King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Maureen Connolly becomes the youngest woman to win the U.S. Open in tennis.

Ernest Hemingway, a heavyweight in American literature, publishes The Old Man in the Sea.

Norman Vincent Peale, publishes his most popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking and it sells more than 20 million copies in 41 languages

Clarence Birdseye marketed the first frozen peas. A thing only a mother could love.

U.S. Supreme Court upholds the decision barring segregation on interstate railways.

George Jorgensen/Christine Jorgensen, the first person to go public after a sex change operation.

King George VI of Britain (1936-52) was found dead in bed by a servant delivering the morning tea. Elizabeth gets the job.

Mrs. Paul's introduces frozen fish sticks. Way to go Mrs. Paul! Now this is my idea of a food group. Although they will have their work cut out for them gaining market share as Americans currently eat 42 hotdogs per year.

Mr. Potato Head arrives!

Richard Nixon's "Checkers" speech. is successful. Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President and Nixon, Vice-President.

"Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl" published in the U.S.

TV first acknowledges pregnancy on I Love Lucy. Considering that TV will not portray married people sleeping it the same bed...

In Sports...

50,000 will be stricken by polio and 3,300 of them will die. Many more will be crippled.

Mad magazine makes its debut in May as a 32-page comic book full of zany nonsense. Alfred E. Neuman has yet to make his appearance, but he's coming.

African-American novelist Ralph Ellison publishes The Invisible Man to immediate popular acclaim.

Guiding Light, currently the longest running drama in broadcasting history, premiered on TV after being a staple on radio since 1937.

Oscar Stuff for 1952 - When men were men! Gary Cooper wins Best Actor for High Noon!

Bridey Murphy or How Shirley McLaine Got Her Groove! Another woman of past life fame.

University of Tennessee admits its first black student.

Ronald Reagan and actress Nancy Davis were married in San Fernando Valley, California. It was Reagan's second marriage.

President Truman seizes U.S. steel mills to avert an industry-wide strike for higher wages. The President asserts that the industry is vital to the defense of the U.S., but the Supreme Court rules the seizure unconstitutional. The strike is settled after 54 days in talks at the White House.

When Howard Johnson's opens its 351st restaurant, it becomes the world's largest food chain.

The first Holiday Inn opens and has the familiar bright yellow and green sign.

Gibson introduced the Les Paul model electric guitar, which was destined to become one of the most popular rock guitars of all time.

Nautilus, the first atomic submarine, is dedicated in Groton, Connecticut.

58,000 Scrabble sets are sold, a real resurgence for the 1931 toy.

The typical U.S. grocery store now carries about 4,000 different items, up from about 870 in 1928.By the mid-1960s the grocery will be a supermarket carrying some 8,000 items.

Sony, a brand new Japanese company, introduces the first pocket-sized transistor radio

Rocky Marciano beats ``Jersey'' Joe Walcott to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.

The first birth control pill is introduced, although it will not be available to the public for another 8 years. Which is why you don't hear them discussing "free love" in the Fifties.

Telephone area codes begin.

Sugar Frosted Flakes, 29 percent sugar, are introduced by Kelloggs.

The DeHavilland Comet, a commercial jet aircraft, made its debut. Twenty-one of this first model were built. Seven of them crashed due to a kind of metal fatigue that the designers had not considered. Hard to sell seats that way, fellas.

Lipton onion soup mix comes along.

Pream, a powdered nondairy coffee lightener is introduced. It keeps longer than real cream and costs less.

Over 2,000 new TV Stations opened across the US. TV has become so popular that between 1948-1952 film profits dropped by $500 million.

Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth under U.S. jurisdiction.

Roy Campanella, Preacher Roe (baseball) and Glenn Davis, Bob Waterfield (football) get their own Wheaties boxes!

There was a 28.7% business failure rate. Chart for 1946-1964

Albert Schwietzer wins Nobel Peace Prize

There were 37,794 motor vehicle related deaths.While in the air, there were 5 accidents resulting in 140 fatalities.

Unemployment is 3.1%

US GNP (Gross National Product) is $355.1 billion