1947 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1947 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch - George VI of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour
[edit] Events
- January - One of the most severe winters on record in the UK.
- 1 January - The government nationalises the coal industry in the UK.[1]
- 2 January - British coins ceased to made from silver.[1]
- 20 February - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed the last Governor-General of India.[1]
- 15 March - Widespread flooding as the exceptionally harsh winter ends in a thaw.[2]
- 3 April - The private healthcare firm BUPA founded.[1]
- 18 April - In the largest non-nuclear single explosive detonation in history, the Royal Navy set off 6,800 tonnes of surplus ammunition in an attempt to destroy Heligoland, Germany.
- 15 June - Restrictions on foreign travel imposed during World War II lifted.[3]
- 10 July - Princess Elizabeth announces engagement to Philip Mountbatten (previously known as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark).
- 14 August and 15 August- Pakistan[4] and India[5] gain independence from the UK, remaining Commonwealth Realms under King George VI.
- 24 August - First Edinburgh Festival of the Arts opens.[2]
- September - Cambridge University votes to allow women to become full students.[3]
- 16 November - The British Army begins to withdraw troops from Palestine.
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- 19 November - Philip Mountbatten created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich, with the style His Royal Highness.
- 20 November - The Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI marries the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, London.[1]
- 25 November - New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.
- 29 November - The United Nations approves the Partition Plan for Palestine thus ending the British Mandate of Palestine.[1]
- December
- Edward Victor Appleton wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer".[6]
- Robert Robinson wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids"[7]
- The Friends Service Council wins the Nobel Peace Prize.[8]
[edit] Undated
- Discovery of the pion, a subatomic particle, by Cecil Frank Powell at the University of Bristol.[9]
- Discovery of the kaon, a subatomic particle, by George Rochester and C. C. Butler.
[edit] Publications
- Malcolm Lowry's novel Under the Volcano.
- Compton Mackenzie's novel Whisky Galore.
[edit] Births
- 6 January - Sandy Denny, singer (died 1978)
- 8 January
- David Bowie, singer
- Jenny Boyd, model
- 30 January
- Les Barker, poet
- Steve Marriott, singer and musician (Small Faces, Humble Pie) (died 1991)
- 20 February - Peter Osgood, footballer (died 2006)
- 7 March - Matthew Fisher, singer-songwriter and producer
- 25 March - Elton John, musician
- 23 April - Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Member of Parliament
- 8 May - John Reid, politician
- 2 July - Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, politician
- 6 June - David Blunkett, former Home Secretary
- 7 July -
- Richard Beckinsale, actor
- Rob Townsend, rock drummer (Family)
- 17 July - The Duchess of Cornwall (nèe Camilla Parker Bowles), the 2nd wife of Charles, Prince of Wales
- 23 July - David Essex, actor and singer
- 19 July - Brian May, guitarist (Queen)
- 23 August - Willy Russell, playwright
- 28 August - Emlyn Hughes, footballer (died 2004)
- 17 September - Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
- 30 September - Marc Bolan, musician (died 1977)
- 5 October - Brian Johnson, singer
[edit] Deaths
- 16 May - Frederick Hopkins, biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (born 1861)
- 1 December
- Samuel Courtauld, art collector (born 1876)
- Aleister Crowley, occultist (born 1875)
- G. H. Hardy, mathematician (born 1877)
- 14 December - Stanley Baldwin, former Prime Minister (born 1867)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ a b Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd, 396-397. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ a b The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC
- ^ Pakistan entry at The World Factbook
- ^ India entry at The World Factbook
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1947
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1947
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1947
- ^ Lattes, C. M. G., Muirhead, H., Occhialini, G. P. S. & Powell, C. F. Processes involving charged mesons. Nature, 159, 694 - 697, (1947).
