Timeline 1947-1948

Sept. 17-21 - A severe hurricane sweeps in from the Gulf of Mexico, causing widespread damage in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana and killing at least 100. On Sept. 21, in the hurricane's aftermath, flood waters near New Orleans kill about 60.

Oct. 14 - In his X-1 rocket plane, pilot Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to break the sound barrier.

Nov. 20 - Princess Elizabeth, heir to the British throne, weds Lt. Philip Mountbatten in an elaborate ceremony. Students gather around radios at dawn to listen to a broadcast of the wedding.

Dec. 27 - A record-breaking snowstorm strikes the Northeast, dumping a record 25.8 inches of snow on New York City and causing nearly 80 deaths in North Atlantic states.

Jan. 4, 1948 - Burma achieves independence from Great Britain.

Jan. 30 - Mohandas K. Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist, after a long, non-violent campaign to win independence for India.

Feb. 22 - A coup in Czechoslovakia puts the Communist Party into power in Prague.

March 8 - The Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional.

April 3 - President Truman signs the Foreign Assistance Act of 1948. It provides $5.3 billion for the European Recovery Program, also known as the Marshall Plan.

April 7 - The World Health Organization is formed.

April 30 - Bringing together the democracies of the western hemisphere, the Organization of American States is founded.

June 24 - President Truman signs the Selective Service Act, and the Republican National Convention nominates Gov. Thomas Dewey of New York for the presidency.

July 15 - The Democratic National Convention nominates President Truman for reelection and Sen. Alben Barkley for the vice presidency.

July 20 - Twelve American Communist Party leaders are indicted and charged with advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government.

POLITICS

On the homefront, the political air was full of accusations of communism, fueled by reports from the House Committee on Un-American Affairs. President Truman contests some of the findings, calling one a "red herring." But nearly two million federal employees are investigated, causing more than 500 to resign and nearly 100 to be dismissed.

The Red Scare reached national prominence with the accusations of Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist Party member, against Alger Hiss, a former top State Department official. A young Richard Nixon helps to keep the accusations in the news, culminating in the discovery of the "Pumpkin Papers," microfiche hidden in Chamber's pumpkin patch on his Maryland farm.

On the foreign front, the Cold War heats up as the Soviet Union blockades Berlin, leading to the massive Berlin Airlift which keeps Berlin afloat until the Soviets relented.

MOVIES

On March 20, Gentleman's Agreement, a drama about anti-Semitism starring Gregory Peck, takes the Academy Award for Best Picture beating out The Bishop's Wife and Miracle on 34th Street. Other Academy Awards go to Ronald Colman for Best Actor in A Double Life, Loretta Young as Best Actress in The Farmer's Daughter, Edmund Gwenn as Best Supporting Actor in Miracle on 34th Street and Celeste Holm for Best Supporting Actress in Gentleman's Agreement. Elia Kazan won Best Director for his work on Gentleman's Agreement.

Other prominent movies include Laurence Olivier's epic retelling of Hamlet and the combined father-son duo of John and Walter Huston in Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

MUSIC

The airwaves were full with the sweet songs of such crooners as Frankie Laine and Mel Torme. Although teenage girl's new-found hysteria was directed to the "new" Frankie's tender tunes, their yearning for the "old" Frank Sinatra turns to nostalgia. "Poor Frankie," a Chicago girl tells Life magazine. "He's old now and has three kids."

The popular songs of the year include "Buttons and Bows," "Now is the Hour," "Nature Boy," "You Call Everybody Darling," "On Slow Boat to China," and "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."

BOOKS

Pulitzer Prizes are awarded to James Michener's novel, Tales of the South Pacific, for fiction, Margaret Clapp for her biography Forgotten First Citizen: John Bigelow, Bernard De Voto for his historical work, Across the Wide Missouri. The Nobel Prize for Literature went to T.S. Eliot '10, well-known for his poetry collections, including The Waste Land (1922) and Ash Wednesday (1930).

Popular novels of the year focus on the still-current memory of World War II. Dwight D. Eisenhower, four years before he was elected President, retells his heroics in the war in Crusade in Europe.

Two first-time novelists burst onto the scene, as Norman K. Mailer '53 and Irwin Shaw establish themselves. Mailer writes perhaps one of the best fictional works on World War II in The Naked and The Dead and Shaw wrote The Young Lions.

TELEVISION

Although television had gained prominence on the American scene, it was slowly evolving from a pure curiosity to a media that could rival radio. Life magazine describes television's evolution as finally hitting the big time:

"Though still limited to metropolitan areas and more than a little amateurish and expensive compared with its trembling sister, radio, the lively art of television has landed in the bigtime with amazing speed."

Along with "The Jack Benny Show" and "Amos 'N' Andy," programming is strengthened by several dramas anchored by the performances of Jessica Tandy, Paul Muni, Raymond Massie and Eva Le Galliene. Variety shows quickly gained prominence, led by the performance of Milton Berle on NBC's "Texaco Star Theatre." Berle utilizes sight gags very successfully. As The New York Times noted, "Television no longer threatened to bring theater to the home: it delivered."

As viewership grew to two million, stations create all-day programming. Beginning at 7 a.m., programs include aerobics, chapels sessions, a "Television Babysitter," product plugs, society programs, cartoons and variety shows.

THEATER

Mister Roberts, by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, opens on February 18 at the Alvin Theatre in New York City with Henry Fonda in the lead role. The play later won the Tony Award for Best Play in the second annual ceremony. Fonda also wins a Tony for his lead performance.

Jessica Tandy wins a Tony for her role in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams' drama. Along with winning a Pulitzer Prize for best drama, Williams' play included Marlon Brando, whose performance caused Life to comment that his "deeply meant acting and oddly compelling way of speaking showed that he was an actor of real stature." Brando's sister, Jocelyn, also graced Broadway, starring in Mister Roberts. Other Tony winners include Paul Kelly for his role in Command Decision, Basil Rathbone for The Heiress and Judith Anderson for Medea.

FASHION

In the fall of 1947, the "New Look"--an emphasis on hourglass figures, long skirts and heightened femininity originated by Christian Dior--sweeps Radcliffe and the nation.

Other fashions sweep into style later in the year, especially on college campuses. Big mitts, crew hats and candy stockings were all the rage, while boy-girl look-alikes included twin parkas, sweaters, and raccoon coat dual outfits.

SPORTS

On Jan. 30, the Winter Olympics are inaugurated in Saint Moritz, Switzerland. The U.S. garners three gold medals and finishes an unofficial third, behind Sweden and Switzerland. During the Games, Dick Button '52 becomes the first American to win a figure skating title. The Summer Olympics, held between July 29 and August 14 in London, ended more favorably for the U.S. team. They claimed the unofficial team championship, winning 33 gold medals.

The New York Yankees are forced to seven games by the Brooklyn Dodgers but still prevailed to win the 1947 World Series on Oct. 6.

Citation becomes the eighth horse in history to sweep the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, winning the Triple Crown.

The Toronto Maple Leafs wins the NHL Stanley Cup for the second year in a row, sweeping the Detroit Red Wings in four games.

Joe Louis successfully defends his world heavyweight boxing championship by defeating "Jersey Joe" Walcott in 11 rounds.

Ben Hogan, golf's top money winner, won the U.S. Open with record-breaking score of 276, five strokes lower than the previous record.

The legendary Babe Ruth, Sultan of Swat, dies at the age of 53 on Aug. 16.