10 photos of what the world looked like when Queen Elizabeth began her reign in 1952
Talia Lakritz
- Queen Elizabeth became Queen in 1952 and is marking her Platinum Jubilee this year.
- In 1952, Harry Truman was US president and Winston Churchill was prime minister of the UK.
Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952, but her coronation didn't take place until the following year.
The Queen's father, King George VI, died on February 6, 1952. She immediately succeeded to the throne at age 25. Her coronation then occurred on June 2, 1953.
In 1952, the world's population was around 2.6 billion people.
In contrast, today's world population is around 7.8 billion people, according to the US Census Bureau.
Harry Truman was president of the United States.
Truman is the only US president who met Queen Elizabeth while she was a princess, having welcomed her to the White House for a state visit in 1951.
Winston Churchill served as prime minister of the UK at the time. He and the Queen enjoyed a close relationship.
According to Sally Bedell Smith's book, "Elizabeth The Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch," Churchill and the Queen enjoyed each other's company.
Queen Elizabeth's private secretary Sir "Tommy" Lascelles wrote of their meetings: "I could not hear what they talked about, but it was, more often than not, punctuated by peals of laughter, and Winston generally came out wiping his eyes."
A cup of coffee cost about 30 cents in 1952.
In 2021, the average cost of a cup of hot black coffee was $2.70, according to GoBankingRates.
A first-class stamp cost three cents in the US and three halfpence in the UK 70 years ago.
Queen Elizabeth's coronation stamps were issued the day after the event on June 3, 1953.
Today, a first-class stamp is 58 cents in the US and 95 pence in the UK.
The average life expectancy in the US was around 71 for women and 65 for men.
In 1952, the average life expectancy for American women was 71.6 years old, while men's expectancy was 65.8 years old, according to data from the University of California, Berkeley.
Today, women's life expectancy is 82.65 years, and men's is 78.18, according to the CIA.
The Today Show aired its first episode in 1952 hosted by Dave Garroway.
Garroway hosted the show for nine years. Other famous journalists who have served as hosts include Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, and Katie Couric. Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb currently co-host the broadcast.
The 1952 polio epidemic ravaged the US, with 58,000 new cases.
In 1952, 3,145 people in the US died of polio and 21,269 were left paralyzed.
Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine in 1953, and the US has not reported a case of polio since 1979, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Birth control pills weren't yet approved by the FDA.
The FDA approved "the pill" in 1960, but its use was still restricted.
In the US, married couples obtained the legal right to use birth control in 1965 through the Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut. Unmarried women weren't allowed to use birth control until the 1972 decision Eisenstadt v. Baird.
Today, 14% of women ages 15 to 49 take oral contraception, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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