1947
Frederick Hielscher, who was never prosecuted after the war, gives evidence on behalf of SS Colonel Wolfram Sievers at the "Doctors Trial" in Nuremberg. Hielscher confines his testimony to political matters and intentionally absurd statements about race and ancestral tribes (See June 2, 1948). (Pauwels)
1947
Treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland become effective. Italy loses all of its African possessions and its privileges in China and has to cede European territory to France, Greece, and Albania. The other Axis powers, except Bulgaria, also lose territory. All five nations are required to pay reparations.
1947
The Southern Regional Council in Atlanta releases figures which demonstrate that only 12% (c. 600,000) of the blacks in the Deep South meet voting qualifications. In the states of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, the
figure is approximately 3%. In Tennessee more than one in four adult blacks meets state voting requirements.
1947
The Truman Committee on civil rights formally condemns racial injustice in America in the widely quoted report, "To Secure These Rights."
1947
Statistics from Tuskegee Institute indicate that 3,426 blacks have been lynched in the United States in the period 1882 - 1947. Of those, 1,217 were lynched in the decade 1890-1900. From 1947 to 1962, 12 blacks are lynched.
1947
Edward R. Stettinius Jr. organizes Stettinius Associates - Liberia, Incorporated, and becomes chairman of the board of the Liberia Company.
1947
A black is elected to the City Council in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
1947
The U.S. Supreme Court asks to rehear five school segregation cases first argued in 1942. Sensing a major opportunity, the NAACP puts 100 lawyers, scholars and researchers to work in preparation. The NAACP also files a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission to execute earlier Supreme Court desegregation orders in transportation facilities.
1947
The Conngress of Racial Equality (CORE) organizes its first "freedom ride," with members traveling through southern states to integrate buses and transportation facilities.
1947
Jackie Robinson breaks the color bar in major league baseball, playing second base for New York City's Brooklyn Dodgers.
1947 January
Britain nationalizes the Bank of England as well as its coal, gas and electricity industries. This is only the beginning of a series of socialist measures introduced by the Labor government.
1947 February
Negotiations sponsored by the British between Jewish and Arab leaders in Palestine fail and Britain announces that the U.N. mandate will be returned.
1947 February 15
Homer L. Loomis is sentenced to serve one year in public works camp for incitement to riot. The revolt which the Columbians had attempted to organize was crushed and the so-called Atlanta Putsch comes to an
end.
1947 April 7
American automaker and businessman Henry Ford dies in Dearborn, Michigan.
1947 April 17
Dr. Leo Alexander, an American doctor who had worked with the prosecution during the "Doctors Trial" submits a memorandum to the United States Counsel for War Crimes outlining six points defining legitimate scientific research.
1947 May 13
The U.S. Senate approves the Taft-Hartley Act, which limits the power of labor unions.
1947 June 4
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approves the Taft-Hartley Act, limiting the power of American labor unions.
1947 June 5
Secretary of State George C. Marshall, speaking at Harvard University, outlines an aid program for Europe that will come to be known as the Marshall Plan.
1947 June 20
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel is shot dead in Beverly Hills, California, reportedly at the order of mob associates angered over the soaring costs of the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, his pet project.
1947 June 23
The Senate joins the House in overriding President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act.
1947 August 14
Pakistan becomes independent of British rule.
1947 August 19
The judges of the American military tribunal in the case of the USA vs. Karl Brandt et. al. (the "Doctors Trial") confront the difficult question of medical experimentation on human beings. Several of the doctors had argued in their own defense that their experiments had differed little from previous American or German experiments. Furthermore they showed that no international law or informal statement differentiated between legal and illegal human experimentation.
1947 August 20
After almost 140 days of proceedings, including the testimony of 85 witnesses and the submission of almost 1,500 documents, the American judges in the "Doctor's Trial" in Nuremberg pronounce their verdict. Sixteen of the doctors are found guilty. Seven are sentenced to death. Defendants Paul Rostock, Kurt Blome, Siegfried Ruff, Hans Wolfgang Romberg, Georg August Weltz, Konrad Schaefer, and Adolf Pokorny were judged not guilty of the charges listed in the indictment. (See June 2, 1948)
1947 August 23
An audience at the Hollywood Bowl hears President Truman's daughter, Margaret, give her first public concert as a singer.
1947 August 28
Legendary bullfighter Manolete is mortally wounded by a bull during a bullfight in Linares, Spain. He dies the following day at age 30.
