Historical Events in January 1953

  • Jan 1 Ernest Blochs "Suite Hebraique," premieres
  • Jan 1 WBRE TV channel 28 in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA (NBC) 1st broadcast
  • Jan 1 The Bantu Education Act (later renamed the Black Education Act) commenced, providing the legal underpinning of several aspects of the apartheid system, most importantly in education
  • Jan 1 The first TV detector van, used to track down users of unlicensed television sets, begins operation in the UK
  • Jan 1 39th Rose Bowl: #5 Southern California beats #11 Wisconsin, 7-0
  • Jan 1 19th Sugar Bowl: #2 Georgia Tech beats #7 Mississippi, 24-7
  • Jan 1 19th Orange Bowl: #9 Alabama beats #14 Syracuse, 61-6
  • Jan 2 NBA Baltimore Bullets begin a 32 game road losing streak
  • Jan 3 Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
  • Jan 4 KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 5 -6] Passenger ships Willem Ruys & Orange collide in the Red Sea

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 5 Samuel Beckett's "En Attendant Godot" premieres in Paris

Playwright, novelist, and poet Samuel Beckett
Playwright, novelist, and poet
Samuel Beckett
  • Jan 6 WKBN TV channel 27 in Youngstown, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 6 The first Asian Socialist Conference opens in Burma

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 7 US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb

33rd US President Harry Truman
33rd US President
Harry Truman
  • Jan 8 Indians bar night games with Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts)

  • Jan 8 RenĂ© Mayer forms French government
  • Jan 9 Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 116 pts in basketball game
  • Jan 9 Korean ferryboat "Chang Tyong-Ho" sank off Pusan killing 249
  • Jan 10 "My Darlin' Aida" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 89 performances
  • Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Archibald MacLeish
  • Jan 10 NFL Pro Bowl: National Conference beats American Conference 27-7

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 11 J. Edgar Hoover declines 6 figure offer to become president of International Boxing Club

First Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover
First Director of the FBI
J. Edgar Hoover
  • Jan 12 9 "Jewish" physicians arrested for "terrorist activities" in Moscow
  • Jan 13 Gas explosion in Belgium coal mine kills 14
  • Jan 13 KOLD TV channel 13 in Tucson, AZ (CBS) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 13 Marshal Josip Tito chosen president of Yugoslavia
  • Jan 13 3rd NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 79-75 at Fort Wayne, Indiana
  • Jan 14 Vaughan William's "Sinfonia Antartica" premieres in Manchester
  • Jan 14 WALA TV channel 10 in Mobile, AL (NBC) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 14 Yugoslavia elects its 1st president (Marshal Tito)
  • Jan 15 16 car Federal Express train loses brakes & crashes in Washington, D.C. station
  • Jan 15 GDR Min of Foreign affairs Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage"
  • Jan 15 East Germany purges senior officials, accused of spying for 'imperialistic powers' and plotting against the state
  • Jan 16 Egyptian Premier General Naguib disbands all political parties
  • Jan 16 KXLY TV channel 4 in Spokane, WA (ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 17 41st Women's Australian Championships: Maureen Connolly beats Julia Sampson (6-3, 6-2)

Sport awardTennis Open

Jan 17 41st Men's Australian Championships: Ken Rosewall beats Mervyn Rose (6-0, 6-3, 6-4)

Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion Ken Rosewall
Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion
Ken Rosewall

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 19 Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary

Track and Field Athlete Jesse Owens
Track and Field Athlete
Jesse Owens
  • Jan 20 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 20 1st live US coast-to-coast inauguration address (Eisenhower)

34th US President & WWII General Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th US President & WWII General
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 21 John Foster Dulles appointed as US Secretary of State

US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
US Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 22 Arthur Miller's "Crucible" premieres in NYC

Playwright Arthur Miller
Playwright
Arthur Miller
  • Jan 22 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
  • Jan 23 Bobby Simpson makes 1st-class debut for NSW 16 yrs 357 days
  • Jan 23 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
  • Jan 23 NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
  • Jan 25 WABI TV channel 5 in Bangor, ME (CBS) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 25 Yuri Sergejev skates world record 500m in 40.9 sec
  • Jan 27 Netherlands end Marshall aid
  • Jan 28 WJTV TV channel 12 in Jackson, MS (CBS) begins broadcasting
  • Jan 28 19-year old Derek Bentley is hanged in Wandsworth Prison, London, controversially convicted of the murder of a police officer. He was pardoned on 30th July 1998.
  • Jan 31 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
  • Jan 31 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning 1,835
  • Jan 31 New York, Cleveland, & Boston retaliate at Bill Veeck, forcing the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues