1952

align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1949 1950 1951 - 1952 - 1953 1954 1955

align="center" colspan=2 | Decades:
1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s

align="center" | Centuries:
19th century - 20th century - 21st century

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

Events

January events

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 events

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 events

March 10 - General Fulgencio Batista takes power in Cuba - again
March 15 to 16 - 73 inches (1,870mm) of rain falls in Cilaos, Runion, 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 events

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 events

May 1 - East Germany threatens to form its own army.
May 2 - First passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg
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 events

June 1 - Catholic church bans books of Andr 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 events

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 events

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 events

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 events

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 events

November 1 - Nuclear testing: Operation Ivy - The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" 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 events

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 frog" 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

April births

April 4 - Rosemarie Ackermann, German high jumper
April 12 - Ralph Wiley, sports journalist (d. 2004)
April 22 - Marilyn Chambers, erotic actress
April 25 - Ketil Bjrnstad, Norwegian pianist

May births

May 3 - Allan Wells, British athlete
May 11 - Renaud Schan, French composer
May 11 - Mike Lupica, sports journalist
May 14 - David Byrne, singer, songwriter, guitarist
May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, director
May 18 - George Strait, country musician
May 19 - Joey Ramone, singer (d. 2001)
May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
May 21 - Mr. T, American actor, is born Laurence Tureaud, in Chicago
May 21 - Zuzana Hlonkov, Slovak paintress
May 23 - Marvelous Marvin Hagler, boxer

June births

June 7 - Liam Neeson, actor
June 16 - Georgios Papandreou, Greek politician
June 28 - Pietro Mennea, Italian athlete

July births

July 9 - John Tesh, composer, musician, television host

August births

August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentine footballer
August 8 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
August 9 - Vicki Morgan, fashion model (d. 1983)
August 13 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer
August 14 - Carl Lumbly, actor (Cagney & Lacey, Alias)
August 19 - Jonathan Frakes, actor ()
August 21 - Joe Strummer, musician

September births

September 22 - Bob Goodlatte, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
September 29 - Max Sandlin, American politician

October births

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 births

November 5 - Bill Walton, basketball star, commentator
November 15 - Daniel Barenboim, Israeli pianist and conductor
November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, video game legend
November 25 - Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer

December births

December 9 - Michael Dorn, actor (, Deep Space Nine)
December 16 - Joel Garner, West Indian cricketer
December 28 - Arun Jaitley, politician, India

Deaths

January deaths

January 18 - Curly Howard, actor, comedian, member of the Three Stooges

February deaths

February 6 - King George VI of the United Kingdom
February 19 - Knut Hamsun, author
February 22 - Kaarlo Juho Sthlberg, first president of Finland

March deaths

March 7 - Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru
March 22 - Uncle Dave Macon, country music performer

April deaths

April 3 - Miina Sillanp, Finnish left-wing trade union activist
April 21 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1947-1950

May deaths

May 6 - Maria Montessori Swiss educator and founder of the Montessori teaching method and schools; cerebral haemorrage
May 8 - Walter Fox, US movie producer
May 21 - John Garfield, actor