-baritone William Warfield (who sings "Ol' Man River" in the film). July 14 – In Diamond, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument to honor an African American. July 16 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favour of his son Baudouin, who on July 17 takes the oath as king of Belgium. July 20 – King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem. He is succeeded by his son, King Talal. July 26 Walt Disney's 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, United Kingdom. The first birch bark manuscript is discovered in Novgorod. July 28 – Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a multilateral treaty of the United Nations, is signed at a special conference in Geneva, defining the status of refugees and setting out the basis for granting right of asylum, coming into force on 22 April 1954. July 30 – David Lean's film of Oliver Twist is finally shown in the United States, after 10 minutes of supposedly anti-Semitic references and closeups of Alec Guinness as Fagin are cut. It will not be shown uncut in the U.S. until 1970. August August 11 – René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of France. August 12 – J. D. Salinger's coming-of-age story The Catcher in the Rye is first published in the United States. August 31 – The first Volkswagen Type 1 rolls off the production line in Uitenhage, South Africa. September September 1 – The United States, Australia and New Zealand all sign a mutual defense pact, the ANZUS Treaty. September 2 – The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. September 8 Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, 48 representatives out of 51 attending sign a peace treaty with Japan, formally ending the Pacific War; the delegations of the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia do not sign the treaty, instead favoring separate treaties. The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which allows United States Armed Forces to be stationed in Japan even after the end of the occupation of Japan, is signed by Japan and the United States. September 9 –