The year of the snake.  The average income was $4,000 and a new home cost an average of $16,000.   A gallon of gas cost $.21, a stamp cost $.03 and a loaf of bread cost $.16. 

Time Magazine:   Queen Elizabeth was the Woman of the Year.

In January, Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in as the President of the United States.  The swearing-in was carried live on TV.

On February 23, Stalin died at his dacha in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

Egypt became a republic.

Charlie Chaplin, amidst allegations of being a communist, left the United States.

Tito became President of Yugoslavia.

Nelson Mandela took up the cause of thousands of Africans being forced to move from their homes in Johannesburg suburbs to a tract of land owned by the government.

John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest on May 29.

On June 2, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth occurred...also carried live on TV.

Francis Crick and James Watson announced the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, "the code of life."

On July 26, an attempted coup by Fidel Castro against the Batista regime resulted in Castro's arrest.

One day later, an armistice agreement was signed at Panmunjom.

Nikita Khrushchev was confirmed on September 12 as the First Secretary of the Communist Party.

In Iran, Islamic clerics including Ayatollah Khomeni were building opposition to the Shah's secular ways.

In Kenya, the Mau Mau continued their challenge to British rule.

On November 2, the Constituent Assembly in Pakistan declared the country a republic designated as the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan."

On November 26, the French captured the northern village of Dien Bien Phu.

Life expectancy in the United States rose to 68.4 years, compared to 47 years in 1900.

TV guide was published nationally for the first time.   (Recognize David and Ricky Nelson?)

World food production, devastated by World War II, recovered to 1939 levels.

Scientific analysis of data gathered in 1951 and 1952 indicated for the first time a relationship between smoking and cancer.

Polio vaccine was used for the first time.

 I've Got the World on a String (Frank Sinatra), Mister Sandman, Vaya Con Dios (Les Paul and Mary Ford) and Doggie in the Window (Patti Page) were popular songs. 

"From Here to Eternity", directed by Fred Zinnemann, won Best Picture as the Oscars were televised for the first time.   Roman Holiday, Shane, The Robe and Julius Caesar all made their debut in 1953.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The Nobel Prize for Literature went to Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

The NY Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to 2 in the World Series.   Dark Star won the Kentucky Derby.