1953 In The United States

Events from the year 1953 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

* President: Harry S. Truman ( D-Missouri) (until January 20), Dwight D. Eisenhower ( R-Kansas/ New York) (starting January 20)
* Vice President: Alben W. Barkley ( D-Kentucky) (until January 20), Richard Nixon ( R-California) (starting January 20)
* Chief Justice: Fred M. Vinson (Kentucky) (died September 8), Earl Warren (California) (starting October 5)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn ( D-Texas) (until January 3), Joseph William Martin, Jr. ( R-Massachusetts) (starting January 3)
* Senate Majority Leader:
** until January 3: Ernest McFarland ( D-Arizona)
** January 3 – July 31: Robert A. Taft ( R-Ohio)
** starting August 3: William F. Knowland ( R-California)
* Congress: 82nd (until January 3), 83rd (starting January 3)

Events

January–March

* January 7 – President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
* January 14 – The CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel first meets to discuss the UFO phenomenon.
* January 19 – 68% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into ''I Love Lucy'' to watch Lucille Ball give birth.
* January 20 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is sworn in as the 34th President of the United States, and Richard Nixon is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
* January 22 – ''The Crucible'', a historical drama by Arthur Miller written as an allegory of McCarthyism, opens on Broadway.
* February 1 – WEEK-TV begins broadcasting in Peoria, Illinois.
* February 5 – Walt Disney's 14th animated film, ''Peter Pan'', premieres in Chicago. It is Disney's final film to be distributed by RKO.
* February 11 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
* February 13 – Transsexual Christine Jorgensen returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark.
* February 19 – Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the U.S.
* March 17 – The first nuclear test of Operation Upshot–Knothole is conducted in Nevada, with 1,620 spectators at .
* March 19 – The 25th Academy Awards ceremony, emceed by Conrad Nagel, is simultaneously held at RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles (hosted by Bob Hope) and at NBC International Theatre in New York (hosted by Fredric March). It is the first ceremony to be televised. Cecil B. DeMille's '' The Greatest Show on Earth'' wins Best Motion Picture, while Fred Zinnemann's '' High Noon'', John Huston's ''Moulin Rouge'' and John Ford's ''The Quiet Man'' all receive the most nominations with seven, with Ford receiving his third Best Director win. Vincente Minnelli's ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' wins the most awards with five.
* March 31 – Due to increasingly lower ridership, Staten Island Rapid Transit closes two of its three-passenger lines (South Beach & North Shore).

April–June

* April 11 – The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare begins operations, the first new Cabinet-level department since the Department of Labor's formation in 1913.
* May 11 – The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak: an F5 tornado hits in the downtown section of Waco, Texas, killing 114.
* May 25 – Nuclear testing: at the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test: Upshot–Knothole Grable.
* June 8 – Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado kills 115 in Flint, Michigan (the last to claim more than 100 lives).
* June 9
**CIA Technical Services Staff head Sidney Gottlieb approves of the use of LSD in a MKULTRA subproject.
** Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts, killing 94.
* June 19
** Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York for conspiracy to commit espionage.
** The Baton Rouge bus boycott begins in the Southern United States.
* June 30 – Assembly of the first Chevrolet Corvette is completed in Flint, Michigan.

July–September

* July 18 – Howard Hawks's musical film '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, is released by 20th Century Fox.
* July 26 – The Short Creek raid is carried out on a polygynous Mormon sect in Arizona.
* July 27 – The Korean War ends: The United States, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and South Korea sign an armistice agreement.
* July 28 – Burger King opens its first restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida.
* August 5 – Operation Big Switch: U.S. prisoners of war are repatriated after the Korean War.
* August 17 – The first planning session of Narcotics Anonymous is held in Southern California. Its first meeting is held October 5.
* August 18 – The second Kinsey Report, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'', on American sexual habits, is issued.
* August 19 – Cold War: 1953 Iranian coup d'état ("Operation Ajax") – The CIA helps to overthrow the democratic government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne.
* August 20 – The U.S. returns to West Germany 382 ships it had captured during World War II.
* September 9 – The Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court decision in ''Rumely v. United States'' affirms that indirect History of lobbying in the United States, lobbying in the U.S. by distribution of books intended to influence opinion is a public good and not subject to regulation by Congress.
* September 12 – U.S. Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
* September 28 – Six year old boy Kidnapping of Bobby Greenlease, Bobby Greenlease is kidnapped in Kansas City, Missouri and murdered in Lenexa, Kansas, despite his father paying the largest ever ransom payment in American history at the time.

October–December

* October 5
** Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justice of the United States by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
** The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 2, to win their 16th World Series title in baseball.
* October 10 – Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington D.C.
* October 12 – The play ''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'' opens at Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Plymouth Theatre, New York.
* October 15 – Tito Jackson, member of the The Jackson 5, Jacksons and brother of Michael Jackson
* October 19 – Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is published
* October 30 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document of the United States National Security Council NSC 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communism, communist threat.
* December – Hugh Hefner publishes the first issue of ''Playboy'' magazine: it sells 54,175 copies at $.50 each.
* December 6 – With the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Arturo Toscanini performs what he claims is his favorite Beethoven symphony, ''Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven), Eroica'', for the last time. The live performance is broadcast nationwide on radio, and later released on records and CD.
* December 8 – U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Atoms for Peace address to the UN General Assembly in New York City.
* December 18 – Carl Hall and Bonnie Brown are both executed in the Missouri gas chamber after pleading guilty to the Murder and kidnapping of six year old Kidnapping of Bobby Greenlease, Bobby Greenlease; she is the third woman in history (and last until 2021) to be executed by federal authorities.
* December 25 – Amami Islands are returned to Japan after 8 years of United States Military occupation.

Date unknown

* Harold Butler and his first partner open Danny's Donuts (later Denny's) in Lakewood, California.
* Swanson introduce the TV dinner.
* In the fall of 1953, the Redding Drag Strip in California is accepted by the National Hot Rod Association.

Ongoing

* Cold War (1947–1991)
* Second Red Scare (1947–1957)
* Korean War (1950–1953)

Births

January

* January 1
**Gary Johnson, List of Governors of New Mexico, 29th Governor of New Mexico, Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party nominee for President.
**Lynn Jones, baseball player and coach
* January 2 – Vincent Racaniello, virologist, author and academic
* January 4 – James Warren (journalist), James Warren, journalist and publisher
* January 5 – Steve Archer, singer-songwriter and producer
* January 6 – Danny Pearson (musician), Danny Pearson, singer (died 2018 in the United States, 2018)
* January 8 – Bruce Sutter, baseball pitcher (died 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* January 11 – Jim Clendenen, winemaker (died 2021 in the United States, 2021)
* January 13 – Luann Ryon, archer
* January 15
** Kent Hovind, Christian fundamentalist evangelist and tax protester
** Randy White (American football), Randy White, American football player
* January 17 – Mark Littell, baseball player (died 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* January 19 – Desi Arnaz Jr., actor and musician
* January 20 – Jeffrey Epstein, financier and sex offender (died 2019 in the United States, 2019)
* January 21
** Paul Allen, entrepreneur and co-founder of Microsoft (died 2018)
** Glenn Kaiser, Christian blues-rock, heavy metal and R&B singer-songwriter and guitarist
* January 23 – Robin Zander, singer and guitarist (Cheap Trick)
* January 24 – Tim Stoddard, baseball player and coach
* January 29
**Nate Barnett, basketball player
**Caesar Cervin, soccer player and coach
**Dennis Delaney, actor and playwright
**Paul Fusco, puppeteer and voice actor
**Steve March-Tormé, singer-songwriter
**Louie Pérez, singer-songwriter and guitarist
**Dwight Takamine, lawyer and politician
**Charlie Wilson (singer), Charlie Wilson, singer-songwriter; producer (The Gap Band)

February

* February 3 – Ron Williamson, baseball player wrongly convicted of rape and murder (died 2004 in the United States, 2004)
* February 7 – Dan Quisenberry, baseball player and poet (died 1998 in the United States, 1998)
* February 11 – Jeb Bush, List of Governors of Florida, 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, second son of President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush; younger brother of President George W. Bush
* February 15 – John Goodsall, guitarist
* February 19 – Herb Lusk, American football player (died 2022 in the United States, 2022)

March

* March 1 – Luther Strange, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018
* March 2 – Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011
* March 6 – Jacklyn Zeman, actress
* March 13 – Michael Curry (bishop), Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church from 2015
* March 26 – Lincoln Chafee, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1999 to 2007

April

* April 9 – Hal Ketchum, country singer-songwriter (died 2020 in the United States, 2020)
* April 16
**Douglas M. Fraser, general
**J. Neil Schulman, author, actor, director and producer
* April 20 – Carrie Mae Weems, photographer
* April 26
** Brian Binnie, naval officer and test pilot (died 2022 in the United States, 2022)
** Linda Thompson (attorney), Linda Thompson, lawyer and conspiracy theorist (died 2009)

May

* May 12 – Kevin Grevey, basketball player and sportscaster
* May 26
** Kay Hagan, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015
** Dan Roundfield, basketball player (died 2012 in the United States, 2012)
* May 29
** Dennis Franks, footballer (died 2021 in the United States, 2021)
** Big Daddy Graham, comedian and radio host (died 2021 in the United States, 2021)
** Philip E. Sakowitz Jr., Vice President, national retail sales, federal government and military

June

* June 10 – John Edwards, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1999 to 2005
* June 11 – Barbara Minty, model
* June 13 – Tim Allen, comedian, actor, voice-over artist and entertainer
* June 18 – Bruce Seals, basketball player (died 2020)

July

* July 6
** Nanci Griffith, country folk singer-songwriter (died 2021 in the United States, 2021)
** Mike Riley (American football), Mike Riley, football head coach
* July 15 – Alvin and Judith Neelley, Alvin Neelley, murderer (died 2005)
* July 19 - Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO
* July 24 – Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019
* July 28 – Don Black (white nationalist), Don Black, white supremacist

August

* August 6 – Paolo Bacigalupi, author
* August 8 – Don Most, actor and director
* August 19 – Mary Matalin, political consultant
* August 31 – Marcia Clark, prosecutor

September

* September 4 – Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, African-American actor
* September 6 – Anne Lockhart (actress), Anne Lockhart, actress
* September 8 – Stu Ungar, poker player (d. 1998 in the United States, 1998)
* September 11
** Tommy Shaw, guitarist and singer
** Lesley Visser, sportscaster and journalist
* September 19 – Jennifer Kilian, American-Dutch translator
* September 21 – Andrew Heermans, musician, recording engineer and music producer
* September 24 – Peter Halley, painter and educator
* September 30 – Deborah Allen, singer

October

* October 15
** Tito Jackson, singer-songwriter and guitarist
** Larry Miller (comedian), Larry Miller, actor and screenwriter
** Walter Jon Williams, author
* October 24 – Steven Hatfill, physician and virologist
* October 25 – Ajamu Baraka, human rights activist and the Green Party of the United States, Green Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election
* October 28 – Desmond Child, songwriter and producer

November

* November 14 – Phil Baron, voice actor, puppeteer and songwriter
* November 15 – James Widdoes, actor, director and producer
* November 18 - Kath Soucie, voice actress
* November 25 – Katherine Zappone, human rights activist and independent politician in the Republic of Ireland

December

* December 6
**Tom Hulce, actor
**Dwight Stones, high jumper and sportscaster
**Gary Ward (outfielder), Gary Ward, baseball player and coach
* December 10 – Chris Bury, journalist and academic
* December 22
** David Leisner, guitarist and composer
** Bern Nadette Stanis, African-American actress
* December 27 – Sheila Dixon, Democrat mayor of Baltimore and criminal
* December 30
** Dana Key Christian musician, guitarist and preacher (died 2010 in the United States, 2010)
** Meredith Vieira, journalist and game show host

Deaths

* January 1 – Hank Williams, country singer-songwriter (born 1923 in the United States, 1923)
* January 7 – Martin and Osa Johnson, Osa Johnson, adventurer and filmmaker, wife of Martin and Osa Johnson, Martin Johnson (born 1894 in the United States, 1894)
* March 12 – James Hard, last verified living Union combat veteran of the American Civil War (born 1842 in the United States, 1842)
* May 30 – Dooley Wilson, African American actor, singer and drummer (born 1886 in the United States, 1886)
* June 3 – Florence Price, African American classical composer (born 1887 in the United States, 1887)
* August 7 – Abner Powell, Major League Baseball player (born 1860 in the United States, 1860)
* September 2 – Jonathan M. Wainwright (general), Jonathan M. Wainwright, general (born 1883)
* September 5
** Francis Ford (actor), Francis Ford, actor and director (born 1881 in the United States, 1881)
** Rudolf Höber, German-American physician (born 1873 in Germany, 1873)
* September 8 – Fred M. Vinson, Chief Justice of the U.S. (born 1890 in the United States, 1890)
* September 13 – Mary Brewster Hazelton, portrait painter (born 1868 in the United States, 1868)
* September 28 – Edwin Hubble, astronomer (born 1889 in the United States, 1889)
* October 3 – Florence R. Sabin, medical scientist (born 1871 in the United States, 1871)
* October 11 – Pauline Robinson Bush, younger sister of US President George W. Bush (born 1949 in the United States, 1949)
* November 18 – Ruth Crawford Seeger, modernist composer and folk music arranger (born 1901 in the United States, 1901)
* November 21 – Larry Shields, dixieland jazz clarinetist (born 1893 in the United States, 1893)
* November 27 – Eugene O'Neill, playwright (born 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* December 14 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, novelist (born 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* December 19 – Robert Andrews Millikan, physicist Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1868 in the United States, 1868)
* December 21 – Nicholas H. Heck, geophysicist, oceanographer and surveyor (born 1882 in the United States, 1882)

See also

* List of American films of 1953
* Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)

References

External links

*

{{Year in North America, 1953

1953 in the United States,
1950s in the United States
1953 by country, United States
1953 in North America, United States
Years of the 20th century in the United States