Look Back To 1953: What Happened That Year

The coronation, Everest, the Matthews final and sweets off the ration.

Here's 1953 in full - the music, the news, the screen, the sport and the ordinary details. Good for a birthday card, a party quiz round or a reminiscence session.

In the charts in 1953

• Frankie Laine spent a remarkable amount of the year at number one, including eighteen weeks with 'I Believe'.
• 'I Believe' holds the record for the most weeks at number one in the UK chart.
• Guy Mitchell and Mantovani also had number ones.

In the news in 1953

• Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June, and the news that Everest had been climbed arrived the same morning.
• Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest on 29 May.
• The North Sea flood of 31 January killed more than three hundred people in eastern England.
• Sweet rationing ended in February.

On screen in 1953

• The coronation was the first mass television event in Britain, watched by an estimated twenty million.
• The Quatermass Experiment was broadcast live in the summer and emptied the streets.
• Television licences roughly doubled around the coronation.

In sport in 1953

• Stanley Matthews finally won an FA Cup medal as Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3.
• Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley in November, the first home defeat by a continental side.
• Gordon Richards won the Derby at his twenty-eighth attempt.

Everyday life in 1953

• Street parties for the coronation were held all over the country in the rain.
• Coronation mugs and tins are still in kitchen cupboards seventy years later.
• Buying or renting a television became a mainstream decision for the first time.

If you were born in 1953

• Anyone born in 1953 was born in the coronation year.
• Their birth year is the one most families bought their first television.
• Anyone born in 1953 turns 30 in 1983, 40 in 1993, 50 in 2003, 60 in 2013 and 70 in 2023.
• For a milestone card, the strongest line is usually the number one from the week they were born rather than the year's biggest events - it's personal, and it takes two minutes to find.
• For a reminiscence session, read one section at a time and stop on whatever gets a reaction. The point is the conversation, not the facts.

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How to write it so it lands

• The number one from the week they were born beats the year's headlines on a card.
• Read one section at a time in a reminiscence session and stop where the conversation starts.
• Use it as a guess-the-year round by reading three facts and hiding the date.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1956
• Look back to 1955
• Look back to 1954
• Look back to 1952
• Look back to 1951
• Look back to 1950
• The 1950s: the whole decade
• 1950s party playlist
• Wartime and 1950s party games
• Playground games by region
• Clapping games and skipping rhymes
• Seaside and beach games
• Sweets that disappeared
• The 2020s so far
• The 2010s: the whole decade
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• The 1990s: the whole decade
• The 1980s: the whole decade
• The 1970s: the whole decade
• The 1960s: the whole decade
• The 1940s: the whole decade
• The 1930s: the whole decade
• The 1920s: the whole decade
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays by era
• Decade tech: gadgets and computers by era
• Decade films: best movies and directors by era
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
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• Nostalgia birthday party by decade
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• Guess the year quiz
• Care home reminiscence quiz
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• Milestone birthday cards
• Shop birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

Which single spent the most weeks at number one?

'I Believe' by Frankie Laine, with eighteen weeks at the top across three separate runs in 1953.

When was Everest first climbed?

29 May 1953, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The news reached Britain on coronation morning.

How old is someone born in 1953?

Subtract 1953 from the current year. They turn 40 in 1993, 50 in 2003, 60 in 2013 and 70 in 2023.

Do you sell anything to do with this year?

We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. This page itself is free to read and free to copy.