1953 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

Quick Facts from 1953:

• World-Changing Event: The structure of DNA was discovered at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
• The First Big Bubblegum Pop Song? (How Much is That) Doggie in the Window by Patti Page
• The Movies to Watch include From Here to Eternity, Houdini, The Robe, Stalag 17, The Caddy, House of Wax, The Wild One, It Came from Outer Space, and War of the Worlds
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Gary Cooper
• Notable books include: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, From Here to Eternity by James Jones, and Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
• Price of Packard Clipper automobile in 1953: $2,679.00
• Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible premiered.
• The Funny Comedy Team were: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
  The Funniest TV Duo: Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca
  The Funny Late Show Host: Steve Allen
  The Funny Guy was: Milton Berle
  The Funny TV Lady: Lucille Ball
• Atomic Espionage: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were both found guilty of secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union and executed in 1953, becoming the first civilians to be executed for espionage in the United States.
• MKUltra: The super-secret CIA program reputedly began in 1953 and ended in 1967.
• Ray Bradbury wrote the first draft of Fahrenheit 451 on a coin-operated typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library. It charged 10¢ for 30 minutes, and he spent $9.80 in total at the machine.

Here are some significant events that took place in 1953:

• Queen Elizabeth II was coronated in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.
• The Korean War ended with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953.
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953, after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.
• The first issue of Playboy magazine was published in December 1953, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the cover model.
• DNA structure was first described by James Watson and Francis Crick, who published their findings in the scientific journal Nature in April 1953. This discovery was later recognized as one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century.

“The Quotes:”
“The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines – so they should go as far as possible from home to build their first buildings”
– Frank Lloyd Wright

“You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”
Pepsodent toothpaste

“Shane. Shane. Come back!”
– Brandon De Wilde, in Shane

“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t”
– Peter Paul Mounds/Almond Joy

Pop Culture Facts:
The first modern use of the word word ‘Frenemy” was first used in the 1953 article titled Howz about calling the Russians our Frienemies? by gossip columnist Walter Winchel in the Nevada State Journal.

The Coppertone Girl was introduced to the American public. It is probably the most popular ‘butt crack’ of all time.

RCA invented the first musical synthesizer.

Officially, Ohio is listed as the 17th state in the US, but it is technically number 47. Congress forgot to vote the formal resolution to admit Ohio to the Union but finally did on August 7, 1953.

Kenneth H. Rowe (born No Kum-Sok), a North Korean fighter pilot defected to South Korea with his MiG-15 and was rewarded $100,000 from the United States.

Swanson had 260 tons of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and didn’t know how to get rid of it. They asked their workers for ideas, and one man thought they should package it in individual trays with sides and freeze it. Thus, the TV Dinner was born.

Colgate-Palmolive-Peet became Colgate-Palmolive. We are not sure why, but we think that the Peet brothers suffered the same fate as Alvah Curtis Roebuck, of Sears and Roebuck fame.

Playwright and Nobel laureate Eugene O’Neill was born on October 16, 1888, in a hotel at Times Square, he also died on November 27, 1953, in another hotel in Boston. His last words were “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room and died in a hotel room.”

The Cincinnati Reds baseball team was renamed the “Redlegs” this year through 1958 to avoid being associated with The Red Scare and communism.

Radios manufactured in the US between 1953  and 1963 had a white triangle on the dial at 640 AM to indicate where Civil Defense information would be broadcast.

Rolling Stone Keith Richards was a choirboy at the Queen’s 1953 Coronation.

Coca-Cola attempted to persuade the US Treasury to mint a 7.5-cent coin; a can of Coke had been a nickel since 1886 and needed to be raised due to inflation, but they felt a dime was too much.

Ore-Ida offered ‘Tater Tots’ in grocery stores. There were just pressed leftovers from their french fry line.

A Pennsylvania town named Mauch Chunk managed to get the remains of an early 20th-century athlete and bought the rights to his name. They renamed the town ‘Jim Thorpe,’ which is a tourist attraction in PA.

The first issue of Playboy, published in December 1953, and featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies.

Isaac Asimov wrote a short story, Sally,  that claimed the first self-driving cars would be released around 2015.

In 1951, Ray Bradbury wrote a short story about a giant, fire-breathing lizard, which was made into the 1953 film The  Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. This film then inspired Ishirō Honda, a Japanese producer, to make Godzilla in 1954.

Biologists James D. Watson and Francis Crick published “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” With little more than a drawing and some accompanying text, Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA.

Arthur Holly Compton (the Nobel Prize-winning chancellor of Washington University) was irritated by how fast people drove through the campus. To combat this, he designed the modern speed bump.

1953 Billboard Number One Songs
December 27, 1952 – January 9, 1953:
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Jimmy Boyd

January 10 – February 13:
Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes – Perry Como

February 14 – March 20:
Till I Waltz Again With You – Teresa Brewer

March 21 – May 15:
The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page

May 16 – July 24:
Song From Moulin Rouge – Percy Faith & his Orchestra

July 25 – August 7:
I’m Walking Behind You – Eddie Fisher

August 8 – October 9:
Vaya Con Dios – Les Paul & Mary Ford

October 10 – November 6:
St. George And The Dragonet – Stan Freberg

November 7 – November 20:
Vaya Con Dios – Les Paul & Mary Ford

November 21, 1953 – January 1, 1954:
Rags To Riches – Tony Bennett