Read all about 1953 with an authentic newspaper from our collection at Historic Newspapers. We have the largest collection of historic newspapers, featuring some of the nation’s longest running and most trusted news sources.
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Explore our 1953 newspaper articles and discover events that caught the attention of readers all over the country. Highlights include the development of the first polio vaccine, the death of Joseph Stalin, one of the most powerful and murderous dictators the world has ever known, and Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to climb Everest.
It was also the year that celebrated the end of the Korean War, 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Ionian Sea Islands in Greece and Queen Elizabeth II of England’s coronation took place – beginning the reign of the longest monarch in British history. 1953 newspapers are full of page turning tales about what was going on in the world at the time, as told by people who lived it. Original newspapers provide fascinating insights into this year in history, and a different perspective on what life was like in the past.
January 7, 1953
President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
January 20, 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeds Harry S. Truman as President of the United States.
March 5, 1953
Joseph Stalin dies after 31 years of ruling the Soviet Union.
March 19, 1953
The 25th Academy Awards ceremony is held. This is the first one to be broadcast on television.
March 26, 1953
American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on radio that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the polio disease.
April 13, 1953
Ian Fleming publishes his first James Bond novel, “Casino Royale”.
May 29, 1953
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay complete the first successful ascent to the summit of Mount Everest.
June 2, 1953
Elizabeth II is officially crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in London.
June 19, 1953
The U.S. executes Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for spying for the USSR.
June 30, 1953
The first Chevrolet Corvette is built at Flint, Michigan.
July 18, 1953
Howard Hawks’s musical film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, is released by 20th Century Fox.
July 27, 1953
The Korean War ends with the United States, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and South Korea signing an armistice agreement.
September 4, 1953
The discovery of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is published by researchers Eugene Aserinsky and Nathaniel Kleitman for the very first time. Research continues into our sleep cycles and Psychologists debate the purpose of dreaming.
October 20, 1953
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 communist threat.
November 21, 1953
Authorities at the British Natural History Museum in London announce that the skull of the ‘Piltdown Man‘, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, is a hoax.
December 30, 1953
The first color television sets go on sale in America for around $1,175.