December: Hugh Hefner publishes the first issue of Playboy magazine in the United States, featuring a centerfold nude photograph of Marilyn Monroe; it sells 54,175 copies at $.50 each.

December 2: The United Kingdom and Iran reform diplomatic relations.

December 6: 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.

December 7: A visit to Iran by American Vice President Richard Nixon sparks several days of riots. Three students are shot dead by police in Tehran. This event would become an annual commemoration. See August 19.

December 8: U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Atoms for Peace address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

December 10: Albert Schweitzer is given the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.

December 17: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves color television (using the NTSC standard).

December 23: The Soviet Union announces officially that Lavrenti Beria has been executed.

December 24: Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge collapses at Tangiwai, New Zealand, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River; 151 are killed.

December 25: The Amami Islands are returned to Japan after 8 years of United States Military occupation.

December 30: The first colour television sets go on sale for about $1,175 (American dollars). (source: Wikipedia)