Does 1952 mean anything now?

Could the Democrats Lose the Senate before the Next Election? By Richard K. Neumann, Jr. Mr. Neumann, Jr., is professor of law at Hofstra University History News Network
...The first time was in the 83d Congress, when there were 48 states and thus 96 senators. When the Senate organized in January 1953, the Republicans had 48 senators and the Democrats 47. The extra was Wayne Morse of Oregon, previously a Republican. Because he objected to a Republican drift to the right, he had resigned from the Republican party in October 1952, declared himself an independent, and in the presence of a roomful of reporters filled out an absentee ballot in which he voted for Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic presidential candidate....