1954 - What happened in 1954 ?
January 1954
Thursday 07:
The first public demonstration of a machine translation system was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
Thursday 14:
The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation.
Wednesday 20:
The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
Thursday 21:
The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States.
February 1954
Wednesday 10:
President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
Tuesday 23:
The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Thursday 25:
Gamal Abdul Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
March 1954
Monday 01:
Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
Thursday 04:
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston announces the first successful kidney transplant.
Tuesday 09:
McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy," produced by Edward R. Murrow.
Saturday 13:
Battle of Dien Bien Phu: Viet Minh forces attack the French.
Monday 22:
Closed since 1939, the London bullion market reopens.
April 1954
Thursday 01:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Wednesday 07:
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
Sunday 18:
Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
Friday 23:
Hank Aaron hits his first major league home run.
Monday 26:
The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
May 1954
Wednesday 05:
A coup d'état carries General Alfredo Stroessner to power in Paraguay.
Thursday 06:
Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
Monday 10:
Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
Monday 17:
The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Thursday 20:
Chiang Kai-shek is selected for another term as President of the Republic of China by the National Assembly
June 1954
Saturday 05:
The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.
Wednesday 09:
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.
Monday 14:
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" to the United States' Pledge of Allegiance.
Friday 18:
Pierre Mendès-France becomes Prime Minister of France
Sunday 27:
World's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
July 1954
Monday 05:
1954 - Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.
Wednesday 07:
In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record.
Thursday 15:
First flight of the Boeing 707, the first American jet passenger airliner.
Tuesday 20:
United States Senator Joseph R. McCarthy accepts the resignation of his aide Roy Cohn.
Wednesday 21:
First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
August 1954
Tuesday 10:
At Massena, New York, the ground breaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
Monday 16:
Sports Illustrated magazine is first published.
Tuesday 24:
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, president of Brazil, commit suicide and is succeeded by João Café Filho.
September 1954
Wednesday 08:
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
Thursday 09:
Marilyn Bell swims for 20 hours and 57 minutes under grueling conditions to become the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
Monday 27:
The nationwide debut of Tonight! (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.
Wednesday 29:
The convention establishing CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.
Thursday 30:
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel.
October 1954
Monday 11:
Vietnam War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.
Monday 18:
Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio
Tuesday 19:
First ascent of Cho Oyu
Sunday 24:
Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam
Wednesday 27:
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.
November 1954
Monday 01:
The Front de Libération Nationale fires the first shots of the Algerian War of Independence.
Wednesday 10:
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery.
Saturday 13:
Great Britain defeated France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
Friday 19:
Sammy Davis, Jr. loses his left eye in an automobile accident in San Bernardino, California.
Tuesday 30:
In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, an 8.5 pound sulfide meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio, giving her a bad bruise, in the only unequivocally known case of a human being hit by a space rock.
December 1954
Thursday 02:
Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
Saturday 11:
The American Nuclear Society is founded
Thursday 23:
The first human organ transplant, of a kidney, was performed by Doctors Murray and Harrison at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
Friday 24:
Laos becomes independent
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