Events Date 1953 March | History by KabAstro

Stalin's Stroke

Mar 1 After an all-night movie and dinner session with his top advisers, Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later.

Golf Tournament

Mar 1 American golfer Babe Zaharias wins a controversial Sarasota Women's Open by 7 strokes as playing partner Louise Suggs refuses to sign the scorecard after Zaharias given a beneficial ruling

Golfer and Co-Founder of the LPGA Louise Suggs

Mar 1 KAUZ TV channel 6 in Wichita Falls, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 1 KTNT (now KSTW) TV channel 11 in Tacoma-Seattle, WA (IND) begins
Mar 1 WFBG TV (later WTAJ) channel 10 in Altoona, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 1 WJZ-AM in NYC becomes WABC; WJZ-TV in Baltimore final transmission
Mar 3 Boston Braves, who own Milwaukee minor league franchise, block St Louis Browns attempt to shift their franchise to Milwaukee
Mar 3 Canadian Comet crashes at Karachi, 11 killed
Mar 5 6th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs): "The Sound Barrier" Best Film

Soviet History

Mar 6 Malenkov becomes chairman of the USSR

Mar 7 South African cricket opening batsman Jackie McGlew scores an unbeaten 255 in 1st Test win against New Zealand in Wellington
Mar 8 Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years in US
Mar 8 KSWO TV channel 7 in Lawton, Oklahoma (ABC) begins broadcasting

Two's Company

Mar 8 Vernon Duke, Ogden Nash and Sammy Cahn's musical revue "Two's Company", starring Bette Davis, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for, after 90 performances

Choreographer, Director and Theater Producer Jerome Robbins

Mar 8 WFMJ TV channel 21 in Youngstown, Ohio (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 9 Joseph Stalin's funeral is held in Moscow after four days of national mourning
Mar 11 1st woman army doctor commissioned (FM Adams)
Mar 14 KOLR TV channel 10 in Springfield, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 15 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins her 5th Titleholders title by 9 strokes from Betsy Rawls
Mar 15 West Germany loses in soccer to Netherlands, 2-1

Sports History

Mar 16 AL rejects St Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck's request to move his team to Baltimore

Mar 17 Bill Veeck says he will sell his 80% of St Louis Browns for $2,475M
Mar 17 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Mar 17 WBAY TV channel 2 in Green Bay, WI (CBS) begins broadcasting
Mar 17 WWLP TV channel 22 in Springfield, MA (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 18 15th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Kansas, 69-68; Jayhawks' center B. H. Born is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
Mar 18 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Yenice–Gönen in western Turkey, 1070 die
Mar 18 KGNC (now KAMR) TV channel 4 in Amarillo, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 18 MLB National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)

Academy Awards

Mar 19 25th Academy Awards: "Greatest Show on Earth", Gary Cooper & Shirley Booth win (1st time televised)

Event of Interest

Mar 19 Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real" premieres in NYC

Mar 21 England beats Scotland, 26-8 at Twickenham, London to clinch their 14th Five Nations Rugby Championship
Mar 21 NBA record 106 fouls & 12 players foul out (Boston-Syracuse)
Mar 22 Antonín Zápotocký chosen as President of Czechoslovakia
Mar 24 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Mar 26 "Ugetsu", Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyō and Kinuyo Tanaka, is released

Vaccine for Polio

Mar 26 Dr. Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine to prevent polio, clinical trials began the next year

Children with polio in a US hospital, inside an iron lung. In about 0.5% of cases, patients suffered from paralysis, sometimes resulting in the inability to breathe. More often, limbs would be paralyzed.

Mar 27 21 die in a train crash in Conneaut, Ohio
Mar 28 "New Faces (of 1952)" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 365 performances
Mar 28 "Stock exchanges open, dikes closed" raises 5,200,000 guilders
Mar 28 107th Grand National: Bryan Marshall wins aboard Irish 8-year old Early Mist; first of 3 consecutive GN victories for trainer Vincent O'Brien
Mar 28 7th Tony Awards: "The Crucible" (Outstanding Play) & "Wonderful Town" (Outstanding Musical) win
Mar 28 KCAU TV channel 9 in Sioux City, IA (ABC) begins broadcasting