1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. [edit] Events of 1947 [edit] January
[edit] February - February 3
- February 5 – Bolesław Bierut becomes the President of Poland.
- February 8 – A dance hall fire in Berlin, Germany, kills over 80 people.
- February 10 – In Paris, France, peace treaties are signed between the World War II Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland. Italy cedes most of Istria to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- February 12 – A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
- February 17 – Cold War: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
- February 20 – An explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company in Los Angeles, California, leaves 17 dead, 100 buildings damaged, and a 22-foot deep crater in the ground .
- February 21 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", his Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
- February 23 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
- February 25
- The state of Prussia officially ceases to exist.
- The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.
- February 28
- April 1
- April 9 – Multiple tornadoes strike Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas killing 181 people and injuring 970.
- April 15 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first Negro to play Major League Baseball.
- April 16 – Texas City Disaster: An Ammonium nitrate cargo of the SS Grandcamp explodes in Texas City, Texas, kiling 552, injuring 3,000, causing 200 lost, and destroying 20 city blocks.
- April 18 – The British Royal Navy detonates 6,800 tonnes of explosives in a deliberate attempt to demolish the the fortified island of Heligoland, Germany, thus creating the largest mad-made non-nuclear explosion in history.
- May 1 – The Salvatore Giuliano Gang opens fire on a labor parade near Portella Della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 30.
- May 2 – The movie Miracle on 34th Street, a Christmastime classic, is first shown in theaters.
- May 3 – The new post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
- May 12 – The animated cartoon film Rabbit Transit, directed by Friz Freleng, is released.
- May 22 – Cold War: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine. This Act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.
- May 22 – David Lean's film Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, opens in the United States. Critics call it the finest film ever made from a Charles Dickens novel.
- May 25 – An airlner of the Flugfelag Íslands crashes into a mountainside, killing 25 people.
- July 7 – A supposedly downed extraterrestrial spacecraft is reportedly found in the Roswell UFO incident, near Roswell, New Mexico, which was written about by Stanton T. Friedman.
- July 10 – Princess Elizabeth announces her engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.
- July 11 – The Exodus (ship) leaves France for Palestine, with 4,500 Jewish Holocaust survivor refugees on board.
- July 17 – The Indian passenger ship Ramdas is capsized by a cyclone at Mumbai, India, with 625 people killed.
- July 18
- July 26 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.
- July 29 – After being shut down on November 9, 1946, for a refurbishment, the ENIAC computer, the world's first electronic digital computer, is turned back on again. It then remains in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.
[edit] August  Flag of the newly independent India [edit] September [edit] October [edit] November - November 2
- In California, the designer and airplane pilot Howard Hughes performs the maiden flight of the Spruce Goose, the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. (The flight lasts only eight minutes, and the "Spruce Goose" is never flown again.)
- An earthquake in the Chilean Andes kills 233 people.
- November 6 – The program Meet the Press makes its television debut on the NBC-TV network in the United States.
- November 9 – Junagadh is invaded by the Indian army.
- November 10 – The arrest of four steel workers in Marseille begins a French communist riot that also spreads to Paris.
- November 16
- In Brussels, 15,000 people demonstrate against the relatively short sentences of Belgian Nazi criminals.
- Great Britain begin withdrawing its arny troops from Palestine.
- November 18 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 people.
- November 20
- November 21 – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment begins in Havana, Cuba. This conference ends in 1948, when its members finish the Havana Charter.
- November 24 – Red Scare: The U.S. House of Representatives votes 346–17 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10, after the ten men refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of communist influences in the movie business. (The ten men are blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios on the following day).
- November 25 – New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster, and that country thus becomes independent of legislative control by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
- November 27 – In Paris, France, police occupy the editorial offices of the communist newspapers.
- November 29 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arab and Jewish regions, which results in the creation of the State of Israel.
[edit] December [edit] Undated [edit] Births [edit] January–February - January 1
- January 2 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist
- January 6 – Sandy Denny, British singer (d. 1978)
- January 7 – Shobha De, Indian writer
- January 8
- January 9 – Ronnie Landfield, American artist
- January 11 – Mart Smeets, Dutch sports journalist
- January 14 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (d. 2003)
- January 16 – Laura Schlessinger, American psychologist and radio talk show host
- January 18 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese film director and actor
- January 23
- January 24
- January 29 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 30 – Steve Marriott, British rock musician (Small Faces, Humble Pie) (d. 1991)
- January 31 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
- February 1 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
- February 2 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (Charlie's Angels) (d. 2009)
- February 3
- February 4 – Dan Quayle, Vice President of the United States 1989–1993
- February 5 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and broadcaster
- February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (Mickey Mouse) (d. 2009)
- February 10 – Louise Arbour, Canadian jurist
- February 10 – Nicholas Owen, English newsreader (ITN)
- February 11 – Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan
- February 12 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Punjabi saint, Sikh theologian, military leader (d. 1984)
- February 13 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball coach
- February 15 – John Coolidge Adams, American composer
- February 18
- February 20
- February 21 – Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident journalist and priest (d. 2006)
- February 24 – Edward James Olmos, American actor (Stand and Deliver)
- February 25 – Doug Yule, American rock singer and musician (The Velvet Underground)
- February 26 – Sandie Shaw, British singer
- February 27 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist
[edit] March–April - March 2 – Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur Manager
- March 4
- March 6
- March 7 – Walter Röhrl, German race car driver
- March 8 – Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter
- March 10
- March 11 – David Ferguson (impresario), American music producer and activist
- March 12
- March 13 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist
- March 14 – Pam Ayres, British poet
- March 15 – Ry Cooder, American guitarist
- March 16
- March 17 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer and producer
- March 19 – Glenn Close, American actress
- March 20 – John Boswell, American historian (d. 1994)
- March 24
- March 25 – Elton John, English rock singer, pianist, and songwriter
- March 27 – Walt Mossberg, American newspaper columnist
- April 1 – Alain Connes, French mathematician
- April 2
- April 4 – Eliseo Soriano, Philippine preacher
- April 5 – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, incumbent Philippine president and daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal
- April 6 – John Ratzenberger, American actor (Cheers)
- April 8 – Tom DeLay, American politician
- April 12
- April 15
- April 16
- April 18
- April 19 – Murray Perahia, American pianist
- April 20 – Hector, Finnish rock musician
- April 21 – Iggy Pop, American rock musician
- April 25 – Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer and coach
- April 28 – Ken St. Andre, American game designer and author
- April 29
- April 30 – Leslie Grantham, British actor
[edit] May–June - May 4 – Theda Skocpol, American sociologist
- May 6 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
- May 8 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- May 11- Walter Selke, German physicist
- May 12 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian public intellectual, philosopher and historian
- May 13 – Stephen R. Donaldson, American novelist
- May 19 – Paul Brady, Northern Irish singer/songwriter
- May 24 – Maude Barlow, Canadian author, activist and National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians
- May 26 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricket captain
- May 27
- May 29 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio broadcaster (d. 2007)
- June 1 – Ronnie Wood, English rock musician (The Faces, The Rolling Stones)
- June 4 – Viktor Klima, Chancellor of Austria
- June 6
- June 7 – Thurman Munson, American baseball catcher (d. 1979)
- June 8 – Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 14 – Barry Melton, American rock musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
- June 15 – John Hoagland, American war photographer (d. 1984)
- June 16 – -minu, Swiss columnist and writer
- June 19
- June 21
- June 22
- June 25 – Jimmie Walker, American actor (Good Times)
- June 28 – Mark Helprin, American writer
[edit] July–August - July 1 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor
- July 2 – Larry David, American actor, writer, producer, and director
- July 3 – Dave Barry, American writer
- July 7
- July 8 – Bobby Sowell, American pianist and composer
- July 9
- July 10 – Arlo Guthrie, American folk singer (The City of New Orleans)
- July 17 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
- July 18 – Steven W. Mahoney, Canadian politician
- July 19 – Brian May, English rock guitarist (Queen)
- July 20
- July 21 – Co Adriaanse, Dutch football manager
- July 22
- July 23 – Spencer Christian, American television weather reporter
- July 24 – Peter Serkin, American pianist
- July 27 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (d. 2008)
- July 30 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born American actor, bodybuilder, and 38th Governor of California
- July 31 – Richard Griffiths, English actor
- August 3 – Colleen Corby, American fashion model
- August 7 – Franciscus Henri, Dutch-born Australian children's entertainer, composer and artist
- August 8 – Terangi Adam, Nauruan politician
- August 9 – John Varley, American science-fiction author
- August 10 – Ian Anderson, British rock musician (Jethro Tull)
- August 12 – William Hartston, British chess player
- August 14 – Maddy Prior, English folk singer
- August 15 – Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress
- August 16 – Marc Messier, Canadian actor
- August 19
- August 23 – Willy Russell, British playwright
- August 24 – Roger De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist
- August 26 – Emiliano Díez, Cuban actor
- August 27 – Barbara Bach, American actress (The Spy Who Loved Me)
- August 28 – Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress
- August 29 – Temple Grandin, American animal welfare and autism expert
- August 30 – Allan Rock, Canadian politician and diplomat
- August 31
[edit] September–October - September 1 – Al Green, American politician
- September 3 – Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway
- September 6 – Bruce Rioch, Scottish footballer and coach
- September 14 – Sam Neill, New Zealand actor (A Cry in the Dark)
- September 16 – Russ Abbot,, British comedian and actor
- September 17 – Tessa Jowell, British politician
- September 19 – Steve Bartlett, U.S. Congressman and Mayor of Dallas, Texas
- September 21 – Stephen King, American horror author
- September 22 – Norma McCorvey, American abortion plaintiff (Roe v. Wade)
- September 25 – Ali Parvin, Iranian footballer and coach
- September 26 – Lynn Anderson, American country singer
- September 27
- September 30 – Marc Bolan, English rock musician (T.Rex) (d. 1977)
- October 1 – Aaron Ciechanover, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- October 2 – Ward Churchill, American author and activist
- October 4 – Ann Widdecombe, British politician
- October 5 – Brian Johnson, English rock singer (AC/DC)
- October 6 – Gail Farrell, American singer
- October 7 – Pip Williams, British record producer
- October 9 – France Gall, French singer
- October 10 – Martin Ruane, British wrestler best known as Giant Haystacks and later, The Loch Ness Monster (d. 1998)
- October 13 – Sammy Hagar, American rock singer
- October 14 – Lukas Resetarits, Austrian singer and actor
- October 16 – Bob Weir, American rock guitarist (Grateful Dead)
- October 17
- October 18 – James H. Fallon, American neuroscientist
- October 19 – Giorgio Cavazzano, Italian comics artist and illustrator
- October 22 – Ed Welch, English television composer
- October 24 – Kevin Kline, American actor
- October 25 – Glenn Tipton, English rock guitarist (Judas Priest)
- October 26
- October 29 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor (Mr. Holland's Opus)
[edit] November–December - November 6 – Jim Rosenthal, ITV sport presenter
- November 7
- November 10 – Glen Buxton, American rock guitarist (Alice Cooper) (d. 1997)
- November 14 – P. J. O'Rourke, American journalist and satirist
- November 17 – Inky Mark, Canadian politician
- November 19
- November 20 – Joe Walsh, American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Eagles)
- November 21 – Chua Ek Kay, Singaporean painter (d. 2008)
- November 24 – Mike Gorman, American sports announcer (Boston Celtics)
- November 25 – John Larroquette, American actor (Night Court)
- November 29 – Mirza Khazar, an eminent Azerbaijani author, political analyst, legendary anchorman, translator of the Bible into Azerbaijani language.
- November 30
- December 1 – Bob Fulton, English-born Australian rugby league player
- December 2 – Isaac Bitton, French rock band drummer (Les Variations)
- December 7 – Wendy Padbury, British actress
- December 8 – Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 8 – Gérard Blanc, French singer
- December 9 – Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator
- December 10 – Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player
- December 12 – Will Alsop, English architect
- December 14 – Christopher Parkening, American guitarist
- December 16 – Vincent Matthews, American athlete
- December 21
- December 22 – Mitsuo Tsukahara, Japanese gymnast
- December 26 – Carlton Fisk, American baseball player
- December 28 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican Major League Baseball player (d. 2000)
- December 29 – Ted Danson, American actor (Cheers)
- December 30 – Jeff Lynne, British musician (Electric Light Orchestra)
- December 31
[edit] Unknown date [edit] Deaths [edit] January–June - January 3 – Al Herpin (The Man Who Never Slept), notable insomniac (b. 1853)
- January 9 – Herman Bing, German actor (b. 1889)
- January 15 – Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia), famous murder victim (b. 1924)
- January 20
- January 23 – Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)
- January 25 – Al Capone, American gangster (b. 1899)
- January 26
- January 27 – Vasily Balabanov, administrator and Provincial Governor of Imperial Russia (b.1873)
- February 6 – O. Max Gardner, Governor of North Carolina
- February 12
- February 27 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1868)
- March 5 – Alfredo Casella, Italian composer (b. 1883)
- March 11 – Victor Lustig, Austrian-born con artist (b. 1890)
- March 12 – Walter Samuel Goodland, Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1862)
- March 18 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)
- March 19 – Prudence Heward, Canadian painter (b. 1896)
- March 20 – Victor Goldschmidt, Swiss geochemist (b. 1888)
- March 21 – Homer Lusk Collyer, American hermit brother (Collyer brothers) (b. 1881)
- March 23 – Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)
- March 25 – Chen Cheng-po, Taiwanese painter (b. 1895)
- March 28 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish military leader (b. 1897)
- March 30 – Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (b. 1863)
- April 1 – King George II of Greece (b. 1890)
- April 7 – Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer (b. 1863)
- April 8 – Langley Collyer, American hermit brother (Collyer brothers) (b. 1885)
- April 10 – John Ince, American actor (b. 1878)
- April 16 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of Auschwitz (b. 1900)
- April 20 – King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
- April 24 – Willa Siebert Cather, American novelist (b. 1873)
- May 8 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American department store magnate (b. 1858)
- May 13 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet (b. 1926)
- May 16 – Frederick Hopkins, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (b. 1861)
- May 17 – George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
- May 18 – Lucile Gleason, American actress (b. 1888)
- May 20 – Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- May 24 – C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)
- May 28 – August Eigruber, Nazi war criminal (executed) (b. 1907)
- May 29 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, Nazi war criminal (executed) (b. 1905)
- May 30 – Georg Ludwig von Trapp, Austrian sailor, patriarch of the Von Trapp Family of The Sound of Music fame (b. 1880)
- May 31 – Adrienne Ames, American actress (b. 1907)
- June 9 – J. Warren Kerrigan, American actor (b. 1879)
- June 11 – Richard Hönigswald, Hungarian-born American philosopher (b. 1875)
- June 17 – Maxwell Perkins, American literary editor (b. 1884)
- June 18 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese rear admiral and convicted war criminal (executed) (b. 1898)
- June 19 – Kōsō Abe, Japanese admiral (b. 1892)
- June 20 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (b. 1906)
- June 22 – Jim Tully, vagabond, pugilist, noted American writer (b. 1891)
- June 26 – Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1870)
[edit] July–December - July 12 – Jimmie Lunceford, American jazz musician (b. 1902)
- July 15 – Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (b. 1893)
- July 17 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat and humanitarian (presumed dead on this date) (b. 1912)
- July 19 – Aung San, Burmese nationalist (assassinated) (b. 1915)
- July 27 – Ivan Regen, Slovenian biologist (b. 1868)
- July 30 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1860)
- August 8 – Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian military leader (b. 1872)
- September 1 – Frederick Russell Burnham, American Scout, father of the international Scouting movement (b. 1861)
- September 20 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, Mayor of New York (b. 1882)
- September 21 – Harry Carey, American actor (b. 1878)
- September 26 – Hugh Lofting, British writer (b. 1886)
- October 1 – Olive Borden, American actress (b. 1906)
- October 4 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
- October 6 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (b. 1887)
- October 17 – John Halliday, American actor (b. 1880)
- October 24 – Dudley Digges, Irish actor (b. 1879)
- October 28 – Earl Snell, Governor of Oregon (plane crash) (b. 1895)
- October 29 – Frances Cleveland, wife of President Grover Cleveland (b. 1864)
- November 25 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French writer (b. 1876)
- November 28
- November 30 – Ernst Lubitsch, German film director (b. 1892)
- December 1
- December 7
- December 14
- December 17 – J. N. Brønsted, Danish chemist (b. 1879)
- December 25 – Gaspar G. Bacon, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1886)
- December 27 – Johannes Winkler, German rocket pioneer (b. 1897)
- December 28 – Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
[edit] Nobel Prizes [edit] Ship events - ^ "Year by Year 1947" – History Channel International
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