April 1947

[April 1], 1947 (Tuesday)

• Paul of Greece took the throne upon the death of his brother, George II.
• The Industrial Disputes Act came into effect in India.
• Born:
• *Alain Connes, mathematician, in Draguignan, France;
• *Ingrid Steeger, actress and comedian, in Berlin, Germany
• Died: George II of Greece, 56, King of Greece from 1922-1924 and 1935-1947

  [April 2], 1947 (Wednesday)

• The Supreme National Tribunal in Poland sentenced Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss to death.
• The US crime drama series The Big Story was broadcast for the first time on NBC Radio.
• Born:
• *Emmylou Harris, US singer and songwriter, in Birmingham, Alabama
• *Camille Paglia, US academic and social critic, in Endicott, New York

  [April 3], 1947 (Thursday)

• The private medical company Bupa was founded in the UK.
• The children's TV game show Juvenile Jury hosted by Jack Barry premiered on NBC. Each episode had a panel of kids giving advice to solve the problems of other kids. The program ran until 1954 and would be revived several times thereafter.

  [April 4], 1947 (Friday)

• Founded: The International Civil Aviation Organization was founded, more popularly known as ICAO
• Amerigo Dumini and two other Italian fascists were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the 1924 assassination of the socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti.

  [April 5], 1947 (Saturday)

• Five US Marines participating in Operation Beleaguer were killed and 16 others wounded in battle with a "dissident" Chinese force that attempted to raid the Marine munitions dump near Tangku.
• Soviet occupation forces in Germany calculated a shortfall of 1.3 million homes in the eastern zone.
• Born: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines, in San Juan, Philippines

  [April 6], 1947 (Sunday)

• The 1st Tony Awards ceremony was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The categories of the awards were rather loosely defined and there was not yet an overall award for Best Play, but recipients included José Ferrer, Fredric March, Ingrid Bergman and Helen Hayes for acting, Elia Kazan for directing and Arthur Miller for writing.
• Jimmy Demaret won the 11th Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
• Born: John Ratzenberger, actor, in Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Died: Herbert Backe, 50, German Nazi politician

  [April 7], 1947 (Monday)

• 325,000 telephone workers went on strike in the United States with a variety of demands including a $12 weekly pay boost, increased vacation and pension benefits.
• The Ba'ath Party was founded in Syria.
• Died: Henry Ford, 83, American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company

  [April 8], 1947 (Tuesday)

• Following a series of killings due to labor strife, the Cuban Interior Ministry banned all political meetings that may provoke disorder.
• The Pohl trial began in Nuremberg. Oswald Pohl and 17 other SS officers went on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey signed a bill giving the Attorney General power to "restrain" activities of oathbound organizations until they had filed a complete roster of members and other data with the Secretary of State. The law was aimed at tightening controls on communists.
• Born:
• * Tom DeLay, politician, in Laredo, Texas
• *Robert Kiyosaki, businessman, investor and self-help author, in Hilo, Hawaii

  [April 9], 1947 (Wednesday)

• The Journey of Reconciliation was begun by 16 men from the Congress of Racial Equality to challenge segregation laws on interstate buses in the Southern United States.
• The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes swept through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, killing at least 181 people.
• Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for the 1947 season by Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler for "accumulated unpleasant incidents in which he has been involved, which the commissioner construes as detrimental to baseball."
• Singer Frank Sinatra floored newspaper columnist Lee Mortimer with a punch in the foyer of the Hollywood nightclub Ciro's. Sinatra claimed that Mortimer had insulted him with a racial slur, but the columnist said he didn't even know Sinatra was in the nightclub until he was attacked from behind and held down by two of Sinatra's companions while the singer struck him "two or three more times" and threatened to kill him if he saw him again. Mortimer was known to criticize Sinatra in his newspaper column for his political views and claim that he couldn't sing. Sinatra would be charged with assault, but the charge would be dismissed after he reportedly agreed to pay Mortimer $9,000.

  [April 10], 1947 (Thursday)

• Britain urged France and Italy to prevent Jews from using their Mediterranean ports to embark for Palestine.
• The United States and Britain agreed to support France's claim on the Saarland.
• Born: Mladen Stilinović, conceptual artist, in Belgrade, Serbia
• Died:
• *Ernest Flagg, 90, American architect
• * John Ince, 68, American actor and film director; Charles Nordhoff, 60, English-born American novelist and traveler

  [April 11], 1947 (Friday)

• At the Moscow Conference, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov refused to agree to hand over the Saarland to France.
• The Danish Landsting election was held. The Social Democratic Party lost one seat but maintained its plurality with 33 of the 76 seats.
• The black comedy film Monsieur Verdoux directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin was released.
• Born: Meshach Taylor, actor, in Boston, Massachusetts

  [April 12], 1947 (Saturday)

• The Big Four conferees at Moscow agreed that major German war plants should be destroyed by June 30, 1948.
• Mobster Lucky Luciano was taken ashore by police at Genoa and booked on charges of clandestine expatriation because of his departure from Italy to Cuba in late 1946. Luciano had previously been deported to Italy by the United States after his release from a long prison term.
• Born:
• *Tom Clancy, novelist, in Baltimore, Maryland
• * David Letterman, comedian and television talk show host, in Indianapolis, Indiana

  [April 13], 1947 (Sunday)

• The site of the future Headquarters of the United Nations was formally dedicated in New York City. UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie declared: "We are proud to have the world capital of the United Nations established here in this great melting pot of the peoples of the world." The UN planned to have its first building on the site completed by the fall of 1948.
• Born: Mike Chapman, record producer and songwriter, in Nambour, Queensland, Australia
• Died: Jean Chassagne, 65, French submariner, aviator and race car driver

  [April 14], 1947 (Monday)

• The Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak had its first flight.
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided Mendez v. Westminster, affirming a district court ruling that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" in Orange County, California was unconstitutional. It was the first ruling in the United States in favor of desegregation.
• The United States Supreme Court decided Crane v. Commissioner.
• The comic strip Grandma by Charles Kuhn made its debut. The strip would run through 1969.
• Charles de Gaulle founded the Rally of the French People, a French political party.

  [April 15], 1947 (Tuesday)

• Jackie Robinson broke the 50-year color barrier in major league baseball when he stepped onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and two runs scored as the Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.
• On Budget Day in the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton announced that the deficit in 1946-47 had only been £569 million, which was £157 million lower than expected. Dalton projected a £248 million surplus for 1947-48.
• A 90-minute nighttime meeting took place in the Kremlin between Joseph Stalin and US Secretary of State George Marshall. Also in attendance for the Soviets were Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and ambassador Nikolai Novikov, and on the American side the diplomats Walter Bedell Smith and Charles E. Bohlen. Marshall expressed a deep concern at the extent of the rift between the US and Soviet sides that had been made apparent during the ongoing Moscow conference, but Stalin did not think the situation so tragic and explained that after people had exhausted themselves in dispute, they then recognized the need to compromise.
• Born:
• *Lois Chiles, actress and model, in Houston, Texas
• * Don Marcotte, ice hockey player, in Arthabaska, Quebec, Canada
• *Roy Raymond, businessman and founder of the Victoria's Secret company, in Connecticut

  [April 16], 1947 (Wednesday)

• Texas City disaster: The deadliest industrial accident in United States history occurred in the Port of Texas City when 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate aboard a French cargo vessel exploded, triggering a chain reaction of explosions and other fires that killed at least 581 people and injured over 5,000.
• Born:
• *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball player, in New York City
• * Gerry Rafferty, singer-songwriter, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
• Died:
• * Guido Donegani, 70, Italian engineer, businessman and politician
• * Rudolf Höss, 45, SS-Obersturmbannführer and commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp

  [April 17], 1947 (Thursday)

• The Milch Trial concluded in Nuremberg. Erhard Milch was found guilty of war crimes and responsible for slave labor, but was acquitted of the charge of having knowingly and willfully participated in fatal medical experiments. Milch was sentenced to life in prison.
• In Rome, a mob of about a thousand unemployed workers staged a noisy protest outside the Parliament building, stopping private cars and sometimes beating the occupants. One of those assaulted was Italian Foreign Minister Carlo Sforza, who was struck by several fists as he stepped out of his car to go to his office. The Foreign Ministry said that Sforza had been shaken but not seriously hurt.