A look at 1953. Some things gone, some changed, some still around…
Not that we remember any of this, but our parents certainly were aware of most of this history and some of it probably affected us.
January 19 – 68% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucille Ball give birth to Desi Arnaz, Jr. Well, not literally. They weren’t even allowed to say the word “pregnant” on the show – she was “expecting.” The actual Desi Jr. is also in the Class of 71 but attended University High School in West Los Angeles. At 17, he was dating Patty Duke who was 24.
Sir Edmund Hillary first to climb Mt Everest
RAM (random access memory) used for the first time – not that our parents had any ideas about computers.
FCC approves color TV
Ramada Inns opened and so did Burger King, Sonic Drive-in and Denny’s
Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation
End of the Korean War
President Eisenhower inauguration
Jonas Salk announces Polio vaccine trials. There weren’t any protesters or anti-vaxxers. We were the recipients of the Sabin Oral vaccine in 1960.
Transsexual Christine Jorgensen returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark.
Chuck Yeager sets a speed record in X1 rocket plane
A gallon of gas was $0.22 cents
Top selling car is the Hudson Hornet (what happened?) but also the original C1 Corvette was introduced
Top songs: “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin & “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” by Patti Page were big hits. No Elvis, Motown or Beatles yet
In book bestsellers: “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury and “Casino Royale” by Ian Fleming had long runs.
TV Guide and Playboy first hit the newsstands.
Top Movies: Disney’s animation of “Peter Pan”, “War of The Worlds” and “From Here to Eternity” were the big films.
World Series Champs: NY Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 2, to win their 16th World Series title and their fifth straight title.
NCAA Basketball: Indiana
NCAA Football: Maryland
NBA: Lakers – Minneapolis
NHL: Montreal Canadiens (French spelling)
NFL: Cleveland Browns (Eastern) lost to the Detroit Lions (Western) 17-16
Irvington High School Class of 1971 
Very interesting. Great memories, especially this: Top songs: “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin & “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” by Patti Page were big hits. No Elvis, Motown or Beatles yet
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