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February 19, 1952

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from February 19, 1952

Notable Births

Ryū Murakami

1952Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker[†]

Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, essayist and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusion, drug use, surrealism, murder and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are Almost Transparent Blue, Audition, Coin Locker Babies, and In the Miso Soup.

Rodolfo Neri Vela

1952Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut[†]

Rodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in the year 1985. He is the second Latin American to have traveled to space after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.

Amy Tan

1952Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer[†]

Amy Ruth Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir.

Danilo Türk

1952Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia[†]

Danilo Türk is a Slovenian diplomat, professor of international law, human rights expert, and political figure who served as President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovene ambassador to the United Nations, from 1992 to 2000, and was the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs from 2000 to 2005.

Notable Deaths

Knut Hamsun

1952Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859)[†]

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective and environment. He published more than 23 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, works of non-fiction and some essays.

Historical Context for February 19, 1952

In 1952, the world population was approximately 2,584,086,339 people[†]