The 6.2 Mw Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.
The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.
Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel.
The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.
World War II: the Germans commence a counter offensive to retake the Nijmegen salient, this having been captured by the allies during Operation Market Garden.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt.
World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end.
World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game.
Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka.
World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.
The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation.
The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.
Suleiman the Magnificent becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people.