On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
Portrait 1080 × 1920 PNG · created on your device
property damage estimated
Gossett amendment making strikes unlawful approved, House; penalties noted
demonstrating mob attacks Min Sforza, Rome
FLOYD BENNETT FIELD: NY Port Authority operation contract conditioned on Navy agreement
2,000 hurt
1947Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (died 2013)[†]
Moses Zeh Blah was a Liberian politician. He served as the 28th vice president of Liberia under President Charles Taylor and became the 23rd president of Liberia on 11 August 2003, following Taylor's resignation. He served as president for two months, until 14 October 2003, when a United Nations-backed transitional government, headed by Gyude Bryant, was established.
1947Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter[†]
Jerzy Oskar Stuhr was a Polish film and theatre actor. Considered one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors and an icon of Polish cinema, he also worked as a screenwriter, film director, voice actor and drama professor. He served as the rector of the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków for two terms: from 1990 to 1996 and again from 2002 to 2008.
1947James Woods, American actor and producer[†]
James Howard Woods is an American actor. Known for fast-talking, intense roles on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including three Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in The Penny Wars (1969), followed by Borstal Boy (1970), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1971) and Moonchildren (1972). Woods' early film roles include The Visitors (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and Night Moves (1975). He starred in the NBC miniseries Holocaust (1978) opposite Meryl Streep.
1947Jozef Tiso, Slovak priest and politician, President of Slovakia (born 1887)[†]
Jozef Gašpar Tiso was a Slovak politician and Catholic priest who served as president of the First Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1939 to 1945. After the war, in 1947, he was convicted of treason and executed in Bratislava.
1947The Operation Big Bang, the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion to that time, destroys bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, Germany.[†]
Operation Big Bang or British Bang was the explosive destruction of bunkers and other military installations on the island of Heligoland. The explosion used 7400 tons of surplus World War II ammunition, which was placed in various locations around the island and detonated at 1 p.m. on 18 April 1947 by the Royal Navy. The energy released was 13 terajoule, or about 3.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent making it the largest artificial non-nuclear explosion at that time. The objective of the blast was to destroy the bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, but due to the enormous amount of explosives it was foreseen that the entire island might be destroyed. The porous sandstone that makes up the island allowed the blast wave to escape so only the southern tip of the island was destroyed, but there was considerable damage to the northern tip.