December 1953

• The United Kingdom and Iran reform diplomatic relations.

A violent F5 tornado devastated parts of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

• With the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Arturo Toscanini performs what he claims is his favorite Beethoven symphony, Eroica, for the last time. The live performance is broadcast nationwide on radio, and later released on records and CD.

• A visit to Iran by American Vice President Richard Nixon sparks several days of riots, as an reaction to the August 19 overthrow of the government of Mohammed Mossadegh by the US-backed Shah. Three students are shot dead by police in Tehran. This event becomes an annual commemoration.

• U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Atoms for Peace address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

• Birth:
  • Hiromitsu Ochiai, Japanese baseball player and manager

• Albert Schweitzer is given the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.

• The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves color television (using the NTSC standard).

• The Soviet Union announces officially that Lavrentiy Beria has been executed.

• Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge collapses at Tangiwai, New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River; 151 are killed.

• The Amami Islands are returned to Japan after 8 years of United States military occupation.
• Died:
  • William Haselden, Spanish cartoonist (b. 1872)
  • Lee Shubert, Polish-born theater owner and operator (b. 1871)

• The first color television sets go on sale for about US$1,175.