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.

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.

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.

Thursday 22:

Red Scare: Army-McCarthy Hearings begin.

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 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

Tuesday 01:

The Peanuts comic strip character Linus van Pelt is shown with a security blanket for the first time. http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/peanuts/meet_the_gang/meet_linus.html

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

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.

Thursday 29:

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings, is published in the UK.

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

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.

Wednesday 15:

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

Wednesday 29:

The convention establishing CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.

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

Wednesday 03:

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

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