1952
|
|
| Years: 1949 1950 1951 - 1952 - 1953 1954 1955 | |
| Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s | |
| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century | |
1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).
| Contents |
Events
January
- January 8 - West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders.
- January 24 - Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria.
- January 24 - Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.
February
- February 2 - A tropical storm forms just north of Cuba moving northeast. The storm makes landfall in southern Florida the next day. It is the earliest reported landfall from a tropical storm, and the earliest formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
- February 6 - Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI.
- February 6 - In the United States, a mechanical heart is used for the first time in a human patient.
- February 14 to February 25 - Winter Olympics in Oslo
- February 15 - Funeral of King George VI
- February 20 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
- February 21 - Winston Churchill scraps UK compulsory national Identity Cards
- February 26 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
March
- March 10 - General Fulgencio Batista takes power in Cuba - again
- March 15 to 16 - 73 inches (1,870mm) of rain falls in Cilaos, Réunion, the most rainfall ever in one day
- March 20 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
- March 21 - The last two executions in the Netherlands take place.
- March 21 - Dr Kwame Nkrumah elected the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast
- March 27 - Failed assassination attempt against Konrad Adenauer
April
- April 4 - In Hague tribunal, Israel demands reparations worth 3 billion dollars from Germany.
- April 18 - Bolivia National Revolution: universal vote enables indigenous and women to vote, nationalisation of mines and agrarian reform.
- April 18 - West Germany and Japan form diplomatic relations.
- April 23 - Nuclear test in Nevada desert.
- April 28 - The Treaty of San Francisco goes into effect, formally ending the occupation of Japan.
- April 28 - Treaty of Taipei (Treaty of Peace between Japan and the Republic of China).
- April 29 - Japan regains official independence. This ends the period of Occupied Japan and marks the birth of Modern Japan.
- April 29 - Two Soviet fighters fire on French passenger plane over Germany
- April 29 - Australia, New Zealand, United States security treaty comes into force.
May
- May 1 - East Germany threatens to form its own army.
- May 2 - First passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg
- May 3 - U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole.
- May 6 - Farouk of Egypt had himself announced as a descendant of prophet Muhammad.
- May 13 - Pandit Nehru forms his first government
- May 15 - diplomatic relations established between the governments of Israel and Japan at the level of Legations.
June
- June 1 - Catholic church bans books of André Gide.
- June 5 - Remains of a Viking ship found near Boston.
- June 14 - The keel is laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
- June 15 - The Diary of Anne Frank published.
- June 21 - USA launches the first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
- June 29 - Finnish Armi Kuusela wins the title of Miss Universe.
- June 30 - Marshall Aid ends.
July
- July 13 - East Germany announces formation of its people's army.
- July 19 to August 3 - The Summer Olympic Games are held in Helsinki.
- July 23 - General Mohammed Naguib leads The Free Officers (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser - the real power behind the coup) in the overthrow of King Farouk of Egypt.
- July 25 - Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
- July 26 - Military coup in Egypt ousts King Farouk.
August
- August 10 - Establishment of the European Coal and Steel community.
- August 11 - Jordanian army forces king Talal to resign due to mental illness - his successor is his son Hussein of Jordan.
- August 13 - Japan joins IMF.
- August 14 - West Germany joins IMF.
- August 14 - West Germany joins World Bank.
- August 16 - Lynmouth in North Devon is devastated by floods, death toll of 34.
- August 26 - British passenger jet flies twice over Atlantic in the same day.
- August 27 - Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg - Germany will pay 3 billion Deutsche Marks.
- August 29 - Premiere of John Cage's 4' 33" in Woodstock, New York.
- August 30 - Last Finnish war reparations to Soviet Union.
September
- September 2 - Dr. C Walton Lillehei and Dr. Lewis perform first open-heart surgery in Minnesota, USA.
- September 4 - September 9 - Thick smog in London causes 4,000 fatalities.
- September 18 - Soviet Union vetoes Japan's application for membership of United Nations.
October
- October 8 - Negotiations of ceasefire in Korea are postponed.
- October 8 - Three-train crash in Harrow railway station in England - 110 dead.
- October 14 - United Nations begins work in the new United Nations building in New York City
- October 20 - Martial law in Kenya due to Mau Mau uprising.
November
- November 1 - Nuclear testing: Operation Ivy - The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" ["m" for megaton], at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll located in the Pacific Ocean.
- November 4 - 8.25 Richter scale earthquake in Kamchatka
- November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1952: Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson (correctly predicted by UNIVAC computer).
- November 18 - Jomo Kenyatta is arrested in Kenya for alleged connection to Mau Mau uprising
- November 20 - Fireball crashes in a backyard in Havelock North, New Zealand
- November 20 - First official passenger flight over the North Pole from Los Angeles to Copenhagen
- November 21 - Show trial in Czechoslovakia sentences 11 ex-communist officials to death - all of them Jews.
- November 25 - Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London; as of 2004, it continues, next door at the St. Martin's Theatre, and remains the longest continuously running production of a play in history.
- November 29 - Korean War: Newly-elected US President Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.
December
- December 1 - The New York Daily News carries a front page story announcing that Christine Jorgensen, a transsexual woman in Denmark became the recipient of the first successful sexual reassignment operation.
- December 4 - Great Smog of 1952: A "killer fog" descends on London ("Smog" for "smoke" and "fog" becomes a word).
- December 14 - First successful surgical separation of Siamese twins in Mount Sinai hospital, Ohio.
- December 25 - Shooting incident in West Berlin - one West German soldier is killed
- December 26 - Joseph Ivor Linton, first Israeli Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan, presents his credentials to the Japanese Emperor.
Undated events
- 3300 die of polio in USA, 57.000 children are paralyzed
- National Security Agency founded
- Winston Churchill scraps UK compulsory national Identity Cards
- Cold War over Germany's frontiers intensify
- Sister Theresa becomes Mother Theresa and begins her charity work in Calcutta
- Charles Chaplin expelled from USA
- Traffic lights in New York City
- Wernher von Braun talks about a manned flight to Mars.
Year in topic
- 1952 in film
- February 20 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theatre in New York City).
- Cinerama-system
- 1952 in literature
- 1952 in music
- "Hound Dog" - Big Mama Thornton
- 1952 in rail transport
- The City of San Francisco passenger train is marooned for three days in heavy snow on Donner Pass in California.
- 1952 in sports
- 1952 in television
- January 14 - The Today show premieres on NBC.
- September - The first UHF television station, KLOR begins broadcasting in Portland, Oregon.
- The first political advertisements appear on U.S. television. Democrats buy a 30 minute slot for their candidate, Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson is bombarded with hate mail for interfering with a broadcast of I Love Lucy. Dwight Eisenhower buys 20 second commercial spots and wins the election.
- The Ernie Kovacs Show premieres. Kovacs pushes the limits of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.
- The first telecast of an atomic bomb detonation (KTLA)
- 1952 in theater
- October 31 - Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada becomes a legal entity.
Births
January-March
- January 11 - Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
- Lee Ritenour, musician and composer
- January 12 - Ricky Van Shelton, country musician
- January 20 - Paul Stanley, musician (KISS}
- January 22 - Teddy Gentry, musician (Alabama)
- January 29 - Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American musician, drummer with The Ramones
- February 1 - Rick James, American musician
- February 3 - Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (d. 1998)
- March 1 - Steven Barnes, American science fiction author
- March 2 - Laraine Newman, American comedian
- March 11 - Douglas Adams, English science fiction author (d. 2001)
- March 13 - Wolfgang Rihm, German composer
- March 22 - Bob Costas, American sports announcer
- March 23 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American science fiction author
- March 25 - Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician and politician
- March 29 - Teofilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
April-June
- April 4 - Rosemarie Ackermann, German athlete
- April 12 - Ralph Wiley, American sports journalist (d. 2004)
- April 22 - Marilyn Chambers, American actress
- April 25 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
- May 2 - Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator, broadcaster, chameleon
- May 3 - Allan Wells, Scottish athlete
- May 3 - Leonid Khachiyan, Russian-born American mathematician
- May 11 - Renaud Séchan, French composer
- May 11 - Mike Lupica, American sports journalist
- May 14 - David Byrne, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
- May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, American director
- May 18 - George Strait, American country musician
- May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
- May 21 - Mr. T, American actor
- May 21 - Zuzana Hložníková, Slovak painter
- June 7 - Liam Neeson, Irish actor
- June 16 - Georgios Papandreou, Greek politician
- June 28 - Pietro Mennea, Italian athlete
July-September
- July 9 - John Tesh, American composer, musician, and television host
- August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentine footballer
- August 8 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
- August 9 - Vicki Morgan, model (d. 1983)
- August 13 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer
- August 14 - Carl Lumbly, actor
- August 19 - Jonathan Frakes, actor
- August 21 - Joe Strummer, British musician, guitarist/vocalist with The Clash (d. December 22, 2002)
- August 24 - Linton Kwesi Johnson, musician
- September 18 - Dee Dee Ramone, American musician, bassist with punk band The Ramones (d. June 5, 2002)
- September 22 - Bob Goodlatte, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
- September 29 - Max Sandlin, American politician
October-December
- October 7 - Vladimir Putin, Russian president
- October 9 - Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne
- October 16 - Ron Taylor, American actor (died 2002)
- October 26 - Andrew Motion, English poet
- November 5 - Bill Walton, basketball player and commentator
- November 8 - Jan Raas, Dutch professional cyclist
- November 15 - Daniel Barenboim, Israeli pianist and conductor
- November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer
- November 25 - Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer
- December 9 - Michael Dorn, actor
- December 14 - Vicki Michelle, English actress
- December 16 - Joel Garner, West Indian cricketer
- December 28 - Arun Jaitley, Indian politician
Deaths
- January 18 - Curly Howard, American actor and comedian
- February 6 - King George VI of the United Kingdom
- February 19 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1859)
- February 22 - Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first President of Finland
- March 7 - Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru
- March 22 - Uncle Dave Macon, country music performer
- March 31 - Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1877)
- April 3 - Miina Sillanpää, Finnish union activist
- April 21 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer 1947-1950
- April 23 - Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (b. 1887)
- May 6 - Maria Montessori Italian educator (cerebral haemorrage) (b. 1870)
- May 8 - Walter Fox, American movie producer
- May 21 - John Garfield, actor
- June 17 - Krystyna Skarbek, SOE agent
- July 26 - Eva Peron, Argentine wife of Juan Peron
- September 29 - George Santayana, writer
- September 30 - Viscount Waldorf Astor, British businessman and politician
- October 28 - Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia
- November 9 - Chaim Weizmann, chemist, first President of Israel (b. 1874)
- November 18 - Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
- November 23 - Aaro Hellaakoski, Finnish poet
- December 12 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist
- December 28 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (b. 1897)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - Felix Bloch, Edward Mills Purcell
- Chemistry - Archer John Porter Martin, Richard Laurence Millington Synge
- Medicine - Selman Abraham Waksman
- Literature - François Mauriac
- Peace - Albert Schweitzeraf:1952
ast:1952 bg:1952 be:1952 bs:1952 ca:1952 cs:1952 cy:1952 da:1952 de:1952 et:1952 el:1952 es:1952 eo:1952 eu:1952 fr:1952 fy:1952 gl:1952 ko:1952년 hr:1952 io:1952 id:1952 ie:1952 is:1952 it:1952 he:1952 la:1952 lt:1952 lb:1952 hu:1952 nl:1952 ja:1952年 no:1952 nn:1952 pl:1952 pt:1952 ro:1952 ru:1952 sq:1952 simple:1952 sk:1952 sl:1952 sr:1952 fi:1952 sv:1952 tt:1952 tr:1952 uk:1952 wa:1952 zh:1952年