Events Date 1953 August | History by KabAstro

Aug 1 Boston Red Sox pitcher Ben Flowers sets then MLB record of 8 consecutive games in relief
Aug 1 California introduces sales tax (for education)

Castro Arrested

Cuban Revolutionary and President Fidel Castro

Aug 1 KMBC TV channel 9 in Kansas City, Missouri (MET/ABC) begins broadcasting
Aug 1 KOBI TV channel 5 in Medford, Oregon (NBC) begins broadcasting
Aug 1 Northern Rhodesia becomes part of Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Aug 2 KCPQ TV channel 13 in Tacoma-Seattle, WA (IND) begins broadcasting
Aug 3 Frank Blair becomes news anchor of "Today Show"
Aug 4 Black families move into Trumbull Park housing project in Chicago
Aug 4 New York Yankees hurler Vic Raschi sets MLB record for a pitcher by driving in 7 runs in a 15-0 win v Detroit

From Here to Eternity

Aug 5 "From Here to Eternity" based on book by James Jones, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1954)

Aug 5 Operation "Big Switch"; Korean War prisoner exchanged at Panmunjom

Sports History

Aug 6 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Ted Williams returns to Red Sox from military service in Korea; ends abbreviated season with .407 batting average

Aug 7 Eastern Airlines enters jet age, uses Electra prop-jet

Soviet Hydrogen Bomb

Aug 8 Soviet leader Georgi Malenkov reports possession of hydrogen bomb [1]

Aug 8 US & South Korea initial a mutual security pact
Aug 9 1st elected Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah dismissed by the Indian government and later arrested
Aug 12 Ann Davison arrives in Miami in her 23 foot boat Felicity Ann, becoming the 1st woman to sail solo across the Atlantic
Aug 12 Heavy earthquake strikes the Ionian islands, 435 killed
Aug 12 Soviet Union conducts secret test of its 1st hydrogen bomb
Aug 13 4-5 million French go on strike against economizations

Event of Interest

Aug 13 US President Dwight Eisenhower establishes Government Contract Compliance Committee

34th US President and WWII General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Aug 14 20th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Detroit 24, All-Stars 10 (93,818)
Aug 14 KXLF TV channel 4 in Butte, MT (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

Event of Interest

Aug 15 US General Omar Bradley leaves office as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after four years and retires from active military service

Aug 16 KTAL TV channel 6 in Shreveport-Texarkana, LA (NBC) begins

Shah Flees

Aug 16 Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi & princess Soraya flee to Baghdad & Rome

Aug 17 Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California

Coup d'état

Aug 19 Democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh is overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name 'Operation Boot') and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project)

Aug 19 England regains cricket Ashes from Australia after winning series 1-0
Aug 20 14th Venice Film Festival opens. No Golden Lion awarded
Aug 20 General Fazlollah Zahedi arrests Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in a CIA supported coup d'état
Aug 20 Russia publicly acknowledges hydrogen bomb test detonation

Baseball Hires John Norman Lewis

Aug 21 Baseball player representatives Ralph Kiner (NL) & Allie Reynolds (AL) hire labor leader John Norman Lewis at $15,000 to give legal advice to players in negotiations with team owners

Baseball Hall of Fame Left Fielder Ralph Kiner

Aug 21 Marion Carl in Douglas Skyrocket reaches record 25,370 m
Aug 21 Sultan Sidi Mohammed Am Joessoef V of Morocco deposed
Aug 22 Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi returns to Tehran
Aug 23 Cyclist Arie Van Vliet becomes world champion sprinter
Aug 23 Dutch DC-6 crashes near Ymuiden in North Sea, 21 die
Aug 23 Former Boston Braves pitcher Phil Paine becomes first major leaguer to play in Japan; on military service with U.S. Air Force plays first of 9 games for Nishitetsu Lions