1952

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

Events

January

• 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

Three Queens in mourning, Queen Elizabeth II, her grandmother, Queen Mary and her mother, Queen Elizabeth at the funeral of King George VI.

• 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 takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor.
• 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

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

• 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

• May 1 - East Germany threatens to form its own army.
• May 2 - First passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg
• May 3 - U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole.
• 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

• June 1 - Catholic church bans books of André 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

• 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

France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands form the European Coal and Steel community, the foundation organisation what will become the European Union.

• 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

• 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

• 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

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

• 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 fog" 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.

Births

January-March

• January 11 - Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
  • Lee Ritenour, musician and composer
• January 12 - Ricky Van Shelton, country musician
• January 20 - Paul Stanley, musician (KISS}
• January 22 - Teddy Gentry, musician (Alabama)
• January 29 - Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American musician, drummer with The Ramones
• February 1 - Rick James, American musician
• February 3 - Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (d. 1998)
• March 1 - Steven Barnes, American science fiction author
• March 2 - Laraine Newman, American comedian
• March 11 - Douglas Adams, English science fiction author (d. 2001)
• March 13 - Wolfgang Rihm, German composer
• March 22 - Bob Costas, American sports announcer
• March 23 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American science fiction author
• March 25 - Jung Chang, British-Chinese author and historian
• March 25 - Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician and politician
• March 29 - Teofilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer

February 22 - William Frist, heart surgeon and United States senator

April-June

• April 4 - Rosemarie Ackermann, German athlete
• April 12 - Ralph Wiley, American sports journalist (d. 2004)
• April 22 - Marilyn Chambers, American actress
• April 25 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
• May 2 - Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator, broadcaster, chameleon
• May 3 - Allan Wells, Scottish athlete
• May 3 - Leonid Khachiyan, Russian-born American mathematician
• May 11 - Renaud Séchan, French composer
• May 11 - Mike Lupica, American sports journalist
• May 14 - David Byrne, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, American director
• May 18 - George Strait, American country musician
• May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• May 21 - Mr. T, American actor
• May 21 - Zuzana Hložníková, Slovak painter
• June 7 - Liam Neeson, Irish actor
• June 16 - Georgios Papandreou, Greek politician
• June 20 - John Goodman, American actor
• June 28 - Pietro Mennea, Italian athlete

July-September

• July 9 - John Tesh, American composer, musician, and television host
• August 1 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2003)
• August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentine footballer
• August 8 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
• August 9 - Vicki Morgan, model (d. 1983)
• August 13 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer
• August 14 - Carl Lumbly, actor
• August 16 - Reginald VelJohnson, actor
• August 19 - Jonathan Frakes, actor
• August 21 - Joe Strummer, British musician (The Clash) (d. 2002)
• August 24 - Linton Kwesi Johnson, musician
• September 18 - Dee Dee Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones) (d. 2002)
• September 22 - Bob Goodlatte, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• September 25 - Christopher Reeve, American actor and activist (d. 2004)
• September 29 - Max Sandlin, American politician

October-December

• October 5 - Duncan Regehr, Canadian actor
• 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 5 - Bill Walton, basketball player and commentator
• November 8 - Jan Raas, Dutch professional cyclist
• November 15 - Daniel Barenboim, Israeli pianist and conductor
• November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer
• November 25 - Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• December 9 - Michael Dorn, actor
• December 14 - Vicki Michelle, English actress
• December 16 - Joel Garner, West Indian cricketer
• December 28 - Arun Jaitley, Indian politician
• December 30 - June Anderson, American soprano

Deaths

• January 18 - Curly Howard, American actor and comedian (b. 1903)
• February 6 - King George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
• February 19 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1859)
• February 22 - Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first President of Finland (b. 1863)
• March 7 - Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru (b. 1893)
• March 22 - Uncle Dave Macon, American musician (b. 1870)
• March 31 - Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1877)
• April 3 - Miina Sillanpää, Finnish union activist
• April 21 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1889)
• April 23 - Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (b. 1887)
• May 6 - Maria Montessori, Italian educator (cerebral hemorrhage) (b. 1870)
• May 8 - Walter Fox, American movie producer
• May 21 - John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
• June 17 - Krystyna Skarbek, Polish-born Britsh agent in World War II (b. 1915)
• July 26 - Eva Peron, Argentine wife of Juan Peron (b. 1919)
• September 29 - George Santayana, Spanish-born writer (b. 1863)
• September 30 - Viscount Waldorf Astor, American-born businessman and politician (b. 1879)
• October 28 - Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1862)
• November 9 - Chaim Weizmann, Russian-born chemist, first President of Israel (b. 1874)
• November 18 - Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
• November 23 - Aaro Hellaakoski, Finnish poet
• December 12 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
• December 28 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (b. 1897)

Unknown date

Ernst Rüdin - Swiss-German psychiatrist, geneticist and eugenicist, and known as one of the fathers of racial hygiene. (b. 1874)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Felix Bloch, Edward Mills Purcell
• Chemistry - Archer John Porter Martin, Richard Laurence Millington Synge
• Medicine - Selman Abraham Waksman
• Literature - François Mauriac
• Peace - Albert Schweitzer