Events 1 - 200 of 542
- Jan 1 14th Orange Bowl: #10 Georgia Tech beats #12 Kansas, 20-14
- Jan 1 14th Sugar Bowl: #5 Texas beats #6 Alabama, 27-7
- Jan 1 1st color newsreel filmed (Pasadena, California)
- Jan 1 34th Rose Bowl: #2 Michigan beats #8 Southern California, 49-0
- Jan 1 After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
Cricket History
Jan 1 Australian cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 132 on first day of 3rd Test v India; follows up with 127no in 2nd innings; Australia wins by 233
- Jan 1 General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade effective
- Jan 1 Orissa province accedes to India
- Jan 1 The Constitution of Italy comes into force
- Jan 1 Transport Act of 1947 comes into force in the United Kingdom, nationalizing the British rail system under the name British Railways
- Jan 2 WNDT (now WNET) TV channel 13 in New York-Newark, NY (PBS) begins
- Jan 3 Australian cricket batting maestro Don Bradman completes dual Test centuries (132 & 127* [26th Test 100]) in 3rd Test v India in Melbourne
- Jan 4 Burma declares independence from UK
- Jan 7 Thomas Mantell, a pilot for the Kentucky Air National Guard, crashes while pursuing a supposed UFO
Event of Interest
Jan 7 US President Harry Truman raises taxes for the Marshall Plan to assist in rebuilding Europe after WWII [1]
Event of Interest
Jan 8 Queen Wilhelmina signs death sentence against Ans van Dijk for treason
Music Premiere
Jan 9 Walter Piston's 3rd Symphony in E, premieres in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conducted by Serge Koussevitzky; wins 1947 Pulitzer Prize
Gandhi's Final Fast
Jan 12 Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast
- Jan 12 US Supreme Court decision (Sipuel v Oklahoma State Board of Regents)
- Jan 13 1st country music TV show, "Midwestern Hayride", premieres on WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio
Film Premiere
Jan 15 "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", film based on B. Traven's novel, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart premieres
- Jan 15 Richard Lewine, Hassard Short, and Arnold Horwitt's musical comedy revue "Make Mine Manhattan", featuring Broadway debut of Sid Caesar opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 429 performances
- Jan 16 35 Haganah members are ambushed & killed in Gush Etzyon
- Jan 17 Netherlands & Indonesia agree to a cease-fire
- Jan 17 Trial of 11 US Communist party members begins in NYC
- Jan 18 1st courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria
- Jan 18 TV talent show "The Original Amateur Hour" hosted by Ted Mack premieres on the DuMont Television Network
- Jan 21 Three of the greats of cricket make their debut in a drawn 1st Test match at Bridgetown, Barbados; Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes for the West Indies, and Jim Laker for England
- Jan 22 All time great England cricket spin bowler Jim Laker takes 7-103 in his first Test innings in 1st Test v West Indies in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Jan 23 Australian cricket captain Don Bradman scores 201 in 4th Test win v India in Adelaide; Sid Barnes 112 and Lindsay Hassett 198no in Australian total 674
- Jan 23 Test debut of Neil Harvey, v India at Adelaide
- Jan 24 Dutch Liberal Party forms - People's party for Freedom & Democracy (VVD)
- Jan 24 Henry Duffy's musical "Music in My Heart", based on life and work of Piotr Tchaikovsky, closes at Adelphi Theater, NYC, after 124 performances
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Adrian Quist wins his 3rd Australian title; beats fellow Australian and doubles partner John Bromwich 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
- Jan 27 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates
- Jan 27 1st tape recorder sold
- Jan 28 A plane crash in the Diablo mountains kills 28 bracero farm workers being sent back to Mexico, inspiring Woodie Guthrie's song "Deportee"
Event of Interest
Jan 28 President Manuel Roxas granted full amnesty to all so-called Philippine collaborators
- Jan 29 "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 188 performances
- Jan 29 Commissioner Happy Chandler fines the Yankees, Cubs and Phillies $500 each for signing high school players
- Jan 29 Pakistan Socialist Party is founded
- Jan 30 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse
- Jan 30 V Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland
- Jan 31 An unprecedented 3-way tie for the silver medal in the 500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Americans Robert Fitzgerald & Ken Bartholomew, and Thomas Byberg of Norway are equal on 43.2s; Finn Helgesen of Norway wins gold, 43.1s
Event of Interest
Jan 31 J. D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in the New Yorker
- Jan 31 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
- Jan 31 Sweden sweeps the medals in the 18km cross country event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Martin Lundström takes gold ahead of countrymen Nils Östensson and Gunnar Eriksson
- Jan 31 Swiss pair Felix Endrich & Friedrich Waller beat countrymen Fritz Feierabend & Paul Eberhard to win the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; silver medallist Feierabend is team coach
- Feb 1 Finland goes 1-2 in the Nordic combined event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Heikki Hasu takes gold ahead of teammate Martti Huhtala
Historic Publication
Feb 1 Important South African anti-apartheid novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton is published in the US
- Feb 1 Johnny Palmer sets a 36-hole PGA Tour scoring record with rounds of 62-64 in the Tucson Open; finishes runner-up by 1 stroke to Skip Alexander who cards tournament record total 264
Event of Interest
Feb 1 Nine Malay sultanates and two British Straits Settlements (Penang and Malacca) form the Federation of Malaya
- Feb 1 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
- Feb 2 President Harry Truman urges congress to adopt a civil rights program
- Feb 4 After winning the men’s downhill, French alpine skier Henri Oreiller takes the combined gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; becomes most successful athlete at these Games with a slalom bronze
- Feb 4 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) declares independence from UK
- Feb 5 "Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time
- Feb 5 18 year old Dick Button becomes first American men's figure skating Olympic gold medallist at the St. Moritz Winter Games; first to complete a double axel in competition; retains title in 1952
- Feb 5 Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic ski slalom champion
- Feb 6 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
- Feb 6 Bradman retires hurt, 57 in his last Test Cricket innings in Australia
- Feb 6 KNXT (now KCBS) TV channel 2 in Los Angeles, CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Feb 6 Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
- Feb 6 World & European champion Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first Canadian to win a women's figure skating Olympic gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games
- Feb 7 "Cradle Will Rock" closes at Mansfield Theater NYC after 34 performances
- Feb 7 After winning Lake Placid (1932) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (1936) Olympic ski jumping gold medals, Birger Ruud comes out of retirement to win silver in St. Moritz in a Norwegian medal sweep
Event of Interest
Feb 7 Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as US Army Chief of Staff
- Feb 8 Canada beats Switzerland 3-0, to regain the Olympic ice hockey title at the St. Moritz Winter Games; forward Walter Halder top scores with 29 points in Canada’s 5th Olympic title
- Feb 8 V Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
- Feb 9 WLWT TV channel 5 in Cincinnati, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 10 Greek Gen Markos' guerrilla army bombs Saloniki
- Feb 11 Billy Griffith scores cricket century on debut Eng v WI, out for 140
- Feb 11 John Costello follows Eamon Da Valera as premier of Ireland
- Feb 11 Test cricket debut of Frank Worrell for the West Indies vs. England at Port-of-Spain
- Feb 12 1st Lt Nancy Leftenant becomes 1st African American in army nursing corps
- Feb 13 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Lannoy & Baugniet of BEL
- Feb 13 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Richard Button USA
- Feb 13 West Indian batsman Andy Ganteaume scores 112 for W Indies in his only Test Cricket innings
- Feb 13 Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England
Event of Interest
Feb 15 Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan
- Feb 16 1st newsreel telecast, "20th Century Fox-Movietone News", shown on NBC
- Feb 16 Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time
- Feb 20 Czechoslovakia's non-communist minister resigns
- Feb 21 NASCAR is incorporated
- Feb 22 Arabs bomb attack in Jerusalem, 50 die
- Feb 25 Communists seize control of Czechoslovakian government and Klement Gottwald becomes premier
- Feb 29 Lawson Little earns his first tournament victory since his US Navy discharge capturing the St. Petersburg Open by 3 strokes over Bobby Locke; last golfer to win a PGA Tour event on Leap Year Day
- Feb 29 Stern-group bomb on Cairo-Haifa train kills 27 British soldiers
- Mar 5 US rocket flies record 4800 kph to 126km height
- Mar 7 The Dodecanese islands officially become part of Greece again, ending Italian rule
- Mar 8 US Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional
- Mar 9 Provisionary Indonesian government installed in Batavia
- Mar 10 1st civilian to exceed speed of sound - Herb H Hoover, Edwards Air Force Base, California
Golden Globes
Mar 10 5th Golden Globes: "Gentleman's Agreement", Ronald Colman, & Rosalind Russell win
- Mar 11 Jewish Agency of Jerusalem bombed
- Mar 11 WBAL TV channel 11 in Baltimore, MD (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Mar 12 -5°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio in month of March (record tied in 1984)
- Mar 13 Ireland beats Wales, 6-3 at Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast to clinch the Five Nations Rugby Championship and first Grand Slam
- Mar 14 Freedom Train arrives in San Francisco
Film & TV History
Mar 15 Sir Laurence Olivier on the cover of LIFE magazine
- Mar 15 WCAU TV channel 10 in Philadelphia, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Music History
Mar 16 Jazz musician Billie Holiday is released from prison early due to good behavior
- Mar 18 France & Great Britain & Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
- Mar 18 Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting
- Mar 19 Lee Savold KOs Gino Buonvino in 54 seconds at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- Mar 20 102nd Grand National: 50/1 chance Sheila's Cottage first mare to win the GN for 46 years; ridden by Irish jockey Arthur Thompson
- Mar 20 1st live televised symphony performances: Eugene Ormandy leads Philadelphia Orchestra on CBS, followed 90 minutes later by Arturo Toscanini leading the NBC Orchestra on NBC
Academy Awards
Mar 20 20th Academy Awards: "Gentleman's Agreement", Loretta Young, Ronald Colman win
- Mar 21 "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres on ABC radio
Golf Tournament
Mar 21 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins her 4th Titleholders title by 1 stroke ahead of Babe Zaharias and Peggy Kirk
- Mar 23 10th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Baylor, 58-42; Wildcats' first victory in first title game
- Mar 23 John Cunningham sets world altitude record (54,492' (18,133 m))
- Mar 27 Just 11 days after being released from prison, Billie Holiday plays in front of a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall
- Mar 27 The Second Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea is convened
Tony Awards
Mar 28 2nd Tony Awards: "Mister Roberts" (Play); Henry Fonda (Actor) and Joshua Logan (Director) win
- Mar 29 Drachtster Boys soccer team forms in Drachten, Netherland
- Mar 29 New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox tie at 2-2 in 17, spring training game
- Mar 31 US Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe
- Apr 1 "Big Bang" theory proposed in scientific journal "Physical Review" by American cosmologists Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe, and George Gamow
- Apr 1 Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark
- Apr 1 Fast bowler Hines Johnson has match figures of 10-96 on debut in West Indies 4th cricket Test win v England in Kingston, Jamaica; first fast bowler to take 10 wickets in a single Test for West Indies
- Apr 3 1st US figure skating championships held
- Apr 3 US female Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
- Apr 3 US male Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
- Apr 3 US President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Western Europe after World War II, granting an initial $5 billion in aid to 16 European countries
Baseball History
Apr 4 84-year-old Connie Mack challenges 78-year-old Clark Griffith to a race from home to 1st base; it ends in a tie
- Apr 5 WGN TV channel 9 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting
- Apr 7 A Buddhist monastery burns in Shanghai, China, leaving twenty monks dead
- Apr 7 World Health Organization formed by the United Nations
- Apr 8 Soen Nakagawa & Nyogen Senzaki (Zen teachers) meet in San Francisco
- Apr 9 Massacre at Deir Yassin.
- Apr 10 Jewish Hagana repels an Arab attack on Mishmar HaEmek
US Masters Golf
Apr 11 12th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Claude Harmon shoots a record-tying 279 (−9) to finish 5 strokes ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff
- Apr 13 Hadassah Convoy Massacre: Vehicles bringing Jewish staff and medical supplies to Hadassah Hospital and University on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem attacked by Arab forces; 79 killed by bombs, grenades, and sniper fire
- Apr 14 A flash of light is observed in crater Plato on Moon
- Apr 14 NYC subway fares jump from 5 cents to 10 cents
- Apr 14 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Toronto Maple Leafs go back-to-back with a 7-2 win over Detroit Red Wings for a 4-0 series sweep
- Apr 14 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- Apr 15 1st Jewish-Arab military battle, arabs defeated
- Apr 15 Indian territory of Himachal Pradesh created
- Apr 15 KCPX (now KTVX) TV channel 4 in Salt Lake City, UT (ABC) 1st broadcast
- Apr 16 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris
Event of Interest
Apr 17 Elpidio Quirino assumes the Presidency of the Philippines, taking his oath of office two days after the death of President Manuel Roxas
- Apr 19 52nd Boston Marathon won by Gerard Cote of Canada in 2:31:02; his 4th victory in the event
- Apr 19 American Broadcasting Company (ABC) TV network debuts
Election of Interest
Apr 19 Chiang Kai-shek elected President of Nationalist China
- Apr 20 NYC hikes subway fare from 5 cents to 10 cents
- Apr 20 Walter P. Reuther UAW President shot & wounded at his home in Detroit
- Apr 21 Basketball Association of America Finals: Baltimore Bullets beat Philadelphia Warriors, 88-73 to take series, 4 games to 2
- Apr 22 WTVR TV channel 6 in Richmond, VA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Apr 23 KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (ABC) 1st broadcast
- Apr 27 Arab legion attacks Gesher bridge on Jordan River
- Apr 30 Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's musical revue "Inside USA" opens at the New Century Theater, later transferring to the Majestic, NYC; runs for 339 performances
- Apr 30 Org of American States charter signed at Bogota, Colombia
- Apr 30 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
Kentucky Derby
May 1 74th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Citation to become first 4-time Derby winning jockey
- May 1 Glenn Taylor, Idaho Senator, arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, for trying to enter a meeting through a door marked "for Negroes"
- May 1 North Korea proclaims itself Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- May 3 1st broadcast of "CBS Evening News" - longest running network news show in the US
Event of Interest
May 3 Pulitzer prize awarded to James Michener & Tennessee Williams
Music Premiere
May 6 Revival of Jerome Kerns and Clifford Grey's rags-to-riches musical "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances
Event of Interest
May 10 Winston Churchill visits The Hague
- May 11 Haganah takes control of Safed & port of Haifa
- May 11 Luigi Einaudi elected President of Italy
- May 12 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates due to ill health
Event of Interest
May 14 Golda Meir (Meyerson) is one of the signatories of Israel’s independence declaration
Israeli Declaration of Independence
May 14 Israel declares independence from British administration
- May 14 Israeli Radio Station Kol Yisrael's 1st broadcast
- May 14 Jordan's Arab League captures Atarot, north of Jerusalem
- May 14 US grants Israel de facto recognition
- May 14 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- May 14 WBEN (now WIVB) TV channel 4 in Buffalo, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting
- May 15 28 year old British Mandate over Palestine ends
- May 15 73rd Preakness: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Citation, 2nd leg of successful Triple Crown
- May 15 Australia scores 721 runs in one day v Essex, world record
- May 15 Troops from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel
- May 16 CBS news correspondent George Polk's body is found in Greece
President Chaim Weizmann
May 16 Chaim Weizmann elected 1st President of Israel
- May 16 Egyptians enter Gaza
- May 16 First chess world championship since WWII; Russian player Mikhail Botvinnik wins a 5-player tournament to begin 20-year Russian domination
- May 16 Israel issues its 1st postage stamps
- May 17 Israel liberates Acre, Nebi Yusha & Telel-Kadi
- May 17 Soviet Union recognizes Israel
- May 18 "Ballet Ballads" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 62 performances
- May 18 Arab Legion captures fort on Mt Scopus during Arab-Israeli war
- May 18 Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel
- May 18 The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking
- May 20 Cleveland Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
Sports History
May 21 NY Yank Joe DiMaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR)
- May 23 Future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs as the New York Yankees edge the Indians, 6-5 at Cleveland Stadium