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.

Friday 19:

Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.

April 1954

Thursday 01:

President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Monday 12:

Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City. Initially unsuccessful, the recording would help launch the Rock and Roll revolution a year later.

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.

Friday 07:

Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).

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.

June 1954

Saturday 05:

The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.

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.

Tuesday 15:

UEFA (the Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland.

Friday 18:

Pierre Mendès-France becomes Prime Minister of France

Saturday 19:

The animated Bugs Bunny short Devil May Hare debuts in theaters, introducing The Tasmanian Devil.

July 1954

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.

Saturday 31:

First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.

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

Friday 03:

The People's Liberation Army begin shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy

Thursday 09:

Marilyn Bell swims for 20 hours and 57 minutes under grueling conditions to become the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.

Wednesday 15:

The U.S. Postal Service issues its 2¢ Thomas Jefferson Liberty Series stamp.

Monday 20:

New Zealand's Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents reports just ten days after concluding hearings.

Monday 27:

The nationwide debut of Tonight! (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.

October 1954

Monday 11:

Vietnam War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.

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.

Sunday 31:

Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.

November 1954

Monday 01:

The Front de Libération Nationale fires the first shots of the Algerian War of Independence.

Wednesday 03:

The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan.

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