1954
Events
January events
- January 14 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation
- January 14 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio.
- January 15 - Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya
- 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 Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- January 25 - The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.
February events
- February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II is the first reigning monarch to visit Australia
- February 10 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam
- February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
March events
- March 1 - Nuclear testing: Officials announce that an American hydrogen bomb test had been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
- March 8 - PR Newswire founded in New York by Herb Muschel.
- 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 gold market reopens (it was closed in 1939).
- March 23 - Vietminh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated
- 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 events
- April 1 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado
- April 7 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his"domino theory" speech during a news conference
- April 14 – Aneurin Bevan resigns from the Labour shadow cabinet
- April 22 - Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.
May events
- May 1 - Taku (city in Japan) founded
- May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile
- May 7 - Construction started on Michigan's Mackinac Bridge.
- May 7 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
- May 17 - US Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 347 US 483 1954
- May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly.
- May 20 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty launches Belarusian language programming (see also Piotra Sych).
June events
- 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 15 - UEFA (the Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland.
- June 18 - Pierre Mendes-France becomes prime minister of France
- June 19 - The last regular-service streetcar operated by Twin City Rapid Transit runs in Minneapolis.
- June 27 - Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán steps down in a CIA-sponsored military coup–Operation PBSUCCESS–triggering a bloody civil war that would continue for more than 35 years.
- June 27 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obnisnsk, near Moscow.
July events
- July 3 - End of rationing of meat ends all the food rationing in Britain
- July 7 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record
- 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.
August events
- August - First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress.
- August 6 - Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets, dies of asphyxiation following a 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 events
- 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 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 30 - USS Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (submarine), commissioned by the US Navy
October events
- October 11 - Vietnam War: The Viet Minh takes control of North Vietnam.
- October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the worldwide first Transistor radio.
- 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 events
- November - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.
- 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 30 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg sulfide meteorite crashes through a roof and hits Ann Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio, giving her a bad bruise (this is the first known modern case of a human being hit by a space rock).
December events
- December 2 - Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
- December 24 - Laos becomes independent.
Undated
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in Indochina
- 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.
Births
January births
- January 2 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
- January 6 - Anthony Minghella, director
- January 12 - Howard Stern, "shock-jock" radio host
- January 22 - Peter Pilz, Austrian politician
- January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, actress, talk show host, producer, publisher
- January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, Japanese mangaka
February births
- February 1 - Bill Mumy, actor, musician
- February 2 - Christie Brinkley, model
- February 6 - Argusto Emfazie, occultist, author
- February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
- February 15 - Matt Groening, cartoonist
- February 18 - John Travolta, actor
- February 19 - Socrates, football player
- February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
- February 20 - Patty Hearst, socialite
- February 25 - John Doe, musician
- February 26 - Michael Bolton, singer
March births
- March 1 - Ron Howard, actor, director, producer
- March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, actress
- March 13 - The Baroness Amos, British politician, first black woman in the UK Cabinet
- March 16 - Nancy Wilson (guitarist), band founder, singer, actress
- March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, actress
- March 24 - Robert Carradine, actor
April births
- April 7 - Jackie Chan, actor
- April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football star
- April 9 - Dennis Quaid, actor
- April 10 - Peter MacNicol, actor
- April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver
- April 18 - Rick Moranis, actor, comedian
- April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, comedian
May births
- May 7 - Amy Heckerling, director
- May 8 - David Keith, actor
June births
- June 9 - John Hagelin, physicist and United States Natural Law Party Presidential candidate.
- June 22 - Freddie Prinze, actor/comedian (d. 1977)
- June 26 - Steve Barton, actor
- June 27 - Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, Texas
July births
- July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician
August births
- August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, Software engineer and United States Libertarian Party Presidential candidate.
- August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
- August 14 - Mark Fidrych, baseball pitcher
- August 16 - James Cameron, film director
- August 20 - Al Roker, television broadcaster
- August 25 - Elvis Costello, singer
- August 26 - Pauline Hanson, politician
September births
- September 13 - Steve Kilbey, Australian musician
- September 23 - Cherie Booth QC, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair
- September 26 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager, television host
- September 30 - Barry Williams, actor
October births
- October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovene ultra marathon swimmer
- October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, baseball pitcher
- October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor
November births
- November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, US National Security Advisor (2001-present)
- November 15 - Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland
December births
- December 2 - Dan Butler, actor
- December 14-* Ib Andersen, dancer
- December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, NASCAR driver (d. 1993)
- December 20 - Michael Badalucco, actor (The Practice)
- December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racing champion
Deaths
January deaths
- January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, actor
February deaths
- February 12 - Dziga Vertov, filmmaker
May deaths
- May 6 - B.C. Forbes, financial publisher
- May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer
June deaths
- June 7 - Alan Turing, mathematician
July deaths
- July 11 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, physician and author
- July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter
- July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater
August deaths
- August 24 - Getúlio Vargas, Brazilian president
September deaths
- September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, pearl farm pioneer
October deaths
November deaths
- November 3 - Henri Matisse, painter
- November 29 - Enrico Fermi, physicist
- November 29 - Dink Johnson, jazz musician (b. 1892)
- November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor
December deaths
- December 8 - Claude Cahun, surrealist photographer and writer
- Physics - Max Born, - Walther Bothe
- Chemistry - Linus Carl Pauling
- Medicine - John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, Frederick Chapman Robbins
- Literature - Ernest Miller Hemingway
- Peace - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Heads of state in 1954
- President Dwight Eisenhower - United States
- Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser - Egypt
- Chiang Kai-shek - China
- President Getúlio Vargas - Brazil
- Prime Minister Louis Saint-Laurent - Canada