President Truman warns of Cold War dangers
In his 1952 State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman warns Americans that they are “moving through a perilous time,” and calls for vigorous action to meet the…
This Year in History:
1952
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
In his 1952 State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman warns Americans that they are “moving through a perilous time,” and calls for vigorous action to meet the…
On January 19, 1952, Professional Golfers Association president Horton Smith announces that a seven‑man committee “almost unanimously” votes to allow Black golfers to compete in PGA co‑sponsored events. With the…
On February 6, 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the…
On February 21, 1952, men’s figure skater Dick Button wins his second Olympic gold medal. Button captured his first gold prize at the 1948 Olympics, becoming the first American to…
In handing down a 6‑3 decision in the case Adler v. Board of Education of City of New York, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a New York state law that…
On March 4, 1952, actor and future President Ronald Reagan marries his second wife, actress Nancy Davis. The couple wed in Los Angeles at the Little Brown Church in the…
Ernest Hemingway completes his short novel The Old Man and the Sea. He wrote his publisher the same day, saying he had finished the book and that it was the…
On March 21, 1952, Cleveland hosts an event now recognized as history’s first major rock‑and‑roll show: the Moondog Coronation Ball. Breathless promotion on the local radio station. Tickets selling out…
Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Motor Corporation, which in 2008 surpassed America’s General Motors as the world’s largest automaker, dies at the age of 57 in Japan on March…
A ski‑modified U.S. Air Force C‑47 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict of California is among the first aircraft to land…
In Egypt, the Society of Free Officers seizes control of the government in a military coup d’etat staged by Colonel Gamal Abdal Nasser’s Free Officers. King Farouk, whose rule had…
Prince Hussein is proclaimed the king of Jordan after his father, King Talal, is declared unfit to rule by the Jordanian Parliament on grounds of mental illness. Hussein was formally…
On August 13, 1952, four years before Elvis Presley would make “Hound Dog” his longest running no. 1 hit, the song is recorded for the very first time by the…
As the presidential election of 1952 begins to heat up, so do accusations and counteraccusations concerning communism in America. The “Red Scare”—the widespread belief that international communism was operating in…
The United States detonates the world’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. The test gave the United States a short‑lived advantage in the nuclear…
“The Mousetrap,” a murder‑mystery written by the novelist and playwright Agatha Christie, opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The crowd‑pleasing whodunit would go on to become the longest continuously…
Watch what happened throughout history on November 25 in this video of This Day in History. On November 25, 1963, John F. Kennedy’s funeral took place in Washington D.C. He…
Making good on his most dramatic presidential campaign promise, newly elected Dwight D. Eisenhower goes to Korea to see whether he can find the key to ending the bitter and…
Heavy smog begins to hover over London, England, on December 5, 1952. It persists for five days, leading to the deaths of at least 4,000 people. It was a Thursday…
The McCarran‑Walter Act takes effect and revises U.S. immigration laws. The law was hailed by supporters as a necessary step in preventing alleged communist subversion in the United States, while opponents…