Born in 1952
Turns 74 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1952
1952 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from $51.50Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from $51.50
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from $51.50
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from $51.50
Front Page: New Zealand edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1952 · New Zealand
A little history to go with their gift.
Elizabeth II succeeded her father in February, while a Swiss team led by Eduard Wyss-Dunant came closer to Everest’s summit than any climbers before. Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain also made Hollywood’s transition to sound a lively subject for song and dance.
What happened in 1952?
Swiss climbers reached a record altitude on Everest
The Swiss Everest expedition came within reach of the summit in May 1952, setting a new high-altitude record before exhaustion, failing oxygen equipment and monsoon weather forced retreat.
Helsinki hosted a truly international Olympics
Helsinki welcomed the Summer Olympic Games from 19 July through 3 August 1952.
International Olympic Committee · International Olympic Committee Olympic Studies Centre
Voters elected Dwight D. Eisenhower president
Dwight D. Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election, succeeding Harry S. Truman the following January.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration · The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara
U.S. athletes led the Helsinki medal table
The United States finished with the largest medal count at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics.
Firsts and new ideas
A new cesium instrument measured atomic frequency
In 1952, the National Bureau of Standards completed NBS-1, an instrument for measuring cesium resonance frequency.
National Institute of Standards and Technology · RTI International
Selman Waksman received the 1952 medicine Nobel
The 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Rutgers microbiologist Selman Waksman for discovering streptomycin.
Number ones and music in 1952
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Mocking Bird Hill led the 1952 hit vote
The New Zealand Listener reported Mocking Bird Hill as No. 1 in the commercial stations’ 1952 Hit Parade contest.
New Zealand Listener / National Library of New Zealand Papers Past
A different kind of concert
John Cage's experimental composition premiered at a concert in Woodstock, New York.
Prices and everyday money in 1952
New Zealand figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| aggregate weekly wage payout per person, all industrial groups, april survey | 10 pounds 7 shillings 10 pence | NZP per week (original £/s/d currency) New Zealand Official Year-Book 1954 |
| aggregate weekly wage payout per person, all industrial groups, october survey | 10 pounds 13 shillings 0 pence | NZP per week (original £/s/d currency) New Zealand Official Year-Book 1954 |
| Basic inland letter postage (ordinary surface letter; first weight step) | 2d | one ordinary inland surface letter, first ounce or fraction thereof New Zealand Society of Great Britain |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1952 turns 74 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
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