1952
First hydrogen bomb test
At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, the United States detonated Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear weapon. The blast was seven hundred times more powerful than Hiroshima. An entire island vanished. The arms race had just acquired a weapon an order of magnitude more destructive than the one that ended World War II. The Soviets tested their own within months.
Elizabeth II ascends the British throne
On holiday in Kenya, watching elephants from a treetop hotel, a twenty-five-year-old princess was told her father George VI had died in his sleep. She flew home as queen. Her reign, nobody imagined, would last seventy years and would witness the near total dissolution of the empire her ancestors had built.
Nasser's Free Officers seize Egypt
A group of young Egyptian army officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the corpulent King Farouk, who sailed into exile on his yacht. Within two years Nasser had the top job. He would nationalize the Suez Canal, lead pan-Arabism, and become the Middle East's most magnetic voice for a decade.
Great Smog of London
A cold anticyclone trapped coal smoke over London for five days. Visibility dropped to a few feet; buses crept behind men with lanterns. Perhaps twelve thousand Londoners died of respiratory failure, more than anyone realized at the time. The disaster prompted the Clean Air Act of 1956 and began the modern regulation of air pollution.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1952?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1952. The most significant is First hydrogen bomb test: At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, the United States detonated Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear weapon.
What era was 1952 part of?
1952 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1952?
The curated events from 1952 span Oceania, Europe and Middle East.