On this day in 1947, Roswell, New Mexico became the first American city to be hit by an asteroid. The impact left most of the town in ruins and killed nearly half its population in what would be later be called 'America's Tunguska'.

On this day in 1947, President Harry S. Truman visited Roswell, New Mexico to get a first-hand look at the devastation caused by the meteor strike two days earlier and to attend a memorial service for the people who died in what was already being dubbed America's worst natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

On this day in 1947, the US Congress approved a disaster relief bill aimed at speeding recovery efforts in the asteroid-devastated town of Roswell, New Mexico.

On this day in 1947, the New York Times published the first photos of the Roswell asteroid crater.

On this day in 1947, Pope Pius XII left Rome to take part in an interfaith prayer service for the victims and survivors of the Roswell asteroid strike.

That same day, members of more than two dozen Native American tribes gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a healing ceremony, and in Washington President Truman met with members of New Mexicos Congressional delegation to ask what further help might be needed as Roswell continued its recovery work.

On this day in 1947, country singer Hank Williams held a concert in Nashville to raise funds for a memorial to the victims of the Roswell asteroid strike and former British prime minister Winston Churchill departed London for a visit to the United States to see the Roswell crater for himself.

On this day in 1947, the US Army Corps of Engineers dispatched a construction battalion to Roswell to aid rebuilding efforts as the city continued its recovery from the July 6th asteroid strike.

On this day in 1947, the last of the survivors of the July 6th Roswell asteroid strike was released from the hospital.

On this day in 1947, the first of the survivors of the July 6th Roswell asteroid strike was released from a Santa Fe hospital.                                                                              

On this day in 1947, an interfaith religious service was held in Roswell, New Mexico to pray for the victims and survivors of the July 6th asteroid strike. The service included Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, and First Nations clerics from all parts of the world; among those present that day were evangelist Billy Graham and Polish Catholic clergyman Karol Wotyjla, the future Pope John Paul II.

On this day in 1947, a fragment of stellar rock left over from the July 6th asteroid strike at Roswell, New Mexico was packed up and shipped to the National Geographic Society offices in Washington, D.C.

On this day in 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed into law a Congressional bill providing for the establishment of a new US federal bureau intended to assist state and local authorities in dealing with natural disasters such as the July 6th Roswell asteroid strike. The new bureau, formally known as the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), would function as an independent agency until it was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security in 2002.

On this day in 1947, the National Geographic Society announced that preliminary tests of the asteroid sample sent from Roswell indicated the rock contained traces of metals like iron and copper, suggesting that Earth might not be the only spot in the solar system where these metals existed. This in turned fueled theories that the asteroid belt might actually be the remains of an Earth-like planet that had exploded in the distant past; the resulting debate would rage on for decades to come.

On this day in 1947, President Truman nominated industrial magnate Henry J. Kaiser as FEMA's first director.

On this day in 1947, it was confirmed that the rock from which the Roswell asteroid had been composed did in fact contain elements vital to plant life.                            

On this day in 1947, director John Ford completed filming of his documentary about Roswell's post-asteroid recovery efforts.

On this day in 1947, movie director John Ford began filming a documentary about the city of Roswell's efforts to recover from the July 6th asteroid strike.                    

On this day in 1947, the US Senate officially confirmed Henry J. Kaiser as FEMA's first director. In a press statement from his home in southern California, Kaiser thanked Truman for entrusting him with this critical task and said he looked forward to the challenge.

On this day in 1947, Henry J. Kaiser was formally sworn in as the first director of FEMA.

On this day in 1947, botanists from the University of New Mexico reported that they had noticed a slight upsurge in plant growth in the immediate vicinity of 'ground zero' of the July 6th asteroid strike.

This prompted speculation within the scientific community that the rock of which the asteroid had been composed might have contained elements vital to plant life.

On this day in 1947, a scientific team from Columbia University began a battery of tests on the soil at the impact site of the July 6th Roswell meteor strike.

On this day in 1947, the Roswell city council unanimously approved a resolution declaring July 6th an annual civic holiday to remember those killed in the asteroid strike.

On this day in 1947, the Roswell City Council approved a budget bill which created a fund to support the expansion of the city's main hospital; the hospital's patient space had been stretched to its limits by the July 6th asteroid strike.

On this day in 1947, singer/actress Judy Garland hosted a special concert in New York's Radio City Music Hall to raise funds to buy Christmas toys for children orphaned by the July 6th asteroid strike in Roswell, New Mexico.

On this day in 1948, John Ford completed final editing of his documentary film about the 1947 Roswell asteroid strike.

On this day in 1948, John Ford's Roswell documentary had its theatrical release in the US.

On this day in 1948, botanists from the University of New Mexico announced the discovery of a new species of pear tree, Pyrus roswellae, in the vicinity of the impact site for the July 6th Roswell asteroid strike.

On this day in 1948, a memorial statue was unveiled in Roswell honoring the victims of the 1947 asteroid strike.

On this day in 1948, one full year to the day after the 1947 asteroid strike, the city of Roswell observed its first annual Rememberance Day. In the mid-1950s this holiday would be expanded to include several other towns in the vicinity of Roswell; by 1964 the New Mexico state legislature would designate it as a statewide holiday.

On this day in 1948, West Coast groceries began carrying Roswell pears on their fruit and vegetable aisles.