Merrimack College welcomed its first students on September 29, 1947. Here’s a taste of life in the USA that year:
- President Harry S. Truman establishes a policy of containing Soviet communism, known as the Truman Doctrine, beginning the Cold War
- Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first Black player in major league baseball
- Test pilot Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” premieres on Broadway
- Bing Crosby, re-teamed with Going My Way co-star Barry Fitzgerald, dominates the box office with Welcome Stranger
- Bill Monroe released “Blue Moon of Kentucky” as a single and Louis Jordan (“Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens”) held three of the top four spots on Billboard’s Most-Played Race Records of the year
- The Massachusetts Senate passed an act establishing the Merrimack River Valley Power Authority, defining its power and duties
- In Lawrence, MA, fifteen firefighters were injured battling a blaze that destroyed VFW Post 1549
- Also born this year: David Bowie, Elton John, Glenn Close, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hillary Rodham Clinton
