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Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1954
January
- January 1 - Soviet Union no longer demands war reparations from East Germany.
- January 12 - Large-scale avalanches in Austria - over 20 dead.
- January 13 - Yangtze River ran dry
- January 14
- January 15 - Mau Mau lleader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya.
- January 17 - In Yugoslavia, Milovan Djilas, Tito's second-in-command, is relieved of his duties.
- 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 First Lady of the United States 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
February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II is the first reigning monarch to visit Australia.
February 10 - After authorizing $385 million over the $400 million already budgeted for military aid to Vietnam, President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
February 18 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and helps to save the lives of innumerable children.
February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
March
March 1
March 9 - Edward Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produce a 30-minute See It Now special entitled "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 in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
March 22 - The London bullion market reopens (it was closed in 1939).
March 23 - Viet Minh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated.
March 25
March 28 - The television stations Telemundo - WKAQ-TV is formed in Puerto Rico.
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
April - The Fender Stratocaster, one of the best-known guitars of all time, is released.
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 12 - Bill Haley & His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City.
April 14 - Aneurin Bevan resigns from the UK Labour shadow cabinet.
April 16 - Vice President Richard Nixon announces that the United States may be, quote, “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 1 - Taku (city in Japan) is founded.
May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile.
May 7
May 14 - Boeing 707 released after about two years of development.
May 17
May 18 - President Eisenhower today asked for progress reports on coming moves to public school segregation in the District of Columbia.
May 20
May 29 - Robert Menzies Government re-elected for 4th term in Australia.
June
June 1 - Radio station Sender Freies Berlin begins broadcasting.
June 7 - Mathematician Alan Turing commits suicide.
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 - On United States Flag Day, the words "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance.
June 15 - UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland.
June 17 - Military coup occurs in Guatemala.
June 18 - Pierre Mendès-France becomes prime minister of France.
June 19 - The last regular-service streetcar operated by Twin City Rapid Transit runs in Minneapolis.
June 27
July
July 3 - Food rationing ends in Britain.
July 4
July 5 - Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.
July 7 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record.
July 15 - Maiden flight of Boeing 707.
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. Which is celebrated in both Pakistan and Italy as the 50th anniversary of the official day of K2 since 2004.
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 Oleansville 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
October 15 - Hurricane Hazel makes U.S. landfall - it's the only recorded Category 4 hurricane to strike as far north as North Carolina.
October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the worldwide first Transistor radio.
October 20 - Dock workers' strike expands in England.
October 23 - West Germany joins NATO.
October 25 - Disastrous landslides caused by heavy rains hit Salerno, Italy killing some 300 people.
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
November - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.
November 1 - The FLN attacks Representative and public buildings of the France colonial power.
November 2 - Dock workers' strike in England ends.
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 14
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 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
December 2
December 24 - Laos becomes independent.
Undated
The first kidney transplants are done in Boston and also in Paris.
The 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 is founded.
Case of Lothar Malskat, who had admitted that he'd painted the frescoes in Marienkirche himself, goes into trial.
The TV Dinner is introduced by American, Gerry Thomas.
Foundation of Université de Sherbrooke.
The first complete recordings of all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker are released on LP by Mercury Records, with Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Korea usev possible Gimpo International Airport.
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, WWE commentator
January 4 - Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott, English professional poker player
January 6 - Anthony Minghella, British film director
January 12 - Howard Stern, American radio host
January 14 - Tom Cheney, American cartoonist
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, 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
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 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 5 - Murray Campbell. Multitalented genius and good guy born In New Zealand, later moves to Australia
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 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 19 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
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 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 30 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)
July-August
July 5 - John Wright, New Zealand cricket captain
July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician
July 13 - Sezen Aksu, popular Turkish female singer
July 16 - Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
July 17 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
July 25 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
July 27 - Philippe Alliot, French Formula One driver
July 28 - Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President
August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, software engineer and U.S. 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, 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 23 - Charles Busch, American director, writer, actor and drag queen
August 25 - Elvis Costello, British singer
August 29 - István Cserháti, Hungarian keyboardist (P. Box) (d. 2005)
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 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 - Mohamed MounirNubian-Egyptian singer
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 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 27 - Patricia McPherson, American actress
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 7 - Mark Hofmann, American forger and murderer
December 10 - Jack Hues, English musician
December 11 - Jermaine Jackson, American singer
December 11 - Prachanda, Communist leader
December 14 - Ib Andersen, Danish dancer
December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
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
Sid Meier, American computer game designer
Pat Metheny, American Jazz Great
Albert Oehlen, German painter
Nenad Prokic, Serbian playwright
Ray Ratto, sports columnist
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 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
External results
Click here for more details on 1954
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