# 1953

1953 in other calendars| Gregorian calendar | 1953 *MCMLIII* |
| Ab urbe condita | 2706 |
| Armenian calendar | 1402 ԹՎ ՌՆԲ |
| Assyrian calendar | 6703 |
| Bahá'í calendar | 109–110 |
| Balinese saka calendar | 1874–1875 |
| Bengali calendar | 1360 |
| Berber calendar | 2903 |
| British Regnal year | 1 Eliz. 2 – 2 Eliz. 2 |
| Buddhist calendar | 2497 |
| Burmese calendar | 1315 |
| Byzantine calendar | 7461–7462 |
| Chinese calendar | 壬辰年 (Water Dragon) 4649 or 4589     *— to —* 癸巳年 (Water Snake) 4650 or 4590 |
| Coptic calendar | 1669–1670 |
| Discordian calendar | 3119 |
| Ethiopian calendar | 1945–1946 |
| Hebrew calendar | 5713–5714 |
| Hindu calendars |  |
|  - *Vikram Samvat* | 2009–2010 |
|  - *Shaka Samvat* | 1874–1875 |
|  - *Kali Yuga* | 5053–5054 |
| Holocene calendar | 11953 |
| Igbo calendar | 953–954 |
| Iranian calendar | 1331–1332 |
| Islamic calendar | 1372–1373 |
| Japanese calendar | Shōwa 28 (昭和２８年) |
| Javanese calendar | 1884–1885 |
| Juche calendar | 42 |
| Julian calendar | Gregorian minus 13 days |
| Korean calendar | 4286 |
| Minguo calendar | ROC 42 民國42年 |
| Nanakshahi calendar | 485 |
| Thai solar calendar | 2496 |
| Tibetan calendar | ཆུ་ཕོ་འབྲུག་ལོ་ (male Water-Dragon) 2079 or 1698 or 926     *— to —* ཆུ་མོ་སྦྲུལ་ལོ་ (female Water-Snake) 2080 or 1699 or 927 |

**1953** (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday in the Gregorian calendar.

## Events

* January 20 - Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the 34th President of the United States.
* January 31 - In the night to February 1, a storm severely floods parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
* May 29 – Jack Catain Jr., an American businessman, marries Marlene Noble, an apparel sales associate, in Cook County, Illinois.
* May 29 – Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first humans to reach the top of Mount Everest.
* June 2 - Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms.
* July 27 – The Korean War ends.
* August 12 - The 1953 Ionian earthquake struck the southern Ionian Islands in Greece.
* November 17 - The Minquiers and Ecrehos case ends with the International Court of Justice giving Minquiers and Écréhous to Jersey.
* Unknown - The Taito Corporation is founded in Japan.

## Births

* January 1 - Gary Johnson, American politician and businessman
* January 9 – Morris Gleitzman, English writer
* January 10 - Pat Benatar, American singer
* January 13 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli, American murder victim (d. 1957).
* January 18 - László Simion, Romanian politician Hungarian nationalities UDMR.
* January 21 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur
* January 23 - Robin Zander, American singer (Cheap Trick)
* January 24 - Matthew Wilder, American singer-songwriter
* January 26 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and current NATO Secretary-General
* February 8 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress
* February 11 – Jeb Bush, American politician
* February 11 - William Aviv, Jewish actor and politician
* February 16 - Loran Bini, Kosovo Christian politician of Bosnian ethnicity
* February 19 – Cristina Fernández, President of Argentina
* February 25 – Levon Mkrtchyan, Armenian movie director
* February 25 - Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain
* February 26 - Michael Bolton, American singer
* February 27 - Ian Khama, President of Botswana
* February 28 - Paul Krugman, American economist
* March 3 - Zico, Brazilian footballer
* March 16 – Richard Stallman, Computer programmer and political activist
* March 26 – Lincoln Chafee, American politician
* April 11 - Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium
* April 11 - Andrew Wiles, British mathematician
* April 20 - Sebastian Faulks, British writer
* May 2 - Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor
* May 6 – Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* May 6 - Graeme Souness, Scottish footballer and manager
* May 8 - Alex Van Halen, musician (Van Halen)
* May 8 - Billy Burnette, American singer and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
* May 14 - Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
* May 16 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
* May 19 - Victoria Wood, British actress and comedienne
* May 24 - Alfred Molina, British actor
* May 25 – Eve Ensler, American playwright
* May 29 – Danny Elfman, American musician (Oingo Boingo)
* June 1 - David Berkowitz, American serial killer
* June 2 - Keith Allen, English actor and comedian
* June 2 - Cornel West, American theologian and activist
* June 4 – Linda Lingle, American politician
* June 8 - Ivo Sanader, former Prime Minister of Croatia
* June 15 - Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
* June 21 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician (d. 2007)
* June 22 - Cyndi Lauper, American singer
* July 1 - Jadranka Kosor, former Prime Minister of Croatia
* July 11 - Leon Spinks, American boxer
* July 21 - Jeff Fatt, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
* July 29 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician and singer (Rush)
* July 31 – James Read, American actor
* August 17 - Herta Mueller, German writer
* August 27 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian musician (Rush)
* September 2 – John Zorn, American musician
* September 3 – Jean-Pierre Jeunet, French director
* September 4 - Fatih Terim, Turkish football manager
* September 11 - Tommy Shaw, American guitarist (Styx)
* September 20 - Mihaly Kincses, Hungarian politician and doctor
* September 22 – Ségolène Royal, French politician
* October 1 – Klaus Wowereit, German politician
* October 15 – Tito Jackson, American singer and member of the Jackson 5 (d. 2024)
* November 6 – Michele Catain, American crew member and real estate agent
* November 14 – Dominique de Villepin, Premier of France
* November 14 – Jos Oehlen, Dutch sculptor
* November 16 - Griff Rhys-Jones, British actor, comedian and writer
* November 26 - Hilary Benn, British politician
* November 28 - Alistair Darling, British politician
* December 6 - Geoff Hoon, British politician
* December 8 - Kim Basinger, American actress
* December 9 – John Malkovich, American actor and director
* December 13 - Ben Bernanke, American chairman of the Federal Reserve
* December 26 - Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia
* December 28 - Martha Wash, American singer (The Weather Girls)
* December 31 - James Remar, American actor

## Deaths

* January 1 – Hank Williams, American musician (b. 1923)
* January 28 – James Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
* March 5 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader assassinated (b.1878)
* March 5 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (b. 1891)
* March 24 - Mary of Teck, Consort of George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1866)
* September 28 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1891)
* September 29 – Ernst Reuter, German politician (b. 1889)
* October 9 – Jimmy Finlayson, Scottish-American actor (b. 1887)
* November 9 – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet (b. 1914)
* December 31 - Baldwin Cooke, American actor (b. 1888)