1953 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1953 Big Ten Conference football season was the 58th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1953 college football season.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1953 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Clarence Munn, won the Big Ten championship in the program's first year of participating in the Big Ten. The Spartans compiled a 9–1 record and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP and UPI polls. End Don Dohoney was a consensus first-team All-American. Halfback Leroy Bolden was selected as the team's most valuable player.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1953 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Ray Eliot, finished in second place in the Big Ten with a 7–1–1, led the conference with 25.3 points allowed per game, and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll. Halfback J. C. Caroline was a consensus first-team All-American.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season
Minnesota quarterback Paul Giel was a consensus first-team All-American and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Big Ten's most valuable player for the second consecutive year.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Season overview, Results and team statistics
KeyAP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1953 seasonAP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1953 seasonPPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in boldPAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in boldMVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Season overview, Bowl games
On January 1, 1954, Michigan State defeated the UCLA, 28–20, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Michigan State halfback Billy Wells was named the Rose Bowl player of the game. The 1954 Rose Bowl had the first color television "colorcast", viewable on 200 sets across the United States.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Season overview, Post-season developments
Two Big Ten teams changed head coaches between the 1953 and 1954 seasons:


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Awards and honors, All-Big Ten honors
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP)as first-team players on the 1953 All-Big Ten Conference football team.


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Awards and honors, All-American honors
At the end of the 1953 season, Big Ten players secured three of 11 consensus first-team picks for the 1953 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Awards and honors, All-American honors
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, Awards and honors, Other awards
Three Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting for the 1953 Heisman Trophy: Minnesota running back Paul Giel (second); Wisconsin running back Alan Ameche (sixth); and Illinois running back J. C. Caroline (seventh).


1953 Big Ten Conference football season, 1954 NFL Draft
The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1954 NFL Draft:


1953 Birmingham Edgbaston by-election
The Birmingham Edgbaston by-election was held on 2 July 1953. It was held when the incumbent Conservative MP, Peter Bennett was elevated to a hereditary peerage. It was won by the Conservative candidate Edith Pitt.


1953 Bolivian Primera División
The 1953 Bolivian Primera División, the first division of Bolivian football (soccer), was played by 8 teams. The champion was Bolívar.


1953 Boston College Eagles baseball team
The 1953 Boston College Eagles baseball team represented Boston College in the 1953 NCAA baseball season. The Eagles played their home games at Alumni Field. The team was coached by John Temple in his 4th year at Boston College.


1953 Boston College Eagles baseball team
The Eagles won the District II Playoff to advanced to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Lafayette Leopards.


1953 Boston College Eagles football team
The 1953 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College during the 1953 college football season. The Eagles were led by third-year head coach Mike Holovak and played their home games at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.


1953 Boston Red Sox season
The 1953 Boston Red Sox season was the 53rd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 84 wins and 69 losses, 16 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1953 World Series.


1953 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Boston University Terriers football team
The 1953 Boston University Terriers football team was an American football team that represented Boston University as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In its seventh season under head coach Aldo Donelli, the team compiled a 5–3–1 record and outscored by their opponents by a total of 224 to 135.


1953 Bowling Green Falcons football team
The 1953 Bowling Green Falcons football team was an American football team that represented Bowling Green State University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1953 college football season. In their 13th season under head coach Bob Whittaker, the Falcons compiled a 1–8 record (0–4 against MAC opponents), finished in last place in the MAC, and were outscored by all opponents by a combined total of 252 to 119.


1953 Bowling Green Falcons football team
The team's statistical leaders were Bill Bradshaw with 865 passing yards and 236 rushing yards, and Jim Ladd with 473 receiving yards. Ladd was also the team captain. Bill Bradshaw received the team's Most Valuable Player award.


1953 British Columbia general election
The 1953 British Columbia general election was the 24th general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 10, 1953, and held on June 9, 1953. The new legislature met for the first time on September 15, 1953.


1953 British Columbia general election
The minority government formed in 1952 by the conservative Social Credit party of Premier W.A.C. Bennett lasted only nine months before new elections were called. Social Credit was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a second term in government with almost 38% of the popular vote.


1953 British Columbia general election
The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation formed the official opposition with the only significant opposition caucus (14 seats).


1953 British Columbia general election
The British Columbia Liberal Party lost two of its six seats despite maintaining its 23% share of the popular vote.


1953 British Columbia general election
The Progressive Conservative Party lost three of its four seats in the legislature, as its share of the popular vote fell from almost 17% to under 6%.


1953 British Columbia general election, Results
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.


1953 British Grand Prix
The 1953 British Grand Prix was a Formula Two motor race held on 18 July 1953 at Silverstone Circuit. It was race 6 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 90-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari after he started from pole position. Juan Manuel Fangio finished second for the Maserati team and Ascari's teammate Nino Farina came in third.


1953 British Grand Prix, Background
The Ferrari and Maserati lineup was unchanged from the French Grand Prix. Initially three Cooper Mk IIs were entered for Peter Whitehead, Tony Crook and Stirling Moss. However, due to Moss's retirement at the French Grand Prix his car had to be withdrawn.


1953 British Guiana general election
General elections were held in British Guiana on 27 April 1953. They were the first held under universal suffrage and resulted in a victory for the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which won 18 of the 24 seats in the new House of Assembly. Its leader, Cheddi Jagan, became Prime Minister.


1953 British Guiana general election, Electoral system
Constitutional reforms as a result of the Waddington Commission had led to the creation of the House of Assembly to replace the Legislative Council. The new House had 28 members; 24 members elected in single member constituencies, a speaker appointed by the Governor and three ex officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General and the Financial Secretary).


1953 British Guiana general election, Campaign
The PPP ran candidates in 22 of the 24 constituencies, failing to contest the two interior constituencies due to a lack of money. The National Democratic Party contested 15 constituencies and the People's National Party eight. A total of 85 independents, including four United Guiana Party candidates, also contested the elections. The United Workers and Farmers Party did run as a party, but contested some seats as independents.


1953 British Guiana general election, Aftermath
After assuming power Jagan embarked on implementing a series of policies that involved radical social reform, mainly directed at the colonial oligarchy. The British colonial authorities sent in troops in response to the alleged threat of a Marxist revolution. Governor Alfred Savage suspended the constitution in October (only 133 days after it had come into force) and set up a transitional government of conservative politicians, businessmen and civil servants.


1953 British Guiana general election, Aftermath
Writing in The Guardian in 2020, Gaiutra Bahadur said that "the overthrow of Guyana’s ruling party by colonial forces fomented a racial divide that continues to blight its politics", saying that there was a greater crackdown on the Afro-Guyanese than on the Indo-Guyanese, in a deliberate and successful attempt to divide the PPP.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition
The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on 29 May 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition's success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, on the 2nd of June that year.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background
Identified as the highest mountain in the world during the 1850s,Everest became a subject of interest during the Golden age of alpinism, although its height made it questionable if it could ever be climbed. In 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent's Above the Snow Line suggested that an ascent might be possible. Practical considerations (and World War I) prevented significant approaches until the 1920s. George Mallory is quoted as having said he wanted to climb Everest "Because it's there", a phrase that has been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering". Mallory famously disappeared on Everest during the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition and his fate remained a mystery for 75 years.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background
Most early attempts on Everest were made from the north (Tibetan) side, but the Chinese Revolution of 1949, and the subsequent annexation of Tibet led to the closure of that route. Climbers began to look at an approach from the Nepalese side. The 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition, climbing from Nepal, reached an elevation of about 8,595 m (28,199 ft) on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
John Hunt, a British Army Colonel, was serving on the staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe when to his surprise he was invited by the Joint Himalayan Committee of the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society to lead the British Everest expedition of 1953. Eric Shipton had been widely expected to be the leader, because he had led the Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition from Nepal in 1951, as well as the unsuccessful Cho Oyu expedition in 1952, from which expedition most of the climbers selected had been drawn.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
However, the committee had decided that Hunt's experience of military leadership, together with his credentials as a climber, would provide the best chance for expedition to succeed. The British felt under particular pressure, as the French had received permission to mount a similar expedition in 1954, and the Swiss another in 1955, meaning that the British would not have another chance at Everest until 1956 or later. As Shipton wrote of his position presented to the Committee on 28 July 1952: "My well-known dislike of large expeditions and my abhorrence of a competitive element in mountaineering might well seem out of place in the present situation." This statement, according to George Band, "sealed his own fate".


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
Several members of the British expedition had a strong loyalty to Shipton and were unhappy that he had been replaced. Charles Evans, for instance, stated, "It was said that Shipton lacked the killer instinct – not a bad thing to lack in my view." Edmund Hillary was among those most opposed to the change, but he was won over by Hunt's personality and by his admission that the change had been badly handled. George Band recalls Committee member Larry Kirwan, the Director/Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, saying that "they had made the right decision but in the worst possible way".


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
Hunt later wrote that the Joint Himalayan Committee had found the task of raising funds for the expedition challenging:


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
One of the principal tasks of the Joint Himalayan Committee in addition to those of conceiving the idea of an Everest expedition, seeking political sanction, deciding matters of policy in preparation, is to finance it. Only those who have had this care can fully appreciate the work and anxiety of raising very substantial funds for an enterprise of this nature, coloured as it inevitably is in the mind of the public by a succession of failures, with no financial security other than the pockets of the Committee members themselves.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
Initial training took place in Snowdonia in Wales during the winter. The Pen-y-Gwryd hotel was used as a base camp, and the team furthered their mountaineering skills on the slopes of Snowdon and the Glyderau. Testing of the oxygen equipment took place at the Climbers Club Hut at Helyg near Capel Curig.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
The party departed for Nepal from Tilbury, Essex, England aboard the S.S. Stratheden bound for Bombay on 12 February, bar Tom Bourdillon, Dr Griffith Pugh, and Hunt, who was ill with an antrum infection. Evans and Alfred Gregory had flown on ahead to Kathmandu on 20 February, as the Advance Party. Hillary and Lowe approached Nepal from New Zealand, Lowe by sea and Hillary by air, as his "bees were in a busy state at that time of year". Although a sea passage was cheaper, Hunt stated that the main reason for choosing it over an air journey was "the further chance which life in a ship would provide for us to settle down as a team in ideal conditions, accompanied by no discomfort, urgency or stress".


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Background, Leadership, preparations and training
In Kathmandu, the party was looked after by the British ambassador, Christopher Summerhayes, who arranged rooms with embassy staff, there being no hotels in Kathmandu at the time. In early March twenty Sherpas, who had been chosen by the Himalayan Club, arrived in Kathmandu to help carry loads to the Western Cwm and the South Col. They were led by their Sirdar, Tenzing Norgay, who was attempting Everest for the sixth time and was, according to Band, "the best-known Sherpa climber and a mountaineer of world standing". Although Tenzing was offered a bed in the embassy, the remaining Sherpas were expected to sleep on the floor of the embassy garage; they urinated in front of the embassy the following day in protest at the lack of respect they had been shown.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition
The first party, together with 150 porters, left Kathmandu for Mount Everest on 10 March, followed by the second party and 200 porters on 11 March. They reached Thyangboche on 26 and 27 March respectively, and between 26 March and 17 April engaged in altitude acclimation.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition
Hunt planned for three assaults of two climbers each including "a third and last attempt" if necessary, although after two consecutive assaults; a wait for some days would be necessary to "recover our strength" and to replenish the camps. The plan for the first two assaults had been announced by Hunt on 7 May. The first assault party using closed-circuit oxygen equipment was to start from Camp VIII and aim to reach the South Summit (and if possible the Summit), composed of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans as only Bourdillon could cope with the experimental sets. The second assault party using open-circuit oxygen equipment was to be the strongest climbing pair, Ed Hillary and Tenzing Norgay; to start from Camp IX higher on the South Col. The third assault party would have been Wilf Noyce and Mike Ward.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition
If the (spring) expedition failed a post-monsoon autumn attempt would be undertaken (as the Swiss had done in 1952 – permission was for the whole year; although the Swiss arrived too late).


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Base camp
The "Icefall party" reached Base Camp at 17,900 ft (5455 m) on 12 April 1953. A few days were then taken up, as planned, in establishing a route through the Khumbu Icefall, and once this had been opened teams of Sherpas moved tonnes of supplies up to Base.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
A series of advanced camps were created, slowly reaching higher up the mountain. Camp II at 19,400 feet (5,900 m) was established by Hillary, Band and Lowe on 15 April, Camp III at the head of the Icefall at 20,200 feet (6,200 m) on 22 April, and Camp IV the Advance Base at 21,000 feet (6,400 m) by Hunt, Bourdillon and Evans on 1 May. These three made a preliminary reconnaissance of the Lhotse Face on 2 May, and Camp V at 22,000 feet (6,700 m) was established on 3 May.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
On 4 May, Bourdillon and Evans, supported by Ward and Wylie, reached Camp VI at 23,000 feet (7,000 m) on the Lhotse Face, and just under a fortnight later on 17 May, Wilfrid Noyce and Lowe established Camp VII at 24,000 feet (7,300 m). By 21 May, Noyce and the Sherpa Annullu (the younger brother of Da Tenzing) had reached the South Col, just under 26,000 feet (7,900 m).


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
The first of two climbing pairs previously selected by Hunt, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, set out for the summit on 26 May. They successfully made the first ascent of the 8,750 m (28,700 ft) South Summit at 1 pm, coming within 100 m (300 ft) of the final summit. They could see that between the South Summit and the Summit was a thin crest of snow and ice on rock, with a rock step (the Hillary Step).


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
Before starting Evans had a problem with a damaged valve in his oxygen set which took over an hour to fix; then they climbed at the unprecedented rate of almost 1,000 feet (300 m) per hour. At 28,000 feet (8,500 m) feet when they changed soda lime canisters, Evans' set had another problem which Bourdillon could not fix; Evans kept going but his breathing was painfully laboured. They reached the South Summit at 1 pm (at that time the highest summit climbed), but were forced to turn back at 1.20 pm after becoming exhausted, defeated by problems with the closed-circuit oxygen sets and lack of time.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
On 27 May, the expedition made its second assault on the summit with the second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal. Norgay had previously ascended to a record high point on Everest as a member of the Swiss expedition of 1952. They left Camp IX at 6.30 am, reached the South Summit at 9 am, and reached the summit at 11:30 am on 29 May 1953, climbing the South Col route.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, Assault on the summit
Before descending, they remained at the summit long enough to take photographs and to bury some sweets and a small cross in the snow. They were using open-circuit oxygen sets; after ten minutes taking photographs on the summit without his oxygen set on, Hillary said he "was becoming rather clumsy-fingered and slow-moving". On returning from the summit, Hillary's first words to George Lowe were "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off". Stobart got the descending party to give no indication to those like Hunt and Westmacott waiting  an agony of suspense at Advance Base (Camp IV) that Hillary and Tenzing had succeeded until they were close enough for Stobart to catch the emotion of the moment on film.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition, News event
James Morris, the correspondent on the spot of The Times newspaper, heard the news at Base Camp on 30 May and sent a coded message by runner to Namche Bazaar, where a wireless transmitter was used to forward it as a telegram to the British Embassy in Kathmandu. Morris' encoded message to his paper read: "Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement". "Snow conditions bad" was the agreed code to signify that the summit had been reached; "advance base abandoned" referred to Hillary and "awaiting improvement" referred to Tenzing. The message was received and understood in London in time for the news to be released, by coincidence, on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on 2 June. The conquest of Everest was probably the last major news item to be delivered to the world by runner.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, the expedition learned that Hillary had already been appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of British Empire and Hunt a Knight Bachelor for their efforts. On 22 June, the Government of Nepal gave a reception for the members of the expedition at which the senior queen of the country presented Tenzing with a purse of ten thousand rupees, which was then about £500. Hillary and Hunt were given kukris in jewelled sheaths, while the other members received jewelled caskets.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
The same day, the Indian government announced the creation of a new Gold Medal, an award for civilian gallantry modelled on the George Medal, of which Hunt, Hillary and Tenzing would be the first recipients. On 7 June it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II wished to recognise the achievement of Tenzing, and on 1 July, 10 Downing Street announced that following consultation with the governments of India and Nepal the Queen had approved the award of the George Medal to him.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
Some commentators have seen this lesser honour as a reflection of the "petty bigotry" that men such as Norgay experienced during this period, although many other Indians and Nepalis had previously received knighthoods and it has been suggested that the Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, refused permission for Norgay to be knighted. Hunt received his knighthood in July 1953, on his return to London.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
Further honours continued to descend on the members of the expedition: the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society, which had never before been awarded on a team basis, although individual medals were struck in bronze for Hunt, Hillary and Tenzing; the Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society, the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society; the Lawrence Medal of the Royal Central Asian Society; and honorary degrees from the universities of Aberdeen, Durham, and London. In the New Year Honours list of 1954, George Lowe was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his membership of the expedition; the 37 team members also received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal with MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION engraved on the rim.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
The expedition's cameraman, Tom Stobart, produced a film called The Conquest of Everest, which appeared later in 1953  and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
Although Hillary and Tenzing represented their triumph as belonging to a team effort by the whole of the expedition, there was intense speculation as to which of the two men had actually been first to set foot on the summit of Everest. In Kathmandu, a large banner depicted Tenzing pulling a "semi-conscious" Hillary to the summit. Tenzing eventually ended the speculation by revealing in his 1955 (ghost-written) autobiography Man of Everest that Hillary was first. After this Hillary himself wrote that following his ascent of the 40-foot Hillary Step, lying just below the summit:


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
I continued on, cutting steadily and surmounting bump after bump and cornice after cornice looking eagerly for the summit. It seemed impossible to pick it and time was running out. Finally I cut around the back of an extra large lump and then on a tight rope from Tenzing I climbed up a gentle snow ridge to its top. Immediately it was obvious that we had reached our objective. It was 11.30 a.m. and we were on top of Everest!


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Aftermath
Shipton commented on the successful ascent: "Thank goodness. Now we can get on with some proper climbing."


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition participants
The expedition participants were selected for their mountaineering qualifications and also for their expertise in providing a number of other necessary skills and support services. While most were from the United Kingdom itself, they were also drawn from other countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations. The leader, Hunt, had been born in India.


1953 British Mount Everest expedition, Expedition participants
The mountaineers were accompanied by Jan Morris (known at the time under the name of James Morris), the correspondent of The Times newspaper of London, and by 362 porters, so that the expedition in the end amounted to over four hundred men, including twenty Sherpa guides from Tibet and Nepal, with a total weight of ten thousand pounds of baggage.


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season
The 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers repeated as National League champions by posting a 105–49 record. However, Brooklyn again failed to capture the World Series, losing in six games to the American League champion New York Yankees.


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season
The Dodgers' .682 winning percentage in 1953 stood as the best single-season winning percentage in franchise history until 2020, when the Dodgers posted a .717 mark (43–17) during a shortened 60-game season.


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, 1953 World Series, Game 3
October 2, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, 1953 World Series, Game 4
October 3, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


1953 Brooklyn Dodgers season, 1953 World Series, Game 5
October 4, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


1953 Brown Bears football team
The 1953 Brown Bears football team was an American football team that represented Brown University as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In their third season under head coach Alva Kelley, the Bears compiled a 3–5–1 record, but outscored their opponents 134 to 127. G.E. Haverty was the team captain. Brown played its home games at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.


1953 Brownlow Medal
The 1953 Brownlow Medal was the 26th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Victorian Football League (VFL) home and away season. Bill Hutchison of the Essendon Football Club won the medal by polling twenty-six votes during the 1953 VFL season.


1953 Broxtowe by-election
The Broxtowe by-election was held on 17 September 1953. It was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour MP Seymour Cocks. It was won by the Labour candidate William Warbey.


1953 Bucknell Bison football team
The 1953 Bucknell Bison football team was an American football team that represented Bucknell University as an independent during the 1953 college football season.


1953 Bucknell Bison football team
In its seventh season under head coach Harry Lawrence, the team compiled a 1–8 record. Paul Ganz, Bill Gray and Jim Egloff were the team captains.


1953 Bucknell Bison football team
The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.


1953 Buenos Aires Grand Prix
Results from the 1953 Formula Libre Buenos Aires Grand Prix, held on February 1, 1953, at the Autódromo Juan y Óscar Gálvez in Buenos Aires.


1953 Buffalo Bulls football team
The 1953 Buffalo Bulls football team was an American football team that represented the University of Buffalo as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In its second season under head coach Fritz Febel, the team compiled a 1–5–1 record. The team played its home games at Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York.


1953 Bulgarian Cup
The 1953 Bulgarian Cup was the 13th season of the Bulgarian Cup (in this period the tournament was named Cup of the Soviet Army). Lokomotiv Sofia won the competition, beating Levski Sofia 2–1 in the final at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.


1953 Bulgarian Cup Final
The 1953 Bulgarian Cup Final was the 13th final of the Bulgarian Cup (in this period the tournament was named Cup of the Soviet Army), and was contested between Lokomotiv Sofia and Levski Sofia on 25 November 1953 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. Lokomotiv won the final 2–1, claiming their second national cup title.


1953 Bulgarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 20 December 1953. Voters were presented with a single list from the Fatherland Front, dominated by the Bulgarian Communist Party. As the Fatherland Front was the only organisation to contest the election and all candidate lists had to be approved by the Front (per an electoral law adopted in 1953), voters only had the option of voting for or against the Front list. Only 0.2% of vote were cast against the Front. Voter turnout was reportedly 99.5%.


1953 CCCF Championship
The 1953 CCCF Championship was a tournament sanctioned by the Confederacion Centroamericana y del Caribe de Futbol (Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean), the governing body of football (soccer) in Central America and the nations in the Caribbean prior to 1961, when it was replaced by CONCACAF.


1953 CCCF Championship
Following are the results of the Final Group of the 1953 CCCF Championship, which was hosted by Costa Rica.


1953 Cal Aggies football team
The 1953 Cal Aggies football team represented the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture in the 1953 college football season. The team was known as either the Cal Aggies or California Aggies, and competed in the Far Western Conference (FWC).


1953 Cal Aggies football team
The Aggies were led by fifth-year head coach Ted Forbes. They played home games at Aggie Field. The Aggies finished the season with a record of one win, six losses and one tie (1–6–1, 0–1–1 FWC). They were outscored by their opponents 71–147 for the 1953 season.


1953 Cal Aggies football team, NFL Draft
No Cal Aggies players were selected in the 1954 NFL Draft.


1953 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
The 1953 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University during the 1953 college football season. Cal Poly competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).


1953 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
The team was led by fourth-year head coach LeRoy Hughes and played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California. They finished the season as champions of the CCAA for the second straight year, undefeated, with a record of nine wins and zero losses (9–0, 5–0 CCAA). The Mustangs were dominant in every game, scoring 395 points while giving up only 65 in the 1953 season.


1953 Cal Poly San Dimas Broncos football team
The 1953 Cal Poly San Dimas Broncos football team represented Cal Poly Voorhis Unit during the 1953 college football season. Cal Poly played as an independent in 1953.


1953 Cal Poly San Dimas Broncos football team
Cal Poly San Dimas was led by first-year head coach Staley Pitts. The Broncos finished the season with a record of two wins and six losses (2–6). Overall, the team was outscored by its opponents 71–179 for the season.


1953 Cal Poly San Dimas Broncos football team, Team players in the NFL
No Cal Poly San Dimas players were selected in the 1954 NFL Draft.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election
In 1953, a by-election was held for the Calcutta South East seat in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament of India). The by-election was called after the death of the incumbent parliamentarian from Calcutta South East, Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee. The election saw the internationally renowned barrister Radhabinod Pal defeated by a young communist barrister Sadhan Gupta.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Background
In the 1951–1952 Indian parliamentary election the Calcutta South East seat had been won by the Bharatiya Jan Sangh leader Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee. But a by-election was called in 1953 to fill the vacancy after Mukherjee died. Mukherjee, a right-wing nationalist hardliner on the Kashmir conflict, had been detained in June 1953 whilst trying to enter Kashmir. Whilst detained he suffered a heart attack and died.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Background
Due to the dramatic circumstances of Mukherjee's death and the complexity of the Calcutta politics (whilst the constituency was seen as a Congress stronghold it had also elected a Bharatiya Jan Sabha MP as well as communist members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly) the by-poll caught attention in national politics.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates
Four candidates contested the by-poll, all fielded by national political parties.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates, Indian National Congress
Ahead of the by-poll, the Indian National Congress contacted Radhabinod Pal to convince him to stand as their candidate. Notably Pal had been a long-time associate of Mukherjee and sharp critic of the Congress Party. Reportedly, Pal initially rejected the offer but was later convinced. Pal's conditions for accepting the candidacy included a promise that Pal neither would have to campaign for himself in any major extent nor spend any money of his own on the campaign. Pal, who was a prominent jurist, served in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and was in Japan between 26 September and 7 November 1953. Considering Pal's recognition as a jurist, the newspaper Ananda Bazaar Patrika expected that Pal would emerge victorious in the by-poll.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates, Communist Party of India
Pal's main challenger was another barrister. Whilst Pal was a senior jurist with international recognition, his opponent was a young lawyer linked to the labour movement. Sadhan Gupta had positioned himself in the legal community through the 1945 case "Emperor vs Shibnath Banerjee" and represented many persons affected by preventive detentions. Gupta, who was blind, stood on a Communist Party of India ticket. His father was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly at the time, representing the Indian National Congress.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates, Communist Party of India
The CPI election campaign highlighted Pal's sudden shift in political affiliation, reminding voters that Pal used to be an opponent of the Congress government.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates, Bharatiya Jan Sangh
Dr. Mukherjee's party fielded Jasho Prakash Mitter as its candidate. A Bengali Hindu refugee from the Partition of India, Mitter was a prominent barrister in Calcutta. He had represented the British Crown in the 1930s Meerut Conspiracy Case. He had also defended accused at the Red Fort trial. At the time of the by-poll Mitter was the president of the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Minorities, a body with links to the Hindu Mahasabha. The organisation called for carving out a separate territory for Hindus in East Pakistan and was organising a paramilitary body amongst Hindu refugees.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Candidates, Forward Bloc (Marxist Group)
Another party in the fray was the Forward Bloc (Marxist Group). The FB(MG) candidate Dr. Bhupal Bose was supported by sectors of the non-communist left. Bose was a veteran revolutionary leader and former prisoner at the Andaman jail. However, within the FB(MG) there was a sector (including leaders such as Satyapriya Banerjee, Amar Bose, Suhrid Mallick Chowdhury and Ram Chatterjee) that argued in favour of support to the CPI candidate. During the election campaign they worked for the CPI candidate rather than the one nominated by the FB(MG). The by-poll provoked a split in the party as the Working Committee of the party expelled the pro-communist group. The expelled group later formed the Marxist Forward Bloc in April the following year.


1953 Calcutta South East by-election, Results
The vote was held on 22 November 1953. A by-election was held on the same day in another West Bengal Lok Sabha seat, Nabadwip. The result from the Calcutta South East by-poll was published on 27 November 1953. Gupta won the election, having received 58,211 votes (58.21%). Pal finished in second place with 36,319 votes (36.31%), J.P. Mitter of Bharatiya Jan Sangh obtained 5,431 votes (5.43%) and Bhupal Bose of the Forward Bloc (Marxist Group) got 5,415 votes (5.41%). Bose and Mitter forfeited their deposits.


1953 Calgary Stampeders season
The 1953 Calgary Stampeders finished in 4th place in the W.I.F.U. with a 3–12–1 record and failed to make the playoffs.


1953 California Golden Bears football team
The 1953 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 1953 college football season. Under head coach Pappy Waldorf, the team compiled an overall record of 4–4–2 and 2–2–2 in conference.


1953 California Golden Bears football team
The 1953 season is partially associated with a recruiting scandal involving star freshman quarterback Ronnie Knox. In order to have Knox enroll at the university, the California football booster club promised him that Knox's step father to be hired as a scout, his high school coach would be hired as an assistant coach, and that Knox himself would be given a job writing for a local newspaper and also be paid $500 per year by the booster club. Knox enrolled at Cal but California's administration found out and made sure that the benefits would not be provided. After one year at Cal, Knox transferred to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).


1953 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby
The Campeonato Argentino de Rugby 1953 was won by the selection of Capital that beat in the final the selection of Buenos Aires Province ("Provincia"). There were the debuts of the selection of Rio Cuarto and San Juan


1953 Campeonato Carioca
The 1953 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on July 11, 1953 and ended on January 20, 1954. It was organized by FMF (Federação Metropolitana de Futebol, or Metropolitan Football Federation). Twelve teams participated. Flamengo won the title for the 11th time. no teams were relegated.


1953 Campeonato Paulista
The 1953 Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão, organized by the Federação Paulista de Futebol, was the 52nd season of São Paulo's top professional football league. São Paulo won the title for the 7th time. Nacional and Portuguesa Santista were relegated and the top scorer was Palmeiras's Humberto Tozzi with 22 goals.


1953 Campeonato Paulista, Championship
The championship was disputed in a double-round robin system, with the team with the most points winning the title and the two teams with the fewest points being relegated.


1953 Campeonato Profesional
The 1953 Campeonato Profesional was the sixth season of Colombia's top-flight football league. Twelve teams compete against one another and played each weekend. The tournament was notable for being the fifth and last year of El Dorado. Millonarios won the league for the fourth time in its history and for the third time in a row after getting 35 points.


1953 Campeonato Profesional, Background
The tournament was the fifth year of El Dorado, after the DIMAYOR agreed the Pacto de Lima with the FIFA, with the requirement that the foreign players would return to their countries the next year.


1953 Campeonato Profesional, Background
Twelve teams competed in the tournament, three fewer than the previous year: Deportivo Manizales and Universidad were dissolved, while América de Cali and Independiente Medellín were bankrupt and did not join. Deportivo Samarios was refounded as Unión Magdalena. Millonarios won the championship for the third consecutive time, getting their fourth league title.


1953 Campeonato Profesional, League system
Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal difference. The team with the most points is the champion of the league.


1953 Canada Cup
The 1953 Canada Cup took place June 2–3 at the Beaconsfield Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the first Canada Cup event, which became the World Cup in 1967. The tournament was a 36-hole stroke play team event with 7 teams. Each team consisted of two players from a country, except that South African Bobby Locke and Englishman Harry Weetman played as a team. The combined score of each team determined the team results. Play was in pairs, two players from different countries. The Argentine team of Antonio Cerdá and Roberto De Vicenzo won by ten strokes over the Canadian team of Bill Kerr and Stan Leonard. Antonio Cerdá had the lowest individual score. The tournament was sponsored by John Jay Hopkins.


1953 Canada Cup
The second Hopkins Trophy match between the United States and Canada was played on the same course from June 5–7. This match was also sponsored by Hopkins and resulted in a 27–18 win for the American team. Bobby Locke and Peter Thomson played for the Canadian team.


1953 Canada Cup, Scores
The leading individual scores were 140 by Antonio Cerdá and 144 by Stan Leonard.


1953 Canadian federal election
The 1953 Canadian federal election was held on August 10, 1953 to elect members  of the House of Commons of Canada of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent led his Liberal Party of Canada to its fifth consecutive majority government, although the party lost seats to the other parties.


1953 Canadian federal election
The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario, George Drew, formed the official opposition. However, for the last time until 1993, the party was unable to win the popular vote in any of Canada's provinces or territories.


1953 Canadian federal election, National results
* - not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election


1953 Cannes Film Festival
The 6th Cannes Film Festival was held from 15 to 29 April  1953. The Grand Prix of the Festival went to The Wages of Fear by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The festival opened with Horizons sans fin by Jean Dréville.


1953 Cannes Film Festival
During the opening ceremony, Walt Disney was awarded the "Legion of Honour" from the hands of Monsieur Hugues, Minister of Information.


1953 Cannes Film Festival, Jury
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1953 competition:


1953 Cannes Film Festival, Short film competition
The following short films competed for the Short Film Grand Prix:


1953 Canterbury by-election
The Canterbury by-election was held on 12 February 1953. It was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, Baker White. The by-election was won by the Conservative candidate Leslie Thomas.


1953 Caribbean Series
The fifth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1953. It was held from February 20 through February 25, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Leones de la Habana; Panama, Chesterfield Smokers; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio del Cerro in Havana, the Cuban capital.


1953 Caribbean Series, Summary
Puerto Rico finished undefeated and won the title by going 6-0, outscoring their opponents 50 to 23. The Santurce club, who hit a collective .367 batting average and committed only two errors, was led by right fielder and Series MVP Willard Brown, who enjoyed one of the most productive offensive in tournament's history. Brown led the hitters in home runs (4), RBI (13), runs (8), doubles (3) and SLG (1,042), while hitting .417 (10-for-24). The pitching staff was anchored by Bobo Holloman (2-0), Cot Deal (2-0, one save) and Rubén Gómez (1-0, one save).


1953 Caribbean Series, Summary
In addition to Brown, shortstop/manager Buster Clarkson (.467 BA), 2B Jim Gilliam (.545, two HR), RF Bob Thurman (.474, .684 SLG) and 3B Víctor Pellot Power (.385, one HR) also contributed to the attack. Other players for Puerto Rico included CF Luis (Canena) Márquez, P José (Pantalones) Santiago and catchers Joe Montalvo and Valmy Thomas.


1953 Caribbean Series, Summary
The Cuban team, who many considered a favorite before the start of the event, wasted home-field advantage and a solid lineup managed by Mike González to end in second place with a 3-3 record. The Habana team was led by RF Pedro Formental, who posted a .560 mark to clinch the batting title. Other contributions came from 1B Bert Haas (.360, two HR, .600 SLG) and 3B Lou Klein (.316, one HR, .579 SLG). Pitchers Bob Alexander and Mario Picone collected wins, while Carlos (Patato) Pascual  dropped two of three decisions. Cuba included LF Sandy Amorós, 2B Spider Jorgensen,  CF Bob Usher, P Adrián Zabala, and catchers Andrés Fleitas and Dick Rand, between others.


1953 Caribbean Series, Summary
Panama was managed by Stanford Graham and finished 2-4 in third place. The Panamanian squad got fine work of CF Nat Peeples (.400, .733 SLG), as well as pitchers Humberto Robinson (1-0) and Pat Scantlebury (1-1, 11 strikeouts in three games). The team also featured players as IFs Frank Austin and Joe Tuminelli, C León Kellman, and OFs Bobby Prescott and Dave Roberts. Collectively, Chesterfield scored the fewest runs (18) and committed the most errors (10) in the Series.


1953 Caribbean Series, Summary
Venezuela, with Martín Dihigo at the helm, finished in last place with a 1-5 record. The Caracas lone victory came from Charlie Bishop, who pitched a one-hit shutout in Game 5. Among others were Ps Jay Heard, Dick Starr, Lenny Yochim and Luis Zuloaga; C Guillermo Vento;  IFs Chico Carrasquel, Pompeyo Davalillo, Piper Davis and Hank Schenz, as well as OFs Dalmiro Finol, Lloyd Gearhart, Milt Nielsen and Gale Wade.


1953 Carrera Panamericana
The 1953 Carrera Panamericana was the fourth running of the Carrera Panamericana Mexican sports car racing event, and the first edition as a part of the World Sportscar Championship. The race took place from 19–23 November, and was run from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, over 8 stages and 3,077 kilometres (1,912 mi). 182 cars started the race, and 60 finished all 8 stages.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Pre-race
For the 1953 race, the existing Sports and Stock classes were both subdivided into Large and Small groups, giving four categories in which to compete. These were split by engine capacity; sports cars were divided under and over 1600 cc (98 ci), and stock cars under and over 3500 cc (213.5 ci). This was to accommodate the huge number of participants and the diverse breeds of cars within the race.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Pre-race
Going into the race, Ferrari had a slender championship lead of just two points over Jaguar. Although neither manufacturer had sent work entries to Mexico, the title could still be snatched by the Coventry marque, despite the Italian marque having more cars in the event.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Race
Both Lancia and Lincoln came to the race highly organized and both factories swept 1–2–3 finishes in their respective categories. The Europeans dominated the sports categories, and the Americans the stock. Large Sports Cars was won by Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina and Gino Bronzoni of Italy in a Lancia D24 Pinin Farina, Small Sports Cars by José Herrarte Ariano and Carlos González from Guatemala in a Porsche 550 Coupé.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Race
Large Stock Cars was won by Chuck Stevenson and Clay Smith of the United States in a Lincoln Capri and Small Stock Cars by C.D. Evans and Walter Krause, Jr., also of the U.S., in a six-cylinder Chevrolet 210. Stevenson has the distinction of being the only person to ever win twice in the original race.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Race
The race was marred by the death of a number of competitors. The co-driver and pacenote systems championed by the Mercedes-Benz teams of the previous year were vindicated by the failure of an alternative system used by some other works drivers, notably those of Lancia. During pre-race runs of the route at much safer speeds, Felice Bonetto and Piero Taruffi, winner of the 1951 edition of the race, painted warning signals on the road to remind themselves of particular hazards. This resulted in the death of Bonetto who, leading the race under pressure from Taruffi, missed his own warning signs. Entering the village of Silao, he encountered rough pavement at excessive speed and impacted a building, killing him instantly.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Race
As a result of Guido Mancini and Fabrizio Serena di Lapigio finishing in fourth place, in their Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta, they secured three points for Ferrari, thereby increasing the Maranello marque points lead over Jaguar, giving them the 1953 World Championship for Manufacturer title.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Race
The race was held over eight stages over a total distance of 1,912 miles. Fangio and Bronzoni won in their works-entered Lancia D24 Pinin Farina. The pair finished the race in 18 hours and 11 minutes, averaging 169.221 kilometres per hour (105.149 mph). Second place went to their teammates, Piero Taruffi and Luigi Maggio, in their D24, just 7:51 minutes behind. The podium was complete by another of the Scuderia Lancia cars that of Eugenio Castellotti, with his co-driver, Carlo Luoni, in their Lancia D23, over 6:01 minutes adrift.


1953 Carrera Panamericana, Standings after the race
Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.


1953 Central Michigan Chippewas football team
The 1953 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan College of Education, renamed Central Michigan University in 1959, in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1953 college football season. In their third season under head coach Kenneth "Bill" Kelly, the Chippewas compiled a 7–1–1 record (5–0–1 against IIAC opponents), won the IIAC championship, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 244 to 129.


1953 Central Michigan Chippewas football team
The team's statistical leaders included Lornie Kerr with 327 passing yards, Chuck Miller with 938 rushing yards, and Jim Podoley with 186 receiving yards. Miller received the team's most valuable player award and also received the IIAC most valuable player award. Four Central Michigan players (Miller, tackle Ken Barron, guard Jack Clary, and center Dick Kackmeister) received first-team honors on the All-IIAC team.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal
The Hartal 1953 (Sinhala: 1953 වර්ජනය, romanized: Varjanaya) was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 12 August 1953. It was organized to protest of the policies and actions of the incumbent United National Party government. It was the first mass political action in Ceylon and the first major social crisis after independence. This event is of historical significance because it was the first people's struggle against an elected government in the country.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal
Led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and other leftist parties who called on the public to resist the government and demonstrate civil disobedience and strikes, the hartal was primarily a protest of the labouring class, and as such there were no exclusions based upon caste, ethnicity or religion. The protests saw much sabotage and destruction to public infrastructure, as a means of frightening and halting the government. This occurred mainly in the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces as well as other minor protests around the rest of the island. The demonstrations lasted only a day with at least 10 people killed, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background
In 1948 Ceylon had gained independence becoming a Dominion, and Don Stephen Senanayake becoming the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. In March 1952 Senanayake died which began a violent tussle between his son Dudley Senanayake and his nephew John Kotelawala for his succession. The Governor General at the time Lord Soulbury arbitrated in favour of his son. In the General Elections held in May later that year, Dudley Senanayake's United National Party (UNP) secured a majority in Parliament giving him the premiership. However the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), and others, complained about irregularities that took place during the election and felt it had lost the most during it.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Economic crisis
The people had been accustomed to there being a subsidy on rice, which was the staple diet of the island. Dating back from the rationing during World War II, the rice subsidy was issued for ration cards and over the 1940s had become a basis for the sustenance of the local population. The United National Party had promised in the 1952 election campaign to maintain the rice prices at 25 cents a measure. Soon after the election the government faced a sudden economic crisis.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Economic crisis
In July 1952 the food subsidies were running at the rate of 300 million rupees, which was a third of the estimated revenue in the planned budget for the coming year. Ceylon was depended heavily on rice exports and the global price of rice increased because of the Korean War. R. G. Senanayake, Minister of Trade and Commerce negotiated the Ceylon-China Rubber-Rice Pact, a barter systems which allowed Ceylon to trade its rubber for rice from the People's Republic of China without effecting its foreign reserves.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Economic crisis
Although the pact was opposed by J. R. Jayewardene, Finance Minister who was pro-United States which was engaged in bitter fighting with the People's Republic of China in the Korean War, pact came into effect. It did not help the government's financial position, with its trade surplus of 345 million rupees in 1951 turning into a trade deficit of 200 million rupees in 1952.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Social welfare cuts and the price of rice
On this backdrop, the government outlined its policy to cut down on food subsidy as it stated that continuing it would ruin the country in its Throne Speech on 7 July 1953. It proposed abolished the subsidy on rice, making the ration cards called the Hal potha (rice book) obsolete. This effectively increased the price of rice from 25 cents to 70 cents per measure with effect from 20 July. The price of sugar increased. Other social welfare measures were cut down to save government expenditure. Alter on 10 July the free mid-day meal for school children was withdrawn, postal fees and rail fares were increased.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Budget day
The proposed cuts to social welfare measures, especially the increase in rice prices were met with strong public outcry. All political parties in the opposition agitated against these measures. J. R. Jayewardene as Finance Minister in the afternoon of 23 July 1953, presented the fifth budget to parliament. A large public gathering was organized at Galle Face Green by opposition parties, presided over by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Leader of the Opposition. Leaders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party of Ceylon made speeches condemning government policy.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Background, Budget day
A segment of supporters and workers, who attended the meeting, marched towards the Parliament screaming and gesticulating, in an attempt to storm the House. The Police baton charged and tear gassed the unruly crowds. Small groups left a trail of hooliganism: damaged public property, stoned buses, an indication of the nastiest to come, as the leaders called a hartal on August 12. Shortly a strick was called in the Colombo harbor.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Call to action
All political parties in the Opposition agitated against these measures brought on by the government, but only the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (CP-VLSSP) United Front and the Federal Party called for resistance. The Sri Lankan leftist parties led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) called for the hartal, mobilizing the masses to resist the direct attack on their standard of living. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC) supported protests against the elimination of the rice subsidy, but did not support a hartal.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Call to action
The Communist Party of Ceylon (CPC), who gained a seat in the 1952 elections, together with their allied party the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP), also gave verbal supported to the idea of hartal, but there is disagreement about how much they participated. The more than doubling of the cost of rice was the main reason for the organizers of the hartal.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Call to action
The lefties parties took to agitating the working masses, with "factory gate meetings" and village level meetings in the rural areas. The two main private print-media of the day Times of Ceylon and the Lake House group, along with the state owned Radio Ceylon reported on pro-government and anti-hartal propaganda. The leftist countered with the publication of special hartal editions of weekly news sheets.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
12 August 1953 saw the start of planned civil disobedience, strikes and demonstrations held throughout Ceylon, launched by the main non-communal trade unions, 90% of which were controlled by the leftist parties. However participation of employees of the health sector were discouraged knowing that it could affect the innocent patients. The main complaint was the proposed elimination of the subsidy on rice, but it also included the disenfranchisement of Tamils in the 1952 election as well as other election irregularities. Some commentators suggest that the hartal only occurred in one-third of the country.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
The most civil disobedience acts on 12 August took place in certain localities along the western and south-western seaboard, e.g., Maharagama, Boralesgamuwa, Gangodawila, Kirillapone, Egoda Uyana, Katukurunda, Koralawella, Waskaduwa, Karandeniya, Dompe, Akurala, Totagamuwa, Hikkaduwa, and Ragama, where there were widespread riots and extensive damage to communications and transportation facilities. Some of the damage was deliberate anti-government sabotage. In Kochchikade, police opened fire killing two persons who were preventing buses operating. In Panadura, railway wagons carrying fuel were set on fire. In Peradeniya university students clashed with police. San Sebastian saw police coming under attack by protesters.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
Because of the disenfranchisement of Tamils, the Jaffna Peninsula in particular participated fully in the work-stoppage, although there was no noteworthy violence reported. There were also widespread demonstrations in the 24 divisions of the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces in which the Emergency Regulations were longest maintained.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
These areas consist of the Alutkuru Korale South, Meda Pattuwa, Adikari Pattuwa, Siyane Korale, Alutgam and Panawal Korales, Colombo Mudaliyars' Division, Salpiti Korale, Panadura Totamune, Kalutara Totamune, Bentota Walalawiti Korale, Wellaboda Pattu, Colombo Municipal area, and the Urban Council areas of Avissawella, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Gampaha, Ja-Ela, Kolonnawa, Kotte, Wattala-Mabola-Peliyagoda, Beruwala, Kalutara, Panadura and Ambalangoda. The hartal was primarily a protest of the labouring class, and as such there were no exclusions based upon caste, ethnicity or religion, even the Roman Catholics participated, notably in the Negombo, Wennappuwa and Ragama areas.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
Acts of sabotage occurred throughout the country. For instance on the railways the rails and fish plates were removed. In Waskaduwa the rails with the sleepers were torn up for over a mile, and the telegraph posts toppled over along the whole stretch. In Totagamuwa, the wooden sleepers were set on fire which warped the rails. In numerous places telephone and telegraph wires were cut. In Egoda Uyana, the demonstrators invaded the station, captured a train and uncoupled the engine so that the train could not leave.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Initial events
Buses particularly those of the Gamini Bus Co. Ltd. and the High Level Road Bus Co. Ltd. were stopped, stoned and smashed by the demonstrators. The principal bus routes were blocked with trees and other barriers so that military escorts were required. Bridges had their planks removed and in a few cases were dynamited.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Government response
With major civil unrest throughout the island and appearance of breakdown of law and order, the police struggled to bring the situation under control due to the sheer numbers of the crowds and rioters. The government panicked, and the Cabinet of Ministers boarded HMS Newfoundland, a light cruiser of the Royal Navy that was in the Colombo harbour. There they had several sessions, including sessions with senior offices of the police and the armed forces. The Sir Oliver Gunathilaka, Governor General in-consultation with Prime Minister Senanayake placed the country under provincial emergency regulations. The armed forces were deployed to assist the police to bring the situation under control. Senanayake took ill, and Gunathilaka took command of the security forces from the Queen's House. The army began to suppress riots and hartal was eventually stopped.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Government response
The hartal was scheduled for only one day, but in some cases the crowds were so worked up that they continued until the morning of the 13th. Shaun Goonewardene held that there was no intent to continue the demonstrations after the 12th, while Edmund Samarakkody suggested that the demonstrators were ready to go on only if the leadership had given them a signal.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Hartal, Government response
In many areas the police and demonstrators clashed and at least ten people were killed.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Immediate outcome
Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake was badly affected by the crisis, having taken gravely ill at the height of the Hartal. He resigned as Prime Minister on the 12 October 1953 on health grounds, leaving politics and the public limelight. The United National Party remained in control of the government, while Colonel Sir John Kotelawala took over as Prime Minister. The rice subsidy was partially restored, and various foreign policy initiatives were undertaken to brighten Ceylon's image abroad, including entry into the United Nations in 1955.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Immediate outcome
The hartal would eventually shake the apparent invincibility of the UNP government which would go on to lose the 1956 elections to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who contested under the "Sinhala only" slogan. Dudley Senanayake return to politics and went on to serve as Prime Minister on two other occasions, for four months in 1960, and a full term from 1965–70.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Long-term effects
The 1953 hartal is of course, the central event of its history to which Sri Lanka's Old Left looks back with heroic nostalgia. For many years Hartal Day was an occasion for rousing speeches by the Left. It was an application of the classic Marxist thesis of the general strike but those who called the hartal never intended to take it beyond that stage, whereas in the Marxist playbook a general strike ought to lead to the overthrow of the government in power.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Long-term effects
But still nursing gradualist illusions of ultimately seeking parliamentary power the LSSP leaders primarily did not envisage anything like such a scenario. In retrospect it has become the traditional wisdom to say that it was not the Old Left but the SLFP which benefited from the hartal in the form of the popular upsurge of 1956 which felled the UNP and brought S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to power as prime minister.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Long-term effects
While those who later broke away from the LSSP have all complained in varying degrees of the LSSP's failure to mobilize after the hartal for a bigger onslaught against the state, the party's official historian Leslie Goonewardene offers this explanation: "Most important of all, it was the considered view of the LSSP (as well as we believe of the VLSSP-CP United Front) that the mass movement had reached only a stage of protest against the actions of the Government in imposing the burdens it did on the masses, and not at a stage where it was aiming at the overthrow of the Government".


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Long-term effects
Dr. Colvin R. de Silva had identified 1953 Hartal as a class struggle. The long-term effect was for politicians in Ceylon, and then Sri Lanka, to recognize that the laboring classes had power, and that in turn increased the coercive effect and hence political power of trade unions.


1953 Ceylonese Hartal, Aftermath, Long-term effects
Nearly two decades later, a leftist youth armed revolt took a SLFP government lead by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's widow Sirima Bandaranaike, who had leftist parties in its cabinet. Ironically Bandaranaike received aid from the west and the Soviet Union to crush the insurrection with brutal force.


1953 Challenge Cup
The 1952–53 Challenge Cup was the 52nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.


1953 Challenge Cup, Quarter Finals
A club record 69,429 people watch the Challenge Cup 3rd Round tie at Odsal between Bradford Northern and Huddersfield. Larger crowds had watched matches at Odsal, but this was the largest involving the home side.


1953 Challenge Cup, Final
In the Final, Huddersfield beat St. Helens 15-10 at Wembley in front of a crowd of 89,588. This produced a record gate taking for a Challenge Cup final of £31,000.


1953 Challenge Cup, Final
This was Huddersfield’s sixth Cup Final win in seven Final appearances, including one win during the Second World War. coached by William R. 'Bill' Smith, their stand-off half, Peter Ramsden, became the youngest player to win the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match at 19. the Huddersfield team also featured Australian Pat Devery and New Zealand's Peter Henderson.


1953 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo
The 1953 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was the sixth edition of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. It included eleven races: all the races form the 1952 edition were retained with no additions. Loretto Petrucci won the individual championship while Italy retained the nations championship.


1953 Chatham Cup
The 1953 Chatham Cup was the 26th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.


1953 Chatham Cup
The competition was run on a regional basis, with regional associations each holding separate qualifying rounds.


1953 Chatham Cup
Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included Eastern Suburbs (Auckland), Huntly Thistle, Eastern Union (Gisborne), New Plymouth City, Napier Rovers, Wanganui United, St. Andrews (Manawatu), Seatoun (Wellington), Woodbourne (Marlborough), Riccarton, Northern (Dunedin), and Invercargill Thistle.


1953 Chatham Cup, The 1953 final
The final was a repeat of the 1951 final, with Eastern Suburbs again beating Dunedin's Northern. Reg King added two further goals to his three from 1951, equalling the aggregate record of five final goals. The game was a thrilling one according to contemporary accounts, with Northern letting in a soft goal very early on and the game opening up with frequent chances at both ends. Suburbs clinched the match with the winning goal late on in the second half. Scorers were Reg King (2), Ken Fleet, and Murray Anderson for Eastern Suburbs, while Trevor McFarlane gained a brace for Northern and Bill Boardman also scored for the Dunedin side.


1953 Chattanooga Moccasins football team
The 1953 Chattanooga Moccasins football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chattanooga (now known as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) during the 1953 college football season. In their 23rd year under head coach Scrappy Moore, the team compiled a 3–7 record.


1953 Chicago Bears season
The 1953 season was the Chicago Bears' 34th in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their 5–7 record from 1952 and finished at 3–8–1 under head coach and owner George Halas, fourth place in the NFL's newly formed Western Conference. In the season finale, the Bears lost to the crosstown Cardinals, who were previously winless.


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


1953 Chicago Cardinals season
The 1953 Chicago Cardinals season was the 34th season the team was in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 4–8, winning only one game, the final game of the season. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.


1953 Chicago Cardinals season, Schedule, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1953 Chicago Cubs season
The 1953 Chicago Cubs season was the 82nd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 78th in the National League and the 38th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 65–89.


1953 Chicago Cubs season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Chicago Cubs season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Chicago Cubs season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Chicago Cubs season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Chicago Cubs season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Chicago White Sox season
The 1953 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 53rd season in the major leagues, and its 54th season overall. They finished with a record 89–65, good enough for third place in the American League, 11.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees.


1953 Chicago White Sox season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


1953 Chicago White Sox season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team
The 1953 Chico State Wildcats football team represented Chico State College during the 1953 college football season. Chico State competed in the Far Western Conference in 1953. They played home games at Chico High School in Chico, California.


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team
The 1953 Wildcats were led by second-year head coach Ernie Busch. The team included 14 returning lettermen and 16 junior college transfers. Before the season began, improved expectations for the team's performance caused ticket sales to "soar to a new high."


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team
Chico State finished the season as champion of the FWC, with a record of six wins, three losses and one tie (6–3–1, 4–0–1 FWC). The Wildcats outscored their opponents 150–133 for the season. This was the last season coach Busch was at the helm. In his two years, the Wildcats compiled a record of 7–9–1, a .441 winning percentage.


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team
On November 13, Chico State played the Northern Branch Aggies to a scoreless tie in six inches of rain and 40 mile per hour winds, as a fierce storm also caused the press box to collapse during the game.


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team
At the end of the season, four Chico State players were selected for the All-Far Western Conference football team: guard Gene Van der Leun, end George Maderos, and backs Hal Higgins and Carroll Campbell.


1953 Chico State Wildcats football team, Team players in the NFL
No Chico State players were selected in the 1954 NFL Draft.


1953 Chilean parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Chile on 1 March 1953. The Agrarian Labor Party emerged as the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst the Liberal Party won the most seats in the Senate.


1953 Chilean parliamentary election, Electoral system
The term length for Senators was eight years, with around half of the Senators elected every four years. This election saw 25 of the 45 Senate seats up for election.


1953 Chinese census
The 1953 Chinese census, officially the First National Population Census of the People's Republic of China, was conducted by the People's Republic of China starting on June 30, 1953. The results were summarized in Chinese newspapers on November 1, 1954. As the full results were not published, they had to subsequently be assembled from Soviet sources over the next five years.


1953 Chinese census, Results, Total Population
The official summaries listed the total population of Mainland China in 1953 as 582,603,417.


1953 Chinese census, Results, Demographics
13.26% of the population (77,257,282 persons) were listed as residing in urban areas comprising 163 cities, industrial and mining districts, and about 1450 towns. Of the urban population, roughly 1 in 12 resided in Shanghai.


1953 Chinese census, Controversy
China had never previously had an official national census in the modern period and estimates of its population even in 1911 varied between 200,000,000 and 400,000,000. Mistrust of PRC statistics that saw the number of cities go from 60 under the Nationalist government to 103 within four years and that involved "indirectly survey[ing]" several areas including Tibet led some Western academics like George Cressey to claim, "These inflated figures are designed to impress the world with China's strength, to support claims for a falling death rate, or to supply an excuse for food shortages."


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


1953 Christchurch mayoral election, Campaign
Sitting mayor Robert Macfarlane was re-elected with the largest majority he had won so far against city councillor James Hay. The Labour Party lost two seats on the Council but retained their majority, winning ten seats to the nine won by the Citizens' Association.


1953 Christchurch mayoral election, Campaign
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 Cincinnati Bearcats football team
The 1953 Cincinnati Bearcats football team was an American football team that represented the University of Cincinnati as an independent during the 1953 college football season. The Bearcats were led by head coach Sid Gillman and compiled a 9–1 record.


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season
The 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the National League with a record of 68–86, 37 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team changed its name from "Reds" to "Redlegs" prior to this season in response to rampant American anti-communist sentiment during this time period.


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Claxton Shield
The 1953 Claxton Shield was the 14th annual Claxton Shield, it was held at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and Davies Park in Brisbane, Queensland from 11 to 19 July 1953. It was the first Claxton Shield held in Queensland. The participants were South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The Western Australia team, holders of the Shield, were unable to afford the costs to travel to Brisbane. The series was won by New South Wales, their seventh Shield title.


1953 Clemson Tigers football team
The 1953 Clemson Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Clemson College in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1953 college football season. In its 14th season under head coach Frank Howard, the team compiled a 3–5–1 record (1–2 against conference opponents), finished sixth in the ACC, and was outscored by a total of 172 to 139. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.


1953 Clemson Tigers football team
End Dreher Gaskin and tackle Nathan Gressette were the team captains. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Don King with 706 passing yards and 243 rushing yards and Dreher Gaskin with 30 points scored (5 touchdowns).


1953 Clemson Tigers football team
Three Clemson players were named to the 1953 All-South Carolina football team: Dreher Gaskin, Nathan Gressette, and Don King.


1953 Cleveland Browns season
The 1953 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fourth season with the National Football League. Their start of eleven wins before losing their last game was the closest to a true perfect season in the NFL until the 1972 Miami Dolphins. After that fifteen-point loss at Philadelphia, the Browns met the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game for the second straight year; the Lions won again, this time by a point at home.


1953 Cleveland Browns season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1 at Milwaukee
In the first-ever regular season meeting between Cleveland and Green Bay, the Browns rolled up 376 yards and Otto Graham completed 18 of 24 yards to highlight a 27–0 season opening win in at the new County Stadium in Milwaukee. The Browns yield 159 yards and allow the Packers to penetrate Cleveland territory just four times.


1953 Cleveland Browns season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5 at New York
Graham scores the game's only touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second period as the Browns beat the Giants, 7-0, on a muddy Polo Grounds field. Graham, who attempts only five passes as the inclement conditions, scores after an offsides penalty on Lou Groza's missed field goal attempt gives the Browns a critical first down.


1953 Cleveland Browns season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6 vs. Washington
The undefeated Browns make life miserable for Redskins quarterback Eddie LeBaron by intercepting four passes in a 27-3 win at Cleveland Stadium. Tommy James ties his own Browns record with three as Cleveland scores 24 points off turnovers.


1953 Cleveland Browns season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8 vs. San Francisco
A Cleveland Stadium crowd of 80,698 watches the Browns dispatch longtime rival San Francisco, 23–21. With the Browns leading 10–0, Graham is knocked out of bounds by defensive back Fred Bruney and elbowed in the face by linebacker Art Michalik, who opens a gash that requires 15 stitches and nearly incites a riot. Graham returns for the third quarter wearing a clear plastic protective bar in front of his face, a device that will evolve into today's face mask. Showing little effect from his injury, Graham leads the Browns to 13 second half points and the victory.


1953 Cleveland Browns season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11 vs. New York
The Browns improve to 11–0 by winning a 62–14 laugher over the Giants at Cleveland Stadium. George Ratterman starts in place of Graham and completes 15-of-27 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns. Graham plays briefly and completes 3-of-4 passes, two for touchdowns. Pete Brewster catches seven passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns in the most productive game of his career.


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


1953 Cleveland Indians season
The 1953 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 92–62, 8½ games behind the New York Yankees.


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Regular season
Al Rosen became the first third baseman in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award.


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1953 Cleveland mayoral election
The Cleveland mayoral election of 1953 saw the election of Anthony J. Celebrezze.


1953 Col des Nuages derailment
The Col des Nuages derailment was a train derailment that occurred in eastern French Indochina, in modern-day Vietnam, on 24 June 1953, during the First Indochina War. Railway officials announced the day after that "about 100 or more" were killed when a passenger train plunged 50 feet through a sabotaged viaduct.


1953 Col des Nuages derailment
Two locomotives and 18 cars crashed down in a ravine at the Col des Nuages (Pass of the Clouds, known now as the Hai Van Pass), a mountain pass on the route between the ancient Vietnamese capital of Huế and the port of Tourane (Đà Nẵng). The pass had frequently been the scene of attacks by the communist-directed Viet Minh rebels.


1953 Col des Nuages derailment
Officials said that a strong explosive charge detonated just as the train arrived at the viaduct, tumbling a 25-foot span into the ravine.


1953 Colgate Red Raiders football team
The 1953 Colgate Red Raiders football team was an American football team that represented Colgate University as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In its second season under head coach Hal Lahar, the team compiled a 3–4–2 record and was outscored by a total of 161 to 147. Gary Chandler was the team captain. The team played its home games at Colgate Athletic Field in Hamilton, New York.


1953 College Baseball All-America Team
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.


1953 College Baseball All-America Team
From 1947 to 1980, the American Baseball Coaches Association was the only All-American selector recognized by the NCAA.


1953 College Football All-America Team
The 1953 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1953. The eight selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1953 season are (1) the Associated Press, (2) the United Press, (3) the All-America Board, (4) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (5) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), (6) the International News Service (INS), (7) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and (8) the Sporting News.


1953 College Football All-America Team, Consensus All-Americans
For the year 1953, the NCAA recognizes eight published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.


1953 College World Series
The 1953 College World Series was the seventh NCAA-sanctioned baseball tournament that determined a national champion. The tournament was held as the conclusion of the 1953 NCAA baseball season and was played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, NE from June 11 to June 16. The tournament's champion was Michigan, coached by Ray Fisher. The Most Outstanding Player was J. L. Smith of Texas.


1953 College World Series
The tournament consisted of no preliminary round of play as teams were selected directly into the College World Series. From 1954 to the present, teams compete in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament preliminary round(s), to determine the eight teams that will play in the College World Series.


1953 Colombian coup d'état
The 1953 Colombian coup d'état was the coup followed by seizing of power, by Colombia's commander in chief Gustavo Rojas Pinilla on June 13, 1953. He ruled as dictator until 1957.


1953 Colombian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Colombia on 15 March 1953 to elect the Chamber of Representatives. The Liberal Party and the Communist Party both boycotted the elections, and as a result, the seats reserved for the minority party were left vacant. The Conservative Party won the remainder.


1953 Colorado A&M Aggies football team
The 1953 Colorado A&M Aggies football team represented Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in the Skyline Conference during the 1953 college football season. In their seventh season under head coach Bob Davis, the Aggies compiled a 4–5 record (3–4 against Skyline opponents), finished fifth in the Skyline Conference, and outscored all opponents by a total of 157 to 149.


1953 Colorado A&M Aggies football team
No Colorado A&M players were selected by the Associated Press for its 1953 All-Skyline Conference football team.


1953 Colorado Buffaloes football team
The 1953 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado during the 1953 college football season. The Buffaloes responded from four straight losses in the middle of season to finish with four straight victories, including wins over rivals Utah and Colorado State.


1953 Colorado State Bears baseball team
The 1953 Colorado State Bears baseball team represented Colorado State College of Education in the 1953 NCAA baseball season. The Bears played their home games at Jackson Field. The team was coached by Pete Butler in his 11th year at Colorado State.


1953 Colorado State Bears baseball team
The Bears won the District VII playoff to advance to the College World Series, where they were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils.


1953 Columbia Lions football team
The 1953 Columbia Lions football team was an American football team that represented Columbia University as an independent during the 1953 college football season.


1953 Columbia Lions football team
In their 24th season under head coach Lou Little, the Lions compiled a 4–5 record, and were outscored 153 to 124. Gene Wodeshick was the team captain.


1953 Columbia Lions football team
Columbia played its home games at Baker Field in Upper Manhattan, in New York City.


1953 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
The 1953 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the sixth Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom in June 1953 on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.


1953 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
The meeting was held prior to a Three Powers conference between Churchill, US President Dwight Eisenhower, and French Prime Minister Joseph Laniel in Bermuda, which Commonwealth leaders hoped would lead to a Four Powers summit with the Soviet Union. Armistice talks to conclude the Korean War were also discussed. Concerns about the security of the Suez Canal and the importance of maintaining British military installations were also discussed (see Suez War) as were the economic situation and the objectives for development and strengthening of the Pound sterling area set out at the 1952 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Economic Conference.


1953 Concepción earthquake
The 1953 Concepción earthquake occurred on May 6 at 17:16 UTC (13:16 local time). The epicenter was located offshore Biobío Region, Chile. It had a magnitude of Ms 7.6, or ML 7.6. Twelve people were reported dead in this earthquake.


1953 Concepción earthquake
In Concepción, 15% of the buildings were damaged. Electricity and gas were not affected. However, the electricity service was suspended as a precaution.


1953 Concepción earthquake
In Chillán, the intensity reached MM X. Many houses were destroyed. The electricity, telegraph, and telephone services were interrupted.


1953 Concepción earthquake
In Tomé, several houses were damaged, and many families stayed in the open.


1953 Concepción earthquake
This earthquake was located close to the 1939 Chillán earthquake. However, the focal mechanism of the 1953 Concepción earthquake was reverse faulting, while that of the 1939 Chillán earthquake was normal faulting. It was not clear whether the 1953 Concepción earthquake was an interplate or intraplate earthquake.


1953 Connecticut Huskies football team
The 1953 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 1953 college football season. The Huskies were led by second year head coach Bob Ingalls, and completed the season with a record of 3–4–1. For the first time, home games were played at Memorial Stadium, which replaced the Gardner Dow Athletic Fields as the Huskies' home venue.


1953 Cook Islands general election
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Number 57 (talk | contribs) at 18:55, 17 November 2019 (corr). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1953 Cook Islands general election
General elections were held in the Cook Islands in 1953. The elections took the form of an election to Rarotonga Island Council, whose sole European member also automatically became the only elected member of the Legislative Council.


1953 Cook Islands general election, Electoral system
The Cook Islands Legislative Council consisted of ten members elected by island councils (four from Rarotonga and six from smaller islands), ten civil servants appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand (the Chief Medical Officer, the Director of Agriculture, the Education Officer, six Resident Agents and the Treasurer) and the Resident Commissioner, who was president of the council. The sole European member of Rarotonga Island Council automatically became the island's representative in the Legislative Council, and was the only member of the Legislative Council to be directly elected.


1953 Cook Islands general election, Electoral system
Elections to Rarotonga Island Council were held every three years, with the six Cook Islander members elected from single-member constituencies based on the land survey districts, and the European member from the entire island.


1953 Cook Islands general election, Results
Incumbent MLC Willie Watson was defeated by Henley McKegg. This was attributed by Pacific Islands Monthly to Watson's criticism of the colonial administration, as more than half of the registered voters were civil servants or their partners.


1953 Copa del Generalísimo Final
The Copa del Generalísimo 1953 Final was the 51st final of the King's Cup. The final was played at Estadio Chamartín in Madrid, on 21 June 1953, being won by CF Barcelona, who beat Atlético de Bilbao 2-1.


1953 Copa del Generalísimo Juvenil
The 1953 Copa del Generalísimo Juvenil was the third staging of the tournament. The competition began on May 17, 1953, and ended on June 30, 1953, with the final.


1953 Corangamite by-election
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Corangamite on 29 August 1953. This was triggered by the death of Liberal MP Allan McDonald. A by-election for the seat of Lang was held on the same day.