What happened in 1947

World7

• Feb 5The Government of the United Kingdom announces the £25 million Tanganyika groundnut scheme, for cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory.
• Feb 7The South Pacific Commission (SPC) is founded.
• Mar 4The Treaty of Dunkirk (effective September 8) is signed between the United Kingdom and France, providing for mutual assistance in the event of attack.
• Mar 12The Cold War begins: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed, to help stem the spread of Communism.
• Mar 31The leaders of the Kurdish People's Republic of Mahabad, the second Kurdish state in the history of Iran, are hanged at Chuwarchira Square in Mahabad, after the state has been overrun by the Iranian army.
• Apr 7The Arab Ba'ath Party is established by merger in Damascus.
• Aug 5The Netherlands ends Operation Product, the first of its major military Police Actions in Indonesia.

Japan2

• Feb 25Hachikō Line derailment: The worst-ever train accident in Japan kills 184 people.
• May 3The new post-war Constitution of Japan goes into effect.

North America21

• Mar 19The 19th Academy Awards Ceremony is held. The movie The Best Years of Our Lives wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with several other Academy Awards.
• Apr 16Texas City disaster: The ammonium nitrate cargo of French-registered Liberty ship explodes in Texas City, Texas in one of the largest man-made non-nuclear explosions in history, killing at least 581, including all but one member of the city fire department, injuring at least 5,000 and destroying 20 city blocks. Of the dead, remains of 113 are never found, and 62 are unidentifiable.
• May 22To 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 29A United States Army Air Forces Douglas C-54 Skymaster crashes on approach to Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, killing all 41 on board in the worst aviation accident in Japanese history up to this time.
• Jun 5U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the Marshall Plan for American reconstruction and relief aid to Europe, in a speech at Harvard University.
• JunThe Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is introduced.
• Jul 8Roswell UFO incident: A supposedly downed extraterrestrial spacecraft is reportedly found near Roswell, New Mexico.
• Jul 26Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law to create the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.
• Sep 18The National Security Act of 1947 becomes effective on this day, creating the United States Air Force, National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.
• Sep 18The Department of War becomes the Department of the Army, a branch of the new Department of Defense.
• Oct 1The North American F-86 Sabre jet fighter aircraft makes its first flight.
• Oct 14United States Air Force test pilot Captain Chuck Yeager flies a Bell X-1 rocket plane faster than the speed of sound, the first time it has been accomplished.
• Nov 2In Long Beach, California, United States, designer and airplane pilot Howard Hughes carries out the one and only flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules ("Spruce Goose"), the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built and flown. This flight only lasts 8 minutes.
• Dec 3The Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Marlon Brando in his first great role, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway in New York City; Jessica Tandy also stars as Blanche Du Bois.
• DecInvention of the transistorAt Bell Labs in the United States, a small part that could amplify and switch electric current was born. Smaller than a vacuum tube and cooler, it was the starting point for making electronics smaller.

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Europe14

• Jan 4First issue of weekly magazine Der Spiegel published in Hanover, Germany, edited by Rudolf Augstein.
• Jan 24In the third phase of the Greek Civil War, Dimitrios Maximos forms a monarchist government in Athens and begins a brief term as prime minister.
• Jan 26A KLM Douglas DC-3 aircraft crashes soon after taking off from Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen, killing all 22 people on board, including Prince Gustaf Adolf, second in line to the Swedish throne, and American opera singer Grace Moore.
• Feb 10In 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 (later Croatia).
• Feb 23The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
• Apr 1Paul I becomes King of Greece, aged 45, following the death of his brother, King George II.
• Apr 20King Frederik IX succeeds his father, Christian X, on the throne of Denmark.
• May 1Portella della Ginestra massacre: The Salvatore Giuliano gang of Sicilian separatists opens fire on a Labour Day parade at Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, killing 11 people and wounding 27.
• May 11The Ferrari 125 S, the first car to bear the Ferrari name, debuts.
• Jun 25The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is published for the first time as Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 14 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944 ("The Annex: Diary Notes from 14 June 1942 – 1 August 1944") in Amsterdam, two years after the writer's death in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
• Aug 7Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands, after a 101-day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, demonstrating that prehistoric peoples could have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America.
• Oct 30The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is established.
• Nov 20Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh: Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), the daughter of George VI of the United Kingdom, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London.
• Dec 22The Italian Constituent Assembly votes to accept the new Constitution of Italy.

USSR / Russia2

• Jul 6The first prototype AK-47 assault rifles are built to the design of Mikhail Kalashnikov.
• Dec 30The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter aircraft (NATO reporting name Fagot) makes its first flight in the Soviet Union.

Asia16

• Feb 12In Burma, the Panglong Agreement is reached between the Burmese government under its leader, General Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin ethnic peoples at the Panglong Conference. U Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Sein Mya Maung and Myoma U Than Kywe are among the negotiators.
• Feb 28In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down, with large loss of civilian lives.
• May 11The Kingdom of Laos is officially formed, but is still a French protectorate.
• Jul 61947 Sylhet referendum: A referendum is held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.
• Jul 19Burmese nationalist Aung San, and six members of his newly formed cabinet, are assassinated during a cabinet meeting.
• Aug 1Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia is established.
• Aug 14The Muslim majority regions formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire as the Dominion of Pakistan. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.
• Aug 14Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first governor-general of Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan takes office as the first prime minister of Pakistan.
• Aug 15The greater Indian subcontinent, with a mixed population of Hindu, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroasters, Jews, Christians, Muslims and others formed by the Partition of India, gains independence from the British Empire, as the Dominion of India. 190 years British rule (1757–1947) in India comes to an end.
• Aug 15Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first prime minister of India, taking his oath from Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, Governor-General of India (but no longer viceroy).
• Sep 13Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru suggests the exchange of four million Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan.
• Sep 30Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations.
• Oct 20A war begins in Kashmir, along the border between India and Pakistan, initiating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. Also, Pakistan establishes diplomatic relations with the United States of America.
• Oct 24The first Azad Kashmir Government is established within Pakistan, headed by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as its first President supported by the government of Pakistan.
• Nov 25The new Pakistan Army and Pashtun mercenaries overrun Mirpur in Kashmir, resulting in the death of 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs.

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Middle East1

• Nov 29The United Nations General Assembly votes for the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine which will partition Mandatory Palestine between Arab and Jewish regions, resulting in the creation of the State of Israel.

Latin America1

• Aug 21947 BSAA Avro Lancastrian Star Dust accident: A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian airliner crashes into a mountain during a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile (the wreckage will not be found until 1998).

Africa1

• Mar 29A rebellion against French rule erupts in Madagascar.