1947

Jan, 1947 - Former buildings constructed for the US Army Corps of Engineers, engaged in the building of Atterbury AAF are converted to Columbus elementary school classrooms.

Jan 1. 1947 - CAMP ATTERBURY is one of 150 sites across the country being considered for the new U. S. Air Force Academy.

Jan 25, 1947 - American gangster Al Capone died of syphilis in Miami Beach, Fla., at age 48.

Feb 4, 1947 - Dan Quayle was born in Indianapolis. He later became vice-president under George Bush (1988-1992).

Feb 17, 1947 - The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.

March 5, 1947 - 38th Division Headquarters federally recognized.

March 12, 1947 - Pres. Truman outlined the Truman Doctrine of economic and military aid to nations threatened by Communism. The doctrine was intended to speed recovery of Mediterranean countries He specifically requested aid for Greece and Turkey to resist Communism.

March 14, 1947 - The U.S. signed a 99-year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.

March 21, 1947 - Pres. Truman signed Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to swear allegiance to the United States.

March 24, 1947 - John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated a NYC East River site to the UN.

April 2, 1947 - Col McLlennan leaves and Col Shuvey E. Wolfe assumes command of CAMP ATTERBURY.

April 16, 1947 - The French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating Texas City, Texas. It was America's worst harbor explosion. Another ship, the Highflyer, exploded the following day. The final death toll was 576, and more than 3,000 Texas City residents were left homeless. Property damage ran into  the millions.

May 8, 1947 - The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) convened in Hollywood to hunt for Communists in the film industry.

June 4, 1947 - Walesboro Emergency Land Field leased to City of Columbus

June 5, 1947 - Secretary of State George C. Marshall in a speech at Harvard Univ. called for a European Recovery Program to be initiated by the European powers and supported by American aid (Marshall Plan). The program was intended to assist European nations, including former enemies, to rebuild their economies.

June 11, 1947 - The government announced the end of household and institutional sugar rationing, to take effect the next day.

June 26, 1947 - Congress approved the unification of the armed services under a secretary of defense (James V. Forrestal).

July 2, 1947 - An object crashed near Roswell, N.M. The Army Air Force later insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts gave rise to speculation it might have been an alien spacecraft.

July 26, 1947 - President Truman signed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, FBI, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The act forbade the CIA from operating within the US. The CIA was transformed from the Office of Strategic Services and was led by Adm. Walter Chilcott Ford (d.1999 at 96) until 1949.

Aug

Sept

Oct 14, 1947 - Air Force test pilot Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager (24) flew the experimental Bell X-1 [Bell XS-1] rocket plane aircraft and broke the sound barrier to Mach 1.07 for the first time over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., which was then called Muroc Army Air Field.

Nov 2, 1947 - Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden airplane, known as the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasted 70 sec. over Long Beach Harbor in California. The plane had an 8-story tail and a 320-foot wingspan. It was designed to take seven hundred soldiers into battle. The plane had a wing span longer than a football field, and was powered by 8 engines and was crafted out of 200 tons of plywood. The war ended before the plane was deployed, but Hughes proved the Spruce Goose's was air-worthy.

Dec 2, 1947 - Col Wolfe leaves and Maj Millard Saul assumes command of CAMP ATTERBURY

Dec 19, 1947 - President Truman sends draft of European Recovery Plan bill (later known as "Marshall Plan") to Congress.

Dec 23, 1947 - Truman granted a pardon to 1,523 who had evaded the World War II draft.  John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of AT&T Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, unveiled what was soon to be called the transistor.