1952

1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).

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 Schweitzer