1952

On February 6, Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. Her coronation didn’t take place until June 2, 1953. This was a great event, not only in Britain but in all the countries of the British Commonwealth. It was also big news in the United States and many other countries, as well. For some time after the event, filmed documentaries circulated in Commonwealth countries and every school child attended organized cinema screenings during school time. Elizabeth broke the record once held by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, for the longest-reigning British monarch, reigning 70 years and 214 days before her death in 2022.

1952

The second vaccine for polio, developed by Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh, is privately tested and later introduced in April 1955. After two doses of the vaccine by injection, 90% or more of individuals develop protective antibody to all three serotypes of the poliovirus, and at least 99% are immune following three doses.

1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower, a high-ranking World War II general, is first elected President of the United States of America, winning by a landslide margin of 442 to 89 electoral votes. “I like Ike” was the motto of his followers. He would hold office for two four-year terms.

1951

The musical The King and I opens on Broadway on March 29. The well-known film would be released in 1956.

1951

P’anmunjŏm is a village on the North Korean/South Korean border where the negotiations between the United Nations—led by the United States—and the Communist North Koreans to end the Korean War took place. The separation between North Korea and South Korea was originally the 38th Parallel, but the new truce decided on a boundary between the countries that were more defensible. The countries also exchanged prisoners-of-war as a result of the Panmunjom negotiations.

It later became the place where the Korean Armistice Agreement – a temporary stoppage of hostilities – was signed on July 27, 1953, to end the Korean War.

1950

After World War II, Korea was divided between a northern part (under Soviet influence) and a southern part (under US influence). Tensions between the communist north and capitalist south escalate into a war from 1950 to 1953, known as The Korean War.

While the Korean conflict (or “police action”, as it was euphemistically called by the US) would indeed end in 1953 with the signing of a ceasefire, the war is in fact still declared to this day, even though leaders of both countries have publicly vowed to end the war in April of 2018.

1950

Studebaker, an American wagon and automobile manufacturer founded in 1852, begins its financial decline and has been defunct since 1967.

The Studebaker brand’s inclusion in this song may also relate to the slow decline of the domestic American Auto industry, as domestic industrial decline and how it hits the working class is a major theme in Joel’s work (“Allentown” and “Downeaster Alexa.”)

1950

Richard Nixon is first elected to the United States Senate. He later was picked to be Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate in 1952.

During the election, it was discovered that Nixon had a political fund that was used for reimbursement of political expenses. Such a fund was not illegal, but it did lead to allegations of a possible conflict of interest. Nixon was then pressured to resign from the election. He responded with a televised speech on September 23, 1952, which received the highest television audience of that time (about 60 million Americans) and was later dubbed “The Checkers Speech.” In it, he passionately defended himself by saying that his fund was not secret and no special favors were paid to donors. The memorable part of the speech came when he said he would not be able to give back one gift:

a little cocker spaniel dog … sent all the way from Texas. And our little girl — Tricia, the 6-year-old — named it Checkers.

The speech produced a massive outpouring of support for Nixon and Eisenhower later won the election for the 37th presidency, making him Vice President of the United States.

1949

Harry Truman is inaugurated as U.S. president in 1949 after being re-elected; the 1948 election is considered to be one of the greatest election upsets in US history.

Harry Truman triumphantly holding up a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune. The paper had inaccurately printed their banner headline with the challenger as the winner. They had been printed in advance in order to distribute more quickly.

He had previously made history by authorizing the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively, resulting in the loss of over 200,000 people, and ushering in the Atomic Age.