1952 Jackson Pollock, abstract artist pioneering his method of "direct" painting, moved to Sidney Janis Gallery. Such works as the 1952 Blue Poles and 1953 Portrait of a Dream were moderately successful.
Marilyn Monroe appeared in her first starring role in the potboiler Don't Bother to Knock. It was followed by the equally ridiculous but equally successful Niagara (1953). Monroe had become a strong box-office attraction, and her breathless sexuality helped make hits of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and River of No Return (1954), among other films.
Garth Williams's realistic, expressive drawings brought to life E. B. White's Charlotte's Web.
African- American Novelist Ralph Ellison publishes Invisible Man to immediate public acclaim.
Ernest Hemingway publishes The Old Man and the Sea.
Dick Clark hosts the first American Bandstand, while Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed organizes what will be recognized as the first rock `n' roll concert.
1952 and 1953 - Marlon Brando's early film roles included a Mexican revolutionary in Viva Zapata! (1952), Marc Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1953).
1953 - John Fitzgerald Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot opens in Paris. Arthur Miller's The Crucible, an allegory of the Communist witch-hunt, also premieres.
Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay become the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Francis Crick and James Watson discover the ``double helix'' of DNA.
Maureen Connolly 1934-69, American tennis player became, at 16, the youngest player to win the U.S. national singles. She successfully defended the U.S. title (1952, 1953), won the Wimbledon championship (1952, 1953, 1954), and completed a grand slam of the world's four major titles in 1953 with the French and Australian championships.
Lucille Ball gives birth to Desi Arnaz, Jr. on same day the fictional Little Ricky is born on I Love Lucy.
The first issue of TV Guide magazine hits the newsstands on April 3 in 10 cities with a circulation of 1,560,000.
First successful open-heart surgery is performed in Philadelphia.
Ernst Wynder reported on his experimental finding about the carcinogenic effect of cigarette tar.
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was founded.
First Chevrolet Corvette produced.
First Playboy magazine
(All above information from http://www.historychannel.com)
