In 1947, both India and Pakistan won independence from Great Britain. America launched the Marshall Plan to help war-torn Europe rebuild, and the U.N. partitioned Palestine, creating the state of Israel. In the U.S., Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the X-1 rocket plane. And in Roswell, New Mexico, a mysterious object crashed in the desert, driving speculation about extraterrestrial life.
Mar
12
In a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress, President Harry S. Truman asks for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domination of the two nations. Historians have often cited Truman’s address, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, as the official declaration of the Cold War.
American President Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972) signing the Foreign Aid Assistance Act, which provided a programme of foreign aid to Greece and Turkey. The provision of economic support to any nation resisting communist pressure came to be known as the Truman Doctrine. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
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Mar
21
Apr
15
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball's modern era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years. Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Robinson’s groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number, 42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New York City’s Shea Stadium. Robinson’s was the first-ever number retired by all teams in the league.
Jackie Robinson, in military uniform, becomes the first African American to sign with a white professional baseball team. He signs a contract with the minor league club in Montreal, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Bettmann Archive
Apr
19
May
11
Jul
18
Aug
07
On August 7, 1947, Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, completes a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, near Tahiti. Heyerdahl wanted to prove his theory that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian islands by drifting on ocean currents.
The Kon Tiki sails to Polynesia, George Washington founded the Order of Purple Heart, a tightrope is between the World Trade Center Towers, and Joe Lieberman is Al Gore’s Vice President candidate in This Day in History video. The date is August 7th. Frenchman, Philippe Petit, walks the tightrope between the Twin Towers and Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl reaches Polynesia.
Oct
05
On October 5, 1947, President Harry Truman (1884-1972) makes the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans.
In this This Day in History video clip learn about different events that have occurred on October 5th. Some of the events include Chief Joseph surrenders and the Beatles releasing their first single, Love Me Do. Also, Barry Bonds hits the most home runs in a single season and President Truman makes the first television address.
Oct
14
U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.
Captain Charles E Yeager standing next to the Air Force's Bell X-1 supersonic research aircraft, Muroc Army Air Force Base, California, October 1947. Yeager named it the Glamorous Glennis after his wife. He became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound on October 14, 1947. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
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Oct
20
On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating communist influence in one of the world’s richest and most glamorous communities: Hollywood.
A group of protesters demonstrate holding placards against Communist sympathizers outside the Fox Wilshire Theatre in occasion of the premiere of film 'Exodus', which marked the end of the 'Hollywood Blacklist' when screen player Dalton Trumbo, a Communist Party member from 1943 to 1948 and member of the Hollywood Ten, was credited as the screenwriter of the film, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, US, December 1960. (Photo by American Stock Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
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Nov
02
The Hughes Flying Boat—at one time the largest aircraft ever built—is piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight. Built with laminated birch and spruce (hence the nickname the Spruce Goose) the massive wooden aircraft had a wingspan longer than a football field and was designed to carry more than 700 men to battle.
American aircraft designer Howard Hughes prepares for the trial run of his strategic airlift flying boat, the Hughes H-4 Hercules (aka the 'Spruce Goose'), Los Angeles harbor, 2nd November 1947. The brief flight was the aircraft's first and only time airborne.
Bettmann Archive
Nov
29
Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine into two sections: an independent Jewish state and an independent Arab state.
In this “This Day in History” video clip learn about different events that have occurred on November 29th. Some of these events include Richard Bird flying over the South Pole and President Johnson establishing the Warren commission. Also, George Harrison died and Israel is officially called a country.
Dec
03
On December 3, 1947, Marlon Brando’s famous cry of “STELLA!” first booms across a Broadway stage, electrifying the audience at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre during the first-ever performance of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire.
Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy in “A Streetcar Named Desire” on Broadway.
John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
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