1953

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1920s  1930s  1940s  – 1950s –  1960s  1970s  1980s
Years:	1950 1951 1952 – 1953 – 1954 1955 1956

Events

• January 20 - Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the 34th President of the United States.
• January 31 - In the night to February 1, a storm severely floods parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
• May 29 – Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first humans to reach the top of Mount Everest.
• June 2 - Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms.
• June 17 - Uprising in East Germany.
• July 27 – Korean War ends
• The Taito Corporation is founded in Japan

Births

• January 9 – Morris Gleitzman, English writer
• January 21 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur
• January 26 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and current NATO Secretary-General
• February 8 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress
• February 11 – Jeb Bush, American politician
• February 19 – Cristina Fernández, President of Argentina
• February 25 – Levon Mkrtchyan, Armenian movie director
• February 25 - Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain
• February 27 - Ian Khama, President of Botswana
• February 28 - Paul Krugman, American economist
• March 3 - Zico, Brazilian footballer
• March 16 – Richard Stallman, Computer programmer and political activist
• March 26 – Lincoln Chafee, American politician
• April 11 - Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium
• April 11 - Andrew Wiles, British mathematician
• April 20 - Sebastian Faulks, British writer
• May 2 - Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor
• May 6 – Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• May 6 - Graeme Souness, Scottish footballer and manager
• May 8 - Alex Van Halen, musician
• May 14 - Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
• May 16 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
• May 19 - Victoria Wood, British actress and comedienne
• May 24 - Alfred Molina, British actor
• May 25 – Eve Ensler, American playwright
• May 29 – Danny Elfman, American musician
• June 1 - David Berkowitz, American serial killer
• June 2 - Keith Allen, English actor and comedian
• June 2 - Cornel West, American theologian and activist
• June 4 – Linda Lingle, American politician
• June 8 - Ivo Sanader, former Prime Minister of Croatia
• June 15 - Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
• June 21 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician (d. 2007)
• June 22 - Cyndi Lauper, American singer
• June 29 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician and singer (Rush)
• July 1 - Jadranka Kosor, former Prime Minister of Croatia
• July 11 - Leon Spinks, American boxer
• July 31 – James Read, American actor
• August 17 - Herta Mueller, German writer
• August 29 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian musician
• September 2 – John Zorn, American musician
• September 3 – Jean-Pierre Jeunet, French director
• September 4 - Fatih Terim, Turkish football manager
• September 22 – Ségolène Royal, French politician
• October 1 – Klaus Wowereit, German politician
• November 14 – Dominique de Villepin, Premier of France
• November 14 – Jos Oehlen, Dutch sculptor
• November 16 - Griff Rhys-Jones, British actor, comedian and writer
• November 26 - Hilary Benn, British politician
• November 28 - Alistair Darling, British politician
• December 6 - Geoff Hoon, British politician
• December 8 - Kim Basinger, American actress
• December 9 – John Malkovich, American actor and director
• December 13 - Ben Bernanke, American chairman of the Federal Reserve
• December 26 - Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia

Deaths

• January 1 – Hank Williams, American musician
• January 28 – James Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
• March 5 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader (b.1878)
• March 5 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (b. 1891)
• March 24 - Mary of Teck, Consort of George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1866)
• September 28 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1891)
• September 29 – Ernst Reuter, German politician (b. 1889)
• October 9 – Jimmy Finlayson, Scottish-American actor (b. 1887)
• November 9 – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet (b. 1914)