What Happened in March 1947

• Mar 1 International Monetary Fund begins operation

• Mar 4 WWJ (now WDIV) TV channel 4 in Detroit, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
• Mar 6 XB-45, 1st US 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc, CA
• Mar 7 The Kuomintang and Communist Party of China resume full-fledged Civil War.
• Mar 9 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
• Mar 9 US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
• Mar 12 "Chocolate Soldier" opens at Century Theater NYC for 69 performances
• Mar 12 Belgian government of Huysmans resigns

• Mar 13 19th Academy Awards: "Best Years of Our Lives", De Havilland, March win

• Mar 15 John Lee appointed 1st black commissioned officer in US Navy
• Mar 16 Convair Liner, 1st US twin-engine pressurized airplane, tested

• Mar 19 Belgian government of Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium Socialist Party) forms
• Mar 19 Chinese Nationalist General Chiang Kai-shek conquers Jinan
• Mar 20 180 tonne blue whale (record) caught in South Atlantic

• Mar 21 Test Cricket debut of Bert Sutcliffe, NZ v England at Christchurch
• Mar 21 US President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have "complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States"

• Mar 24 US Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the presidency
• Mar 25 9th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Holy Cross beats Oklahoma, 58-47; Crusaders' first victory in first title game
• Mar 25 Agreement of Linggadjati ratified in Batavia
• Mar 25 Coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois kills 111
• Mar 25 Last day of Test cricket for Walter Hammond (v NZ, Christchurch)
• Mar 29 101st Grand National: 100/1 Irish outsider Caughoo ridden by 35-year-old jockey Eddie Dempsey wins by 20 lengths from Lough Conn

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 102

• Mar 1 Alan Thicke, Canadian actor (Thicke of the Night; Growing Pains), and TV theme song composer (Doff'rent Strokes; The Facts Of Life), born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario (d. 2016)
• Mar 1 John Elford, Australian rugby league winger (4 Tests; Western Suburbs RLFC, NSW), born in Casino, Australia (d. 2024)
• Mar 2 Harry Redknapp, English soccer winger (West Ham United; AFC Bournemouth) and manager (Bournemouth, West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth, QPR, Southampton), born in London, England
• Mar 3 Clifton Snider, American poet and writer
• Mar 3 Dave Mount, English rocker (Mud), born in Carshalton, Surrey (d. 2006)
• Mar 3 Jennifer Warnes, American singer, arranger, and producer ("Up Where We Belong; "Famous Blue Raincoat"), born in Seattle, Washington
• Mar 3 Otto Stuppacher, Austrian racing driver (d. 2001)
• Mar 4 David Franzoni, American screenwriter
• Mar 4 Gunnar Hansen, Icelandic-born American actor (Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), born in Reykjavík (d. 2015)
• Mar 4 Jan Garbarek, Norwegian jazz saxophonist, born in Mysen, Norway
• Mar 5 (Samuel) "Eddie" Hodges, American stage and screen actor and singer ("High Hopes", The Music Man - "Gary, Indiana"; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• Mar 5 Clodagh Rodgers, Irish singer ("Come Back and Shake Me"), born in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland
• Mar 5 Kent Tekulve, American MLB baseball relief pitcher, 1980 All-Star (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1974-85 and 2 other teams), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
• Mar 6 Dick Fosbury, American athlete (Olympic gold high jump 1968, "Fosbury Flop"), born in Portland, Oregon (d. 2023)
• Mar 6 Judy Loe, British actress (Singles, Meaning of Life), born in Urmston, England
• Mar 6 Kiki Dee [Pauline Matthews], British pop singer ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart"), born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England

• Mar 6 Rob Reiner, American Emmy Award-winning actor (All In The Family -"Mike/Meathead") and film director (Stand By Me; When Harry Met Sally; This Is Spinal Tap; The Princess Bride), born in The Bronx, New York
• Mar 6 Teru Miyamoto, Japanese author
• Mar 7 Donna Loren, American singer and actress (Beach Blanket Bingo), born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Mar 7 Lewis J Stadlen, American stage and screen actor (Minnie's Boys - "Groucho"; Savages; Windy City; Benson), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Mar 7 Richard Lawson, American actor (Eddie-O'Neills), born in Loma Linda, California
• Mar 7 Robert O'Neill Crossman, politician
• Mar 7 Walter Röhrl, German auto racer / rally car driver (World Rally C'ship 1980, 82; 24 Hours of Le Mans GTP +3.0 class 1981; Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record 1987), born in Regensburg, Germany
• Mar 8 Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter ("On My Own"; "That's What Friends Are For"), and wife of Burt Bacharach, born in Manhattan, New York
• Mar 8 Don Frank Brooks, American session and touring blues harmonica player (Waylon Jennings; Ken Burns' "The Civil War"), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2000)
• Mar 8 Florentino Pérez, Spanish football executive
• Mar 8 Mike Allsup, American rock guitarist (Three Dog Night - "Joy To The World"), born in Modesto, California
• Mar 9 Dougie Morgan, Scottish rugby union halfback (21 caps Scotland, 2 British & Irish Lions; Stewart's Melville FP), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 2020)
• Mar 9 Keri Hulme, New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer, born in Christchurch, New Zealand
• Mar 10 Bob Greene, American journalist (Chicago Tribune), born in Bexley, Ohio
• Mar 10 J. Víctor López, Cuban-American actor (Falcon Crest; Man From Atlantis - "Chuey"), born in Cuba (d. 1986)

• Mar 10 Laurie Langenbach, Dutch author
• Mar 10 Paul Condon, Baron Condon, British law enforcement officer (Metropolitan Police Commissioner, 1993-2000)
• Mar 10 Tom Scholz, American rock guitarist, singwriter, and inventor (Boston - "More Than a Feeling"), born in Toledo, Ohio

• Mar 11 Geoffrey Hunt, Australia, world-champion squash player
• Mar 11 Mark Stein, American rock singer, Hammond organ and keyboard player, and songwriter (Vanilla Fudge - "You Keep Me Hanging On"), born in Bayonne, New Jersey
• Mar 12 Jill O'Hara, American Broadway actress (Promises! Promises!), born in Warren, Pennsylvania
• Mar 12 Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (d. 1987)

• Mar 13 Beat Richner, Swiss physician (founder of children's hospitals in Cambodia), and cellist, born in Zürich, Switzerland
• Mar 13 Lesley Collier, English ballet dancer, born in Orpington, England
• Mar 13 Tomas Hinojosa, jockey
• Mar 14 Jona Lewie [John Lewis], British pop singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ("You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties"; "Stop the Cavalry"), born in Southampton, England
• Mar 14 Pam Ayres, English poet, Radio and TV presenter, born in Stanford in the Vale, England
• Mar 14 William J. Jefferson, American politician (Rep-D-Louisiana), convicted of bribery, born in New Providence, Louisiana
• Mar 15 (Ryland) "Ry" Cooder, American Grammy Award-winning blues and world music guitarist and producer (Crossroads; Buena Vista Social Club), born in Los Angeles, California
• Mar 15 David Colley, Australian cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 6 wickets, BB 3/83, 1 x 50; NSW CA), born in Sydney, Australia
• Mar 15 Juraj Kukura, Slovak actor (Traffik; It's Better to Be Wealthy and Healthy Than Poor and Ill), born in Prešov, Slovakia
• Mar 15 Larisa Grigoriyevna Pozharskaya, Russian cosmonaut
• Mar 15 Stomu Yamash'ta, Japanese percussionist, keyboard player and traditional Japanese-progressive rock fusion composer (Go), born in Kyoto, Japan
• Mar 15 Tomas Pettersson, Swedish cyclist (Olympic silver 1968)
• Mar 16 Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist and folk musician, born in Taraz, Kazakhstan
• Mar 17 Ian Gomm, British rock rhythm guitarist (Brinsely Schwarz, 1970-74 - Hooked On Love), and songwriter (Cruel To Be Kind), born in Chiswick, England
• Mar 17 James K. Morrow, American author (The Last Witchfinder), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Mar 17 Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
• Mar 17 Yury Chernavsky, Russian composer and producer, born in Tambov, Russia
• Mar 18 Barry Wilson, British rock drummer (Procol Harum - "Whiter Shade of Pale"), born in Edmonton, London (d. 1990)
• Mar 18 David Lloyd, English cricket batsman (9 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 214no; Lancashire CCC), coach (England 1996-99) and broadcaster (Sky Sports), born in Accrington, England
• Mar 18 Deborah Lipstadt, American historian and diplomat (US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism), born in New York City
• Mar 18 Elliot Ray Scheiner, American Grammy winning music producer, mixer and engineer (History of the Eagles), born in the USA
• Mar 18 Patrick Chesnais, French actor (Melodrama Habibi), born in Paris, France
• Mar 18 Steven Schiff, American politician (Rep-R-New Mexico 1989-98), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1998)
• Mar 19 Earlie Fires, American jockey (Hialeah Park), born in Rivervale, Arkansas

• Mar 19 John Beckwith, English real estate developer
• Mar 19 Marinho Peres, Brazilian soccer defender & captain (15 caps; Portuguesa, Santos, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Galícia) and manager (Botafogo, El Salvador, Belenenses, Sporting, Santos), born in Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2023)
• Mar 20 Carl Palmer, British progressive rock drummer (Emerson Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9; Asia - Heat of the Moment), born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England
• Mar 20 John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and writer (Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
• Mar 21 Bill Plummer, American baseball catcher who won World Series 1975, 76 with Cincinnati Reds and manager Seattle Mariners 1992, born in Oakland, California (d. 2024)
• Mar 21 Franco Mussida, Italian progressive rock guitarist and singer-singwriter (Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)), born in Milan, Italy
• Mar 22 Harry Vanda [Vandenberg], Dutch-Australian rock guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Easybeats - "Friday On My Mind"), born in Voorburg, Netherlands

• Mar 22 Marek Bliziński, Polish jazz guitarist and composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1989)
• Mar 22 Patrick Olive, Grenadian percussionist (Hot Chocolate - "You Sexy Thing"), born in Grenada
• Mar 23 Barbara Rhodes, Poughkeepsie NY, actress (Don't Just Stand There)
• Mar 23 Ray Phiri, South African jazz and mbaqanga guitarist (Paul Simon), born near Nelspruit, South Africa (d. 2017)
• Mar 23 Terry Alexander, African-American actor (Day of the Dead, One Life to Live), born in Detroit, Michigan

• Mar 24 Christine Gregoire (née O'Grady), American politician (Governor of Washington, 2005-13), born in Adrian, Michigan
• Mar 24 Meiko Kaji [Masako Ohta], Japanese film actress and singer (Lady Snowblood), born in Kanda, Tokyo, Japan
• Mar 24 Mike Kellie, British session and touring rock drummer (Spooky Tooth; The Only Ones), born in Birmingham, England (d. 2017)
• Mar 24 Paul McCandless, American jazz and new age oboist, bass-clarinetist, and composer (Oregon; Paul Winter Consort; Steven Halpern), born in Indiana, Pennsylvania
• Mar 24 Pieter W Coetzer, South African journalist/MP (NP)
• Mar 25 Claudine Schneider, American politician (Rep-R-RI, 1981-91), born in Clairton, Pennsylvania

• Mar 26 Dar Robinson, American stuntman, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1986)
• Mar 27 Daphne Todd, English artist and president (Royal Society of Portrait Painters), born in York
• Mar 27 Doug Wilkerson, American football guard (Pro Bowl 1980–82; First-team All-Pro 1982; SD Chargers), born in Fayetteville, North Carolina (d. 2021)
• Mar 27 Tom Sullivan, blind actor (If You Could See What I Hear), born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Mar 27 Walt Mossberg, American journalist, the highest-paid journalist at the Wall Street Journal, born in Warwick, Rhode Island
• Mar 28 Bruce Gilbert, English producer (China Syndrome, 9 to 5, On Golden Pond), born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England
• Mar 28 John Landecker, American disk jockey, born in Michigan
• Mar 29 Aleksandr Stepenovich Viktorenko, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-3, 8, 14, 20), born in Olginka, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
• Mar 29 Bobby Kimball American rocker (Toto-Roseann), born in Orange, Texas
• Mar 29 Peter Hinchcliffe, British businessman (co-founder of Iceland Frozen Foods)
• Mar 29 Robert Gordon, American rockabilly revival singer-songwriter ("Red Hot"), and actor (The Loveless), born in Bethesda, Maryland (d. 2022)
• Mar 30 Marilyn Crispell, American jazz pianist and composer (Anthony Braxton Quartet), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Mar 30 Ryszard Kotla, Polish travel writer and activist, tour guide, journalist, academic teacher, engineer
• Mar 31 Caesar Gaviria Trujillo, president (Colombia, 1990-94)

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• Mar 5 Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, conductor (Boston Pops, 1927-29), and composer (La Giara; Concerto Romana), dies at 63
• Mar 6 Halford John Mackinder, British geographer (Britain and the British Seas), dies at 86

• Mar 9 Stanley Jackson, English cricketer (20 Tests for England 1893-1905), dies at 76
• Mar 11 Victor Hely-Hutchinson, British composer (Carol Symphony), dies of pneumonia at 45
• Mar 12 "Winston Churchill the American", American novelist (b. 1871)
• Mar 12 Smith Wigglesworth, British religious figure, dies at 87
• Mar 18 William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (General Motors), dies at 85
• Mar 19 Willem Pijper, Dutch composer and music critic, dies at 52
• Mar 19 William Starling Burgess, American yacht designer (America's Cup yachts "Enterprise", "Rainbow", "Ranger") and aviation pioneer, dies at 68
• Mar 20 Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and film director (Ebberöds bank, Med folket för fosterlandet), dies at 62
• Mar 23 Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)
• Mar 27 Charles Smith, cricketer (batted for South Africa in 1902-03), dies
• Mar 28 Johnny Evers, American Baseball HOF 2nd baseman (World Series 1907, 08 Chicago Orphans/Cubs; WS & NL MVP 1914 Boston Braves) and manager (Chicago Cubs/WS), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 65
• Mar 28 Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (b. 1897)
• Mar 28 Rudolph Simonsen, Danish composer (Olympic Arts bronze, 1928 - Symphony No. 2 (Hellas)), and educator (Royal Danish Academy, 1916-47), dies at 57