May1953

Historical Events in May 1953

Historic Event

May 4 Pulitzer Prize for Literature awarded to Ernest Hemingway for "The Old Man & The Sea"

Ernest Hemingway — Author Ernest Hemingway

May 6 MLB St. Louis Browns Alva "Bobo" Holloman, in his first start game as starting pitcher, no-hits visiting Philadelphia A's, 6-0
May 7 "Can Can" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 892 performances
May 7 Record 537-kg swordfish is caught by LE Marron, in Chile

Music Premiere

May 7 Cole Porter's musical "Can-Can" opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 892 performances

Cole Porter — Composer and Lyricist Cole Porter

May 8 WIPB TV channel 49 in Muncie, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting
May 10 KCBD TV channel 11 in Lubbock, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
May 11 Tornado kills 114 in Waco Texas ($39M damage)

Historic Event

May 11 Winston Churchill criticizes US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' domino theory

Winston Churchill — British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

John Foster Dulles — US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles

May 12 KUHT TV channel 8 (PBS) in Houston, TX, begins broadcasting

Baseball Record

May 13 NY Giants Willie Mays & Darryl Spencer each hit 2 HRs & a triple

Willie Mays — MLB Legend Willie Mays

Boxing Title Fight

May 15 In his first world heavyweight title defence, Rocky Marciano KOs former champion Jersey Joe Walcott in the 1st round at Chicago Stadium

Rocky Marciano — Heavyweight Boxing Champion Rocky Marciano

Jersey Joe — World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jersey Joe

May 15 Osip Zadkine's monument to "The destroyed city" unveiled in Rotterdam
May 16 Phillies Curt Simmons gives up a single, then retires next 27 in a row
May 17 Yanks & Browns use record 41 players in a game
May 18 American Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier
May 19 Nuclear explosion in Nevada (fall-out in St George, Utah)
May 21 French government of René Mayer resigns

Historic Event

May 22 US President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill

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

May 22 Yankee Irv Noren hits into a triple-play, Yanks beat Wash 12-4
May 23 78th Preakness: Eric Guerin aboard Native Dancer wins in 1:57.8
May 23 WHIZ TV channel 18 in Zanesville, OH (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

Catholic Encyclical

May 24 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Doctor Mellifluus

Pius XII — 260th Pope Pius XII

May 25 1st atomic cannon electronically fired at Frenchman Flat, Nevada
May 25 1st non-commercial educational television station-Houston, Texas
May 25 Braves Max Surkont strikes out record 8 Reds in a row
May 26 Dutch Convair crashes at Schipholweg, 2 die
May 27 Dutch social democratic/Dutch Liberal Party win municipal elections
May 28 Premier of 1st animated 3-D cartoon in Technicolor-"Melody"

Tenzing Norgay on the Summit of Mount Everest

May 29 Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition

Tenzing Norgay brandishes his ice axe on the summit of Mount Everest

Historic Event

May 29 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire (to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II)

Mehmed the Conqueror — Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror

May 30 1st major league network baseball game-Cleveland 7, Chicago 2
May 30 Indianapolis 500: Labelled "Hottest 500" due to high temperatures, Bill Vukovich wins first of 2 consecutive Indy 500 victories; Carl Scarborough drops out of race, and later dies of heat prostration

French Open Men's Tennis

May 30 French Championships Men's Tennis: Ken Rosewall of Australia wins his 2nd Grand Slam title, beating American Vic Seixas 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2

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

Vic Seixas — Tennis Player Vic Seixas

French Open Women's Tennis

May 30 French Championships Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats fellow American Doris Hart 6-2, 6-4 for the 2nd leg of her Grand Slam

Maureen Connolly — Tennis player Maureen Connolly

May 31 Lebanese president Camille Shamun disbands government
May 31 WSUN TV channel 38 in St Petersburg-Tampa, FL (IND) 1st broadcast

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