Evelyn McHale, 23, American bookkeeper, committed suicide by jumping off the Empire State Building. Minutes after her death a famous photograph was taken of her peaceful-looking body, referred to as "the most beautiful suicide".
Jack Malone, 34, former Australian rugby union international, was killed on duty as a police constable in a motorcycle accident.[1]
May 1947 crises: French Prime Minister Paul Ramadier dismissed all five Communists in his cabinet because they had voted against him in a confidence motion, leaving no Communist membership in the coalition government for the first time since liberation.[6]
Over 100,000 trade unionists in Hamburg, Germany and their supporters gathered to protest food shortages in the British-occupied zone. The population of the city was only receiving about 800 calories of food per day instead of the prescribed 1500.[11]
The Brooklyn Dodgers paid their first visit of the season to Shibe Park in Philadelphia. To make amends for the negative publicity generated by the racist taunting incident of April 22, Phillies manager Ben Chapman was coaxed into standing next to Jackie Robinson for a photograph in which both men posed stiffly while holding the same bat.[12][13]
Died:Willie Francis, 18, American convicted murderer who survived a failed execution by electric chair on May 3, 1946 (executed by electric chair)
The B.F. Goodrich company announced the development of the tubeless tire, a technological innovation that would make automobiles safer and more efficient.[16]
Syrian delegate to the United Nations Fares al-Khoury told the General Assembly's Political Committee that Zionism was a "fatal dream" and that the Arabs "will never permit it to succeed."[17]
Francoist Spain was kicked out of the International Civil Aviation Organization, in accordance with a recommendation from the United Nations General Assembly that Spain be debarred from membership in international agencies affiliated with the UN.[19]
A "united Europe" meeting was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Winston Churchill spoke in favour of a European union and urged Britain and France to take the lead in restoring Germany's economy before the German people "turn their thoughts to revolt and revenge."[20]
The United Nations General Assembly formally established an 11-nation committee of inquiry into the Palestine question. Palestinians were urged to refrain from violence pending a decision in autumn 1947.[14]
General elections were held in the Dominican Republic. For the first time since 1924 there was more than one presidential candidate, but the incumbent Rafael Trujillo remained in power after claiming 93% of the vote.
Japanese Finance Minister Tanzan Ishibashi, Justice Minister Tokutaro Kimura and Commerce and Industry Minister Mitsujirō Ishii were purged from cabinet and forbidden any further political activity because of their roles in the time of the Empire.[24]
Died:George Forbes, 78, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935; Seabiscuit, 13, American champion Thoroughbred racehorse
The American Association of Scientific Workers issued a 40,000-word technical summary warning that the United States would be especially vulnerable to biological warfare.[14]
Wrigley Field in Chicago recorded the largest regular season paid attendance in its history when 46,572 people came out to see Jackie Robinson make his first appearance at the ballpark for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Cubs (A Ladies Day at Wrigley in 1930 had recorded an attendance of 51,556, but that was not the paid attendance record since women got in free.) Robinson went 0-for-4 but the Dodgers won, 4–2.[25]
The US Supreme Court decided Craig v. Harney, ruling 6–3 that news stories criticizing a trial judge did not constitute contempt of court, thus setting aside the convictions of three Texas newspapermen.[27][14]
The US telephone operators' strike ended after six weeks when the last remaining strikers agreed to a two-year, no-strike contract with an average wage increase of 11½ cents an hour.[29]
Died:Bruno Bräuer, 54, German paratrooper (executed by firing squad in Greece for war crimes); Philipp Lenard, 84, German physicist and Nobel laureate; Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, 49, German general (executed by firing squad in Greece for war crimes)
In Greenville, South Carolina, a case that drew national attention came to an end when 28 men charged with murder and conspiracy in the February 17 lynching of Willie Earle, an African-American man, were acquitted by an all-white jury. Pandemonium broke out on the floor of the courtroom, but once order was restored Judge J. Robert Martin expressed displeasure with the verdict by leaving without the customary courtesy of thanking the jury for their service.[30][31]
President Harry S. Truman signed the Truman Doctrine into law, granting $400 million in aid to stabilize the Turkish and Greek governments in an effort to contain communism.[32]
The USA's first guided ballistic missile, the 45-foot long Corporal, was first fired.[33]
Aerobatics pilot Thea Rasche was cleared by a German denazification court. Rasche admitted to holding a Nazi Party membership card since 1933, but her flying comrades testified that she had only been a nominal member and that she had a reputation among German sportsmen as an anti-Nazi.[34]
The House Un-American Activities Committee ordered an investigation to follow up a sub-committee report that "some of the most flagrant Communist propaganda films were produced as a result of White House pressure."[39]
Three major plane crashes occurred on the same day. United Airlines Flight 521, a Douglas DC-4, crashed attempting to take off from LaGuardia Airport for Cleveland, killing 43 of the 48 aboard. It was the worst commercial aviation disaster in United States history at the time, although this record only stood for one day. A Douglas DC-4 of the U.S. Army crashed into a mountain near Atsugi Naval Base while attempting to land, killing all 40 aboard.[40] Finally, a Flugfélag ÍslandsDouglas DC-3 crashed in northern Iceland in poor weather, killing all 25 aboard.[41]
Circa May 30, 1947, a German V-2 sounding rocket fired from White Sands Proving Ground veered off course, crashed and exploded on top of a rocky knoll 3.5 miles south of the Juarez, Mexico business district[42]
Ferenc Nagy was ousted as Prime Minister of Hungary while vacationing in Switzerland, under blackmail of being accused as part of an anti-state plot. He was replaced by Lajos Dinnyés.[14]
^Hutchinson, Robert (2011). Weapons of Mass Destruction: The no-nonsense guide to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons today (ebook). Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN9781780223773.
^"Flying Fraulein Freed of Charge". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada: 1. May 23, 1947.