1947 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1947 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George VI of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour

Events

* January - One of the most severe winters on record in the UK.
* 1 January - The government nationalises the coal industry in the UK.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 2 January - British coins ceased to made from silver.
* 20 February - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed the last Governor-General of India.
* 15 March - Widespread flooding as the exceptionally harsh winter ends in a thaw.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 396-397|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 3 April - The private healthcare firm BUPA founded.
* 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.
* May - The Conservative Party publishes its "Industrial Charter.
* 15 June - Restrictions on foreign travel imposed during World War II lifted. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/lostdecade/timeline_html.shtml The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC] ]
* 10 July - Princess Elizabeth announces engagement to Philip Mountbatten (previously known as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark).
* 14 August and 15 August- Pakistan [CIA_World_Factbook_link|pk|Pakistan] and India [CIA World Factbook link|in|India] gain independence from the UK, remaining Commonwealth Realms under King George VI.
* 24 August - First Edinburgh Festival of the Arts opens.
* September - Cambridge University votes to allow women to become full students.
* 16 November - The British Army begins to withdraw troops from Palestine.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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". [ [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1947/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1947] ]
** Robert Robinson wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids" [ [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1947/ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1947] ]
** The Friends Service Council wins the Nobel Peace Prize. [ [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1947/ The Nobel Peace Prize 1947] ]

Undated

* Discovery of the pion, a subatomic particle, by Cecil Frank Powell at the University of Bristol. [Lattes, C. M. G., Muirhead, H., Occhialini, G. P. S. & Powell, C. F. Processes involving charged mesons. Nature, 159, 694 - 697, (1947).]
* Discovery of the kaon, a subatomic particle, by George Rochester and C. C. Butler.

Publications

* Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano".
* Compton Mackenzie's novel "Whisky Galore".

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
* 1 December - Bob Fulton, English-Australian rugby league footballer and coach

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)

References

ee also