1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tulsa
In the first all-time meeting between the schools, Alabama defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 41–13 in the first Denny Stadium game of the season. After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama touchdowns on an 11-yard William Oliver run, a 63-yard Thomas Tharp run and a 56-yard Bobby Luna interception return for a 20–0 Crimson Tide lead at halftime. Alabama extended their lead further to 34–0 after third-quarter touchdowns on a 31-yard Bart Starr pass to Bud Willis and on a two-yard William Stone run.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tulsa
Tulsa scored both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter, first on an eight-yard Bob Bohn pass to Bob Holladay and on an 11-yard Bill Waller run. The Crimson Tide then made the final score 41–13 when Hootie Ingram scored on a one-yard run with just under a minute left in the game.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Tennessee
In their annual rivalry game against the Tennessee Volunteers, Alabama had a chance to defeat the Vols for the first time since 1947, but settled for a scoreless tie after a fumble at the Tennessee five and missed a 43-yard field goal. The tie brought Alabama's all-time record against Tennessee to 17–13–5.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Mississippi State
On homecoming in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide battled the Mississippi State Maroons to a 7–7 tie at Denny Stadium after a 26-yard Bobby Luna field goal was blocked as time expired. After a three-yard Jackie Parker run gave the Maroons a 7–0 lead in the second, Alabama tied the game on a two-yard Thomas Tharp run in the third quarter. The tie brought Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi State to 28–7–3.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia
At Sanford Stadium, Alabama defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 33–12 to end a two-game winless streak on homecoming in Athens. The first Crimson Tide touchdown was set up after Thomas Tharp returned a punt 86-yards to the Bulldogs' two-yard line. On the next play, Bart Starr threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Joe Cummings for a 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Georgia scored all of their points on two-yard Robert Clemens touchdown run and a 28-yard James Harper touchdown pass to James Williams.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia
However, the Crimson Tide scored their second touchdown on a 31-yard Starr pass to Bobby Luna for a 13–12 halftime lead. Alabama then scored three second half touchdowns on a 38-yard Vincent Delaurentis interception return, a 63-yard Tharp run and on a five-yard Starr pass to William Oliver for the 33–12 victory. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Georgia to 21–15–3.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Chattanooga
In the final Denny Stadium game of the season, Alabama defeated the Chattanooga Moccasins 21–14. The Crimson Tide took a 7–0 first quarter lead when Bobby Luna scored on a five-yard touchdown run. The teams then traded second-quarter touchdowns for a 14–14 halftime tie. The Moccasins scored first on a 36-yard Dick Durham pass to Bill Wilkerson, then Alabama on a 54-yard Albert Elmore run and finally on a two-yard Billy Carter run. Bart Starr then threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Thomas Tharp in the third quarter for the 21–14 victory. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Chattanooga to 7–0.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Georgia Tech
Against Georgia Tech, Alabama upset the No. 5 ranked Yellow Jackets 13–6 at Legion Field in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide scored first and took a 7–0 lead on a William Oliver run in the first quarter. After a scoreless second quarter, the Jackets scored their only touchdown on a two-yard Glenn Turner run in the third to cut the Alabama lead to 7–6. Albert Elmore then scored the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter on his short run. The loss for the first for Georgia Tech in conference play since their 54–19 loss to the Crimson Tide in 1950, and the victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Georgia Tech to 18–14–3.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Maryland
On the road against the No. 2 ranked Maryland Terrapins, Alabama was shutout 21–0 at Byrd Stadium. On the second play of the game, the Terps took a 7–0 lean on an 81-yard Chet Hanulak touchdown run. Later in the first, Bernie Faloney threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Bill Walker for a 14–0 lead at the end of the quarter. After Faloney was pulled from the game in the second quarter due to an injury, Charles Boxold threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Walker to make the final score 21–0. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Maryland to 1-1.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Auburn
For the fifth time in six years since the revival of the Auburn series, Alabama defeated the Tigers 10–7 at Legion Field and clinched both the SEC Championship and a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Auburn scored their only touchdown on a two-yard run in the first quarter by Charles Hataway to cap a drive that saw long runs made by both Vince Dooley and Fob James. William Stone then tied the game 7–7 for Alabama in the third quarter with his 15-yard touchdown run. A fourth quarter field goal from 28-yards by Bobby Luna provided for the final 10–7 margin of victory for the Crimson Tide. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Auburn to 9–8–1.


1953 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Rice
In their first all-time game against Rice, the Crimson Tide were defeated 28–6 by the Owls in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Alabama took a 6–0 lead after its only touchdown was scored by Tommy Lewis on a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Rice responded with a series of three, of long touchdown runs by Dicky Moegle to take a 21–6 lead into the fourth quarter. His first touchdown came on a 79-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, the second on a 95-yard run and the third on a 37-yard run. The 95-yard touchdown was awarded by the referee after Tommy Lewis left the Alabama sideline, entered the field of play and tackled Moegle at the Alabama 42-yard line. Rice then scored their final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard Buddy Grantham run for the 28–6 victory.


1953 Albanian Cup
1953 Albanian Cup (Albanian: Kupa e Shqipërisë) was the seventh season of Albania's annual cup competition. It began in Spring 1953 with the First Round and ended in May 1953 with the Final match. Dinamo Tirana were the defending champions, having won their third Albanian Cup last season. The cup was won by Dinamo Tirana.


1953 Albanian Cup
The rounds were played in a one-legged format similar to those of European competitions. If the number of goals was equal, the match was decided by extra time and a penalty shootout, if necessary.


1953 Albanian Cup, Quarter finals
In this round entered the 8 winners from the previous round.


1953 Albanian Cup, Semifinals
In this round entered the four winners from the previous round.


1953 Albanian National Championship
The 1953 Albanian National Championship was the sixteenth season of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930.


1953 Albanian National Championship, Overview
It was contested by 10 teams, and Dinamo Tirana won the championship.


1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement
In 1953 Alcoa Aluminum produced an advertisement promoting their HyTop twist-off bottle cap. The advertisement, often erroneously attributed to Del Monte Foods, featured a picture of a woman with the tagline "you mean a woman can open it?" The advertisement has been subject to criticism in later reviews and is viewed as a symbol of casual sexism that was prevalent in the United States during the 1950s.


1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement, Description
The advertisement features a woman wearing red lipstick and looking at the reader while holding a Del Monte ketchup bottle with the appearance of being about to open it. The tagline directly below it is, "You mean a woman can open it?" with the word woman underlined. The first sentence of the article it accompanied stated, "Easily—without a knife blade, a bottle opener, or even a husband!"


1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement, Critical review
The advertisement has been described as an example of targeted advertising towards women, is viewed as a symbol of social stereotypes during the 1950s, and is frequently cited as emblematic of the Mad Men era. Scholarly interpretation states that it implies that a woman is dependent upon her husband to do things for her. In one such commentary, the New York Daily News stated that the woman in the advertisement is "clearly stunned and possibly delighted" at being able to open the bottle easily. In addition, the advertisement has been used as a symbol of retro advertising, with a book bearing the same title as the tagline being published in 2000 by Adams Media detailing retro advertisements. The Independent claimed that it enforced the stereotype of a woman as an unintelligent housewife.


1953 Alexander Cup
The 1953 Alexander Cup was the Canadian national major ('open' to both amateur and professional leagues) senior ice hockey championship for the 1952–53 season.


1953 Alexander Cup
The Maritime Major Hockey League (MMHL) was the only major league eligible, as the Quebec Senior Hockey League had been suspended, so the Halifax Atlantics, who won the MMHL title, were awarded the Alexander Cup.


1953 All England Badminton Championships
The 1953 All England Championships was a badminton tournament held at the Empress Hall, Earls Court, London, England, from 19–22 March 1953.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The 1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the eleventh season of the circuit. The teams Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Muskegon Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 110-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams. This time, the postseason was reduced to a best-of-three series for both rounds.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The AAGPBL had six teams in 1953, the only change in its lineup being that the Battle Creek Belles had transferred and become the Muskegon Belles. The league was still using a 10 inches ball, but some changes were made to the game to make it more competitive and exciting. The base paths were lengthened from 72 feet to 75 feet and another foot was added to pitching distance, making it 56 feet. Nevertheless,  the new changes had little impact on the game, as the high batting averages and low ERA's remained almost intact compared to the previous year.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
Joanne Weaver of Fort Wayne won her second batting title in a row with a .346 average, while Jean Faut of South Bend topped the pitching list with a 1.51 ERA. No pitcher won 20 games for the first time in league history. Faut and Grand Rapids' Eleanor Moore tied for first with 17 wins, while Fort Wayne's Betty Foss amassed 144 hits, that would eventually become a single-season record. Faut, who also led the league in strikeouts (143) and hurled her second career perfect game, was honored with the Player of the Year Award, her second in three years.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
In the first round of the postseason, first place Fort Wayne faced third place Kalamazoo and second place Grand Rapids drew fourth place Rockford. After a 12-inning, 3–1 victory of Fort Wayne in the series opener, Kalamazoo pitchers Dorothy Naum and Kay Blumetta silenced the powerful Daisies batters in the next two games by scores of 2–1 and 5–3, respectively. In Game 2, Naum helped herself by batting a home run and Jean Lovell singled in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Lovell also drove in two runs in Game 3 to help the Lassies advance to the final round.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
In the other series, Rockford connected 14 hits in Game 1 and pounded the Chicks, 9–2, while Rose Gacioch scattered eight hits and struck out four batters in a complete game victory. But Earlene Risinger pitched a six-hit, 2–0 shutout in the next game to tie the series. In Game 3, Dorothy Mueller held Rockford to eight hits in a 4–3 win to send Grand Rapids into the finals.


1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The Chicks swept the Lassies in the final series. In Game 1, Mary Lou Studnicka gave up seven hits and fanned seven in an eight-inning win, 5–2, while Eleanor Moore was credited with the save. Joyce Ricketts led the attack with two runs batted in. Risinger continued her winning ways in Game 2, giving up three runs on seven hits while striking out nine en route to a 4–3 victory. Once again, Ricketts drove in two runs and Risinger even contributed to her own cause with two RBI, to whip Kalamazoo for the championship in a cold-weather, shortened seven-inning game.


1953 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team
The 1953 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by the Associated Press (AP) for the All-Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") team for the 1953 NCAA University Division football season. The 1953 Maryland Terrapins football team, which was ranked #1 in the final AP and UPI polls, placed four players on the All-ACC team. The Duke Blue Devils football team also placed four players on the All-ACC team, while South Carolina placed three players on the first team.


1953 All-Big Seven Conference football team
The 1953 All-Big Seven Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Seven Conference teams for the 1953 college football season. The selectors for the 1953 season included the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP). Players selected as first-team honorees by both the AP and UP are displayed in bold.


1953 All-Big Ten Conference football team
The 1953 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1953 Big Ten Conference football season.


1953 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
The 1953 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship was the 22nd staging of the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament for boys under the age of 18.


1953 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
Galway entered the championship as defending champions, however, they were defeated in the Connacht Championship.


1953 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
On 27 September 1953, Mayo won the championship following a 2-11 to 1-6 defeat of Clare in the All-Ireland final. This was their second All-Ireland title overall and their first in fifteen championship seasons.


1953 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
The 1953 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 23rd staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928.


1953 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
On 6 September 1953 Tipperary won the championship following an 8-6 to 3-6 defeat of Dublin in the All-Ireland final. This was their second All-Ireland title in-a-row and their eighth overall.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship was the high point of the 1953 season in Camogie. The championship was won by Dublin who defeated Tipperary by a 22-point margin in the final.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Structure
London could not travel to the All Ireland semi-final against Tipperary in Roscrea. No Connacht county entered the championship.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, Final
Kathleen Mills had one of her best games, the Nenagh Guardian reported. Her long left handed drives brought about many of Dublin's goals. Dublin hit Tipperary with two goals in the first three minutes, led 5-2 to 0-3 at half time, and scored three more goals early in the second half. Kathleen Griffin’s goal for Tipperary midway through the second half drew a loud cheer from what was described as a “fair sized attendance.”


1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final was the 22nd All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, an inter-county camogie tournament for the top teams in Ireland.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final
A fifteen-year-old Úna O'Connor scored three goals as Dublin won easily.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 67th staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 66th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match, Summary
Mal McEvoy scored an early goal for Armagh, who led by two points after 40 minutes, before Kerry began to pile on the points. Armagh's Bill McCorry missed a penalty and Kerry won by four points.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match, Summary
It was the first of three All-Ireland football titles won by Kerry in the 1950s.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match, Summary
This was also the first Championship meeting of Armagh and Kerry.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match, Summary
With just over 90,000 spectators in attendance, some of whom had broken through a gate to gain access, it was the biggest crowd ever witnessed at Croke Park at the time.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Match, Summary
The record attendance was beaten in the 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final when Down beat Offaly before 90,556 fans.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 67th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 3 May 1953 and ended on 7 September 1953.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Cork were the defending champions, and retained their All-Ireland crown following a 3-3 to 0-8 defeat of Galway  in the final.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
The 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final was the 66th All-Ireland Final and the culmination of the 1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, an inter-county hurling tournament for the top teams in Ireland. The match was held at Croke Park, Dublin, on 6 September 1953, between Cork and Galway. The Connacht men narrowly lost to their Munster opponents on a score line of 3-3 to 0-8.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, Match details
Due to the clash of colours, both counties lined out in their provincial jerseys, Cork wearing Munster's blue while Galway wore the white of Connacht.


1953 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, Match details
D. Creedon, J. Riordan, J. Lyons, A. O'Shaughnessy, M. Fouhy, D. Hayes,  V. Twomey, J. Twomey, G. Murphy, W. J. Daly, J. Hartnett, C. Ring, T. O'Sullivan, L. Dowling, P. Barry


1953 All-Pacific Coast football team
The 1953 All-Pacific Coast football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Pacific Coast teams for the 1953 college football season.


1953 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
AP = Associated Press, selected by the AP with the cooperation of the conference coaches


1953 All-Pacific Coast football team, Key
TW = Tide Water Associated Oil Co., selected by Tide Water Associated sportscasters, commentators and producers


1953 All-Pro Team
The 1953 All-Pro Team consisted of American football players chosen by various selectors for the All-Pro team of the National Football League (NFL) for the 1953 NFL season. Teams were selected by, among others, the Associated Press (AP) (based on voting among 48 member paper sports writers and AP staffers), the United Press (UP), and the New York Daily News.


1953 All-SEC football team
The 1953 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by various selectors for the 1953 college football season. Alabama won the conference.


1953 All-SEC football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection by both AP and UP


1953 All-Southwest Conference football team
The 1953 All-Southwest Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Southwest Conference teams for the 1953 college football season. The selectors for the 1953 season included the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP). Players selected as first-team players by both the AP and UP are designated in bold.


1953 All-Southwest Conference football team, Key
Bold = Consensus first-team selection of both the AP and UP


1953 Allan Cup
The 1953 Allan Cup was the senior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) for the 1952–53 season. The event was hosted by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Dutchmen and Kitchener, Ontario. The 1953 playoff marked the 45th time that the Allan Cup has been awarded.


1953 Allan Cup
CAHA vice-president Jimmy Dunn was chairman of the senior playoffs in 1953, and was faced with multiple branches of the CAHA not participating. He wanted to include as many teams as possible since the CAHA and all of its branches were primarily funded by gate receipts from the playoffs and could not afford the loss of income. The CAHA had suspended the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association for the season due to registration violations, and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association chose to withdraw from senior hockey. Dunn went to extraordinary efforts to retain the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association teams, which included rescheduling multiple series due to delays in the Saskatchewan playoffs and demands to play against the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association champion rather than the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association champion.


1953 Amateur World Series
The 1953 Amateur World Series was the 14th Amateur World Series and ended a run when one was held every year or every other year; it would be eight years until the Series was reinstituted. The 1953 Series was held in Caracas, Venezuela from September 12 through October 9, 1953.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand
The 1953 American All Stars rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was a tour by a group of twenty men who had not previously played the sport of Rugby League. Most of the team were current or former College Gridiron footballers with Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, or the University of Southern California. Some of the party had played rugby union at their colleges, during gridiron off-seasons.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
The tour was instigated by player-manager Mike Dimitro, who claimed to have witnessed a game of rugby league in Sydney whilst serving in the Pacific during World War II. Dimitro had played for UCLA and was a high school teacher in Los Angeles in the lead up to the tour. Dimitro wrote to the Australian Rugby League Board of Control in February 1952. Several of the League’s administrators were fervent promoters of their sport, and some were keen to take the game to the United States, so Dimitro’s suggestion was favourably received. Another factor was the success of France’s inaugural tour in 1951. Harold Matthews responded on behalf of the board in April 1952.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
Apprised of the proposed tour, the New Zealand Rugby League were also interested, and their Secretary, J.E. Knowling, was able to meet with Mike Dimitro in Los Angeles.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
Although arrangements in California did not run smoothly, with reassurances sought by the host nation boards, eighteen players arrived in Sydney on May 18, 1953. A further two players arrived on June 1.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
The appointed coach, Norm “Latchem” Robinson, had less than a fortnight to educate the players. A touch-football game against South Sydney and a tackle match against a team of Army Engineers were used in preparations.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
Remarkably, the American All Stars won their first match on the scheduled tour, beating a combined Monaro and Southern Districts side. The next two scheduled fixtures were against Sydney and New South Wales, and the Americans were understandably outclassed. The wisdom of setting novices against experienced semi-professionals so early in the tour was questioned at the time. The matches did, however, attract large crowds 65,453 on a Saturday against Sydney, and 32,554 on a Tuesday against New South Wales. There was consensus in the press that the host teams did take it easy on the visitors.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
The tour progressed with matches in regional and country New South Wales, and then into Queensland. The Australian board had recommended that 28 players would be necessary given the two matches per week schedule, and injuries had an impact on the twenty-man squad. This led to the informal use of “ring-ins” in matches at Ipswich and Wagga, and formally in a return match against New South Wales on July 25, and throughout the New Zealand leg.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
Through the tour the American players were commended for their excellent ball handling and robust tackling. The running ability of many, particularly the backs was praised. Referees showed leniency to a lack of understanding of offside rules in early matches. A slowness in comprehending and implementing cover defence was a common concern in reports on later matches.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
A curiosity to local spectators and the press at the time was the All Stars' practice of warming up on the field with calisthenics, or “physical jerks”. Although this innovation did not immediately catch on, National Rugby League teams have utilised on field warm-ups since the 1990s.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
A highlight for spectators was the American’s use of the pitch-pass, with exhibitions given prior to most matches. In play, league rules against forward passing meant the pitch was restricted to lateral or backwards movement. Although a few pitch passes did lead to an All Stars try, usually the arc allowed defenders time to immediately tackle the receiver, or intercept.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Summary
A sad development of the tour was that Jack Bonetti contracted Polio. This was diagnosed after he entered hospital in Townsville, having exhibited pain after the match in Cairns.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Touring Squad
Note: The tally of games in Australia, tries and goals collated from newspaper articles, as referenced below. In a few instances newspaper accounts differ. Some match reports do not mention all participants. A concession was made to allow the Americans to use substitutes in the event of first half injuries. This was unusual for the time. Normally no replacements were permitted.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Touring Squad
Four Queenslanders — Harold Crocker, Brian Davies, Alan Hornery and Ken McCaffery — played for the American All Stars in the July 25 match against New South Wales.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Touring Squad
Five of the tourists returned to the United States at the conclusion of the Australian leg. By arrangement with the New Zealand Rugby League, they were replaced by four, later five, New Zealanders: Travers Hardwick and Frank Mulcare who took on coaching duties, and also Des Barchard, Roy Moore and Roy Roff.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Monaco-Southern Division FB: Bill Beazley ( Wollongong), WG: Greg Watts (Pyree), CE: Roy Freebody ( Captain's Flat), CE: Jack Seamer ( Port Kembla), WG: P. Ryan ( Bombala), FE: Keith Sullivan ( Goulburn), HB: Ron Bercene ( Bombala), LK: Bob Smith ( Port Kembla), SR: Angus Miller ( Berry), SR: Col Yarham ( Mittagong), PR: Billy Hodges ( Captain's Flat), HK: R. Stewart (Bega), PR: Bruce Edwards ( Robertson). J. Southwell ( Canberra) played. He may have replaced Yarham prior to kick-off.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Col Williamson ( Goulburn) was named as a reserve, but likely did not play as he was not mentioned in match reports. The following were initially selected but did not play: Robert Bartlett ( Wollongong), Jack Plater ( Yass) and Harry Wells ( Wollongong). American All Stars: FB: George Kauffman, WG: Bill Albans, CE: Ed Demirjian, CE: Gary Kerkorian, WG: Alvin E. Kirkland, FE: Sol Naumu, HB: Ted Grossman, LK: Pat Henry, SR: Vince Jones, SR: Al D. Kirkland, SR: Fran Mandulay, HK: Sydney Walker, LK: Jack Bonetti. Al Abajian replaced Bill Albans.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Sydney: FB: Clive Churchill (26) ( Souths), WG: Noel Pidding (26) ( St George), CE: George Martin (20) ( Norths), CE: Ron Taylor (21) ( Easts), WG: Barry Stenhouse (19) ( Canterbury), FE: Bob Sullivan (22) ( Norths), HB: Keith Holman (25) ( Wests), LK: Les Cowie (28) ( Souths), SR: Arthur Collinson (23) ( Wests), SR: Ben Haslam (24) ( Norths), PR: Roy Bull (23) ( Manly), HK: Ken Kearney (27) ( St George), PR: Lloyd Hudson (25) ( Norths).


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
The following were selected as reserves but did not play: Ken Slattery (20) ( Parramatta) and Johnny Slade (25) ( Parramatta). American All Stars: FB: George Kauffman, WG: Bill Albans, CE: Alvin E. Kirkland, CE: Sol Naumu, WG: Ed Demirjian, FE: Gary Kerkorian, HB: Ted Grossman, LK: Jack Bonetti, SR: Al D. Kirkland, SR: Fran Mandulay, PR: Vince Jones, HK: Sydney Walker, PR: Pat Henry.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
New South Wales: FB: Clive Churchill (26) ( Souths), WG: Noel Pidding (26) ( St George), CE: Robert Bartlett (26) ( Wollongong), CE: Harry Wells (21) ( Wollongong), WG: Tommy Ryan ( St George), FE: Rees Duncan (21) ( Kurri Kurri), HB: Keith Holman (25) ( Wests), LK: Ken Slattery (25) ( Parramatta), SR: Don Schofield (22) ( Cessnock), SR: Albert Paul (25) ( Lakes United), PR: Charlie Gill (30) ( Newcastle Northen Suburbs), HK: Ken Kearney (27) ( St George), PR: Roy Bull (23) ( Manly). Brian Carlson (20) ( Newcastle Northen Suburbs) was initially selected but withdrew.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Arthur Collinson (23) ( Wests) and Johnny Slade (20) ( Parramatta) were selected as reserves but did not play. American All Stars: FB: Sol Naumu, WG: Bob Buckley, CE: Alvin E. Kirkland, CE: Harold Han, WG: Ed Demirjian, FE: Gary Kerkorian, HB: Ted Grossman, LK: Jack Bonetti, SR: Al D. Kirkland, SR: Mike Dimitro, PR: Fran Mandulay, HK: Pat Henry, PR: Vince Jones.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Combined Country: FB: Darcy Russell ( Waratah Mayfield), WG: Brian Carlson ( Norths), CE: Harry Wells ( Wollongong), CE: Robert Bartlett ( Wollongong), WG: Jack Lumsden ( Coonabarabran), FE: Rees Duncan ( Kurri), HB: Noel Hill ( Maitland), LK: Ron Battye ( Gundagai), SR: Don Schofield ( Cessnock), SR: Albert Paul ( Lakes United), PR: Charlie Gill ( Norths), HK: Ernie Hammerton (Boorowa), PR: Bryan Orrock (Boorowa), Coach: Ray Stehr. The following were named as reserves but are not mentioned (as playing) in match reports: Guy Brazier (Dorrigo), Jack Seamer ( Port Kembla) and Bob Smith ( Port Kembla). American All Stars: Al Abajian, Bill Albans, Jack Bonetti, Ted Grossman, Vince Jones, George Kauffman, Gary Kerkorian, Al D. Kirkland, Xavier Mena and Sydney Walker were mentioned in match reports, with one report mentioning that Pat Henry took the field as a replacement.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Western Districts: FB: Gordon Head ( Baradine), WG: Bruce Cohen ( Wellington), CE: Brian Condon ( Mudgee), CE: Jack Grant ( Brewarrina), WG: Jack Lumsden ( Coonabarabran), FE: Peter Burns ( Bathurst Railway), HB: Cec Edwards (Trangie), LK: Leo Nosworthy ( Narromine), SR: Jock Weir ( Narromine), SR: Noel Flynn ( Lithgow Arms Factory), PR: Bertie Simpson ( Lithgow Arms Factory), HK: Barry Green ( Mudgee), PR: N. Towett (Trangie), Coach: Frank Bell ( Lithgow Arms Factory). Brian (Blondie) Bolton (Dubbo) and Vin Corish ( Dunedoo) were named as reserves and took the field for the second half.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
The following were initially selected but withdrew: Eric Dodd (Dubbo), Norman McKnight ( Forbes), B. Runsford (Lithgow). American All Stars: FB: Sol Naumu, WG: Bob Buckley, CE: Harold Han, CE: Gary Kerkorian, WG: Ed Demirjian, FE: Ted Grossman, HB: Al Abajian, LK: Jack Bonetti, SR: Pat Henry, SR: Fran Mandulay, PR: Steve Drakulvich, HK: Sydney Walker, PR: Xavier Mena. Vince Jones and George Kauffman took the field as replacements for injured players Drakulvich and Mena. The Dubbo Liberal match reports mentioned Ray Terry as being tackled into touch.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
Newcastle: FB: Darcy Russell ( Waratah Mayfield), WG: Bill Shanks ( Waratah Mayfield), CE: Bill Smith ( Waratah Mayfield), CE: Brian Pead ( Centrals), WG: Lester Batey ( Cessnock), FE: Warren Foley ( Waratah Mayfield), HB: Noel Hill ( Maitland), LK: Barry Levido ( Cessnock), SR: Gordon Harley ( Maitland), SR: Henry Holloway ( Waratah Mayfield), PR: Doug Hawke ( Norths), HK: Kevin McKiernan ( Maitland), PR: Herb Pearson ( Kurri). Billy Roberts ( Kurri) and Tom Anderson ( Norths) were named as reserves.


1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Leg
American All Stars: FB: Sol Naumu, WG: Alvin E. Kirkland, CE: Harold Han, CE: Bob Buckley, WG: Ed Demirjian, FE: Gary Kerkorian, HB: Ted Grossman, LK: Jack Bonetti, SR: Al D. Kirkland, SR: Mike Dimitro, PR: Fran Mandulay, HK: Vince Jones, PR: Pat Henry. George Kauffman and Al Abajian were named as reserves and the latter is mentioned as playing in a match report.


1953 American Karakoram expedition
The 1953 American Karakoram expedition was a mountaineering expedition to K2, at 8,611 metres the second highest mountain on Earth. It was the fifth expedition to attempt K2, and the first since the Second World War. Led by Charles Houston, a mainly American team attempted the mountain's South-East Spur (commonly known as the Abruzzi Spur) in a style which was unusually lightweight for the time. The team reached a high point of 7750 m, but were trapped by a storm in their high camp, where a team member, Art Gilkey, became seriously ill.


1953 American Karakoram expedition
A desperate retreat down the mountain followed, during which all but one of the climbers were nearly killed in a fall arrested by Pete Schoening, and Gilkey later died in an apparent avalanche. The expedition has been widely praised for the courage shown by the climbers in their attempt to save Gilkey, and for the team spirit and the bonds of friendship it fostered.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Background
By 1953, four expeditions had attempted to climb K2. Oscar Eckenstein and Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi had led expeditions in 1902 and 1909 respectively, neither of which had made substantial progress, and the Duke of the Abruzzi had declared after his attempt that the mountain would never be climbed. However, two American expeditions in 1938 and 1939 had come closer to success. Charles Houston's 1938 expedition had established the feasibility of the Abruzzi Spur as a route to the summit, reaching the Shoulder at 8000 m, before retreating due to diminishing supplies and the threat of bad weather.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Background
Fritz Wiessner's attempt on the 1939 American Karakoram expedition went even higher but ended in disaster when four men disappeared high on the mountain. In spite of the tragedy, the expeditions had shown that climbing K2 was a realistic goal, and further attempts would almost certainly have been made sooner had the Second World War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 not made travel to Kashmir impossible during the 1940s.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
In spite of the political difficulties they faced, Charles Houston and Robert Bates had harboured hopes of returning to K2 since their initial attempt in 1938, and in 1952 Houston, with the aid of his friend Avra M. Warren, the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, obtained permission for an expedition the following year.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
Houston and Bates planned the expedition as a lightweight one, incorporating many elements of what would later become known as the Alpine style. There were practical reasons for this as well as stylistic ones. Since partition, the Indian Sherpas who had traditionally served as porters on Himalayan expeditions were unwelcome in Pakistan, and few of the Hunza porters who would replace them had genuine mountaineering skills.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
Given the technical difficulty of the Abruzzi Spur it was therefore impractical to use porters to carry loads high on the mountain, so it was planned to use them only as far as Camp II. Additionally the steepness of the Abruzzi Spur meant there was limited flat space for tents, and camp sites to accommodate large numbers of climbers would be difficult to find. Houston and Bates therefore planned to assemble a small team of eight climbers and no high-altitude porters.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
The size of the team ruled out the use of supplemental oxygen as there would not be enough manpower to carry the extra weight up the mountain, but Houston was confident from his own wartime experiments, as well as the experience of the pre-war British Everest expeditions, that it would be possible to climb K2 without it.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
Houston and Bates considered many climbers, and selected them for their compatibility as a team and all-round experience rather than individual brilliance. Houston was aware that personality clashes between team members had been detrimental to other Karakoram expeditions, most notable Wiessner's, and was keen to avoid them. The six climbers selected were Robert Craig, a ski instructor from Seattle, Art Gilkey, a geologist from Iowa, Dee Molenaar, a geologist and artist from Seattle, Pete Schoening, also from Seattle and at 25 the youngest of the party, and George Bell, a nuclear scientist from Los Alamos.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
The eighth member of the team was Tony Streather, an English army officer who was initially appointed Transport Officer, but showed sufficient prowess to become a full member of the climbing team. The biggest disappointment was that William House, who had played a major role in the 1938 expedition, was unable to return for business reasons. Other talented climbers, such as  Willi Unsoeld, Paul Petzoldt and Fritz Wiessner himself were controversially not included because it was not felt that they would get on with the rest of the team.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Expedition planning
The expedition was privately funded, receiving no grants from either the government or American mountaineering bodies. The budget of $32,000 came from the team members themselves, some gifts, advances paid by the National Broadcasting Corporation and the Saturday Evening Post for a film and a series of newspaper articles, as well as significant loans. Some corporate sponsorship was also obtained, but mainly in the form of equipment and food rather than money.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Climbing, storm and illness
The expedition assembled in Rawalpindi at the end of May, flew on to Skardu, and after the long trek through Askole and up the Baltoro Glacier, arrived at the base of K2 on 20 June. The early stages of the climb proceeded smoothly, though progress was slow due to the expedition's tactics. The tragedies on Nanga Parbat in 1934 and K2 in 1939 had convinced Houston of the importance of keeping all camps well stocked at all times in case the expedition had to retreat in bad weather. Doing this required the climbers to make extra journeys up and down the mountain carrying extra supplies, which would prove crucial to their survival.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Climbing, storm and illness
By 1 August the route had been pushed as far as Camp VIII, at the base of the Shoulder at around 7800 m, and the next day the whole team assembled there to prepare for the final push for the summit. However, the weather had been gradually deteriorating for several days, and soon a severe storm broke. At first it did not dispirit the team, and a secret ballot was held to decide which climbers should make the first summit attempt. However, as the storm continued for day after day their position became more serious. One of the tents collapsed on the fourth night, forcing Houston and Bell to crowd into other, already cramped tents. On  6 August, with weather forecasts offering little hope of improvement, the party for the first time discussed retreating.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Climbing, storm and illness
The next day the weather improved, but thoughts of attempting the summit were quickly abandoned when Art Gilkey collapsed just outside his tent. Houston diagnosed him as suffering from thrombophlebitis—blood clots which would be dangerous at sea level, but would almost certainly be fatal at 7800 m. The whole team was now forced into a desperate attempt to save him. While they believed that there was little or no chance of saving him, the possibility of abandoning him was never discussed. However, the unacceptable avalanche risk followed by a renewal of the storm prevented a descent at that time, and the team remained at Camp VIII for several more days in the hope that the weather would improve.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
By 10 August the situation had become critical: Gilkey was showing signs of pulmonary embolism and deteriorating quickly, and the whole team was still trapped at an altitude that would have eventually killed them all. In spite of the continuing storm and avalanche risk, the team immediately began descending. On a makeshift stretcher made from canvas, ropes and a sleeping bag, Gilkey was pulled or lowered down steep terrain, until the team reached a point where they could traverse a difficult ice slope to their Camp VII, at around 7,500 metres (24,600 ft).


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
A mass fall occurred as the climbers began the traverse. George Bell slipped and fell on a patch of hard ice, pulling off his rope-mate Tony Streather. As they fell, their rope became entangled with those connecting Houston, Bates, Gilkey and Molenaar, pulling all these climbers off as well. Finally the strain came onto Pete Schoening, who had been belaying Gilkey and Molenaar. Quickly wrapping the rope around his shoulders and ice axe, Schoening held all six climbers, preventing them from falling into the Godwin-Austen Glacier. This act became simply known as "The Belay."


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
After the climbers had recovered and made their way to the tent at Camp VII, Gilkey was lost. He had been anchored to the ice slope as the exhausted climbers prepared the tent, and his muffled shouts were heard. When Bates and Streather returned to bring him to the tent, they found no sign of him. A faint groove in the snow suggested that an avalanche had taken place.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
Authors such as Jim Curran have suggested that Gilkey's death, while tragic, undoubtedly saved the lives of the rest of the team, who were now free to concentrate on their own survival. Houston has agreed with this assessment, but Pete Schoening always believed, based on his other experiences of mountain rescue, that the team could have successfully completed the rescue, albeit with more frostbite than they eventually suffered. There is also controversy over the manner of Gilkey's death.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
Tom Hornbein and others have suggested that, realising his rescue was endangering the lives of the others, Gilkey might have untied himself from the mountainside. Charles Houston initially believed that Gilkey, sedated with morphine, did not have the physical strength to untie the anchors. However, when recounting the events for a documentary in 2003, he changed his mind and concluded that Gilkey had indeed untethered himself. Other people, such as Robert Bates, remained convinced that an avalanche swept Gilkey away.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
The descent from Camp VII to Base Camp took a further five days and was itself gruelling; all the climbers were exhausted, George Bell had badly frostbitten feet and Charles Houston, who had suffered a head injury, was dazed and concussed. Houston has said that, while he is proud of the team's attempt to rescue Gilkey, he feels the successful descent was a greater achievement. During the descent, the climbers saw a broken ice-axe and some bloodstained rocks, but no other trace of Art Gilkey was found.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
On the team's descent to Base Camp, a memorial cairn was erected to Art Gilkey, and a service was held. The Gilkey Memorial has since become the burial place of other climbers who have died on K2, as well as a memorial to those whose bodies have not been found.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Attempted rescue and fall
Clothing and human remains, positively identified as Gilkey, were discovered close to K2 Base Camp in 1993 by an expedition led by British mountaineer Roger Payne.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
In spite of the trauma of the expedition, Charles Houston was keen to make another attempt on K2, and requested permission for a further expedition in 1954. He was extremely disappointed that a large Italian expedition had booked the mountain that year. The Italian expedition was successful, and while Houston had permission for 1955 he did not take it up, and gave up mountaineering in order to concentrate on his career researching high-altitude medicine. Pete Schoening, however, returned to the Karakoram in 1958 and, with Andy Kauffman made the first ascent of Gasherbrum I; at 8080 m the highest first ascent ever made by an American team.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
The account of the expedition, written by Bates and Houston with additional sections by the other climbers, was published in 1954 as K2 - The Savage Mountain. It received widespread acclaim, and is regarded as a mountaineering classic.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
Unlike many other K2 expeditions which have ended in acrimony and bitterness, such as Wiessner's 1939 expedition and the successful Italian expedition of 1954, the 1953 expedition formed lifelong bonds of friendship between its members. Houston remarked that "we entered the mountain as strangers, but we left it as brothers", while Bates would later say that "the Brotherhood of the Rope established on K2 outlasted the expedition by many decades and was based on a shared sense of values, interests and mutual respect and affection".


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
Because of this, and the bravery and selflessness of the attempt to save Art Gilkey, the expedition has been held up by writers such as Jim Curran as "a symbol of all that is best in mountaineering." Jim Wickwire, who made the first American ascent of K2 in 1978, described their courage and character as "one of the greatest mountaineering stories of all time", and wrote in a letter to Houston that to have climbed on the 1953 expedition would have been even better than climbing K2 in 1978.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
Many years after the expedition, Reinhold Messner, the first man to climb all fourteen 8000 m peaks, said that while he had great respect for the Italian team which first climbed K2, he had even more respect for the American team, adding that while they failed, "they failed in the most beautiful way you can imagine."


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
In 1981 the American Alpine Club established the David A. Sowles Memorial Award for "mountaineers who have distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperilled in the mountains." The surviving members of the Third American Karakoram Expedition were among the first recipients.


1953 American Karakoram expedition, Aftermath and legacy
Schoening's action in arresting the mass fall has itself achieved iconic status, and is known in American climbing circles simply as "The Belay". Schoening himself, however, was always modest about his achievement, claiming that he was merely lucky.


1953 American Samoan legislative election
Legislative elections were held in American Samoa between 19 and 24 January 1953, the first under universal suffrage.


1953 American Samoan legislative election, Background
In 1948 a bicameral Fono was created with a 12-member House of Ali'i and a 54-member House of Representatives. In 1952 the legislature was reorganised into a 15-member Senate and an 18-member House of Representatives. The 18 members of the House of Representatives were elected by the secret ballot, while the 15 members of the Senate were chosen through open meetings, one from each of the 15 counties.


1953 American Samoan legislative election, Background
Of the estimated 7,300 eligible votes, 4,675 people registered to vote. Voters were required to have lived in their district for at least five years to register, with the voting age set at 18. The campaign started on 5 January. The Western Samoan government sent observers to monitor the elections.


1953 American Samoan legislative election, Results
3,770 voters cast votes in the election. For the first time, women were elected, with Zilpher Jennings and Mabel Reid winning seats in the House of Representatives. Twelve of the eighteen members of the House of Representatives were non-chiefs.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1953 Argentine Grand Prix was race 1 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two regulations in 1952 and 1953. The race was held in Buenos Aires on 18 January 1953, at the Autódromo Gálvez (official name: Autódromo Juan y Óscar Gálvez, also known as the Autódromo 17 de Octubre) as the first official Formula One race in South America and outside of Europe. Previously, the Indianapolis 500 (part of the Formula One championship calendar from 1950 to 1960) was the only Formula One championship race held outside Europe but run to AAA regulations.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix, Race report
The inaugural Argentine Grand Prix, held in mid-January, was attended by four of the major works teams: Maserati, Ferrari, Cooper, and Gordini. Former World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who had not competed in the Championship since clinching the 1951 title in Spain, raced for Maserati alongside fellow Argentinians José Froilán González and Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, and Italian driver Felice Bonetto. Ferrari lined up with the familiar trio of reigning World Champion Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina, and Luigi Villoresi, as well as their new signing Mike Hawthorn, who had driven a privateer Cooper the previous year.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix, Race report
The Cooper team entered the British pair of Alan Brown and John Barber alongside the local driver Adolfo Schwelm Cruz. Gordini retained their 1952 trio of Robert Manzon, Maurice Trintignant, and Jean Behra, who were joined by a pair of Argentinians—Carlos Menditeguy and Pablo Birger—the latter of which drove a Simca-Gordini.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix, Race report
Ascari was once again the fastest qualifier, taking his fourth consecutive World Championship pole position. His teammates Villoresi and Farini lined up third and fourth, but the returning Fangio prevented a Ferrari front row lockout by qualifying second in his Maserati. González, in the second Maserati, started from row two alongside Hawthorn, making his first appearance for Ferrari, and the Gordini of Trintignant. The remaining Gordinis of Manzon, Menditeguy, and Behra made up the third row with Gálvez in his Maserati. Row four consisted of the Coopers of Brown and Schwelm Cruz, and Birger in the sole Simca-Gordini. At the back of the grid were the Maserati of Bonetto and Barber in the final Cooper.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix, Race report
Due to President Juan Perón's decision to allow free access to the circuit, there were an excessive number of spectators and they lined the track as the race began. One of the spectators wandered onto the track, and, in order to avoid hitting him, Nino Farina was forced to swerve. Farina ultimately lost control of his car and crashed into the crowd on lap 31, killing 13 spectators. In the resulting mass panic, a boy ran in front of Brown's Cooper and was killed.


1953 Argentine Grand Prix, Race report
Ascari, who started from pole, led the entirety of the race, taking his seventh consecutive World Championship race victory, and, in so doing, established an early lead in the Drivers' Championship. Fangio was in second until a transmission issue forced him to retire from the race. Manzon initially inherited the position, but Villoresi ultimately took second place, a lap behind his teammate. Hawthorn had been running in third, although he was eventually overtaken by González, preventing a Ferrari 1-2-3. Hawthorn finished fourth, ahead of Gálvez, who took the final points in his first and only World Championship race.


1953 Argentine Primera División
The 1953 Argentine Primera División was the 62nd season of top-flight football in Argentina. The season began on April 5 and ended on November 22.


1953 Argentine Primera División
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) returned to Primera while the other team of the city, Estudiantes (LP), was relegated. River Plate won its 11th league title.


1953 Arizona State Sun Devils football team
The 1953  Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the sport of football during the 1953 college football season. The team was led by head coach Clyde B. Smith. Home games were played at Goodwin Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Arizona State finished the 1953 football campaign 4–5–1 overall and 1–3 in Border Conference play.


1953 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team
The 1953 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State College at Flagstaff (now known as Northern Arizona University) in the New Mexico Conference (NMC) during the 1953 college football season. In their third and final year under head coach John Pederson, the Lumberjacks compiled a 4–5 record and was outscored by a total of 166 to 126.


1953 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team
After the 1952 season, the Lumberjacks left the Border Conference and joined the NMC. In their first season in the NMC, they compiled a 3–3 record against conference opponents, finishing in a three-way tie for third place in the seven-team conference.


1953 Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks football team
The team played its home games at Skidmore Field in Flagstaff, Arizona.


1953 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 1953 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona during the 1953 college football season.


1953 Arizona Wildcats football team, Schedule
The game versus Arizona State was first game on television.


1953 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
The 1953 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1953 college football season. In their first year under head coach Bowden Wyatt, the Razorbacks compiled a 3–7 record (2–4 against SWC opponents), finished in fifth place in the SWC, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 161 to 116.


1953 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
Arkansas quarterback Lamar McHan finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting for 1953. McHan was sixth in the nation in yards per punt, and tied for sixth in punt return yards. Receiver Floyd Sagely's receiving stats were tied for sixth best in the country.


1953 Army Cadets football team
The 1953 Army Cadets football team represented the United States Military Academy in the 1953 college football season. Led by head coach Earl Blaik, the team finished with a record of 7–1–1. The Cadets won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy, awarded to the top college team in the East.


1953 Army Cadets football team
The Cadets had lost six players, including Freddie Myers, to academic ineligibility. The Cadets defeated Furman, 41–0, the team's first shutout since the 1951 scandal. After a loss to Northwestern, the Cadets were undefeated for the rest of the season. In a scoreless tie against Tulane, future Max McGee starred for the Green Wave. In the Army–Navy Game, Army's 20–7 victory over Navy was its first since 1949. The turning point of the season was an October victory over No. 7 Duke. The Blue Devils featured stars such as Red Smith and Worth (A Million) Lutz.


1953 Army Cadets football team
Tommy Bell ran up the middle. Quarterback Pete Vann switched the ball to his left hand, and made a southpaw pass. Red Smith was tackled by Bob Mischak in the final minutes of the game. Mischak ran 73 yards to make the tackle catching up eight yards of separation to save a touchdown. Inspired by Mischak, Army held Duke inside the one yard line, took over on downs, and eventually won the game. "When Bob Mischak, who was posthumously enshrined in the Army/West Point Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, made that unlikely play, what Blaik called " a marvelous display of heart and pursuit," the Army football team regained it's soul." Direct quote from Maraness


1953 Army Cadets football team, New York Giants coaching vacancy
Before the end of the 1953 season, the New York Daily News had a headline in their paper that Vince Lombardi was the top candidate to become the Giants new head coach. Although Giants co-owner Wellington Mara was a classmate of Lombardi at Fordham University, the Giants were actually interested in Army head coach, Colonel Red Blaik. Blaik had declined the job, but recommended Lombardi, who was his offensive co-ordinator at Army. Despite being Red Blaik's top aide, Vince Lombardi was anxious and frustrated. Three other Army assistants, including Murray Warmath were now head coaches. In June, Lombardi had turned forty years old. Lombardi would be hired as the offensive co-ordinator for the 1954 season.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1953 Atlantic hurricane season was the first time an organized list of female names was used to name Atlantic storms. It officially began on June 15, and lasted until November 15, although activity occurred both before and after the season's limits. The season was active with fourteen total storms, six of which developed into hurricanes; four of the hurricanes attained major hurricane status, or a Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson scale.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season
The strongest hurricane of the season was Carol, although by the time it struck Atlantic Canada it was much weaker. Both hurricanes Barbara and Florence struck the United States; the former crossed the Outer Banks and impacted much of the east coast, and Florence struck a sparsely populated region of the Florida Panhandle without causing much damage. Bermuda was threatened by three hurricanes within two weeks. In addition to the hurricanes, Tropical Storm Alice developed in late May and left several fatalities in Cuba. The final hurricane of the season, Hazel, produced additional rainfall in Florida after previous flooding conditions. There were several unnamed storms, the last of which dissipated on December 9.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Alice
A tropical storm developed east of Nicaragua on May 25, executing a counterclockwise loop over Central America. After weakening over land, Alice re-intensified over the western Caribbean, moving over western Cuba on May 21 with winds of 50 mph (80 km/h). On June 1, it entered the Gulf of Mexico, and later executed another loop off the northwest coast of Cuba. Alice quickly weakened due to a cold front, and advisories were discontinued by June 3. While near Cuba, Alice produced drought-breaking rainfall that caused flooding and several unofficial drowning deaths.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Alice
After passing near Cuba, Alice turned to the north and restrengthened to peak winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), possibly even stronger to hurricane intensity. Alice again weakened before making landfall near Panama City Beach on June 6 as a minimal tropical storm, and dissipating shortly thereafter. Alice brought heavy rainfall to Florida, peaking at 13.48 inches (342 mm) in Lake Placid. Near where it made landfall, the storm dropped light rainfall, and there were no reports of damage in the state. Alice was the first North Atlantic tropical cyclone to have a female name. It was also one of 22 tropical or subtropical cyclones on record in the month of May.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Two
A tropical depression developed over southwestern Florida on July 11. It moved northeastward toward a trough across northern Florida. The depression intensified into a tropical storm on July 12 and reached peak winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). On July 15, the storm began interacting with a nearby cold front, signaling that it transitioned into an extratropical storm. On the next day, the storm brushed Nantucket with 31 mph (50 km/h winds before the storm was absorbed by the front.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Barbara
A tropical wave developed into Tropical Storm Barbara over the Bahamas on August 11. It intensified as it moved north-northwestward, becoming a hurricane by the next day, and reaching peak winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) just south of Cape Hatteras on August 13. Barbara moved over the Outer Banks, passing between Morehead City and Ocracoke, and it turned and accelerated to the northeast. Steadily weakening and losing tropical characteristics, the hurricane transitioned into an extratropical cyclone late on August 15. It turned northward, crossing eastern Nova Scotia and dissipating over Labrador on August 16.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Barbara
Before Barbara struck the Outer Banks, officials ordered evacuations for a few islands, and several thousand tourists voluntarily left the region. Wind gusts reached 90 mph (140 km/h) at Hatteras and Nags Head. Torrential rainfall fell across the state and extended northward into Virginia, peaking at 11.1 in (280 mm) near Onley along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Across the region, the hurricane left flooding and downed trees, some of which survived the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. Monetary damage from Barbara was estimated around $1.3 million (1953 USD, $12.6 million 2021 USD), mostly from the crop damage. Newspaper reports indicated there were seven deaths in the country; two additional deaths occurred offshore Atlantic Canada when a dory sunk.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Carol
On August 28, a tropical wave developed into a tropical depression near Cape Verde. After moving west-southwestward, it turned to the northwest, intensifying into a tropical storm on August 31 and into a hurricane on September 2. Passing northeast of the Lesser Antilles, Carol rapidly intensified to Category 5 intensity, reaching peak winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) on September 3, making it the strongest hurricane of the season. It gradually weakened, bypassing Bermuda on September 6 and producing high waves. Carol later turned to the north-northeast, brushing Cape Cod and causing boating accidents across New England. Four people were killed in the region. Fishing losses totaled around $1 million (1953 USD, $9.67 million 2021 USD).


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Carol
After bypassing New England, Carol brushed western Nova Scotia before moving ashore near Saint John, New Brunswick as a minimal hurricane. As the storm moved ashore, it produced hurricane conditions in eastern Maine, one of only six Atlantic hurricanes to do so. In Nova Scotia, several boats were wrecked or washed ashore, with one drowning death reported. High seas caused coastal flooding, while strong winds downed large areas of trees. Heavy losses to the apple crop occurred in Annapolis Valley, totaling $1 million (1950 CAD, $10 million 2021 USD). Carol later dissipated southwest of Greenland on September 9.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Five
On August 29, a tropical storm developed over southern Florida. While moving through the state, the storm dropped heavy rainfall, reaching 4.67 in (119 mm) at Fort Lauderdale Beach; similar rainfall was observed in the northern Bahamas. Described by one Weather Bureau forecaster as "wide and flat", the storm gradually organized over the western Atlantic Ocean. On August 31, the storm turned to the northwest, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). The system weakened to a tropical depression before moving ashore near Savannah, Georgia on September 1. It dissipated that day over land.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Dolly
The origins of Dolly were from a tropical wave that moved through the eastern Caribbean Sea, producing 10 in (250 mm) in Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The rains closed schools and government buildings around San Juan, Puerto Rico, and flooding was reported in Guayama, Yabucoa, and Patillas. On September 8, a tropical storm developed north of Puerto Rico, which moved slowly west-southwestward before turning to the north. It quickly intensified, and after Hurricane Hunters reported an eye, Dolly reached hurricane status on September 9. At that time, hurricane warnings were issued in the Bahamas, although the storm turned away from the archipelago. It intensified to peak winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) on September 10, as reported by aircraft.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Dolly
Dolly weakened as it accelerated northeastward, although it still threatened to strike Bermuda with strong winds. As a result, the United States Air Force ordered all of the planes on the island to fly to the mainland. After continued weakening, Dolly passed over the island on September 11, producing only gale-force winds, rains, and little to no damage. It deteriorated into a tropical storm on September 12 and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone later that day. The remnants of Dolly later turned eastward, dissipating just west of Portugal on September 17.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Edna
Shortly behind Dolly, another tropical wave spawned a tropical depression over the Lesser Antilles on September 15. As it moved through the region, it produced unsettled conditions across the northeast Caribbean. Edna quickly intensified as it tracked northwestward, attaining hurricane status on September 15 and peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) the next day. After peaking, the hurricane turned to the northeast and maintained most of its intensity for a few days. It passed just north of Bermuda early on September 18 with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), before beginning a steady weakening trend as it accelerated. By September 19, Edna completed the transition into an extratropical cyclone, lasting another day before dissipating west of Ireland.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Edna
Before Edna struck Bermuda, the islanders were well-prepared due to being previously impacted by hurricanes Carol and Dolly, and they boarded up their homes. The hurricane caused "considerable damage", with wind gusts reaching 120 mph (190 km/h). The winds downed trees, blocking roads, and also caused disruptions to the power and water services. During its passage, Edna produced heavy rainfall and also damaged several roofs. There were three injuries on the island.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Eight
A tropical depression formed in the central Gulf of Mexico on September 15 and moved northeastward. The storm produced heavy seas across the region, which damaged two small boats. The storm reached peak winds of 50 mph (75 km/h) while moving in a small clockwise loop southeast of Louisiana. The storm weakened into a tropical depression on September 17, but re-intensified to a tropical storm three days later. On September 20, the storm moved ashore in Taylor County, Florida and dissipated the next day over the state, bringing 2 to 5 in (51 to 127 mm) of rainfall to coastal areas.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Florence
Florence developed on September 23 near Jamaica from a tropical wave. While passing that island, it produced heavy rainfall that blocked roads. It intensified to hurricane status on September 24 while passing through the Yucatán Channel, and while doing so left heavy damage in western Cuba. After turning north and entering the Gulf of Mexico, Florence quickly intensified to peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). It gradually weakened before making landfall on September 26 as a minimal hurricane in a sparsely populated region of the Florida Panhandle.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Florence
Before Florence hit the United States Gulf Coast, about 10,000 people evacuated Panama City, Florida, and the Weather Bureau issued timely warnings that was credited in preventing any deaths or major injuries. Winds reached 84 mph (135 km/h) at Eglin Air Force Base, and the heaviest rainfall was 14.71 in (374 mm) in Lockhart, Alabama. The combination of winds and heavy rainfall left crop damage in the Florida panhandle and southeastern Alabama, although coastal damage was not severe. Overall, 421 houses were damaged and another three were destroyed, with monetary damage estimated around $200,000 (1953 USD, $1.93 million 2021 USD). After landfall, Florence quickly transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and as it continued across the southeastern United States it produced moderately heavy rainfall. It dissipated on September 28 southeast of New England.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Gail
On October 2, a tropical wave spawned a tropical depression about 815 mi (1310 km) west-southwest of the Cape Verde islands. The depression quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Gail, and the next day, a ship encountered the storm, reporting a minimum pressure of 986 mbar (29.12 inHg). As the ship crossed through the center, it reported winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), indicating Gail attained hurricane status. Initially, the Weather Service believed that Gail dissipated and a new storm formed in the same region on October 5, but a reanalysis in 2015 indicated that they were the same storm.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Gail
The confusion resulted from Gail turning to the northeast on October 4, steered by an approaching trough. On October 6, Gail turned back to the west-northwest, remaining a moderate tropical storm for several days. On October 11, the cold front that absorbed Hurricane Hazel turned Gail to the north, and absorbed it the next day in the central Atlantic.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Eleven
On October 3, a tropical storm developed near the southern coast of Cuba. It moved northwestward, crossing the island before turning to the northeast. Early on October 5, the storm brushed southeastern Florida, producing gusty winds and rainfall. The threat of the storm prompted small craft warnings from the Florida Keys through South Carolina. As it accelerated northeastward, the storm strengthened slightly to maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h), before becoming extratropical on October 6.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Eleven
Two days later, the remnants moved over Atlantic Canada with winds of 70 mph (120 km/h), producing flooding rainfall that washed out several roads. The storm caused two deaths after it wrecked a boat in Broad Cove, Nova Scotia. Later, the cyclone passed south of Greenland before dissipating southwest of Iceland on October 10.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Hazel
The twelfth tropical storm and the final hurricane of the season formed in the Yucatán Channel on October 7. Given the name Hazel, the storm tracked north-northeastward, then northeastward through the Gulf of Mexico while gradually intensifying. On October 9, Hazel strengthened into a hurricane and made landfall just north of Fort Myers, Florida at its peak intensity of 85 mph (140 km/h). The storm crossed the state in about six hours, during which it weakened slightly back to a tropical storm. Over the western Atlantic Ocean, Hazel re-intensified to its peak winds, although by late on October 10 it transitioned into an extratropical storm between North Carolina and Bermuda. The remnants continued northeastward, dissipating southeast of Newfoundland on October 12. On Sable Island, the storm produced heavy winds and rain.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Hazel
Due to the fairly light winds across Florida, damage from Hazel was minor, estimated around $250,000 (1953 USD, $2.42 million 2021 USD). During its passage, the storm spawned a tornado in St. James City that destroyed several homes, and there were indications of another tornado in Okeechobee City. The primary impact from Hazel was from its rainfall, peaking at 10.53 inches (267 mm) in Daytona Beach. The rains added to previous flooding conditions across the state, causing a record flood stage along the St. Johns River that flooded 6 mi (9.7 km) of highway. Overall flooding damage was estimated up to $10 million (1953 USD, $96.7 million 2021 USD), but it was impossible to determine how much was due to Hazel.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Thirteen
A tropical storm developed from a dissipating cold front on November 23, about 460 mi (740 km) northeast of Barbuda in the Lesser Antilles. It moved northeastward, strengthening to peak winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) on November 24. It later turned sharply to the west as it began a weakening trend, followed by a curve to the north. The cyclone dissipated on November 26 about 450 mi (725 km) east-northeast of Bermuda, without ever affecting land.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Irene
The final tropical cyclone of the season developed on December 7 about 705 mi (1735 km) east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles, from the end of a dissipating cold front. Given the name Irene, the storm moved to the northwest and later to the west. Based on ship observations, it is estimated that Irene intensified to a peak of 65 mph (100 km/h) on December 8, before weakening the next day. Late on December 9, Irene dissipated about 270 mi (435 km) north of the Lesser Antilles.


1953 Atlantic hurricane season, Storm names
These names were used to name storms during the 1953 season. The list was the same for the 1954 season as well, with only one exception - Gilda, which replaced Gail, to not confuse the name with the term, Gale. Initially, all female names were used; it was not until the 1979 season that male and female names were used in alternating order. Names that were not assigned are marked in gray. All storm names were named for the first time. No names were retired, because the World Meteorological Organization only started to retire storm names in the next year, 1954.


1953 Auburn Tigers football team
The 1953 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1953 college football season. It was the Tigers' 62nd overall and 21st season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan, in his third year, and played their home games at Cliff Hare Stadium in Auburn, the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery and Ladd Memorial Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. They finished with a record of seven wins, three losses and one tie (7–3–1 overall, 4–2–1 in the SEC) and with a loss to Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.


1953 Auburn Tigers football team, Notable players, Vince Dooley
Serving as team captain, Dooley played quarterback and corner back for the 53' Auburn Tigers. Vince completed 25 of 47 passes for a 53.1 completion percentage. This was the best mark by an Auburn signal caller since All-American Travis Tidwell. Dooley was named to the Senior Bowl at the conclusion of the season and was invited to the annual Blue-Gray Game. He was named Offensive MVP after the Gator Bowl.


1953 Auburn Tigers football team, Notable players, Ed Baker
Big Ed was named team co-captain to the 1953 Auburn Tigers. He opened up running lanes for future All-SEC back Fob James and was voted the SEC's "Best Offensive Center" at the conclusion of the regular season.


1953 Auckland City mayoral election
The 1953 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1953, elections were held for the Mayor of Auckland plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.


1953 Auckland City mayoral election, Background
Long serving incumbent mayor John Allum was successfully challenged by former magistrate John Luxford. Allum was the first mayor in the 20th century who had stood for re-election unsuccessfully. Luxford was endorsed by the new United Independents electoral ticket who gained the balance of power between the Labour Party and Citizens & Ratepayers, costing the latter the majority they had held since 1938.


1953 Auckland City mayoral election, Background
A major talking point in the lead up to the election was the potential of a clash with the 1953 Royal Tour. There were proposals to postpone local elections until early 1954 over fears of reduced turnout due to a conflicted schedule. The proposals were considered by the Minister of Internal Affairs William Bodkin, who ultimately decided against it.


1953 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa
The 1953 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa and Rhodesia was a series of 27 rugby union matches played by "Wallabies" in 1953, between June and October.


1953 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa
The test series was won by the Springboks with three test wins to one.


1953 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa, Touring party
Of the team of 30 players, 25 were from Sydney; 1 from Newcastle – Cyril Burke; and 4 from Queensland – Tom Sweeney, Garth Jones, Gavan Horsley and Colin Forbes. The touring party consisted of:


1953 Australian Championships
The 1953 Australian Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor Grass courts at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne, Australia from 9 January to 17 January. It was the 41st edition of the Australian Championships (now known as the Australian Open), the 12th held in Melbourne, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. American Maureen Connolly won the women's singles, the first step towards the first Grand Slam by a woman. Australian Ken Rosewall won the men's singles title.


1953 Australian Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Lew Hoad /  Ken Rosewall defeated  Don Candy /  Mervyn Rose 9–11, 6–4, 10–8, 6–4


1953 Australian Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Maureen Connolly /  Julia Sampson defeated  Mary Bevis Hawton /  Beryl Penrose 6–4, 6–2


1953 Australian Championships, Finals, Mixed Doubles
Julia Sampson /  Rex Hartwig defeated  Maureen Connolly /  Ham Richardson 6–4, 6–3


1953 Australian Championships – Men's Singles
Third-seeded Ken Rosewall defeated Mervyn Rose 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1953 Australian Championships.


1953 Australian Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Ken Rosewall is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1953 Australian Championships – Women's Singles
First-seeded Maureen Connolly defeated Julia Sampson 6-3, 6-2 in the final to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1953 Australian Championships.


1953 Australian Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Maureen Connolly is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1953 Australian Grand Prix
The 1953 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at Albert Park Street Circuit, Victoria on 21 November 1953. The race, which had 40 starters, was held over 64 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a total of 322 kilometres. It was organised by the Light Car Club of Australia and Army Southern Command.


1953 Australian Grand Prix
It was the eighteenth Australian Grand Prix. While much of the Grand Prix's history to this point had taken place on public road or street circuits, this was the first time it had been held on a circuit in a major population centre. The circuit was laid out on public roads surrounding the Albert Park Lake in inner Melbourne.


1953 Australian Grand Prix
The race was won by Doug Whiteford, his third and final Australian Grand Prix victory, equalling the feat achieved by Bill Thompson in the 1930s. It was also the largest margin of victory in the race's history, Whiteford winning by six laps for a margin of 30 kilometres.


1953 Australian Senate election
Half-senate elections were held in Australia on 9 May 1953. 32 of the seats in the Senate were up for election. This was the first time a Senate election had been held without an accompanying election of the House of Representatives. The two election cycles fell out of synchronisation after the 1951 double dissolution. While the term of the House was not due to expire until 1954, a Senate election was due by 1 July 1953.


1953 Australian Senate election
Although the Australian Labor Party won a majority of the contested seats, the Liberal-Country Coalition retained a majority of the overall seats in the upper house.


1953 Austrian legislative election
The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1953 were the first National Council elections after World War II in which the Socialist Party managed to gain a bare plurality of votes, the first time it had won the most votes in an election since 1920. However, the Austrian People's Party retained a one-seat plurality. The grand coalition between the two parties was continued with Julius Raab replacing Leopold Figl as Chancellor of Austria, who had had to resign after facing criticism from his own party, and Adolf Schärf of the Socialist Party remaining Vice Chancellor.


1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident
The 1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident was the shooting down of a British Avro Lincoln four-engined bomber which had intruded into East German airspace during a training mission on 12 March 1953. While the aircraft was flying on the Hamburg-Berlin air corridor over East Germany it was shot down by a MiG 15 Soviet fighter.


1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident, Incident
The Avro Lincoln was operated by the Central Gunnery School at RAF Leconfield and was on a routine long-distance training flight. The aircraft was intercepted by two Soviet MiG 15 fighters and after it failed to respond to challenges it was shot down by the fighters' 23 mm cannon. The Avro Lincoln crashed east of Boizenburg, on the border of the British and Soviet zones, impacting in a wood between Vierkrug and Horst in the Soviet Zone.


1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident, Incident
It was initially reported that six of the seven crew had been killed and one wounded; the wounded airman was one of three who had bailed out, but later died in hospital. German civilians on the ground reported that two British airmen bailed out from the doomed aircraft, only to be strafed and killed by one of the MiG 15s.


1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident, Aftermath
The British government represented by the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Germany protested to the Soviet High Commissioner in Germany against the attack on a British aircraft and death of British servicemen. The Soviet news agency stated that the Lincoln had been flying over the German Democratic Republic and had failed to respond to lawful commands to land at the nearest airfield and had shot at the fighters. The British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden described it as a "barbaric" act.


1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident, Aftermath
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemned the attack in a statement to parliament and emphasised the Avro Lincoln was not armed and within the agreed air corridor. British historian Richard Aldrich claims that while the bomber was not directly involved in airborne intelligence gathering,  "its progress was being carefully tracked by a British 'sigint' unit on the ground at RAF Scharfoldendorf in the British Zone of Germany".


1953 BYU Cougars football team
The 1953 BYU Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Brigham Young University in the Skyline Conference during the 1953 college football season. In their fifth season under head coach Chick Atkinson, the Cougars compiled a 2–7–1 record (1–5–1 against Skyline opponents), tied for seventh in the Skyline, and were outscored by a total of 228 to 172.


1953 BYU Cougars football team
The team's statistical leaders included LaVon Satterfield with 682 yards of total offense (114 rushing, 568 passing), Reed Stolworthy with 473 rushing yards, and Dick Felt with 30 points scored.


1953 Ball State Cardinals football team
The 1953 Ball State Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented Ball State Teachers College (later renamed Ball State University) in the Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) during the 1953 college football season. In its first season under head coach George Serdula, the team compiled a 5–2–1 record.


1953 Baltimore Colts season
The 1953 Baltimore Colts season was officially the first season for the team as a member club of the National Football League. The Colts had a record of 3 wins and 9 losses and finished fifth in the Western Conference.


1953 Baltimore Colts season
In January 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise. Rosenbloom was granted an NFL team, and awarded the holdings of the defunct Dallas Texans organization, the descendant of the last remaining Ohio League founding APFA member Dayton Triangles, who lasted only one season in Dallas. Amongst these assets and players were hall of famers Gino Marchetti and Art Donovan, the nucleus of the group of players that remained from the Texans and carried on the legacy of the original Triangles franchise.


1953 Baltimore Colts season
Despite these definitive connections through the years, what was, and is still recognized as the new team was named the Colts after the unrelated previous team that folded following the 1950 season. The team kept the blue and white color scheme that the Triangles franchise had for much of its existence. Baltimore was without a team in 1951 and 1952.


1953 Baltimore Colts season
The 1953 Colts have the unusual distinction of having a losing record, despite having a league-leading 56 defensive takeaways. Baltimore had a winning record after five games, defeating neighbor Washington before a capacity crowd of over 34,000 at Memorial Stadium, then lost seven straight to finish the season.


1953 Baltimore Colts season
In the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 27, Colts' defensive back Bert Rechichar set an NFL record for the longest field goal (56 yards), breaking the previous unofficial record of 55 yards (set by drop kick by Paddy Driscoll in 1924). It stood for over seventeen years, until Tom Dempsey booted a 63-yarder in 1970.


1953 Baltimore Colts season, Regular season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1953 Barnsley by-election
The Barnsley by-election, 1953 was a by-election held on 31 March 1953 for the British House of Commons constituency of Barnsley in the West Riding of Yorkshire.


1953 Barnsley by-election
The seat had become vacant on the resignation of the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Sidney Schofield, who had represented the constituency since the 1951 general election.


1953 Barnsley by-election
The Labour candidate, Roy Mason, held the seat for his party with a slightly reduced majority. He went on to hold a series of cabinet posts in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1953 followed a radically new procedure. The institution appointed its Committee on Baseball Veterans, the famous "Veterans Committee", to meet in person and consider pioneers and executives, managers, umpires, and earlier major league players. Committees in the 1930s and 1940s had chosen several pioneers and executives, but this was the first direction of anyone's attention to field personnel other than players, the managers and umpires.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The first Veterans Committee met in closed sessions and elected six people: Ed Barrow, Chief Bender, Tommy Connolly, Bill Klem, Bobby Wallace, and Harry Wright. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail, per usual, to select from recent players and elected two, Dizzy Dean and Al Simmons. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 27, 1953, with Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick in attendance.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The 10-year members of the BBWAA had the authority to select any players active in 1928 or later, provided they had not been active in 1952. Voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
A total of 264 ballots were cast in the Baseball Writers Election, with 2,525 individual votes for 83 specific candidates, an average of 9.56 per ballot; 198 votes were required for election. The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; those candidates who were selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The rules at the time indicated that players were eligible if they had been out of baseball for at least one season, so this was Joe DiMaggio's first season of eligibility, as he had retired after the 1951 season.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
By 1953, the Old-Timers Committee had not met for seven years (1946), and had only elected two players by mail, Mordecai Brown and Kid Nichols. They had not elected any non-players since the mass induction of 1945, and no players whose careers had begun before 1890 since the election of 1946.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
In response to this and the Old-Timers Committee members' increasing ages, a new "Committee on Baseball Veterans" (commonly known as the Veterans Committee) was created, consisting of:


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
The first Veterans Committee met in closed sessions and elected six people: Ed Barrow, Chief Bender, Tommy Connolly, Bill Klem, Bobby Wallace, and Harry Wright. Afterwards, the Veterans Committee was limited to two selections per meeting. It was also decided in 1953 that the new Veterans Committee would meet only in odd-numbered years. On July 22, 1956, it was decided that the BBWAA would vote only in even-numbered years.


1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee
Of the 11 members of the Veterans Committee, Charlie Gehringer had already been inducted in the Hall as a player in 1949; Branch Rickey would be inducted as an executive/pioneer in 1967, Will Harridge would be inducted as an executive in 1972, and Warren Giles would be inducted as an executive in 1979. Additionally, J. G. Taylor Spink (1962), Frank Graham (1971) and Warren Brown (1973) would be honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award.


1953 Baylor Bears football team
The 1953 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 1953 college football season. They finished with a 7-3 record in the Southwest Conference for the year. Tackle James Ray Smith was selected as an All American player; Cotton Davidson (Quarterback), Jerry Coody (Halfback) and  Smith were all selected All-Southwest Conference players.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1953 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 21 June 1953 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 4 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used. The 36-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari after he started from second position. His teammate Luigi Villoresi finished second and Maserati driver Onofre Marimón came in third.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
Two weeks after the previous World Championship race, the Dutch Grand Prix, the teams headed to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Ferrari were once again unchanged from the previous race, retaining the lineup of Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina, Luigi Villoresi and Mike Hawthorn, while there were also privateer Ferraris for Louis Rosier and the Ecurie Francorchamps duo of Jacques Swaters and Charles de Tornaco. The Maserati factory team added Johnny Claes and a third Argentine, Onofre Marimón, to their lineup of Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González, while Felice Bonetto missed this race.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
Toulo de Graffenried drove the only privateer Maserati at Spa. Jean Behra, whose injuries prevented his participation at Zandvoort, returned for Gordini alongside Maurice Trintignant, and the American pairing of Harry Schell and Fred Wacker, while HWM called on the services of Paul Frère (as they had done the previous year) in their third car in addition to regulars Peter Collins and Lance Macklin. The field was completed by several privateers—Berger in a Simca-Gordini, Legat in a Veritas and Pilette in a Connaught.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
A record crowd of over 100,000 spectators crammed into the forest track to watch this dramatic race. The Maseratis were definitely capable of matching the Ferraris for sheer speed – Juan Manuel Fangio put in a record-shattering practice lap of 117 mph, breaking Ascari's run of five consecutive pole positions (excluding the Indianapolis 500). The defending World Champion had to settle for second place on the grid this time. The Maserati of González completed the front row, while row two consisted of the Ferraris of Farina and Villoresi.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
On the third row were Marimón in a Maserati, the remaining works Ferrari of Hawthorn, and Trintignant in the leading Gordini. Toulo de Graffenried, in his own Maserati, out-qualified the fourth works Maserati of Johnny Claes, with both starting from row four, while the remaining Gordinis were split between the fifth and sixth rows of the grid.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
At the flag, Fangio waved González past and stunned everyone with another blitzkrieg lap of 110 mph from a standing start. After 11 laps, González had pulled out a full minute's lead, but it had taken its toll on his engine which expired, leaving Fangio half a minute clear. On lap 13, it was the other Argentine's turn to fall prey to engine troubles and so Ascari inherited the lead, initially ahead of Farina, before his race was ended by engine problems, handing second place to Hawthorn, while Marimón and Villoresi were third and fourth, respectively.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
Engine problems for Marimón allowed Villoresi to move up to third on lap 28, and a fuel leak for Hawthorn meant that Villoresi inherited second place on the following lap. Shortly after his own car had retired, Fangio took over Claes's, and made something of a charge through the field: before Fangio retired on lap 14, Claes had been in ninth; by lap 30, Fangio had taken the car to third, behind only Ascari and Villoresi, who took another 1–2 victory. However, Fangio crashed heavily on the final lap of the race, giving his teammate Onofre Marimón his first podium position in the process. The remaining points were taken by the privateer Maserati of de Graffenried and the Gordini of Trintignant, while Hawthorn, in sixth place, just missed out.


1953 Belgian Grand Prix, Race report
Alberto Ascari, who had taken his ninth consecutive World Championship victory (ignoring the Indy 500), already had a large lead in the points standings. He was twelve points ahead of his teammate Villoresi, while Bill Vukovich, who won at Indianapolis, was third. González, who took the fastest lap point for this race, now had seven points, putting him eighteen points behind Ascari, and the remaining Ferraris of Farina and Hawthorn only had six points each.


1953 Bermondsey Borough election
Elections to Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey were held in 1953.


1953 Bermondsey Borough election
The borough had 13 wards which returned between three and five members. Of the 13 wards four of the wards had all candidates elected unopposed. Labour won all the seats, the Conservatives only stood in five wards, the Liberal Party in three wards and an independent in one ward.