| 1952-11-25
Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London later becoming the longest continuously-running play in history.
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| 1952-12-01
The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgenson, the first notable case of sexual reassignment surgery.
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| 1952-07-03
The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.
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| 1952-07-03
The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.
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| 1952-08-15
Devon, United Kingdom A flashflood drenches the town of Lynmouth, killing 34 people.
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| 1952-06-13
Catalina affair: a Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
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| 1952-02-08
Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the UK.
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| 1952-02-21
In Dhaka, East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) police open fire on a procession of students that was demanding the establishment of Bengali as the official language, killing four people and starting a country-wide protest which led to the recognition of Bengali as one of the national languages of Pakistan. The day is later declared as "International Mother Language Day" by UNESCO.
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| 1952-06-14
The keel is laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
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| 1952-02-15
King George VI is buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
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| 1952-04-28
Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.
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| 1952-05-28
Memphis Kiddie Park opens in Brooklyn, Ohio. The park's Little Dipper roller coaster would become the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America.
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| 1952-04-15
The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress
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| 1952-09-15
United Nations gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.
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| 1952-11-01
Operation Ivy – The United States successfully detonates the first large hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" ["M" for megaton], in the Eniwetok atoll, located in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean. The explosion had a yield of 10 megatons.
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| 1952-08-12
The Night of the Murdered Poets – thirteen most prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow.
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| 1952-12-20
United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
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| 1952-05-13
The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting.
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| 1952-03-15
In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
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| 1952-06-21
The Philippine School of Commerce, through a republic act, is converted to Philippine College of Commerce, later to be the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
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| 1952-03-10
Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba and appoints himself as the "provisional president".
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| 1952-02-06
Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
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| 1952-10-03
The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.
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| 1952-05-12
Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.
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| 1952-09-12
Strange occurrences, including a monster sighting, take place in Flatwoods, West Virginia.
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| 1952-08-11
Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan.
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| 1952-10-20
Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
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| 1952-05-03
Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
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| 1952-05-02
The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg.
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| 1952-11-14
The first regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express.
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| 1952-03-20
The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
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| 1952-02-29
The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
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| 1952-04-09
Hugo Ballivian's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalisation of tin mines
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| 1952-10-08
The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash kills 112 people.
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| 1952-01-22
The first Jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, enters service for BOAC.
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| 1952-03-16
In Cilaos, Réunion, 1,870 millimetres (74 in) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
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| 1952-11-20
Slánský trials – a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
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| 1952-07-23
The European Coal and Steel community is established.
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| 1952-01-26
Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
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| 1952-07-25
The U.S. non-incorporated colonial territory of Puerto Rico adopts a "constitution" of local-limited powers, approved by the United States Congress in contravention of then-current international law.
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| 1952-05-28
The women of Greece are given the right to vote.
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| 1952-04-08
U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
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| 1952-07-23
General Muhammad Naguib leads the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.
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| 1952-01-07
President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed the hydrogen bomb.
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| 1952-02-20
Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
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| 1952-08-22
The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed.
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| 1952-03-21
Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
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| 1952-07-26
King Farouk of Egypt abdicates in favor of his son Fuad.
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| 1952-11-04
The United States government establishes the National Security Agency.
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| 1952-11-29
Korean War: U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.
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| 1952-02-21
The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".
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| 1952-05-07
The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.
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| 1952-04-28
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) is signed in Taipei, Taiwan between Japan and the Republic of China to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War.
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| 1952-09-06
Canada's first television station, CBFT-TV, opens in Montreal.
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| 1952-04-28
Occupied Japan: The United States occupation of Japan ends as the Treaty of San Francisco, ratified September 8, 1951, comes into force.
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| 1952-09-19
The United States bars Charlie Chaplin from re-entering the country after a trip to England.
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| 1952-09-23
Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers speech".
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| 1952-04-21
Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.
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| 1952-02-26
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
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| 1952-04-11
The Battle of Nanri Island takes place.
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| 1952-12-05
Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
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| 1952-01-24
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
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| 1952-06-26
The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewise labour parties.
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