What happened in 1947
36 entries recorded for 1947, listed by date. That was 79 years ago.
1947 at a glance
- Years ago
- 79 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1940s
- Generation born
- Baby Boomers
- Entries here
- 36
- Breakdown
- 36 historical events
January
- January 15
Black Dahlia
The mutilated corpse of the Black Dahlia, a 22-year-old woman whose murder is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United States, was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
February
- February 10
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
- February 21
Edwin H. Land
In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
- February 25
NKVD
Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary.
- February 25
Abolition of Prussia
The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.
- February 28
Nationalist government
Nationalist soldiers fired on protesters in Taipei (crowd pictured), triggering widespread uprisings and violent suppression in the White Terror.
March
- March 12
Cold War
Cold War: U.S. president Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine to help stem the spread of communism.
- March 25
1947 Centralia mine disaster
An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois kills 111.
April
- April 9
Journey of Reconciliation
Sixteen white and black men began a two-week journey in the American South, acting in defiance of local laws that enforced segregated seating on public buses.
- April 9
Tornado outbreak of April 9–11, 1947
The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes killed 181 people and injured 970 others in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
- April 15
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball.
- April 16
Bernard Baruch
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war".
- April 16
Texas City disaster
An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.
- April 18
Operation Big Bang
The Operation Big Bang, the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion to that time, destroys bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, Germany.
May
- May 1
Portella della Ginestra massacre
Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano where 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.
- May 1
Salvatore Giuliano
Sicilian separatist Salvatore Giuliano and his gang fired into a crowd of May Day marchers near Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily, killing 11 and wounding 33.
- May 3
Constitution of Japan
A new Constitution of Japan went into effect, providing for a parliamentary system of government, guaranteeing certain fundamental rights, and relegating the Japanese monarchy to a purely ceremonial role.
- May 17
Chanel No. 5
After renegotiating a contract with the makers of her signature perfume Chanel No. 5, Coco Chanel (pictured) received a share of wartime profits from its sale, making her one of the richest women in the world.
- May 20
National Diet
The first session of the National Diet opened in Tokyo, Japan.
June
- June 5
Harvard University
At a speech at Harvard University, United States Secretary of State George Marshall called for economic aid to war-torn Europe, outlining a recovery program that became known as the Marshall Plan.
- June 20
Mafia
A Mafia hitman murdered gangster Bugsy Siegel, one of the driving forces in the development of the Las Vegas Strip, in Beverly Hills, California.
July
- July 8
Roswell incident
Following reports of the capture of a "flying disc" by U.S. Army Air Forces personnel near Roswell, New Mexico, the military stated that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon.
- July 27
Canonization
In Vatican City, Rome, canonization of Catherine Labouré, the saint whose apparitions of the Virgin Mary originated the worldwide distribution of the Miraculous Medal.
August
- August 2
British South American Airways
A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile. The wreckage would not be found until 1998.
- August 2
1947 BSAA Avro Lancastrian Star Dust accident
Star Dust, a British South American Airways airliner, crashed into Mount Tupungato in the Argentine Andes; its wreckage was not found until 1998.
- August 4
Supreme Court of Japan
The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
- August 15
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (pictured) took office as the first prime minister of India, a post he held for 16 years.
September
- September 30
Pakistan
Pakistan joins the United Nations.
- September 30
1947 World Series
The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.
October
- October 14
Chuck Yeager
American test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, reaching Mach 1.06 on board the Bell X-1, an experimental rocket-powered aircraft.
November
- November 6
Meet the Press
Meet the Press, the longest running television program in history, makes its debut on NBC Television.
- November 20
Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.
- November 25
McCarthyism
McCarthyism: Executives from movie studios agreed to blacklist ten screenwriters and directors who were jailed for refusing to give testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
- November 29
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly voted to approve the Partition Plan for Palestine, a plan to resolve the Arab–Israeli conflict in Mandatory Palestine by separating the territory into Jewish and Arab states.
- November 29
Mỹ Trạch massacre
French forces carry out a massacre at Mỹ Trạch, Vietnam during the First Indochina War.
- November 30
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
After the United Nations voted to adopt a partition plan for Palestine, a civil war broke out between the region's Jewish and Arab communities.
Questions about 1947
What happened in 1947?
This site records 36 entries for 1947, including Black Dahlia on January 15. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1947?
79 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1947 turns 79 this year.
Which century is 1947 in?
1947 falls in the 20th century, in the 1940s.
Which generation was born in 1947?
Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Born in the post-war birth surge.
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