April 1947

Wednesday 09:

The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride of 16 black and white men traveling through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws begins. The riders, sponsored by CORE and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, are seeking to force southern states to enforce the Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned segregation in interstate travel.

Friday 11:

Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play in a modern-day Major League Baseball game

Tuesday 15:

Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.

Wednesday 16:

Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Sunday 27:

Babe Ruth Day is celebrated at Yankee Stadium.

Monday 28:

Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to prove that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.

Wednesday 30:

In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is officially renamed Hoover Dam again.