November 5, 1952 - I was born in Washington, D.C.
The previous day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, had been Election Day. Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected 34th President of the U.S.
Other Events of 1952:
King George VI of England died, and on Feb. 6 his daughter Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen of England.
Harry S. Truman was U.S. President. Alben W. Barkley was U.S. Vice-President. Dean Acheson was U.S. Secretary of State. Frederick M. Vinson was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Associate Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court included: Hugo L. Black, Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Robert H. Jackson, Harold H. Barton, Tom C. Clark, Sherman Minton.
Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union. Fulgencio Batista took power in Cuba. In Egypt, a military coup overthrew King Farouk.
In 1952, the hydrogen bomb was detonated for the first time. The contraceptive pill was introduced. Polio vaccine was developed. The transistor radio was developed.
Pius XII was Pope. Geoffrey Francis Fisher was Archbishop of Canterbury. Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Vincent Auriol was President of France. Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor of West Germany.
Evita Peron, wife of Argentine President Juan Peron, died.
Albert Schweitzer won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize. François Mauriac won the 1952 Nobel prize for Literature.
Herman Wouk won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Caine Mutiny. Marianne Moore won the Pulitzer prize in poetry for Collected Poems. No Pulitzer award was given for drama in 1952.Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952. John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden was published in 1952.
In 1952, the Korean War continued. The U.S. launched bombing attacks against North Korea. The Indochinese War continued. The Mau Mau rebellion began in Kenya. Greece and Turkey joined NATO.
President Truman decided not to run for reelection. The Republicans held their convention in Chicago on July 7, and nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for President. The Democrats held their convention in Chicago on July 21, and nominated Adlai E. Stevenson. In the elections on Nov. 4, Eisenhower defeated Stevenson, and became President-Elect, with Richard M. Nixon as his Vice-President.
In Washington, D.C., Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican from Wisconsin, continued his efforts to expose communists in government, attempting to discredit the Truman administration. A wave of anti-communism, known as "McCarthyism," swept the country.
On April 10, film director Elia Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming 15 of his former colleagues as members of the Communist Party. Earlier in the year, Kazan had admitted membership in the Communist Party from 1934 to 1936, and had refused to name any of his friends.
On March 20, 1952, the Academy Awards for 1951 were announced. Best Film was awarded to An American in Paris, Best Director to George Stevens for A Place in the Sun, Best Actor to Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen, Best Actress to Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire, Best Supporting Actor to Karl Malden for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Best Supporting Actress to Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire.
Movies released in 1952 included: The Greatest Show on Earth (which won the Academy Award for Best Film), The Quiet Man (for which John Ford won the Academy Award for Best Director), High Noon (for which Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Come Back, Little Sheba (for which Shirley Booth won the Academy Award for Best Actress), Viva Zapata (for which Anthony Quinn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), and The Bad and the Beautiful (for which Gloria Grahame won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress). Other films released in 1952 included: The Member of the Wedding, Singin' in the Rain, Forbidden Games, Moulin Rouge, Dreamboat, Springfield Rifle, The Snows of Kilimanjaro,The Prisoner of Zenda, Ivanhoe, Beware, My Lovely, Affair in Trinidad, and What Price Glory?.
On May 21, 1952, actor John Garfield died in New York. On Oct. 27, 1952, actress Hattie McDaniel died in Hollywood.
Actors and actresses who were born in 1952 included: Maria Schneider (March 27 in Paris), Liam Neeson (June 7 in Ireland), Isabella Rossellini (June 18 in Rome), Robin Williams (July 21 in Chicago), Patrick Swayze (August 18 in Texas), Christopher Reeve (Sept. 25 in New York), Paul Rubens (a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman, August 27 in New York), Jeff Goldblum (Oct. 22 in Pittsburgh), Angelica Huston (in Ireland).
In sports, the 1952 Summer Olympic Games were held in Helsinki, Finland. Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia won the Gold Medal in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and the marathon.
In baseball, the New York Yankees won the 1952 World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 3. Casey Stengel was manager of the New York Yankees. Charlie Dresson was manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hank Sauer of the Chicago Cubs was regular-season MVP of the National League. Bobby Shantz of the Philadelphia Phillies was the MVP of the American League. The 1952 All-Star Game was held at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, and was won by the National League 3-2. The All-Star Game was the first to be called after only 5 innings due to rain. Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer hit home runs for the National League. The NL All-Star lineup included: Roy Campanella, Alvin Dark, Gil Hodges, Monte Irvin, Ralph Kiner, Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reese, Robin Roberts, Jackie Robinson, Preacher Roe, Hank Sauer, Curt Simmons, Duke Snider, Enos Slaughter, Warren Spahn. The AL All-Star Lineup included: Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Nellie Fox, Mickey Mantle, Minnie Minoso, Satchel Paige, Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Shantz, Eddie Yost.
In football, the Dallas Texans football team was taken over by the National Football League.
In tennis, Frank Sedgman won the men's championships at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Maureen Connolly won the women's championships at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
In boxing, Jersey Joe Walcott defeated Ezzard Charles on June 5, 1952 in a 15-round decision to become heavyweight champion. Rocky Marciano knocked out Walcott Sept. 23, 1952 to become heavyweight champion. Light-heavyweight champion Joey Maxim retained his crown June 25, 1952 by outlasting middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson, who collapsed from the heat in Yankee Stadium and was unable to answer the bell for the 14th round.
TV shows included: I've Got a Secret, The Lone Ranger, The Groucho Marx Show, The Dinah Shore Show, The Burns and Allen Show, Art Linkletter's House Party, The Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow, Arthur Godfrey Time, Howdy Doody, Amos and Andy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Twenty Questions, Dragnet, The Perry Como Show, The Wheel of Fortune, This Is Your Life.
Daytime radio shows included: Paul Harvey, Bob and Ray, Stella Dallas, Chet Huntley News, Strike It Rich, Answer Man, Amos and Andy, Perry Mason, Ozzie and Harriet.
Comic strips included: Kerry Drake, Rex Morgan, M.D., Mary Worth, Terry and the Pirates, Mark Trail, Pogo, Howdy Doody, Moon Mullins, Johnny Comet, Joe Palooka, Orphan Annie, Li'l Abner.
Popular songs included: "Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King, "Wheel of Fortune" by Kay Starr, "A Guy is A Guy" by Doris Day, "Here In My Heart" by Al Martino, "Delicado" by Percy Faith, "Half As Much" by Rosemary Clooney, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price.
At the grocery store, the price of a loaf of bread was 16 cents. Cotton-knit blouses were on sale at Sears for $1.98 each. Men's rayon sports shirts were on sale at Sears for $3.66 each.
A Magnavox wedgewood TV-phonograph-radio was selling for $595. A 1952 two-door Buick Sedan was selling for $2280.
On Nov.4, a tidal wave hit Hawaii, caused by an earthquake off the coast of Japan. In Vietnam, French troops attacked Vietminh forces in the hill country of North Tonkin.
On Nov. 5, I was born in Washington, D.C. That day, the newspapers had headlines about Eisenhower's election victory. In Korea, heavy fighting continued between South Korean and North Korean troops. U.S. warplanes staged bombing attacks against North Korean positions. In the U.S., the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Baltimore Bullets 97-75, with Slater Martin scoring 21 points and George Mikan 18 points.
1952 was a leap year.
In England, November 5 is celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day. In 1605 Guy Fawkes led a conspiracy to return England to the Catholic faith. The conspirators plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and to kill King James I and the members of Parliament. They placed barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament, but the plot was discovered on November 4, and the conspirators were arrested, convicted, and executed. The following Nov. 5, 1606 Parliament declared a national day of Thanksgiving. Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot.
Famous people who had their birthday on Nov. 5 have included: politician Eugene (Victor) Debs - 1855, philosopher Will Durant - 1885, actor John McGiver - 1912, actor Roy Rogers - 1912, actress Vivien Leigh - 1913, musician Ike Turner - 1931, actor Sam Shepard - 1943, singer Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits) - 1947, basketball player Bill Walton - 1952, singer Bryan Adams - 1959, actress Tatum O'Neal - 1963.