1952 Jan 3, "Dragnet" with Jack Webb premiered on NBC TV.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1952 Jan 4, The French Army in Indochina launched Operation Nenuphar
in hopes of ejecting a Viet Minh division from the Ba Tai forest.
(HN, 1/4/00)
1952 Jan 5, PM Churchill arrived in Washington to confer with
Pres. Truman.
(HN, 1/5/01)
1952 Jan 7, French forces in Indochina launch Operation Violette
in an effort to push Viet Minh forces away from the town of Ba Vi.
(HN, 1/7/00)
1952 Jan 8, Antonia Maury, discoverer of supergiant, giant &
dwarf stars, died.
(MC, 1/8/02)
1952 Jan 9, Jackie Robinson became the highest paid player in
Brooklyn Dodger history.
(HN, 1/9/98)
1952 Jan 12, The Viet Minh cut the supply lines to the French
forces in Hoa Bihn, Vietnam.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1952 Jan 13, Cornelius Bumpus, keyboardist (Doobie Bros-Minute
by Minute), was born.
(MC, 1/13/02)
1952 Jan 14, NBC’s TV show "Today" with Dave Garroway (d.1982)
and Jack Lescoulie had its debut. Garroway left the show in 1961. The news
announcer was James Fleming (1915-1996). The theme music was "Sentimental
Journey." Hugh Downs hosted from 1962-1971. Barbara Walters hosted from
1974-1976. Tom Brokaw hosted from 1976-1981. Jane Pauley hosted from 1976-1989.
Bryant Gumbel hosted from 1982-1997.
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A5)(SFC, 8/19/96, p.C2)(AP, 4/8/97)(AP, 1/14/98)(SFC,
1/11/02, p.D19)(MC, 1/14/02)
1952 Jan 20, British troops occupied Ismalia, Egypt. [see Nov
18, 1951]
(HN, 1/20/99)
1952 Feb 5, New York adopted the three-colored traffic lights.
(HN, 2/5/99)
1952 Feb 6, The SF Chronicle reported that Tom Keen, manufacturer
of racetrack tote boards, was blown to bits gangland style at his San Mateo
home when he pushed the starter on his Cadillac Fleetwood sedan.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.G6)
1952 Feb 6, Britain's King George VI died of lung cancer.
His daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him.
(AP, 2/6/97)(WSJ, 8/10/00, p.A16)(SSFC, 3/31/02, p.A3)
1952 Feb 8, Elizabeth was formally proclaimed Queen of England
following the Feb 6 death of her father, King George VI. Elizabeth was
crowned Jun 2, 1953.
(HN, 2/8/98)(WSJ, 2/13/02, p.A21)
1952 Feb 13, Alfred Einstein (71), German-US musicologist, died.
(MC, 2/13/02)
1952 Feb 16, The FBI arrested 10 members of the Ku Klux Klan in
North Carolina.
(HN, 2/16/98)
1952 Feb 19, Amy Tan, novelist (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen
God’s Wife), was born.
(HN, 2/19/01)
1952 Feb 19, There was a French offensive at Hanoi.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1952 Feb 20, "African Queen" opened at Capitol Theater in NYC.
(MC, 2/20/02)
1952 Feb 21, Dick Button performed 1st figure skating triple jump
in competition.
(MC, 2/21/02)
1952 Feb 21, Bangladesh Martyrs Day (martyrs of Bengali Language
Movement).
(MC, 2/21/02)
1952 Feb 22, The U.S. signed a military aid pact with Peru.
(HN, 2/22/98)
1952 Feb 22, French forces evacuated Hoa Binh in Indochina.
(HN, 2/22/99)
1952 Feb 24, The French evacuated Hoa Binh in Vietnam in order
to mass for the Tonkin Delta drive.
(HN, 2/24/99)
1952 Feb 25, French colonial forces evacuated Hoa Binh in Indochina.
(HN, 2/25/99)
1952 Feb 26, The U.S. signed a military aid pact with Ecuador.
(HN, 2/26/98)
1952 Feb 26, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that
Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.
(AP, 2/26/98)
1952 Feb 26, A Netherlands-Indonesian Unity conference took place.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1952 Feb 29, The first pedestrian "Walk/Don't Walk" signs were
installed at 44th Street and Broadway at Times Square.
(HN, 2/29/00)
1952 Feb, The US Federal Reserve obtained gold buttons, coins
and pipe ornaments from the US high commissioner for Germany. The Federal
Reserve acted as a custodian of gold for the Tripartite Commission. The
gold was turned into negotiable gold for distribution to European countries.
(SFC, 12/1/97, p.A10)
1952 Mar 1, In SF Municipal Railway workers received a wage increase
of 9.4 cents effective July 1. This raised their hourly rate to $1.73.
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.G8)
1952 Mar 1, Egyptian government-Ali Maher Pasja resigned.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1952 Mar 1, Helgoland, in North Sea, was returned to West Germany
by Britain.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1952 Mar 3, "Whispering Streets" debuted on ABC Radio, remaining
on the air until Thanksgiving week, 1960. The end of that show brought
down the curtain on what is called "the last day of the radio soap opera"
(November 25, 1960).
(HC, Internet, 3/3/98)
1952 Mar 3, The U.S. Supreme Court upheld New York's Feinberg
Law banning Communist teachers in the U.S.
(HN, 3/3/99)
1952 Mar 3, Puerto Rico approved their 1st self written constitution.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1952 Mar 4, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were married in the
San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles.
(AP, 3/4/98)
1952 Mar 4, North Korea accused the U.N. of using germ warfare.
(HN, 3/4/98)
1952 Mar 5, Terence Rattigan's "Deep Blue Sea," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1952 Mar 7, The U.S. signed a military aid pact with Cuba.
(HN, 3/7/98)
1952 Mar 10, General Fulgencio Batista staged a coup in Cuba and
overthrew the Socarras government.
(WSJ, 7/10/02, p.D8)(MC, 3/10/02)
1952 Mar 11, Douglas Adams, British writer, (The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy), was born.
(HN, 3/11/01)
1952 Mar 14, J. Fred Muggs, chimp on the Today show, was born.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1952 Mar 18, The 1st plastic lens for cataract patients was fitted
in Phila.
(MC, 3/18/02)
1952 Mar 18, There was a Communist offensive in Korea.
(MC, 3/18/02)
1952 Mar 20, At the Academy Awards "An American in Paris" was
named best picture; Humphrey Bogart best actor for "The African Queen";
Vivien Leigh best actress, Kim Hunter best supporting actress and Karl
Malden best supporting actor for "A Streetcar Named Desire"; and George
Stevens best director for "A Place in the Sun."
(AP, 3/20/02)
1952 Mar 21, The Moondog Coronation Ball was held at the Cleveland
Arena. It was promoted by Alan Freed and was later cited as the 1st rock
concert. The only band to perform was one led by Paul Williams, before
fire marshals closed the show.
(SFC, 10/7/02, p.A19)
1952 Mar 21, Some 31 storms crossed 6 states killing 340 in South
Central US.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1952 Mar 21, A.J. Pieters, SS-Untersturmfuhrer, was executed.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1952 Mar 21, Wilhelm Albrecht, German SD-chief, was executed.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1952 Mar 22, Bob Costas, sportscaster, talk show host (Later),
was born in Queens, NY.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1952 Mar 24, Great demonstrations took place against apartheid
in South Africa.
(MC, 3/24/02)
1952 Mar 25, The U.S., Britain, and France rejected the Soviet
proposal for an armed, reunified, neutral Germany.
(HN, 3/24/98)
1952 Mar 26, F. Dürrenmatt's "Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi"
premiered in Munich.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1952 Mar 27, Elements of the U.S. Eighth Army reached the 38th
parallel in Korea, the original dividing line between the two Koreas.
(HN, 3/27/99)
1952 Mar 27, There was a failed assassination attempt of German
Chancellor Adenauer.
(MC, 3/27/02)
1952 Mar 29, Pres. Harry Truman removed himself from the presidential
race.
(HN, 3/29/98)
1952 Mar 29, SF Archbishop John J. Mitty announced that Pope
Pius XII had elevated Mission Dolores to the status of a Minor Basilica,
the 1st west of the Mississippi and the 4th in the US.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.AG4)
1952
Apr 1, The Big Bang theory was proposed in Physical Review by Alpher,
Bethe & Gamow.
(OTD)
1952 Apr 3, Dutch Queen Juliana spoke to the US Congress.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1952 Apr 8, President Truman, to avert a strike, ordered the Army
to seize the nation’s steel mills after companies rejected Wage Stabilization
Board recommendations. Truman’s attempt to take over the US steel industry
was later denied by the Supreme Court and the mills were shut down by strikers
for 8 weeks.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(AP, 4/8/97)(HN, 4/8/98)(SFEC, 11/14/99, p.B10)(SFC,
10/4/02, p.A17)
1952 Apr 9, A popular uprising in Bolivia broke the grip by three
families on the rich silver and tin lodes of Oruto and Potosi in the altiplano.
This led to the state owned Minera de Bolivia known as Camibol. Hernan
Siles Zuazo led the revolution that brought far-reaching social and economic
reforms. Feudalism was replaced with universal suffrage. Every business
of note was passed into the hands of the state.
(WSJ, 5/23/96, p.A-9)(SFC, 8/8/96, p.A22)(WSJ, 8/15/95, p. A-6)(MC,
4/9/02)
1952 Apr 10, The MGM movie musical "Singin' in the Rain," starring
Gene Kelly, was first released.
(AP, 4/10/02)
1952 Apr 12, A telephone strike was settled in Michigan but continued
in Northern California for a 5th day.
(SFC, 4/12/02, p.G6)
1952 Apr 15, President Harry Truman signed the official Japanese
peace treaty.
(HN, 4/15/98)
1952 Apr 15, The 1st B-52 prototype test flight was made.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1952 Apr 15, Franklin National Bank issued the 1st bank credit
card.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1952 Apr 21, BOAC began 1st passenger service with jets from London
to Rome.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1952 Apr 22, An atomic test conducted at Yucca Flat, Nevada, became
the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television.
(AP, 4/22/99)(SFC, 4/19/02, p.G3)
1952 Apr 23, Oil pipeline from Kirkuk, Iraq, to Banias was completed.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1952 Apr 23, Elisabeth Schumann, singer, died.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1952 Apr 25, American Bowling Congress approved use of an automatic
pinsetter.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1952 Apr 25, President Juan Peron of Argentina won re-election.
(HN, 4/25/98)
1952 Apr 26, US minesweeper "Hobson" rammed the aircraft carrier
"Wasp," and 176 were killed.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1952 Apr 28, War with Japan officially ended as a treaty that
had been signed by the United States and 47 other countries took effect.
(AP, 4/28/00)
1952 Apr 28, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower stepped down to run for
President.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1952 May 1, Marines took part in an atomic explosion training
in Nevada.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1952 May 1, Mr. Potato Head was introduced.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1952 May 1, TWA introduced tourist class.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1952 May 2, Christine Baranski, actress (Maryann-Cybill, Birdcage,
Sweeney Todd), was born in Buffalo, NY.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1952 May 2, 1st scheduled jet airliner passenger service began
with a BOAC Comet.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1952 May 3, The first airplane landed at geographic North
Pole. It was a ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47, piloted by Lieutenant
Colonel William P. Benedict (d.1974) of California and Lieutenant Colonel
Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma. In 2002 Charles B. Compton later authored
"Born to Fly: Some Life Sketches of Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict
of California."
(Polar Times, Fall, 97)
1952 May 5, A Pulitzer prize awarded to Herman Wouk (Caine Mutiny).
(MC, 5/5/02)
1952 May 6, Maria Montessori (81), Italian physician, educationist,
died.
(MC, 5/6/02)
1952 May 7, In Korea, Communist POW’s at Koje-do rioted against
their American captors.
(HN, 5/7/98)
1952 May 8, Beth Henley, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Crimes
of the Heart), was born.
(HN, 5/7/02)
1952 May 8, Mad Magazine debuted.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1952 May 8, Allied fighter-bombers staged the largest raid of
the war on North Korea.
(HN, 5/8/98)
1952 May 13, Minor-league pitcher Ron Necciai struck out 27 in
9-innings.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1952 May 13, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became premier of India.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1952 May 15, California’s Central Valley Regional Water Pollution
Control Board issued resolution No. 127 barring entry of perchlorate and
8 other chemicals into local groundwater and the American River. Medical
researchers soon published that perchlorate blocks the uptake of essential
iodide into the thyroid. Aerojet Corp., a rocket fuel manufacturer, objected
and continued untreated discharges.
(WSJ, 12/16/02, p.A9)
1952 May 15, Italo Montemezzi (76), composer, died.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1952 May 16, Pierce Brosnan, actor (Remington Steele, Golden Eye),
was born in County Meath, Ireland.
(MC, 5/16/02)
1952 May 18, Professor WF Libby said Stonehenge dated back to
1848 BC.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1952 May 18, Rossetter Gleason Cole (86), composer, died.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1952 May 24, The AFL Sailor’s Union ordered a 3-day walkout to
tie up the Pacific Coast shipping to help in wage demands.
(SFC, 5/24/02, p.G8)
1952 May 29, Louise Cooper, sci-fi author (Nemesis, Inferno, Infanta,
Nocturne), was born in UK.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1952 May 29, A 2nd Round Conference between Dutch Antilles and
Suriname ended.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1952 May 31, Walter Schellenberg, German lawyer, headed spy plot
(Venlo), died of cancer.
(MC, 5/31/02)
1952 May, Monsignor Eugene Fahy (1912-1996), missionary, was released
by the Chinese Communists from jail in Shanghai. He recovered in a Hong
Kong hospital and went on to found the Fujen University in Taipei.
(SFC, 8/28/96, p.C2)
1952 Jun 2, Philosopher John Dewey died at age 92.
(MT, Fall. ‘97, p.19)
1952 Jun 3, A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje
POW camp in South Korea was put down by American troops.
(HN, 6/3/98)
1952 Jun 4, Parker Stevenson, actor (The Hardy Boys Mysteries,
Baywatch, Melrose Place, Falcon Crest), was born.
(MC, 6/4/02)
1952 Jun 10, Pres. Truman tried to nationalize the steel industry.
[see Apr 8]
(MC, 6/10/02)
1952 Jun 14, The USS Nautilus, the first atomic submarine, was
dedicated in Groton, Connecticut.
(HN, 6/14/98)
1952 Jun 16, "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" was published
in the United States.
(HN, 6/16/98)
1952 Jun 16, Soviet Fighters shot down a Swedish Catalina reconnaissance
flight.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1952 Jun 19, The celebrity-panel game show "I’ve Got A Secret"
made its debut on CBS-TV with Garry Moore as host.
(DT, 6/19/97)
1952 Jun 20, John Goodman (actor: Roseanne, The Flintstones, The
Babe), was born.
(MC, 6/20/02)
1952 Jun 23, The US Air Force bombed power plants on Yalu River,
Korea.
(HN, 6/23/98)
1952 Jun 24, Eddie Arcaro set a thoroughbred racing record for
American jockeys by winning his 3,000th horse race.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1952 Jun 30, "The Guiding Light," a popular radio program, made
its debut as a television soap opera on CBS.
(AP, 6/30/97)
1952 Jun, The Goon Show began on the BBC Home Service. It had
started as the show "Crazy People."
(SFC, 11/28/96, p.B6)
1952 Jul 1, Dan Aykroyd (comedian, actor: Driving Miss Daisy,
Grosse Point Blank, Coneheads, Saturday Night Live, Dragnet, Ghostbusters,
The Blues Brothers), was born.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1952 Jul 2, Linda M. Godwin, PhD, astronaut (STS 37), was born
in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
(SC, 7/2/02)
1952 Jul 7, SS United States crossed the Atlantic in record 82:40.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1952 Jul 11, The Republican National Convention, meeting in Chicago,
nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for president and Richard M. Nixon for vice
president.
(AP, 7/11/97)
1952 Jul 14, SS United States crossed the Atlantic in 84:12,
a record westward.
(MC, 7/14/02)
1952 Jul 15, Jesse Ventura, [James Janos], wrestler, actor, politician
(MN Governor), was born.
(MC, 7/15/02)
1952 Jul 16, Stewart Copeland, drummer (Police: Fall Out, Every
Breath You Take, LP: The Equalizer & Other Cliffhangers), was born.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1952 Jul 21, Robin Williams, American comedian and actor, was
born in Chicago, Ill.
(HN, 7/21/98)
1952 Jul 21, A 7.7 earthquake destroyed the Kern County town
of Tehachapi near Bakersfield, Ca. and killed 14 people.
(SFEC, 11/14/99, p.B10)(SFC,12/9/97, p.A9)
1952 Jul 23, General Mohammed Neguib seized power in Egypt. There
was a revolution in Egypt, King Farouk I abdicated. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser
overthrew the monarchy and established Egyptian sovereignty after 2,300
years of foreign domination. The revolution was led by the group of Free
Officers headed by Gamal Abdel Nasser and included Kamal Eddin Hussein.
(AP, 7/23/97)(NG, May 1985, p.584)(HFA, '96, p.34)(TMC, 1994,
p.1952)(SFC, 6/22/99, p.A24)
1952 Jul 24, President Truman announced a settlement in a 53-day
steel strike.
(AP, 7/24/02)
1952 Jul 24, Pres. Truman commuted Oscar Collazo’s death sentence
to life imprisonment. On the same day he signed an act enlarging the self-government
of Puerto Rico. [See Nov 1, 1950]
(AP, 11/1/97)(HN, 11/1/98)(HNQ, 1/24/02)
1952 Jul 24, In Iraq-Jordan a disgusted military overthrew the
corrupt government of King Farouk.
(MC, 7/24/02)
1952 Jul 25, Goethe Link Observatory discovered asteroid #1788
Kiess.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1952 Jul 25, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth
of the United States.
(AP, 7/25/97)
1952 Jul 26, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president by
the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; John J. Sparkman was nominated
for vice president.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1952 Jul 26, Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, died of cancer
in Buenos Aires at age 33.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1952 Jul 26, King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a
coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1952 Aug 1, Kemmons Wilson (d.2003) opened the first Holiday Inn
just outside Memphis, Tenn.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)
1952 Aug 4, Helicopters from the U.S. Air Force Air Rescue Service
landed in Germany, completing the first transatlantic flight by helicopter
in 51 hours and 55 minutes of flight time.
(HN, 8/4/00)
1952 Aug 3, The 15th Olympic Games concluded in Helsinki. US
competitors won 40 gold medals.
(SFC, 8/2/02, p.E4)(SC, 8/3/02)
1952 Aug 5, In LA, Ca., 14 Communist leaders were convicted of
conspiring to overthrow the US government. 6 of the defendants were from
SF, one was from Oakland.
(SFC, 8/2/02, p.E4)
1952 Aug 11, In Jordan King Talal abdicated the throne to Prince
Hussein due to mental illness.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)
1952 Aug 27, Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman), actor (Pee-wee's Big
Adventure), was born.
(MC, 8/27/02)
1952 Aug 28, Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, was born.
(HN, 8/28/00)
1952 Aug 28, Germans & Israelis reached an accord about recovery
payments.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1952 Aug 29, In the largest bombing raid of the Korean War, 1,403
planes of the Far East Air Force bombed Pyongyang, North Korea.
(HN, 8/29/98)
1952 Sep 1, Sutro Baths in SF was purchased by developer George
Whitney. He sold it to the National Parks Service in 1977.
(SFC, 4/14/99, Z1 p.4)(SC, 9/1/02)
1952 Sep 2, Jimmy Connors tennis champion, was born. His wins
included: Australian Open [1974], Wimbledon [1974, 1982], U.S. Open [1974,
1976, 1978, 1982, 1983].
(MC, 9/2/01)
1952 Sep 2, Dr. Floyd J. Lewis 1st used a deep freeze technique
in heart surgery.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1952 Sep 6, Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal.
(AP, 9/6/97)
1952 Sep 6, The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a conviction
against Harry Bridges as a Communist who lied to obtain US citizenship.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.E3)
1952 Sep 6, An engine on a de Havilland 110 plane falls into
a crowd at Farnborough Air Show in England. Thirty people on the ground
and the pilot are killed.
(AP, 7/27/02)
1952 Sep 7, General Naguib formed an Egyptian government and became
premier.
(MC, 9/7/01)
1952 Sep 8, The Ernest Hemingway novel "The Old Man and the Sea"
was published. Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1953.
(TL, 1988, p.114)(SFEC, 7/18/99, p.D5) (AP, 9/8/99)
1952 Sep 11, West German Chancellor Adenauer signed a reparation
pact for Jews.
(MC, 9/11/01)
1952 Sep 12, Soviet Lt. Dobrovichin shot down an American B-29
bomber piloted by Capt. Ted G. Royer.
(WSJ, 6/13/00, p.A1)
1952 Sep 12, Noel Coward's "Quadrille," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1952 Sep 13, John Melville, federal housing administrator, announced
that all adults living in San Francisco Bay Area federally aided public
housing will be asked to sign a loyalty affidavit under the Levering Act.
Refusal would be grounds for eviction.
(SFC, 9/13/02, p.E2)
1952 Sep 25, Christopher Reeve, NYC, actor (Superman, Somewhere
in Time), was born.
(MC, 9/25/01)
1952 Sep 20, Scientists confirmed that DNA holds hereditary data.
(HN, 9/20/98)
1952 Sep 23, Rocky Marciano became the world heavyweight boxing
champion by knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round, in Philadelphia
PA. It was Rocky’s 43rd consecutive victory. This was the 1st closed circuit
pay-TV telecast of a sports event.
(MC, 9/23/01)
1952 Sep 23, Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard M.
Nixon went on television to deliver what came to be known as the "Checkers"
speech as he refuted allegations of improper campaign financing. Nixon
denied that he maintained a private slush fund and all financial allegations
except for the gift of a cocker spaniel dog named Checkers from a Texan
who heard that his daughters wanted a puppy. Some 30 million television
viewers watched as Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower‘s running mate in the upcoming
presidential elections, made a plea for sympathy and vindication in light
of charges he was living a lifestyle beyond the means of his $12,500 Senate
salary. In 1997 plans were underway to exhume the dog and rebury it near
the former president.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A5)(AP, 9/23/97)(HNQ, 10/12/99)
1952 Sep 25, Christopher Reeve, actor (Superman, Somewhere in
Time), was born in NYC.
(MC, 9/25/01)
1952 Sep 25, The American Federation of Labor broke a 71-year
precedent and endorsed Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.
(SFC, 9/20/02, p.E6)
1952 Sep 26, George Santayana (88), US philosopher and poet (Last
Puritan), died in Italy. He was a student and professor at Harvard
but left the US in 1912. His work includes: "The Life of Reason" and "Realms
of Being;" a novel "The Last Puritan;" and autobiography "Persons and Places."
In 2000 Irving Singer authored "George Santayana: Literary Philosopher."
(WSJ, 11/7/00, p.A24)(MC, 9/26/01)
1952 Sep 30, The motion picture process Cinerama—which employed
three cameras, three projectors and a deeply curved viewing screen—made
its debut with the premiere of "This Is Cinerama" at the Broadway Theater
in New York City.
(AP, 9/30/97)
1952 Sep, In Lebanon alleged corruption and growing opposition
to the Khuri government led to a general strike that forced his resignation.
Khuri was succeeded by Camille Chamoun.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)
1952 Oct 2, Clive Barker, writer (Hellraiser, Lord of Illusions),
was born.
(MC, 10/2/01)
1952 Oct 3, The situation comedy "Our Miss Brooks," formerly a
radio show, premiered on CBS with Eve Arden again in the title role. Robert
Rockwell played her love interest, the biology teacher
(AP, 10/3/02)(SFC, 1/28/03, p.A15)
1952 Oct 3, The 1st video recording on magnetic tape was made
in LA, Ca.
(MC, 10/3/01)
1952 Oct 3, The British detonated their 1st atomic bomb. They
conducted nuclear tests on the Monte Bello Islands off Australia. In 1998
a visit to the islands was limited to one hour due to lingering radiation.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.A14)(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A26)
1952 Oct 4, Pres. Truman arrived in SF to campaign for Democratic
presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.E4)
1952 Oct 7, The 1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia on WFIL-TV.
Dick Clark joined in 1955 as a substitute-host. [see 1956]
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)(MC, 10/7/01)
1952 Oct 8, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican presidential candidate,
arrived in SF and drew a crowd of 100,000 for a downtown ticker tape parade.
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.E4)
1952 Oct 11, Researchers at UC Berkeley announced the discovery
of a new polio vaccine that could be manufactured in large quantities.
It had not yet been tested on humans.
(SFC, 10/11/02, p.E7)
1952 Oct 23, The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Ukrainian-born
microbiologist Selmart A. Waksman for his discovery streptomycin, the 1st
antibiotic to successfully treat tuberculosis.
(HN, 10/23/00)(SFC, 1/11/01, p.C16)
1952 Oct 24, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower
declared, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict if elected.
(AP, 10/24/97)(HN, 10/24/98)
1952 Oct 29, A syndicate headed by SF oil man Ralph K. Davies
bought control of American President Lines with an $18.4 million cash bid.
(SFC, 10/25/02, p.E8)
1952 Oct 29, French forces launched Operation Lorraine against
Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina.
(HN, 10//99)
1952 Oct 30, Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize but only received it in 1953. Schweitzer and his wife
Hélène had moved to Gabon (French Equatorial Africa) in 1913
and opened a hospital in Lambaréné, which he later expanded
with money from the Nobel Peace Prize.
(AP, 10/30/97)(HNPD, 9/4/98)
1952 Oct 30, Clarence Birdseye sold the 1st frozen pea package.
(MC, 10/30/01)
1952 Oct 31, The United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb
at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific. The prototype H-bomb was named Mike.
In 2002 Greg Herken authored "Brotherhood of the Bomb: the Tangled Lives
and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence and Edward Teller."
[see Nov 1]
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(HN, 10/31/98)(SSFC, 10/12/02, p.M1)
1952 Oct 31, The Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada was
incorporated as a legal entity. It was organized by Tom Patterson. The
1st performance opened Jul 13, 1953.
(WSJ, 7/18/02, p.D10)
1952 Oct, Mad Magazine first came out. [see 1955]
(SFEC, 12/20/98, Z1 p.8)(SFC, 3/3/99, Z1 p.4)
1952 Nov 1, The United States exploded the first hydrogen
bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. The element einsteinium
was discovered in the debris of the 1st hydrogen bomb test. [see Oct 31]
(AP, 11/1/97)(NH, 7/02, p.35)
1952 Nov 2, Dixie Lee Crosby (40), wife of Bing Crosby, died in
Hollywood from cancer.
(SFC, 11/1/02, p.E7)
1952 Nov 2, In Britain Derek Bentley (19) and Christopher Craig
(16) tried to break into a warehouse in South London. Craig shot and killed
Police Constable Sidney Miles. Bentley, who had the mental age of 11, was
hanged in Jan., 1953, for his role in the murder of the police officer
and Craig went to prison for 10 years. The 1991 film "Let Him Have It"
was based on the story of Bentley as was the Elvis Costello song "Let Him
Dangle." Bentley’s conviction was overturned in 1998.
(SFC, 7/31/98, p.A16,18)
1952 Nov 3, David Ho, virologist, AIDS researcher, was born.
(HN, 11/3/00)
1952 Nov 3, Egypt protested German retribution payments to Israel.
(MC, 11/3/01)
1952 Nov 4, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) was elected president the
34th president, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson in presidential elections.
The Republicans took over for the first time in 20 years. A Univac computer
in Philadelphia predicted the results based on early returns. Richard Nixon
was vice president.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(AP, 11/4/97)(HN, 11/4/98)(SJM, 5/1/01, p.1C)
1952 Nov 6, Dmitri Shostakovitch's cantata "About our Fatherland,"
premiered.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1952 Nov 7, Felix Bloch (47) of Stanford Univ. and E.M. Purcell
(40) of Harvard won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on measuring
the magnetic properties of atomic particles.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A17)
1952 Nov 9, Chaim Weizmann (77), bio-chemist and 1st president
of Israel, died.
(MC, 11/9/01)
1952 Nov 10, U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision barring segregation
on interstate railways.
(HN, 11/10/98)
1952 Nov 10, San Francisco columnist Stanton Delaplane introduced
Irish coffee to America at the Buena Vista Cafe at the end of the Hyde
St. cable line. He discovered the drink at Shannon Airport in Ireland,
served by Joe Sheridan.
(Hem., 5/97, p.24)(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W30)(SFC, 11/16/02, p.A1)
1952 Nov 10, Trygve Halvdan Lie resigned as 1st secretary-general
of UN.
(MC, 11/10/01)
1952 Nov 13, False fingernails were 1st sold.
(MC, 11/13/01)
1952 Nov 13, Harvard’s Paul Zoll was the first to use electric
shock to treat cardiac arrest.
(HN, 11/13/98)
1952 Nov 13, Margaret Wise Brown (d.1952), author of "Goodnight
Moon," a children’s bedtime story, died suddenly in France from an embolism
following surgery for an ovarian cyst. In 1992 Leonard Marcus authored
her biography "Awakened by the Moon."
(WSJ, 9/8/00, p.A6)
1952 Nov 15, Newark Airport reopened after closing earlier in
the year because of an increase in accidents.
(HN, 11/15/98)
1952 Nov 19, Scandinavian Airlines opened a commercial route from
Canada to Europe.
(HN, 11/19/98)
1952 Nov 20, George Axelrod's "7 Year Itch," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 11/20/01)
1952 Nov 24, Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" opened in London.
(MC, 11/24/01)
1952 Nov 25, The Mousetrap, mystery writer Agatha Christie's first
play—opened in London, and is still running. Originally written as a radio
play for Queen Mary, The Mousetrap premiered at the Ambassadors Theatre.
The play was relocated to St. Martin's Theatre in 1974 where it continues
its record-breaking run in the West End to this day. As may be surmised,
the cast has changed several times.
(HNQ, 5/13/01)
1952 Nov 25, George Meany was appointed chairman of AFL.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1952 Nov 26, The 1st modern 3-D film "Bwana Devil" starred Robert
Stack and premiered. It was made in 3-D by cameraman Lothrop Worth (d.2000
at 96) and inspired a series of 1950s 3-D movies.
(SFC, 3/18/00, p.A21)(MC, 11/26/01)
1952 Nov 29, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower kept his campaign
promise to visit Korea to assess the ongoing conflict.
(AP, 11/29/97)
1952 Nov 29, In San Francisco a Pacific Heights mansion at 2030
Broadway opened as the American Academy of Asian Studies, the 1st accredited
US graduate school devoted exclusively to Asian lands and people.
(SFC, 11/29/02, p.E9)
1952 Nov 29, John T. Downey (22) and Richard G. Fecteau (25),
CIA spies, were shot down over Jilin province and captured by the Chinese.
The 2 men spent 20 years in a Chinese prison. 2 pilots, Robert Snoddy and
Norman Schwartz, died and in 2002 plans were made to find their remains.
(SFC, 7/3/98, p.A11)(SFC, 7/10/02, p.A12)
1952 Nov 30, Mandy Patinkin, actor and singer (Yentl, Alien Nation,
Chicago Hope), was born in Chicago.
(MC, 11/30/01)
1952 Nov, Kermit Roosevelt, a CIA operative, was approached by
the British Foreign Office about organizing the overthrow of Iran’s Prime
Minister Mossadegh, who had presided over the nationalization of British-owned
oil operations.
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.D6)
1952 Dec 2, 1st human birth televised to public was on KOA-TV
Denver, Colo.
(MC, 12/2/01)
1952 Dec 4, The Grumman XS2F-1 made its first flight.
(HN, 12/4/98)
1952 Dec 4, Killer fogs began in London, England. "Smog" became
a word. [see Dec 5]
(MC, 12/4/01)
1952 Dec 5-8, A 4-day London smog killed 4,703 people. Oxides
of sulfur and other irritants from coal smoke were blamed. [see Dec 4]
(PCh, 1992, p.937)(MC, 12/5/01)
1952 Dec 8, French troops shot on demonstrators at Casablanca,
Morocco, and 50 people were killed.
(MC, 12/8/01)
1952 Dec 11, Stanford scientist demonstrated the new $1,750,000
linear electron accelerator. Its 200-foot barrel fired electrons at 99.99%
the speed of light.
(SFC, 12/6/02, p.E16)
1952 Dec 11, The outbound Norwegian ship Fernstream was sliced
open by the inbound SS Hawaiian Rancher under heavy fog inside the Golden
Gate. The Fernstream sank in 30 minutes but all passengers escaped.
(SFC, 12/6/02, p.E16)
1952 Dec 14, Eighty-four Korean Communist prisoners interned on
Pongam Island were killed during a riot after attempting to escape.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1952 Dec 15, The Sands Hotel casino opened in Las Vegas with 200
rooms. A 500 room tower was added in 1965. It lasted to 11/26/1996 when
it was torn down for a new $1.5 bil 6,000 room mega-resort by Sheldon Adelson.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.F3)(SFC, 11/27/96, p.D2)
1952 Dec 17, Yugoslavia broke relations with the Vatican.
(HN, 12/17/98)
1952 Dec 24, The Public Health Service reported that US births
approached 4 million for the year, setting a new record.
(SFC, 12/20/02, p.E5)
1952 Dec 29, The 1st transistorized hearing aid was offered for
sale at Elmsford, NY.
(MC, 12/29/01)
1952 Dec 30, Tuskegee Institute reported 1952 as the 1st yr in
the last 71 with no US lynchings.
(MC, 12/30/01)
1952 Dec 31, Hank Williams died at age 29 in the back seat of
a Cadillac full of pills and booz on his way to a gig.
(SSFC, 6/3/01, Par p.8)
1952 Francis Bacon made his painting "Study for the Head of a
Screaming Pope."
(SFC, 6/11/99, p.C8)
1952 John Biggers made his lithograph "Harriet Tubman and Her
Underground Railroad." It was an example of Mexican muralists influence
on Black American artists.
(SFC, 2/28/98, p.B1)
1952 Richard Diebenkorn made his "Untitled (Urbana)," an ink and
gauche on paper. It reflected the influence of cartoonist George Herriman.
(SFC, 1/18/97, p.D1)
1952 Leonor Fini (1908-1996), Argentine-born artist, painted her
portrait: "Comtesse de Noaille."
(SFC, 12/22/01, p.D12)
1952 Franz Kline painted his "Untitled II," a tiny ink drawing
in which Kline inscribed some chunky lines on a page from a Brooklyn telephone
book, crossing Chinese calligraphy with letterpress flotsam.
(WSJ, 12/16/94, A-12)
1952 Willem de Kooning, leading light of the New York School,
painted "Excavation," maelstroms of weaving and careening lines and roiling
forms. [2nd source says 1950] He also did "Seated woman" in this year.
(WSJ, 12/5/96, p.A16)(SFC, 3/20/97, p.A6)(SFC, 6/28/02, p.D1)
1952 Rene Magritte painted his work "Personal Values." It was
sold to the SF MOMA in 1998 for $6.5 million. The title was recommended
by his friend, Paul Nouge, surrealist, biochemist and founder of the Belgian
Communist Party. Magritte also did "La chambre d’ ecote" (The Listening
Room).
(SFC, 11/20/98, p.C1)(SFEM, 4/23/00, p.4)
1952 Matisse made his great cutout "Blue Nude."
(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20)
1952 Jackson Pollock painted his "Number 1." In 1995 it was in
the collection of former CBS chief Frank Statton and was estimated at $4-6
mil. in value but did not sell. [see 1949 No. 1] He painted "Blue Poles
Number 11," which later went to the National Gallery of Australia.
(WSJ, 11/21/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 11/10/98, p.A20)(SFC, 11/16/98,
p.E1)
1952 Samuel Beckett published his play "Waiting for Godot." It
was 1st produced in Paris in 1953.
(SFEM, 9/10/00, p.7)
1952 Arthur Laurent wrote his play "The Time of the Cuckoo."
(WSJ, 2/23/00, p.A20)
1952 Paul Bowles (b.1910) published his novel: "Let It Come Down."
(SFC, 7/12/99, p.E3)
1952 Whitaker Chambers authored "Witness," a chronicle of his
role in the Alger Hiss case. In it he declared that the essence of communism
lay in its vision of mankind emancipated from God.
(WSJ, 7/20/01, p.W15)
1952 Jacques Cousteau wrote "The Silent World." It was made into
a film that gave Cousteau the first of 3 Academy Awards.
(SFC, 6/26/97, p.A7)
1952 Philip K. Dick (d.1982) wrote his short story "Paycheck."
It was optioned for a movie in 1999.
(WSJ, 4/27/99, p.A20)
1952 Maria Flores wrote "The Woman With the Whip," a biography
of Eva Peron.
(WSJ, 11/14/96, p.A20)
1952 Che Guevara chronicled his motorcycle trip around South America
on a Norton 500. His memoir was published as "The Motorcycle Diaries."
(SFC, 5/12/96, Z1p.4)
1952 Prof. Charles M. Hardin (1908-1997) wrote "The Politics of
Agriculture."
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.E2)
1952 Black author Chester Himes (d.1984) published his book "Cast
the First Stone," a somber tale of prison life. He had written it in 1937
under the title "Yesterday Will Make You Cry."
(SFEC, 3/1/98, BR p.7)(SSFC, 2/25/01, BR p.1)
1952 George Racey Jordan, USAF (Ret.) with Richard L. Stokes authored
"Major Jordan’s Diaries." It was an account of Jordan’s experiences in
the US-Russia Lend-Lease program from 1942. The 2nd reference is a list
of the lend-lease items provided to the Soviet Union beginning in Oct 1941.
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/mjd1.html
www.topedge.com/panels/aircraft/sites/gustin/lendlse.html
1952 Norman Vincent Peale wrote "The Power of Positive Thinking."
(SFEC, 12/8/96, Par p.21)
1952 Egor P. Popov (d.2001 at 88), Ukrainian born Prof. of Civil
Engineering, published his classic "Mechanics of Materials" at UC Berkeley.
(SFC, 4/27/01, p.D8)
1952 The first "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"
(DSM) was published. It defined nervous breakdowns as "psychophysiologic
nervous system reactions."
(WSJ, 12/3/96, p.A1)
1952 Samuel Eilenberg (d.1998 at 84), mathematician and art collector,
co-authored "Foundations of Algebraic Topology" with Norman Steenrod of
Princeton Univ. The graduate text "General Topology" was written by John
Kelley (d.1999 at 82) of UC Berkeley.
(SFC, 2/3/98, p.A15)(SFC, 12/6/99, p.B2)
1952 The French work "Le Pretre Jean" (Prester John) was written.
(SFEC, 12/15/96, p.C5)
1952 British writer Mary Norton wrote "The Borrowers," illustrated
by Beth and Joe Krush. It was published in 1953 and made into a movie in
1998.
(SFC, 2/13/98, p.C3)(SFEC, 2/27/00, BR p.12)
1952 Ralph Ellison (d.1994) wrote his classic novel "Invisible
Man."
(SFEC, 2/9/97, BR p.2)
1952 Wolf Mankowitz published his first novel "Make me an Offer."
It was based on his experiences in the porcelain trade.
(SFC, 5/29/98, p.D7)
1952 Terence Rattigan published his play "The Deep Blue Sea."
(WSJ, 3/30/98, p.A16)
1952 In Germany Mrs. Aicher-Scholl (e.1998 at 81) published "White
Rose," a description of the White Rose nonviolent student resistance to
the Third Reich.
(SFC, 9/7/98, p.A21)
1952 John Steinbeck wrote his novel "East of Eden."
(SFEC, 6/21/98, DB p.35)
1952 Telford Taylor published "Sword and Swastika." He helped
write the rules for Nuremberg Trials.
(SFC, 5/26/98, p.B2)
1952 Herman Wouk wrote his novel "Cain Mutiny." It became a film
in 1954.
(SFC, 10/15/96, p.B1)
1952 Eugene Ionesco wrote "The Chairs." It was a dadaist parable
of two fantasists preparing to deliver an important message.
(WSJ, 5/16/97, p.A16)
1952 Frederick Knott, English writer, wrote his thriller "Dial
‘M’ for Murder. It was made into a film with Grace Kelly by Alfred Hitchcock.
(WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20)
1952 Gunsmoke, the "adult western," began as a radio drama. It
spawned a television series (1955) that lasted 20 years. Starring William
Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon (a role played by James Arness on TV), the
show broke with established radio traditions (such as extended use of sound
effects) and character stereotypes (in great part to many cliché-busting
scripts by John Mestin). It garnered a huge audience for its network, CBS
(sources disagree, but some estimate as much as 30% of the radio-listening
public tuned into the show, a rating impossible to reach in today’s multimedia
world). The popular radio drama launched the 20-year TV series, a record
as yet unrivalled by any other primetime drama.
(HNQ, 3/30/01)
1952 The market introduced 3-D movies.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)
1952 Larry Harmon made his debut as Bozo the Clown. The pilot
was titled "Pinky Talks Back."
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.B4)
1952 Sheri Lewis (19) was a winner on the Arthur Godfrey television
talent scout show. Within 5 years she introduced her puppet Lamb Chop on
the Captain Kangaroo Show and began her own show in 1957.
(SFC, 8/4/98, p.A7)
1952 The TV show American Bandstand premiered as a local show
in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
1952 "The Ernie Kovacs Show" began under CBS and ran to 1953.
(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.37)
1952 The TV show Ding Dong School was developed by George Heinemann (1918-1996)
1952 TV advertised its first toy, Mr. Potato Head.
(SFEC, 3/2/97, z1 p.4)
1952 The TV show "My Little Margie" starred Gale Storm and Hillary
Brooke, It ran until 1955.
(SFC, 6/2/99, p.C7)
1952 "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" began its TV run. It
had started as a radio series in 1944. The TV show ran to 1966.
(AP, 10/8/98)(SSFC, 5/20/01, p.C5)
1952 John Cage wrote his score "Water Music," written instructions
with no fixed order. His piece 4'33" was one in which the performer created
none of the sound.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.E4)(SFC, 12/29/99, p.E1)
1952 Singer Al Martino has his first hit with "Here in My Heart."
(SFEC, 10/5/97, DB p.74)
1952 Hank Williams (d.1952) had a hit with "Your Cheatin’ Heart."
(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)(SSFC, 6/3/01, Par p.8)
1952 Gerry Mulligan began playing a new type of jazz on the west
coast. He used just two horns, a bass and drum for a quartet with no piano
player. Chet Baker played a wispy trumpet against Mulligan's spry baritone
sax. Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone soon replaced Baker and then Art
Farmer came in on trumpet. They opened at the Haig club in LA and sparked
the "West Coast jazz" style of cool jazz.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)(WSJ, 6/19/02, p.A1)
1952 Jazz greats Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie were captured
on a rare film clip.
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.F8)
1952 B.B. King (b.1925) made No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B charts
with his song "Three O’Clock Blues." His autobiography, co-written with
David Ritz, came out in 1996: "Blues All Around Me."
(SFEC, 12/15/96, BR p.8)
1952 Martinu composed his "Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra."
(SFC, 3/24/00, p.b1)
1952 Orrin Keepnews and Record Changer publisher Bill Grauer founded
the Riverside jazz label in New York City to re-issue jazz albums from
the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1952 Le Corbusier’s first great urban construction was completed
in Marseilles, France. Eighteen hundred inhabitants were housed in a "vertical
community" of eighteen floors.
(V.D.-H.K.p.364)
1952 The double-span highway bridge, nearly a mile long, linked
Yorktown to Gloucester Point, Virginia.
(NG, 6/1988, p.7809)
1952 George Jorgensen flew to Stockholm to undergo a male-to-female
sex change and returned to the US as Christina Jorgensen. A biopic film
was made in 1970 titled "The Christina Jorgensen Story."
(SFEC, 9/7/97, DB p.43)
1952 Ore-Ida Potatoes Inc. introduced "Tater Tots." The company
was in-part founded by William E. Berelson (d.1997 at 90) in 1951. It was
sold to H.J. Heinz Co. in 1965.
(SFC, 5/15/97, p.A26)
1952 Pez candy was introduced to the US. It originated in Austria
in 1927 as a breath mint for cigarette smokers.
(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.C11)
1952 The organization Promoting Enduring Peace was founded in
Woodmont, Conn. It sponsored friendship tours to the Soviet Union, China,
Nicaragua, Cuba and Costa Rica.
(SFC, 6/14/97, p.C2)
1952 A scandal arose when the Pacific Coast Conference of Universities
was found to be paying athletes to play on college teams. In 2000 Glenn
Seaborg and Ray Colvig authored "Roses From Ashes," an account of the scandal.
(SFC, 4/19/01, p.D2)
1952 Future revolutionary Che Guevara took a 4,000-mile moped
trip alone through northern Argentina and in the next two years traveled
throughout South America on a 500cc motorcycle nicknamed "La Poderosa"
(The Powerful One). On these trips he directly observed the lives of workers
and peasants and ultimately changed the direction of his life. Che Guevara
was born on June 14, 1928 to an aristocratic family in Argentina. He was
captured and executed by the Bolivian army on October 8, 1967.
(HNQ, 12/2/98)
1952 Paul Robeson was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize by the Soviet
Union. He had to wait 6 years for permission to leave the US to accept
the honor.
(WSJ, 4/9/98, p.A21)
1952 Francois Mauriac (b.1885), French novelist, won the Nobel
Prize in literature.
(WUD, 1994, p.886)(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A6)
1952 Pres. Truman extended the award of the Purple Heart retroactively
to include veterans of WW I. F.D. Roosevelt had opened the Army award to
all branches of the US Military at the onset of WW II.
(SFEC, 8/22/99, Z1 p.8)
1952 Gen. Omar Bradley told outgoing Pres. Truman that a criminal
investigation of the international oil cartels threatens national security. Truman
dropped his attack on Standard Oil of New Jersey, Gulf, The Texas Company,
Socony-Mobil, Standard Oil of Calif., and their foreign colleges, Anglo-Iranian
Oil, and Royal Dutch-Shell. The justice department dropped it's grand
jury probe in April and filed a civil complaint accusing the companies
of conspiracy to monopolize the industry.
(PCh, 1992, p.939)
1952 The official book on World War II honors was closed.
(SFC, 7/13/00, p.A15)
1952 Eisenhower defeated Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio,
for the GOP presidential nomination.
(WSJ, 11/10/95, p.A-14)(HN, 9/8/98)
1952 Eleanor Lansing Dulles (1895-1996) was appointed to run the
State Department’s Berlin desk. Her brother John Foster Dulles was named
Secretary of State and her other brother, Allen Welsh Dulles, got the top
job in the CIA. Eleanor published her memoirs in 1980.
(SFC, 11/4/96, p.A22)
1952 Federal regulations established that personal details from
the national census be kept confidential for 72 years.
(SFC, 4/1/02, p.A3)
1952 The American Bar Association began to be involved in the
evaluation of screening prospective federal judges.
(SSFC, 3/18/01, p.A5)
1952 The Colorado Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, 16 miles
northwest of Denver, began producing plutonium bombs and bomb parts.
(SFC, 8/27/99, p.A3)
1952 Connecticut Representative Abraham Ribicoff lost his bid
for the US Senate to Prescott S. Bush, the father of later Pres. George
Bush.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.A5)
1952 John F. Kennedy upset veteran Massachusetts Senator Henry
Cabot Lodge, Jr., whose father, Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr., had served as a
senator from 1893-1924.
(HNQ, 2/20/99)
1952 Elia Kazan gave HUAC the names of actors in his communist
cell block at the Group Theater in the 1930s.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A17)
1952 The FBI gave Sen. Styles Bridges a confidential hearing that
revealed that Armand Hammer, businessman, helped recruit spies for the
Soviets and helped place them in US government positions.
(WSJ, 10/3/96, p.A12)
1952 Capt. John Robertson Dunham, an Air Force spy pilot, was
shot down over Russia.
(SFEC,12/21/97, p.A26)
1952 Larry Wu-Tai Chin, a CIA translator, began spying for China.
He was convicted while retired in 1986 and within days killed himself.
(SFC, 11/19/96, p.A17)
1952 Discrimination on the basis of race was stricken from federal
statutes.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, Z1 p.6)
1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act defined a qualified H-1
recipient as "an alien having residence in a foreign country which he has
no intention of abandoning… and who is coming temporarily to the US…"
(SFC, 9/21/00, p.A11)
1952 Maj. Gen'l. Robert Grow, the military attaché in Moscow,
was tried on charges of dereliction of duty and was suspended for 6 months.
He was the 1st Army General to face court-martial under the Uniform Code
of Military Justice.
(SFC, 9/3/99, p.A2)
1952 US gangster Mickey Cohen was arrested for tax evasion.
(USAT, 10/8/97, p.4D)
1952 Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel, but
he declined.
(BHT, Hawking, p.178)
1952 The US Internal Revenue Service was reorganized.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-8)
1952 Penny postcards went up in price.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, Z1 p.8)
1952 In Kentucky the 750-acre Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
began operation. For 23 years the government attempted to recycle used
nuclear reactor fuel. The K-25 sister plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, also
showed high death rates. In 1983 an autopsy of worker Joseph Harding revealed
high concentrations of radiation, but the results were not made public
until 1999. In 1999 plant employees charged that radiation exposure was
a long running problem and that plutonium contamination had occurred from
the mid 50s to the mid 70s. Union Carbide ran the plant for 32 years for
the Dept of Energy, followed by Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin. Estimated
cleanup costs in 1999 were $240 billion over 75 years.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A6)(SFEC, 8/22/99, p.A4)
1952 The Virgin Islands National Park was established on 5,000
acres turned over to the US government by Laurance Rockefeller.
(SFEC, 2/15/98, p.T8)
1952 Barry Goldwater upset Arizona Democratic Senator Ernest McFarland
by a 6,000 vote margin and won his first term in the Senate.
(SFC, 5/30/98, p.A3)
1952 Becton Dickinson introduced the Multifit, its first glass
syringe with interchangeable needles.
(SFC, 10/27/98, p.A4)
1952 In Mattoon, Ill., Gene Hoots bought the Frigid Queen ice
cream shop from his uncle. He expanded the business with hamburgers in
1954 and coined the named Burger King with a registered state trademark.
He later lost a suit against the Florida Burger King chain whose federal
trademark was ruled to hold priority. However the courts ruled that the
franchise could not open within 20 miles of the Mattoon restaurant.
(SFC, 8/19/98, p.B2)
1952 Ford overtook Chrysler as the No. 2 automaker.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)
1952 Kellogg’s "Tony the Tiger" was created by advertising executive
Don Tennant (d.2001 at 79).
(SFC, 12/14/01, p.A33)
1952 "Colonel Sanders" started Kentucky Fried Chicken with a 7-day-a-week
Sunday dinner concept.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, Par p.5)
1952 Tappan introduced home microwave ovens for $1295.
(SFC, 7/14/99, p.8)
1952 The Tobacco Blending Company of Louisville, Ky., made cigarette
packs with the faces of Eisenhower and Stevenson. The company changed its
name to World Tabac in 1963 and went out of business in 1993.
(SFC, 3/5/97, z-1 p.2)
1952 Dyas Power Bothe Jr. (1911-1996), founded US Leasing Company.
The company supplied pallets to agricultural companies. He is hailed as
the father of the modern leasing business.
(SFC, 9/12/96, p.A26)
1952 In California Ernest O. Lawrence (1901-1958) founded what
would later be known as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
(SFC, 1/11/03, p.A18)
1952 Sam Phillips (d.2003) founded Sun Records in Memphis, Ten.
Phillips produced Elvis Presley's 1st record in 1954.
(SFC, 8/1/03, p.A19)
1952 John J. Rigas founded Adelphia Communications in Coudersport,
Pa., with a dream and a $300 check.
(WSJ, 5/28/02, p.A1)
1952 The US Leather Co. was dissolved. It had been the nation’s
largest shoemaker in the first decades.
(WSJ, 5/28/96, p.R45)
1952 Cuthbert C. Hurd (d. 5/22/96 at 85), computer scientist for
IBM, led the development of the IBM 701 at a cost of $3 million. With his
partner James Birkenstock, Cuthbert recommended that the company design
and build a general purpose computer.
(SFC, 6/2/96, B6)
1952 David Bohm devised a quantum physics model in which each
electron is guided by an invisible "pilot wave." His work is described
in the 1997 book "Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm"
by F. David Peat. Evidence for Bohm’s theory is described by David Wick
in the 1977 book "The Infamous Boundary: Seven Decades of Heresy in Quantum
Physics."
(WSJ, 1/23/97, p.A12)
1952 Harry Markowitz won the Nobel Prize in 1990 for his 1952
theory on risk reduction that was later applied to portfolio management.
(WSJ, 10/21/96, p.A18)
1952 Bell labs developed the 1st speech recognizer.
(SFC, 7/26/00, p.D3)
1952 Dr. Marshall D. Gates prepared a totally synthetic morphine.
(NG, May 1985, members forum)
1952 Chlorophyll was introduced.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)
1952 A rare type of genetic pancreatitis was diagnosed for the
first time. In 1996 it was later found to be caused by a specific gene.
(WSJ, 10/2/96, p.B5)
1952 The cave of Cougnac in south-central France was discovered.
It had three paintings of the ancient Megaloceros giganteus (Irish elk).
(NH, 8/96, p.19)
1952 Harold Le Clair Ickes (b.1874), US lawyer, statesman and
writer, died. T.H. Watkins later authored: "Righteous Pilgrim: The Life
and Times of Harold L. Ickes."
(SFC, 2/26/00, p.A19)
1952 Evita Peron (b.1919), the first lady of Argentina, died of
cancer at age 33. Her biography: "Eva Peron" was written by Alicia Dujovne
Ortiz. "Santa Evita" was a (1996) novel by Tomas Eloy Martinez based on
the fate of her corpse. Eva wrote a little book "Mi Mensaje" (My Message,
or In My Own Words) that was unfinished and lost until 1987 and published
in English under the title "In My Own Words." "My Mission In Life" was
ghostwritten under Eva’s name by Manuel Penella de Silva.
(SFEC, 8/18/96, PM p. 8)(SFEC, 11/3/96, BR p.1)
1952 Renato Simoni, Italian drama critic, died and left his entire
library of 40,000 volumes to the La Scala museum.
(Civil., Jul-Aug., ‘95, p.90)
1952 In Albania the Alba Films complex was built to produce Communist
propaganda.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A6)
1952 In Australia Rupert Murdoch (21) inherited 2 fledgling newspapers
in Adelaide. By 2003 his empire generated $17 billion a year in revenues.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(Econ, 8/30/03, p.61)
1952 In Bolivia many of the largest haciendas were broken up as
part of agrarian reforms, thousands of indigenous worked on the plantations
in near slavery.
(AP, 7/5/03)
1952 The MNR Party was the driving force behind a revolution that
launched agrarian reforms, the universal right to vote, and the nationalization
of Bolivia’s mines. The MNR was also accused of assassinations and torture.
(SFC, 6/8/01, p.D5)
1952 In Bulgaria Vincentius Bossilkov, the Bishop of Nikopolis,
was convicted at a Stalinist-era show trial for refusing to accept a law
aimed at removing the local Catholic Church from Vatican jurisdiction.
He was tried, tortured, shot and buried in a common grave. He was beatified
in 1998.
(SFC, 3/16/98, p.A9)
1952 In France the viral disease myxomatosis killed off about
half the rabbits in the country.
(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
1952 Germany banned the neo-Nazi Socialist Reich Party, a successor
to the Nazi Party.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A14)(SFC, 4/8/02, p.A3)
1952 Japan regained independence.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)
1952 Osamu Tezuka, Japanese cartoonist, dreamed up Astro Boy and
put his b-day at April 7, 2003.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.C4)
1952 The Mau Mau start chopping away in Kenya. The Mau Mau movement
was in part due to the white domination of the rich plateau region. The
Mau Mau separatist group used a toxic plant to poison 33 steers in an act
of rebellion.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 9/18/01, p.B1)
1952 In Mexico Amalia Hernandez founded the Ballet Folklorico
de Mexico.
(SFEC, 9/8/96, DB p.47)
1952 The sarcophagus of Lord Pakal was found in the ruins at Palenque,
Mexico, by Alberto Ruz L’Huiller.
(SSFC, 5/5/02, p.C5)
1952 Petroleum engineers drilled in the Yucatan and found unexpected
igneous rock. It was later thought to have come from a comet that hit about
65 million years ago. Sinkholes scattered around the edge of the resulting
112 mile diameter crater were later believed to result from rocks sinking
in the center and causing fractures along the perimeter.
(SFC, 2/4/97, p.A9)
1952 In Poland a new constitution was adopted.
(SFC, 5/26/97, p.A10)
1952 Poland began to allow foreign cultures to organize their
own schools.
(Voruta #27-28, Jul 1996, p.1)
1952 In Russia a trail was held for 15 leading Jewish writers,
intellectuals and scientists, who were associated with the Anti-Fascist
Committee. In 2001 Joshua Rubenstein and Vladimir P. Naumov edited the
transcripts and published "Stalin’s Secret Pogrom."
(WSJ, 5/8/01, p.A24)
1952 In Yemen American explorer Wendell Phillips began excavating
Marib’s Moon Temple of Sheba. He was forced away after 4 months when locals
suspected that he was after gold.
(WSJ, 5/2/97, p.A1)
1952-1955 I Love Lucy is the top ranking network show on television
with a ranking of 67.3, 58.8, and 49.3% over three seasons.
(WSJ, 4/24/95, p.R-5)
1952-1987 William Shawn edited the New Yorker Magazine. He had a 40-year
affair with writer Lillian Ross, who in 1998 published "Here But Not Here,"
an account of their relationship. In 1998 Ved Mehta published: "Remembering
Mr. Shawn’s New Yorker."
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.W10)
1952-1996 Jan Kerouac, novelist daughter of Jack Kerouac. Her books
included "Baby Driver" (1981) and "Trainsong" (1988).
(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A22)