In 1953, A Lot of Stuff Happened
On April 30, 1953 Something Happened That I Like a Lot



In 1953:

Josef Stalin died
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for espionage.
The CIA and British spooks ousted Iran's Prime Minister and stuck in their guy, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, aka The Shah of Iran.
The UN censured Israel for heavy reprisals against Jordanian border raiders.
Gucci opened their first American store in NYC.
A NYC subway token cost 15 cents.
Alfred Kinsey published "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female," where half the 5,000 women interviewed for the book admitted they had had sexual intercourse before marriage. Sen. Joe McCarthy went ballistic and saw to it Kinsey's future research grants went kaput.
TV Guide was launched.
The television industry reported $538 million in ad revenues, thanks in part to tons of TV commercials for cigarettes.
Playboy Magazine begins, featuring Marilyn Monroe.
Poet Dylan Thomas, 39, dies of alcoholism at St. Vincent's Hospital in NYC.
Popular TV shows included Romper Room, Lassie, The Life of Riley, Father Knows Best, Walt Disney and the Loretta Young Show.
Hot pop songs written in 1953 included "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Eartha Kitt recorded "Santa Baby." Hank Williams, Sr. died.
Matchbox cars were introduced.
Jacqueline Bouvier, 24, married Sen. John F. Kennedy, 36, in Newport, Rhode Island.
Cheez Whiz was introduced to Americans.
Swanson introduced the first TV Dinner, featuring turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, peas topped with butter, and whipped sweet potatoes flavored with orange juice and butter. It cost 98 cents.
A jar of Peter Pan peanut butter cost 29 cents.
Scott toilet paper was a nickel a roll.
Sliced bacon was 35 cents a pound.
A pound of coffee went for 37 cents.
A family style loaf of bread was 12 cents.
A big box of Tide cost 67 cents.
T-bone steak was 59 cents a pound.

On April 30 in history:

2004: The last edition of NPR's Morning Edition with Bob Edwards as host airs.
1999: Chandra Levy, a former intern to California Congressman Gary Condit, was last seen in Washington, D.C.
1997: Ellen DeGeneres's character comes out of the closet on the sitcom Ellen.
1993: During a changeover at a tennis tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Monica Seles is stabbed in the back by a deranged fan of rival Steffi Graf. Seles would not play competitively for more than two years after the incident.
1992: The last episode of the Cosby Show airs.
1988: In Dublin, Ireland, Céline Dion wins the thirty-third Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Ne partez pas sans moi" (Don't leave without me).
1983: Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" hits number 1 on the Billboard music charts.
1980: Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
1975: Communist forces gains control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.
1973: Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others have resigned.
1966: Anton LaVey founds the Church of Satan.
1953: Sis becomes BigSis to Baby Karen, a 7 lb. 3 oz., 21" little angel.
1945: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.
1939: The 1939 New York World's Fair opens.
1938: The cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Bugs Bunny.
1927: The Federal Industrial Institute for Women, opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
1925: Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc. is sold to Dillon, Read & Company for USD $146 million plus $50 million for charity.
1904: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in Saint Louis, Missouri.
1894: Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.
1812: The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
1803: Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling overnight the size of the young nation.
1789: On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
1492: Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
1483: Orbital calculations suggest that on this day Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit, making Neptune the furthest planet from the Sun until July 23, 1503.
711: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).
313: Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule.
30: Suggested date of the crucifixion of Jesus

Famous People Born in 1953:

Chaka Khan
Dennis Miller
Pierce Brosnan
Tim Allen
Tom Petty
John Edwards
Janice Dickinson
Tony Blair
Kim Basinger
Paul Allen
Amy Irving
Cyndi Lauper
Debra Winger
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Frances Conroy
Hulk Hogan
Mary Steenbergen
Tony Shaloub
Karen Zipdrive