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Harry Truman becomes the first president to address the nation on TV from the White House.
On this day in 1947, President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised presidential address from the White House to a limited audience. There were only about 44,000 TV sets in U.S. homes, concentrated in a few cities, compared with some 40 million radios. Five days earlier saw the first telecast of a World Series game, pitting the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. -
Transistor is invented, spurring growth in computers and electronics.
The first transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories. It made it possible the integrated circuit and microprocessor that are the basis of modern electronics. The video was possible with vacuum tube equipment, so was the case with the Ampex VRX-1000. -
President Eisenhower and Congress add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge of Allegiance was first written in 1892 for a magazine contest, and it read: "I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The Pledge became part of the US Flag Code in 1942, and in 1954 President Eisenhower and Congress added the phrase "under God” into the Pledge. Proponents of including "under God” in the Pledge argue that the US is a Christian nation. -
• The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. goes online at Shippingport, Pa.
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NASA is established.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958. -
Polio vaccine announced to the world by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Thomas Francis.
Scientists, microbiologists worked hard to find an antidote, and finally their efforts and hard work paid off. On April 12, 1955 an official announcement was made that Dr. Jonas Salk has finally developed a vaccine that will once and for all eradicate polio. Dr. Jonas Salk became an overnight sensation not only in the United States but worldwide.
