1953 in History

Events 1 - 100 of 278

• Jan 1 Ernest Blochs "Suite Hebraique," premieres
• 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 3 Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
• Jan 5 -6] Passenger ships Willem Ruys & Orange collide in the Red Sea

• Jan 6 The first Asian Socialist Conference opens in Burma

• Jan 8 Indians bar night games with Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts)
• Jan 8 René Mayer forms French government
• 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 12 9 "Jewish" physicians arrested for "terrorist activities" in Moscow
• Jan 13 Gas explosion in Belgium coal mine kills 14
• Jan 13 Marshal Josip Tito chosen president of Yugoslavia
• Jan 14 Vaughan William's "Sinfonia Antartica" premieres in Manchester


• 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 20 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York

• Jan 23 Bobby Simpson makes 1st-class debut for NSW 16 yrs 357 days
• Jan 25 Yuri Sergejev skates world record 500m in 40.9 sec
• Jan 27 Netherlands end Marshall aid
• 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
• Feb 1 Dr A de Waal appointed as Netherlands' first female assistant secretary of state
• Feb 1 Flooding in Netherlands kills 1,835
• Feb 5 Sweet rationing imposed in WWII ends in Britain
• Feb 6 US controls on wages & some consumer goods lifted
• Feb 9 General Walter Bedell Smith, USA, ends term as 4th director of CIA Allen Dulles, becomes acting director of CIA
• Feb 10 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Jennifer & John Nicks of GRB
• Feb 10 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Tenley Albright USA
• Feb 10 Men's Figure Skating Champion in Davos won by Hayes Alan Jenkins USA


• Feb 11 J Styne and Bob Hilliard's musical "Hazel Flagg" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 190 performances
• Feb 11 President Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Rosenberg couple
• Feb 11 USSR breaks diplomatic relations with Israel
• Feb 12 USSR breaks relations with Israel
• Feb 13 A's change name of Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium
• Feb 18 "Maggie" opens at National Theater NYC for 5 performances
• Feb 19 Georgia approves US 1st literature censorship board
• Feb 19 William Inge's "Picnic" premieres in NYC
• Feb 20 August A Busch buys the St Louis Cards for $3.75 million
• Feb 21 "Maggie" closes at National Theater NYC after 5 performances
• Feb 26 Allen Dulles promoted from deputy to 5th director of CIA

• Mar 1 Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later.
• Mar 3 Canadian Comet crashes at Karachi, 11 killed
• Mar 6 Malenkov becomes chairman of the USSR
• Mar 7 Jackie McGlew scores 255* v NZ at Wellington
• Mar 8 Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years
• Mar 9 Josef Stalin buried in Moscow
• Mar 11 1st woman army doctor commissioned (FM Adams)
• Mar 16 AL rejects Bill Veeck's request to move St Louis Browns to Baltimore
• Mar 17 Bill Veeck says he will sell his 80% of St Louis Browns for $2,475M
• Mar 17 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Mar 18 Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 die

• Mar 22 Antonín Zápotocký chosen as President of Czechoslovakia
• Mar 24 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• Mar 27 21 die in a train crash in Conneaut, Ohio
• Mar 28 "Stock exchanges open, dikes closed" raises 5,200,000 guilders
• Mar 28 7th Tony Awards: Crucible & Wonderful Town win
• Mar 28 US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
• Mar 28 US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Hayes A Jenkins

• Mar 31 US Department of Health, Education & Welfare established
• Mar 31 UN Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld for Secretary-General
• Apr 1 J van Bale appointed governor of New Guinea
• Apr 1 Walcott Worrell & Weekes all make centuries in innings v India
• Apr 2 Raab forms his 1st government in Austria
• Apr 7 1st west-to-east jet transatlantic nonstop flight
• Apr 7 UN General Assembly begins session that will elect Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden as Secretary-General

• Apr 10 Dag Hammarskjöld becomes the 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Apr 11 Oveta Culp Hobby becomes 1st at Health, Education, & Welfare
• Apr 11 US Department of Health, Education and Welfare created
• Apr 12 Keizo Yamada runs fastest marathon to date, at Boston
• Apr 14 Viet-Minh offensive in Laos
• Apr 15 Malans National Party wins South African elections

• Apr 23 General Charles P Cabell, USAF, becomes deputy director of CIA

• Apr 25 Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in "Nature" magazine
• Apr 27 1st general elections in British Guyana, won by Jagans PPP
• Apr 29 Joe Adcock is 1st to homer into Polo Grounds' center field bleachers
• Apr 30 Little-Bigger League changes its name to Babe Ruth League
• May 2 Feisal II installed as King of Iraq
• May 2 Hussein I installed as King of Jordan
• May 3 Westchester conference of American Library Association proclaims "Freedom to Read"

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Birthdays 1 - 100 of 209

• Jan 1 Gary Johnson, American businessman, politician, Libertarian Party nominee for Presiden 2016, born in Minot, North Dakota
• Jan 5 Mike Rann, Australian politician
• Jan 5 George Tenet, American CIA director
• Jan 9 Morris Gleitzman, British-Australian children's author
• Jan 11 Anna Marchesini, Italian entertainer
• Jan 15 Kent Hovind, American evangelist
• Jan 16 Robert Jay Mathews, American neo-Nazi (d. 1984)
• Jan 19 Richard Legendre, Canadian politician
• Jan 22 Jim Jarmusch, American director
• Jan 23 Antonio Villaraigosa, Hispanic-American 52nd Mayor of Los Angeles

• Jan 24 Moon Jae-in, South Korean politician, President of South Korea (2017-), born in Geoje, South Korea
• Jan 25 Mark Weil, Uzbek theatre director (d. 2007)
• Jan 26 Andrée van Es [Andrée Christine of Es], Dutch politician (PSP), born in The Hague, Netherlands
• Jan 26 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
• Jan 29 Hwang Woo-Suk, South Korean biomedical scientist
• Jan 30 Fred Hembeck, Yaphank, New York, American cartoonist
• Feb 1 Andy Mill, American skier, husband of Chris Everet, born in Fort Collins, Colorado
• Feb 1 C A Barnett, headmaster (Whitgift School)
• Feb 2 James Mndaweni, South African worker's union leader/president (NACTU)
• Feb 2 Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
• Feb 3 Savvas Tsitouridis, Greek politician
• Feb 4 Svetlana Ulmasova, USSR, 3K (world title 1978)
• Feb 8 Roger Clavet, Québécois politician
• Feb 9 Gary Franks, (Rep-R-Connecticut)
• Feb 10 John Shirley, American sci-fi author (Eclipse Penumbra, Eclipse Corona)
• Feb 11 Stephen D Thorne, Frankfurt-on-Main, German FR, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut

• Feb 15 Derek Conway, British MP
• Feb 16 Roberta Williams, video game designer (Mystery House, Sierra Entertainment), born in La Verne, California
• Feb 19 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina (2007-2015), born in La Plata, Buenos Aires
• Feb 20 Carol Cummins, Clintwood Va, 2nd of 5 siblings born on 2/20
• Feb 23 Sallie L Baliunas, astrophysicist
• Feb 25 José María Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain

• Mar 3 Aleksandr Viktorovich Borodin, Russian cosmonaut
• Mar 4 Christopher H Smith, (Rep-R-NJ, 1981- )
• Mar 5 Russel D Feingold, (Sen-D Wisconsin)
• Mar 5 Valery Grigoriyevich Korzun, Russian colonel/cosmonaut (TM-24)
• Mar 6 Jan Kjærstad, Norwegian author
• Mar 12 Carl Hiaasen, American journalist and author
• Mar 12 Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepalese politician
• Mar 15 Richard Bruton, Irish politician
• Mar 16 Richard Stallman, American free software activist
• Mar 17 Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
• Mar 18 Helmer C Koetje, Dutch 2nd chamber member (CDA)
• Mar 18 Margaret L Augustine, project manager (Biosphere 2), born in Buffalo, New York
• Mar 22 Thomas H Andrews, (Rep-D-Maine)
• Mar 23 Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, British MP
• Mar 26 Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
• Mar 26 Lincoln Chafee, American Senator from Rhode Island
• Mar 26 Youssouf Togoïmi, Chadian rebel (d. 2002)
• Mar 28 Nydia M Velazquez, Puerto Rican politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York, born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
• Mar 28 Melchior Ndadaye, 1st Hutu President of Burundi (1993), born in Nyabihanga, Burundi (d. 1993)
• Apr 1 Barry Sonnenfeld, director (Get Shorty, Men in Black), born in NYC, New York
• Apr 2 Jim Allister, Northern Irish politician, born in Listooder, Crossgar, Northern Ireland
• Apr 4 Robert Bertrand, Canadian politician (Liberal Party of Canada), born in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, Canada
• Apr 11 Andrew Wiles, British mathematician (number theory), born in Cambridge, England
• Apr 11 Guy Verhofstadt, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium (1999-2008), born in Dendermonde, Belgium
• Apr 13 Stephen Byers, British politician (L), (MG Rover Group controversy), born in Wolverhampton
• Apr 13 Brigitte Macron, French teacher and wife of politician Emmanuel Macron, born in Amiens, France
• Apr 14 Irina Rudolfovna Pronina, Russian cosmonaut
• Apr 14 David Buss, Evolutionary psychologist
• Apr 16 J. Neil Schulman, American writer
• Apr 20 Sebastian Faulks, British novelist (The Girl at the Lion d'Or), born in Donnington, Berkshire
• Apr 23 Fred Upton, (Rep-R-Michigan)
• Apr 24 John P. Hiler, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana (1981-91), born in Chicago, Illinois
• Apr 25 Ron Clements, American animation director
• Apr 27 Ellen S. Baker, American physician and NASA astronaut (STS 34, 50, 71), born in Fayetteville, North Carolina
• Apr 28 Roberto Bolano, Latin American author and poet
• Apr 29 Nikolai Nikolayevich Budarin, Kirya Russia, cosmonaut (STS 71, TM-27)

• May 6 Michelle Courchesne, Quebec politician
• May 7 Pat McInally, American National Football League player, born in Villa Park, California
• May 7 Ian McKay, British soldier (VC recipient), born in Wortley, South Yorkshire, England (d. 1982)
• May 9 Scott McInnis, (Rep-R-Colorado)
• May 10 John Diamond, English journalist (d. 2001)
• May 14 Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
• May 16 David Maclean, British minister of state
• May 17 Nicholas Bacon, premier baronet of England
• May 18 Helen Chadwick, artist
• May 19 Henry Lascelles, English grandson of princess Mary
• May 19 Dawud M. Mu'Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)
• May 20 Robert Doyle, Australian politician
• May 22 John Edward Stevens, American bank robber (FBI Most Wanted List), born in NYC, New York
• May 22 Doris Barnett, German politician
• May 23 Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Prime Minister of Rwanda (1993-94) and one of the 1st female political figures in Africa, born in Nyaruhengeri, Rwanda (d. 1994)
• May 25 Jane Priest, Prince Charles' lover, born in Perth, Australia
• May 25 Eve Ensler, American playwright
• May 25 Stan Sakai, Japanese-American cartoonist (Usagi Yojimbo)
• May 26 Michael Portillo, British politician
• Jun 1 David Berkowitz, American serial killer (Son of Sam)
• Jun 4 Susumu Ojima, Japanese entrepreneur (Huser)
• Jun 6 Ken Calvert, (Rep-R-California)
• Jun 6 Dimitris Avramopoulos, Greek politician
• Jun 10 John Edwards, American politician and lawyer
• Jun 12 Allan Weiner, American pirate radio station owner, born in Yonkers, New York
• Jun 14 Janet Mackey, New Zealand politician

• Jun 20 Brian J Duffy, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 45, 57, 72, sk:92), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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• May 23 John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy (31) weds activist and attorney Sargent Shriver at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City

• Aug 30 Future NYC mayor David Dinkins marries Joyce Burrows in NYC

• Jan 2 Guccio Gucci, Italian founder of Gucci fashion house, dies at 71
• Jan 4 Prince Yasuhito Chichibu, brother of Emperor Showa, dies at 50
• Jan 8 Admiral Sir Hugh Binney, British naval commander and Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
• Jan 9 Hans Aanrud, Norwegian author (Storken), dies at 89
• Jan 11 Ernst H Ridder Rappard, Dutch Nazi founder (NSNAP), dies at 53
• Jan 11 Marcel Canneel, Flemish painter (Reuzenstoet), dies at 58
• Jan 11 Noach Zjordanija, Georgian Premier (1918-21), dies at 84
• Jan 13 Paul Niggli, Swiss mineralogist (crystal structures), dies at 64

• Jan 26 Martinus Nijhoff, Dutch poet and linguistic (spelling), dies at 58
• Jan 26 Athanase David, French Canadian politician and businessman (b. 1882)
• Jan 28 James Scullin, Australian Labour Party politician and 9th Prime Minister of Australia, dies at 76
• Jan 28 Derek Bentley (b. 1933) (executed)
• Jan 30 Louis H N Bosch van Rosenthal, Dutch resistance fighter, dies at 68
• Feb 4 Alexander Loudon, Dutch diplomat (League of Nations), dies at 60
• Feb 24 Karl R G von Rundstedt, German gen-field marshal (Ardennes), dies at 77
• Mar 1 Anton GO Ridder Van Rappard, painter/lithographer/etcher, dies

• Mar 7 Edward Sedgwick, American film director (The Flaming Frontier, Let 'er Buck), dies of a heart attack at 63
• Mar 10 Charles Gordon Curtis, American inventor (Curtis-steam turbine), dies at 92
• Mar 14 Klement Gottwald, premier/president of Czechoslovakia, dies at 56
• Mar 20 Graciliano Ramos, Brazilian author (Vidas Secas), dies at 60
• Mar 22 James Anderson II, (Jo-Northern Exposure), dies
• Mar 23 Raoul Dufy, painter, Forcalquier, France
• Mar 24 Mary of Teck, Queen of Great Britain and consort of George V, dies at 85
• Mar 24 Felix M Abel, French dominican/biblical scholar, dies at 74
• Apr 2 Jean Epstein, French director (Vive la Vie), dies at 56
• Apr 4 Carol II, King of Romania (1930-40), dies at 59
• Apr 4 Rachilde, [Marguerite Vallette-Eymery], French author, dies at 93
• Apr 6 Idris Davies, Welsh poet (b. 1905)
• Apr 12 Lionel Logue, Australian speech therapist who treated King George VI (The Kings Speech), dies at 73
• Apr 14 Emmanuel de Bom, Flemish writer (Scheldelucht), dies at 84
• Apr 20 Erich Weinert, German communist writer, dies at 62
• Apr 22 Top Naeff, [Anthonetta van Rhijn-N], Dutch writer, dies at 75
• Apr 29 Moise Kisling, Polish/French painter (La souris boiteuse), dies at 62
• May 4 Edward Shanks, British poet and critic, dies at 60
• May 11 Jean Adair, dies at 80
• May 14 Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Japans/US painter/etcher, dies at 59
• May 19 Damaso Berenguer, Spanish soldier and politician (122nd Prime Minister of Spain), dies at 79
• May 28 Hori Tatsuo, Japanese writer (b. 1904)
• Jun 9 Ugo Betti, dramatist, dies
• Jun 16 Margaret Bondfield, English politician and 1st British female cabinet minister (Labour), dies at 80

• Jun 20 Hendrik de Man, sociologist (Belgian Working people Party), dies at 67
• Jun 30 Elsa Beskow, (Maartman), Swedish author (children's book), dies at 79
• Jun 30 Charles William Miller, father of football in Brazil (b. 1874)
• Jul 1 Azzedine Bey, Tunisian heir to the throne, murdered
• Jul 1 Jacob D du Toit [Totius], South African poet/theologist, dies
• Jul 15 Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios (b.1882)
• Jul 16 Hilaire Belloc, Anglo-French author (Path to Rome), dies at 82
• Jul 18 Lucy Booth, Daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1868)
• Jul 20 Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
• Jul 20 Jan Struther, British author (b. 1901)
• Jul 26 Nikolaos Plastiras, Greece premier (1945-50, 51-2), dies
• Jul 31 Robert A. Taft, American politician (U.S. Senator from Ohio), dies at 63
• Aug 11 Ludwig Strauss, German/Israeli writer (Heimliche Gegenwart), dies
• Aug 15 Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875)
• Aug 17 Johannes B Tielrooy, literature (French Living Lesson), dies at 66
• Aug 17 Bannister Fletcher, English architect and architectural historian (A History of Architecture), dies at 87
• Sep 1 Bernard O'Dowd, Australian poet, dies at 87
• Sep 2 Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, American army officer, dies at 70
• Sep 5 Richard Walther Darré, Nazi politician, one of the leading 'blood and soil' ideologists (b. 1895)
• Sep 8 Fred M. Vinson, American Democratic politician, US Treasury Secretary (1945-46) and the 13th Chief Justice of US Supreme Court (1946-53), dies of a heart attack at 63
• Sep 12 Hugo Schmeisser, German inventor and weapons designer, dies at 68
• Sep 16 Colin G Fink, US chemist (electro-chemistry), dies
• Sep 17 Emil Ermatinger, Swiss literature historian, dies at 80
• Sep 25 Dimitur Poljanov, [Popov], Bulgaria poet (Iron Verses), dies
• Sep 26 Xu Beihong, Chinese painter, dies at 58
• Sep 27 Jules-Marie Canneel, Flemish painter/caricaturist, dies at 72

• Oct 3 Florence Sabin, American Scientist who was the first woman to graduate from Johns Hopkins and the first lifetime woman member of the National Academy of Sciences, dies at 82
• Oct 5 Friedrich Wolf, writer, dies at 64
• Oct 18 Douwe Kalma, Dutch literary writer and leader (Young Frisian Movement), dies at 57
• Oct 20 Werner Baumbach, German bomber pilot (b. 1916)
• Oct 23 Maurice Lugeon, Swiss geologist (nappism), dies at 83
• Nov 8 Iwan Bunin, writer, dies at 83
• Nov 8 John van Melle, South African writer (Bart Nel), dies at 66

• Nov 9 Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet (Child's Christmas in Wales), dies at 39
• Nov 22 Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Pakistani religious scholar and biographer of Muhammad (b. 1884)
• Nov 24 Robert H Lightfoot, English theologist/exegetist, dies at 70
• Nov 27 Eugene O'Neill, playwright (Nobel 1936), dies in Boston at 65
• Dec 2 Francis Picabia, French avante-garde artist, writer and typographist (Amorous Parade), dies at 74
• Dec 6 Konstanty I Galczynski, Polish poet (Zielona Ges), dies at 48
• Dec 10 Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born scholar and translator (b. 1872)

• Dec 19 Rudolf Leonhard, writer, dies
• Dec 20 Henry Horatio Dixon, Irish Biologist (cohesion-tension theory in plants), dies at 84
• Dec 23 Lavrenti P Beria, soviet minister of internal security, executed
• Dec 25 Lee Shubert, American theatre producer (theatres in NY & LA named after him), dies at about 80
• Dec 31 Albert Plesman, Dutch aviation pioneer and founder (KLM), dies at 64

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