March 1953

The following events occurred in March 1953:

March 1, 1953 (Sunday)

• Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke after an all-night dinner with Soviet Union interior minister Lavrentiy Beria and future premiers Georgi Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin, and Nikita Khrushchev. The stroke paralyzes the right side of his body and renders him unconscious until his death on March 5.^[1]
• Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg is made deputy constable and lieutenant governor of Windsor Castle.

March 2, 1953 (Monday)

• Died:James Lightbody, American middle distance runner (b. 1882)

March 3, 1953 (Tuesday)

• Died:James J. Jeffries, American boxing champion (b. 1875)

March 5, 1953 (Thursday)

• Died:
  • Herman J. Mankiewicz, American writer and producer (b. 1897)
  • Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (b. 1891)
  • Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader (b. 1878)

March 6, 1953 (Friday)

• Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

March 7, 1953 (Saturday)

• Died:Edward Sedgwick, American director (b. 1892)

March 8, 1953 (Sunday)

• The Thieves World, which had been transformed into the Russian mafia, are freed from prisons by the Malenkov regime which ends the Bitch Wars.

March 13, 1953 (Friday)

• The United Nations Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld as United Nations Secretary General.
• Died:Johan Laidoner, Commander-in-chief of the Estonian Army (b. 1884)

March 14, 1953 (Saturday)

• Nikita Khrushchev is selected First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
• Died:Klement Gottwald, 5th President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1896)

March 17, 1953 (Tuesday)

• The first nuclear test of Operation Upshot–Knothole is conducted in Nevada, with 1,620 spectators at 3.4 km (2.1 mi).
• Born:Filemon Lagman, Filipino revolutionary (d. 2001)

March 18, 1953 (Wednesday)

• An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 250.

March 19, 1953 (Thursday)

• The 25th Academy Awards ceremony is held (the first one broadcast on television).

March 20, 1953 (Friday)

• Died:Graciliano Ramos, Brazilian writer (b. 1892)

March 23, 1953 (Monday)

• Died:
  • Raoul Dufy, French painter (b. 1875)
  • Oskar Luts, Estonian writer and playwright (b. 1887)

March 24, 1953 (Tuesday)

• Died:
  • Queen Mary, consort of George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
  • Paul Couturier, French priest (b. 1881)

March 25, 1953 (Wednesday)

• beginning of the Lari Massacre in Kenya: Mau Mau rebels kill up to 150 Kikuyu natives.

March 26, 1953 (Thursday)

• end of the Lari Massacre.
• Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.

March 28, 1953 (Saturday)

• Died:Jim Thorpe, Native-American athlete and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1887)

March 29, 1953 (Sunday)

• A fire at the Littlefield Nursing Home in Largo, Florida, kills 33 persons, including singer-songwriter Arthur Fields.
• Died:Arthur Fields

March 31, 1953 (Tuesday)

• Died:Ivan Lebedeff, Russian actor (b. 1895)

References