Historical Events in 1954

Events 1 - 200 of 492

Djilas Criticizes Communism

Jan 1 Yugoslav parliament chairman and Vice President Milovan Djilas criticizes communism

Elvis Records Second Demo

Jan 4 Elvis Presley records his second demo at Sun Studios, a recording studio in Memphis, "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You" and "I'll Never Stand In Your Way"

Jan 4 Soap Opera "The Brighter Day" premieres
Jan 7 Georgetown-IBM experiment, first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held at IBM's head office in New York
Jan 9 -87°F (-66°C), Northice Station, Greenland (Greenland record)
Jan 9 Bert Olmstead of the Montreal Canadiens, ties NHL record of 8 points in game
Jan 9 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Louise Bogan & Leonie Adams
Jan 10 A Comet jet airliner crashes in the Mediterranean; 35 people are missing
Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to W H Auden
Jan 11 Two ton locomotive swept into ravine by an avalanche in Austria, killing 10
Jan 12 Austria's worst avalanche-kills 200; 9hrs later 2nd one-kills 115

Elizabeth II in New Zealand

Jan 12 Queen Elizabeth II opens New Zealand parliament

Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II

Jan 13 Military rule in Egypt; 318 Muslim Brotherhood members arrested
Jan 13 WEAR TV channel 3 in Pensacola-Mobile, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
Jan 14 Sandy Wilson's musical "The Boy Friend" opens at Wyndham's Theatre, in London's West End

"Omnibus"

Jan 17 Jacques Cousteau's 1st network telecast airs on "Omnibus" (CBS)

Oceanographer, Explorer and Scientist Jacques Cousteau

Jan 18 Amintore Fanfani forms Italian government
Jan 20 -70°F (-57°C), Rogers Pass, Montana (US 48 state record)
Jan 20 -70°F measured at Rogers Pass, Montana (record low temperature in the contiguous US)

"Concertino Opus 94"

Jan 20 Dmitri Shostakovich's "Concertino opus 94" premieres

"The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"

Jan 20 Herman Wouk's stage drama "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial", adpated from his novel "The Caine Mutiny", starring Henry Fonda, and directed by Charles Laughton, premieres at the Plymouth Theatre, NYC; runs for 415 performances

Jan 20 The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
Jan 21 1st gas turbine automobile exhibited (NYC)

1st All-Star Game with Overtime

Jan 21 First time in All-Star history, an overtime period is needed to decide a winner; Boston Celtics' guard Bob Cousy's 10-point OT scoring burst gave the East a 98-93 win; Cousy wins All-Star MVP honours

Jan 21 USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, launched on the Thames River in Connecticut
Jan 23 Equal longest undefeated streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history ends - 18 games, 16 wins, 2 ties
Jan 23 Harry van Thorn chosen chairman of Dutch KVP
Jan 26 Groundbreaking begins on Disneyland

Moore vs. Maxim

Jan 27 American boxer Archie Moore beats Joey Maxim in 15-round unanimous decision to retain his world light heavyweight title at the Orange Bowl, Miami; last of famous trilogy of fights, all won by Moore

Jan 28 1954 NFL Draft: Bobby Garrett from University of Stanford first pick by Cleveland Browns
Jan 29 Arnold Schoenberg's last musical work "De Profundis" premieres in Cologne, Germany
Jan 30 Belgium ends trade agreement with USSR
Jan 30 Fanfani government of Italy resigns
Feb 1 Dutch soccer club De Graafschap "The County" forms in Doetinchem, Netherlands
Feb 1 Scapino Ballet Studio in Amsterdam destroyed by fire
Feb 1 US TV soap opera "The Secret Storm" premieres on CBS

"The Nutcracker"

Feb 2 "The Nutcracker" ballet choreographed by George Balanchine with Maria Tallchief as the Sugar Plum Fairy opens in New York, establishes its popularity in the US

First Hydrogen Bomb

Feb 2 President Eisenhower announces the detonation of the world's 1st hydrogen bomb (tested in 1952)

34th US President and WWII General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Feb 2 Rio Grande College basketball forward Bevo Francis scores NCAA record 113 points vs Hillsdale College
Feb 2 Snow falls on Gibraltar
Feb 3 Jeen van den Berg wins Dutch Eleven Cities Skating race (7:32)
Feb 5 WCDC-TV channel 19 in Adams, Massachusetts (ABC) begins broadcasting
Feb 9 Mario Scelba forms new government in Italy
Feb 10 President Dwight Eisenhower warns against US intervention in Vietnam
Feb 11 6th Emmy Awards: I Love Lucy, Donald O'Connor & Eve Arden win
Feb 12 The UK government establishes an organisation to control atomic energy in the country under The Atomic Energy Authority Bill
Feb 13 American college basketball player Frank Selvey scores a record 100 points for Furman beating Newberry 149-95

Event of Interest

Feb 14 Senator John F. Kennedy appears on "Meet the Press"

Feb 14 WTOC TV channel 11 in Savannah, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Feb 15 1st Bevatron particle accelerator in operation at Berkeley, California
Feb 15 WRDW TV channel 12 in Augusta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Feb 16 WNEM TV channel 5 in Bay City, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
Feb 17 WAST (now WNYT) TV channel 13 in Albany-Troy, NY (NBC) 1st broadcast
Feb 18 The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California
Feb 20 General Zahedi wins election in Persia

Polio

Feb 23 First mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Feb 23 Syrian army drives out president Adib el-Shishakli
Feb 25 Abdul Nasser appointed Egyptian premier
Feb 26 1st typesetting machine (photo engraving) used, Quincy, Massachusetts
Feb 26 Michigan Representative Ruth Thompson (R) introduces legislation to ban mailing "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" phonograph (rock & roll) records
Feb 28 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
Mar 1 4 Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5 members

Baseball History

Mar 1 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams fractures his collarbone on the first day of Boston Red Sox spring training; injury keeps him out of Boston lineup until May 15

Mar 1 Rebellion in Egypt during visit of president Naguib to Khartoum, Sudan, 30 die

Castle Bravo Nuclear Test

Mar 1 US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally became the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the US

The explosion from Castle Bravo over Bikini Atoll in 1954

Mar 4 James E. Wilkins appointed 1st black US sub-cabinet member
Mar 4 Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant
Mar 7 Russia wins their 1st international ice hockey competition
Mar 8 Herb McKinley sets quarter mile record of 0:46.8 in Melbourne, Australia
Mar 9 1st local color TV commercial WNBT-TV (WNBC-TV) NYC (Castro Decorators)

Film & TV History

Mar 9 Edward R. Murrow criticizes US Senator Joseph McCarthy on his "See it Now" TV program

Broadcast Journalist and Radio Correspondent Edward R. Murrow

Mar 9 WMUR TV channel 9 in Manchester, NH (ABC) begins broadcasting

Event of Interest

Mar 11 US Army charges Senator Joseph McCarthy used undue pressure tactics

Moses und Aaron

Mar 12 1st performance of Arnold Schoenberg's opera "Moses und Aaron", in a concert setting in Hamburg, Germany

Thomson Beaks Ankle

Mar 13 Braves' Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle, he is replaced by Hank Aaron

Event of Interest

Mar 13 Viet Minh General Võ Nguyên Giáp opens the assault on French forces at Dien Bien Phu, northwest Vietnam

Mar 14 KDAL (now KDLH) TV channel 3 in Duluth-Superior, MN (CBS) begins
Mar 14 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Louise Suggs wins her second Titleholders title by 7 strokes from Patty Berg
Mar 14 Milwaukee Braves future home run king Hank Aaron homers in his debut exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox

CBS Morning Show

Mar 15 "CBS Morning Show" premieres with Walter Cronkite & Jack Paar

Mar 15 WSJV TV channel 28 in Elkhart-South Bend, IN (ABC) begins broadcasting

Cricket History

Mar 19 "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket each score centuries in one innings; Clyde Walcott scores 124 following Everton Weekes (206) and Frank Worrell (167) in 1st innings of drawn 4th Test v England at Port of Spain

Mar 19 1st color telecast of a prize fight, Giardello vs Troy in Madison Square Garden, NYC
Mar 19 1st rocket-driven sled on rails tested in Alamogordo, NM
Mar 20 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)
Mar 21 KFBB TV channel 5 in Great Falls, MT (ABC/CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting
Mar 22 Closed since 1939, the London bullion market reopens
Mar 22 Northland Center, the world's largest shopping mall at the time, opens in Oakpark, Michigan

Academy Awards

Mar 25 26th Academy Awards: "From Here to Eternity" best film, William Holden & Audrey Hepburn best actor, actress

Catholic Encyclical

Mar 25 Pope Pius XII encyclical "Sacra virginitas" (On consecrated virginity)

Mar 25 RCA manufactures the 1st color TV set, featured a 12.5-inch screen and cost $1,000
Mar 26 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
Mar 28 8th Tony Awards: "Teahouse of the August Moon" (Best Play) & "Kismet" (Best Musical) win
Mar 28 WKAQ TV channel 2 in San Juan, PR (TM) begins broadcasting

Cricket Debut

Mar 30 Test Cricket debut of West Indian great Garfield Sobers vs England at Kingston Oval, Barbados

Mar 31 USSR offers to join NATO
Apr 1 1st Dutch motorway, Amsterdam-Utrecht, opens
Apr 1 1st US Army helicopter battalion forms, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Gordie Howe Fastest Goal

Apr 1 Detroit Red Wings right wing Gordie Howe scores 2 goals and an assist, and sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for fastest goal from the start of a game (:09) in a 4-3 2OT win over Toronto in Game 5 of the Semi-Finals

Apr 1 Earthquake/tsunami ravage Aleutians, 200 killed
Apr 1 US Air Force Academy established
Apr 1 WQED TV channel 13 in Pittsburgh, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 2 Ed Wood's cult classic film "Glen or Glenda?", initially screened as "I Changed My Sex" premieres in San Francisco, California
Apr 2 Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced [see Jan 26]
Apr 3 Don Perry climbs a 20' rope in under 2.8 seconds (AAU record)
Apr 6 Montreal Canadiens score 3 goals in 56 sec in playoff game against Det
Apr 6 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
Apr 7 German government refuses to recognize DDR
Apr 7 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a news conference is first to voice fear of a "domino-effect" of communism in the Indo-China region
Apr 7 WALB TV channel 10 in Albany, GA (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
Apr 9 7th Cannes Film Festival: "Gate of Hell" directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Apr 9 WECT TV channel 6 in Wilmington, NC (NBC/CBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 10 KRGV TV channel 5 in Weslaco, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
Apr 12 Belgian Van Houtte government resigns

Music History

Apr 12 Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around Clock"

Apr 12 Joe Turner releases "Shake, Rattle & Roll"
Apr 13 Baltimore Orioles 1st game, loses to Tigers in Detroit 3-0
Apr 13 Milwaukee Braves' Hank Aaron's 1st game

Oppenheimer Security Hearing

Apr 13 Robert Oppenheimer accused of being a communist

Physicist and Father of the Atomic Bomb Robert Oppenheimer

Apr 14 Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov asks for politics asylum in Canberra
Apr 15 KARK TV channel 4 in Little Rock, AR (NBC) begins broadcasting
Apr 15 Orioles 1st game in Baltimore beat White Sox 3-1
Apr 15 WHO TV channel 13 in Des Moines, IA (NBC) begins broadcasting
Apr 15 Yankees dedicate a plaque to Edward Barrow
Apr 16 KVAL TV channel 13 in Eugene, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting
Apr 16 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in OT for a 4-3 series victory

Nasser Seizes Power

Apr 18 Egyptian Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power and appoints himself Prime Minister

Georgi Malenkov Premier

Apr 21 Georgi Malenkov becomes premier of USSR

Apr 21 USAF flies French battalion to Vietnam
Apr 22 Achiel van Acker forms Belgian government
Apr 22 NBA adopts 24-second shot clock & 6 team-foul rule
Apr 22 US Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings begin
Apr 22 USSR joins UNESCO
Apr 23 Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers
Apr 24 1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina
Apr 24 Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
Apr 24 WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting

First Solar Battery

Apr 25 Bell labs announces the first solar battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.

Magazine advert for Bell Labs' new invention, the solar battery

Apr 25 British raid Nairobi, Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects arrested)
Apr 25 US performs atmospheric nuclear test above Bikini Island
Apr 25 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting

Seven Samurai

Apr 26 "Seven Samurai", Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, is released

Film Director and Screenwriter Akira Kurosawa

Apr 26 Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva

Anti-Polio Vaccine Trial Begins

Apr 26 Mass trials of Jonas Salk's anti-polio vaccine begin; the first shot is delivered in Fairfax County, Virginia; more than 443,000 children receive shots over three months

Medical Researcher and Virologist Jonas Salk

Apr 26 USSR Supreme Soviet transfer the Crimean oblast from Russian SFSR to Ukrainian SSR

Music Concert

Apr 30 Darius Milhaud's 4th Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Op. 295) premieres in Haifa, Israel

May 1 Bishops publish Mandement (member socialist org forbidden)
May 1 HSA-UWC Forms (Unification Church) (Moonies)
May 1 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form the American Motors Corporation [1]
May 1 WAPA TV channel 4 in San Juan, PR (NBC/SFN) begins broadcasting

Baseball Record

May 2 MLB St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial hits 5 HRs in a doubleheader against the New York Giants at Busch Stadium

May 3 KTEN TV channel 10 in Ada-Ardmore, Oklahoma(ABC) begins broadcasting

Event of Interest

May 3 Pulitzer prizes awarded to Charles Lindbergh and John Patrick

May 3 WHA TV channel 21 in Madison, Wisconsin (PBS) begins broadcasting
May 4 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island

Coup d'état

May 5 General Alfredo Stroessner leads a military coup in Paraguay, overthrowing the government of President Federico Chávez

Dictator and President of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner

Sports History

May 6 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes first to run a sub-4 minute mile, recording 3:59:4 at Iffley Road Track, Oxford

May 7 French surrender to Vietminh after 55-day siege at Dien Bien Phu
May 7 US, Great Britain & France reject Russian membership of NATO
May 8 1st shot-put throw over 60' (18.29 m) by American Parry O'Brien, Los Angeles, California
May 10 Bolshoi Ballet does not appear in Paris
May 13 Chinese Middle School students in Singapore take part in anti-National Service riots
May 13 Labour Party wins British municipal elections
May 13 Robin Roberts gives up a HR then retires next 27 men in a row
May 13 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
May 14 Belgium shortens military conscription from 20 to 18 months
May 15 KGLO (now KIMT) TV channel 3 in Mason City, IA (CBS) 1st broadcast
May 16 Ted Williams gets 8 hits in 1st game (DH) since breaking collarbone
May 16 WGAN (now WGME) TV channel 13 in Portland, ME (CBS) 1st broadcast
May 17 US Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reverses 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v Ferguson decision ruling racial segregation in public schools as illegal
May 19 Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project

Chiang Kai-shek President

May 20 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China

Chinese Military and Political Leader Chiang Kai-shek

May 21 US Twenty-sixth amendment to give 18-year-olds right to vote is defeated
May 22 KREX TV channel 5 in Grand Junction, CO (CBS) begins broadcasting
May 22 Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is Bar Mitzvahed
May 24 1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico
May 24 Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st African American to head an American Medical Association unit (New York County)
May 24 German airline Lufthansa forms
May 24 IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour
May 29 British runner Diane Leather becomes first woman to run the mile in under 5 minutes; 4:59.6 at Alexander Sports Ground in Birmingham, England
May 29 First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, fostering relations between Europe and North America held at Oosterbeek, Netherlands
May 29 Pope Pius XII issues holy declaration
May 30 Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs
May 30 Emile Zatopek runs world record 5K (13:57.2)
May 30 Hector Villa-Lobos' "Odisseia de Uma Raca" premieres
Jun 1 Czech distance runner Emile Zatopek breaks his own 10,000m world record, clocking 28:54.2 in Brussels, Belgium
Jun 2 John Costello (Cons) becomes premier of Ireland
Jun 4 Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000 m
Jun 4 France grants Vietnam independence inside French Union
Jun 5 "Your Show Of Shows" last airs on NBC-TV
Jun 5 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Ecclesiae fastos
Jun 7 1st microbiology laboratory dedicated (New Brunswick NJ)
Jun 9 Joseph Welch asks US Senator Joseph McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" during Senate-Army hearings
Jun 10 KQED TV channel 9 in San Francisco, California (PBS) begins broadcasting
Jun 10 PBS reaches SF: KQED (Channel 9) starts broadcasting
Jun 12 Bill Haley & His Comets release the hit single "Rock Around the Clock"