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...Around the world
- The Korean armistice was announced.
- Queen Elizabeth was crowned.
- The DC-7 was introduced.
- Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay reached the peak of Mt. Everest.
- The Best Picture Academy Award went to "From Here to Eternity."
...At IBM
- The company's gross income increased to $497 million.
- IBM announced the 702 computer for commercial use, and the 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator, an intermediate size electronic computer.
 And IBM President Thomas J. Watson, Jr. published the company's first equal opportunity policy letter -- September 21, 1953 -- one year before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education.
The court ruled that the segregation of White and Black children in public schools solely on the basis of race, denies to Black children the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th amendment. The IBM EO letter was also written a decade before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited employment discrimination by large employers, whether or not they have government contracts.
Watson's Policy Letter No.4 stated simply that IBM will hire people based on their ability, "regardless of race, color or creed." IBM's subsequent CEOs reinforced that policy throughout the years.
Since then, Equal Opportunity at IBM has been an evolutionary journey that underscores the company's commitment to an inclusive work environment where people’s ideas and contributions are welcome - regardless of where you are from, what you look like or what personal beliefs you hold.
And in today's global marketplace, workforce diversity is the bridge between the workplace and the marketplace.
Because of this rich heritage, IBM is a company where inclusiveness remains a way of life, and individuality is respected and rewarded, and customers do business with people who look like they do.
Today's IBM diversity programs are an outgrowth of that heritage, which have redefined the workplace around the world, making IBM one of the foremost leaders for diversity policies and programs.
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