The Year I Was Born

 In a couple of days I will be 70 years old. I have had a full and wonderful life. As a matter of fact I have been telling you about it for several years.

I began to wonder about major happenings the year I was born. Let's see what I found.

The most popular song was Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette sung by Tex Williams. I even know the song... imagine that.

I will not name all the popular songs of 1947 but I do want to mention a few. Remember that they were not necessarily new that year (although some like This Land Is Your Land were).
  Civilization (better known as Bongo, Bongo, Bongo) by Louis Prima
  Too Fat Polka by Arthur Godfrey
  This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
  Move It On Over by Hank Williams
  I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder by Eddie Arnold
  The Wiffenpoof Song by Bing Crosby
  Open The Door Richard by Count Basie

There were a lot more but you get the idea.

Movies? There are so many. I am going to name only my very favorites. It is a hard list to make.

  The Farmer's Daughter starring Loretta Young and Joseph Cotton
  The Egg and I starring Claudette Colbert and Fred McMurray (one of my all-time favorites)
  Life With Father starring William Powell and Irene Dunne
  The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer starring Shirley Temple and Cary Grant
  The Ghost and Mrs Muir starry Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison
  Miracle On 34th Street starring Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara
  It's A Wonderful Life starring James Stewart and Donna Reed
  The Bishop's Wife starring David Niven, Cary Grant, and Loretta Young

You will notice that my favorites are mostly comedies. If you want to see westerns or drama there are a lot of good ones from 1947. You can find them by doing a search.

Most people did not own televisions in 1947 but there were television programs.

  Kraft Television Theater was the first commercial dramatic series on TV
  The first broadcast of the baseball World Series was broadcast featuring the New York Yankees against the Brookline Dodgers (the Yankees won)
  Howdy Doody Time was introduced
  President Harry Truman gave the first presidential address on public television
  Meet The Press began and became the longest-running news program on television

The average annual salary was $3,500
Minimum wage was 40¢ per hour
A loaf of bread cost 12¢
A gallon of milk was 80¢
To mail a letter cost 3¢ for the postage stamp
You could buy a house for $13,000
A new car cost $1,500
Gas for the car cost 23¢ per gallon

In history 1947 was interesting.

  A special UN committee recommended the creation of not one but two Palestines, one Jewish and the other Arab. Jerusalem would be maintained as an international city under permanent UN trusteeship.
  Richard Nixon became a member of the US House of Representatives. Then he was invited and accepted a position on the House Un-American Activities Committee. 
  In 1947 the HUAC began its investigation into the entertainment industry and was responsible for the blacklisting of 320 artists.
  John F Kennedy also became a member of the US House Of Representatives in 1947.
  Jackie Robinson became the first African/American Major League Baseball player.
  The Diary of Anne Frank was published
  Larry Dolby became the first African/American Major League Baseball player for the American League.
  In the Soviet Union the AK-47 went into production.
  Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain became engaged to Lt Philip Mountbatten. Of course she is now Queen.
  President Harry Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act which states the line of succession in case a president dies while in office.
  Thor Heyerdahl and crew sailed the Kon-Tiki across the Pacific Ocean to show that ancient people could have traveled in primitive boats.
  The US Department of Defense was created.

Okay. Enough of that. There is much more but again you will have to investigate for your selves.

History for my birthdate includes:

   In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted burying Pompeii and Herculaneum
  The scheme of Wall Street insider trading was begun in 1982. 
  The Britsh captured and burned Washington DC.

In 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico, something fell to Earth. The headline of the Roswell Daily Record said, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer In Roswell Region". Ever since then the UFO phenomenon rages on.

It was not the first sighting of something in the sky that could not be explained. Why on my birthdate alone:

  A mysterious light was seen traveling across the sky over Denver in 1897.
  In 1947 and mother and young daughter in Florida saw several discs maneuvering in the sky.
  A UFO was seen hovering over Adrian, Michigan in 1950.
 
I will not list more but there have been several dozen sightings on this date alone throughout the years.

Of course a lot of famous people were born this year as well as those of us not so famous. But sharing this date although not necessarily the year with me are:

  Dave Chapelle
  Vince McMahon
  Mike Huckabee
  Marlee Matlin
  Hal Smith (Otis from The Andy Griffith Show)
  Yasser Arafat
  Anne Archer
  Cal Ripkin Jr
  Rocky Johnson (father of The Rock)
  Steve Guttenberg
  Duke Kahanamoku

So that is a bit about my birthday. I hope you have as good a day as I plan to have.