May 1947 in History

Events in History

Event of Interest

May 3 Japan's post-war constitution goes into effect, granting universal suffrage, stripping Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power and outlawing Japan's right to make war

May 5 Mississippi Valley flooding kills 16 & causes $850M in damage
May 5 Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert Penn Warren for his novel "All the King's Men"

Event of Interest

May 7 General MacArthur approves Japanese constitution

May 7 Paraguayian government unleashes contra revolt

Event of Interest

May 8 Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, who had volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to gain information about the Holocaust, is arrested by Polish communist police

May 11 BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire (Akron Ohio)
May 11 Laos accepts constitution for parliamentary democracy
May 13 US Senate approves the Taft-Hartley Act limiting the power of unions
May 22 "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece
May 22 1st US ballistic missile fired
May 23 PC Hooft prize forms for literature
May 25 Coal dust explosion rocks Centralia Coal Co's Mine #5 killing 111 in Illinois
May 31 Communists seize power in Hungary
May 31 Eastern DC-4 crashes between Ft Deposit & Perryville, Maryland, kills 53
May 31 Italian government of Gasperi forms

Birthdays in History

May 1 Carlos Ward, rocker (B T Express)
May 1 Jacob Bekenstein, American-Israeli theoretical physicist (Bekenstein-Hawking radiation), born in Mexico City (d. 2015)
May 1 Sergio Infante, Chilean poet and writer
May 2 Bill Lowery, American politician (U.S. House of Representatives from California, 1981-93), born in San Diego, California
May 2 James Dyson, British inventor, industrial designer, and entrepreneur (bagless vacuum cleaner; bladeless fan), born in Cromer, Norfolk, England
May 3 Doug Henning, Canadian magician, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2000)
May 6 Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher, born in New York City
May 6 Sandra Fisher, American painter, born in New York City (d. 1994)
May 7 Gary Herbert, American politician, Governor of Utah (2009-), born in American Fork, Utah
May 8 H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002 for"genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death"), born in Chicago, Illinois
May 8 Phil Sawyer, English rocker (Spencer Davis Group), born in London, England
May 10 Caroline Cooney, American author
May 10 Paul Nicholas Young, architect
May 10 Thomas Tessier, American author
May 12 Catherine "Cat" Yronwode, American writer and editor-in-chief (Eclipse Comics), born in San Francisco, California
May 12 Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician (Leader of the Liberal Party), born in Toronto, Ontario

May 13 Stephen R. Donaldson, American sci-fi author (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Lord Foul's Bane), born in Cleveland, Ohio
May 14 Karin Struck, German feminist writer, born in Groß Kiesow
May 18 John Bruton, Irish politician, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland (1994-97), born in, Dunboyle, Ireland
May 21 Jiggs Kalra, Indian food writer "Czar of Indian cuisine", born in Punjab region, India (d. 2019)
May 23 Ann Hui, director (Boat People)
May 23 Bernard Comrie, English linguist
May 23 Jane Kenyon, American poet (d. 1995)
May 24 Cynthia Plaster Caster [Cynthia Albritton], American artist who made plaster casts of celebrity penises and breasts, born in Chicago, Illinois
May 24 Luke Rittner, British art administrator (Arts Council), born in Bath, Somerset, England
May 24 Martin Winterkorn, German automotive executive, born in Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
May 25 Mitch Margo, American rocker (The Tokens, The Lion Sleeps Tonight), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)
May 26 Piers Gray, critic/writer
May 27 Felix Dennis, English publisher and poet (Dennis Publishing), born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England (d. 2014)
May 27 Henry McMaster, American politician, Governor of South Carolina (2017-), born in Columbia, South Carolina
May 27 Peter DeFazio, American politician, Rep-D-Oregon (1987-), born in Needham, Massachusetts
May 28 Lynn Johnston, Canadian cartoonist
May 28 Zahi Hawass, Egyptian Egyptologist
May 29 Gene Robinson, American Episcopal Bishop and 1st openly gay priest of any Christian denomination, born in Lexington, Kentucky
May 29 Mark Nelson, American crew member of Biosphere 2, born in Brooklyn, New York

Deaths in History

May 1 Sanner, leader of Norger blood bath, executed
May 2 Dorothea Binz, German Nazi war criminal (Ravensbrück concentration camp), executed by hanging for her crimes at 27
May 2 William Moulton Marston, American psychologist (inventor of an early prototype of the lie detector) and writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman), dies at 53
May 8 Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-born department store founder (b. 1858)
May 14 John Ray Sinnock, US chief engraver (1925-47), dies at 59
May 16 Frederick Gowland Hopkins, British biochemist (Nobel Prize, 1929), dies at 85
May 17 George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
May 20 Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist (Nobel 1905), dies at 84
May 23 Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer (Le Petit Village), dies at 68
May 28 August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal, dies at 40
May 30 Georg von Trapp, Austrian WWI submarine commander and inspiration for "The Sound of Music" character, dies at 67