1954
1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).
EventsJanuary eventsJanuary 14 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 - Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations January 21 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut, by Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower. January 25 - The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.
February events February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II is the first reigning monarch to visit Australia February 10 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
March events March 1 - Nuclear testing: Officials announce that an American hydrogen bomb test had been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. March 8 - PR Newswire founded in New York by Herb Muschel. March 19 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color. March 22 - The London gold market reopens (it was closed in 1939). March 23 - Vietminh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated March 29 - C-47 with Genevieve de Galard on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu runway March 30 - Canada's first subway opens in Toronto.
April events April 1 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado April 3 Vladimir Petrov defects from the soviet union and asks to seek asylum in Australia April 7 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference April 14 – Aneurin Bevan resigns from the Labour shadow cabinet April 22 - Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.
May events May 1 - Taku (city in Japan) founded May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile May 7 - Construction started on Michigan's Mackinac Bridge. May 7 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13). May 14 - Boeing 707 released after about two years of development. May 17 - US Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 347 US 483 1954 [May 17]- Petrov Royal Commision begains it's inqury May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly. May 20 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty launches Belarusian language programming (see also Piotra Sych).May 29 - Menzies Government Re-elected for 4th Term
June events June 9 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army June 14- Flag day, the words "under god" added to the pledge of allegiance June 15 - UEFA (the Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland. June 18 - Pierre Mendes-France becomes prime minister of France June 19 - The last regular-service streetcar operated by Twin City Rapid Transit runs in Minneapolis.June 27 - Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán steps down in a CIA-sponsored military coup–Operation PBSUCCESS–triggering a bloody civil war that would continue for more than 35 years. June 27 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obnisnsk, near Moscow.
July events July 3 - End of rationing of meat ends all the food rationing in Britain July 7 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record July 21 - First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam July 28 - Foundation of the Situationist International. July 31 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition.
August events August - First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress. August 6 - Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets, dies of asphyxiation following a epileptic seizure at Sainte Agathe, Quebec. August 16 - Volume 1, Issue 1 of Sports Illustrated is published August 24 - President of Brazil, Getulio Vargas, commits suicide; he's been accused of conspiracy to murder an air force officer.
September events September 3 - The last new episode of the Lone Ranger is aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years September 8 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established in Bangkok, Thailand September 9 - An earthquake centered on the city of Oleansville in Algeria - 1500 dead and thousands homeless September 11 - First Miss America Pageant broadcast on television September 14 - USSR tests nuclear weapon September 30 - USS Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (submarine), commissioned by the US Navy
October events October 11 - Vietnam War: The Viet Minh takes control of North Vietnam. October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the worldwide first Transistor radio. October 26 – Member of Muslim Brotherhood Abdul Munim Abdul Rauf tries to kill Gamal Abdal Nasser October 31 - Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.
November events November - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.November 3 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan. November 10 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery November 30 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg sulfide meteorite crashes through a roof and hits Ann Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio, giving her a bad bruise (this is the first known modern case of a human being hit by a space rock).
December events December 2 - Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." December 24 - Laos becomes independent.
UndatedBattle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in IndochinaBoy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of raceStop signs are changed from black-on-yellow to white-on-redGerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus), brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
BirthsJanuary-February January 2 - Henry Bonilla, American politician January 6 - Anthony Minghella, director January 12 - Howard Stern, radio host January 22 - Peter Pilz, Austrian politician January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress, talk show host, producer, and publisher January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, Japanese mangaka February 1 - Bill Mumy, actor, musician February 2 - Christie Brinkley, model February 6 - Argusto Emfazie, occultist, author February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer February 15 - Matt Groening, cartoonist February 18 - John Travolta, actor February 19 - Socrates, football player February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor February 20 - Patty Hearst, socialite February 25 - John Doe, musician February 26 - Michael Bolton, singer
March-May March 1 - Ron Howard, actor, director, producer March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, actress March 13 - The Baroness Amos, British politician, first black woman in the UK Cabinet March 16 - Nancy Wilson (guitarist), band founder, singer, actress March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, actress March 24 - Robert Carradine, actor April 7 - Jackie Chan, actor April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football star April 9 - Dennis Quaid, actor April 10 - Peter MacNicol, actor April 15 - Seka, actress April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver April 18 - Rick Moranis, actor, comedian April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, comedian May 7 - Amy Heckerling, director May 8 - David Keith, actor
June-August June 9 - John Hagelin, physicist and U.S. Presidential candidates June 22 - Freddie Prinze, actor and comedian (d. 1977) June 26 - Steve Barton, actor June 27 - Ron Kirk, mayor of Dallas, Texas July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, software engineer and U.S. Presidential candidates August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer August 14 - Mark Fidrych, baseball player August 16 - James Cameron, film director August 20 - Al Roker, television broadcaster August 25 - Elvis Costello, singer August 26 - Pauline Hanson, politician
September-December September 13 - Steve Kilbey, Australian musician September 23 - Cherie Booth, wife of Tony Blair September 26 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager and television host September 30 - Barry Williams, actor October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovenian swimmer October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, baseball player October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor October 13 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician imprisoned for revealing Israeli secrets November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State November 15 - Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland December 2 - Dan Butler, American actor December 14 - Ib Andersen, dancer December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, race car driver (d. 1993) December 20 - Michael Badalucco, actor December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racing champion
Deaths January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879) February 12 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896) March 31 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, electrical engineer and inventor May 6 - B.C. Forbes, financial publisher May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer June 7 - Alan Turing, mathematician July 11 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, physician and author July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter July 14 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer (b. 1866) July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater August 24 - Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, pearl farm pioneer November 3 - Henri Matisse, painter November 29 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist November 29 - Dink Johnson, jazz musician (b. 1892) November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor December 8 - Claude Cahun, surrealist photographer and writer
Physics - Max Born, - Walther Bothe Chemistry - Linus Carl Pauling Medicine - John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, Frederick Chapman Robbins Literature - Ernest Miller Hemingway Peace - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Fields MedalistsKunihiko Kodaira, Jean-Pierre Serre
Heads of state in 1954 President Juan Peron - ArgentinaPresident Getúlio Vargas - BrazilPrime Minister Louis Saint-Laurent - CanadaMao Tse-Tung - People's Republic of ChinaChiang Kai-shek - Republic of ChinaLt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser - EgyptPresidents Vincent Auriol and René Coty - FranceChancellor Konrad Adenauer - GermanyPresident Luigi Einaudi - ItalyPrime Minister Yoshida Shigeru - JapanGeneral Francisco Franco - SpainPrime Minister Winston Churchill - United KingdomPresident Dwight Eisenhower - United States
|
|
