Find out what major world events 1947 had in store for the world through our collection of historic newspapers. Read about this fascinating year in history through first hand reports as they were documented at the time.
Historic Newspapers has the largest collection of authentic newspapers in the world, and they make wonderful presents for people with an interest in history or a special connection to any particular year.
You’ll find plenty of captivating stories in our range of 1947 newspapers. Find out which 1947 events caught the attention of the world and had reporters putting pen to paper. Things that happened in 1947 include the beginnings of the Cold War, India and Pakistan achieving independence, and the introduction of the first polaroid camera.
It was also the year in which the Roswell UFO incident occurred, when an unknown object crashed into Roswell, Mexico, this resulted in the urban legend which suggests that the US military is responsible for covering up alien contact. Delve into these captivating stories and much more with an original newspaper from 1947.
1st January 1947
British coal mines are nationalised.
25th January 1947
Al Capone, American gangster (b. 1899) dies of syphilis.
10th February 1947
The Paris peace treaties are signed between the Second World War Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland. In the process, Italy cedes most of Istria to Yugoslavia.
25th February 1947
The state of Prussia ceases to exist due to the Western Allies’ belief that Prussia is synonymous with authoritarianism and militarism.
14th March 1947
The River Thames bursts its banks.
18th April 1947
The Royal Navy detonates 6,800 tonnes of explosives in a concerted attempt to destroy the small island of Heligoland in Germany. This creates the biggest non-nuclear explosion to date.
10th July 1947
Princess Elizabeth announces her engagement to Philip Mountbatten.
11th July 1947
The ‘Exodus’ ship leaves France for Palestine, carrying 4,500 Jewish Holocaust survivor refugees.
26th July 1947
U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947, creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defence, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.
29th July 1947
ENIAC, one of the world’s first digital computers, is turned on after a memory upgrade. It had been shut-off for nearly one year and remains in continuous operation until 2nd October, 1955.
4th August 1947
Betty Moore sails in her first Cowes Week. She is awarded the Skandia Cowes Week Ladies Day Trophy fifty-nine years later, after sailing her ’Why’ Solent Sunbeam for sixty consecutive regattas.
15th August 1947
Following 150 years of British colonial rule, India gains independence from the British Empire and splits from Pakistan. Rajendra Prasad becomes the first President of India and Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister.
24th August 1947
The first ever Edinburgh International Festival is held, with a post-war mission to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’.
20th November 1947
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, marries the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey.
14th December 1947
Stanley Baldwin, former Prime Minister (b. 1867) dies.