Top News Stories from 1953

World Events

• Joseph Stalin dies (March 5). Georgi Malenkov becomes Soviet Premier; Lavrenti Beria, Minister of Interior; Vyacheslav Molotov, Foreign Minister (March 6). Background: Rulers of Russia since 1533
• East Berliners rise against Communist rule; quelled by tanks (June 17).
• Korean armistice signed (July 27).
• Moscow announces explosion of hydrogen bomb (Aug. 20). Background: nuclear weapons
• Tito becomes president of Yugoslavia.

U.S. Events

• Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower inaugurated President of United States (Jan. 20).
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed in Sing Sing prison (June 19).
• Alleged Communist Charlie Chaplin leaves U.S. for good. Justice Dept. warns him any attempt to reenter the country will be challenged.

Economics

Sports

World Series

NBA Championship

Stanley Cup

Wimbledon

Kentucky Derby Champion

NCAA Basketball Championship

NCAA Football Champions

Entertainment

Events

• The first issue of TV Guide magazine hits the newsstands on April 3 in 10 cities with a circulation of 1,560,000.
• To counteract the threat of television, Hollywood thinks big and develops wide-screen processes such as CinemaScope, first seen in The Robe.
• Loretta Young abandons Hollywood for her stylish debut on the small screen.
• Lucille Ball gives birth to Desi Arnaz, Jr. on same day the fictional Little Ricky is born on I Love Lucy.
• Playboy magazine hits newsstands. A nude Marilyn Monroe graces the cover.

Movies

• The Robe, From Here to Eternity, Shane, Roman Holiday

Books

• William Burroughs, Junkie
• Randall Jarrell, Poetry and the Age
• Henry Miller, Plexus
• Alain Robbe-Grillet, The Erasers
• Jean Stafford, Children are Bored on Sunday
• James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain
• Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March

Science

• Rosalind Franklin (England), Francis Crick (England), and James Watson (US) discover the double-helical structure of DNA. Background: genetic engineering
• Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal reach the top of Mt. Everest (May 29). Background: Everest Almanac
• First successful open-heart surgery is performed in Philadelphia. Background: Health & Nutrition

Death

• Queen Mary
• Eugene O'Neill
• Jacques Thiabaud

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