Current Events of 1953

By Jacob Hill

There were many changes that took place during 1953, the year Ray Bradbury’s

classic novel “Fahrenheit 451” was published. The political climate around the world

was changing. There was a new leader in the United States, as well as in the Soviet

Union. One conflict was ending, while others began. There were many advances

made in medicine and the medical sciences. There were advances in technologies that made

people’s lives more comfortable and convenient, and many firsts in entertainment. One man

reached new heights by climbing Mt. Everest.

Politically, the year started with the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower as the

34th president of the United States. Later in the year, Joseph Stalin, the Premier of the

Soviet Union, died of a stroke. Nikita Khrushchev took Stalin’s place as Secretary of the United

Soviet Socialists Republic. The Joseph McCarthy communism hearings continued in the Senate.

Senator Joseph McCarthy had made accusations that there were communists in the State

Department, the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the “Voice of America”, and in

the United States Army. McCarthy held hearings in the Senate and brought innocent Americans

to testify, and to defend themselves. Ultimately, McCarthy would be censured by the Senate for

his actions. Convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for selling nuclear

secrets to the Russians. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been paid by the Russians to give them

information on the American nuclear program. They were caught, tried, and convicted of

treason. Before their execution, world leaders like the Pope had written President Eisenhower to spare them from being executed, but Eisenhower refused. There were several scientific and medical breakthroughs made in 1953. Jonas Salk created a vaccine to prevent polio, a terrible disease that would cripple both adults

and children. Scientists Francis Crick and James Watson discovered and identified the

human DNA structure. Several doctors performed the first human organ transplant, transplanting

a kidney from a mother to her son.

There were many firsts in entertainment. The first 3D movie, “House of Wax”