1954
| Years: 1951 1952 1953 – 1954 – 1955 1956 1957 | |
| Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s – 1950s – 1960s 1970s 1980s | |
| Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century 1954 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).
Table of contents |
Events
January events
- January 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.
- January 26 – Milpitas, California was incorporated as a city.
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 13 – Don Estes invents the disrupter (a part to help combines work)
- November 30 – In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and hits Ann Hodges, badly bruising her, in the first documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person.
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.
Undated
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in Indochina
- Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race
- Stop signs are changed from black-on-yellow to white-on-red
- Gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus), brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
- Unification Church founded.
Births
January-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 14 – Willie Hernández, baseball pitcher
- November 15 – Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland
- November 16 – Bruce Edwards, golf caddy, (d. 2004)
- 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
- Nenad Prokic – playwright
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
- April 10 – Auguste Lumière, one of the inventors of cinema (b. 1862)
- 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
Nobel Prizes
- 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 Medalists
Heads of state in 1954
- President Juan Peron – Argentina
- President Getúlio Vargas – Brazil
- Prime Minister Louis Saint-Laurent – Canada
- Mao Tse-Tung – People's Republic of China
- Chiang Kai-shek – Republic of China
- Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser – Egypt
- Presidents Vincent Auriol and René Coty – France
- Chancellor Konrad Adenauer – Germany
- President Luigi Einaudi – Italy
- Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru – Japan
- General Francisco Franco – Spain
- Prime Minister Winston Churchill – United Kingdom
- President Dwight Eisenhower – United States
Categories: 1954