Top News Stories from 1952

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade
Nobel Peace Prize: Albert Schweitzer (French Equatorial Africa)
More World Statistics...
  • 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.

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
More U.S. Statistics...

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

Sports

World Series
NY Yankees d. Brooklyn Dodgers
NBA Championship
Minneapolis Lakers d. New York
Stanley Cup
Detroit d. Montreal
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
NCAA Football Champions
Michigan St. (AP, UP) (9-0-0) & Georgia Tech (INS) (12-0-0) 1952 Summer Olympics

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk
Music: Symphony Concertante, Gail Kubik
Drama: The Shrike, Joseph Kramm
Academy Award, Best Picture: An American in Paris, Arthur Freed, producer (MGM)
Nobel Prize for Literature: François Mauriac (France)
Miss America: Coleen Kay Hutchins (UT)
More Entertainment Awards...

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

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
More Nobel Prizes in 1998...
  • 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

Death

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