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News and Events of 1952

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1952 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 2.635 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Albert Schweitzer (French Equatorial Africa)

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George VI of England dies; his daughter becomes Elizabeth II (Feb. 6).
NATO conference approves European army (Feb.).
King Farouk of Egypt is ousted by a military coup (July 23). General Mohammed Naguib assumes power.
Britain announces its development of atomic weapons (Oct.). Background: nuclear weapons
Greece and Turkey join NATO.

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Harry S Truman
Vice President: Alben W. Barkley
Population: 157,552,740
Life expectancy: 68.6 years
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 5.2

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US explodes first thermonuclear bomb at Enewetak Island (Nov. 1).
President-elect Dwight Eisenhower follows through with his campaign promise to visit Korea (Dec. 2).
56 million watch Richard Nixon's "Checker's speech" on TV.

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $358.6 billion
Federal spending:   $67.69 billion
Federal debt:   $259.1 billion
Consumer Price Index:   26.5
Unemployment:   3.3%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.03

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

World Series

NY Yankees d. Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3)

NBA Championship

Minneapolis Lakers d. New York (4-3)

Stanley Cup

Detroit d. Montreal (4-0)

Wimbledon

Women: Maureen Connolly d. L. Brough (7-5 6-3)
Men: Frank Sedgman d. J. Drobny (4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Hill Gail

NCAA Basketball Championship

Kansas d. St. John's (80-63)

NCAA Football Champions

Michigan St. (AP, UP) (9-0-0) & Georgia Tech (INS) (12-0-0)

1952 Summer Olympics

1952 Winter Olympics

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk
Music: Symphony Concertante, Gail Kubik
Drama: The Shrike, Joseph Kramm

Oscars awarded in 1952
Academy Award, Best Picture: An American in Paris, Arthur Freed, producer (MGM)

Nobel Prize for Literature: François Mauriac (France)

1952 Emmy Awards

1952 Tony Awards

Miss America: Coleen Kay Hutchins (UT)

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Events

Jose Quintero's revival of Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke premieres at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre and is the first major Off-Broadway success.
Television's first magazine-format program, the Today Show, debuts on NBC with Dave Garroway hosting.
The Jackie Gleason Show (The Honeymooners) debuts on CBS, beginning a two-decade run.
Merce Cunningham forms his own dance company.

Movies

Singin' in the Rain, High Noon, The Greatest Show on Earth, Moulin Rouge

Books

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Bernard Malamud, The Natural
Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Archer John Porter Martin and Richard Laurence Millington Synge (both UK), for development of partition chromatography

Physics: Edward Mills Purcell and Felix Bloch (US), for work in measurement of magnetic fields in atomic nuclei

Physiology or Medicine: Selman A. Waksman (US), for co-discovery of streptomycin

G.W.A. Dummer (England) proposes the theoretical basis for the integrated circuit. Background: Computers and Internet
Jonas E. Salk (US) develops the first experimentally safe dead-virus polio vaccine. Background: Major U.S. Epidemics
The first plastic artificial heart valve is developed at Georgetown Medical Center. Background: Health & Nutrition
First jetliner service inaugurated by BOAC between London and Johannesburg, South Africa (May 2).
Capt. Vincent H. McGovern and 1st Lt. Harold W. Moore make first transatlantic helicopter flight (July 15–31). Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation