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

Events

January events

• 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 events

• 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
• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• May 1 - East Germany threatens to form its own army.
• May 2 - First passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg
• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 events

• 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 frog" 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.

Year in topic

• 1952 in film
  • February 20 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theatre in New York City).
  • Cinerama-system
• 1952 in literature
• 1952 in music
  • "Hound Dog" - Big Mama Thornton
• 1952 in rail transport
  • The City of San Francisco passenger train is marooned for three days in heavy snow on Donner Pass in California.
• 1952 in sports
• 1952 in television
  • January 14 - The Today show premieres on NBC.
  • September - The first UHF television station, KLOR begins broadcasting in Portland, Oregon.
  • The first political advertisements appear on U.S. television. Democrats buy a 30 minute slot for their candidate, Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson is bombarded with hate mail for interfering with a broadcast of I Love Lucy. Dwight Eisenhower buys 20 second commercial spots and wins the election.
  • The Ernie Kovacs Show premieres. Kovacs pushes the limits of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.
  • The first telecast of an atomic bomb detonation (KTLA)
• 1952 in theater
  • October 31 - Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada becomes a legal entity.

Births

January births

• January 11 - Lee Ritenour , musician, composer
• January 11 - Ben Crenshaw, golfer
• January 12 - Ricky Van Shelton , country musician
• January 20 - Paul Stanley, musician, of the rock band KISS
• January 22 - Teddy Gentry , Alabama (band)

February births

• February 1 - Rick James, Musician

March births

• March 1 - Steven Barnes, science fiction writer
• March 2 - Laraine Newman, comedian
• March 11 - Douglas Adams, science fiction author
• March 13 - Wolfgang Rihm, composer
• March 22 - Bob Costas, sports announcer
• March 23 - Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction author
• March 25 - Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician and politician
• March 29 - Teofilo Stevenson, boxer

April births

• April 4 - Rosemarie Ackermann, German high jumper
• April 12 - Ralph Wiley, sports journalist (d. 2004)
• April 22 - Marilyn Chambers, erotic actress
• April 25 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist

May births

• May 3 - Allan Wells, British athlete
• May 11 - Renaud Séchan, French composer
• May 11 - Mike Lupica, sports journalist
• May 14 - David Byrne, singer, songwriter, guitarist
• May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, director
• May 18 - George Strait, country musician
• May 19 - Joey Ramone, singer (d. 2001)
• May 20 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• May 21 - Mr. T, American actor, is born Laurence Tureaud, in Chicago
• May 21 - Zuzana Hložníková , Slovak paintress
• May 23 - Marvelous Marvin Hagler, boxer

June births

• June 7 - Liam Neeson, actor
• June 16 - Georgios Papandreou, Greek politician
• June 28 - Pietro Mennea, Italian athlete

July births

• July 9 - John Tesh, composer, musician, television host

August births

• August 3 - Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentine footballer
• August 8 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
• August 9 - Vicki Morgan, fashion model (d. 1983)
• August 13 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer
• August 14 - Carl Lumbly, actor (Cagney & Lacey, Alias)
• August 19 - Jonathan Frakes, actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• August 21 - Joe Strummer, musician

September births

• September 22 - Bob Goodlatte, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• September 29 - Max Sandlin, American politician

October births

• 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 births

• November 5 - Bill Walton, basketball star, commentator
• November 15 - Daniel Barenboim, Israeli pianist and conductor
• November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, video game legend
• November 25 - Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer

December births

• December 9 - Michael Dorn, actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine)
• December 16 - Joel Garner, West Indian cricketer
• December 28 - Arun Jaitley, politician, India

Deaths

January deaths

• January 18 - Curly Howard, actor, comedian, member of the Three Stooges

February deaths

• February 6 - King George VI of the United Kingdom
• February 19 - Knut Hamsun, author
• February 22 - Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first president of Finland

March deaths

• March 7 - Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru
• March 22 - Uncle Dave Macon, country music performer
• March 31 - Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1877)

April deaths

• April 3 - Miina Sillanpää , Finnish left-wing trade union activist
• April 21 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1947-1950

May deaths

• May 6 - Maria Montessori Italian educator and founder of the Montessori method (cerebral haemorrage) (b. 1870)
• May 8 - Walter Fox , American movie producer
• May 21 - John Garfield, actor

June deaths

• June 17 - Krystyna Skarbek, SOE agent

July deaths

• July 26 - Eva Peron, "Evita", wife of Juan Peron

September deaths

• September 29 - George Santayana, writer
• September 30 - Viscount Waldorf Astor, British businessman and politician

October deaths

• October 28 - Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia

November deaths

• November 2 - Chaim Weizmann, chemist, first President of Israel
• November 18 - Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
• November 23 - Aaro Hellaakoski , Finnish poet

December deaths

• December 12 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist
• December 28 - Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician (b. 1897)

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