1949

Events

January

• January 19: Communist forces enter Karpenisi during the Greek Civil War. They will hold it three days.

February

• February 6: The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) purges many high officials among them Markos Vafiadis.
• February 7: Nikolaos Zachariadis replaces Markos Vafiadis as head of the "Provisional Democratic Government".
• February 23: During the Greek Civil War, communist forces are repelled at Florina.
• February 28: During the Greek Civil War, government forces discover the secret location of the printing press of the communist newspaper "Morias".

April

• April 3: Israel and Jordan agree to a cessation of hostilities on the island of Rhodes.
• April 3: Mitsos Partsalidis replaces Nikolaos Zachariadis as head of the "Provisional Democratic Government".
• April 13: The Polk trial starts in Thessaloniki, Greece. George Polk was an American journalist mysteriously murdered during the Greek Civil War.
• April 21: Gregorios Staktopoulos is convicted of the murder of journalist, George Polk and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• April 30: Two new prefectures are formed by law: Corinthia and Pieria.

May

• May 15: In their first official match, the Greek basketball team beats Holland with 46-28, in Cairo, during the 6th European Championship.
• May 16: Greece lose to Turkey with 1-2 at the Leoforos Stadium soccer game for the East Mediterranean Friendship Cup

June

• June 6: Ioannina Metropolitan Spyridon is elected Archbishop of Athens.
• June 24: Prime Minister Themistoklis Sofoulis dies in office. He is succeeded by Alexandros Diomedes.

July

• July 10: Marshall Tito closes the border between Yugoslavia and Greece. This action led to the rapid defeat of the communists during the Greek Civil War.
• July 23: The Cyprus National Football Team play their first international: a 3-0 loss to Israel in Tel-Aviv.
• July 29: 700 political prisoners are released from Makronisos after signing an affidavit of repentance.

August

• August 3: The Battle of Grammos-Vitsi commences during the Greek Civil War.
• August 5: Yugoslavia decides to return some 11,300 children that were forcibly expatriated from Greece during the Greek Civil War.
• August 28: 29-year-old Costas Giataganas of Ethnikos AC with 15.09 becomes the first Greek shot put athlete to overcome the barrier of 15 meters. Two years later, he will win the gold medal at the Mediterranean Games and during his career he will break the national record 6 times, raising it from 14.63 to 15.58.
• August 29: The Battle of Grammos-Vitsi ends in a decisive victory for the national forces who are now in firm control of all of Greece. The Greek Civil War, for all practical purposes, is over.

October

• October 23: OTE is established - the Greek Public Sector is the only stockholder.

November

• November 25: The National Football Team of Greece defeat Syria 8-0 in their greatest win ever. Antonis Papantoniou (3), Angelos Vasiliadis (2), Kleanthis Maropoulos and Yiannis Nembidis (2) were the scorers.

December

• December 16: Under Prime Minister Alexandros Diomedes, the martial law that was in place for the Hellenic Civil War was lifted in most areas of the country.

Births

June

• June 20: Vassilis Papakonstantinou, singer

July

• July 26: Walter Wagner, footballer

September

• September 29: Giorgos Dalaras, singer

November

• November 19: Panos Kokkinopoulos, movie director

December

• December 17: Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer

Deaths

May

• May 20: Archbishop Damaskinos

June

• June 24: Themistoklis Sofoulis, incumbent prime minister