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← 1952 1951 1950 1953 in the United States → 1954 1955 1956
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	History of the United States (1945–1964) Timeline of the history of the United States (1950-1970) List of years in the United States

Events from the year1953 in the United States.

• President:

Harry S. Truman (D-Missouri) (until January 20)

Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Kansas/New York) (starting January 20)

• Vice President:

Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky) (until January 20)

Richard Nixon (R-California) (starting January 20)

• Chief Justice:

Fred M. Vinson (Kentucky) (died September 8)

Earl Warren (California) (starting October 5)

• Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) (until January 3)

Joseph William Martin Jr. (R-Massachusetts) (starting January 3)

• Senate Majority Leader:

Ernest McFarland (D-Arizona) (until January 3)

Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio) (January 3 – July 31)

William F. Knowland (R-California) (starting August 3)

• Congress:82nd (until January 3),83rd (starting January 3)

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• January 7 – PresidentHarry S. Truman announces the United States has developed ahydrogen bomb.^[1]
• January 14 – The CIA-sponsoredRobertson Panel first meets to discuss theUFO phenomenon.
• January 19 – 68% of alltelevision sets in the United States are tuned intoI Love Lucy to watchLucille Ball give birth.
• January 20 –Dwight D. Eisenhower is sworn in as the 34thpresident of the United States, andRichard Nixon is sworn in as the 36thvice president.
• January 22 –The Crucible, a historical drama byArthur Miller written as anallegory ofMcCarthyism, opens onBroadway.
• February 1 –WEEK-TV begins broadcasting inPeoria, Illinois.
• February 5 – Walt Disney's 14th animated film,Peter Pan, premieres inChicago. It is Disney's final film to be distributed byRKO.
• February 11 – PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal forEthel and Julius Rosenberg.
• February 13 –TranssexualChristine Jorgensen returns to New York after successfulsexual reassignment surgery in Denmark.
• February 19 –Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the U.S.
• March 17 – The firstnuclear test ofOperation Upshot–Knothole is conducted inNevada, with 1,620 spectators at 3.4 km (2.1 mi).
• March 19 – The25th Academy Awards ceremony, emceed byConrad Nagel, is simultaneously held atRKO Pantages Theatre inHollywood,Los Angeles (hosted byBob Hope) and atNBC International Theatre inNew York (hosted byFredric March). It is the first ceremony to be televised.Cecil B. DeMille'sThe Greatest Show on Earth winsBest Motion Picture, whileFred Zinnemann'sHigh Noon,John Huston'sMoulin Rouge andJohn Ford'sThe Quiet Man all receive the most nominations with seven, with Ford receiving his thirdBest Director win.Vincente Minnelli'sThe Bad and the Beautiful wins the most awards with five.
• March 31 – Due to increasingly lower ridership,Staten Island Rapid Transit closes two of its three-passenger lines (South Beach & North Shore).

• April 11 – TheDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare begins operations, the first new Cabinet-level department since theDepartment of Labor's formation in 1913.
• May 11 – The1953 Waco tornado outbreak: anF5 tornado hits in the downtown section ofWaco, Texas, killing 114.
• May 25 –Nuclear testing: at theNevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and onlynuclear artillery test:Upshot–Knothole Grable.
• June 8 –Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: atornado kills 115 inFlint, Michigan (the last to claim more than 100 lives).
• June 9
  • CIATechnical Services Staff headSidney Gottlieb approves of the use ofLSD in aMKULTRA subproject.
  • Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits inWorcester, Massachusetts, killing 94.
• June 19
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed atSing Sing Prison in New York for conspiracy to commitespionage.
  • TheBaton Rouge bus boycott begins in theSouthern United States.
• June 30 – Assembly of the firstChevrolet Corvette is completed in Flint, Michigan.^[2]

• July 18 –Howard Hawks'smusical filmGentlemen Prefer Blondes, starringMarilyn Monroe andJane Russell, is released by20th Century Fox.
• July 26 – TheShort Creek raid is carried out on a polygynousMormon sect inArizona.
• July 27 – TheKorean War ends: The United States, the People's Republic of China,North Korea and South Korea sign anarmistice agreement.
• July 28 –Burger King opens its first restaurant inJacksonville, Florida.
• August 5 –Operation Big Switch: U.S.prisoners of war are repatriated after theKorean War.
• August 17 – The first planning session ofNarcotics Anonymous is held in SouthernCalifornia. Its first meeting is held October 5.
• August 18 – The secondKinsey Report,Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, on American sexual habits, is issued.
• August 19 –Cold War:1953 Iranian coup d'état ("Operation Ajax") – TheCIA helps to overthrow the democratic government ofMohammed Mossadegh inIran and retainShahMohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne.
• August 20 – The U.S. returns to West Germany 382 ships it had captured duringWorld War II.
• September 9 – TheSupreme Court decision inRumely v. United States affirms that indirectlobbying in the U.S. by distribution of books intended to influence opinion is a public good and not subject to regulation byCongress.^[3]
• September 12 – U.S. SenatorJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy marriesJacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
• September 28 – Six year old boyBobby Greenlease is kidnapped inKansas City, Missouri and murdered inLenexa, Kansas, despite his father paying the largest ever ransom payment in American history at the time.^[4]

• October 5
  • Earl Warren is appointedChief Justice of the United States by U.S. presidentDwight D. Eisenhower.
  • TheNew York Yankees defeat theBrooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 2, to win their 16thWorld Series title in baseball.
• October 10 –Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington D.C.
• October 12 – The playThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial opens atPlymouth Theatre, New York.
• October 15 –Tito Jackson, member of theJacksons and brother ofMichael Jackson is born.
• October 19 –Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is published
• October 30 –Cold War: U.S. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document of theUnited States National Security CouncilNSC 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal ofnuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter thecommunist threat.
• December –Hugh Hefner publishes the first issue ofPlayboy magazine: it sells 54,175 copies at $.50 each.
• December 6 – With theNBC Symphony Orchestra, conductorArturo Toscanini performs what he claims is his favoriteBeethoven symphony,Eroica, for the last time. The live performance is broadcast nationwide on radio, and later released on records and CD.
• December 8 – U.S. presidentDwight D. Eisenhower delivers hisAtoms for Peace address to theUN General Assembly in New York City.
• December 18 – Carl Hall and Bonnie Brown are both executed in the Missouri gas chamber after pleading guilty to the Murder and kidnapping of six year oldBobby Greenlease;^[5] she is the third woman in history (and last until 2021) to be executed by federal authorities.
• December 25 –Amami Islands are returned to Japan after 8 years ofUnited States Military occupation.

• Harold Butler and his first partner open Danny's Donuts (laterDenny's) inLakewood, California.^[6]
• Swanson introduce theTV dinner.

• Cold War (1947–1991)
• Second Red Scare (1947–1957)
• Korean War (1950–1953)

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• January 1
  • Gary Johnson,29thGovernor of New Mexico,Libertarian Party nominee forPresident.
  • Lynn Jones, baseball player and coach
• January 2 –Vincent Racaniello, virologist, author and academic
• January 4 –James Warren, journalist and publisher
• January 5 –Steve Archer, singer-songwriter and producer
• January 6 –Danny Pearson, singer (died2018)
• January 8 –Bruce Sutter, baseball pitcher (died2022)
• January 11 –Jim Clendenen, winemaker (died2021)
• January 13 –Luann Ryon, archer (died2022)^[7]
• January 15
  • Kent Hovind, Christian fundamentalist evangelist and tax protester
  • Randy White, American football player
• January 17 –Mark Littell, baseball player (died2022)^[8]
• January 19 –Desi Arnaz Jr., actor and musician
• January 20 –Jeffrey Epstein, financier and sex offender (died2019)
• January 21
  • Paul Allen, entrepreneur and co-founder ofMicrosoft (died 2018)
  • Glenn Kaiser, Christian blues-rock, heavy metal and R&B singer-songwriter and guitarist^[9]
• January 23 –Robin Zander, singer and guitarist (Cheap Trick)
• January 24
  • Tim Stoddard, baseball player and coach
  • Matthew Wilder, musician
• January 25 –The Honky Tonk Man, pro wrestler
• January 29
  • Nate Barnett, basketball player
  • Caesar Cervin, soccer player and coach
  • Dennis Delaney, actor and playwright
  • Paul Fusco, puppeteer and voice actor
  • Steve March-Tormé, singer-songwriter
  • Louie Pérez, singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • Dwight Takamine, lawyer and politician
  • Charlie Wilson, singer-songwriter; producer (The Gap Band)

• February 3 –Ron Williamson, baseball player wrongly convicted of rape and murder (died2004)^[10]
• February 7 –Dan Quisenberry, baseball player and poet (died1998)
• February 8 –Mary Steenburgen, American actress
• February 11 –Jeb Bush,43rd governor ofFlorida from 1999 to 2007, second son of PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush andBarbara Bush; younger brother of PresidentGeorge W. Bush
• February 14 –Martha Raddatz, news reporter
• February 15 –John Goodsall, guitarist (died2022)
• February 19 –Herb Lusk, American football player (died2022)^[11]
• February 28 –Ricky Steamboat, pro wrestler

• March 1 –Luther Strange, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018
• March 2 –Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011
• March 4 –Kay Lenz, actress
• March 5 –Michael Sandel, political philosopher
• March 6 –Jacklyn Zeman, actress (died2023)
• March 13 –Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church from 2015
• March 24 –Louie Anderson, stand-up comedian (died2022)
• March 26 –Lincoln Chafee, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1999 to 2007

• April 2 –Rosemary Bryant Mariner, naval aviator (died2019)
• April 3 –Russ Francis, American football player (died2023)
• April 9
  • Hal Ketchum, country singer-songwriter (died2020)
  • Stephen Paddock, mass murderer (died2017)
• April 16
  • Douglas M. Fraser, general
  • Jay O. Sanders, actor
  • J. Neil Schulman, author, actor, director and producer
• April 19 –Ruby Wax, broadcaster and comedian
• April 20 –Carrie Mae Weems, photographer
• April 26
  • Brian Binnie, naval officer and test pilot (died2022)
  • Linda Thompson, lawyer and conspiracy theorist (died 2009)

• May 3 –Gary Young, drummer (died2023)^[12]
• May 12 –Kevin Grevey, basketball player and sportscaster
• May 13 –Lisa Lyon, bodybuillder (died2023)^[13]
• May 26
  • Kay Hagan, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015 (died2019)
  • Dan Roundfield, basketball player (died2012)
• May 29
  • Dennis Franks, footballer (died2021)^[14]
  • Big Daddy Graham, comedian and radio host (died2021)^[15]
  • Philip E. Sakowitz Jr., public official

• June 1 –David Berkowitz, serial killer
• June 2 –Cornel West, philosopher and political activist
• June 10
  • John Edwards, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1999 to 2005
  • Fulton Kuykendall, American football player (died 2024)
• June 11 –Barbara Minty, model
• June 13 –Tim Allen, comedian, actor, voice-over artist and entertainer
• June 18 –Bruce Seals, basketball player (died 2020)
• June 22 –Cyndi Lauper, American singer

• July 6
  • Nanci Griffith, country folk singer-songwriter (died2021)
  • Mike Riley, football head coach
• July 11 –Mindy Sterling, actress
• July 15 –Alvin Neelley, murderer (died 2005)^[16]
• July 19 –Howard Schultz,Starbucks CEO
• July 24 –Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019
• July 28 –Don Black,white supremacist
• July 29 –Tim Gunn, author

• August 1
  • Robert Cray, blues guitarist and singer
  • Steven Krasner, sports journalist
• August 8 –Don Most, actor and director
• August 11
  • Diane Coleman, disability rights activist (died2024)
  • Hulk Hogan, professional wrestler (died2025)
• August 17 –Columba Bush, philanthropist
• August 19 –Mary Matalin, political consultant
• August 29 –David Boaz, philosopher (died2024)
• August 31 –Marcia Clark, prosecutor

• September 2 –John Zorn, musician
• September 4 –Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, African-American actor
• September 6 –Anne Lockhart, actress
• September 8 –Stu Ungar, poker player (d.1998)^[17]
• September 11
  • Tommy Shaw, guitarist and singer
  • Lesley Visser, sportscaster and journalist
• September 13 –Iyanla Vanzant, author and motivational speaker^[18]
• September 17 –Junior Bridgeman, African-American basketball player and businessman (d.2025)^[19]
• September 19 –Jennifer Kilian, American-Dutch translator^[20]
• September 21 –Andrew Heermans, musician, recording engineer and music producer
• September 24 –Peter Halley, painter and educator
• September 30 –Deborah Allen, singer^[21]

• October 9 –Tony Shalhoub, actor
• October 15
  • Tito Jackson, singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)^[22]
  • Larry Miller, actor and screenwriter
• October 19 –Conrad Murray, physician and convict
• October 20 -Bill Nunn, actor (died 2016)
• October 24 –Steven Hatfill, physician and virologist
• October 25 –Ajamu Baraka, human rights activist and theGreen Party's nominee forVice President of the United States in the 2016 election
• October 27 –U. L. Washington, baseball player (died 2024)^[23]
• October 28
  • Desmond Child, songwriter and producer
  • Walter Jon Williams, author

• November 3
  • Kate Capshaw, American actress
  • Dennis Miller, comedian and television host
• November 14 –Phil Baron, voice actor, puppeteer and songwriter
• November 15 –James Widdoes, actor, director and producer
• November 18
  • Kath Soucie, voice actress
  • Kevin Nealon, comedian
• November 25 –Katherine Zappone, human rights activist and independent politician in the Republic of Ireland
• November 27 –Steve Bannon, media executive and political strategist

• December 2 –Joel Fuhrman, physician and nutritionist
• December 6
  • Tom Hulce, actor
  • Dwight Stones, high jumper and sportscaster
  • Gary Ward, baseball player and coach
• December 8 –Kim Basinger, actress
• December 9 –John Malkovich, actor
• December 10 –Chris Bury, journalist and academic
• December 20 –Glenn Bujnoch, American football player (died2023)^[24]
• December 17 –Bill Pullman, actor
• December 22
  • David Leisner, guitarist and composer
  • Bern Nadette Stanis, African-American actress
• December 27 –Sheila Dixon, Democratic mayor of Baltimore and criminal^[25]
• December 30
  • Dana Key, Christian musician, guitarist and preacher (died2010)
  • Meredith Vieira, journalist and game show host

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• January 1 –Hank Williams, country singer-songwriter (born1923)
• January 7 –Osa Johnson, adventurer and filmmaker, wife ofMartin Johnson (born1894)
• March 12 –James Hard, last verified living Union combat veteran of theAmerican Civil War (born1842)
• May 30 –Dooley Wilson, African American actor, singer and drummer (born1886)
• June 3 –Florence Price, African American classical composer (born1887)
• June 5
  • William Farnum, actor (born1876)
  • Bill Tilden, tennis player (born1893)
• June 20 –Arthur Caesar, screenwriter (born1892)
• July 11 –Oliver Campbell, tennis player (born1871)
• July 22 –Cy Kendall, actor (born1898)
• August 7 –Abner Powell,Major League Baseball player (born1860)
• August 19 –Willie Love,Delta blues pianist (born1906)
• August 22 –Jim Tabor, Major League Baseball player (born1916)
• September 2 –Jonathan M. Wainwright, general (born1883)
• September 5
  • Francis Ford, actor and director (born1881)
  • Rudolf Höber, German-American physician (born1873)
• September 8 –Fred M. Vinson, Chief Justice of the U.S. (born1890)
• September 13 –Mary Brewster Hazelton, portrait painter (born1868)
• September 28 –Edwin Hubble, astronomer (born1889)
• September 29 –Milt Gross, comic book illustrator and animator (born1895)
• October 3 –Florence R. Sabin, medical scientist (born1871)
• October 11 –Pauline Robinson Bush, younger sister of US PresidentGeorge W. Bush (born1949)
• November 18 –Ruth Crawford Seeger, modernist composer and folk music arranger (born1901)
• November 21 –Larry Shields, dixieland jazz clarinetist (born1893)
• November 27 –Eugene O'Neill, playwright (born1888)
• December 14 –Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, novelist (born1896)
• December 19 –Robert Andrews Millikan, physicistNobel Prize laureate (born1868)
• December 21 –Nicholas H. Heck, geophysicist, oceanographer and surveyor (born1882)
• December 29 –Violet MacMillan, Broadway theater actress (born1887)
• Unknown –Edward Joseph Renehan Sr., banker (born1893)

• List of American films of 1953
• Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)

• Media related to1953 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• 1953 in the United States
• 1950s in the United States
• 1953 by country
• 1953 in North America
• Years of the 20th century in the United States

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