Significant Events
- Jan 7 US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb
- Feb 28 Francis Crick and James Watson discover the chemical structure of DNA-molecule (double-helix polymer)
- Mar 26 Dr Jonas Salk announces vaccine to prevent polio
- Apr 25 Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in "Nature" magazine
- May 29 Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition
- Jun 2 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, England
- Jul 26 Fidel Castro leads a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks, intended to spark a revolution in Cuba
1953 in Film & TV
- Jan 1 The first TV detector van, used to track down users of unlicensed television sets, begins operation in the UK
- Nov 3 "Tokyo Story", Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama and Setsuko Hara, is released
- Dec 1 Hugh Hefner publishes 1st edition of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the magazine's 1st centerfold
- Dec 30 The first ever NTSC color television sets go on sale for about USD at $1,175 each from RCA.
1953 in Sport
- Nov 19 US Supreme Court rules (7-2) baseball is a sport not a business
Did You Know?
Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations in New York
On December 8, 1953
World Leaders in 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th US President & WWII General
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet First Secretary
Famous People in 1953
Audrey Hepburn
Oscar for Best Actress
Konrad Adenauer
Time Person
of the Year
William Holden
Oscar for Best Actor
Benazir Bhutto
George Brett
Hulk Hogan
Tim Allen
Tony Blair
Xi JinpingWould You Believe?
The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV
On April 29, 1953
Famous Weddings
- Jan 15 Cricketer Richie Benaud (22) weds Marcia Lavender at the Wesley Church in Sydney, Australia
- Feb 14 Actress Agnes Moorehead (52) weds actor and film director Robert Gist (35)
- Apr 6 MLB baseball player Ernie Banks (22) weds Mollye Louise
- Apr 9 Biologist Alexander Fleming (71) weds doctor Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas (41)
- Apr 15 Ice hockey player Gordie Howe (25) weds sports agent Colleen Joffa (20) at Calvary Presbyterian Church
Famous Divorces
- Jul 7 Actor José Ferrer divorces dancer and actress Phyllis Hill after 5 years of marriage
- Aug 28 Jazz musician Ella Fitzgerald (36) divorces bass player Ray Brown (27) after 6 years of marriage
Edwin Hubble
Ethel Rosenberg
Hank Williams
James J. Jeffries
Jim Thorpe
Joseph StalinArticles on Events in 1953
The King is Dead; Long Live the Queen
Princess Elizabeth was in Africa when her father died and she became Queen. Her coronation, on this day in history, could be described as a magnificent washout.
June 2, 1953
Bare Bones of the Great Ape-Man Hoax
On this day the Piltdown Man skull, which had been hailed as the missing link proving an evolutionary relationship between man and apes, was revealed as a hoax.
November 21, 1953