1954

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Years:	1951 1952 1953 - 1954 - 1955 1956 1957

1954 by topic:

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Leaders:    Sovereign states - State leaders

Religious leaders - Law

Categories: Births - Deaths - Works - Introductions

Establishments - Disestablishments - Awards v • d • e

Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar).

Events of 1954

January

January 14: Marilyn weds DiMaggio.

• January 1 - The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from East Germany.
• January 12 - Avalanches in Austria kill more than 20.
• January 15 - Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya.
• January 17 - In Yugoslavia, Milovan Djilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties.
• January 20 - The US-based 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 First Lady of the United States Mamie Eisenhower.
• January 25 - The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.

February

• February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first reigning monarch to visit Australia.
• February 10 - After authorizing $385 million over the $400 million already budgeted for military aid to Vietnam, US President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
• February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
• February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes premier of Egypt.

March

• March 1 - Officials announce that an American hydrogen bomb test has been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
• March 1 - U.S. Capitol shooting incident: Four Puerto Rican nationalists open fire in the United States House of Representatives chamber and wound five; they are apprehended by security guards.
• March 9 - American journalists Edward Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produce a 30-minute See It Now documentary titled A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy.
• March 12 - Finland and Germany officially end the state of war.
• March 13 - French troops begin battle against Vietminh in Dien Bien Phu.
• March 19 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
• March 23 - In Vietnam, the Viet Minh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated.
• March 25 - The 26th Academy Awards ceremony is held.
• March 25 - RCA manufactures the first color TV set (12" screen; price: $1,000).
• March 25 - Soviet Union recognizes sovereignty of East Germany but Soviet troops remain in the country.
• March 28 - Puerto Rico's first television station, WKAQ-TV, goes on the air.
• March 29 - C-47 with French nurse Genevieve de Galard on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu runway.
• March 30 - Canada's first subway opens in Toronto.

April

• 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 political asylum in Australia.
• April 4 - Legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini experiences a lapse of memory during a concert. At concert's end, his retirement is announced, and Toscanini never conducts in public again.
• April 7 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
• April 14 - Aneurin Bevan resigns from the UK Labour shadow cabinet.
• April 16 - Vice President Richard Nixon announces that the United States may be “putting our own boys in Indochina regardless of Allied support.”
• April 22 - Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.

May

• May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile.
• May 7 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
• May 14 - The Boeing 707 is released after about two years of development.
• May 17 - United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 347 US 483 1954.
• May 17 - The Petrov Royal Commission in Australia begins its inquiry.
• May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly.
• May 22 - The common Nordic Labour Market act is signed.
• May 29 - Robert Menzies's government is re-elected for a 4th term in Australia.

June

• 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 - The words "under God" are added to the United States Pledge of Allegiance.
• June 15 - UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland.
• June 17 - A military coup occurs in Guatemala.
• June 18 - Pierre Mendès-France becomes prime minister of France.
• June 27 - Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán steps down in a CIA-sponsored military coup, triggering a bloody civil war that would continue for more than 35 years.
• June 27 - The world's first atomic power station opens at Obninsk, near Moscow.

July

• July 1 - The common Nordic Labour Market act comes into power.
• July 4 - End of rationing of meat - the last form of food rationing in Britain.
• July 4 - West Germany beats Hungary 3-2 to win the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
• July 5 - The Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.
• July 15 - The maiden flight of Boeing 707 occurs.
• July 21 - First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
• July 28 - The Situationist International is founded.

August

• August - First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress.
• August 6 - Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets, dies of asphyxiation following an 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

• 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 6 - SEATO treaty signed in Manila, Philippines KOVR went on the air.
• September 8 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established in Bangkok, Thailand.
• September 9 - An earthquake centered on the city of Orleansville in Algeria: 1500 dead and thousands homeless.
• September 11 - First Miss America Pageant broadcast on television.
• September 14 - USSR tests nuclear weapon.
• September 24 - Edward Pilgrim commits suicide hastened by bureaucracy.
• September 25 - Footscray Football Club wins their first Grand Final.
• September 26 - Japanese ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait killing more than 1,100.
• September 30 - USS Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (submarine), commissioned by the US Navy.

October

• October 11 - Vietnam War: The Viet Minh takes control of North Vietnam.
• October 11 - Hurricane Hazel crosses over Haiti, killing 1,000.
• October 15 - Hurricane Hazel makes U.S. landfall - it is the only recorded Category 4 hurricane to strike as far north as North Carolina.
• October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the development of the first Transistor radio.
• October 20 - Dock workers' strike expands in England.
• October 23 - West Germany joins NATO.
• October 25 - Landslides caused by heavy rains hit Salerno, Italy, killing about 300.
• October 26 - Member of Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Abdul Latif tries to kill Gamal Abdal Nasser.
• October 31 - Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.

November

• November 1 - The FLN attacks Representative and public buildings of the France colonial power.
• November 2 - Dock workers' strike in England ends.
• November 5 - Japan and Burma sign in Rangoon a separate treaty of peace to end the formal state of war.
• November 10 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery.
• November 12 - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.
• November 14 - Egyptian president Mohammed Naguib is deposed - Gamal Abdel Nasser replaces him.
• November 23 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 3.27 points, or 0.86%, closing at an all-time high of 382.74. More significantly, this is the first time the Dow has surpassed its 1929 peak level reached just before that year's crash.
• November 30 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg piece of the Hodges Meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and badly bruises a napping woman, in the first documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person.

December

December 1 The first Hyatt Hotel, The Hyatt House Los Angeles, opens. It is the first hotel in the world built outside of an airport.

• 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."
  • Taiwan-United States Mutual Defense Treaty. [1]
• December 24 - Laos gains full independence from France.

Undated

• New Zealand inventor, Sir William Hamilton invented the worlds first water pump-jet engine, later named the "Hamilton Jet".
• The first kidney transplants are done in Boston and Paris.
• The Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race.
• Gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus) are brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
• Unification Church is founded.
• Case of Lothar Malskat, who had admitted that he had painted the frescoes in Marienkirche himself, goes into trial.
• The TV Dinner is introduced by American, Gerry Thomas.
• Choreographer George Balanchine's production of The Nutcracker is staged for the first time in New York, becoming an annual tradition there, and still being revived as of 2007.
• Korea use of Gimpo International Airport possible.

Ongoing

• Marshall Plan

Fictional

The following are references to year 1954 in fiction: Robert A. Heinlein's short story, The Year of the Jackpot takes place in 1954.

Births

January-February

• January 2 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
• January 3 - Jim Ross, American wrestling commentator
• January 4 - Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott, English professional poker player
• January 5 - Alex English, American basketball player
• January 6 - Anthony Minghella, British film and theatre director (d. 2008)
• January 12 - Howard Stern, American radio host
• January 13 - Trevor Rabin, South African-American musician
• January 14 - Tom Cheney, American cartoonist
• January 15 - Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino writer
• January 17 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of Robert F Kennedy
• January 19 - Katey Sagal, American actress and singer
• January 19 - Ted DiBiase, American professional wrestler
• January 22 - Peter Pilz, Austrian politician
• January 23 - Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer and songwriter
• January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress, talk show hostess, producer, and publisher
• January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, Japanese cartoonist

• February 1 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
• February 2 - Christie Brinkley, American model
• February 7 - Dieter Bohlen, German singer
• February 9 - Christopher Gardner, American entrepreneur
• February 9 - Kevin Warwick, Cyborg Scientist
• February 11 - Noriyuki Asakura, Japanese composer
• February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
• February 13 - Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)
• February 15 - Matt Groening, American cartoonist
• February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
• February 19 - Socrates, Brazilian footballer
• February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
• February 20 - Patty Hearst, American heiress and kidnapping victim
• February 23 - Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
• February 25 - John Doe, American musician
• February 27 - Neal Schon, American guitarist

March-April

• March 1 - Ron Howard, American actor, director, producer
• March 4 - François Fillon, Prime Minister of France
• March 4 - Peter Jacobsen, American professional golfer
• March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress
• March 4 - Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian writer
• March 4 - Willie Thorne, English snooker player
• March 4 - Adrian Zmed, American actor and dancer
• March 6 - Harald Schumacher, German football goalkeeper
• March 8 - David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
• March 9 - Bobby Sands, Irish Republican, Long Kesh hunger striker
• March 13 - The Baroness Amos, British politician
• March 15 - Craig Wasson, American actor
• March 16 - Nancy Wilson, American singer, musician, and actress
• March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, British actress
• March 18 - James F. Reilly, astronaut
• March 19 - Indu Shahani, Indian educationist and Sheriff of Mumbai
• March 23 - Geno Auriemma, American basketball coach
• March 24 - Robert Carradine, American actor
• March 26 - Kazuhiko Inoue, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
• March 29 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
• April 2 - Susumu Hirasawa, Japanese musician
• April 5 - Guy Bertrand (broadcaster). Canadian linguist and radio personality.
• April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor
• April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football player
• April 8 - John Schneider, American actor ("Dukes of Hazzard")
• April 9 - Dennis Quaid, American actor
• April 9 - Steve Holt, Canadian musician
• April 10 - Anacani, Mexican-born American singer The Lawrence Welk Show
• April 10 - Peter MacNicol, American actor
• April 14 - Bruce Sterling, American science fiction writer
• April 15 - Seka, American actress
• April 16 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
• April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
• April 26 - Alan Hinkes, British Mountaineer
• April 28 - Robert Sargent Shriver III, son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
• April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian
• April 29 - Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards

May-June

• May 1 - Archie Norman, British politician and businessman
• May 5 - Dave Spector, American television personality and commentator
• May 7 - Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
• May 7 - Amy Heckerling, American film director
• May 8 - David Keith, American actor
• May 8 - John Michael Talbot, American musician
• May 11 - Judith Weir, British composer
• May 19 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
• May 26 - Danny Rolling, American Murderer (d. 2006)
• May 27 - Pauline Hanson, Australian politician
• June 5 - Nancy Stafford, American actress and Christian author
• June 9 - John Hagelin, American physicist and U.S. Presidential candidate
• June 9 - Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada
• June 15 - James Belushi, American actor
• June 16 - Sergey Kuryokhin, a Russian piano player, avant-garde composer, improvisor, performance artist and actor (d.1996)
• June 19 - Ted Coombs, American artist
• June 19 - Kathleen Turner, American actress
• June 20 - Michael Anthony, American bassist and founding member of the hard rock group Van Halen
• June 20 - Ilan Ramon, Israeli Air Force, Israel first astronaut (d. 2003)
• June 22 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
• June 26 - Steve Barton, American actor (d. 2001)
• June 27 - Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
• June 28 - Ava Barber, country singer The Lawrence Welk Show
• June 29 - Rick Honeycutt, American baseball player and coach
• June 30 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)

July-August

• July 5 - John Wright, New Zealand cricket captain
• July 6 - Willie Randolph, American baseball player, coach, manager
• July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician
• July 13 - Sezen Aksu, popular Turkish female singer
• July 15 - Tarak Dhiab, Tunisian footballer
• July 16 - Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
• July 17 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
• July 22 - Pierre Lebeau, Canadian actor
• July 25 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
• July 27 - Philippe Alliot, French race car driver
• July 28 - Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President
• August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, American software engineer and presidential candidate
• August 2 - Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
• August 4 - Uwe Wittwer, Swiss artist
• August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
• August 12 - Sam J. Jones, American actor
• August 12 - Pat Metheny, American jazz guitarist
• August 13 - Nico Assumpção, Brazilian bass player
• August 14 - Mark Fidrych, American baseball player
• August 15 - Mary Jo Salter, American poet
• August 16 - James Cameron, Canadian-born film director
• August 17 - Anatoly Kudryavitsky, Russian-Irish writer
• August 20 - Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey, music video producer (d. 2007)
• August 20 - Al Roker, American television broadcaster
• August 21 - Ivan Stang, American author and publisher
• August 21 - Steve Smith, American drummer
• August 23 - Charles Busch, American director, writer, and actor
• August 25 - Elvis Costello, British singer
• August 29 - István Cserháti, Hungarian keyboardist (d. 2005)
• August 31 - Julie Brown, American actress, singer-songwriter and screenwriter
• August 31 - Caroline Cossey, English model

September-October

• September 1 - Dave Lumley, Canadian ice hockey player
• September 10 - Mark W. Everson, incoming President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross
• September 13 - Steve Kilbey, Australian musician
• September 17 - Joël-François Durand, French composer
• September 18 - Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (d. 2007)
• September 21 - Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician
• September 23 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
• September 26 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager and television host
• September 28 - Steve Largent, American football player and congressman
• September 30 - Barry Williams, American actor

• October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovenian swimmer
• October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, baseball player
• October 3 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (d. 1990)
• October 3 - Al Sharpton, American politician and minister
• October 7 - Robert A. Schuller, American televangelist and son of Robert H. Schuller
• October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor
• October 9 - John O'Hurley, American television actor and game show host
• October 10 - David Lee Roth Lead Singer of Rock Band Van Halen
• October 12 - Les Dennis, English television presenter and actor
• October 13 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician
• October 15 - Tanya Roberts, American actress
• October 15 - Peter Bakowski, Australian poet
• October 23 - Ang Lee, Taiwanese film director
• October 24 - Mike Rounds, Governor of South Dakota

November-December

• November 2 - Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
• November 2 - Angela Webber, Australian author, TV writer, producer and comedian (d. 2007)
• November 3 - Brigitte Lin, actress
• November 3 - Adam Ant, English singer
• November 3 - Kathy Kinney, American actress and comedienne
• November 6 - Catherine Crier, American television journalist
• November 7 - Kamal Haasan, Indian actor
• November 8 - Michael D. Brown, U.S. Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response
• November 8 - Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-born British author
• November 13 - Chris Noth, American actor
• November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
• November 14 - Yanni, Greek musician
• November 14 - Willie Hernández, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
• November 15 - Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
• November 16 - Andrea Barrett, American author
• November 16 - Bruce Edwards, golf caddy (d. 2004)
• November 23 - Bruce Hornsby, American singer
• November 26 - Dan Kwong, American performance artist, playwright
• November 27 - Patricia McPherson, American actress
• November 29 - Joel Coen, American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor

• December 1 - Bob Goen, American television personality and game show host
• December 2 - Dan Butler, American actor
• December 2 - Stone Phillips, American television journalist
• December 3 - Grace Andreacchi, American author
• December 7 - Mark Hofmann, American forger and murderer
• December 10 - Jack Hues, English musician
• December 11 - Jermaine Jackson, American singer
• December 11 - Prachanda, Nepalese Communist leader
• December 13 - John Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter
• December 14 - Ib Andersen, Danish dancer
• December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
• December 18 - Ulrich Roth, German musician guitarist in rock band Scorpions
• December 20 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
• December 20 - Sandra Cisneros, American writer
• December 21 - Chris Evert, American tennis player
• December 24 - José María Figueres, Costa Rican politician, President 1994-1998
• December 25 - Annie Lennox, British singer
• December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racer (d. 2006)
• December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor
• December 31 - Alex Salmond, Scottish politician

Unknown dates

• Albert Oehlen, German painter
• Chris Riley (Priest), prominent Australian youth worker
• Nenad Prokic, Serbian playwright
• Pat Metheny, American Jazz Great
• Ray Ratto, sports columnist
• Sid Meier, American computer game designer

Deaths

January-June

• January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879)
• January 20 - Fred Root, English cricketer (b. 1890)
• January 31 - Edwin Armstrong, electrical engineer (b. 1890)
• February 12 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)
• March 7 - Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
• April 13 - Angus L. Macdonald, Nova Scotia Premier. (b. 1890)
• April 17 - Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, Romanian communist activist and sociologist (b. 1900)
• May 6 - B.C. Forbes, Scottish-born publisher (b. 1880)
• May 15 - William March, American writer and soldier (b. 1893)
• May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
• May 25 - Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist (b. 1913)
• April 10 - Auguste Lumière, French inventor (b. 1862)
• April 28 - Léon Jouhaux, French labor leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1879)
• June 7 - Alan Turing, British mathematician (b. 1912)

July-December

• July 3 - Reginald Maarsh, American artist (b. 1898)
• July 11 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, English physician and author (b. 1859)
• July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (b. 1907)
• July 13 - Grantland Rice, American sportswriter (b. 1880)
• July 14 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
• July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
• August 24 - Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil (b. 1882)
• September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
• November 3 - Henri Matisse, French painter (b. 1869)
• November 16 - Albert Francis Blakeslee, American botanist (b. 1874)
• November 28 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• November 29 - Dink Johnson, American musician (b. 1892)
• November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (b. 1886)
• December 8 - Claude Cahun, French photographer and writer (b. 1894)
• December 23 - René Iché, French sculptor (b. 1897)
• December 30 - Archduke Eugen of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1863)

Ship events

• List of ship commissionings in 1954
• List of ship decommissionings in 1954

Nobel prizes

• Physics - Max Born, Walther Bothe
• Chemistry - Linus Carl Pauling
• Medicine - John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, Frederick Chapman Robbins
• Literature - Ernest Hemingway
• Peace - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Fields Medalists

• Kunihiko Kodaira, Jean-Pierre Serre

See also

• 20th century

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

1954

External links

• 1954 Coin Pictures