1947 in the United Kingdom

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Events from the year 1947 in the United Kingdom.

[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]
• 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.^[2]
• 10 July - Princess Elizabeth announces engagement to Philip Mountbatten (previously known as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark).
• 14 August and 15 August- Pakistan^[3] and India^[4] gain independence from the UK, remaining Commonwealth Realms under King George VI.
• September - Cambridge University votes to allow women to become full students.^[2]
• 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.

[edit] Undated

• Cambridge University begins to admits women as full students.
• Discovery of the pion, a subatomic particle, by Cecil Frank Powell at the University of Bristol.^[5]
• Discovery of the kaon, a subatomic particle, by George Rochester and C. C. Butler
• 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] Births

• 6 January - Sandy Denny, singer (died 1978)
• 8 January
  • David Bowie, singer
  • Jenny Boyd, model
• 30 January
  • Les Barker, poet
  • Steve Marriott, musician (The Small Faces) (died 1991)
• 20 February - Peter Osgood, footballer (died 2006)
• 7 March - Matthew Fisher, singer-songwriter and producer
• 25 March - Elton John, musician
• 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
• 19 July - Brian May, guitarist (Queen)
• 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
  • Aleister Crowley, occultist (born 1875)
  • G. H. Hardy, mathematician (born 1877)
• 14 December - Stanley Baldwin, former Prime Minister (born 1867)

[edit] References